"Let go of the anchor!"

Whatever Will had been saying trailed off and both he and Charlotte turned toward the voice, then back to study the island that was their destination. Had it appeared from nowhere? Or had she just been busy hallucinating? Charlotte leaned over the rail one last time and studied the water. It was a bit calmer than it had been out in the open sea. Too many clouds to see any hint of the sun. No effect on her mind.

Just in time.

"Mr. Turner and I are to go to shore." Sparrow's eyes went to her, then squinted to study the way she was practically tumbling over the rail. She looked innocently back at him. "You with us, serrah?"

She glanced at Will. "Yes. What is the plan?"

"Go to shore," Jack replied patiently.

"And then the undead pirates will bow politely and Will will duel their captain and win and he will graciously hand over m... Miss Swann?" Charlotte paused to pull herself back onto the ship, standing as tall as she could and making it up to Jack's nose. "And then we'll sail back and I'll be welcomed with open arms by my one true love and you'll be declared king of England."

"I do like that plan better."

"What is the actual plan, Captain?"

He perked up at his title. Charlotte had to hide the first flash of triumph she'd had in a while.

"Sneak in. See what they're up to. Sneak out with Miss Swann." Jack smiled benevolently. "Mr. Turner."

Oh, that was how it was? For the sake of the nonexistent Charles Turner, Charlotte decided to never call Jack 'Captain' again.

Will spoke up after a moment or two of awkward silence.

"Shall we go?"

"Right!" Jack swept off to the boat, the other two in tow. "We're off. Stick to the code."

Gibbs stuck his head over the ship's wheel to call back. "Aye, the code!"

Charlotte found herself in another boat a few minutes later with her eyes squeezed shut for the good old reason: fear. If she'd felt like this ten years ago, she would have pretended to faint. She was very afraid old instincts would kick in soon and she didn't think faking death would work on undead pirates.

A few calming breaths allowed her to peek one eye open, to look out from their tiny, fragile, onlygoodforbreathingunderwater, notforactualtravel, whowasjackkidding rowboat and see the Endeavor and its crew watching from a distance.

Her eyes skated past the darkening sky and the grim faces of Jack and Will, finding the shoreline. It swelled out of the water in the form of rocks and a cave. It was quite foreboding, practically an illustration out of one of her least favorite books.

Charlotte wrapped her fingers around the edge of the boat and she closed her eyes again. Almost ten years ago she'd stepped off a boat into Port Royale and she'd spent the years since darting around collecting secrets and shopping and convincing soldiers to teach her to dance and convincing Will to teach her swordplay because it seemed like dancing and becoming too self-conscious to talk to the one soldier who'd always been the kindest. And now she glided forward toward a pirate cave wearing pants and a stolen gun and a stolen hat. She couldn't honestly remember if she'd stolen the sword, but she thought she might have.

She hoped Elizabeth got the chance to know how much her sister loved her.

The tiny, ridiculously tiny, so tiny boat sailed into the cave and into torchlight. They moved forward slowly with a splash of oars every now and again, things appearing out of the darkness piece by piece as though they were sailing through a fog. Charlotte glanced behind her to see how Will was taking things. She looked away from his serious face to find a skeleton.

Then again, the two men probably had things handled on their own.

"What code is Gibb's to keep to?" Will asked. His eyes were on the skeleton too.

"Pirate's Code. Any man that falls behind, is left behind."

"What if the man falls behind is the one carrying all the treasure."

Jack paused his rowing for a moment to turn and glare at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You were being dramatic."

"The man carrying the treasure..." Jack turned back to rowing. "...is usually all of the men. And if not? It's easier to grab a bit of gold than a man what tripped."

Will and Charlotte shared a look. "No heroes amongst thieves, eh?" Will put in.

"You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you're well on your way to becoming one. Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga and you're completely obsessed with treasure. And your lil' sister--" Will looked sharply at Charlotte. She just rolled her eyes. "--along for the ride and willing to stab anyone who might cross her right between the shoulder blades for some shiny little trinket."

"Rude," Charlotte said primly.

"I am not obsessed with treasure." Will snapped.

A few moments later they caught sight of a dozen other boats the same size and Charlotte swallowed back a question of how many pirates would fit in each one. They slipped between the other boats and hit the shore and Charlotte leapt out so quickly that she had to take a few padding steps into the cave before she lost momentum.

"Well, one of you is chasing the goddess of lost things." Jack clambered out of the boat and strode past Charlotte before she could respond. "And..."

They slipped up a twist of the cave, finding a window over the main cavern. Charlotte didn't like how well Jack seemed to know what to expect. They had a perfect view of far too many pirates and one familiar looking pirate captain and piles of more gold than had any right to exist in one place and...

"And not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."

Elizabeth.

Charlotte drew her sword to charge back down and find a way around but neither of the men were moving. They stared transfixed and she realized they were watching some sort of ceremony.

"Gentlemen," The captain called.

Charlotte remembered that voice. Her hands started shaking.

"The time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near at end."

Charlotte's sister shuddered, alone and so far away. The dress she wore looked freezing. Charlotte wanted to scream.

"Elizabeth." Will began to lunge forward. Charlotte watched long enough to see Sparrow stop him.

Then she was winding back down to where they'd come, to the intersection they'd ignored.

"Goddess of lost things," Charlotte whispered as she headed into a larger tunnel, one that had hints of footprints and one or two gold coins that had been kicked or trailed from the main room. There was a stream beside her, a little too narrow for the boats to continue down. A breeze hit the water and trailed to Charlotte, sending a bite of chill down her spine. "Mind lending a hand then, Eos?"

Torchlight flickered. Charlotte found herself at the end of the tunnel, looking at the back of dozens of pirates and up at a very dramatic captain who would see her if she took one more step. The stream beside her led off to the side and somewhere behind him, but before that, there was so much open space. Light was glittering off the piles and piles of gold between her and the next bit of cover, between her and her sister. She couldn't walk that way but there was no way she swam well enough to hide under the...

Torchlight flickered again.

Charlotte glanced up to see one torch, flame drifting sideways with a breeze.

It went out.

A few piles of gold went dark, the area at the mouth of the cave darkening just like the tunnels they'd arrived in.

Charlotte clapped her free hand over her mouth; that was not supposed to work. That was not supposed to work. Why did that work?

A breeze at her back, urging her forward did not help matters at all.

She had to go.

She had to go now.

Instead, Charlotte took a few deep breaths, taking just enough time to make sure she wasn't going to vomit from terror, just enough time for Will to appear beside her and for Elizabeth to gasp with pain somewhere across the room.

Her sister needed her.

She couldn't wait any longer.

Charlotte raised her sword, lowered to a crouch, and she and Will crept silently into the room filled with cheering pirates.