Chapter Text
Peter wakes with a startle, in a place completely new. The sky is blue and endless and the birds chirp continuously. The grass is sunbathed and warm underneath his feet, the light flaps at his cape. From where he stands he can just begin to make out the forming of another castle, it is hidden almost completely in the clouds. Above that, he sees a mountain, and at its peak, there is red lighting and a light shining directly into the sky above. It is… threatening, to say the least. All Peter can do is hope he’ll never have to go to that mountain.
That’s what he does. He hopes and continues his journey onward. The ledge he is on drops down to more level ground, there are flowers in different colors. They dot the landscape in little clusters. There is even a small patch of land surrounded by water, not big enough to swim in and definitely not deep enough to submerge yourself in. Peter steps in it, the water is cool but not enough to cause discomfort. A few steps beyond that there are more stone steps, they lead to a cliff, a tunnel of clouds. Peter looks behind him, there is nothing new here. So, with little to no hesitation, he steps off the cliff and flies.
The tunnel introduces him to speeds he didn’t know he could reach, flying through there was… startling to say the least. After his… questionable landing, Peter is met with rolling hills, green grass, and more clusters of flowers. There are even butterflies in the mix. The wind blows so gently that Peter almost forgets it’s blowing at all. There is a dirt path that leads further on, Peter walks in the grass.
He runs, plays with the bright yellow butterflies, watches in awe as the flowers light up when he runs through them. The grass is warm and soft and the air feels amazing. He flies, lands, jumps into clouds and lets the butterflies raise him higher. His laugh, like the grass, rolls over the hills and is swept into the sky above.
When he finally reaches the end of the dirt path, he is out of breath. He is also greeted with a winged light, which he happily takes. His cape flashes and off he goes. Now he can see the next castle clearly, it is higher than he could ever fly on his own. Below the castle, there are four islands, all separated by clouds. The middle one holds a winged light, so Peter goes to that one first. Below, painted onto the rock Peter stands on, there is a painting of a large creature with wings. With circles on it’s left and right wing, there is also a circle in the center. Each circle points to one of the islands. Peter starts from the left and works his way to the right.
At the top of each island hill, there is a white candle, Peter lights them. Once he gets to the third he hears a loud call of an animal. When he turns to see where it came from, he’s lifted off his feet and into the air. Looking down at whatever picked him up, he sees the creature that the call came from. It is white and gold, matching the painting on the rock from before. It calls out again, Peter wonders if it’s calling to it’s kind or just doing it to do it. Then he realizes that the creature of light is taking him to where he couldn’t get before. When he takes flight, the creature calls out again and Peter is thrown higher than ever before, higher than the butterflies, than the clouds. From where he is in that moment of time, Peter can see everything .
When he lands the grass feels the way it always does, warm and soft; inviting. There is a pond underneath the bridge that sits in front of him. He can see the orange glimmer of fish beneath its surface. He walks inside the castle. It is quiet inside. The sun’s light shines down on another statue, its eyes glow a soft blue. Below it is a white candle, he lights it and sits in the circle of light it summons.
Once the light has faded, Peter can hear the flapping of butterfly wings. He looks up to see that there are many above him around him. When he calls out to them they respond, lifting him to the ledge he hadn’t seen when he entered. When he lands the stone is colder than usual. He shrugs it off and continues onward.