Disclaimer- Peter Pan, and everything you recognize from either the book or the movies or TV shows, those ain't mine. Everything else is, and I'd appreciate it if it remained that way. All you lawyers out there- don't sue me for not having permission to use PP, I'm just a poor American teenager with only three cents to her name.
Chapter Three
The large room was a mess. Hammocks hung from the ceiling all over the place, and rough wicker trunks were scattered about with no pattern whatsoever, at least to Levi's eyes. It looked worse than her bedroom at home.
"We're not done yet, out!"
"Huh?"
A gold ball came zooming into view, followed by a crowd of multi-colored light bulbs hovering in midair, all tinkling madly like Christmas bells. It took Levi a moment to realize they were fairies.
"What on earth…?"
"Hang on a minute."
Thirty seconds later the room was in perfect order and looked like a demented military barracks.
The golden fairy—a tiny man with neon red hair and odd clothing, she saw—landed on Levi's shoulder. "Hello then," he said in a crisp tenor, the strangest accent ever imagined in his words. "I'm Carrot. And you are?"
Levi, surprised that this fairy could speak English when Tinker-Bell couldn't, said "Levity Lyris Morrison, in full, although I usually go by Levi."
"Hmm. Well Levity Lyris Morrison, third on the left's free. We've more rooms to clean." He hollered at the other fairies in words that sounded like the toll of church bells on Sunday morning, then vanished through the doorway with the others, a living cloud of light.
Levi laughed. "What funny little people!"
She made her way to the hammock indicated—now evident in the pattern of things, after the whirlwind cleaning—and stuffed her backpack in the trunk underneath. She had better things to do than unpack.
Like explore.
"Start on the bottom and work my way up," Levi told herself. She tucked her shirt into her jeans, then rose into the air and flew away.
Levi plummeted down, down towards the heaving water below, wind whipping her hair. She pulled up and streaked across the surface of the water, laughing with the fierce, wild joy of true flight.
Tucked into the roots of the trees were various small platforms, most of them being used as workshops. One was filled with teenagers skinning animals, another seemed to be a kitchen, one was a tannery.
There was a vague glow of firelight coming from somewhere deeper in the complex. Levi swooped beneath the roots and headed towards the light like a moth to a candle, curious.
It was tucked deep into the root system, what looked like a ceiling but had a small entrance cut into it. The light spilled from the tiny entrance. Levi went up inside.
The smooth bark of the tree completely surrounded Levi. Within the cavern was a monstrous forge.
Teenage boys were heating metal, pounding it on anvils, dousing it in water or oil. Levi saw all sorts of things in production- needles, fishing hooks, utensils, cables, and other things that made her wish she'd stayed home.
Helmets, armor, spearheads, swords, daggers, all kinds of sharp pointy things. She thought she saw a trident somewhere in the back, the prongs glowing red-hot.
A brawny blonde boy in a leather apron squinted at her through the smoke. "Eh, who're you?" he asked in a thick Cockney accent. "You're not one of them water gals, are ya?"
Levi swallowed hard. "Um, no, just exploring."
The boy watched her another moment, then shrugged and went back to beating the crap out of a piece of glowing metal.
Levi slowly wandered through the place—which was much larger than it seemed—and saw the youthful blacksmiths making all sorts of things. One boy was pounding iron into chain links and welding them together. Another was putting together a chain-mail coat, the new steel glittering in the smoky light. Yet another was pouring molten metal into a mold.
"What're you doin' here?"
Levi jumped. A tall, lithe girl, hair as red as the glowing strip of iron on her anvil, glared at her. Her accent was strange, completely unidentifiable to Levi.
"Are you the one who needed to be outfitted? You're rather late, we're going up against them in only four days."
Levi stared at the girl in bewilderment. "What? What do you mean?"
The girl stared at her, then laughed. "You're another exploring newbie, ain't you." She stuck the metal back into the coals of the forge and pulled off her thick gloves, holding one hand out to Levi. "I'm Desiree Svensdotter, sword-smith in training. And you?"
"Um, Levi Morrison," said Levi nervously, accepting the handshake and immediately wished she hadn't. This Desiree had a painfully firm grip.
"Exploring the place, hmm? There's not much for you to do here, but you look like you'd appreciate an explanation."
Levi nodded vehemently. "Definitely."
Desiree laughed. It sounded like wind chimes- surprising coming from this brazen beauty. "This is our shop. We make the sorts of things you can't make from wood, little things that make our society run well. And armor and weapons, which right now are needed desperately."
"Why?"
Desiree looked surprised at the question. "My lands, you are new! Just got in this morning, eh? Well, we're planning an attack on the pirates in four days, the redskins and us and what mer-folk will help. We've been at the anvil for over two weeks, getting enough to arm everyone able."
"Why are you attacking them?"
"Drive 'em out of Neverland," said Desiree, her face darkening. "They've plagued us for far too long, that nasty Captain Hook and his lot." A sudden glimmer of malicious pleasure flashed across her face. "It's been far too long since this sword-maiden went into battle, I can tell ye that."
Levi nodded, disturbed by the darkness reflected in the girl's eyes. "Um, thanks. I'll just go now." She turned and went back towards the exit as fast as she could, trying to escape the tingles running up her spine.
She dove out the hole in the floor, then out from under the roots and into the open air. Too many shocks for one day, girlfriend.
"This is so Lord of the Flies," Levi said to the air. "There's no way I'm going to fight in some crazy war and get myself killed."
A blonde-haired, freckle-faced girl came zooming up from under Levi. "Hullo, Levity! I've been looking for you!"
It was Knuckles. The girl came to a grinding halt beside Levi. "Been exploring already?"
"Something to that effect."
"Where've you been so far?"
"The dormitory, and the forge," said Levi. "What kind of crazy place is this?!"
Knuckles ignored her words. "I'll take you around to meet the other girls, and find somewhere for you to work-"
Levi seized the younger girl by the shoulders and shook her viciously. "Answer me, blast you! Where am I and what is going on?!"
Fear flashed through Knuckles' eyes, but it was swiftly stifled. She sighed from her toes. "There's no getting around you. All right, I'll tell you what I know, but the only one who can really answer your questions is Peter."
"So start talking." Levi released Knuckles and folded her arms, glaring, her jewel-blue eyes glittering with a mixture of annoyance, curiosity, and nervousness.
"We calls ourselves the Lost," said Knuckles, rubbing her shoulder. "You know all those ads on missing children in the Other World? You know how most of them never come back?"
"Yes."
Knuckles gestured expansively at the whole of Neverland. "This is where they end up, most of them. We're just a bunch of kids trying to survive, Levi, and we can't leave this place."
Shock rippled through Levi's nervous system at Knuckles' last phrase. "Can't leave?" she whispered, more to herself than Knuckles. "What…?"
"Time here is far different. Here we don't age, don't change at all physically," said Knuckles. "If we ever leave, the moment we cross the Great Boundary we age to however old we're supposed to be. Which usually means we turn into dust, we've been here so long."
Levi felt a distinct need to sit down rather than fly. She drifted downwards and perched on a tree root. Knuckles sat beside her, uncertain of how the new girl would take it.
"There's no way of telling how long you've been here?" asked Levi shakily.
"Well, maybe Peter can tell- he's the only one who can go in-between without harm. Sometimes decades in the Other World will pass when here, it's been only a few hours." Knuckles shrugged. "I don't really care to leave here, anyway. Far better than the Other World ever was." Her eyes were distant, recalling some vague memory of her previous life.
Levi swallowed hard. She didn't have anything to go back for, anyway, she'd told Peter as much when he snatched her from death and taught her how to fly. She shifted slightly and a few bruises made themselves known. Definitely nothing to go back to, she thought fiercely. No family, no real friends, just school and dance lessons.
"Well, it's not like I have anything to go back to," said Levi, suddenly determined. "Can you do something for me?"
Knuckles nodded, uncertain of what the other girl would ask but willing to do it if she could.
"Two things- I need a complete list of places they need more help, and I need to talk to Peter Pan."
* * *
The settlement of the Lost comprised of approximately ten trees. Three were strictly for dormitories. Six were used for anything and everything, but mostly the enterprises that were necessary to keep the civilization running.
The last tree was the largest, and right in the middle of the bunch. It was a headquarters of sorts, as well as where the settlement's fairies lived.
One platform was set aside for military pursuits.
Peter was there, pondering a large hand-drawn map, speaking in low voices to a collection of other teenagers. Levi hung back, suddenly uncertain of her rash decision to confront the leader of this bunch and grill him on all the details of this Neverland place.
After a while Peter dismissed what was apparently his military council and stood by himself, looking up at the map with his hands on his hips.
Levi stepped forward, trying not to make any noise. But her sneaker caught on a tree branch that had fallen to the floor and she tripped.
Peter spun, wary, but a grin split his face when he recognized his visitor. "Levi! I wondered when I'd see you."
Levi straightened and hurriedly moved to stand beside Peter. "You did?" she asked.
"Of course. Everyone comes to talk to me soon after they arrive, except maybe the younger ones. Ask your questions." He said all this with no rancor, but rather playfulness and sincere curiosity over what she wanted to know.
Levi took a deep breath, and suddenly realized how ridiculous this whole thing was. But she stifled it and asked, "What is Neverland?"
There was a short pause. Peter cocked his head to one side, thoughtful, apparently being careful to choose the correct wording.
"Neverland was created by the fairies a long time ago, before humans," he said finally. "It's sort of hard to explain, really, what it is." He rose into the air and sat cross-legged, hovering beside Levi.
"Neverland is a sort of no-man's-land, hovering right between your world—the Other World, as we call it, or more correctly being the world of Life—and the one beyond Neverland. You might think of it as the afterlife."
"You mean this place is sitting right on the boundary between life and death?" Levi asked shrilly. Peter nodded.
"Exactly. So here, we're not in Life, so we don't age, but we're not in Death either, so we're still alive. The fairies built this place because they were dying off far too fast." He waved his hand vaguely. "But that's not important."
"Why do all these kids end up here?"
Peter's face darkened, and he went from happy-go-lucky child to someone who has seen aeons and feels the weight of it deeply, someone older than darkness itself. A chill ran down Levi's spine.
"Everyone here should've died, but didn't, because I interfered. It's hard to watch innocents die Levi, even when I know I shouldn't mess with it." He sighed deeply. "At that point, they are actually rejected by your world, by Life, because they ought to be dead. But Death won't take them either, because they're still alive. So they come here."
"Knuckles said that they still die, though."
Peter nodded. "Oh, yes, they die in battle, from sickness, all of that. So Death finally gets its due. But otherwise they belong here, and can't leave. It's really confusing."
Levi didn't speak, just let the silence stretch on as she tried to assimilate all this. Then something struck her.
"'They?' You're not just another kid, are you?"
Something like regret flashed in Peter's hazel eyes. "No. I'm not human, or fairy, or anything else. I'm… well, I don't really know. The first thing I remember is that when this place was built, this little island on the edge of reality, I sort of… woke up, found myself here. I know there was something before then, but I think the fairies might have blocked it from my mind."
"I think I might know what you are," said Levi softly, her almost dead belief in the unreal coming back to life.
Peter smiled slightly. "And what's that?"
"You are Neverland. You're the glue."
Peter seemed to be considering her words, but shook his head. "I don't think so. It goes far deeper than that." He unfolded himself from his sitting position but was still hovering. "There's something I have to check up on. Keep all of this to yourself- most of the others don't really understand why they have to stay, and I don't want them to. I only told you because you believe."
Levi's eyebrows knitted. "I believe what?"
Peter met her eyes with his own, his hazel gaze seemed to cut right to Levi's soul. "You know you should have died. You felt the tugging towards this place, towards us, the instant you came to under that bridge. Deep down, you know."
And she did.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N- What'd you think? Good, fair, excellent, bad, flame me to death? I need to know!
Also, thanks to all those who reviewed. I owe ya one. I'd write out a long thank-you list but I'm too lazy, :P Anyway, review!