Chapter Text
Anna was silent once they had returned to the ship and set sail. Killian had tried to ask her what the hell that was, but she just shook him off, not wanting to explain.
She didn’t even know what had happened.
She was just so angry, and it all happened so quickly. She looked at the amulet in her palm, watching the moonlight glint off carved lines of the skull. I wonder what’s so important about this, Anna thought, turning it over in her hands before slipping it over her neck.
She didn’t know why but she expected something to happen when she put it on. Nothing did.
She shrugged and tucked it away beneath her shirt. Taking a deep breath of cool sea air, Anna willed herself to calm down. She needed to get her emotions under control before they returned to the island.
Killian leaned against the railing next to her, “You want to talk about what happened back there?” his voice was soft, but she knew she wasn’t getting out of this conversation.
She wondered briefly when Killian became her father.
“It all happened so fast. I didn’t-” Anna’s thoughts were racing as she tried to verbalize what had happened when she touched Facilier’s hand. She had to take a moment to gather her thoughts.
“Something about the way he talked just made me so angry, reminded me of-”
“Of Pan?”
Anna looked up at him sharply, but she didn’t say anything.
Killian scoffed, “Anna, I saw the way you acted when he talked to you before. He’s using you for something, you shouldn’t trust him.”
She gripped the railing, “I need him to help find my brother, Killian.”
“I could help you, Anna! We could go right now, we don’t have to go back to the island with this,” He held up a clear bean. Anna’s stomach twisted at the sight of it.
“I have to go back.” She glared at the horizon deep in thought.
She heard Killian sigh, “What was that, when you touched the Doctor? What kind of magic was that?”
Now it was Anna’s turn to sigh, “I don’t know, sometimes when I touch people, I can see into their minds, look at memories?”
“Was that a question or a statement?”
“But it was different this time,” she continued, ignoring him, “He was also there, conscious and talking to me. Usually, I can only watch memories, follow the person where they go, feel what they feel. But this time, we were watching it all together…” She trailed off, looking up to see him looking at her as if she’d grown a second head.
“I don’t know! It’s complicated,” she said with defeat, “I don’t know much about it, it’s kinda new.”
“Oh.”
Anna watched as Killian’s brow furrowed, nodding as he processed the information. Then he pushed off of the railing, reminding her to hold on as he pitched the bean into the sea.
The vortex appeared, the green and purple smoke swallowing the ship and spitting them back out into Neverland waters.
The island lay on the horizon and Anna’s stomach sunk the closer they got. She didn’t notice until then just how tired she was from her travels. Making her way to a stack of crates, she sat and rested her cheek on the cool railing, watching the waves go by.
“Looking a little sleepy there, Anna.”
Anna waved off the voice, “Leave me alo-” She stopped and looked up, recognition dawning on her, “Bae!”
Her brother stood there, clear as day. He looked older now, but it was him, she was sure of it.
She all but threw herself into his arms, afraid if she let go, he’d disappear again. He held her tight to him, feeling the same.
“Is it really you?” She asked and he chuckled, “I’m pretty sure it’s me.”
Then he pulled away and looked at her sternly, “You’re in danger, Anna.”
Anna’s brows knit together, “What do you mean?”
“You have to get off the island and away from Pan,” His tone was heavy and grave as he gripped her shoulders tightly, “he’s dangerous.”
Anna fixed him with a tired look, “He’s gonna help me find you, I can take care of myself.”
Balefire frowned, “I know you can but he’s just stringing you along, you can’t trust him.”
“Then how do I find you? Where did you go?” She pleaded, desperate for an answer at last.
“I’m…in a land without magic.”
Anna almost screamed in frustration, “I was just in a land without magic!”
“Hey, hey. It’s all right,” He cupped her face, forcing her to look at him through glassy eyes.
Warmth spread through her, and she saw gold speckle his brown eyes as she was swept away into a familiar part of the island,
“Find my hideout, you’ll find everything you need there.” He said as vision of a younger him held out a coconut with holes and sucked in the Shadow, “It should take you to the same land.”
She turned to him again, his voice becoming more of an echo as they exited the vision. He was becoming more and more transparent.
“No! No, Bae!” She cried, her heart racing and sinking all at once. She couldn’t lose him, not again. She just got him back.
He tried to grab her arms again, but his hands passed right through, “I’ll see you soon, just get off the island! I’ll find you; I promise!” He gave her a smile that she wished she could return. But she knew the panic was still fresh in her eyes.
Suddenly, Anna was being shaken awake and her eyes fluttered open.
The island was huge before her and Killian patted her shoulder, “Thought we’d lost you there for a moment, love.”
“Fitting for a Lost Girl, I think.”
Another voice from behind her made Anna shiver and she turned, a thin smile on her face, “Didn’t realize I was so tired from the trip, I suppose.”
Peter seemed to accept that and motioned her to follow him off of the ship. She waved goodbye to Killian and trailed behind Peter.
Once they stepped onto the beach, Peter spun around, a wicked grin on his lips, “So, did you get my parcel?” He asked sweetly. Anna nodded and reached into her shirt to produce the trinket.
Peter grabbed for it eagerly, but Anna held it out of his reach. She saw a muscle in his cheek jump as his jaw clenched. She knew he could take it from her if he really wanted to.
But she didn’t care. She needed answers.
“Where is Bae?”
OoOoO
Peter’s jaw clenched as he watched Anna hold the amulet out of his reach. A fire raged in his chest. How dare she?!
“You said if I did this for you, you’d tell me where Bae was.”
He almost snarled at her brazen act, but he just took a deep breath and gave her a tight smile.
A warning.
“That’s what that is for, love. I need it to help me find him.” He held his hand out for the amulet once more, feigning a worried questioning look, “What’s with the sudden distrust, Anna?”
Anna narrowed her eyes, “It was something the Doctor said, he said I couldn’t trust you. So did…” she trailed off.
“Who else said that? Killian? You would really trust a pirate and a stranger from a strange land over me?” He said, careful to not let his anger bleed through. He needed her trust, her belief.
He took a step towards her, “I was there when no one else was, Anna. When you lost your mother, when you lost your brother. I took care of you. You can trust me.” He kept his voice soft and calm even though his insides were burning with anger.
Anna looked unsure but still held the amulet close to her. Peter dropped his hand then, “Fine, a game then.”
“A game?”
He nodded, “A game. If I win, then you have to give me the necklace and stop asking me about your brother.”
Anna gulped, “And if I win?”
Peter grinned, “You get to keep the necklace and I’ll take you to a land without magic so you can find Bae on your own.”
OoOoO
Anna knew it was a trick; there was no way it would be that easy. But then again…Peter never lied to her before. He just wanted to help her.
Right?
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Anna.”
“Be careful, Ms. Annabeth, I may work in the shadows, but He is the real Shadow Man.”
“He’s dangerous! He’s just stringing you along, you can’t trust him.”
All of the warnings flooded her head and her ears as she stared at his open hand, and she clutched the necklace tighter.
A game. A dangerous game.
The ridges of the skull amulet were sharp against the skin of her hand bringing her back to the present.
Peter frowned, “We don’t have all day, love. Do we have a deal?”
Deal. The word sank like a stone in her stomach. Deals always come with a cost and loopholes. That much she knew; she was the daughter of the Dark One after all.
But she could outsmart him, she just had to play it smart.
“What’s the game?”
OoOoO
The game, Peter had decided, was hide and seek.
But there was a catch.
Anna had until sunrise to evade the lost boys and if she did, Peter would take her to a world without magic to search for her brother. And if she didn’t…
Well, she didn’t intend to lose.
A simple cloaking spell would trick the boys easily until daybreak. She could manage that.
It wasn’t until around sunset when Peter grabbed her wrist where the leather band sat that Anna’s heart sank. He squeezed the leather, and it shimmered a dull purple. Immediately, Anna felt weakened, cut off from the magic of island.
Peter grinned wickedly at her wide eyes, “It wouldn’t be a fair game if you were allowed to use your magic, would it?”
Anna felt a heat beat against her chest, stifled and unable to escape. She never felt so hopeless and angry before.
This would definitely put a damper on her plans.
Peter released her wrist and returned to the center of camp, “Alright boys, what do you say we give our lost girl a head start?” he announced, and the crowd of boys hooted and cheered. Felix booed as he shouldered a quiver of purple tipped arrows and glared at her from his place next to Peter.
Anna glared back. She didn’t need magic to take Felix out; she’d done it once before already. But she didn’t like how those arrows looked. She checked her boot for her dagger, relief flooding her when she felt the coolness of the handle.
She caught Peter’s eye, “Get running, Lost Girl. You have until nightfall before your time is up!” He called.
She wasted no time, as soon as the words left his mouth, Anna turned on her heel and sprinted into the jungle. She pushed through the brush as fast as her legs would carry her, the dying light barely lighting the way as she did. She snapped her fingers, but no fire illuminated her hand, and she felt a sting from the leather band.
Anna cursed but squinted in the twilight, determined to make the best of it and figure out a plan as she ran.
A horn sounded behind her and then she heard the hooting a hollering of the lost boys in the distance. They sounded close enough to spur her to run faster, turning back in the direction of the camp, hoping to avoid them by running towards the mountains.
She only hoped the night would pass quickly.
OoOoO
Felix frowned as he watched the boys disappear into the brush surrounding camp in the direction Anna had run.
As much as he hated the girl, he hoped that she would fair well in the games. It would make his job much more bearable; the last thing he needed was to anger Pan by killing his new favorite toy.
He walked in the opposite direction from where they saw Anna run in, thinking like a hunter. He plucked an arrow from his quiver, nocking it. Dream shade. He didn’t have to kill her to win but hurting her just enough to make her wish she were dead. Now that he could get away with.
The thought made him grin as he headed towards the foot of the mountain.
OoOoO
Anna grit her teeth as she climbed the steep hillside, keeping an ear out for any movement as she did. The moon was high in the sky, and she hadn’t seen any sign of lost boys so far. But she knew better than to let her guard down; she didn’t know what tricks these boys had up their sleeves.
She only hoped that if she kept moving until daybreak, she would make it. She leaned against a tree for a moment to catch her breath. Her plan had worked so far, but without any sort of magic, there was no way she could constantly be on the move all night without any rest.
Movement from the corner of her eye made her freeze and she held her breath, straining her ears over the sound of her own pulse. Slowly, she turned her head in the direction of the movement, not seeing anything. But she kept her position, not moving until she was absolutely sure.
A twig snapped to her right, but she didn’t jump or move, weary of some sort of trap. A figure in a dark cloak walked slowly from that direction, unaware of her presence.
Anna flattened herself against the tree, the bark digging into her skin as she watched the figure walk towards another tree and press on its face. The figure wasn’t small enough to be any of the boys but too small to be Felix or Peter. The tree’s trunk swung open in crooked door and the figure made to step inside. The moonlight caught something leaving the figure and made it shimmer: fairy dust.
Anna took a step back in shock, crushing a branch beneath her shoe and the figure whipped around in her direction. She could’ve kick herself. A knife glinted in the moonlight now as the figure stepped towards her.
Anna weighed her options. This obviously wasn’t a lost boy, but could she really hold her own against a fairy with a knife? She wasn’t so sure, especially since she was no longer able to use her own magic. The figure stopped when it was a few paces from Anna’s hiding spot and Anna gripped her own knife anxiously.
“Peter is that you?” a feminine voice asked.
She pulled her hood back to reveal blonde hair worn in a knotted bun atop her head. She was too far to really get a good look, but Anna could tell she had the pinched and heightened features that all fairies had back in the Enchanted Forest. She didn’t think she’d see one on Neverland.
But she didn’t act like any other fairy she had seen before; she was very hostile if the knife were any indication. And if she’d been on Neverland long, she had every right to be. This place did nothing but radiate anxiety and confusion for Anna; she couldn’t imagine what it would do to a fairy.
The fairy took another step towards her, and Anna prepared herself for combat when,
“Hello, Tinker Belle.” A familiar smooth voice came from the other side of the fairy’s hideout. Peter stepped out from behind the tree and the fairy, Tinker Belle turned towards him,
“Do you get some sick pleasure out of scaring me?” She hissed, lowering her dagger but not putting it away.
Peter chuckled, “I can’t pay a visit to my favorite fairy?” His tone was light, but the familiar edge was there.
Tinker Belle scowled in the low light, “I’m not a fairy anymore. What do you want?”
“Just wondering if you had seen anything out of the ordinary in your neck of the woods tonight?”
“Why? Did you lose your new toy already? Did she escape your lost boys?” She teased, but Anna could see Peter flinch.
She’d never seen him flinch like that before.
Peter was quiet for a moment, then,
“If I find out that you helped her in any fashion, I’ll make you regret it.” His voice was soft but firm and it sent chills down Anna’s spine.
Then he was gone in a puff of green smoke.
Tinker Belle stepped back, reeling from his threat. Anna gulped, longing to turn into smoke of her own but the weight at her wrist stopped her. That’s right, the bracelet. She wanted to curse in frustration.
“That’s all the assistance you’re getting from me. I’m not getting on his bad side for you, sorry.” Tinker Belle’s voice snapped Anna back to the present. The fairy was looking at her hiding spot before turning to go into her treehouse. Then all was still.
After a few moments, Anna stepped out of her hiding spot and started up the hillside once more, eager to put some distance between the fairy and herself. She was grateful for her help, but the threat hung in the thick jungle air and Anna wanted to conquer one threat at a time.
Once she was far enough away, she stopped again to catch her breath and to figure out what her next move was. She wasn’t sure if could just keep moving all night. If only she could use her magic.
She hated being helpless.
“Think outside the box.”
The voice was familiar, but it didn’t come from the jungle surrounding her.
“Papa, why do I have to read about all these old runes and potions…”
She pulled the memory from the recesses of her mind. It was from years ago when her father was originally teaching her magic.
Anna let her head drop into her book, hoping the information would just absorb into her skull. Rumple frowned and tapped the table firmly,
“Interesting study tactic, Annabeth. Head up now!” She groaned but sat up, her eyes scowling at the page. Runes and symbols she didn’t recognize decorated the ancient pages.
“Now, what is the rune for strength?” Her father asked, chalk in hand by the board.
“Ugh, Papa why do I have to read about all these old runes and potions when I’ve never seen you use them. I want to do the magic that you do!”
Rumple looked disinterested in his whining daughter and set the chalk down, “You have to be able to understand how the old ways of magic worked so you can make the magic that we use internally work, Dearie.”
“But this looks more like a language.” She complained.
“So is magic. Magic doesn’t just happen, Dearie, you have to negotiate with the magic that surrounds you, the magic that exists in the world every day.” He chuckled and snapped his fingers, creating a flame.
“Someday, you’ll be able to negotiate quicker and without runes.”
Anna smiled despite herself. Runes, of course. She didn’t know why she didn’t think of it sooner.
Where there was magic, runes held power. She remembered reading that one didn’t need any magical connection to make runes work, just intention. It was an old form of magic and she’d only had mediocre success at best with them in the past but, it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Anna found a tree in a small clearing with a hollowed-out bottom. Perfect. She then took her knife and carved a vertical line with two shorter lines coming off of it to form a triangle; Protection. She pressed her palm onto the rune and closed her eyes, visualizing a calm and safe home.
For a while, nothing happened but Anna kept her eyes closed and her mind calm. Then, a soft wind rattled the leaves above her and she felt a strange energy flutter through her, and her eyes snapped open. A thin white veil of energy covered the tree and spanned the entrance to her new hiding spot.
She hoped this would be enough to keep her safe until sunrise, but something in her twisted at the thought. Doubt.
This is just supposed to be a survival game…then why do I feel like I’m sealing my fate by hiding?
The anxiety in that thought stopped her, the warm wind that ruffled her hair did nothing to alleviate her stress and she thought she heard-
“Game over, Annabeth.”
She didn’t have to turn around to see the arrogant smirk on his face, she could hear it in his voice. And she hated it.
She turned slowly anyway to see exactly what she was dealing with. Peter stood at the other end of the clearing, grinning. In the moonlight, his handsome features were sharp and monstrous, sending shivers down her spine. In that moment, Anna didn’t think, she just ran. She sprinted up the hillside and away from him.
She could hear his footsteps behind her as she pushed passed the remaining brush, part of her wondering why he was playing fair and not using his magic. Her heart pounded in her ears and the sharp thorns of the brush cutting through her skin though she barely felt them. She allowed the adrenaline to overtake her senses and just ran.
But just as she broke through the tree line, she came out to a dead end. The cliff ahead of her dropped off directly into the lagoon below. She kept running, not planning to stop. But something pulled her back just as she was about to throw herself into the abyss.
Peter yanked hard on her braid before she could reach the edge and they both tumbled onto the rocky ground. She pushed against his pull all she could, but he was much stronger than she though he would ever be.
Even though her skin touched his, no visions came, the leather band rubbed angrily at her wrist with every movement. The amulet, however, bounced around, hitting her chest heavily once she pushed herself away from him. Anna struggled to her feet just as Peter did the same. The amulet seemed to hum in time with her pulse in her ears and she grabbed it in her fist just as he ran at her once again.
As if controlled by another force, Anna thrust the skull pendent into Peter’s face, scratching his cheek. The lines in the skull glowed a brilliant red as the boys’ blood was absorbed and a familiar hum of energy coursed through Anna’s veins.
Images flooded her brain. Not like the visions she was use to, these flashed and zoomed passed her quickly. Skull Rock, its cliffs engulfed in shadows and mist. A golden hourglass that was almost empty inside of a cave.
A boy.
Not a lost boy at least not one that she had met. Brown hair and familiar hazel eyes that danced with innocence. He radiated warmth and a golden sheen that pulled Anna in; she felt a pull to protect this boy. He was in danger.
Peter stood in front of this boy and thrust his hand into his chest, pulling out a golden beating heart. Anna’s own heart dropped into her stomach as the boy fell to the ground.
“Henry…” The name came out in a breath, unfamiliar and familiar all the same.
Before she could react to these images, they were ripped from her sharply as a jagged, radiating pain shot through her and she fell to the ground on the cliffs’ edge, back in the breaking dawn.
Her eyes focused just long enough to see Felix lower his bow at the tree line’s edge. He looked pleased with himself.
Dream shade.
She fell backwards onto her back to see the glowing pink and orange streaks that painted the sky as night gave way to morning.
She was so close.
Peter Pan’s face appeared in her blurry vision as he ripped the necklace from her neck and his words echoed in her ears as the poison pulled her into the painful, writhing darkness,
“Peter Pan doesn’t lose.”