CHAPTER 29
MICHAEL
"Michael! You're slopping that cereal all over the table." Aunt Heidi tsked as Michael's eyes refocused and he looked down at the bowl of cereal he had forgotten was in front of him.
"Oh, sorry, Aunt Heidi. I'll just get a towel," he muttered, pushing his chair back and heading for the pantry to grab a paper towel.
Heidi's eyes welled up as she watched Michael's slumped shoulders and vacant eyes as he walked past her, only half aware of the world around him. She wasn't sure how much longer she was supposed to wait for him to snap himself out of this depressive state before she got the poor boy the help he obviously needed.
"Michael, I really think that it may help if you'd just talk to someone," Heidi pleaded carefully, knowing that this conversation hadn't gone well when she'd first tried to have it with him a few days earlier.
"I'm talking to you right now," Michael pointed out sullenly as he pulled the paper towel through the mess of his spilled cereal.
"You know very well what I mean," Heidi chastened gently. "You need help accepting this loss and I'm not qualified-"
"What loss?" Michael demanded, going still.
"Michael…" Heidi sighed.
"What loss, Aunt Heidi? I haven't lost anyone. I'm not grieving anyone, so I don't need help letting go of anything!" Michael shouted.
Heidi closed her eyes and tilted her head back. "So, you've been eavesdropping on my phone calls, I see."
"It's not eavesdropping when you talk about me on the phone while I'm sitting six feet away from you on the couch in the living room, Aunt Heidi. I'm not stupid. And I don't need a therapist." Michael spat, balling up the sodden paper towel and throwing it into the trash can.
"How else are we going to get you through this, Michael?" Heidi begged. "I can't bear to see you living like this and I don't know how else to help you!"
"When Mary comes back, I'll be fine. I'm not 'depressed'. I'm just…waiting." Michael said quietly as he fell back down onto the couch.
"This isn't waiting, Michael, this is obsessing to the point of putting your health in danger." Aunt Heidi slammed her hand down on the table, causing Michael to finally make real eye contact with her for the first time in nearly a week. "You don't eat unless I force food in front of your face, and you don't move from that couch unless you hear the front door open. You cannot continue just staring out that damned window for the rest of your life!"
"It's not forever, it's just until she comes home!" Michael insisted.
"SHE'S NOT COMING BACK!" Heidi shrieked tearfully, picking up a magazine that had been laying on the table and throwing it against the kitchen cabinets. She looked shocked, like she hadn't even realized she'd picked it up in the first place.
Michael stared at her, his face blank.
"You need," Heidi's voice trembled, and she took a deep breath, fighting for control. "You need to work on moving on. You need to learn to live life how it is now, without…her."
Michael shook his head, his face cold. "You're wrong. She is coming back. You may have given up on her, but I haven't. I won't." He turned his gaze away from Heidi and back towards the living room window and the night sky.
Heidi put her hands over her face for just one moment, and then wiped her eyes, straightened her hair, and picked up the fallen magazine before leaving Michael to his nightly vigil.
"We're falling apart," Michael whispered to the sky as he pulled a blanket back around him. "You need to come home soon, Mary. Please?"
MARY
"What is that?" My head was back and my eyes were closed as I took a break from pushing to catch my breath, but was distracted by what sounded like a riot breaking out just outside of the teepee.
"It's nothing, you must focus. Push again, now!" River Blossom demanded.
I grit my teeth and did as she asked, more concerned with getting this thing out of me as soon as humanly possible.
"I see the head!" She cried, joy in her voice. "You're almost there!"
"What, really?" I gasped, blinking the sweat out of my eyes. Wow, there was really a tiny human in there, and it was almost out here. That thought sped my heart rate up even more as I realized I was going to have an honest-to-god human life in my hands soon.
"Two more big pushes, and you'll be there. Now is the time to focus, you'll start to feel a big stretch-"
"Oh holy shiiiiiiiit," I groaned as I pushed, suddenly feeling as if everything below my belly button was being held up to a red hot fire iron.
"This is the worst part, Mary, this is as bad as it gets! Push through, my girl! Deep breath and push!" River Blossom encouraged.
I grit my teeth and did it. Whatever it would take to stop the burning pain, I was all in.
Another scream escaped my lips.
A tinier scream answered it.
Suddenly the pain disappeared from my mind, and everything around me quieted and faded into the background. My heart zeroed in on that tiny squawking sound and in that instant nothing else in the entire universe mattered.
"Oh," I breathed. "Is that…?"
"Yes!" River Blossom's voice was full of joyful tears. "You have a beautiful baby boy, my darling. You did so well."
"Baby boy," I whispered, my heart seeming to crawl up into my throat and stop any other words from leaving my mouth. My breathing echoed in my ears as a small, very red and very wet body was placed gently on my chest. The small squawks and cries stopped, and a tiny red fist pressed down right over my racing heart as my eyes met the bright green ones gazing up at me.
Wow, so this is what love at first sight really feels like.
"He's perfect," I whispered, gently running my hand down his wrinkly back.
"Completely," River Blossom agreed as she lay a soft blanket over the newborn on my chest.
Suddenly, the flap of the teepee was torn open, and Tigerlily rushed in. "You have to go, you have to get out!" She hissed frantically.
"What is wrong?" River Blossom stared at her daughter's panicked face.
"They know she's here, with the baby. He's coming for them both." Tigerlily said as she moved quickly around the room, grabbing blankets, water skins, and everything within reach. She shoved it all into a leather saddle bag that she slung over her shoulder as she came to the other side of the bedding I was laying on.
"Who is coming?" I demanded, holding the baby close to my chest.
"The one who was Hook," Tigerlily said, quickly washing my legs with a damp cloth.
"What do you mean 'was'?" I asked as I tried to sit up.
"He is something else now, something dark and dangerous, and you have to go." She insisted. Her dark brown eyes met mine, and the fear that I saw there sent ice shooting down my spine.
"I don't understand," I said helplessly as Tigerlily and River Blossom worked together to quickly create a bandage and undergarment that wrapped around my belly and between my legs. "Where else can we go? I don't even think I can walk-",
The teepee was suddenly ripped nearly in half from above, and my head jerked up to see…god I didn't know what I was seeing, but Tigerlily screamed, and River Blossom said what had to be a prayer under her breath.
Its green skin and wooden antlers were the first things my eyes snagged on, then its deep black eyes met mine, and I let out a quiet gasp.
"Peter?" I breathed, thinking it couldn't possibly be him, and yet…
"The child is here," It spoke with an echoing voice, almost as if it came and went with the wind.
"Yes," I agreed, my fear somehow receding even as it shifted its black eyes towards the baby.
Towards my son.
The creature who used to be Peter slowly reached a green hand towards my baby, and while I didn't let my hold on him falter, I didn't stop the creature from brushing its fingers softly across the baby's head, either. I could feel that the creature meant my son no harm.
My eyes widened as I saw a bright green spark move from the creature's fingers to dance around my son's head for a moment before alighting on his forehead, and being absorbed within him.
"He will be a good Pan, a strong leader, a fierce friend." The creature foretold, the words echoing around us.
My eyes widened as understanding rolled through me. Of course, I thought. He was never meant to stay with me.
While this revelation caused my heart to crack right down the middle, I also couldn't deny how right it felt. This had been fate's plan all along.
"Over my dead body," a cold, high-pitched voice sneered from just outside of the ruined entrance of the teepee, and I gasped in terror as I watched the walls go up in flame.
TEAKEN
If there was a way to physically claw his way through the air, Teaken was trying to find it.
Faster, faster! He begged his body as his eyes remained locked on the smoke and firelight from the Indian encampment he could see in the distance. He could pick up shouts and the sound of metal on metal now, and his heart tripled its already frantic place as cold darted through his limbs.
Teaken looked back behind him and could see Grinz and the Twins tailing him. Grinz saw the look on Teaken's face, and could hear the sounds of battle from ahead just as Teaken could,
"Go, Teak!" He shouted, gesturing for Teaken to go ahead. "Go get her! We'll jump in as soon as we're there!"
Teaken nodded at his friend and pulled on one more burst of speed, feeling the air pulling against his skin as he willed himself to just get there already.
To get to her.
His speed pushed him quickly over the clearing of the Indian encampment, and he forced himself to slow as his eyes swept all around the clearing to orient himself and locate Mary.
He heard a scream, and his stomach dropped into his ankles as his head whipped towards the sound and found a teepee engulfed in flames.
"MARY!" He screamed, diving towards the blaze. He pulled up short, searching for a way inside. His eyes fell on a bucket of washing water next to a fire circle just outside of the teepee, and he dove for it. He upended the bucket over his own head, saturating as much of his skin and clothing as he could, then tossed the bucket aside, and dove into the burning structure.
He burst through the blackened side of the teepee and hissed as the flames bit at the skin of his arms and face. He immediately ran into soft bodies who all cried out in surprise and pain as his full weight barreled into their laps. Opening his eyes and peering through the smoke, he saw a dozen dark, frightened eyes staring back at him. He'd flown right into the laps of half a dozen Indian women who had been cowering against the one side of the teepee that hadn't yet succumbed to the flames.
"Mary?" Teaken couched, rolling off of the Indian womens' laps and standing and waving his hand in front of his face as he tried to see through the smoke. As focused as he was on finding Mary, he knew these women couldn't stay here. "You have to run, all of you!" He called, pulling his shirt up and over his nose to protect his lungs from the smoke as much as he could.
Not one of the women moved. Teaken dropped his shirt and turned his face to them. "You have to go!" He growled. "There's no time! The fire-"
"We'd rather face the fire than what lies beyond it!" One woman cried, pointing to the engulfed flap at the entrance to the structure.
Teaken swore he heard a low chuckle from beyond the wall of the teepee the women had gathered against, and then a scream as a sword suddenly pierced through the skin of the teepee, and the woman who had been crouched against it. She screamed in pain as the sword sliced through her shoulder, and again when it was pulled viciously back out.
Teaken's eyes widened as he recognized the blade that had just ravaged the Indian woman.
Blackblood.
A hand suddenly grabbed his, and Teaken jumped, looking down to see a hand gripping his tightly. He snapped his head up, and his knees nearly went out from under him with relief. "Mar-"
Mary dug her nails into his hand, her head shaking side to side as she made a silent shushing motion. His brows dripped in confusion, and his eyes tracked sideways for just a second before his heart tipped off a very high cliff in his chest.
Mary was holding a child. The child.
He couldn't help a small smile crossing his lips despite the desperate and terrifying situation they were currently in. Mary saw it, and gave him a small smile in return. That smile stopped the freefall his heart was in and caused it to float back up into this chest where it belonged.
He turned fully towards Mary and realized she was still laying on a raised bed of skins and furs, her legs and midsection wrapped in bloody cloth strips. He crouched down and held her hand tightly. "Well done, Mary," He breathed, brushing hair from her face.
Mary tightened her hold on the bundle in her arms, a panicked look on her face. "Thank you, but unless we figure out a way to get the hell out of here, it will have been for nothing," she hissed quietly. "And Teaken, I did NOT go through that for nothing, so we will be getting out of here alive. All of us." She demanded, eyeing him.
"They won't leave, I tried to tell them to run but," Teaken trailed off, gesturing towards the women who were busy tending to the shoulder of their tribe member who had been stabbed.
"Hook's out there," she whispered, pulling the cloth up over the baby's mouth and nose as the smoke thickened.
"That's not Hook anymore," Teaken said grimly as he stood and looked quickly around for the safest possible exit. "It's something far worse. But if he thinks he'll get to you and the baby, he's fucking wrong." Teaken growled.
A strange bird call sounded from above, and Teaken's head snapped up, and he smiled. He dropped back to Mary's side. "Can you be moved? Can you walk?"
"I, I haven't tried, but they've bandaged me up pretty tightly so I think-" Mary cut off with a squeak as Teaken wrapped an arm around her shoulders and under her knees.
"Hold tight to that baby," He said before he put his lips together and let loose a responding bird-like call.
There was a whooshing sound, a sharp metallic ringing, and suddenly one side of the top of the burning teepee was sliced through by a curved sword that was twisting through the air. The sword twisted back around in an oval and sliced through the other side before it flew back out of the side of the teepee. The top of the teepee split apart like a cracked watermelon and slid to the ground in flaming pieces.
As soon as the top was out of his way, Teaken shot up into the air with Mary and the baby clutched tightly in his arms. Mary shrieked in surprise and ducked her head over the baby she cradled tightly to her chest. "I've got you," Teaken swore as he flew as high and as quickly as he could away from there.
He glanced around rapidly and spotted the Twins holding off a group of pirates who were going after a group of Indian women and children on the edge of the encampment. "Grinz!" he called, finding an undisturbed spot in the camp and landing with Mary and the baby.
"Alright, mate?" Grinz called, as he landed and ran over to Teaken.
"Yeah, I'm good," Teaken said quickly. "Mary is still a little weak though, and the baby…" he trailed off, actually having no idea what condition the child was in, or what he needed.
"It's a boy," Mary said, before coughing into her shoulder as her lungs rejected the smoke she'd breathed in the burning teepee.
"'Course it is!" Grinz said, his namesake grin on his lips. "That's the best kind, after all."
Mary rolled her eyes, and Teaken let loose a quick laugh as he looked over his shoulder. He knew they only had moments before Blackblood sought them out and attacked Mary and the baby. "I have to go back and find Blackblood," he said, turning back to Mary and Grinz. "Stop him before he finds Mary and the kid."
"Where's….the thing that used to be Pan?" Grinz asked, twisting his head from right to left as he searched for him.
"He was there, in the teepee," Mary said, looking at Teaken as he snapped around to look at her. "For just a moment, and he saw the baby. But he disappeared when the fire started."
Teaken sighed. "We don't have time to look now. Grinz can get you and the baby to a safe place while I go after Blackblood."
"Oi, wait just a sec," Grinz frowned. "You're not kicking me out of this battle before it's really begun, my ladies haven't tasted a single drop of pirate blood yet!" Grinz protested, holding up his curved blades.
"Grinz, she needs to be safe. That baby needs to be safe! You have to get them out of here. Now." Teaken ordered in his 2nd in command voice.
Mary suddenly stepped between them as Grinz moved to argue. "Just give me a pixie dust pill and tell me where to go," she said, looking between them both. "I can take care of him. I'll keep him safe."
Teaken smiled a sad, proud smile at Mary. "You're the strongest person I've ever met, Mary, but you've literally just given birth, and you're exhausted and swaying on your feet. You need to be able to get somewhere safe and rest. You can't do that if you're the only one on lookout duty."
Mary looked down in defeated acquiescence, and Teaken knew then that she truly was completely wrung out. She didn't even try to dargue or deny that her body was hurting and that she was fighting to keep herself upright.
"What about the Twins?" Grinz asked. "They need backup-"
"Once I find and kill Blackblood the battle will be over. Grinz, please." Teaken pleaded. "I can't trust her with anyone else."
Grinz's eyes widened a bit at that declaration from Teaken. He glanced at Mary, then looked back to Teaken and nodded. "Alright, mate. I'll take good care of them both for ya."
Teaken gripped Grinz's arm tightly in appreciation and relief. "Thank you, friend. I'll owe you."
Teaken let go of Grinz's arm and his eyes met Mary's. He could see the nervousness, the fear and uncertainty. He took three long strides over to her and reached for her, but Mary stepped back. Teaken frowned, and his arms dropped a little in confusion. "What is it?"
"Wait," she said, then looked to Grinz. "Could you hold him for me?"
Grinz's eyes opened wide and he held his arms out. "Oh, I've never, I mean I don't know anything about-"
"It's easy," Mary said, helping to arrange his arms correctly and sliding the baby into his hands. "Just support his head and don't drop him."
Grinz gulped. "Yeah, o-okay. Cheers."
Mary turned and ran the three steps to Teaken, launching herself up into his arms. He chuckled as he caught her, and turned his nose into the side of her neck, breathing in deeply. "Take it easy," he whispered. "You've still got a lot of healing to do."
"You're here. I'm with you. Everything is fine. I'm fine." Mary muttered as she snuggled as far into his chest as she could while her feet weren't touching the ground.
Teaken shut his eyes and tightened his arms around her, his heart bursting at her words. "I have to go, this won't end until-"
"Teak? Mary? I don't…something isn't right here-" Grinz interrupted, sounding a bit lost.
"It's just a baby, Grinz, you're doing fine." Mary called, refusing to let this moment with Teaken end so quickly.
"I feel, I don't feel right…" Grinz's voice was filled with fear now, and Teaken lifted his head and looked at his friend, and froze.
"Mary," he said quickly, putting her down and moving to his friend. "Take the baby. Now."
"What's happening? What's wrong?" Mary asked, startled.
"Now, Mary!" Teaken shouted, moving behind his friend and supporting him as Grinz began to fall backwards.
Mary jumped and carefully took the baby out of Grinz's arms as quickly as she could. She gasped as she watched Grinz's eyes roll back in his head. Teaken grunted under Grinz's weight as he fell to the ground.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked, taking a step closer. Teaken held up a hand to stop her.
"Don't," he said. "I think…I think it's the baby. "
"What?" Mary said, astounded. "How could a newborn child harm-" Mary broke off, gasping.
"What?" Teaken asked, setting Grinz's head gently on the ground and jumpin up to stand next to Mary as she stared down at the baby.
Mary pulled the cloth further away from the baby's face, and shook her head slowly. "It's not, it should be possible, but…" she turned the baby so that Teaken could see him.
The baby looked like he had aged a year at least. Maybe two.
His chubby arms and legs had lengthened, and he had a mop of red hair on his head that curled around his ears and the back of his neck. He looked up at Mary adoringly, opening his mouth in a smile, and Mary gasped again.
"Teeth!" She said, shaking her head. "I don't understand-"
"He took Grinz's magic, and it aged him," Teaken said grimly, looking towards Grinz. "It aged them both."
Mary peered over at Grinz, his chest rising and falling in a steady pace as if he was just sleeping. She looked closer at his face, and was startled to see that the Lost Boy did look older, larger. As if he'd gone from 18 years old to 25 in a few seconds flat.
Teaken blew out a breath. "Just like what happened to Nibs."
Mary turned her face to Teaken. "What happened to Nibs?" She asked slowly.
Teaken rubbed his hand over his face. "He's dead."
Mary gasped, clutching the toddler sized child to her chest. "How?"
Teaken looked down at the child. "The island, it's changing Peter by storing up all its magic in him. It took Nibs' too. He was," Teaken had to clear his throat. "He looked like an old man. His hair was white, his skin sagged off his bones, it…" Teaken trailed off, unable to continue. "I don't actually think Peter is in there anymore," he said, meeting Mary's horrified eyes. "I think he's gone, too."
"God, Teaken, I'm-" Mary began, but Teaken waved his hands.
"There isn't time for this now, we have to find Blackblood and stop this, and then get that kid," he pointed to the boy in Mary's arms. "To laugh and save us all. That's where the focus is now. That's the only thing that matters, ok?"
Mary nodded, rocking the boy a bit when he started to fuss. "Yes," She looked up at Teaken, her eyes glinting with determination. "I'll stay here with him and work on getting that laugh. You go find Blackblood and smoke his bitch-ass."
Teaken cracked a smile. "You shouldn't swear so much around the kid."
Mary smirked, turning to show Teaken that her hand was covering one of his ears while the other was pressed into her chest, the kid's eyes fluttering slowly closed as her rocking lulled him to sleep. "I had it covered."
Teaken's heart and brain did a small, joyful leap together at the sight of Mary holding and rocking a child. He smiled at her as he backed away, knowing his next words would be dangerous, but needing to say them anyway. "I love you, you know."
The ground rumbled, and a tree creaked and groaned as it fell and obliterated a teepee behind them. Mary laughed a little wildly. "I know," she answered, her chin wobbling as she held back tears and beamed back at him. "Now go."
Teaken smiled, then took off running back towards the battle.
BLACKBLOOD
Blackblood snarled as he watched the Lost Boy take off with the girl and the child in his arms. "No! You will not escape me!" He cried, looking wildly around for help as his quarry escaped. "Smee! You useless, worthless, lump of an idiot, where are you?!"
Blackblood saw pirates scattered all over the encampment, each locked in battle with an Indian warrior or bloody Lost Boy, and no one was paying the slightest bit of attention to their Captain's needs. He growled and tipped his red eyes up, searching for the fleeing lost boy.
"Ah-ha!" he cried, baring his teeth as he found them cutting through the night sky. "I see you, you gutless sparrow."
If you want something done right, you do it yourself, the boy Blackblood thought, and he took off running after them.
He made it only a few steps before he was stopped by a strange green creature who flashed into his path.
Blackblood skidded to a stop and stared up at the thing. It was frighteningly familiar, and yet alien at the same time. But it couldn't be…could it?
"Boy?" Blackblood queried slowly, narrowing his eyes and stepping closer. He saw its black, depthless eyes, and its green, leaf-like skin. As he raised up on his toes to get a better look he noticed a familiar dusting of pale freckles across the creature's nose, and he knew confidently then that this was his nemesis…or what was left of him.
"What has become of you?" Blackblood wondered aloud, coming back down onto his feet and tipping his head to the side as he began to circle the green creature. "Has the island possessed you, body and soul?" He looked the thing up and down, scrunching up his nose as he peered at it. "Are you even in there at all anymore, my adversary?"
The black eyes narrowed at him, and its hollow voice caused goosebumps to race across the surface of Blackblood's skin as it finally spoke to him.
"Your time on this island has come to an end."
Blackblood's mouth twisted into a smiling snarl. "We are in full agreement on that, at least," Blackblood said, "but it seems you're under the impression that this island has any time left at all."
The creature tipped its head to the side at Blackblood, as if considering what kind of insect he might be. "Your time has ended, but the island and its magic will live on anew with a new Pan to lead it."
Blackblood's lips pulled back over his teeth and his red eyes flashed at the creature. "I assure you that you're quite wrong about that."
The creature's eyes narrowed at Blackblood. "You cannot stop it. Fate is already in motion. The magic will endure."
"NO! I WILL END IT!" Blackblood screamed wildly, his eyes glowing and sparking at the creature as he sliced his cutlass through the air at it. "I WILL END YOU!"
The creature drew back, pulling its lips back to reveal sharp, pointed teeth as it drew Pan's sword from its back. "Proud and insolent youth," the creature said in an echoing snarl. "Prepare to meet thy doom."
A flame of rage and excitement lit in the pirate boy's red eyes. He knew this game.
"Dark and sinister creature," Blackblood spat, tightening his fingers around the pommel of his cutlass as he threw himself at the once Pan. "Have at thee!"