TAoP Chapter 3

Stories

As Jayden was thinking of a good place to begin, Penny took a good look at the two of them. The boy was tall and skinny, with some slight muscle but could be strong enough to knock her down (in her opinion). His brown hair was short; it didn't even reach his glasses. Around his neck were goggles, kinda like the ones that the Lost Boys used to swim in the Lagoon. His blue shirt had many tears and stains, much like Penny's, but he seemed to take better care of it. His pants were pretty much in the same state; they were black and also had rips and stains. They had many pockets that seemed to be bulging with stuff that could only be useful to him. Jayden had a distinctive smell to him that Penny could not place, but overall looked like someone who took baths once in a while.

The girl, Illiana, looked much older than Penny. Her chest wasn't flat and she had a curve to her that made her look skinny. The purple hair threw Penny off for awhile but it seemed to fit in with her dark purple sleeveless shirt. Her pants were white with some stains and two belts that held her guns up. They were crisscross on her waist, also in purple. Black straps that were connected to her belt, hung behind and didn't seem to have a point to them (what Penny doesn't know is they are suspenders). Her gray eyes never left Penny as Jayden told his tale.

"Right, so, me and Illiana, come from a different world. It's called Fantasia and we are the center of most planets. We, as in the people who live there, travel to different worlds to make sure that they are still safe."

"From what?" Penny asked trying to grasp all of this new and strange information.

"From the Darkness, now don't interrupt," Jayden continued, "the Darkness is like their name. They can only really come out when it is dark and hunt people down in worlds. The reason is for control; they wish to rule and be superior than everyone and we think there might be a bigger force controlling them. But there is something in each world that has stopped them from entering or they disappear fast. We don't quite know what it is, but we check to make sure that nothing is wrong with the worlds. Now, the Darkness is what we call the group of Dark Beings.

"There are some different kinds of Darkness: Shadows, Nyght-creatures, and Nyght-mares. Shadows are the lowest form of the Darkness. They can control people's and animal's shadows and make that person do whatever it wants. Shadows are just black shapes that take the shape of whatever person comes their way. The only way you can tell if a person is being controlled by a Shadow is to throw light directly into the shadow. Not only are they the lowest form but they are also the most common. We fight them the most because they travel more than the other ones. They force the person to summon the Nyght-creatures. Nyght-creatures are these flying beasts with horns and they terrorize the worlds. They try to get people to give up their Hopes and Belief, in order for them to fully take over the world. The most powerful Darkness that we have encountered is the Nyght-mares. We don't know what they look like because, so far with the different people we encountered described them different. Because of this, we concluded that the Nyght-mares take to form of the thing that scares the dreamer the most. They also have access to their memories and can create false images in their mind. We learned that they use them to gather information on the world and it is very difficult to free the person."

"Hope and Belief?"

"Those are the things inside everyone that can be used to help with their magic and can fend off the Darkness. If people don't have Hope in someone or if people don't Believe in magic, their defenses are down and the Darkness will easily be able to take over. Most of our weapons and powers are based on Belief. We need those to protect them and their world."

"How did you guys find out all of this and is that why you came here?"

"A very powerful magic user discovered the Darkness and used his magic to bind them into their own world. But somehow they broke out of that and now we believe that they are spreading out to more worlds at a rapid pace," Illiana explained, getting caught up in the moment, "Most people on Fantasia are trained to handle a situation like this and so they are able to stop them, but that's not what we are doing."

"Sadly, yes, we are still in training and technically not supposed to be her. See, I was testing out this now invention I made and it didn't go as well as I planned," Jayden said guiltily.

"So you guys shouldn't be here and yet you are?" Penny asked.

"I was aiming for another world. By the way, what world is this?"

"Neverland is what we call this island."

"We?" Illiana asked.

"Peter and the Lost Boys," Penny explained, "We all live here."

"That's it? Are there any adults here?"

"No, Neverland is a place for children," Jayden said, as Penny opened her mouth to explain, "It is actually a very magical place." In his hand was a small computer and he was reading what was on the screen.

"What is that?" Penny asked as she flew over to look at it.

"This is something that all fighters have. It is a computer that tells us about worlds that we have already discovered. I guess we have been here before."

"Oy! Penny! We don't see a ship!" a voice called out in the distance. The three turned to where the voice came from and found the Lost Boys coming their way. The Boys stopped and stared at the new-comers.

"Really? Hmm…hold on a second!" Penny flew up until she could see the ocean all around the island. Star flew out of Penny's hat twinkling; she sometimes goes in there to get some sleep.

"I don't really understand who they were." More twinkling. "But they seem okay and they don't look like pirates." Penny stated as she looked around. Sure enough, the pirate ship was nowhere in sight. I wonder where they could be. Penny floated back down to where everyone was and found the Boys swimming in the Lagoon and Jayden and Illiana looking at their ship. Jayden was trying to get the ship out of the water while Illiana checked out the small computer.

"Do you need some help?" Penny offered, as the boy struggled.

"Yes, please." Together they managed to get the ship out of the water and onto the grassy shore. The ship was blue, red, purple, and black. Each block was a different color as if to create some puzzle. The colors must've had some significance to them since they two had the same colors. Jayden then took off his glasses and snapped on his goggles. He opened a little compartment on the side and inside, Penny saw wires of all colors and switches glowing in the sun,

"Seems like we might have missed wired the engine starter to the shape shifting button…" Jayden mused as he looked at everything.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about him. He likes talking to himself as he works," Illiana called as she continued to study the screen. Penny walked over and looked too. On the screen was a model of Neverland and some writings all around it. The model was revolving so she could see every detail of the island.

Reading Penny's mind, Illiana explained, "This here tells me the history of your island and those who live here. Also, it tells me all the Darkness activity in the past years. Funny thing is, I can't seem to find anything about a girl living here."

"Oh I'm Penny! I haven't lived here that long…at least I don't think I have," Penny explained.

"Still…that's why! This hasn't been updated in a couple years!"

"Well, we would know if someone has been on our island."

"There we go! This should've fixed it! At least until we get to Fantasia," Jayden said, coming over to where the girls were. He switched for his glasses again, "Maybe, while we're here we should investigate."

"Great idea! Maybe then our punishment will not be as extreme as it probably already is," Illiana said with heavy sarcasm, "But it wouldn't hurt. Plus it will give us some practice." She handed the computer to Jayden as they both turned to Penny.

"So have you noticed anything different than before on the island?" she asked. Jayden had his hand hovering over the keyboard waiting for Penny's response.

"Er…not really…" tinkling interrupted Penny thoughts, as Starlight flew to Penny's shoulder, "Oh you're right, Star! There were some black birds that were here this morning."

"Black birds? Did they do anything strange?" Illiana frowned.

"Well…they talked and then they sorta chased me. They seemed to be after something. And they couldn't go into the sun, that's how I escaped."

"You don't think…." Jayden looked at Illiana.

"We should tell them." Illiana turned towards the ship as Jayden closed his computer and followed.

"Wait! What does it mean?" Penny asked, following them.

"It's just something that may be helpful in our investigation," Jayden looked at Penny, calculating, "Could you come with us? The King might not believe us if we just told them, but if we brought a witness…"

"Are you crazy? That's breaking all the rules now! We could get into serious trouble!" Illiana warned, stopping right outside the ship.

`"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Both stared down one another until Illiana looked away.

"Fine but it's on your head!" she entered the ship and started it up.

Jayden looked at Penny, who looked confused, "Please, we need you to come with us."

"Will I come back?" Penny asked a little worried.

"Yes, I promise."

A moment of hesitation and Penny nodded slowly. She turned to look at the Lost Boys, who starred as this was happening. "I'll be back! Tell Peter that I will!" She called to them as she followed Jayden on the ship.

"W-wait! Penny, don't-" Nibs yelled but it was too late. The door closed and the last thing they saw was Penny's confident smile as the ship flew towards the sky.