Barbossa leveled his gaze at young Miss Turner.
She was a lanky, thin, willowy even. She didn't have the muscle mass to overpower a man like Monk, nevermind pulverize his skull with nothing but her bare hands.
It took an effort of willpower to resist rebuking Monk outright for even suggesting something so outlandish. Just about everything about this whole circumstance was outlandish, wasn't it?
Elizabeth was looking at himself and Monk like they'd grown second heads. An understandable reaction to such a wild accusation, but was it a genuine reaction? That was the real question, wasn't it? A real kicker of a question, too.
In a move so swift that even Monk barely registered it until he was always mid-motion, Barbossa drew his blade and swung horizontally at Elizabeth's pretty little neck.
Likewise, Elizabeth only recognized the danger when it was far too late, her eyes widening in shock, one foot lifting to step back, her arms raising in instinctual defense.
Barbossa' sword stopped just at her throat, perfectly controlled such that it only slightly nicked the skin, drawing a small droplet of blood along the edge.
Her slow reaction, her fearful expression, the way she froze as the blade met its mark; all of it spoke of her helplessness. Either she was the greatest actress in the world on top of being a skilling and powerful combatant, or she was so much more skilled and powerful than Barbossa that she saw his attack coming from a mile away.
Neither of those options seemed very likely, and the latter was pointless to even consider. If the latter was the truth, then he might as well simply give up.
"No, it isn't her," Barbossa dismissed, sheathing his cutlass. "She might be a coconspirator, taking revenge for her father, but she cannot be the one who attacked you."
Monk worked his jaw a few times. "I suppose you must be right, Captain."
"That does leave the unsettling truth that there is a hidden actor involved in this, though," Barbossa said, leaving out his suspicion that Monk was simply lying to him. "Keep an eye out."
"Aye," Monk agreed and left to join the others.
When he was gone, Barbossa regarded Elizabeth once more. "It would be best if you fessed up with anything you know now. I could have my ship sunk just out of spite, you know? Leave you and your friend or friends to die here."
"I know nothing, and there is less than nothing I would tell you," Elizabeth almost spat out.
"So be it," Barbossa didn't really believe her, but there was nowhere to go on this little rock in the middle of the sea. If she wants to leave, then she'll tell her secrets eventually.
…
As the Thousand Sunny sailed onwards to find its lost crew members, something terribly odd occurred.
The moon overhead, not quite a full and complete circle of white, suddenly swelled to that state in addition to increasing in relative size. The sea ahead was illuminated by its reflected light and revealed a mass of fog that swirled but did not seem to move in place in spite of the strong head wind.
"This place is giving me the creeps," Usopp moaned, but for once he didn't reject the idea of sailing straight into the apparent danger. He knew that they wouldn't turn back, and he would suggest as much with their absent friends being within already. "Maybe we should slow down a bit? What if we hit some rocks?"
"We're almost there! Speed up, faster!" Luffy declared.
"What if that isn't even where we're going? Maybe we should go around just to make sure?" Chopper suggested.
"Franky, get the paddles out! Charge straight ahead!" Luffy laughed.
"Luffy, that's pointlessly reckless! Cherry won't even be in any danger, and she won't let Will's fiance meet with any either," Nami tried to reason with him.
"Coup de Burst!" Luffy announced.
As much as Will wanted to rush to Elizabeth's side as soon as possible, he wouldn't go so far as to endanger the ship and crew for that purpose. "Captain Monkey, I'm sure we'll be there before we know it. The enemy ship might even ambush us if we throw all caution to the wind."
Having the guy whose lover had been kidnapped be the voice of reason threw Ben for a loop. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
"Oi!" Zoro called from the crow's nest. "I can see another ship approaching from the west!"
Many eyes turned in that direction and, sure enough, there was another ship cresting over the horizon, headed straight for the fog as they were, albeit slower.
Jinbe was peering at it through a telescope when he said, "It looks like one of the local navy's ships."
"Maybe they're here for the same thing?" Franky proposed, using his hands as a pair of binoculars.
"Change course to intercept!" Luffy ordered, this time being heeded immediately as it was far more reasonable than his last few ideas. "Oh, and raise our Jolly Roger!"
"""No!""" chorused the crew.
"How are they supposed to know who we are if we don't raise the flag?" Luffy was genuinely confused.
Will had been a bit shocked to discover that these people actually were pirates. They were all so genuinely kind that he just couldn't wrap his head around it. He thought Luffy had been joking at first, but the younger man had actually gotten angry when Will didn't believe him!
He decided that he didn't care much about that, though. They were helping him save Elizabeth, and that's what mattered.
Will couldn't say the same about that navy ship, however. "Captain Monkey, announcing yourselves as pirates to a navy vessel wouldn't be the wisest course of action. Not only that, it would also implicate myself and young Ben here as pirates as well."
The second sentence stopped Luffy's counter argument in its tracks.
"Being sneaky liars is also a very pirate-like thing to do!" Nami quickly chimed in.
"Hmmmmmm…" Luffy tilted his head as he mulled it over. "I guess…"
A huge collective sigh of relief told Will and Ben that corralling Luffy away from poor decision making was a common occurrence.
The ship began to turn and was soon on course to pass near the other ship before they reached the fog.
…
"What is that ship doing here?" Norrington asked no one in particular.
Naturally, Jack had to answer. "I would imagine for the same reason that we're here. Treasure."
Norrington furrowed his brow in distaste. His ramshackle crew seemed to be of similar opinions, albeit for different reasons. "I suppose we may have more assistance than we bargained for, then."
"They're changing course to intercept us, Commodore," Mr. Gibbs announced.
"At least they aren't complete fools, then," Norrington commented. The last thing they needed was a three-way battle. "Prepare to meet them. Perhaps we can convince them to serve as a distraction for the pirates whilst we sneak into their base to find Elizabeth… and their loot."
That assuaged many of the sour faces adorning the crew, at least. Norrington noted that Anamaria wasn't one of them; she looked beyond annoyed.
"What seems to be the problem, Anamaria?" Norrington asked idly.
"The problem is that you're going to sell our cut to bring those clowns into the deal," Anamaria hissed beneath her breath. At least she had the decency to bring her concerns up privately.
"I intend no such thing," Norrington denied. "Either they already know about the loot, which explains why they're here, or they don't and I needn't reveal that there is any."
Anamaria's frown deepened, but she relented. "See to it that you don't. I'm watching you."
Norrington didn't comment on the implicit threat in that statement.