"Your mother is coming. I can feel it." (Pan)
"What do you mean my mother is coming? My mother is dead! Or have you forgotten? Because you never forgot to blame me for it!" (Gold)
"That's not entirely true." (Pan)
"What do you mean?" (Gold)
"It's time for me to tell you a little story about your mother, boy. And the real reason I had to go back to Neverland." (Pan)
Chapter One
"I was always glad to see her." (Pan)
"Why do you have a smile on your face?" Felix asked Peter Pan.
"It's a full moon tonight." Peter Pan said smiling. "They are coming."
"The girls." Felix said smiling too.
"Mermaids, Felix." Peter Pan corrected him.
"Do you think they'll top the last full moon?" Felix asked excited.
"They always do, Felix. They always do." Peter Pan patted Felix on the back. "Make sure the boys collect enough firewood for tonight. I want the mermaids to enjoy themselves."
"You said she was different. What did you mean?" (Gold)
"She was herself only for one night. Only one night, and it felt like a lifetime until the next." (Pan)
As the full moon rose from the sea, so did Vissa Van and her mermaids. Vissa Van could be described as the tallest of the girls with long black hair. She was the first to set foot on land and you could tell she was the Queen. Though every mermaid behind her was decorated in pearls and sea shells, Vissa looked the best.
Peter Pan and his lost boys waited for the mermaids at shore. A camp fire was set up between the woods and the sea, the fire could be seen from miles away.
"Who are they?" one of Peter Pan's most recent lost boys asked.
"They are the mermaids." Peter Pan answered, on normal circumstances he would be impatient. But full moons always soothed his anger.
"Why are they on land?" the same boy asked.
"On the first full moon in Neverland, a mermaid is granted legs to walk on the shore." Peter Pan said.
The boy would have asked more questions but Vissa Van and her mermaids had reached them. Peter Pan and Vissa Van met each other halfway.
"Queen Vissa Van." Peter Pan said bowing jokenly.
"King Peter Pan." Vissa Van imitated him with a smirk.
"Shall we?" he offered her his arm.
"We shall." she said taking his arm and smiling.
The lost boys and the mermaids followed their leaders to the campfire, soon mixing with each other for the night of fun.
"It was never enough time." (Pan)
"Enough time for what?" (Gold)
"Everything." (Pan)
There were dances around the fire, meals were cooked, and the mermaids shared their new songs and stories with the lost boys.
When the night had reached its peak, a silence fell on the campfire as each leader presented their appeasing gifts to each other.
"To you, the King of the Lost Boys, we give you and your lost boys treasures from other worlds." Vissa Van said clapping her hands as her mermaids brought her a large chest filed with toys, gold, and silver.
Everyone clapped for Vissa Van's gift. All the boys were excited for the time when they would get to use the Queen's gift.
"My gift to you, the Queen of the Mermaids, we give you and your mermaids the finest jewels of Skull Island." Peter Pan said as Felix presented Vissa Van with chest filled with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires.
"Did you collect them yourself?" she asked him.
"But of course." Peter Pan said. "Only the best for the Queen of the Mermaids."
Vissa Van smiled pleased and everyone clapped. "Enjoy yourselves." Vissa Van said to their comrades as she and Peter Pan stood up and left them.
They walked through the woods in silence until they came upon Peter Pan's cabin. They climbed the tree to reach it. They laid down on the white bed as they watched the moon as it moved through the sky.
Vissa Van's head was on Peter Pan's chest, holding each other. "It's not enough time." Peter Pan said holding her close.
"I wish I didn't have to go back." Vissa Van said. "I hate this curse."
"So do I." he said. Only he lied.
"She was cursed, but it was mine to bare." (Pan)
"Are you just talking nonsense? Has your old age gotten to you?" (Gold)
"I only wish it were nonsense." (Pan)
He wasn't surprise that when he woke up, she wasn't there. A sadness lingered in his eyes as his heart returned to stone.
"Pan?" Felix called from below.
"What do you want Felix?" Peter Pan called down in anger.
"It's the day after the full moon, you know what that means." Felix said coming up to the cabin.
"I don't care!" Peter Pan yelled.
"You won't see her again if you don't." Felix said trying to reason with him.
Without speaking, Peter Pan rose from the white bed and climbed down to the tree house. He made his way to Skull Island.
"Where is Peter Pan going?" one of the lost boys asked.
"To Skull Island to talk to the shadows." Felix responded.
"Why?" he asked.
"That is Pan's business." Felix said putting an end to the conversation
Pan returned from Skull Island with the same murderous look he always left the Island after the first full moon. In normal circumstances, Felix would know better than to bother Peter Pan on those few days after the full moon. But he had concerning news.
"What do you want Felix?" Peter Pan asked. He was overlooking the sea from one of Neverland's many cliffsides.
"A ship has landed in Neverland." Felix said.
Peter Pan turned to face him, with surprise in his face. "A ship?" he asked.
"Yes, master." Felix said.
"Did the mermaids have anything to do with it?" Pan asked.
"I don't know…" Felix said looking down with fear. "We've never talked to mermaids outside of the first full moon. You know what they are capable of."
Pan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Are you afraid of mermaids, Felix?" he asked annoyed. Felix nodded ashamed. Pan sighed. "Fine, come with me to the lagoon."
"Do I have to?" Felix asked, fear in his voice hoping that Pan would take pity on him.
"Yes, you do." Pan said cruely.