(I really need to learn to triple check to make sure each chapter is freakin perfect before putting it online.. *pulls out giant mallet* KRISTEN! YOU *WHAP* MUST *WHAP* EDIT!!!!! THAT REQUIRES GETTING ONLINE! *notices everyone, major sweatdrop* I bothered Kristen eternaly until we finished it! YAY! *cheers*
Thanks for the reviews *hugs everyone* I LOVE YOU PEOPLE!!!!! *hands out donuts* Please please please review if you haven't yet! Kristen and I work very hard on this sucker! and yes.. this chapter may be kinda.. O.o Kristen and I created the entire history of Neverland, a few lil stories about Peter! Sewing adventurues! Poor Aurelia
Disclaimer: I am the psycho midnight bomber! That bombs at midnight! *Cough* if you want to see the disclaimer please see chapter 1. No Peter doesn't belong to me.. no.. that isn't Peter over there wearing a collar that says "Gelasia's property" on it.. You're seeing things.. *major sweatdrop* -----
Aurelia had managed to build crude shelves to put her food upon using a large rock as her hammer. She had snuck onto the pirates ship and stolen candles, fabric, and empty rum bottles. The bottles had been washed and were now sitting on a shelf near the rest of the food, filled with clean spring water. Aurelia had found some clay she used to create simple pots. She took some of her leather and created nets for storage around the cave. She placed the shells and pearls upon the small granite wall, gathered straw for her mattress and covered it with a blanket.
On a rainy day in Neverland, Aurelia had decided that it was a perfect chance to get some sewing done for her clothes. She stared at the pile of fabric she had taken, and the needle and thread. It couldn't be that hard could it? It was just sticking a piece of thread through the needle and shoving it through two pieces of cut up fabric right? Aurelia couldn't have been more wrong than if "wrong" had run over, bit her and started shouting, "I'M WRONG! I'M WRONG!"
Aurelia blew the bangs out of her face as she squinted at the stubborn fabric in her hands. The blasted piece of fabric was refusing to become a pair of pants! She let out a wail as the needle had managed to prick her finger for the thirtieth time that night.
"BLAST IT ALL TO HELL!!" she screamed, hurling the fabric across the room. She glared at it as it smacked against the wall with a small thud and landed on the floor in a seemingly harmless pile of cloth. Aurelia knew better now, however; that wasn't just a harmless cloth with string in it. It was the spawn of Satan. It held all the worst evils of the world within it. It must give the devil great joy watching hundreds of people slave over these damned pieces of cloth and unsuccessfully attempting to make them into clothing. After a few minutes of trying to set the cloth on fire with her eyes, Aurelia finally gave in, fetched the damned cloth and tried again.
"AHA!" she shouted with glee a few hours later. Her fingers stung and were bleeding, she had a huge headache from squinting and her legs were cramping, but she victoriously held up something that slightly resembled a pair of pants. That is, if pants were sewn shut at the waist, with the thigh area open and ending in a hole about two inches in diameter for the ankles. Aurelia sighed and began to take out the stitches. She heard a few soft giggles behind her and spun around to see three familiar heads popping out of the water. It appeared the mermaids were up for visiting and didn't want to go back outside in the rain. At least in the cave they could lounge on skins by the water and dry themselves while remaining warm. Aurelia smiled gratefully at them and tossed the "pants" over her shoulder towards a corner. They landed with an unnoticed thud.
"Hi girls!" she said bouncing over towards them and flopping onto a skin she had set near the water just for these types of occasions. The mermaids pulled themselves out of the water and sat on nearby rugs, enjoying the cozy warmth.
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving me from the dreadful chore of nearly stabbing myself to death trying to sew together a pair of pants," Aurelia said dramatically pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. The mermaids giggled and rolled their eyes.
"We came to see how you were doing with putting together your house," a red head called Cerulean said with a smile. Pearl laughed again at the thought of those pants Aurelia had been putting together and Aurelia shook her head and gave Pearl a quick glare, before breaking out into her own smile.
"I've been curious about something about this Isle and perhaps you three can help me," Aurelia said thoughtfully. "Can you tell me a bit about the history of Never Land? It's very odd, what with mermaids and flying boys with little glowing balls following them," she asked. The three mermaids looked at each other and shrugged. A black haired mermaid named Coral cleared her throat.
"I can tell you a few stories, the beginning, but most of the stories we are told are about Peter Pan," she said, ending the sentence with a dreamy sigh. Aurelia rolled her eyes, but decided it would be good for shocking the poor boy next time she saw him. Aurelia grinned mischievously at the thought of his jaw dropping when she spit out a random factoid about himself. Although, knowing that boy, he probably expected her to know everything about him already. That was the problem, she really DIDN'T know that boy. "Well, now's the time to learn," she mused to herself, so she nodded her head to let Coral continue.
"First I should explain how Neverland came to be," Coral said, her voice quiet, and low. She made a perfect story teller. Aurelia rolled onto her stomach and listened attentively to the following story.
*********
"Many centuries ago, while modern humanity was still in its infancy, the world was a "melting pot" of sorts, not as it is now. Back then, those who were blessed with magic and those who were not co-existed. Of course, the two groups stayed to themselves and it worked out alright, except for the fairies. Fairies, as we all know, have a fetish for children. Thus, it was decided that every non-magical child born would be assigned a fairy to look over him or her. The plan worked splendidly; fairies were able to be with their dear children and children, who are curious by nature, were able to experience the most curious thing of all first hand, magic. However, all good things must come to an end, and so did this happy co-existence. It all started with one rather naughty child, named Herbert Johnson. Herbert was not your normal child, he did not believe in such foolish things as magic and fairies. Herbert, however, made the grave mistake of mentioning this in the presence of his fairy. As soon as you could blink an eye, his fairy ceased to exist. Thus began the demise of the co-existence of magic and non-magic.
Obviously, the fairy population was in grave peril after Herbert's mishap. Other children caught on to his way of thinking and soon all of their fairies were gone as well. Needless to say, this greatly upset the fairy community. They knew that if fairies were to continue being destroyed at this rate, soon the entire race would cease to exist, which would be a catastrophe of epic proportion. Without fairies, there would be a very small amount of magic, and without magic, the world would be plunged into eternal darkness. The universe would lack its completeness and be thrown off its axis. Therefore, the head fairy at the time, Lysander, called a meeting of the Fairy Tribunal. He and the various other fairy sages and wisemen decided that there was only one course of action - to get the fairies out of earshot. If a fairy did not hear those detestable words, "I don't believe in fairies," from their child, they would not perish. So Neverland was formed and the fairies flourished, separated from the ungrateful and murderous likes of human children.
Within time, almost all of the magic came to Neverland. The magical creatures, such as the mermaids and the unicorns migrated here, for they were being killed off as well, but through different means. Mermaids were hunted for their scales and unicorns were hunted for their manes and precious horns. The humans believed that by killing the magical creatures they could either inherit the wondrous magic or else be rid of some great "evil". There are some creatures that hold magic that still live upon Earth, but they remain hidden, deep beneath the surface. Either their powers have dwindled so much that it was impossible to come to Neverland, or they do not wish to leave. Other people migrated to the Isle, one group being the Indians. They were running from someone who had just entered their land and somehow managed to get to Never Land. The rule of non-interference still applies to them. There was another magical being that migrated here besides the unicorns and mermaids. He is the only one of his kind and he does not remember migrating for he was merely a babe at the time. This being is the Betwixt and Between, he is now known as Peter Pan."
******
"Wait, wait, wait!" Aurelia interrupted, "Betwixt and Between? What the bloody hell does that mean?" Coral glared.
"A Betwixt and Between is a magical human. He was born a human, but refused to be non-magical, so the fairies granted him passage to and from Neverland. You might say he is a half breed," Coral responded. Aurelia blinked a few times before smiling.
"Oh yes.. is that where he gets his cute pointy ears? They are so adorable! I just wanna go up to him and touch one!" she squealed. The three mermaids stared at her for a few moments before bursting into merry laughter.
"Oh Aurelia, you are too much sometimes!" Pearl managed to gasp out. Aurelia shrugged and smiled before she looked back at Coral.
"Please continue your story!" she requested her eyes bright and attentive.
*******
"Neverland has a very powerful magic surrounding it. Although we do not see the fairies too often, they still are keeping this world together. For one thing, this Isle is completely ageless. One cannot grow old here unless they were that way to begin with. Now I know that your going to try to interrupt me, Aurelia, and ask me how it is possible for Peter to be now sixteen when he came here as a babe. Peter, the same as all babes who come to the Isle, was able to grow to the age of twelve, but that was the extent of it, as the age of twelve is the end of childhood and innocence. Yet, in Peter's case, there was no getting rid of these qualities. He was able to grow over the age of twelve because of the trips he has made to the other world. Sometimes he was gone for weeks at a time. Those weeks added up, and soon he managed to spend around four years there. Thus, he is around the age of sixteen.
"As mentioned beforehand, each child is assigned a fairy at birth to watch over him or her. Peter was no different in that regard. He was assigned a breathtakingly beautiful girl, even by fairy standards. She was called Tinkerbell. Seeing that she had nothing to fear from Peter, as he was a magical being himself, she made herself visible to him and became his dearest and most loyal companion. Tinkerbell made sure that Peter had a happy childhood in Neverland.
"As he was growing up, he played in the lush jungles, gallivanted with the young Indians, swam with the mermaids, and learned to be quite adroit with a dagger.
"Fairies, as we have covered, have a soft spot for the children they care for. Therefor, sometimes fairies can't help themselves when they think they can make their children happy. If a fairy hears his or her child wishing for something with all his or her heart and soul, over and over, the fairy will most likely grant that wish. In a few cases, this wish has been to never grow up. To fulfill that particular wish, fairies steal into their child's room in the dead of the night and carry them to Neverland, where they are united with Peter to be eternally young and childlike. These boys (for there are no girls) were eventually named the Lost Boys, for they can no longer remember from where they came. There is one lost girl, but she came to the Isle in a different way, and left shortly afterwards.
"The last remaining party of Neverland to be discussed is Hook and his crew of filthy, gruesome, disgusting pirates. Hook and his pirates are not the magical sort. However, the world of the non-magical could not deal with them. They would plunder and kill and although the authorities tried, they were powerless to stop Hook and his crew from striking terror the people's hearts. Therefor, they sent an emissary, one of the remaining magical creatures on earth, to go beg and plead with the fairies to help Earth get rid of the pirates. The fairies were apprehensions at first, not wanting to be involved in the Earth's affairs. Understandably, they were afraid that once they did this one favor, those on earth would feel it was all right to ask them to fix any little trivial thing. However, when Peter heard of Hook, he wanted nothing else but to see real pirates, because he wanted even more adventure within Neverland. He believed adventure would make Neverland more exciting. Tinkerbell, who was subject to his whims, pleaded his case to the Fairy Tribunal, who eventually conceded and brought Hook and his pirates to Neverland, never to let them return to the non-magical world again. Although, obviously, Hook has broken this rule a few times in the past."
*******
"Was his name always 'Hook'?" Aurelia asked. The mermaids nodded their heads vigorously.
"Yes, Captain James Hook," Ceurlean added. Aurelia giggled.
"And he has a hook in place of his left hand?" she asked. The mermaids nodded again.
"How very fitting! Whoever gave him the hook had one twisted sense of humor," Aurelia said laughing. Coral shrugged and continued with her story.
*******
"In actuality, Peter was the one who cut off Hook's hand. After Hook came to Neverland, Peter went to the ship right away and was feeling mischievous. As he had heard from Tinkerbell that each hero needed an enemy, he decided Hook would be his. He didn't have too many problems, considering Hook hates all children and wanted Peter gone about two seconds after learning who he was. Over the years, they had many skirmishes, Hook becoming more and more frustrated due to the redundant embarassment of being outsmarted by a young boy. One day, one of their duels took place in Crocodile Creek. Hook had been searching for Pan's hideout and thought perhaps it was in that general area. Peter saw him searching and began to aggravate Hook. Hook challenged him to a duel and Pan, of course, accepted. They began to duel and it seemed that, in his anger, Hook had gained the upper hand! But Peter kept trying, although Hook was pushing him closer and closer to the pit of crocodiles. Peter was growing nervous before he finally saw an opening. He made for it, but meanwhile Hook had swerved, his left hand where Peter was aiming. Peter's dagger isn't just a normal dagger, it is blessed in fairy magic, so when it began piercing through skin, it pierced through everything, including bone.
Soon Hook found himself without a hand, screaming in pain and clutching at the stump he had for a hand in agony. Peter was shocked before he noticed a crocodile coming near him. Just his luck to have the largest, scariest crocodile of the creek decide that Peter looked like a very delicious dinner. He grabbed the severed hand and tossed it to the crocodile before flying away as fast as he could. Hook ran back to his ship where he was treated for his wound and was given a hook instead. Ever since then, he has become obsessed with destroying Pan and getting even with the boy to compensate for his lost hand.
Other than you, there have been only two visitors to Neverland, both here to see Peter, and both from the same family. They would be Wendy Darling and her daughter Jane. Both came when they were young girls. Wendy arrived with her two bothers, when her father threatened that she would have to grow up in the morning. Peter was shocked, because he had visited the Darling house often in the past to listen to the stories Wendy told about Peter's favorite subject: himself. John and Michael were her two brothers who were brought to Neverland with her. Tinkerbell became jealous of Wendy, because the girl took up so much of Peter's attention. Once, she tried to actually kill Wendy and was thus banished. We met Wendy. Wretched girl, always clinging to Peter as if he were her life source. We tried to drown her but Peter stopped us. Later, Wendy became jealous of Tiger Lily at a celebration marking Peter's heroic save of the Indian Princess. While these people were celebrating, Hook, the ultimate schemer had kidnapped Tinkerbell and tricked her into telling him the hide out of Peter Pan! Hook actually kidnapped the Lost Boys and Wendy. He had sent a package to Peter, that was signed from 'Wendy.' The package was actually a bomb that was to blast Peter out of Neverland forever! Luckily, Tinkerbell had saved Peter just in the knick of time! They took Hook's ship and brought Wendy and her brothers back home."
*******
"I really wish she did drown," Cerulean sniffed. Pearl looked at her sympathetically.
"I wish you'd stop beating yourself up about that. It wasn't your fault. Peter just didn't want her dead...for some reason, I still don't understand why not," Pearl said, patting Cerulean on the shoulder gently. Aurelia just shook her head. She wouldn't even start to argue on that one.
********
"With Jane, when she came here, all she wanted to do was go back home again. She couldn't fly, and she was very practical. She was more horrible than Wendy was! Peter saved her from being drowned as well. I can't think of a reason why. Jane didn't seem to know how to have fun any more. There was a war going on upon Earth, perhaps that's the reason she seemed forced into growing up so fast. She even exclaimed in Tinkerbell's face that she didn't believe in fairies. Imagine Tinkerbell's horror at the sound of those words. She immediately began to dim. Her magic was being drained quickly. Peter, in an attempt to save Tinkerbell, taught Jane how to have fun and she became the first Lost Girl of the pack. Problems arose when Jane was tricked by Hook into handing Peter and the Lost Boys over to him. She was horrified. She managed to save Tinkerbell and together they saved Peter and the boys. She left soon afterwards. Since then, skirmishes between Hook and Pan have broken out, the Indians have continued their traditions, and so forth. Everything has remained the same, until you, that is. Perhaps your story will be the next one to tell, Aurelia."
*******
Coral stopped and smiled at the legged girl. She was smiling dreamily before she blinked out of it.
"Well you know Coral, you Neverland chaps won't be rid of me so easily. I have no reason to leave. There is nothing in London for me any more," she finished, the last part coming out in barely a whisper.
"We wouldn't want you to leave Aurelia," Pearl said with a warm smile, patting her on the shoulder. Aurelia smiled.
"We really must be going though. The night has come and we must rest even a little bit!" Cerulean interrupted, she was always the practical one of the group. The three mermaids waved goodbye and dived under the water. Aurelia stretched.
"Neverland is quite the place. Perhaps I shall stay. Maybe I can have adventures with that Peter chap. Maybe we can be friends...maybe even more than that...maybe I'll think about this tomorrow," she finished with a yawn. Aurelia dove onto her bed, snuggled up under her covers and was soon fast asleep, a certain pair of laughing brown eyes and a handsome face haunting her dreams.
Authors Notes: