Pirates of the Caribbean:

The Blessing of Poseidon

Prologue

A long time ago, the gods Poseidon and Calypso ruled the seas together.
Perpetually angry, cruel beings they were, and many a good ship was lost to
the bottom of the sea from their storms. Both fell in love with mortals, and
an age passed. Calypso was confined to her human prison in betrayal, and
the better-tempered Poseidon was left to rule the seas alone.
A hundred years went by with cycles beginning and ending, and Poseidon
himself fell in love with a mortal woman. He kept her with him in his
underwater palace, but she was unhappy. One day, the great god asked her,
“What is it that makes you so unhappy, Coral,” for that was her name. The
lovely Coral, who had eyes like the sea, answered thus, “My love, these
sailors that traverse your domain offer thanks and praises to you, yet you
sink them still with terrible tempests. For my love, I would ask you to take
pity on them. I would offer my life in exchange, to you.”
The god thought on this for a long while, and his lovely Coral was preserved
by his powers. He came to her one day, and said, “You are mortal, and
someday, you must die. When that day comes, I will turn you into a beautiful
stone, and your fair spirit shall be its guard. This coral will be a reminder to
me of my promise to you: as long as you hold our love in you, and as long as
the sailors above remember me, they shall not perish from storms at sea.
This is my bargain made with you, and I hope that it satisfies you.”
Coral agreed to his terms, and they lived a long time as husband and wife,
but all good things must come to an end. Coral died, and Poseidon kept his
promise. She was turned into a beautiful blue piece of coral, as sparkling and
fair as the sea that she had loved in life. For a long time, she kept their love
in her heart, and Poseidon visited her every day, while prayers and thanks
came to him from the world above.
Another century and a half passed with only a few hurricanes, and the great
sea god was forgotten by those sailors above. Their prayers stopped coming,
and their sacrifices were no longer given. Poseidon grew angry, but Coral’s
spirit, who still loved him, kept his terrible temper at bay.
Then the worst happened.
The piece of coral was stolen. A seafaring hero, one that supposedly admired
Poseidon, was invited to his palace with good grace. The next day, the hero
was gone and Coral along with it. This last act of treachery loosed Poseidon’s
anger, and he made a vow: Until Coral was returned to him, no year would
go by with a loss of less than one hundred sailors from storms at sea.
There was something else, however. That day, Poseidon made another vow:
if Coral was found and returned to him, the crew of the ship who did so
would be granted the gifts of eternal life, and freedom to roam the seas
forever with his ship and crew, as a Lord of the Seas.
For a hundred and fifty years, sailors, sea creatures, and land-men alike
searched for Poseidon’s lost trinket. It was never found.

“What be our headin’, Cap’n?” Gibbs followed as the captain walked to the
wheel, staring at his compass. “That way,” Captain Jack Sparrow said,
pointing in a generally eastward direction, and Gibbs grinned. “Ah, of course.
Tortuga!” Jack smiled. “Aye, Tortuga. We be in need of a crew, mate, since
that last one decided to up and leave when they realized they were aboard
the Pearl. You know, for all that we pirates are a brave bunch, we’re highly
superstitious.” Gibbs nodded, glancing down a bit.
“Aye, Cap’n. It be a miracle Anamaria were here to help out, or we’d be stuck
back at that godforsaken place with no way out.” They both shivered, and
Jack turned the wheel, adjusting for the wind. “I heard my name mentioned.”
Anamaria walked to the wheel, a smile on her face. “Where be we goin’?”
Jack looked at the compass. “Tortuga, with a favorable wind. Three days,
says I.” He gave the wheel to Anamaria, and stood off to the side. Gibbs
followed his gaze, and mused, “Tis a beautiful sunrise, Cap’n.” Jack smiled.
“Yes, it is.”

Barbossa looked out at the same sun Jack had seen a few hours earlier. “Mr.
Scrum! How far be we from our destination?” The man on the wheel
shrugged. “You ain’t seen fit to grant me that information, sir!” Barbossa’s
eyes rolled. “Tortuga, ye daft sailor. How far be we?” Scrum thought for a
moment, knowing the island they’d just passed. “Two days, I believe, Cap’n.
Two days to Tortuga.”
Jack looked out at the horizon, a phenomena that he’d always admired. It
was freedom to him, that edge of the world that he’d never reached, and
that’s where he looked to for guidance. Gibbs walked up and stood next to
him, seeing the same horizon, the same sunset, and yet he didn’t. “There be
a storm comin’, Mr. Gibbs,” Jack looked at his compass, and it pointed
straight towards Tortuga. “And I’m disinclined to let it sink me.”

Far away from both pirate captains, on a small little island in the middle of
the sea, Angelica sat on the shore. As the waves moved in and out, she
thought. She dwelled on her father’s death, and what she would do to Jack
Sparrow if she could get him. Just then, she noticed a small dark spot in the
incoming wave. Curious, she stood, walking over to the small thing. As she
neared, it became clearer what the object was, and when she finally reached
it, she smirked. “Oh, Jack, you had better watch yourself.”
It was the voodoo doll. Angelica began to plan…. She knew she would get
him to come and get her. She knew he would know exactly who it was that
caused him such pain. She wanted him to feel the pain he had caused her.
Every. Little. Bit.
And he would. Captain Jack Sparrow would pay for what he had done. He
would pay, and then she would be free.