Honor Among Thieves || Book Two

~24~

Dead men tell no tales.

The ominous voice was the last thing anyone heard before their ship was plunged over the edge into utter darkness. There was no feeling after that, no sound. Just darkness.

Cold, unyielding darkness.

Then, all of a sudden, they were alive again. Or at least, they felt as if they were alive. They found themselves scattered to and fro on sugary white sand amongst the decimated remains of their ship. Sera opened her eyes to find her head resting on Barbossa's chest wiry silver hairs tickling her face.

Her face grew hot when she realized just how scandalous their current position was and quickly scrambled off of him, thankful that he had not yet opened his eyes. A shadow loomed over her. "How did you fare, Keeper?"

"Quite well." She replied, gratefully taking Tia Dalma's hand. "I think the both of us are doing great. As a matter of fact, when you asked me, I felt a little--"

Barbossa awoke with a start and coughed up a hefty amount of briny water. Dumping a wad of sand out of his hat, he stood up and replaced it on his head as he surveyed the sprawling dunes in front of him. "Is this the Locker?"

"Most definitely." Sera replied without taking her eyes off the desolate landscape. Her heart ached for Jack. How terrible it must be here. . .

"Well," He adjusted his belt. "We won't find Sparra' standin' around here."

"What if he isn't here?" Elizabeth asked, shaking excess water out of her sleeves. Sera's eyes glinted dangerously. "He's here, alright. Davy Jones does not give up that which he takes, even if his quarry has a little help getting here."

Elizabeth paled and shrank back from her, her brown eyes darting around to see if anyone had heard. Sera glared at her a moment longer before returning her gaze to the towering dunes. "He would also gladly accept any soul that were to be left behind here. He's not very picky, you know. Pirate, privateer, admiral, princess--they're all the same to him."

Elizabeth couldn't find her voice.

Smiling triumphantly, Sera walked away from her and made her way toward the arid expanse that stretched on endlessly before her.

"Seraphina!" Barbossa called, following after her. "What are ye doin'?"

She turned around. "You said it yourself. We won't find Jack standing around like a bunch of yellow-bellied barnacle-lickers. I'm going to find him!"

"Is that such a good idea in your condition?"

He immediately clamped his mouth shut and stole a sheepish glance at Tia, who scowled and shook her head.  Sera's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"Uh. . .I asked if, uh. . .if it was good idea for ye t' go rammicking around like that." Barbossa stammered, squaring his shoulders. Sera put her hands on her hips, debating whether or not he had just insinuated she was pregnant. If so, how in Hades did he know? "Like what?"

"Like that!" He exclaimed, gesturing to her. "Alone. Are ye really goin' t' go out an' about Davy Jones' Locker by yerself? There's no tellin' what--"

At that moment, a ship, the Black Pearl to be precise, crested over one of the largest dunes as if it were a giant wave and glided into the sea right by them. To make the situation all the more peculiar, scores of little white crabs were doing all the heavy lifting.

"--Might be out there." Barbossa finished in a low voice, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Stunned, Sera pried her gaze away from the Black Pearl and looked at the beach where, in the distance, she spotted Jack. He looked to be nothing more than a silhouette against the harsh sunlight but he was there, and he was walking straight toward them.