12 years ago...

For Tigerlily, the days soon blurred together in one never-ending cycle of pain. Locked into a cramped cell, she quickly lost track of how long she had been away from her home. There could be full days that passed without anyone visiting her, leaving her wracked with hunger pains. Those were the good days, when she was left alone. Other times, crewmembers would stop by every few hours to douse her with a bucketful of ice cold water, forcing her to stay awake so long she started seeing things that weren't there. Even those days weren't terrible. It was the days that Blackbeard visited her that she feared the most, because she knew what was coming next, what always came next: more pain, more water, more suffering.

She had finally managed to drift back asleep after a surprise dousing when she was jerked awake by the sound of a door creaking open. She heard Blackbeard's voice before he stepped through the entrance, and she automatically started to shake, backing into her cell as far as possible. She knew it was futile; he always dragged her out, and he always hurt her. But she hadn't lost her sense of self-preservation—yet.

"Good morning, Princess," he said, with a smile much too chipper for what was about to happen. "Sleep well?"

Tigerlily didn't reply, just watched him warily.

"I hope you did," Blackbeard continued jovially, "since we have a full day ahead of us. Harrison?"

Silent as always, Harrison stepped into Tigerlily's cell and grabbed her wrist in his iron grip, dragging her along behind them as they followed the all-too-familiar route to the interrogation room.

"You're wasting your time," Tigerlily protested wearily. "I've told you everything."

"Oh, I don't know," Blackbeard said with a wink. "You always say that, and you always tell me something else."

Tigerlily winced, shame flooding over her. It was true. She had given Blackbeard valuable information about her people's weapons, weaknesses, organizational structure and more. She had held out as long as she could, but the water always won in the end. Blackbeard always won in the end. Her only consolation was that she had mixed so many lies into her confessions that hopefully the information would be worthless overall.

"Even if you have told me everything," Blackbeard continued, dropping his arm around her shoulders, "we're having too much fun to stop now. So, let the fun begin!"

He motioned to Harrison, who pulled out the water-stained bench. Tigerlily started shaking even harder, full-blown tremors that wracked her whole body and made her teeth chatter. If she'd had anything in her stomach, she would have vomited it up.

Harrison reached for her again, and she shrunk back, words spilling out of her uncontrollably. "No, Harrison, no! Please, not that! No, please!" She knew it was useless to plead—knowing Blackbeard, it probably made things worse. But she couldn't help herself, just as she couldn't help the tears of panic that started to flow. Harrison grabbed her easily, pulling her to the bench as easily as he would pull a kitten. He started to strap her down, but she managed to jerk one hand away and catch his shoulder desperately. "Please don't do this," she begged, staring up at him imploringly. For the briefest second, she thought she saw some speck of compassion in his eyes, but then it was gone, and he caught her hand and strapped her in.

And then the water flowed, filling her nose and her lungs and spiraling her into a black sea of terror. She had once hoped that she would get used to the sensation, but it never happened; every time was just as terrible as before. Every time, the panic welled up inside her as the thought of dying pressed on every side like a collapsing tunnel. This time, it was even worse, because she had no more information to share. Every time Blackbeard let up, she had nothing to give him. What if he kept the water flowing until it was too late?

She heard his voice drifting above her, prodding for more secrets. As unconsciousness threatened to overwhelm her, she thought she heard Harrison start to protest, but she couldn't be sure.

Say something—say anything! her mind screamed. Say something or they'll kill you!

So she did. As soon as the cloth came off her mouth, she blurted the first thing that came to mind: "There's a prophecy about you!"

That caught Blackbeard's attention. "Go on."

"There will be a great warrior who defeats you… We call him the Pan."

Blackbeard motioned for Harrison to un-strap Tigerlily, and he did so. "Where does this so-called 'Pan' come from?" the pirate demanded, grabbing her by the throat and jerking her forward.

"From the love of a fairy and a human girl," Tigerlily gasped out. "He's the joining of two worlds. And—he can fly."

"I don't believe in fairytales," Blackbeard snapped, but Tigerlily caught the flash of fear in his eyes.

"Believe it or not, it will come to pass," she replied triumphantly. "The Pan will come, and he will rid Neverland of you and your kind." A long-dormant ember of hope started to grow within her as she considered the prophecy, and that hope made her bold. "You'll be bested by a boy who can fly, and everyone will see how pathetic you really are."

"Pathetic?" Blackbeard repeated, his mouth curling into a slow grin. "Oh, Princess, it seems I have to remind you who you're dealing with."

He threw her to the floor, and she frantically scrambled to her feet, only for Blackbeard to backhand her so hard that she fell to the ground once again. Before she could stand up, he kicked her hard in the ribs, knocking the breath out of her, and then in the mouth, snapping her head back. Her vision swam, but she managed to shake it off and pull herself to her feet. Blackbeard was on her before she could dodge away, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the wall.

"And do you still think I'm pathetic?" he growled, his face inches from hers.

Tigerlily glared back at him. "Yes."

Blackbeard snarled angrily and threw her against a workbench, where she bounced to the ground. Tools and nails rained down around her. She started to push herself up, but Blackbeard kicked her again, and a hot spike of pain shot through her side. He stomped down on his hand, and she heard a brittle crunch. More pain exploded up her arm, and she couldn't help but scream.

"What's the matter, Princess?" Blackbeard demanded smugly, grinding his boot down harder. "This is nothing you can't handle, right?"

"Go to hell," she ground out.

"Little brat," Blackbeard growled, kicking her again. He kicked her in the stomach so hard that she flipped onto her back, and then he slammed his boot down on her throat. "Beg."

Tigerlily bucked underneath him, frantically trying to suck in air, but none would come. The room started to dim, and her muscles felt like they were pushing through syrup. She couldn't have begged if she wanted to—but she didn't.

"Captain," Harrison cautioned.

"WHAT?" Blackbeard snarled, whirling to face his first mate. The motion removed his boot from Tigerlily's throat, and she rolled to her side, sucking in air desperately.

"We can't ransom a corpse," Harrison stated, the same warning as before.

Tigerlily looked up at the two men, watching them stare each other down. She realized that Harrison had saved her life by speaking up when he did. She also realized, almost at the same time, that the men weren't paying any attention to her anymore. Slowly, she reached behind her and grabbed one of the nails that had fallen to the ground, tucking it into her belt. When she glanced back up, she saw Harrison watching her, and her heart froze in fear. But he glanced away without a word.

"Take her back to the cell," Blackbeard finally snapped, storming out of the room without a glance back at his captive.

Tigerlily pulled herself up shakily as Harrison approached, but her legs collapsed underneath her. Harrison scooped her up in a surprisingly gentle motion, carrying her back to her cell. He laid her on her cot, then backed out and closed the door. As he turned the lock, she finally spoke, her voice hoarse and raw. "Thank you."

Harrison paused but didn't reply, walking out of the room without a look behind.

Tigerlily waited for some time before she tested her legs again. This time, she could stand, though straightening her back hurt and every breath sent a shot of pain through her chest. Slowly, she made her way to the door, instinctively looking around before she pulled out the nail. She slid it into the lock, probing hesitantly. She had no idea what she was doing, but she refused to give up. Minutes ticked by, and she continued to probe and twist and prod and feel and…

Click!

The lock was open.