A/N: Yeah...I got distracted from this fic for awhile (aka Pokemon/Villainous). I do have a few more chapter summaries for this written out, and more still to get to, but it is the whole getting around to actually typing them up/editing them that is the holdup.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Officer Juan, the charts. Bring them here." Salazar said after Felicia's announcement. The cursed captain tracked a disembodied hand and hat move to the upper decks through the hair that floated across his vision. Brief despair and righteous fury flashed across Salazar's features, due to the continued reminder of how they all suffered with this curse of theirs, some more than others in appearance. It was a shame that Juan had been so close to an explosion when the Silent Mary had been rocked by the tearing of her hull. Gripping his cane tight against a flash of pain through his left arm, Salazar dismissed the most recent reliving of the past, and awaited his officer's return. He didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, Salazar saw a rolled up chart being brought down the stairs by a disembodied hand, the crew parting to let their near-invisible crew mate through.

"Capitan." Juan held the chart out to Salazar, who took it with a nod of thanks. The hat and hand retreated a respectful distance away, though Juan's stance seemed to indicate the crewman's curiosity over Felicia's lack of fear. Especially because she had watched Juan pass the chart off as if she could see his face, and not the blank space that was there beneath the hat. In a way, it was quite unnerving, but not one cursed navy man dared to utter any of their thoughts regarding the woman, lest they offend either her or their captain.

As Salazar unrolled the chart, he was quietly impressed with Felicia's calm manner. It took much bravery and nerve to stand amongst them and not scream or flee from their ghostly and broken forms.

"You say your home lies to the west." Salazar prompted, as he held the chart in one hand. The Spaniard carefully leaned into his cane, and when the anticipated pain didn't surge through it, he limped forward a few steps to stand alongside Felicia.

"May I, capitan?" Officer Santos questioned from the gathered crew. After receiving a nod from his captain, Santos moved forward to stand by Salazar's left side, as if attempting to hide the sight of the hole in his abdomen. Santos stared at the chart for a moment, muttering to himself, before he pointed a finger to it. "We are around this area, sir." Santos tapped a few blotches. "We just passed by these rock formations not an hour ago."

"There?" Felicia stared at where Santos had pointed before she brightened. "Then, that would mean..." The brunette fell silent, her finger tracing along the map until she stopped on a speck of land penned onto the charts. "There. It may be a little difficult to tell, but this is my home. I am...surprised. Most sea charts that I have seen do not have my island marked on them. Most ships can sail by without catching sight of the land. As such, we are not often frequented by visitors."

"You have drifted far from home, senorita." Salazar thumped his cane against the deck as he inspected the map with Santos. "We will chart a course that will bring us to your island. Close enough that you may use your boat to return, without worry of drifting back out to sea."

"I would be most grateful for that, captain. It is most fortunate that your ship came across me when you did. There were some supplies that had washed out to sea with me, though it would have soon run out." Felicia brushed her ragged dress off, looking as grateful as she said she was. "I do not know how long I would have been drifting along aimlessly without aid."

"We do not have any food or drink for the living, but my ship...she will bring us swiftly to the island." Salazar passed the chart to Santos as he brought a hand up to his lips to hide a cough. He scowled into his hand over the telltale sign of blood that welled within his throat. It really did appear that his body decided to go through the motion of dying at the most inopportune times. "If you will, accompany my lieutenant to the helm. I will join you shortly." With a wheezing sigh as black blood trickled down his lips, despite his best efforts to prevent it, Salazar turned away to limp toward the stairs, thumping his cane irritably as he went.

It wouldn't do to have the captain of a ship be such a disgusting sight in the company of a lady, but there was not much Salazar could do to tidy up his appearance. There never would be anything to be done about the black blood that seemed to constantly flow, nor the limp in his gait as his hips threatened to lock up. Even his eerily floating hair was against him, which Salazar irritably gave a shake of his head to redirect as he reached the upper deck and prowled to starboard.

A wreck.

A ruin.

A shell of their former selves.

Both the men and the ship were in such disarray that it infuriated Salazar that anyone living looked upon them in such a state. But he would not abandon the woman to the seas, as his ship was perfect for cutting through rougher seas unhindered.

Rasping out a humorless laugh over the odds of finding someone adrift at sea whom they could help instead of sink, Salazar spat the first of many globs of black blood over the side of the Mary. The longer he stared out to sea while wheezing and coughing up blood, the more the cursed Spaniard despaired at ever finding a way out of this living hell.

-x-x-x-

"I have heard stories from the very few who have made it to my home this past year. Of myths and curses on the sea." Felicia said softly, her gaze tracking Salazar as the captain vanished up the stairs to the upper deck of the ship. "Hushed, fearful whispers of the dead who prowl the sea, ridding the world of pirates one ship at a time."

"You heard correctly, Senorita, though it appears many myths of the sea are becoming fact." Lesaro hesitantly extended his left hand to Felicia, as that arm was more or less intact than his piecing apart right one. Lesaro still felt unwell, for a cursed man, when he overused his right arm, since that was where he had been clawed by the nightmarish creature. "There are holes in the deck, so if I may, I will lead you around them."

"Thank you, lieutenant." Felicia continued to show no outward horror over the sight of the Silent Mary's crew, even though the brunette was up close and personal with the blow apart features of the cursed men. She took Lesaro's offered hand, treating him as if he were merely a mortal man, and not some horrific being with a ghostly appearance and cracked features.

A few of the crew hastened before their lieutenant in a futile attempt to clear the ship of debris and obstacles, lest the lady stumble or get a foot caught in the deck. Moss and an officer missing the upper half of his body discreetly shoved the three dead sharks out of sight.

One never knew when they would need them again, as their captain was fond of sending the beasts after floundering pirates that fell from their destroyed vessels into the sea. Lesaro had made many none too subtle hints about getting rid of them, but Salazar was oddly attached the putrid things, and refused. No one pointed out what a disturbing sight it was when their captain smiled in savage pleasure as the decayed sharks tore into the hapless pirates.

Moss gave the hammerhead a nudge, and hastily beat a retreat when it snapped at him. At a muffled laugh, Moss threw his fellow crew mate a harassed look.

"We are cursed. What would a dead shark do to us?" The crewman asked, trying and failing to hide another laugh at the absurdity.

Lesaro gave the pair a sharp one-eyed glare over his shoulder, before he turned back to continue to guide Felicia along to the helm.

"You upset the lieutenant." The officer pointed out.

Moss said nothing in return, as he had gone back to wrestle the shark further out of sight, even as it snapped at him again, and he let out a few choice words. It appeared as though Salazar's mood was somehow being translated to the shark. The sight of Moss ending up beneath the snapping shark as it flailed got a few hollow laughs from some of the other cursed men who were close enough to witness the sight. Other crewmen called out to Lesaro while Santos dutifully stepped forward to assist Moss with his shark problem, as a great white had flopped along deck to join the hammerhead.

"Here, lieutenant, there are less breaks in the deck here."

"Go get that chair. The capitan has not used it in years."

"Has it not rotted away?"

"There are blankets we found a year ago. We could put one over the chair."

The conversation turned into rapid Spanish as the crew continued to converse with one another. The cursed navy men moved about with ease along the deteriorated deck of the Mary, some phasing through walls or climbing through the floor to the deck above to comb the ship for anything the living could stumble over.

Lesaro reached the helm with Felicia without any hindrances and by that time, Officer Magda had brought out the aforementioned chair, and settled it a short distance from the wheel. Another officer emerged from the cabin to drape an old blanket over the chair, before giving a slight bow and backing away.

Felicia offered a smile as she sat down, before the brunette looked around at her surroundings. It soon became apparent that the whole crew had congregated around her. Most of the cursed sailors appeared curious, likely due to the lack of a frightened reaction to their ghastly appearance.

Lesaro quietly consulted with Magda before taking to the helm and turning the wheel, so that they began to head west, toward the mark on the map Felicia had pointed.

"This is one of the largest vessels I have set my eyes on." The brunette said aloud with wonder. "I can only imagine what she looked like in her full glory." Felicia added, as she gazed up at the tattered sails and then down to the broken mast that trailed along in the waves.

That got the crew talking, many of the men eager to engage with someone, and to speak of the past. Of a spotless deck and full sails that could bear down on pirate vessels as if guided by some supernatural force. Of the good life when they were still alive, and found joy in living.

Lesaro guided the ship along, half his attention on the sea, half toward the crew, lest they overwhelm Felicia with their chatter. But at the very least, their mood was pleasant and almost happy, instead of bleak and melancholic. Lesaro turned his head at a curse spat out in his native tongue, and left the helm to Magda at what he saw. With a faint shake of his head, Lesaro made his way over to where his captain was still hacking up blood and spitting it over the side of the Mary. It was obvious that Salazar was clearly upset with his own appearance, as he always was since the curse had first taken its hold on them.

"Capitan?" Lesaro questioned, as he came to stand by Salazar's side. He waited patiently for his captain to stop coughing, only to tense up the faintest amount over the way Salazar glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Yet it wasn't a glare the lieutenant received, but a weary, almost resigned look. Lesaro gave his captain a once over, and came to the same conclusion he had before. Salazar found his own appearance unacceptable, especially considering they had company, even though it was to be brief.

"Is the course set?" Salazar questioned, wheezing soon after as blood dribbled out along his lips and down his chin.

"Si, capitan." Lesaro confirmed, tactfully ignoring the blood and keeping his eye on his captain's. "We should reach our destination within hours."

Salazar leaned against the railing of the ship, his grip tightening on the cane he still held in his left hand.

"If I may be so bold to ask, capitan, is there a reason that you are over here?" Lesaro dared to ask, mainly because he could sense that Salazar was in a somewhat decent mood. "Senorita Felicia is not afraid of our appearance, sir. Speaking to the living would be a nice change of pace, would it not?"

"...the men appear to think it so." Salazar admitted after a pause, as he half turned from the side of the ship to regard his crew surrounding the only living soul aboard.

"Come then, capitan, take your mind off this curse of ours for a time." Lesaro responded, thinking that he might be close to overstepping his boundaries, but was relieved that Salazar seemed to be amendable to the idea.

With a final hacking cough off the side of the Silent Mary, Salazar about faced sharply, grimacing as his hip apparently locked up, causing him to misstep and stumble.

Lesaro automatically held out his left hand to allow his captain to re-balance, and inclined his head over the grateful nod Salazar gave him as he straightened up.

"You are correct, mi amigo. It would do some good to speak with the living, lest we forget what we are trying to reclaim." Salazar limped across the deck, cane tapping against the wood as he went. The Spanish captain paused briefly, glancing over his shoulder to Lesaro, his floating hair swaying in time to his movement. "Does the creature's attack still ail you, lieutenant?"

"Now and again, sir." Lesaro's hand briefly hovered over his badly torn-looking right arm. "But it appears to be improving." The one-eyed man met his captain's eye. "And yourself?"

"Manageable. Just another pain to go along with the rest of it." Salazar said at length, before he turned and continued to walk. His words did not seem to be entirely truthful, as he was bent over more than usual, as he almost appeared to stagger along with aid of his cane.

Lesaro followed along, believing it a good sign that Salazar was in a somewhat good mood for the time being, even if it was clear his captain was in greater pain than he let on. Then again, Lesaro wasn't being forthright with the agony that swept through him that sometimes brought him to one knee. While Lesaro felt infinitely better than when the creature had first attacked him, he still was not at his best.

-x-x-x-

Hours later, land began to come into view, just as Lesaro predicted it would be, and the Mary began to slow at her captain's silent command.

"We cannot step foot on land." Salazar explained yet again, as he carefully picked his way along the steps leading to the lower decks of his ship, where Felicia's boat had been brought aboard. "But we will wait here to ensure that you make it back to shore safely."

"Thank you, captain." Felicia curtsied as two of Salazar's men settled her boat into the sea, one of them remaining nearby to hold a rope attached to the front to prevent it from drifting away. "You and your men made the journey swift and interesting with your tales. So I will give you something in return for your help."

Just as Salazar was about to say that was unneeded, Felicia's appearance changed. Before Salazar and his men's eyes, Felicia took on a more sinister appearance. Gone was her ragged dress, replaced with a sleek and rather revealing black gown with red markings, with many brackets and necklaces adorning her wrists and neck.

"There are many myths of the sea that are yet to be discovered, Captain Salazar." Felicia bared now sharp teeth in a chilling smile, as she regarded the Spanish captain thoughtfully. "There is still honor within you, despite the fate you were dealt. You and your crew were the first in many years to actually offer to take me to my home, instead of attempting to harm me or sell me off for coin." Felicia shook out her hair, charms threaded through it, red streaks making their way through the brown. "I will give you something in return, apart from breaking your curse, as it too strong for even my powers to do anything about." She slowly walked around Salazar, a long-nailed hand caressing his left shoulder and arm, before Felicia approached Lesaro, and laid a hand on his ruined and tattered right arm, causing the lieutenant to flinch. "One does not need another curse on top of an already potent one."

Lesaro's left hand flew to his right arm as soon Felicia stepped away, and it was clear from his wide-eyed look that something had happened.

Salazar was silent for a long moment, eyeing the woman as she came to a stop a few feet away. The Spaniard was struggling to comprehend the change he had seen before his eyes.

"Capitan, the pain from that creature...it's gone." Lesaro murmured to Salazar urgently, as he hastened to his captain's side, a wary look turned on Felicia. "Witchcraft?"

"What did you do, Senorita?" Salazar questioned hoarsely. Even though he was in pain, it was only the agony from the curse of the Devil's Triangle, and not the creature's.

"It is bad sport among my people to curse someone already suffering from another." Felicia stated simply. "I merely removed the effects of recent psychic wounds done to you and your lieutenant." The woman stared at Salazar for a few beats before speaking again. "You still have not said what you would like in return for helping me."

"And removing the wounds the creature caused...was that not payment enough?" Salazar rasped. At a nudge from Lersaro, and feeling the gaze of his crew that had gathered, Salazar leaned against his cane. Giving it a thoughtful tap, he spoke, meeting Felicia's now oddly glowing eyes. "If you are offering...then would you grant us a clue to undo what has been done to us?" Salazar wheezed in and out a few times as he waited for Felicia's response, while inwardly knowing that it was not likely that she would outright say what it was that he and his crew needed to do to rid themselves of their curse.

"You are correct that I cannot give you specifics, but I can certainly expand on what that being you came into contact with spoke of, as cryptic as it will be." Felicia smiled sharply again over the way the Spanish captain reacted to her reading his thoughts. "Be aware of the wind, the sea, the sky. As above is as below, look to the ones who sail over all." Before Felicia disembarked, she walked up to Salazar and held out her hand before him, revealing a large spiral shell.

"What is this?" Salazar cautiously accepted the shell, as if it too would change form like the woman that had offered it.

"If one man holds this shell, he will be able to walk on land for one day, four times a year." Felicia wore a saddened smile, her glowing eyes dimming just a bit. "It will not last any longer because the curse you are under is strong, and you do not want to tempt fate."

Salazar's men were quiet, gathered around their captain, all of them looking at the shell Salazar held in his hand longingly.

"Can we all use it?" Salazar questioned, his voice wistful at he thought of stepping foot on land. "Or will only the man who steps on land with it first be able to use it?"

"Only one man, captain. That is how the spell works." Felicia confirmed, her glowing eyes brightening as she studied Salazar closely, as if waiting for something.

"I..." The cursed Spanish captain stared down at the shell he held in his cracked hand. Closing his eyes, Salazar let out an unneeded breath before he opened his eyes, hesitating only a fraction of a second before handing the shell back to Felicia. "I cannot accept this gift but I thank you for the offer. It would mean much to be able to stand on land, but not like this."

"I see..." Felicia took the shell back from Salazar, an unreadable expression crossing her face, before she turned away and boarded her boat.

The officer that had been holding the rope removed it at a smile from Felicia, though a moment later he seemed to be spooked, as if he hadn't been in control of his body in that moment.

Felicia's boat maneuvered away from the Silent Mary, sailing toward the distant island without aid of sail or oars. Felicia's voice echoed out across the waves clearly minutes later, despite the distance between boat and ship.

"Continue on your path, Armando Salazar, and you will find what you seek, although you cannot yet see it."

The men watched until the boat was out of view, before they dispersed to see to the ship at a wordless gesture from Salazar.

"Capitan." Lesaro was still standing by his captain's side, as Salazar continued to stare at the island in the distance. "Why did you turn down such a gift?" Neither he nor his captain felt the need to touch on the supernatural turn Felicia had taken, as both had become used to oddities on the sea.

"It was a gift." Salazar was quiet for a moment, before he turned away from the hole in his ship to face his lieutenant, a soft cough not masking the words he spoke. "If we are to step on dry land, it will be all of us together." Lesaro seemed taken aback by this, and Salazar frowned at him, leaning heavily against his cane. "I am not so desperate as to take something that we all want." Salazar caught an unconvinced look flicker across Lesaro's cracked face, and let out an exasperated hiss filled with blood as he waved an impatient hand.

"Si, si, I would have taken the shell had I still been in pursuit of Jack the Sparrow." Salazar gave his head a shake, hair floating across his face. "I have a clear head, now that the Sparrow is no more. I will not deny a chance at stepping on land to you and the rest of the crew. If I did...it would make me too much like a pirate." Salazar began to walk, a pronounced limp in his gait as he headed up the steps, his cane thumping against the wood with each step. "I will not take such a chance from my men, when it is what we all desperately want."

Lesaro trailed along after his captain, up to the helm, where he automatically accepted the cane held out to him the moment Salazar's hand fell on the wheel.

"We continue on." Salazar let out a rattling cough, clenching the wheel tight until the spasm that came along with his coughing passed. The cursed captain shifted his stance, and in that moment, there was an unfamiliar crinkle in his pocket. With a bloodied frown, Salazar dipped his free hand into his pocket, and drew out a small note, along with a sting of small sea shells.

It was from Felicia. When or how the note and shells got there, Salazar didn't know as he read through the neat letters written in what appeared to be blood.

Captain-

Give each of your men a shell from this string, and you may all step onto dry land together. But be warned, this particular spell, when made for so many, will only last for one day. Choose your day wisely. The time of that one day begins the moment a man steps foot onto dry land with the charm.

For your search I leave you one last clue:

'A sparrow alone is one of a kind, find all and see clearly that unity is needed to break you free.'

May the wind guide you and your crew, captain, for it will aide you on your journey.

Salazar stared blankly at the piece of paper, though the shaking in his hand betrayed his feelings.

A chance.

A gift.

Even if it was only for a day...

"Lieutenant, gather the crew."

"Si, capitan." Lesaro stepped a short distance away and raised his voice. "All hands on deck. To the helm." Within moments, the ghostly Spanish crew gathered around their captain and lieutenant, bafflement clear in those whose faces were visible through their piecing apart bodies.

"My very dead men, we have been bestowed a miraculous gift from the senorita." Salazar held up the shell necklace for all of his crew to see. "She wrote to inform us that if each of us hold a shell, we may step on land for one day."

"Then we must sail for Spain!" Juan's voice emitted from beneath the hat that marked where he was, the disembodied hand reaching up to adjust his hat. The rest of the crew quickly backed up their crew mate with exited shouts and urging their captain to go straight away.

"If we are allowed a day on dry land, then it is only fitting that it be our homeland." Salazar said with a firm nod. The cursed captain firmly gripped the wheel of the Silent Mary, as Santos and Magda charted a course to Spain. As the excitement at what was to happen raced through the cursed men, it raised the normally morose mood of the ship. Salazar found himself looking forward to seeing his home, even just a little bit of it, despite vowing to not go back until they were all living men, lest he lose any more of his crew to the pull of their homeland.

"It will be good to be home, even for a day." Lesaro murmured as he stood near the helm, still holding his captain's cane.

"That it will, mi amigo. Let us make the most of it." Salazar said in return, his eyes taking in the sea before him. For a rare moment, he was not looking for pirates to hunt down. Instead, Salazar was looking out to sea as if expecting to see Spain appear before him that very moment, despite the time it would take to get there from their current position at sea. After spending that day on land, Salazar knew that he would have to turn to the clues bestowed on them. One from the creature and one from Felicia. The only sour note in his otherwise elated mood was the wonder about what 'sparrow' meant in Felicia's note.

Salazar knew only of one sparrow, and he did not want to see that damn pirate ever again,whether living, dead or as a hallucination. But this he would look into with his crew, to decipher what had been given to them at a later date. For the time being, Salazar guided the Silent Mary for a brief rendezvous home, a genuine smile crossing his lips as the excited chatter of his crew rose around him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: This fic is mostly self-indulgent because I really wanted more of these characters, but if there are people that enjoy reading this, then that is good too. I binge-watched potc 5 for the past week, though mainly the parts with Salazar in it for the last few days. So...got back into this because of that. (I think I was also delaying because there wasn't as much to this chapter as the previous one, but that seems to be the case for this story, going back and forth between story progression and Salazar and his crew coming across mythical beings/ect.)