Emerald Seas II

Chapter 18

Once Cutler, Jack, and Elizabeth arrived back at the Black Pearl they noticed the fog from before they left had lifted. Barbossa was standing at the helm, seemingly calm when they thought back to the state they left him in. The mermaids seemed to have left him alone, which was strange as they were known to be vicious flesh of men-eating creatures.

'I see you took good care of her, second mate' Jack made the comment he made towards Barbossa roll from his lips as smoothly as possible as he padded the wooden balustrade of the Pearl. Barbossa didn't seem bothered and even looked rather concerned as his eyes kept on moving from the three of them and back to the seawater that softly hit the hull of the Pearl every few seconds.

'Finally, what took ya'll so long to fill up some bottles?' Barbossa mumbled sarcastically, still ignoring Jack now taking the wood of the helm, trying to take over, Barbossa was still not bothered by Jack's jealous behavior.

'We.. had a certain encounter at the lake, a ten-minute walk further upland' Elizabeth decided to inform Barbossa. Barbossa raised his bushy eyebrows and watched both Jack and Elizabeth on his side at the helm. Soon his eyes traveled to the third person climbing onboard.

'What's wrong with him?' Barbossa's eyes watched Cutler making his way away from them, to the other part of the ship, where he stood at the balustrade of the Pearl and leaned against the wood, staring blankly at the ocean. His body language had betrayed his experience at the lake. Cutler's shoulders were slouching as he had made his way across the deck. The bloody sword was still in his hand like he had been ready to strike any moment. His eyes looked red, the expression on his face drained from what took place only half an hour ago.

'At the grand lake, we encountered a Siren, you know those mermaid-like creatures that live on land' Jack started. Barbossa raised his eyebrows.

'That must have been the shadow figure we saw when we arrived' Barbossa watched the ocean below the Pearl once again.

'Aye, and creatures like that might even be more frightening than those in these waters' Jack's brown eyes now too moved to the small waves the ship's hull created.

'Let's say it left a certain impression on him' Elizabeth nodded her head in Cutler's direction who still seemed to stare into the endless nothingness, while she thought about the fact Barbossa still didn't know about Kate.

'He's not used to much, eunuch you know..' Jack whispered with his hand sideways onto his cheek at Barbossa nodding in Cutler's direction while letting the words slip from his tongue as smooth and sarcastic as possible. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she felt particularly bad for Cutler, but the situation had left an impression on her as well, and she was sure on Jack too. But Elizabeth knew Jack was the kind of man to laugh away pain and confrontation.

'Well, let's continue our journey then before any of these mermaids are back and we end up as dinner. While you were gone I cleared the path' Barbossa ignored the previous subject and pointed at Jack still holding the helm.

'How did you get rid of them? And the fog too?' Elizabeth asked while looking across the horizon that was visible again after the fog had left. Barbossa started shrugging his shoulders, and it was obvious to Jack and Elizabeth that it hadn't been Barbossa who had made the path free.

'You were just lucky, weren't you?' Jack watched Barbossa holding back a grin.

'I don't know what happened, but there was a light just before you all arrived, that wasn't there before, like suddenly a new day arrived and the sun started to shine brightly. That's when the fog was lifted and the Pearl was free to sail on. The moment the mermaids vanished too' Barbossa looked at Elizabeth and then at Jack.