Chapter 23 'The Psyche Walk'
Regina's repeated incantations were drowned out by the howling wind blustering around her. As soon as Tigerlily made contact with Tink's fingers, the world around them grew fuzzy, blurring until it was like she was peering into frosted glass.
"Tinkerbell!" It didn't feel like she had just walked inside the mind of a fairy. Her feet were planted in the same place it seemed.
The fairy cut through the blur, her body in full clarity. She had settled on the fog, the ground could not be seen, and she was hugging her knees. She was not as disturbed as Tigerlily had last seen her which was a good sign. Gently, the warrior girl knelt down and blanketed her arm around Tink's shoulders to take her hand. They awkwardly rose.
Where to go, Tigerlily didn't know. She felt contained under this dome of frosted glass. And what was she standing on? It didn't exactly look solid, a crippling second after each step made it seem like her foot was going to pass through.
"Tink…?"
"I know," Tink showed no signs of surprise as they glided through- she did know the way. Then a daring move, after gathering strength, she let go of Tigerlily. She stumbled but stayed erect and scuffled towards the edge of the dome, waving her hand in front of the haze. The scenery sharpened, and she saw they were no longer in the treehouse but outside. The sun was out, replacing the forever moon set by Ombra. Daylight slipped through and bathed the two in its rejuvenating warmth.
"Come along now," Tink continued to the transformed space, stepping over the verdant jungle floor to go westward, "I guess I have to show you everything now."
Tigerlily followed her blindly, confused to where they are exactly. But to find out how to unclog those memories, she had to keep an eye on Tink. She chased after her and eventually found her crouching behind a tree bordering Butterfly Bluff, appearing to be observing something from her hiding place. Without taking her eyes off her target, she motioned for Tigerlily to join her.
The raven haired native came by her side, "Where are we?"
The fairy shushed her, and their attention went to a patch of land adjacent to the Bluff. Laughs sounded as a group of native women frolicked through billowing grass, picking flowers and engaging in merriment. They didn't linger in the Bluff for long, only a passby. Yet one woman had chosen to rest underneath a towering mushroom only a few feet away from their hiding place.
The cackle of women might have not noticed a missing member of their party for they continued homebound after an afternoon away. Tink let out a breath she had been holding and smiled at the sight of the woman resting supine near their tree.
"There she is," she whispered, "This was the day I met her,"
"We're in your memory?" Tigerlily didn't expect to actually waltz into Tink's memories. Were they supposed to stay out of sight, to preserve the sequence of events? The fairy must have done this before, telling from her composure during their journey thus far. She had some questions, "What? How are we to-?"
The woman suddenly jerked into a sitting position, looking over her shoulder where her companions used to be. She visibly relaxed, shoulders drooping and hand to her heart. It was no accident. She wanted to get left behind.
Tigerlily pocketed her questions for later, now inquisitive about this woman. There was a familiarity around her that she could not place. 515 years alive, it was understable that she could forget a number of faces. Yet, she felt like she wasn't supposed to forget this one.
She was utterly beautiful. Chestnut hair twisting along her back in exquisite braids, much more complicated than Tigerlily's simple two. Flowers circled around her head, almost like a crown. She could have been a queen. The way she sat and how her jaw was set in a dignified manner, yet her grace… Tigerlily found her intriguing and astounding only by the mere action of sitting down.
The woman was troubled though. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being watched. She fiddled her fingers, as if second guessing what she was about to do next. And then, making a noise of surrender, she laid her palm out. Eyes closed, in a disguised concentration, the woman lit a spark on her hand which grew into… a ball of light.
A ball of light.
Tigerlily eyed her own hands. Just like her, this woman had the Light. Who was this woman?
She played with the Light. Passing it from one hand to another with ease. She didn't have to think too hard about it. It was child's play for her, a carefree and mindless thing. Her control came easy, much to Tigerlily's embarrassment. The Light never favored her the way it did this woman.
She stood up, forgetting she was supposed to be hidden. The woman looked up, breaking her concentration, and locked eyes with her.
"Hello there," she smiled warmly. The light diminished and she rose from her place of rest. She inched towards her, making Tigerlily's pulse quicken for reasons unknown to her.
"Where are you going? Fear not, for I will not hurt you,"
Tigerlily stared at her feet. She hadn't moved. The woman had reached her but didn't stop, instead passing through Tigerlily as if she was a ghost.
"She's but a memory, Tigerlily," Tink reminded. She lured the girl back to their viewing place, "It is best to watch."
They did in fact watch. They watched the young woman walk towards a small speck of green light. Upon closer inspection, Tigerlily saw it was Tinkerbell. Well, Tinkerbell from long ago. The past Tinkerbell had been along her merry way but had stopped to observe the native - almost fleeing after she had been caught by said woman.
"We speak the same tongue," The past fairy looked at the woman inquisitively, "Why?"
"I have been taught,"
"You have been taught well. Identify yourself, young maiden"
"Featherfoot,"
Surprise shot up Tigerlily's spine and she had to clamp on her mouth to keep from gasping or crying or both, "Mother," she breathed. Her mother. She was watching her right now, interacting, walking, living right in front of her.
The resemblance- oh why she didn't notice before? Her eyes were like hers, Tigerlily remembered from Rufio's portrait on how her eyes were spaced to give an impression of a larger bridge of the nose. Yet on her mother, it was natural- just perfect.
She thought she had missed the chance when she died. She never had a proper glimpse of her. She must have had though, when was a baby. Her memory couldn't stretch that early in her life. She wanted to reach out and touch her, but she might as well be just wisps of smoke. Centuries of things she could have to her mother bubbled in her throat.
"She was one of a kind. With a heart so full and so giving, she could have been a fairy," Tigerlily didn't have to look to know that the fairy beside was smiling wistfully.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Tinkerbell," past Tink beamed, "Are you all like this?"
"If you mean speak english, then no,"
"No. I've seen your people, they're brusque… and to be honest," Past Tink wrinkled her nose, "a bit unfriendly,"
"That is mostly the men. The women here are more gentle, but I cannot guarantee they are any nicer though," Featherfoot giggled but then grew concerned,"Did you… see?"
"Your sorcery?"
"No. I am not a sorceress," Then the young maiden held up her hands, palms up and a small glow emanated from her, "I have been able to do this for as long as I could remember."
"Maybe I can help you with that? Find a way to harness your magic? Learn what it's used for?"
"Oh no, it is okay. I think I can manage. I am not allowed to use it in my village,"
Tink frowned, "What a shame though. If you have this gift as a part of you, then it isn't fair to hide parts of yourself, especially around your kin."
"Can you not tell anyone?" Featherfoot asked quietly.
"It's safe with me," Then past Tinkerbell grew to adult size and went to shake her mother's hand, "I'm not sure why, but I have this feeling that you're a special one, Featherfoot."
Then the scene before them shifted- literally. The women and the environment swirled and once they were able to make out a new memory, it quickly started shifting into another memory. But from what Tigerlily could tell it was a series of quick memories that just showed Tink and her mother together. There had been a split second where she saw them laughing together on Butterfly Bluff, another one of them picking berries and flicking them at each other playfully- fun and wonderful times,"
Tigerlily knew that Tinkerbell had known her mother while she was alive, but she didn't know they were not just merely acquaintances."You were friends?"
"We were… close," Tigerlily was confused by the wording of Tink's response, until a flurry of memories flashed before them- memories of hand holding and sweet kisses.
Tigerlily whipped her head to face the fairy, mouth agape. How could she not have said anything? The memory might have been too painful. It was silent between them when the scene shifted again but now it was nighttime and there seemed to be no one around.
Tink looked down, "It wasn't long after we became… involved that she had been engaged to the Chief,"
"When they were married… were you guys still-"
"Time to time. It was difficult," the fairy broke off, tearing up, "she just had this big heart. She did love the Chief and she loved me too… but I could never ask her to choose me before her people. And she could never ask me to be a human sized, knowing my limitations as a fairy,"
"But she was special, wasn't she?"
"Oh yes. And when she was pregnant with you- she was ecstatic. For some reason, Neverland's rules regarding time didn't apply and her body began to grow and change to make way for you. She so badly wanted to keep you, Tigerlily. You… just had no idea,"
They sat for a while before Tigerlily remembered that they were on a time crunch. Regina might not have long and the longer they stay here, the more likely it would be that she would be stuck in the fairy's psyche forever.
"Come along, we need to find out what we're supposed to see next-" Tink didn't go follow her, still crouched down in their hiding spot, "What is it?"
"Tigerlily, this next one… you don't want to see it…"
The brunette's heart dropped, already having put it together. She noticed that the sky was abnormally dark, there was some sort of tension in the air- how could she not have known, "It's me. I'm in the next one."
"It's the day of your birth,"
Regina heard the bang of the hatch opening but maintained the magical stream flowing from hands and into the fairy's temple. Mary Margaret and Emma came bursting in on the scene.
"Regina, what are you doing?" Mary Margaret exclaimed, reaching for the fairy laying almost lifeless on the bed but Emma pulled her back.
"Is that Tinkerbell?" The savior asked.
"Yes, and if you don't mind I'm trying to concentrate,"
"Where's Tigerlily?"
The queen, tired from executing the difficult spell, merely gestured with jerks of head towards Tinkerbell.
"What-? Inside… Tinkerbell?"
"She's trying to help Tink get out of her head. She… had an episode before collapsing,"
At this point both her and Mary Margaret moved to the side of the bed. The savior asked, "How long has she got in there?"
"Not long I'm afraid,"
From the distance they could see swirls of darkness plaguing the sky, coming together to create some sort of tornado shape or as if creating some sort of funnel. High pitched whistles followed the black masses as they convened somewhere north.
Tigerlily and Tink hurried to find the source of the screams. They had been in a clearing, now bursting through layers of leaves and plants to find themselves near a cliff overlooking the ocean, the dark mass hovering above the scene as well. There was a group of native women huddled around Featherfoot who was laying down on the ground, holding a swaddled baby in her arms. It appeared that she had been in labor while out with the other women. Tigerlily was able to pass through the others and looked at her mother directly.
It was a strange sensation- watching herself as a baby, wrapped up in her mother's arms. It was more of the fact that now she has a memory of her and her mother together, even though from here on out, looking back at this moment, it would be from this weird third person perspective.
Tink stayed behind while the past Tink fluttered onto the scene, hearing the screams as well. She immediately grew full size and the group of women parted for the fairy to come closer to the new mother. She was tentative to reach out and give gentle touches on Featherfoot's arms to try to calm her down. The young native had been crying, not from the pain of labor, but at the sight of the Shadows converging overhead.
"Shh," Past Tink tried to console her, "The fairies are coming. They will hold them off for now, but…-"
"My daughter. My daughter Tink-" She sniffled and quelled her own sadness before handing the bundle off to the fairy, "Take her to the village. Guide them there."
"What? No, I'm not leaving you here,"
"I will try to delay them as well. But they know that I am at my most vulnerable," At this point, a flurry of fairies emerged from the forest, like a sea of fireflies- they scattered the night sky, drawing the different Shadows' attention away from Featherfoot. Most of the other native women had fled, darting towards the village as soon as the fairies arrived. A few lingered, not sure how to further help Featherfoot. They did offer to lead the grown fairy to the village and would ensure the safety of the newborn.
Tigerlily watch Tink grip her mother's hand tightly, all while holding baby Tigerlily with the other arm, "Please. Please don't make me leave you."
"You need to. Just protect her," Then Featherfoot plucked a flower from beside her and tucked it in the blanket wrapping around the baby, "Do not plan on joining me soon. I believe in you."
Past Tink had tears streaming down her face by the time she garnered enough courage to let go of Featherfoot's hand and started zooming through the forest, right past the present-day Tink who had stood near the jungle, with the rest of the native women having gone ahead to be her guide. Tigerlily knelt by her mother's side and followed her gaze to what seemed to be the heavens. She witnessed the fairies being swatted down by the Shadows. They were now making their way towards Featherfoot.
She watched her mother, shakily get on to her feet- an impressive feat considering she had given birth merely minutes ago. But knowing that what she was about to do to take the last bit of strength she had, Featherfoot stood her ground and held out her hands toward the looming dark cloud. The power of the Light shot out of her hands and sliced through the mass- parting the Shadows and forcing them to plan a different tactic. She then let the light emanate from her palms, rather than in a beamlike fashion like she had just done- it glowed brighter than Tigerlily could ever see her own Light go. She had to close her eyes.
By the time she opened them, it seemed as though her mother had successfully destroyed the Shadows, seeing only little wisps of smoke. But then Tigerlily heard a gasp being elicited from beside her. And she was horrified to see that a couple Shadows had been able to maneuver around the Light and had snuck up on her mother.
It was all over too quick.
"No!"
Tigerlily watched helplessly as the Shadows plucked her mother's shadow right from her body. Her mother dropped to the ground unceremoniously.
Completely forgetting that this was a memory, she raced to her mother's side and kept reaching for her, only for her fingers to pass through like the ghost she was, "Please, please, please," she begged, wishing for her mother to get right back up like she had done earlier.
"Tigerlily," Present-day Tink was now by her side, "It's over it's done,"
She knew deep down it was no use. This happened 515 years ago, but seeing her mother just now, seeing her as this kind, loving being- she felt she had been robbed of that love once the Shadows took her away.
The fairy dragged her to her feet, keeping her right in front of her mother's body, "Tiger, you have to watch now."
"I don't think I can watch anymore!"
"There's more you need to see," And Tink forced her to look at her mother's lifeless body once more. She was beginning to question why she was being subjected to this kind of torture until she saw the Light again emanating from her form.
"What's going on?"
The Light then began to form and collect into an orb, as big as- well, as big as the pearl might have been in the John Steinbeck story she had read with Mary Margaret now as Tigerlily thought about it. Then, as if having some sort of sentience, as if it knew what had happened to the vessel, Featherfoot's body, it rose from her mother's chest and they watched it make a mad dash into the jungle.
Tigerlily and Tink followed with as much haste into the green, and it was then that Tigerlily realized that past Tink had been huddled near a tree, watching the whole thing instead of brining baby Tigerlily towards the village yet- which made sense, considering Tink must have seen this to have been ingrained in her memory. The glowing white orb had quickly gotten close to the young fairy holding the baby, with past Tink switching sides to keep the baby out of the Light's reach- not sure if it was dangerous or not.
But past Tink couldn't keep it away. The ball of Light shot itself into baby Tigerlily, having found a new physical host. Tigerlily could see Tink quickly checking over the state of the newborn, but it appeared that nothing bad had happened- at least physically.
"The Light transferred from her body to mine," Tigerlily discovered.
"It can be only contained in a living shell. Once it sensed your mother die, it flew to the next living kin," Present- Tink affirmed, "There had been so much we didn't know about the Light yet- we only knew of the prophecy. It hadn't been until after you were born that Queen Clarion told me everything about Ombra and the Shadows, and even… how to bring back a shadow once it's been taken. I was…" Tink blew out a heated breath, "so furious. Because by then, it had been too late to save her. Queen Clarion thought- the prophecy needs to come to pass but-"Tinkerbell then stomped her foot and let out a guttural cry of frustration, "-Screw that! Screw the blasted prophecy!"
The ground began to shake- Tinkerbell was becoming unstable once more. All of the sudden they were hearing voices- faraway voices. It sounded like Regina, and maybe Emma? They both realized that theere wasn't much time left in the psyche walk.
Tigerlily grabbed Tink by the shoulders, "Tink! If there's anything you need to show me. Do it now! Do it quick!"
The fairy nodded her head then moved her hands in a fluid-like matter and the environment swirled around them, rippling as if it were the reflection of Neverland on the water. The blonde stepped back and gripped Tigerlily's hand, "Brace yourself."
Together, they viewed a series of events, heard excerpts of conversations. Tigerlily saw images of water. Beings in the water- the mermaids! And another flash happened, and she saw Peter's body being brought up through the surface of the lagoon- this was how he ended up in Neverland. Then they saw it switch to Pixie Hollow, where past- Tink had lugged Peter's lifeless body in front of the pool of Pixie Dust that flowed from the Dust Mill.
"The boy's barely breathing," one voice said
"We must help him," another input.
"It is out of our hands,"
"No, it is not. He's dying," Past-Tink advocated for the boy's life.
"And if we are to revive him… need I remind you the magic might not agree with another inhabitant," Queen Clarion's voice rang out.
"I'll personally look after him myself," Tink's voice reassured, "If he gets into any trouble, it is on me."
Then, Tigerlily saw flashes of the moments when they pushed Peter's body into the pool of pixie dust. Normally that amount of pixie dust could kill a man, but for some reason Peter's body had taken to the dust- as if he was meant to.
Flash again. Now it was just bits and pieces of early memories of Peter and Tink together. Her cleaning him up after the pixie dust immersion, her guiding him through the island, even playing games with each other.
"Now Peter, don't wander too far this time,"
She could Peter reply in monotone, "Yes, Tink."
"You're a troublesome boy, Peter Pan," And she could hear the mirth in past-Tink's voice.
Then it was fire. Fire all around- and it was clear that Tink wanted to leave off on one last memory, lingering more on this particular one than the more recent series of memories. When Pixie Hollow caught ablaze and every fairy had died except for her- when she had been late to that fateful Fairy Council meeting helping Tigerlily finding out more about Ombra.
The two watched the Pixie Hollow tree reduced to ash as past-Tink arguing with a figure in front out it.
"Peter?" Tigerlily could tell, from the gait and the smug grin on his face
"You weren't supposed to come out alive, Tink!"
"You planned this?" Past-Tink looked on in horror at the monster before her, not the boy she had come to raise as her own.
"Ombra informed me that you fairies might intervene on our quest. Therefore, you have to be eliminated,"
"Peter enough with your games. Tell me what exactly are you doing! My people are dead and I'm left to question why! At least tell me before you kill me. The others had received less than that. After all we've been through Peter, please. This isn't you!"
"I want power!" By then, the rest of the Lost Boys had emerged from the trees, falling back behind their leader mostly in fear and loyalty to their leader.
"The pixie dust running through your veins isn't enough?"
"But I could have more, but there's something in my way," Peter gestured towards the towering flames, "Queen Clarion had the fairies seal off most of the connections to Neverland's magic in an act of preserving it. Turns out," the boy pulled out a scroll, one that had been kept in the fairy archives, "A heart. A heart pure of belief that it will overwhelm the fairies' magic, allowing me to absorb every ounce of the island's magic."
"If you do that, you'll suck Neverland dry! Our food, water, and youth will be no more! Everyone will die,"
"Exactly. So basically, I've given your people a head start for what's to come,"
"What about the Lost Boys?" The fairy tried to reach out to Tootles, the youngest, but he simply coward behind their menacing leader.
"They'll obey me until the bitter end. Any offenders will, however, be taken care of. And if I'm feeling generous, I could still fuel their youth myself,"
"And Tigerlily?"
The mention of her name had Peter clench his jaw,"Her fate is yet to be determined,"
"I could hear your heart beating her name. There's one thing Ombra can't touch and that is your heart. You're not completely dark. There is hope for you to change back,"
"Hope. The unwavering optimism for fools. You honestly think such things exist, or if it answers to your pleas?"
"Hope is in my being. I am a fairy,"
"Not for long. Tinkerbell, there had been a time in my life where I believed in many things, one being hope and the other...you. But you don't actually care about me, do you?"
"I do care,"
"Then you should have left me to die,"
A last flash of light flooded their vision then nothing.
Tigerlily collapsed on the ground while Tink added more supplemental information.
"I hid in the ashes and tried to salvage as much as I could. When I found out you left, I tracked the ship to the Enchanted Forest and searched for you," Tink then asked the poignant question,"Why did you leave?"
"I wanted answers," Tigerlily admitted, "I thought Rumplestiltskin could help me figure out what to do with the Light,"
"But you didn't go to him,"
"Peter had supposedly died, I assumed that Ombra was gone too. I tried to move on, but I couldn't. Too much had transpired on that island, I couldn't forget. But you. You ran into Regina while at the Enchanted Forest?"
"I heard you were under her command and I tried to convince her to release you,"
"But she took your wings,"
"All it took were five words," Tink appeared sullen, but she knew that their time in her mind must come to an end, "We have to go now!"
Tigerlily shot out from the beam of magic Regina had been concentrating into Tink's mind. She landed across the room with a thud, almost flying out the window, "For Merlin's sake, don't do that!" The native stalked towards the queen.
"I was expecting a 'Thank you'. I could have left you trapped in her mind," They turned to see the fairy coming to, looking a bit drowsy but otherwise fine.
"There is not enough magic as it is," the fairy cut in, without missing a beat, "You mustn't be wasting it on me," Then she noticed the two other women waiting by her bedside, "And you are?"
But before Mary Margaret and Emma could introduce themselves, Tigerlily had to continue, "Another shortage? The boys' belief is not working?"
"The supply depletes faster than it refills. Ombra is sucking the island dry and he is using Peter to do it. We don't have long before we're all dead under," Tink explained.
"Under...underwater?" Emma spluttered.
"It is not much. I figure it has a week or less,"
"The island is dying from the lack of magic. When it runs out, Neverland will disappear,"
A/N: Hey, it's not perfect. But I'm trying to get back into this story and fandom after being MIA for… how many years again? Lemme know what I can improve on. I still have a lot of documents to sort through. I had planned ahead for this story… just needed to find those docs….
Great to be back!
*~PanNeverFails~*