Disclaimer: I don't own any teensy part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise - I only own their propaganda and merchandise purchased from their stores.

Beta: The AMAZING Englishfreckle. Love you girl! MUAHH!

A/N: Help me get to 200 reviews on this one, please! Sorry its taken me FOREVER to update - I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer - nuff said, lol. But...since i took FOUR MONTHS to update (cringe), I'll give you guys an extra long chappie to make up for it, okay?

ooo

I watched as she rose higher up the red dune, the wind lightly tugging at her hair, her eyes wide and dark, drinking in the sights and discoveries of the foreign land. My suggestion to taking a shore leave on the coasts of South Africa, had of course, been a means to an end in meeting with Samanya with the Himba tribe. Getting to show Lizzie such a unique land, however, was an unexpected advantage. We needed this small oasis, a break from the harsh reality of losing Marena, even temporarily. I could see Lizzie's inner turmoil in the days after their reunion. The simple separation of mother and child seemed to have severed her very soul, and I felt left with mere pieces in my hands. Today, she finally seemed to mend as she surveyed the peace and natural beauty around her. The Skeleton Coast was secretly one of my favorite places I'd traveled. There was something intangible in the tranquility that left one breathless. Starring at the black and silver heavens, stretched upon the cooling sand I felt I stood on the very brink of eternity, able to glimpse the dizzying magnitude our world for but a moment.

I was suddenly pulled from my reverie when I felt Lizzie's hand upon my head. "I like it pulled back." She grinned. "It's different from the traditional Captain Sparrow, but it suits you."

A small grin escaped me as I let my hand trace her path down my braids. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember the last time I'd let someone see me with my hair queued back. It was a personal luxury, tying back the heavy locks, allowing my head to clear in private. But I didn't mind exposing this part of myself with Lizzie. I'd bared my heart and blackened soul to her long before I'd bared my body; we kept nothing from the other. I felt my mouth tug upwards into another half smile, remembering her look of amazement as she watched the Oryx perform their dangerous dance and felt my chest contract with an emotion I was still growing accustomed to feeling. Love. The word had slipped so easily from my lips today. "I love you too, darlin'" And I knew with all certainly that I did. I knew that I had given her my heart, as floweryas it sounded.

"Jack..." she said, interrupting my thoughts once more. "How much further? We're losing daylight and I don't fancy roaming about in an African Desert after nightfall. There could be...wild animals... and scorpions and..."

"Not much further now, Lizzie-love. Just beyond the next dune I believe. The Himbas live in the valley." I grunted, wiping the sweat from my brow once more.

She gave a nod, falling in step with me as we resumed our climb to the top of the dune. Finally, we reached the summit and paused to take in the sight that lay below us. Sparse desert trees and scrubby bush were scattered beneath us, herds of speckled cattle and goats grazing in the vegetation. We could see the hazy figures of men, women and children roaming about the valley. Men, tending the herds, women laughing, their teeth flashing white in the sun as they wove and strung beads and young children in loincloths gathering firewood for the evening.

Lizzie leaned over and whispered in my ear, easily slipping into Hindi. "Hai yaha surakṣita, Jack?" Is it safe, Jack?

I followed her gaze and saw the sun glinting off the sharpened points of the men's spears.

"Yaha hai suraksita, priyatama." It's safe, dearest

"Aśā karanā tuma" I trust you. She whispered in my ear, pressing her lips against my cheek. "Aṛa hamēṁ calanā" Let's go.

"Sadā" Aye I said. "Aṛa hamēṁ calanā."

Pulling the leather thong from my hair and storing it once more in a vest pocket, we began walking down the sandy slope towards the village.

"I know their learned chap, he's along the lines of Tia Dalma for them. Goes by the name of Samanya. Need to see him while we're in the village, then we can continue on our quest."

"Quest? Since when did our shore leave become a quest?"

Bugger.

"Shhh, keep silent for the moment. I need to acknowledge the men."

Breathing an inward prayer that Lizzie wouldn't seize this opportunity to have one of her rebellious post-partum moments, I turned and bowed towards the men carrying the spears, now only yards from us.

"Tjike" Hello. I intoned, bowing low to the ground and motioning Elizabeth to do the same - a show of humility for the elders of the tribe.

"Tjike" the men replied, returning the bow to myself and Lizzie.

"Samanya?"

The man on the right gave a grunt and jerked his head towards a mud-formed hut on the far side of the clearing. Nodding our thanks, I turned to Lizzie and muttered "Mere saath aaeeyé",come with me,before walking towards the hut with Lizzie close behind.

The village quietened as we passed, our light skin grabbing the attention of the women and children scattered about the village. Lizzie shifted uncomfortably next to me under their stares, but kept her gaze focused on the approaching hut. Clearing my throat, I parted the woven door cover and ducked inside the room. The rounded walls were formed from red clay, the roof a simple patchwork of thatch and brush though each was obviously painstaking hand crafted. The building formation itself, however, was by far the least interesting thing about the hut. The air was thick and hot inside and a low layer of incense and smoke filled the interior. A low burning fire was burning in the center of the room, despite the heat, and an tortoise shell filled with glittering sand and smooth stones were placed next to the ashes. A few spare dried herbs and spices hung from a stick placed in the wall and a dense yet plain animal hide was stretched across the dirt floor and the shallow indent in the dirt made for sleeping.

Directly across from the door was the man I'd traveled to see. His unseeing eyes white and filmy with his age, his skin wrinkled with the time he'd spent living in the harsh environment of the desert. I could only hope the healing power of the sea would aid my complexion as I aged. His head snapped towards us as he heard us enter.

"Ah...I see the seas have brought you back at last, bhari ndugu." Sea brother.

"Tjike, Samanya." I said.

"Tjike, tjike bhari ndugu. And tjike to you as well, Elizabeth, mwivi mfalme." Pirate king. He bowed his head in Lizzie's direction.

From the corner of my eye I saw Lizzie's eyebrows disappear up to her hairline, mostly due to her surprise, I imagined, at hearing the old African mystic speak her native tongue as well as acknowledge her by name and title.

"Tjike" she murmured in a surprised tone.

"Come here, Elizabeth, king of pirates." He gestured for her to come closer. Catching my gaze and reassured at my nod, she crossed the few steps to the sitting man and knelt beside him. I leaned cautiously against the wall, having fallen through a mud hut before and remembering the unpleasant sensation, and watched as Samanya lifted a weathered hand and gently touched Lizzie's face before placing his hand directly over her collarbone, right above her heart.

"Ah...I can feel it." he gave a solemn nod. "You have suffered great pain, my daughter. Great pain indeed. But the joy...I can feel it there too. You are a strong woman, my daughter. You are a female chief, I see." he chuckled.

His hand was once again on Lizzie's cheek, an almost fatherly gesture, but I could see his forehead was creased in thought. Freeing his other hand from the herb it held, he reached across to a crude shelf, taking a clay pot down and swabbing his fingers along the inside rim.

"Hear you go, my daughter." He said in his thick, African accent, his face seeming to split in two with his large, toothless smile. He gently placed his finger, coated with a dark sticky substance I recognized from past visits as ashes and holy water, on Lizzie's forehead and drew a simple design. "This physical symbol, it fade with time, but the protection it gives will last you. You have my blessing, Pirate King, as does your daughter. May you both live well." He removed his hand from her cheek and paused before he moved it to pat her wrist lightly. "One day, she will tell you, my daughter...she will. I can see it."

Lizzie's eyes widened and she swallowed slightly. "Thank you, Samanya." she said, her voice breaking slightly. She glanced towards me and I raised my eyebrows, but she just lightly shook her head and looked back at the blind mystic.

Samanya gave another grin. "Nothing at all, my daughter, nothing at all. Now, my son, my bhari ndugu, you have a quest, no? A question, a desire you wish me to fulfill?"

"You know me too well, Samanya. You know what I am here for, I presume? And what I have to trade?"

"Yes, these things I know. You are not far from what you seek, it is only a short venture away from the village, though we who walk in the sun do not venture to the sight of shadows."

"Where?" was all I asked.

"Follow the path of the sun, bhari ndugu, follow the path where the sun kisses the highest dune. In its shadow, you will find the essence you seek."

I grinned in spite of myself. "You have my eternal gratitude as always, Samanya."

"You will need this." He reached towards the shelf once more and handed me a small gourd strung on a braided cord that sloshed as I tied it to my belt. "Anoint the fallen" he advised.

" You're a diamond...er...cowrie, mate."

Samanya laughed once more. "Go my foolish brother, go and find what may. But remember, you may only ask what you seek in a pairing of eight. A word less, or a word more and your search is fruitless." he warned.

"Thanks mate, got it. Well, I'd best be off with the missus. I'll just leave those cowries here, eh?" Bowing once more and murmuring a last word of thanks, I dropped a leather bag filled with valuable cowrie shells at his feet before we slowly exited the hut.

"He's a mystic" It wasn't a question, just a quiet statement from Lizzie.

"Aye, you could call him that. Rather different than Tia Dalma, eh?"

"He's..."

"Difficult to put into a single instance of grammatical and vernacular structure?"

"Exactly" Lizzie breathed, still seemingly dazed from her encounter.

"It gets easier with time, love" I chuckled, drawing her closer to me as we walked down the rocky plain towards the dunes.

We turned quickly as we heard an outcry from a young tribal woman, no older than fifteen by the look of her face. Her expression was awe filled as she pointed at Lizzie, grabbing other women and children and pointing to the symbol.

A few older women nursing young children looked up at the commotion and grinned and chattered excitedly when they saw the symbol as well, standing up from their crouched positions and placing strands of colorful beads around Lizzie's neck. Young children pressed around us in a throng, clambering for our attention and pressing simple desert flowers into our hands.

"Thank you" Lizzie said bowing, her face slightly red. We both knew they couldn't understand her, but they seemed to understand her meaning and laughed amiably.

"Come on, love. We've got a few hours before sundown yet and I'd rather like to be back on the Pearl by then."

She nodded and bowed once more towards the smiling villagers and followed me past the livestock corrals and back into the desert.

We walked in silence for quite some time, each of us consumed with our thoughts. Finally, I could see the shadow from the great dune that stretched across the valley like a dark veil, just as Samanya had described. Squinting, I could see a lone structure of some sort. That must be where it's marked...

"Almost there now, dearie. See that squiggly looking thing?" I pointed.

"Barely." she remarked.

"Its small, but its pretty close. Should be there any minute."

I heard her sigh beside me. "If I ask you again, is there any chance you'll tell me what the purpose of this venture is?"

"Not quite yet." I smirked.

"Urgh!" she groaned beside me. "Why do I let you put me through this?"

"Because you like the challenge of trying to figure it out."

She didn't answer, just let out a frustrated growl and continued to walk beside me.

ooo

"Its a skull." Lizzie remarked, looking at the bone mounted on a crude wooden pole.

"Aye, that it is. A male Kudu skull to be precise."

"I'm guessing that's significant?"

"It is to us, pet, it is to us."

"Am I to finally be awarded my explanation?"

"I suppose you've earned it by now" I admitted, stifling a chuckle as she rolled her eyes. I moved and knelt beside the stake, removing the gourd from its place at my belt and removing the leather plug.

"Have you ever heard of Charlotte De Berry, Lizzie?"

Even facing the opposite direction, I could visualize her face drawn up in confusion.

"Charlotte De Berry? The pirate?"

"Aye" I replied, attempting nonchalance.

"Well, yes, I've read of her exploits...but I don't see how-"

"Remember anything particularly interesting?" I prompted, cutting her off.

She paused, trying to remember. "Its unknown if she was a myth or not..." she ventured finally. "She came out of nowhere, no background, no family, no connections, she just appeared one day and began attacking the fleets. Then she vanished just as suddenly, no record of what happened to her..." She broke off.

"Anoint the fallen..." she mumbled...

That's it Lizzie, put it together.

"This is her grave, isn't it Jack?" She breathed in a whisper. "You've come to -"

"Raise her from the dead?" I asked. "Hardly."

I emptied the gourds contents on the ground in front of the skull and stood up. "As you so eloquently stated, lass, Charlotte De Berry was thought to be myth or legend. Coming and going like mist upon the seas. But she was real, Lizzie. She was flesh and blood...but not human."

Lizzie's face was calm, a facade. Her eyes betrayed her confusion.

"She was turned into an oracle. She had one lifetime she could spend in human form, which she did, but she spends the rest of existence as an oracle. Savvy?"

"I think so..."

"Samanya told me the story himself once, his grandfather told it to him years ago. Charlotte herself washed upon these shores once. The tribal elders found her, roaming the desert, eyes yellowed with fever and thought her possessed. They took her to Samanya's grandfather, a seer like Samanya himself, he saw the oracle inside her, shinning beneath the yellow tint the sickness had lent her eyes. Despite his efforts, she died from the fever, but he was able to contain the spirit and bury it here in the desert, hoping to give her final peace." I gestured towards the ground. "But the myth is, the oracle can be awakened and will grant your question a response."

"And you have a question, I presume? That you must state in exactly eight words?" she said, her voice bordering on the incredulous.

That's my Lizzie; she's got it now.

"That I do, love." I winked.

"Why is it always eight? Pirates and the pieces of eight, oracles with only eight words..."she mumbled to herself.

"Oi!" I called, getting her attention once more. "Put those flowers and beads down and stand back."

She didn't seem surprised at my request and gently placed the flowers and beads along side mine at the grave and walked several paces back.

"Now what?" she called.

"Wait and see, dearie!" I replied, before drawing my boot knife and nicking my arm, letting a single drop of blood fall on the kudu skull.

I could already feel the ground rumbling, shifting, opening underneath me as I ran over to join Lizzie. We turned and faced the gravesite as the ground seemed to boil and a large gaping hole formed. We watched as a pale, translucent form of a young woman seemed to rise from the hole. She was paler than the frailest ghost, and, as Lizzie later phrased it, looked as fragile as spider's silk, but the sense of power that radiated from her essence was staggering. Simultaneously, Lizzie and I fell to one knee before her.

"My essence thou hast brought to be, for thy seek my wisdom of that I see. Draw closer now, and state thy claim, let not thy venture end in vain. A phrase of eight tis desired to let thy answer be acquired. Let the first speak, once and alone, then leave me rest to the dirt and bone." Her voice was light and airy as she stated her prose.

I swallowed hard, feeling a sudden sheen of sweat on my forehead. Must be the heat of the day catching up.

"Great oracle of Charlotte De Berry." I called. "I have my question."

"Proceed." she nodded.

I took a deep breath and looked directly at her. "Where may I find the Fountain of Youth?"

It was in that instant that the storm hit.

ooo

A/N: So...I'm baaaaaaack! Hopefully another update really soon, and reviews would definitely help (nudge, nudge). Cookies to the reviewer(s) who can spot the reference to National Treasure or Interview with the Vampire! And a special prize to the 200th reviewer! If you're the lucky guy/gal, I'll contact you via PM if I can and let you know :) Thanks for reading mates! MUAH! xoxox