Everything changed the day Peter brought Felix to Neverland. He was older than all of the other Lost Boys, more difficult to control, and he hated Mercy – a feeling that she returned. The boy had no respect for anything other than Pan, whom he became entirely devoted to from one day to the next. Blinded by his own pride, Peter did not see the problem Felix might represent. The younger ones were in awe of the new boy who was so much taller, stronger, so much older. Mercy seemed to be the only one wary of him. And before she could think about it too hard, she was lurking in the shadows, looming over Pan's shoulder to make sure Felix didn't try anything.
Why on earth did she feel entitled to protect him? When has she stopped being the one who meant him harm? At some point in her life Mercy plotted against Pan, she was willing to hurt any and all Lost Boy who stood between her and her freedom.
"Pick up the sword," Pan instructed, circling the new boy and sighing impatiently. He was an obtuse student, it was hard to get through to him. "Again!"
Felix dived forward, throwing his entire body towards Pan and tripping when Pan disappeared, only to reappear behind Felix's back, laughing humorlessly.
"Not good enough, you need to think before making your move."
Mercy couldn't help the scoff that escaped her lips, surprised by the powerful feeling of disdain that overwhelmed her. She knelt down on a branch to get a better look. She would swear Peter's eyes glanced towards her, but there was no telling since he did not change this behavior in the slightest. He simply resumed his personal training – when he had told Mercy that their training sessions would become more scarce because he wanted to take charge of the new one too, she went out of her mind angry and advising him to be careful, that she didn't trust him.
"Oh so I take it this means you trust me?" Peter had asked her, effectively making her stop talking and blush. Mercy was just about to start screaming again when Pan continued, "You wound me, Mercy. Thinking that some village boy would defeat me." He had walked around Mercy and leaned over her shoulder to whisper a quick "Peter Pan never fails," before vanishing.
And now he was training him like he did for her, while Mercy observed from higher up in a tree, fighting off the foreign feeling swelling up in her chest and making her hands shoot little sparks. Whatever it was she was feeling, it was strong enough to set off her magic without her consent.
"You're slow!" Peter complained, apparently still not satisfied with Felix's performance.
The boy was taller than him, but he didn't know how to fight efficiently. He used brute force, thought it was enough to knock anyone out. He refused to take Pan's advice and kept attacking again and again using all his strength but never hitting Pan, who was swift and sly. He barely moved, merely stepping out of the way, just enough to dodge the attack.
From her nest box, Mercy saw all the flaws in Felix's strategy – or lack thereof. He held the sword with both hands, at arms' length – he was too rigid, not pliant enough, if Peter was to attack him he wouldn't be able to deflect the blow. He did not use his surroundings to his advantage. Not that Mercy did perfectly when she first came here, but she always knew how to use everything around her to serve her purpose. Maybe it was simply a side-effect of being a girl, while Felix probably never had to worry about that – she didn't know how old he was but she figured he must be around sixteen, Peter never chose them older than that, so he must be the tallest boy of his age wherever he used to live.
"Mercy!" Peter suddenly called her, interrupting her train of thought. "Come down here." She didn't hesitate to jump down the branch however high it was; she used magic to absorb the impact.
"I thought this was a private session," Felix growled.
"You can't hide anything from me, better get used to it," she said with a smile that only made it sound more threatening.
"Claws back, tiger," Peter murmured as he placed himself next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Our new member here needs to see what fighting really looks like."
Without deeming it necessary to give her a warning, Peter began to attack, sending a treacherous blow to Mercy's knee and making her collapse. However she blocked out the second blow that was meant for her face. She grabbed Peter's wrist and pulled it downwards before swooping his right foot off to make him lose his balance – he was sufficiently taken aback to stumble a bit and lean down but he did not fall to his knees like Mercy had hoped.
"See? She knows I'm stronger than her, so she finds weaknesses in my defense and exploits them," Peter live-commented their fight for the by stander who huffed, unwilling to admit that a girl did better than him. But the fight was barely started.
Before Pan could say another word in his condescending voice, Mercy struck. She executed a feint, and while Peter protected his side, she hit him right in the sternum, momentarily depriving him of his breath. Peter stumbled back and Mercy took these few seconds of confusion on his part to circle around him, like he did to others – a technique of intimidation and disorientation he loved to use and use again. When she had him where she wanted Peter gasped for breath, a crooked, satisfied smirk plastered on his infuriatingly playful face.
Mercy had no idea whether Pan smiled throughout the whole fight because he was absolutely certain to kick her ass without so much as breaking a sweat, or if he did it to infuriate her and make her give a hundred percent. Only Mercy never gave a hundred percent during training. She wanted to keep that for when she would have to actually face Pan, keeping to herself what she was really capable of for the day when Peter and her would not be on the same side anymore.
Pan materialized a blade, no more than twelve inches long and curved. Mercy jumped back just in time, hearing the blade swoosh by her stomach – it nearly hit its target, she would have been left with an open wound running all across her stomach.
"Cheater!" Mercy barked at Pan.
She took the opportunity of him smiling smugly, no doubt about to remind her that there were no rules on Neverland, to attack him in return. She had spotted a low branch hanging not to high above their heads earlier and in one skillful move, Mercy jumped up, holding onto the thick branch and swinging herself toward Pan, hitting him in the chest with both feet. She then climbed on top of the branch, situating herself higher and out of reach for her opponent.
"Well played, I'll give you that," he commented after spitting out some dirt. It was Mercy's turn to smirk proudly, reveling in the fact that she put Pan down, seeing him laying in the mud - even for the a second - was priceless. "Don't be too confident though."
Pan raised two fingers then lowered them. Mercy felt the pull of gravity before her brain processed what she saw. With a loud crack and the ruffle of leaves, the branch detached from the tree and fell down, along with Mercy. She landed badly, her lower back landing on the branch – she was sure to get a nasty bruise after that.
"No more magic now," Peter instructed. "I promise," he vowed, raising his right hand in good faith.
Except Mercy knew this trick, and before he had the chance to attack again, she rolled to the left, making Felix step back – she had forgotten about him. She was right and as soon as she moved, Peter's magic manifested itself in a multitude of roots and crawling plants grew out of the ground and reached for her where she previous lied. Mercy jumped to her feet. While Peter stood a few feet away from her, Mercy regained her breath. She realized her lip was bleeding – did she bite it by accident when she fell from the branch?
"The newbie won't learn anything if you keep using magic to avoid the actual fight," Mercy provoked Peter, earning a displeased scowl. "What is it Pan? You taught me so well you're afraid to face me in a fist fight?"
Of course she was foolish to think that she could trick the trickster with this poor attempt at pushing his buttons, he saw it coming from miles away. But he appreciated the effort, he knew it would work on most people – for example, on their new friend Felix who was unbelievably quick-tempered.
"All talk, no action," Peter provoked her right back, smirking again when he saw Mercy's left eyebrow twitch – a sign of anger he had come to understand.
The next half hour was spent like this – Mercy and Peter panting and fighting like it was some elaborate dance. They never quite hurt each other but never gave up either. Each of them waiting, hoping that the other would recognize their superiority in hand to hand combat or at least acknowledge their skill in Mercy's case. She wasn't naive enough to think that Pan taught her everything he knew – if he was so much as half as intelligent and wry as he thought he was. She would do the same, and was aware of her position of inferiority in this situation. However it didn't mean that she had no chance; she was stubborn, determined, and strong. Even Peter knew that he had to watch out for her, especially since she began to learn magic.
After the first few failed attempts she almost gave up, but now that she got the hang of it she didn't stop progressing, quickly, very quickly.
When Mercy was sore and her strength slowly left her, Pan dismissed her, congratulating her as he led her away from their small training spot in the forest. He waited until he was out of eavesdrop to give the first compliment. Felix shouldn't expect the same treatment, Mercy was an exception, a rarity deserving of every last praise he deigned throw her way, like a bone to a dog.
That was what he repeated himself daily, though he could not find the analogy more poorly chosen when he met her eyes – her hopeful, sparkling eyes. He had noticed her change of attitude of course. Where there used to be contempt there was now respect. For some reason she had taken a liking to him, and now embraced her life on Neverland, no longer waiting in the shadow for the opportunity to stab him in the back to arise. The reason behind this sudden change was unknown to him, but he did not complain.
He liked the girl. She was fine in every possible way. Silver tongued, delicate, clever, ruthless, eager to learn, unyielding – he could go on forever. She slowly earned her spot of second in command – Pan made her shed sweat, blood, and tears for it, but he knew she would access to the position as soon as he laid eyes on her. It had always been her spot. Peter didn't need a second in command in the first place.
"Why are you looking at me like this?" Mercy asked, bringing Pan back on earth.
"Can't I admire what's mine?" He asked, grinning smugly and looking down at her with a mischievous glimmer in his green eyes.
"Me? Yours?" Mercy scoffed. "In your dreams!"
She turned on her heels and walked back to camp, leaving Pan to his tough teachings and his new pupil. He did not return to Felix right away but watched his Lost Girl strut away, somewhat rigidly because of the beating she took, but her chin high. He laughed silently as he watched her disappear in the woods.
"Precisely, my little tiger. Precisely."
000
Disgruntled and wounded in his ego, Felix ran back to camp a lot more quickly than usual. By now Peter must have found out about the surprise the Shadow dropped at the camp, the three newcomers among which a girl no less. They had never had a girl at camp other than Mercy – after a while Pan's appearances as the Pied Piper in the Enchanted Forest became more scarce, he delegated the task of bringing new Lost Boys to the Shadow. It never brought anything by young boys, Felix being the notable exception since he was older than most of them. But Peter was the only one who picked a girl – who picked Mercy.
Damn this girl, damn her arrogance, and her ability to plague Pan's mind even decades after last seeing him. What else could Felix do to make Pan focus back on the Lost Boys? What could make him forget this demon-girl haunting his every waking moment? He needed to get his priorities straight, he was letting Neverland wither away, slowly gained by shadow and obscurity because he could not get over his sorrow.
If he had a chance to win this fight, Felix would have tried to kill Mercy, but she was a better fighter from day one. The memory of Mercy and Pan's lethal dance during one of his – wannabe – private training sessions still burned in his mind. It was a humiliation he knew he would never forget. After that he tried to listen to Pan's instructions more attentively, but while he progressed in sword fighting, Mercy learned to master the art of magic, growing more powerful with each of Pan's teachings.
Then again, he could understand that a part of Pan was obsessed with the girl, she was one of a kind. Even Felix had a heart, and a soft spot for a person in particular. If anyone were to discover it, he would suffer great consequences.
His feet finally reached the camp and whispers erupted on his way, the other Lost Boys giving him worried or pitiful glances as he strutted towards Pan who was standing back to him. He was in for a world of trouble.
"Oh, someone finally decided to grace us with his presence," Pan snickered without even turning around. "Not too soon."
Felix had to bite his tongue to not drop a cutting remark about his delay having something to do with his being trapped inside a tree. He did not apologize either since Lost Boys weren't allowed to say sorry.
"What can I do for you, Pan?" He asked instead, doing his best to fight off the angry scowl on his face. His skin was still crawling from his recent experience as being an integral part of nature.
"The girl will be a problem," Peter said, turning around to look at his incompetent second in command. "Come up with a cage, something practical but not on solid ground. I want her to been in plain sight for her brothers to see."
"Why?"
Peter glared at him, not happy about his directions being questioned. Felix swallowed hard.
"To keep them in line. They need to be reminded that it's not their lives on the line if they misbehave," Pan explained, feeling lenient.
"Won't they try to free her?" Felix asked.
"Of course they will," Peter laughed, a cunning smile stretching his lips. "There would be no fun if they didn't."
"I need to talk to you about something," Felix blurted out, earning Pan's undivided attention now.
"Isn't it what we're doing at this moment?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You'll want to keep this private I think."
"And who are you to tell me what I want?" Pan suddenly barked, his voice rising in volume and attracting some curious eyes. "Spit it out!"
Felix's hands balled into fists, then he stretched out his fingers and wiped his palms on his pants, feeling unsure suddenly. He did not want to face Pan's fury alone, but it was still better than being once again humiliated in front of the rest of the Lost Boys. According to Pan's impatient expression Felix better speak up now.
"I ran into Mercy in the woods."
The whole camp froze, all conversations ceasing as soon as the forbidden name crossed Felix's lips. His mouth ran dry as Peter's stiff expression became angrier by the second. His eyebrow twitched, his jaw set, and in a split second he transported Felix and himself to a remote location in the forest, away from prying eyes and curious ears.
"Speak. Now."
His tone was chilling and harsh, sharp like a sword's edge. Felix regretted telling him already, though he knew it would have been tenfold worse if he tried to hide it from Pan.
"I don't know what she did so close to our camp, but she's the one who freed me from your tr- from the tree. There's not much to say. She got me out, spoke ill of you, threatened me, and gave me a message to forward."
"What message?" Pan prompted him, stepping closer to Felix in such a menacing way that the blond boy felt like he was the smaller one in this situation.
"She sends her regards to you, and said to tell you that she got your message and that there's a forest fire in the meadow." Felix frowned in confusing at the last part, obviously not knowing what she was referring to, but Pan seemed to get it.
To Felix's utter amazement, Pan did not try to punish him, instead he disappeared again, leaving Felix in the middle of the forest, someplace on the island.