"Sophia, hey, wake up."
Sophia cracked open her eyes, blinking a few times to get the blurriness out of her eyes. Felix was looking down at her, a soft smile on his lips as he helped her up. As she sat up she saw Pan with crossed arms looking very pissed.
"What happened?" she asked, looking between the boys. Just than did she notice the bit of dried blood on the side of Pan's face.
"It was Liam," Pan grumbled, not even glancing her way.
"He stole the book, pushed Pan against a bookcase when he tried to stop him and left," Felix explained. "he knocked you out as well with this." He held up a cloth. Sophia took the cloth, carefully smelling it from a distance.
"Of course, I shouldn't be surprised," she said as she pushed herself off the ground and stood, letting the cloth fall to the ground again. "Did you see which way he went?"
Felix stood as well. "No, but I think he went to Hades with that book. Where else would he go with it?"
"Good point."
"That stupid sailor is going to die," Pan almost growled before adding, "again."
"Easy Pan, you can have him after I'm done with him."
The three of them left the library and went straight to Hades layer. On their way though, they saw a group of men escorting a man with a sack over his head in the direction of the 'Move On' cave as Sophia liked to call it. Sophia stopped, looking after the men before turning to the boys and beckoning them to follow them. They followed the group from a distance, seeing that indeed the men went to the 'Move On' cave, but why?
Are they ready to move on?
Something inside her just know that's not the reason why they are going there. The man with the sack over his head they are forcing to walk with them only helped conforming that suspicion.
"What are we looking at?"
All three of them whipped their heads around, and Peter even fell back when they saw a blond girl crouched behind them. The girl had bright blue eyes, curly blond hair, a doe-like complexion and a look in her eyes that made Sophia rather curious about her.
"Who are you?" Sophia asked.
"I'm Elizabeth. You're Sophia, right?" the blond, Elizabeth, looked at the two boys beside Sophia. "And if I'm correct tall, blond and scarred is Felix," she said, pointing at Felix who looked rather confused and still a bit shocked. Then she turned to Peter who was leaning back on his hands, his mouth ajar and eyes big. "And if I'm not mistaking, Mister Green Eyes here is the one and only Peter Pan."
"How do you know-" Sophia started but Elizabeth cut her off.
"Long story, I just like sneaking around a bit. So, who are we following?" Elizabeth looked over their shoulders, trying to see what they were looking at.
"Uhm…" Sophia looked over her shoulder, seeing the men had entered the cave. She looked back at Elizabeth and sighed. "We'll talk about this later, we need to keep moving."
Sophia stood again, Felix and Elizabeth doing the same. Peter however still looked rather shocked, and if Sophia didn't know any better she would say he was even turning a bit red.
"Pan?" Sophia said, walking over to him and kneeling down before him, snapping her fingers. "Hey, Pan, snap out of it already."
"Let me try," Felix said, stepping closer. Sophia sighed, straitening herself again and looking up at Felix.
"Has he ever done this before?"
"No," Felix said simply before slapping him across the face. Hard. "But I wanted to do that for a long time now."
"Hey!" Peter yelled, finally snapping out of whatever trance he was in. He rubbed his hand against his cheek, glaring at Felix. "What was that for?"
Sophia groaned, hauling him up by his arm. "We have no time for this, let's get going."
Elizabeth had a smirk on her face as Sophia passed her. "I like you, Jones."
"You aren't so bad yourself," Sophia smirked back. The two girls started walking, the boys shared a look before following behind them. They sneaked their way into the cave without anyone noticing them. When they got the group in sight again both Sophia and Elizabeth gasped.
Liam was standing on the edge of the stone bridge above the fire. They were saying something, but they couldn't hear what. They slowly moved closer, which was a wrong move. From behind the two girls were roughly grabbed and brought forward. Elizabeth and Sophia fought the against the men, but it was no use.
"Look what we found," one of the men said, pushing Sophia to the ground.
"Elizabeth!" Liam yelled when the blond was pushed to the ground as well. "What are you doing here?!"
"What are you doing here?" she countered. Sophia stood, looking between the two in confusion.
"You two know each other?" Sophia asked, giving them a wary look. Suddenly Hades appeared in a swirl of blue fire. Everyone looked at him as he slowly approached the group.
"Was about time you all met," he said, gesturing between them. "so, the family finally seems to be complete."
"What?" Sophia said confused. Elizabeth scoffed, crossing her arms.
"What do you want, Blue Head?"
Hades shot Elizabeth a glare, but before he could say anything Sophia spoke up, "What the hell is going on here? Who are you and how do you know Liam?" This situation was really starting to frustrate her. And where the hell are Pan and Felix?!
Elizabeth sighed, turning to her. "Liam is my father."
"So… you're my cousin?" Sophia asked, raising her eyebrow. "But how? My father never spoke about you."
"That's because he doesn't know."
"What? How's that even possible?"
"I'll explain it later, or does this look like a tea party to you?"
Sophia scoffed. "Fine, but-"
"Enough!" Captain Silver yelled, grabbing everyone's attention. "Enough of this nonsense! Get those girls out of the way so we can finally bring justice to our 'Captain'."
Two man approached the girls, but both of them weren't really in the mood to be grabbed again. Sophia kicked the man right in the crotch when he came to close. Another man grabbed her from behind. She elbowed him in his guts, turning around when his grip on her loosened and pushed him back roughly. When Sophia looked over to Elizabeth she saw that she had quite some nice move herself. Just when another man lunged for her, and she was ready to kick his ass, she suddenly couldn't move. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hades holing up his hand. Everyone else was frozen as well, except for Liam, Silver and Hades himself.
"Let's just get this over with," Hades said with a heavy sigh. With another wave of his hand he send Liam flying backwards, right into the fire beneath them. Sophia wanted to scream, reach out for him, but she couldn't.
Just when she thought that is was too late, Hades was suddenly blast away, freeing them from the spell Hades cast on them. Before Sophia could even react or do anything Felix ran past her, reached out and grabbed Liam's wrist. Pan came rushing over too, helping Felix haul Liam up.
"You freaking idiots," Sophia muttered as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Elizabeth rushed forward Liam, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Sophia walked over to them before turning to Hades, who was pushing himself off the ground, and the group of men, crossing her arms.
"You stay the hell away from us, you understand?"
Hades straitened himself, a murderess look in his eyes. "If I were you I'd mind my words."
Hades raised his hands. Out of habit Sophia raised her own, summoning her magic and blasting the Lord of Death with it. Hades hit the cave wall behind him and fell to the ground. He was glaring daggers at Sophia when he looked up.
"This isn't over," he said before disappearing in blue fire. Sophia took a deep breath before turning to Liam, simple ignoring Silver and his men.
"Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down.
"I'm fine," Liam ensured her.
"Good." She slapped Liam right across the face. "What in the world happened? Why did you betray us? Why are these men so angry with you?"
Liam sighed while rubbing his cheek with his hand. "I guess I deserved that." Liam stood and the other followed suit. "And you all deserve a explanation."
"A 'Thank you' would be nice as well," Pan said. Felix elbowed him and Sophia shot him a glare. "Watch it, I have my magic back and I'm not afraid to use it."
"So have I, if you haven't noticed." Sophia raised her hand, letting blue smoke appear from them. "You sure you want to bet on that?"
Pan grumbled something under his breath that they couldn't hear, but didn't comment any further. Felix smiled down at her, taking her smoking hand entwining their fingers. The blue smoke immediately disappeared when he kissed the back of her hand. She felt her cheeks warm up a bit under his gaze.
"Was about time," Felix said, letting their hands fall to their sides. He then looked at Liam, the smile fading. "Now start explaining before I punch you right back in that fire."
"Alright," Liam started, clearing his throat. "before Killian and I worked in the navy we worked on the ship of Captain Silver." He gestured towards the man behind them. "one day he led us into dangerous waters for some sort of crystal. My brother and I took over, but when I went below deck Hades appeared and we made a deal. If I let the ship sink in the storm he would save me and my brother and guarantee a place in the navy. It was stupid and bad form, I know, but that's why these men are after me, why they can't move on."
Sophia nodded. "Okay, but why did you betray us? Why did you say all those horrible things to us?"
"Hades told me he wouldn't hurt any of you if I did what he said. Can you forgive me?" Liam looked hopeful between the teens.
"I always knew you were hiding something," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms. "but I forgive you, you're my father after all."
"I don't actually think you need our forgiveness," Sophia said, crossing her arms as well.
"Actually-" Pan started, but Sophia cut him off.
"Peter Pan, could you just shut up for five minutes!"
Sophia felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to look who it was. Elizabeth smiled at her, a look in her eyes that Sophia approved of.
"Let me," Elizabeth said. Sophia smiled back, returning the look.
"Go ahead."
"What?" Pan asked, raising his eyebrow and stepping back when Elizabeth stepped forward. Elizabeth suddenly grabbed Pan's shirt, pulling him to her so that their noses touched. Pan's face immediately turned red and his eyes widened as he swallowed.
"Shut. Up." Elizabeth said before smiling sweetly. "Now be a good boy and take a cold shower, you need it."
Elizabeth let go of Pan's shirt and turned, walking back to where she stood beside her father. Pan just stood there unmoving for a moment before suddenly turning. He passed Silver and his men on his way out of the cave, but didn't spare any of them a second glance as he practically struggled to keep himself from turning into a puddle of embarrassment on his way out.
"Wow…" everyone except Elizabeth said softly as they watched Pan.
"Nice," Sophia said, high-fiving Elizabeth. "Anyway," she turned back to Liam, "what I was going to say was that you don't need our forgiveness. We are all family and family forgives each other no matter what, so you're already forgiven by us. The only one you need forgiveness from now is yourself, and I bet that forgiving yourself is your unfinished business."
"You mean that if I forgive myself, I can move on?" Liam asked a bit hesitatingly. Sophia smiled and nodded, but he didn't smile back. "I can't move on."
Sophia frowned. "Why not?"
"I can't leave Elizabeth here all alone."
Elizabeth turned her head to look at her father, smiling softly as she took his hand. "I'm not a little girl, Dad. I can take care of myself. I don't want you to stay here in this hell hole because of me. I want you to move on and be happy, you deserve it. I still have to figure out what my unfinished business is, and that may take a long time. I don't want you to stay down here with me if you can move on, so please Daddy, if not for yourself than for me."
Liam finally smiled, pulling Elizabeth into a hug. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered, stoking her hair as a tear escaped his eye. He pulled away from his daughter, looking down at her with adoration and pride. "I love you, Elizabeth."
"I love you, too, Dad."
Elizabeth stepped back, a tear sliding down her cheek, which she wiped away with her hand. Liam turned to Sophia and Felix, smiling at both of them.
"Take care of my little brother," he said to Sophia.
"Of course," she replied, stepping forward and hugging him. When she stepped back again Liam turned to Felix, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"And you take good care of my niece, alright?"
"Until my dying breath," Felix said, smirking slightly.
"Funny, aren't you the one who died?"
"Just as sharp as your brother it seems."
"Oh! That reminds me, do you mind taking a picture with me for my father? He would love to see you again," Sophia said, pulling out her phone.
"Everything for my little brother." Liam went to stand beside Sophia, who beckoned Elizabeth to come as well. Felix stepped back so he wouldn't be in the picture, but Liam grabbed his arms and pulled him back, looping his arm around the boys neck while his other was around Sophia and Elizabeth.
"Smile."
Sophia snapped the photo and put the phone back in her pocket. Liam stepped back again, turning back to the bridge above the fire. He took a deep breath, glancing back one last time before stepping forward to the edge.
Another step.
And another.
A sudden light started to shine in the distance across the stone bridge. The fire underneath them started to turn into clear blue water, a ship forming in the distance between the fog. A smaller boat floated their way, and when it was close enough Liam stepped in, turning to them.
"Captain Silver," he called, grabbing the men's attention. "there is no reason for you to stay here any longer, you know the truth now, you're free."
The men hesitated for a moment before they put down their weapons and followed Liam into the boat. With one last nod and smile from Liam to the teens the boat started back to the ship. Sophia noticed that Elizabeth was on the brink of tears beside her, so she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay, you'll see him again soon. We'll help you move on as well, I promise," Sophia said gently, stroking her cousin's back. Elizabeth pulled back from the hug, smiling sadly.
"Thank you, Soph."
The three of them made their way out of the cave, finding Pan waiting outside. He was sitting on a rock, looking rather gloomy with his back turned to them. Both Sophia and Felix wanted to approach him, but Elizabeth held up her hand, winking at them as she walked forward. Elizabeth kneeled down a bit so that her head was right beside Pan's. She whispered something into his ear that they couldn't hear, but whatever it was it startled him, causing him to fall off the rock. The three of them laughed at Pan's red face and shocked expression.
"Shut up! All of you!"
A/N: Thank you all for reading!
Score:
Sophelix: 5
Calphia: 3
Calicorn: 3
Plz leave a review! :D