Happily Never After

Chapter 10: Pirates

Back in Neverland, Pan was corrupted and continued his insanity by murdering lost boys as he saw them begin aging.

Pan was a child who was the product of his mother, Arabelle, being r***d by a pirate who found Neverland by mistake. Arabelle kept the child, so he would be blessed with legs, along with the special gifts of eternal youth and flight. He did age, however, it would take him centuries to even make it to ten years old. This gift had driven him mad. After his mother dissolved into seafoam as all merfolk did when they died, Pan sought after the young girl he had brought to Neverland some time ago. She couldn’t be hard to find, since she retained m memories of Neverland her belief was well intact. Once she was located, Pan opened the barrier between realms and went to retrieve the girl. He crept until he was right behind her.

“Hello, Wendy,” Pan said creepily. Wendy was going to scream, but her mouth was covered by Pan’s sentient shadow. Pan brought Wendy through the tear between realms, but he barely made it back through. Pirates aboard the Empress” Tea had thrown their swords towar Pan, causing him to lose his grip on Wendy. The ship’s captain had the crew sail where Wendy was falling. The captain caught her.

“Don’t make this a habit,” the captain said, setting Wendy down. “It’s been a while, Wendy.”

“You know who I am,” Wendy asked. She couldn’t recall the captain.

“Of course I know who you are,” the captain said. “I was the one who got you out of Neverland as a child. Most people refer me to my father’s moniker, Hook, but the name’s Jessica.”

“Why would they call you Hook?” Wendy questioned, “ You have both hands.”

“It’s because of this,” Jessica said, showing Wendy the chord tied to her belt. “The hook at the end, it was my father’s. It was all that was left when Pan killed him.”

“I’m sorry,”Wendy said.

“It’s not your fault,” Jessica said. “It’s mine.”

“How could it be your fault,” Wendy asked. “You don’t look like you did anything wrong.”

“Because I exist, okay,” Jessica outburst. “Pan and I share a father.” Wendy looked in utter surprise at Jessica’s statement. “Look, what’s important is we get you out of Neverland again. But this time, I’m going to be certain Pan can’t find you.” Jessica grabbed a satchel, filling it with only the necessities before returning to Wendy’s side. “Here, you’re going to need something other than that night dress for this journey.”

“Thank you,” Wendy accepted. Wendy quickly changed from her pale blue lace detailed nightgown into more suitable clothing for the journey ahead of her.

“We can’t go by boat, so Samson, you’re the captain now,” Jessica said. “I don’t plan on coming back, not until Wendy is safe.”

“Thank you all again,” Wendy said, “you’ve all been too kind.”

“So long, pirates,” Jessica said as she and Wendy left to begin their quest.

“So where do we go,” Wendy inquired?

“The same person who found the way out when you were just a kid,” Jessica said, “Tinkerbell.”