I was surrounded by vast, thick jungle. Jack and Kate had disappeared, I looked behind me and the wall had disappeared too. This place was beautiful, the plants were a luscious green with vibrant flowers clustering on the stems. The trees were taller than the skyscrapers I'd seen in pictures of New York City. The sky was darkened by night, the stars shining brightly and the moon larger than back home, it was as if it was in touching distance. The smell in the air was damp from the forest. I walked a bit further and I could hear the sea as well as smell the sea salt in the air. I stood there for a moment taking it all in. It then hit me; where was anybody? This island seemed deserted. Kate and Jack couldn't have got that far. Another thought crossed my mind; how would I get home?
'What are you doing on our part of the island Pirate?' I heard behind me, I whirled around to see a boy my age. He had dark brown hair, in rough curls, thick black eyebrows and black eyes to match. I looked at his clothes; Brown leather boots, tight trousers and a shirt with a snug dark blue jacket. 'Well?' He snapped, he seemed angry and his sword was drawn. But I wasn't a pirate, I shouldn't be intimidated.
'I'm not a Pirate!' I said to him and he stepped closer, raising the sword.
'What are you?' He asked.
'A person.' I retorted.
'Name?' He demanded.
'Eden Rebecca Booth. Yours?' I asked.
'My name is none of your concern Miss Booth.' He glared.
'That's not fair, I gave you mine!' I exclaimed.
'Twins who is it?!' Someone shouted appearing out of the trees. A boy with blonde, almost white, curly hair came out of the foliage, he was dressed in the same attire. 'Pirate?'
'I'm not a Pirate!' I repeated.
'She's Miss Eden Rebecca Booth, Curly.' This Twins guy mocked.
'Oh! How posh!' "Curly" laughed.
'Listen here! I'm just looking for my brother!' I shouted and they stopped laughing.
'Who's he?' Twins asked.
'Jack Booth, he's with a girl called Kate Hook and they were talking about a ship.' They both shot me daggers. 'What?'
'You're not a pirate you say, and yet your brother knows Kate Hook, daughter of Captain James Hook.' Curly said and there was a long pause.
'I didn't know she was related to this captain! I don't even know who the Captain is! I just want to know where they are!' I defended and Twins grabbed my arm roughly.
'Listen Miss Booth, tell us the truth, where are you from?' He growled.
'The South of England.' I winced as he dug his nails in at my mention of those words.
'How did you even get here, mortal?' Curly asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
'I followed my brother through some entrance in a wall. And "mortal"? What?' I frowned.
'We are all immortal, we'll stay this age forever, and you will not age either while you're here. However you're not a true immortal like us, you're a mortal who has stumbled into our land somehow.' Twins finally gave a straight forward answer. 'Curly, I believe Peter would want to deal with her.' I felt slightly scared, who was this Peter guy? He sounded intimidating.
'Yes, he'll know what to do.' Curly agreed and he grabbed my other arm, they began dragging me along with them.
'Where are you taking me?' I looked up at Twins.
'The Palace.' He replied.
'Are you two guards?' I asked and they both laughed.
'No…' Curly chuckled.
'You could give me answers instead of laughing at me all the time!' I spat.
'I wouldn't use that tone with Royalty.' Twins smirked at me.
'Royalty? You're royal?' I gaped.
'Yes, two out of the six princes.' Curly said.
'Princes?' I raised my eyebrows. 'Is Peter a King?'
'No, he's just a higher status Prince than us.' Twins answered.
'What are your actual names? I'm guessing those are your nicknames.' I tried to be polite, maybe they'd be more reasonable and not lock me in a dungeon.
'Like I said, none of your concern.' Twins smiled arrogantly and I looked down as I walked with them. 'Home sweet home.' I looked back up and we were in front of a vine woven palace, bigger than any of the building back home, maybe a bit smaller than Buckingham Palace but far more extravagant. They led me up the steps to the palace's golden doors. The guards recognised them and let us through.
'Intruder?' They asked the princes and they nodded. We walked through vast, never ending hallways, eventually we got to even more gold doors. They opened one and revealed a luxurious ballroom. A chandelier hung from the tall ceiling that was painted with cherub artwork, white marble floors and there was a row of six thrones at the end of the room, there were four boys stood by the thrones conversing with each other and they, again, seemed my age.
'Peter, we have a… dilemma.' Curly called out. Four boys turned around from talking to each other. One of them was muscular, blue eyes and sharp spiked brown hair, there was a shorter one, slightly chubby and chestnut eyes, then a freckled boy with brilliant deep red hair. They were all dressed in the same outfits as Curly and Twins. I guessed the boy in the slightly different outfit was Peter. I felt foolish that I was scared of him. He was not muscular at all, he was rather thin and scrawny, long legs and slim torso. He had a sweet cherub face, blue eyes, pink lips and dark blonde hair, everything about him was beautiful. He was dressed in a longer coat to the others that was bottle green with golden buttons. He looked at me up and down with his baby blue eyes and pursed his lips, putting his hands on his hips and circling the three of us like a vulture.
'Pirate?' He asked them when he got back to standing in front of us.
'For the last time, I'm not a Pirate!' I yelled and Peter looked shocked at my outburst.
'She's talkative.' Curly laughed.
'And opinionated, abrupt, asks lots of questions-' Peter silenced Twins.
'Why is she a dilemma? She's not a Pirate?' Peter asked.
'Mortal.' That was all Twins had to say to turn Peter's cherub face dark and his blue eyes ice cold, all the other boys sucked in a breath.
'How did you get here?' He ordered.
'I followed my brother through a portal. He was with Kate Hook, if that has importance to you.' I said, knowing it did and Peter looked stunned. 'I have no use to you, he doesn't know I'm here. Can I go home? You can wipe my memory or whatever you so called "immortals" do.' I shrugged.
'There is no way home.' The red hair boy answered.
'What? No my brother has visited before and he can-'
'No, Nibs is right. He's with Pirates. They have the only way out, and in apparently.' Peter mumbled.
'So… I'm stuck here?' I whispered.
'Unless you would want to be killed by Pirates trying to get out.' Twins said. Peter rubbed his fingers against his temple.
'Why did we have to be burdened with her?' Peter sighed.
'Hey!' I protested.
'What will people say when they find out there is a mortal in the Palace?' Peter shook his head in dismay. 'Just, put her in the dungeon for now. I'll decide what to do later.' He waved his hand to give the order.
'Peter!' The muscular guy chirped up. 'It's not her fault she's here, and she's probably scared as it is. Throwing her in a dungeon would be stupid and cruel.' He walked over to me and took me out of the grip of Twins and Curly. He put a comforting arm around me. 'I won't allow it, she should be treated as a guest, we have plenty of rooms.' He justified.
'You take care of the filthy mortal if you so desperately want to.' Peter growled and stormed out of the ballroom.
'Well done Slightly.' Curly muttered sarcastically.
'I refuse to let someone innocent be thrown in a dungeon.' He retorted.
'But she's a mortal.' The chubby one said.
'Don't be narrow minded like everyone else Tootles.' Slightly sighed and hooked his arm under mine. 'I'll escort you to your sleeping quarters.' He led me out of the ballroom swiftly. I was glad for this Slightly guy, without him I'd be alone in a dungeon and shown no kindness. He took me up so many stairs, twist and turns that I began to feel dizzy. Finally we got to a row of doors. He opened the first one and he took me inside. The room was a delicate cream colour with a large bed covered in soft, pale furs. There was also a wardrobe, book shelf and a dresser. 'Will this do?' He asked.
'It's beautiful… Thank you as well. If it wasn't for you I'd be sleeping in the dungeon.' I mumbled.
'Ignore Peter, he's touchy about your kind.' He said. 'I never caught your name?'
'Eden Rebecca Booth.' I replied.
'That's a lovely name, my full name is Xavier Slightary, or Slightly as everyone calls me.' He shrugged.
'You're the first person to give me their full name.' I chuckled. 'All of you boys down there are Princes yes?' He nodded. 'Shouldn't you have Princesses or something?'
'They should have a Princess.' He smiled.
'Oh, you have a Princess already?' I asked and he chuckled. 'What?' I smiled.
'Um, I don't have a Princess and I'm not looking for a Princess.' He said and I was confused.
'You're just happy to be independent and single?' I asked and he laughed a bit more.
'No, no, I'm looking for a Prince.' He replied and I finally caught on.
'Oh, sorry I didn't realise.' I shook my head.
'It's fine.' He smiled.
'Well, where is your Prince?' I said.
'I'm still looking.' He said.
'He'll be lucky, you're very kind.' I complimented, he smiled but then it faded and he looked back at me.
'Look, everyone on this island is brainwashed to believe that mortals, like you, are not good people. You'll get a lot of people like those idiots downstairs.' He shook his head. 'Peter had this thing with mortals and he hates them, so does the rest of this island.'
'All because of Peter?' I asked.
'Yes, Twins is just as bad if I'm honest and Curly, you were unlucky they were the ones to find you.' Slightly sighed. 'Well, I shall leave you to sleep, you've had a long day. I'll send someone up to you for breakfast, these hallways get confusing.' He laughed and I nodded.
'Thank you again.' I quickly said before he left and he smiled, shaking his head. He closed the door and I was alone. I wouldn't be able to go home for a long time. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, maybe this was a dream and I'd wake up at home in my own room.