Fate led Rigel to focus on the Fountain of Youth, in fact, the adventure book already stated that Rigel's destiny cannot be influenced by this world, so it was simply chance.
Rigel had no idea if he could take the fountain, after all, it was a fountain made of natural stone, and in the film, the fountain's effect seemed to utilize its surrounding environment.
Therefore, going directly to the source was stupid.
It was better to first go after a mermaid and also some villains that nobody would care if they died or not, in order to use the fountain.
Mermaids live in the Whitecap bay, so they wouldn't be difficult to find, so Rigel first went after the "Villains" to serve as guinea pigs.
As they sailed, Rigel was pensive, he was still unsure if he wanted to use the fountain.
The first point is his age, he didn't know if the fountain would simply add to his lifespan or if it would keep him as a child for the time he received. Using the fountain now could mean looking like a child for an amount of time that Rigel wasn't willing to spend without his balls dropping.
[A/N: Yep, I did it again.]
The second point, and most important, is that the world of Pirates of the Caribbean is a world full of curses. From the outside, it may seem like just a fountain that takes life from another person, but what if the fountain itself is a curse?
What if the curse isn't seen until it's too late? Something like keeping the souls of each person whose life he stole close by, waiting for the right moment to explode and drag Rigel to hell.
Rigel knew that with magic and achievements, he could find another way to live longer, hell, he could even compete with his 'dear daddy' to get the philosopher's stone as soon as Hogwarts started.
Even though Nicholas Flamel seemed like just an old man who could break bones with a simple touch, Rigel thought that was merely a facade the man used to lessen others' desire for the stone, even if it wasn't, he could find a way.
At the very least, Rigel didn't want to take any risks in a world like that.
If it were his only option, Rigel might really be tempted, but it wasn't, so he could think rationally.
Even though there were advantages to using the fountain, Rigel decided after some thought that it's better not to use it.
When he reached the fountain, he would only take part of the crew to the exact location, if any of them wanted to use it, they could. Rigel would not only not prevent it, but would like to see the effects of this thing for himself.
So, he was still ready to go after the 'villains' and the mermaids, he thought he could try to make a deal with them for their tears.
Capturing a mermaid who was simply living her life was not in Rigel's interest.
Even though he knew he only needed to practice the Cruciatus Curse for a short time to make the mermaid cry, if that didn't make her cry, nothing would.
Now the problem is... what on earth could a mermaid possibly want?
Thinking about this, and feeling that it might be a waste of time to show up without actually being able to negotiate, Rigel picked up the compass again and began to use his Occlumency, his desire was to find something that the mermaids would accept in exchange.
Rigel blinked when the compass pointed directly at him.
Confused, he circled around a bit, but the compass always pointed to him. He didn't think he was really the target, unless it was a group of pedophile mermaids, instead, he knew it was something he was carrying.
His first thought was Triton's Sword, as soon as he drew it from his waist, the compass spun, pointing directly at it.
Another interesting thing was that the compass actually pointed to the sword, which surprised Rigel, since the compass couldn't point to Triton's Sapphires.
Thinking about it for a moment, Rigel came to a conclusion, it was because the sword was in his possession. Perhaps this prevented any "anti-divination" measures from the sword when he was the one searching for it.
Something like the Elder Wand changing hands in Harry Potter, it could be something else, but that's all Rigel could think of.
Rigel stopped thinking about it, he wouldn't give up that sword, so his wish changed, same request, but discarding the Sword.
The compass spun again, pointing away this time. Rigel thought for a moment before shouting to Anamaria, who was playing dice with Elizabeth and Anna. "Anamaria, change course!"
Anamaria looked at Rigel with empty eyes, sighed, and stood up. Not only her, but most of the pirates trembled, their eyes wide and fear growing inside them. Rigel was the type of captain who practically decided on a direction at random, and when he finally seemed to have decided on something, he always led them into trouble.
Thus, the crew learned to expect the worst whenever Rigel asked them to change course.
Elizabeth was the only one who ran excitedly to Rigel, again disrespecting his personal space by placing her face very close to his. "Captain! What adventure are we going on this time?!"
Rigel frowned, turning his face away from the irritating woman, glanced at Will who merely gave him an apologetic smile and sighed.
"I don't know, let's find something the mermaids want." Rigel shrugged.
"Mermaids?! We're really going after mermaids?!" Elizabeth focused completely on one point of his sentence, her excitement evident.
Unfortunately, most pirates froze with wide eyes, the myth of mermaids in this world is truly disturbing.
They drag you to the bottom of the sea to devour you, of course, that was a legend spread by sailors, but the danger didn't lessen because of it.
Mermaids have been hunted for centuries, so instead of simply continuing to be hunted, they learned to fight back. They band together to attack ships, using their voices and beautiful bodies to enchant men, and when the men lowered their guard, they dragged them to the bottom of the sea.
Regardless of legend or truth, mermaids were very dangerous.
However, in the film, a mermaid saved the missionary that Blackbeard had imprisoned. They had never spoken, but the mermaid quickly realized that the missionary was different from the rest of the pirates and saved him. This indicated some kind of power based on feelings, perhaps mermaids were empaths, perhaps they could see the goodness and evil in people, it doesn't matter.
Rigel didn't want to hurt them in the first place.
"Captain, I know Your Excellency is incredibly powerful, but... are we really going after the mermaids?" Pintel approached and asked, with Ragetti, Marty, and George behind him.
Rigel glanced at them, then turned and saw the frightened crew. His eyes narrowed slightly. Although with the power of the pirate hat he didn't need to worry about the future fight, being able to draw courage from these idiotic pirates, he still didn't want to spend the rest of the trip with these guys worrying around.
Although the hat fixed loyalty at 70/100, the fact was that this was not slavery, if any of them wanted to leave the ship and asked to disembark, the effect of the hat would disappear.
Loyalty only guaranteed that, as long as they worked for him, they would keep any thought of betrayal far from their minds.
Rigel grinned, went to the bow, above the pirates' eyes, he jumped onto Jormundgandr's head, pulled Triton's sword out of its sheath and pointed it upwards.
Jormundgandr began to move, turning towards the pirates, the whole ship moved with him, the planks seemed alive, breaking into sharp points and thorns making the pirates scream, one moment the ship was normal, the next it seemed to have become full of sharp scales.
The ropes moved, the sails unfurled, the rudder turned rapidly, changing course to the new direction. Rigel no longer needed crew members, he only kept them working so they would have something to do.
Jormundgandr hissed fiercely, his body piercing the ship through the wood, coiling itself around the mainmast with Rigel still on his head, atop Ragnarok. Rigel stood at the highest point, gazing out at the endless sea before him, waving his sword forward.
The ship gained even more fierce momentum.
"Remember this for me." Rigel's voice reached all the frightened pirates, a glint of ferocity in his eyes, a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth. "The only thing you should fear in this sea... is me."
The pirates swallowed hard before shouting with all their might. - "OOOOOOHH!" - The fear of the mermaids giving way to the recognition that their captain had faced zombies, ghosts, and even demons, emerging victorious from every battle!
"Hahahahaha!" Rigel laughed excitedly, his laughter cutting through the sea around him, all the insecurity he had felt for years, all the repressed fear, as if he had found an escape valve, it all came out in that moment.
He was still far from being able to stand on his own, the figures of Voldemort and Dumbledore still overhead, but at that moment, he mustered the courage to stand up in front of these pirates, that was enough for now.
(A/N: Another week, another free chapter, another replay of 6 bonus chapters, each for 160 Power Stones. lmao)