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Deep in a misty jungle, Will and the crew sailed upriver in silence. The air was thick and the fog made the odd environment ever more unsettling.
"Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" Will asked Gibbs, peering ahead at the boat in front of him.
"Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off and drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness. The Kraken. They say the stench of its breath is like . . . imagine, the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken and the reeking odour of a thousand rotting corpses. If you believe such things."
"And the key will spare him that?"
"Well, that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit . . . her."
"Her?"
"Aye."
Night had fallen when the two boats reached a softly lighted house that was built partly atop a large tree. The boats docked and Jack grabbed the ladder that led to the door.
"No worries, mates. Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable, we are. Were. Have been. Before."
"I'll watch your back," said Gibbs, stepping onto dry land.
"It's me front I'm worried about."
Gibbs turned to Will. "Mind the boat."
In turn, he told Ragetti the same and followed after Jack. The pirate crept to the door and crouched as he pushed it open, surveying the candle-filled room. A woman was hunched over her desk but looked up when she heard the hinges squeak.
"Jack Sparrow," she smiled.
"Tia Dalma."
From the back of the house, something crashed. Tia closed her eyes and muttered in her native language before standing.
"I have something for you, Jack Sparrow. One moment." Slipping through a doorway, she went to assess the noise. There were hushed whispers but the crew could tell that whatever was being said was tense. Finally, Tia came back, a forced smile on her lips. She held tightly onto someone's arm and fought with them for a moment before she won, forcing them into the main room. What Jack saw made his heart stop and his blood run cold.
"I don't want to see him! He left me to die!"
The whole crew knew who it was, their accent and knife-like speech was uncanny.
