[A/N] - Yohoho! It is me and I am baaaack! Firstly, I am so sorry for making you wait so long for this sequel. I had some chapters ready but I didn't manage to upload them before leaving for my volunteering work. But, now I am back and the story will continue. Here is the first chapter and a glimpse of what more will come. Will upload the rest by the end of the week.

Until then, read and review... you know the hustle. Also, a big thanks to all of you who loved my previous story and stayed faithful to it until the very end *wipes a tear* You make me so happy.

Anyways, Enjoy!

Port Royal

It was raining and the wedding reception area was deserted except for the bride, Elizabeth, sitting on her haunches facing the ocean, a bouquet in her hands, hair and dress soaked. Ships with the East India Trading Company insignia on their flags anchored in the bay, while longboats sailed ashore; on one there was a horse and rider; the soldiers swarmed the smithy and Elizabeth rushed off.

Will is brought to her in irons, surrounded by East India Trading Company soldiers.

"Will. Why is this happening?" she asked as she knelt by his side and placed her hands on his cheeks.

"I don't know…You look beautiful"

"I think it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding"

A new voice soon joined them.

"Make way. Let me through!" Governor Swann shouted as he pushed past the soldiers towards the couple, only to be barred by crossed spears. "How dare you! Stand your men down at once! Do you hear me?"

"Governor Weatherby Swann, it's been too long," A young man in the high ranked clothing said as he was helped take off the coat by a soldier.

"Cutler Beckett?" the older man exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's Lord now. Actually"

"Lord or not, you have no reason and no authority to arrest this man," he said and motioned at Will.

"In fact, I do. Mr Mercer?"

On cue, another man dressed in black clothing walked towards them with a wooden box in his hands. He opened the box and exposed papers rolled up neatly inside. Becket took one out.

"The warrant for the arrest of one William Turner," Lord Becket said and handed it to the Governor.

"This warrant is for Elizabeth Swann!"

"Oh, is it? That's annoying, my mistake… *takes the paper back* Arrest her"

As soldiers grabbed Elizabeth, she tried to fight them back while shouting:

"On what charges?!"

At the same time, Will tried to move the soldiers to protect his lover. "No!" he shouted as he kept fighting.

"Aha, here's the one for William Turner. *hands another other paper over; Governor looks at it in disbelief* And I have another one for a Mr James Norrington. Is he present? *holds the paper on air*"

"What are the charges?" Elizabeth asked again, now calmer.

"Commodore Norrington resigned his commission some months ago" Governor replied.

"I don't believe that was the answer to the question I asked"

"Lord Beckett, in the category of questions not answered – "

"We are under the jurisdiction of the King's governor of Port Royal and you will tell us what we are charged with," she said and finished for Will, both looking at the man.

"The charge… is conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the Crown and Empire and condemned to death for which the…"

"For which the punishment, regrettably, is also death" Becket continued after the Governor and took a step towards Will. "Perhaps you remember a certain pirate named Jack Sparrow"

"Captain!" The couple corrected him.

"Captain Jack Sparrow" she made clearer.

"Captain Jack Sparrow. Yes, I thought you might… and what about dear Artemis? Did she not come to your wedding, Mr Swann?"

Our two heroes looked confused as to how Becket knew about Artemis along with the fact that he called her by the first name.

"No" Will replied as Elizabeth stayed quiet, not failing to notice the last rolled up paper in the box. She knew it had Artemis name on it but now couldn't figure out why he didn't announce it publicly.

"Such a pity"

The Black Pearl was stationed on the dark cold waters, not too far from a Prison Island. The lights were turned off and the crew was quiet. All but one specific Joseph Gibbs who was drinking a bottle of rum while singing.

"50 men on a dead man's chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Drink and the devil had done for rest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

On the crow's nest rested Artemis who was looking at the night stars. On her lap was a small journal with different details of star alignments, all written by her.

It had been a year since she left with Jack and had started her new life as a Pirate. In this year, she had changed a lot. Her hair was now a much lighter colour from being too much in the sun, matching the dark orange of the fire.

Her white eyepatch had been replaced for a black simple one and her hair was French braided on one side. Her clothing even changed, consisting now of a white shirt with an exposed collarbone and a black leather corset.

On top, was a short red coat with black embroidery on the edges and ends of sleeves. Black tights and black boots below. Her sword at her left hip and two guns strapped on her right hip. A black hat with a red feather on her head.

Her star gazing was interrupted when she heard noises from below. Looking down, she spotted the faint shape of a coffin without a lid and Jack puddling towards them.

"At last," she said and closed her journal before sliding down one rope to join the rest of the crew. Her feet touched the deck and she made her way towards Jack who was helped above by Gibbs.

"Not quite according to plan," the first mate said.

"Complications arose, ensued, were overcome" Jack explained quickly and made his way towards the helm.

"You got what you went in for, then?"

"Muhuh" was Jack only reply as he waved around a rolled-up piece of cloth. He came to a halt when his crew blocked his way, all men looking at him with a disgruntled look.

"Captain, I think the Crew – meaning me, as well – were expecting something a bit more… * shakes his hands at chest level as if visualizing*-"

"Shiny" Artemis finished as she stood on the other side of Jack.

"What with the Isla de Muerta going all pear-shaped, reclaimed by the sea and the treasure with it…"

"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic" a pirate added.

"And the hurricane!" Marty reminded and everyone voiced in agreement.

"All in all, it seems some time since we did a speck of honest pirating"

"Shiny?" Sparrow asked and looked at Gibbs and then at his crew.

"Aye, shiny"

"Is that how you're all feeling, then? Perhaps dear ol' Jack is not serving your best interests as captain?"

"Awk, walk the plank," Cotton's pirate said but before it could continue, Cotton placed his hand over its beak.

"What did the bird say?!" he shouted and aimed the pistol at the bird.

"Jack," Artemis said in a slow voice and placed her hand on top of his before lowering the pistol, calming him down. The Captain looked into her blue eye and placed the gun back at its place.

"Do not blame the bird. Show us, what is on that piece of cloth there" the same pirate from before, ordered.

Everyone looked pointedly at the roll of cloth in Jack's hand before the moment was broken by Barbossa's undead monkey dropping down in front of Jack and taking the cloth. It managed to run a bit before Jack shoots it and it drops the cloth.

The monkey let out a sound and quickly rushed to Artemis, climbing her leg and arm before settling on her shoulder. She panted the animal as Jack aimed the pistol at the monkey again.

"You know that don't do good"

"It does me" he corrected her and placed the gun back again.

"It's a key," Marty said and drew everyone's attention as he had grabbed the cloth and unfolded it.

"No, much better! It is a drawing of a key. *unfolds it and shows it to the Crew; everyone but Artemis stares in silence and Jack seems disconcerted* Gentlemen, what do keys do?"

"Keys… unlock things?" a pirate asked uncertainly.

"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's something valuable. So, we're setting out to find whatever this key unlocks!" Gibbs said.

"No. *Gibbs looks confused* We don't have the key; we can't open whatever it is we don't have that it unlocks. So, what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don't have, without first having found the key what unlocks it"

"So, we're going after this key!"

"You're not making any sense at all. *Gibbs looks even more baffled and Artemis shakes her head* Any more questions?"

"So… Do we have a heading?" she decided to ask.

"Ah! *goes for his compass* A heading. Set sail in a… *the compass needle swings this way and that without stopping and Jack's finger follows it* general…*picks a random direction* that way direction!"

"Captain? /Jack?" Artemis and Gibbs exclaimed at the same time, unsure of the new destination.

"Come on. Snap to and make sail, you know how this works. Oi, oi!" the Captain said and shooed pirates out of his way as he walked to his cabin.

"I've noticed lately, the Captain seems to be acting a bit strange *Artemis raises an eyebrow*…er" Marty pointed out and shrugged his shoulders.

"Setting sail without knowing his own heading, something's got Jack vexed. You mark my words, what bodes ill for Jack Sparrow, bodes ill for us all"

"Say that again Gibbs. This will be a long trip" she said and looked at the crew. "Okay, guys. Let's do what we must do and head our way towards… wherever Jack wants us to head. Sitting on our asses won't bring us any gold"

"Aye!" the men said and raised their fists before heading to their posts.

A few hours later, night still above their heads. The Pearl was slowly sailing on open seas, moving and going with the flow of the waves. Everyone was asleep in their beds and Artemis in her nest on top of the mast with the undead Monkey curled up on her laps.

She shivered in her sleep as she felt a sudden chill but didn't wake up until she heard the shouts and orders from Jack.

"On deck all hands! Make faster—gasket! On deck! Scurry! Scurry on! Move it! Move it! I want movement!"

Her eyes snapped open and she rubbed them to get rid of the sleepiness before looking below. Men were running up and down, some getting dressed on the way and Jack in the middle of the chaos.

"What is going on?" she wondered out loud and looked at the monkey who made a sound as if saying 'I do not know' and made its way down.

"I want a— plenty of running. Run as if the devil himself and itself were upon us!"

Artemis made her way down just as Gibbs approached the scared Captain.

"Do we have a heading?" he asked as she joined him.

"Ah! Rum! Land. *The duo walks away and then pops up on another side of the stairs under which Jack is trying to hide* Ah!"

"Which port?" she asked him this time.

"I didn't say port. I said land, any land"

"Like an Island?"

Before Jack could answer, the undead monkey climbed by and knocked off Jack's hat

"Ah!" he exclaimed and the two of them hissed at each other.

"Jack's hat! Steer about!" Gibbs shouted.

"No, no, leave it *everyone looks at him funny* Rum" and with those words, he hurried away.

"Back to your stations, the lot of ya!" Artemis ordered as the men scattered and along with Gibbs, walked towards Jack who was hiding under the stairs again. "Jack?"

"Shh!"

"For the love of Mother and Child, Jack, what's coming after us?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing"

Gibbs didn't believe him but walked away to observe the crew as Artemis stayed. Jack looked at her for a moment and then turned his way forward.

"What is wrong Jack?" she asked and went to place her hand on his shoulder, but he flinched.

"Nothing is wrong"

She narrowed her single eye and grabbed his bandaged hand before pulling him into the Cabin. She tossed him in, entered and closed the door behind her.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing happened to it"

"It's bandaged and you had no wounds a few hours prior. Now talk or I will use force"

The two of them started a small starring contest but Jack quickly gave in and sat on his chair behind the desk. Artemis left out a sigh and walked towards him, massaging his shoulders as she stood behind him.

The man relaxed and she continued before grabbing his hand gently and taking off the dirty cloth. Her eye widened when she spotted the black spot on his palm.

"I never told you the story of the Pearl, isn't that right Lassie?"

"Do now"

She sat on the edge of the desk and looked at him.

"*sigh* When I was younger, still in my prime I worked for the East Indian Company. I was captain of a specific ship called the 'Wicked Wench'. She was marvellous and beautiful. One day I checked on the usual Cargo I was transporting… only to find out that it wasn't objects…"

"Then what it was?"

"…. People… I liberated them but get caught in the process. Ended up being branded as a Pirate and see my favourite ship being sunk into the ocean… Once I escaped, I made a deal with Davy Jones… 10 years I would be back of my ship-"

"In exchange for your soul. The usual deal with the Devil… so the Wicked Wench is the Black Pearl, isn't she?"

"…Yes…"

"That's why the key… it can save you, right?"

"I do not know lassie"

She let out a sigh and placed her hand on top of his. They looked at each other for some time and she smiled faintly at him.

"We will find land and what that key does. We will save you Jack" She stood up and walked towards the door, her mind overloaded with too many thoughts. "And do not worry about the mark. I won't say a thing"

With that, she opened the door and walked out just as the winds picked up stronger. She looked up at the Dark clouds that were coming and made a mental promise. She would save Jack no matter what.