Time and Time Again

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Title: Time
and Time Again

Author: Hellborne (the_ferret_mom@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: Characters, if you saw them in the movie
or if they're real people, not mine. See the Mouse and the Real People.
Story, mine, but I make no money. He does, but not on this.

Typing convention: / is used for thoughts. * - * - *
is used for scene changes and passages of time.

Summary: It's the year 2001. Will Turner, descendent
of a particular blacksmith, has been left a journal and a
scarf...leading him to a particular cave.

Betas: The two greatest BetaGoddesses in the world,
Pendragginink and Littlebird! You're both truly magnificent, and I
wouldn't be able to write half as well without you!

Admin Note:  As you know, Hellborne has
passed away, but the follow had been given to her Beta's and we wanted
to make sure we could share as much of her insight into the story with
you, her readers!

Chapter 17 - Dragons

The eighteenth century pirate was grinning ear to ear as he pulled

off his flippers, shrugged out of the tank and ran over to where some

of the men were pondering over the contents of the water tank Jack

had sent up from the wreck. "All of this needs to be saved somehow. I

want copies made of anything readable, which is most of it. Maps,

rutters, and especially that journal." He pointed.

Jack left the deck quickly, heading to his cabin with a small metal

box, returning almost immediately in polo shirt and shorts; his feet

were still bare, box in hand. He hopped across to Will's yacht and

dashed below, Will following out of curiosity of what the old pirate

was up to.

When Will arrived in the main cabin, Jack had already laid out five

identically cut two-inch statues, each made of a different gemstone:

Jade, black opal, ruby, sapphire, and one that appeared to be

diamond. They were all Chinese dragons, and Jack was blowing at the

opal one and mumbling.

"You've got to be the ones...please...just-YES!" The dragon began to

glow; the light coming from deep within it. "Will, these dragons are

something I searched for for years. I'd had the sapphire dragon only

a little while 'til it was stolen from me. That was the last time I

allowed a Spaniard on my crew."

"Why's it glowing?"

"It's magical. All of them are. You can use them one at a time to a

point, but I've heard tales that told of them being used all at once-

to conquer armies. I wouldn't want the bloody things to fall into the

wrong hands."

"Nobody would believe they were magical anyway."

"Aye, they would. As soon as someone activated one by accident they'd

know they had something important and special. And a bit o' diggin'

would uncover what they really are. No, these stay with you and

me 'til we figure out how to destroy them."

Will rushed out and came back with a hammer. "This should take care

of the problem." He grabbed the jade figurine and laid it on the

table.

Jack suddenly noticed what Will was about to do and cried out. "No,

don--!"

*BANG*

Will was tossed backwards, a force slamming him hard into the

bulkhead, knocking him out.

Jack shook his head and crossed the cabin to where Will lay sprawled

against the wall. "Whelp!" He checked the boy over carefully and was

happy to find nothing was broken. Taking Will over his shoulder, Jack

laid the boy gently on the bed and patted his cheek. "Wake up, lad."

Will stirred slightly, then moaned. "That HURT!" He opened his

eyes. "Jack? What happened?"

"I TOLD you they couldn't be destroyed by normal means."

"No you didn't."

"Aye, I said we had to figure out a way to destroy them. I also said

they were magical. You can't destroy magical items by normal means,

or did they not teach you that when you were growin' up?"

"They don't teach magick in school, Jack. They teach things that are

REAL...like electricity, chemistry, and stuff like that."

"Magick's real, whelp. Or have ye forgotten the curse?"

"Yes, Jack. You and I know magick is real. But in the twenty-first

century, most people just don't believe in it."

"All right. Let me see. They believe in life after death, faith

healing prayer circles, things their completely invisible religions

that are totally unprovable, yet they don't believe their senses

where magick is concerned."

Will sat up straight, frustrated, glaring at the pirate. "But they've

never seen magick. Heck, you and those statues are the first I've

seen that magick really existed."

"'There is more on heaven and earth, Horatio, which is dreamt of in

your philosophy.'"

Will nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, but most of the world would call you

crazy if you told them about the curse. Just look at the reactions of

everyone you've told so far."

"True. Jim even accused his ancestor of bein' delirious."

"I thought mine was, too. I figured he'd been smoking the wrong plant

or something, a real loony. 'til I met you." Both men laughed.

Jack helped Will to his feet. "So, Lad, now we need to find a means

to destroy those statues."

Will nodded. "I guess it'll take more magic, so I think we'll be

guardians of these things for a LONG time."

"Aye, unless I can find certain ancient tomes."

"So you read ancient Chinese?"

"No, lad, but we have the money to hire someone to read them."

"And translate into English, I hope."

"Doesn't matter. I spent quite some time in China."

"Which dialects do you speak? I've heard there are a bunch of them."

"All right, whelp...in English."

"Jack, tell me the truth. Is ANYTHING I learned in school accurate?"

Jack laughed heartily. "Lad, 't is all by perception. Do ye see a

horse? Or do ye see a unicorn? If you've been taught to put blinders

on, you'll never see beyond them without some kind of epiphany." He

grinned. "You're lucky. I just happen to be one."

"One what?"

"An epiphany. Well...I tend to CAUSE them, actually."

Will laughed. "That you do, Jack! That you do!"

"So what is the answer to your question?"

Will looked thoughtful. "Yes and no?"

Jack nodded, grinning. "Exactly. And never forget that...even for a

minute."

"So, just for the record, what is it those dragons DO?"

Jack frowned. "Oh. I was thinkin' we'd just put them away now that

I've proven to myself that they're the right figurines. Knowin' what

they do will only make you want to use them."

"Not me. I saw what 'magick' did to YOU. I don't want any part of it.

I'm just curious."

"And we both know about curiosity, mate. And in THIS case, it's

accurate."

"Please?"

Jack looked at Will sidelong. Will looked like a puppy begging for a

bone. "Whelp, you'll not stop 'til I tell you, will you?" Will shook

his head, grinning. "All right, but I'm keepin' them with me from now

on. I don't want you tryin' to use them."

Will nodded vigorously. "I promise."

"Well, the one I had...the sapphire dragon...well, it can make you

invisible. I pulled off many little stunts with that one. Made the

news as far as England about the 'haunting'." Jack snickered into his

hand. "The jade one that you got hit by...that one can let you

control a man...or a woman. As long as you concentrate on it, they're

your slave. But it's not worth it. From what I heard tell, the person

controlled remembers what happened, so if they ever find out it's you

wot made them act that way...well, it could get ugly. The opal dragon

can control the weather to a point. Call it a cloud mover. I've heard

that it could move hurricanes out of a man's way, but it couldn't

stop them. So with that one, we could have clear sailing whenever we

wanted it. But everything has its costs; the weather changin' in one

place causes a weather change some other place too. If YOU don't have

a hurricane, someone else DOES. I'd not ever want to use that one.

The Ruby statue will let ye fly. Not like in an airplane; more like a

bird. Just don't drop it while you're flying. And the diamond

dragon...that one is a weapon. Ye can kill a man just by pointin' it

at him."

"So what about when you put them together? You said something about

conquering armies with them."

"Aye. Imagine having all those abilities...at once and against masses

of others. You could lift armies high into the air and drop them. You

could look at a large group of men and they'd drop dead. Other things

too horrible to imagine. Lad, I NEVER want these statues to get

loose. And I never want you to use them."

"What about you?"

"Me neither. I had my fun with the sapphire statue. I learned my

lesson with it as well. I'll not use any of them ever again. And as

soon as we can destroy them, I won't hesitate." Jack looked dead

serious.

Will nodded. "I understand. Though that sapphire one sounds like it

could be fun."

"Aye, it was. But you have to be careful. You may be invisible, but

you can still be heard. You still have weight. And in your case,

you'd drop it at the most INopportune moment."

"Very funny. Okay. I won't touch them."

"Aye, and I'll make sure of THAT." Jack opened the little box he'd

taken the figures out of and slid them all back inside, closing it

and putting it in his pocket. "Come on over and have some breakfast

with me and the crew. I've got someone you'll want to meet." Jack

headed out, whistling his favorite tune.

* - * - *

TBC