Title: To Have and To Hold
Author: Squeezynz
Chapter: Seventeen - Flights of Fancy.
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He was back amongst the stars, their brightness buoying him, holding him up with their radiance. He knew they were far away, but even with that understanding he felt they enfolded him, cocooned him, crushed him within their cold embrace until he felt at one with them, as insubstantial as their glow.
He floated weightlessly among their pinpricks of light, his body unfettered by gravity or ground, his limbs unattached to his torso, more like gossamer wings, lazily stirring the air around him as he hung, suspended in time and space among the stars.
For the first time in many years he felt free.
Laying there he let his mind float as free as his body, a voice calling his name, at first faintly, but getting stronger the more he concentrated. Opening his eyes he stared at the stars within the field of his vision, one appearing brighter than the rest, its glow starting to pulsate the longer he stared at it. Feeling drawn he gathered his energy and started towards the singular brightness, his body adapting itself quickly to its new state, muscles remembering how they used to be, unbound by the earth, free to inhabit the sky and fly to the stars.
Even as he listened to the voice calling his name, his mind rejoiced and he screamed inwardly, "I can fly!"
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Wendy stirred with Peter's name on her lips, her eyelashes fluttering as she regained consciousness. Her vision, when it cleared, was full of anxious faces, Mister Stubbs, Harry and Aramis all standing around the bed and conveying varying expressions of concern and despair. As her eyes alighted on each face a smile blossomed just for her, responding to the one tilting her own mouth.
"He's alive..."
Briefly, the trio were struck mute, then Aramis was the first to speak. "How...where...?'
Wendy smiled even wider. "He's flying...among the stars..."
The men all exchanged cautiously optimistic looks. Wendy gathered her strength and tried to sit up. Harry instantly placed his hands on her shoulders to prevent her.
"Hey not so fast young lady..."
Wendy stared up at the Doctor, her eyes dancing. "You don't have to worry...I'm fine...really."
"Let me be the judge of that, if you please. Do you remember what happened before you fainted?"
Wendy frowned slightly as she tried to recall the memory. "I was on the deck, there was a storm and the Jolly Roger had sunk. I thought Peter was dead...but he isn't, he's up there." She looked up at the ceiling of the cabin, her eyes glowing. "He's up there and he's flying!"
Wendy tried to sit up again and this time Harry helped her, keeping his arm around her shoulders until she was able to sit on the side of the bed without feeling any dizziness, the bedding clutched firmly against her chest. She brushed him off with a smile and sat for a moment, getting her bearings. Aramis shooed Harry off the bed and sat down in his place.
"Now lass...apart from knowing that yon laddie is not dead...is there anything else you can tell us?"
"If you give me the thimble I might be able to tell you more."
Surprised, Aramis dug into the small pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out the chain with its thimble pendant. "How did you...?"
"I thought Peter had that?" Stubbs interjected. Aramis shook his head.
"He gave it to me for safe keeping. How did you know lass?"
"I just knew." Taking it from his hand Wendy slipped it over her head, the thimble nestling snuggly between her breasts.
"But won't that take you away, the same as the acorn did?" Stubbs asked worriedly.
"No...the acorn is the traveler...this is the speaker...it's the same with the books...one transports, the other talks."
"You seem to be remarkably well informed." Harry quipped, as bemused as the others.
Wendy stared off in to space for a second before refocusing on the men around her. "I can't explain it, I just know..."
"Well I know, that if you're feeling better we should see about getting something to eat and drink inside you and something to wear other than this sheet." Harry announced, looking pointedly at the Captain and the first mate. Seeing the look the two men started to leave. Wendy caught Aramis's sleeve before he moved away.
"Where are we?"
"We're anchored in Pebble Beach cove. The storm blew itself out, thankfully and we were just making a few repairs while we waited for a sign from you or...or...er..as to what to do next."
"Oh...how long was I out for."
"Several hours." Harry informed her, sitting down beside her again and peering anxiously into her face. "Do you feel dizzy at all? Any nausea?"
Wendy shook her head, her hair settling around her shoulders both front and back like a cloak.
"Well then...I'll see about getting you a change of clothes and sort out something for your breakfast...something light I'm thinking."
"Thank you Harry...I'm sorry to be such a burden for you."
"Never a burden...now sit quietly, and I'll be back in a tick."
Submitting to his well meaning cossetting, Wendy waited patiently while he fetched her a fresh dress and underthings. All the time now she could sense Peter in her mind, his unbridled joy at having regained his ability to fly, her lips curling into a smile as his feelings were transferred to her, his jubilation bursting from every pore, buzzing with energy and vitality.
Harry returned and wondered anew at Wendy's quick recovery. He was sure that she would be ill for some days after her collapse on the deck, but she looked for all the world as if she'd just drunk a rejuvenating potion that illuminated her from the inside out. Passing over the bundle of clothes he left her once more and hurried off to find Aramis, to get his thoughts on what had happened.
Wendy sat for a long moment after the cabin door closed and just stared at the scarred wood with its metal studs, her gaze unfocused. Dropping the clothes onto the bed she lay back down, the sheet still clutched to her chest with one hand while the other wrapped itself around the thimble, the tiny metal pendant instantly warming like a tiny spark against her fingers, the heat not painful, the metal infusing her hand with a glow that spread up her arm and then all through her body. In a state of bliss, Wendy closed her eyes and let herself drift. Almost at once she gasped out loud, her eyes still tight shut, but in her mind she was soaring among the stars, the bright lights set against a velvet black sky which swirled and dipped about her head in a dizzying pinwheel as her body appeared to twist and dive in intricate patterns. She could feel his euphoria and wanted to laugh out loud with him, but instead she tried to ignore the sensation of flying and call to him using her mind.
Peter...can you hear me?
Abruptly his erratic movements slowed and she heard in her mind his reply. Wendy?
It's me Peter...I know where you are.
She could feel his puzzlement and surprise, then a sharp spike of heat suddenly washed over her and she blushed and shivered. Peter!
His laugh filled her mind as he shot up into the sky and turned a somersault. I can fly Wendy...I can fly!
I know you can...I'm flying with you
Isn't it wonderful...I'd forgotten how wonderful it was
It is wonderful Peter...I wish I was with you.
P.
But you are Wendy...I can feel you, hear you in my mind.
I have the thimble...I think it's acting like a bridge between us.
Between Neverland and the Never Realm?
That's where you are, isn't it?
I suppose so...it looks the same as when we were here last
Do you have the acorn?
No...Hook has that.
Where is Hook, Peter...is he with you?
If he was, I don't somehow think I'd be flying around like I am, do you?
What about the Keeper?
Nope...no sign of either of them...which is odd.
She could feel his curiosity rise, his memories replaying the last moments aboard the Jolly Roger, the indecision when faced with Hook, the blow that stunned him, then the glow that encompassed them both before Peter woke up alone and wrapped in starlight.
I suppose I'll have to go and look for them.
Be careful Peter...they still mean to harm you...
They'll have to catch me first!
His cocky assurance made her smile broadly, almost seeing the smirk tugging his lips apart before the stars started to whirl around her again in a gyrating dance.
I have to go Peter...they need me here...they're worried about me.
Is there anything to worry about?
No...but they worry all the same. They want to know when you're coming back to us. Back to me.
I have things to do Wendy...Keepers to find and Hook's to battle.
Don't forget me Peter...don't forget Neverland needs you to.
Trust me Wendy...I could never forget you.
A warm glow flowed through her, igniting tingling awareness along all her nerve endings and leaving her breathless.
I love you too Peter.
Within her fingers the thimble's glow started to fade and Wendy slowly opened her eyes, loathe to break the connection but knowing it was already done. Opening her hand she looked at the innocent trinket and smiled, murmuring, "thank you."
"Care to tell me what that was all about?"
Captain Aramis was seated in the chair beside the bed, his face creased in lines of worry.
"I was just talking to Peter," Wendy explained, her smile fading as Aramis continued to look worried. "What's the matter?"
"You've been in a trance for hours lass. When Harry came back he found you laying there like a statue, your hand clutching the pendant, your eyes closed as if asleep. He couldn't wake you."
"Oh...but I was only talking to Peter for a few moments."
"Three hours. He's only just gone to get something to eat and snatch a breath of fresh air while I watched over you."
"Three hours?" Wendy gaped at the Captain round eyed. "Oh dear."
Lifting her head she saw the clothes Harry had brought for her to wear.
"I suppose I'd better get dressed and get up."
"Are you sure you feel up to it?"
"Oh yes...but I'll need you to turn your back. I'll tell you what Peter said while I get dressed."
Mollified somewhat by her pragmatic attitude, Aramis did as requested and stared stolidly at the cabin wall while Wendy pulled on the clothes, all the time telling the erstwhile Captain what had transpired during her communication with Peter.
"So he still means to fight Hook?" Aramis queried, turning around at Wendy's request to find her fully dressed and attempting to brush out the snarls in her long hair.
P.
"Of course...whatever he may have been, or ever will be, he's still Peter Pan...fighting Hook is like breathing for him."
"Unless it gets him killed." Aramis remarked morosely.
"Oh I don't see that happening. I think Hook has done Peter a good turn, by default, by kidnapping him to the Never Realm. It appears to have recognized who Peter is and removed him from harm as well as given him back the gift of flight. Whatever the Keeper had planned is obviously at odds with what the Never Realm is there for, so it is protecting Peter. I can only suppose it's something like his control of the weather here in Neverland...some sort of..." She paused, "I know there's a word for it, I read it once in a scientific journal..." She frowned heavily, trying to recall the name.
"You don't mean symbiosis?" Aramis suggested. Wendy nodded, "That's the word...living together in harmony, Peter and his world. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I suppose you must be right. He can certainly influence the weather, so it is not surprising if that extends to the other two kingdoms of Neverland."
"The Keeper said that Peter was to be the Peacekeeper of the Never Worlds, the Ruler of the Three Kingdoms. Neverland is one, the Never Realm the second...what or where is the third?"
Aramis shrugged, "I don't know...under the sea?"
"I wish I'd had the wit to ask the merman when we were there, I have a feeling he would have known the answer."
"Merman?"
Struck by a thought, Wendy clutched at Aramis's sleeve. "Did Peter bring on board a round rock, carved with a map of the underground?"
"As it so happens he did."
"I have an idea. The merman we met under the mountain said it was one of his greatest treasures. I thought he meant because it was a map of his domain, but what if there was something else very special about it?"
"We'll ask Stubbs, he was the one who told me about it. I haven't seen this rock myself, so maybe Peter told him where he put it."
They hurried out of the cabin and up on deck, Wendy blinking at the bright, sunlit water lapping serenely all around them. Aramis was hailing the first mate who leapt down the steps from the poop deck and hurried over.
"What is it? What's the matter?"
"The carved stone that Peter showed you, you told me about it, where did he put it?"
Stubbs looked blankly at the pair for a second then snapped his fingers.
"The chart room."
Stubbs led them back to the Captain's cabin and the small annex on the side. The first mate rummaged beneath the map table and produced a small, iron bound chest. Throwing back the lid he groped inside and lifted out the round, dull rock with its intricately carved exterior.
"A merman's treasure for sure." Aramis breathed, taking the rock from Mister Stubbs and running his fingers over the carvings. "And this is what you used to find your way out of the caves?"
Wendy nodded, waiting for the older man to look his fill of the artifact before holding out her hand.
Turning it over, Wendy looked carefully at the carvings, noting the delicate tracery and almost invisible cracks that snaked over the surface. "I think there might be something inside." She finally announced, frowning in concentration.
The two men drew closer as Wendy traced a particular seam with the nail of one finger. Where it formed a junction with several other lines there appeared to be an indentation, which Wendy now pressed with the tip of her finger. For a second or two nothing happened, then the rock started to vibrate in her hands, the hair-line crack starting to widen as they watched.
"Maybe you should put it down on the table lass!" Aramis suggested, backing away as light seeped out of the cracks.
Wendy apparently agreed, setting the rock down gingerly on the map table and stepping backwards as the ball continued to split apart, light flooding out of the rock in ever widening slices. With a loud crack the sections of carved stone fell away to lay inert upon the tables surface, leaving a glowing ball behind that floated an inch off the maps, softly pulsating.
"Oh my."
"Cor blimey...didcha see that?"
"I see...of course," this comment from Aramis brought two pairs of eyes around to stare at him.
"You know what this is?" Wendy asked.
"I can guess. I've only ever heard little bits about it...if I'm correct it's a Nexus."
Stubbs gave the Captain a blank look.
"A Nexus is a connecting point, a joining of all points in one place"
Aramis explained, leaning forward to take a better look.
"But what can we do with it?" Wendy asked, peering around the first mate's bulk to stare at the glowing ball.
"Look at the thimble Wendy...it's glowing!"
Looking down, she could clearly see the outline of the thimble through the thin material of her dress. Pulling on the chain she drew it out, the light becoming brighter until it was clear, then it started to float, still on the chain, but several inches away from Wendy's body.
"What now?" Stubbs asked a trifle hoarsely, his expression wary.
Before anyone could answer, a booming voice erupted into the small cabin, startling them all.
"Who calls to me? Speak and I will answer."
Wendy stared at the Captain and first mate with wide eyes. "That's the voice of the Merman, the Emerald Guardian...but I can understand him now...before he was speaking in mer-tongue and it sounded like someone gargling rocks."
"Sorry lass...but he stills sounds like he's gargling rocks...I can't understand a word!"
Both Aramis and Stubbs looked to Wendy who stared back as the men in surprise.
"Oh. Oh dear."
"Speak, whoever is there." The booming voice called again, jerking Wendy from her wandering thoughts.
"Oh yes...er...this is Wendy...Captain Pan's...er...mate."
A booming chuckle filled the cabin and both men winced.
"So, Mate of Pan, you discovered the secret of my treasure. Does the Pan know you are using it?"
"Well no...Peter is in the Never Realm, he was taken there by Hook and the Keeper, but he's free now and flying again."
"What is it you wish to know Pan's Mate?"
"Oh...er...the Keeper mentioned three kingdoms of Neverland...we know of two, where, or what is the third?"
"The Kingdoms of Neverland are indeed three, the first is of the island you are living within, a world of the senses where both mortal and magical exist in harmony with one King to rule them all. The second is the Realm of the Void where only the ephemeral and ethereal exist for a brief span, a transitory place where living matter can exist only while passing through. If the Pan is in this place he cannot stay there very long before becoming one with the void, as would any mortal sent there. The third Kingdom is the Realm of Magic, a place that nurtures the power of magic to create or destroy, wielded by all who are connected by right, as the Ruler is, or by creation, as are the magical folk who inhabit the woods and water of Neverland."
The booming voice ceased and Wendy translated the explanation for the two men, waiting while they digested the information.
Aramis spoke first.
"How is it that the Keeper has survived so long in the void, if it is only intended for temporary occupation?"
"The Keeper was banished there for crimes too legion to name, his corporeal body given up for the one you see now, his form as insubstantial as the light given off by the stars where he exists."
Aramis waited while Wendy translated the answer. "But he is able to come here, to Neverland and inhabit human bodies and cause such mischief." Aramis continued.
"Then he has added to his crimes and somehow has tapped into the third kingdom, drawing on the power of magic to allow him to do these things."
"How long can Peter stay in the Never Realm before becoming one...before he can no longer return?" Wendy asked, twisting her hands together in worry as she waited for the Merman's reply.
"One full passage of the moon through the heavens. As he is the chosen, it is possible that time will bend and grant him longer, but I cannot say for sure if that will be." Wendy waited for the booming voice to fade before translating the answer for the two men.
"One full passage...then he only has until tonight to do what he has to do and get back here." Aramis muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"I'll have to contact him again and let him know," Wendy cried out anxiously, reaching for the thimble still floating above her body.
"I sense that he is already engaged in the final battle, you will not be able to contact him now, Mate of Pan." The booming voice told her, sending a chill over her body and leaving her shaking.
A look of determination crossed Wendy's face and she set her lips in a grim line. "Then I'll have to go there myself and warn him."
"Nay...you can't..." Stubbs shouted.
"Wendy...it'll be too dangerous!" Aramis cautioned, both men waved to silence by the slim girl beside them.
"Emerald Guardian, can you transport me using the Nexus to where Peter is?"
"I can...but what you are about to do is dangerous and quite possibly fatal to one of your delicate form."
"I'm stronger than I look...can I take anything to help Peter?"
"Arm yourself, Mate of Pan, and be prepared to fight for your life."
"Wendy you can't..."Aramis started but stopped when he met Wendy's quelling glance.
"I can and I will...whatever it takes, I have to do it. Peter is the one that is important here...he must survive if Neverland is to survive."
"He won't see it that way if anything happens to you." Stubbs muttered darkly.
"I'll need a change of clothes and weapons. Hurry, we don't have much time, if Peter is already fighting Hook, I need to be there now!"
Wendy stayed in the cabin and waited for Stubbs and Aramis to return, which they did in short order. Quickly she changed into a shirt and breeches, a belt about her hips carrying a sword and knives, her feet thrust into boots and her hair plaited and tied off her face with a leather thong.
"A bonny pirate if ever I saw one!" Aramis remarked before standing back.
"I'm ready Guardian."
Once more the booming voice filled the cabin. "Place the thimble in your hand and approach the Nexus...walk into the light and let it take you. I will direct it to the Never Realm as close to where I feel Peter is as I can."
Backing away, Stubbs and Aramis watched as Wendy approached the glowing ball of light, the thimble now held in her hand and growing brighter the closer she approached the Nexus. Suddenly the light flared and both men fell back, covering their eyes from the glare.
When they looked again Wendy was gone, along with the glowing ball, the carved rock once more back together as before, laying innocently on the map table with no hint of its hidden power.
"What do we do now?" Stubbs asked, blinking away the spots before his eyes.
"Wait."
"Wait?" Stubbs agonized groan wrung a laugh out of Aramis, despite his dour expression.
"Wait and hope. Everything will be brought together with Wendy's arrival."
"Is there nothing we can do?"
"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
After exchanging a grimace the two men left the cabin and made their way up to the main deck. The sun had started its descent towards the horizon when both men looked up at the sky at the same time, as if hoping against all reason to see something, anything to indicate the progress of the decisive battle taking place within the Never Realm far beyond the fluffy white clouds currently dotting the blue expanse overhead. Despite seeing nothing more than what was expected, they kept up their vigil, the afternoon drawing ever closer to night and their hopes sinking like the sun towards the sea.
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TBC...