CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Hallie?" a muffled voice filled my ears as my eyes slowly opened. "Hallie!"

"...Ventus?" I said groggily.

I heard a chuckle. "Not quite."

My vision returned, and I saw Terra hovering over me. He reached his hand to me, and I took it and stood up. I rubbed my head and shook away the weariness clouding my mind.

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling you're following me." Terra said.

I rolled my eyes. "You call it following, I call it..." I pulled out my Wayfinder and shook it in his face with a smile. "An unbreakable connection!"

Terra chuckled again and lowered my hand away from his face. "Any idea where we are, then?"

I looked to the gorgeous waterfall in the distance that gushed thousands of gallons of water down the cliff edge into the sea below. We stood on a cliff, the ocean several, several, feet below, with more, much smaller scaled waterfalls trickling over the edge. A bright and colorful rainbow stretched across the sky.

"No idea." I said, crossing my arms.

"What are they, Cap'n?!" a phlegmy, stuffed up voice cried as we heard warping.

"Back! You'll not get me treasure!" a raspy voice replied.

We followed the voices and found Unversed surrounding two men and a giant wooden treasure chest. One man had long, black hair and a thin, pointy mustache. He wore a frilly white cravat underneath a crimson coat and pants, white knee-high socks, black boots, and a large hat on his head. His left hand was gone, replaced by a silver hook, and he clutched a fencing sword in his right hand. The other man was at least half the first man's high; a stout man with white, balding hair, a huge nose, and he wore a blue and white striped t-shirt, blue shorts, brown sandals, and a red cap.

"Leave them to us!" Terra said as we ran over with our Keyblades. The men didn't argue as they scrambled to safety.

Terra raised his Keyblade, and the teeth glowed brownish-orange. Large, jagged rocks shot up from the ground and sliced through the Unversed. As they flopped around in the air, I jumped after them and finished them off. A Wild Bruiser appeared and swung its fist at me. I backflipped away and lunged straight through the Unversed, and it vanished into dark flames.

"If I desired your assistance, I'd have demanded it." We turned to see the two men sauntering back over to us.

"You were a little distracted with screaming like a little girl." I said, placing my hands on my hips.

"We had the situation under control! Isn't that right, Smee?" The taller man side-glared at the shorter man, hinting at him to play along.

"Oh yes, Cap'n. Completely. We would've cleaved those fiends to the brisket, we would." Smee said, and I rolled my eyes as Smee demonstrated some of his fighting moves.

"And don't think your efforts mean you'll get a share of me treasure. Understand?" the Captain said.

"We're not after your precious box, Captain." Terra said. "I'm looking for a person. A boy, wearing a mask. Ring any bells?"

My blood froze over. First, Terra was looking for Xehanort, and now he's looking for Vanitas? He's gone mad!

The Captain turned around. "No, not a one."

"Figures." Terra mumbled.

"Smee! Ye blithering barnacle! We're off." Captain said to Smee, who continued to fight imaginary Unversed. "We shall leave this place before the light draws 'em back again."

That caught Terra's attention. "Hey, hold on. What did you just say about the light?"

Captain brought his hook to his chin, and I could tell he was scheming.

"Ah yes, it's heartbreaking really..." he said, walking over to us. "This chest, you see, contains light gathered from all around. And I got an acquaintance- a boy- who's sure to try and seize it."

"A boy who's after the light..." Terra said. "If it's not Vanitas... then who?"

"Tell us, Captain, who's this boy?" I said.

"Peter Pan." the Captain said, rage building behind his tone at the mention of the name.

I gasped. Peter Pan? Sora told me about him when he traveled around with Donald and Goofy during his first journey. Peter Pan is a good guy.

Which means, we must be in Neverland.

Which also means... this person standing in front of us is Captain Hook. The bad guy. I took a step back on my left leg.

"How about we keep the light safe for you?" Terra said.

"This chest must be brought to Skull Rock safely. Don't let that Peter Pan anywhere near it!" Hook said.

"Right. We'll take care of it."

I waited for Smee and Captain Hook to disappear behind the rocks before I turned to Terra.

"You've got it all wrong, Terra." I said. "That guy is Captain Hook, Peter Pan's enemy."

"Yeah, he's already explained that to us." Terra said.

"No, Hook is the bad guy! He's the one troubling Peter Pan! If you listen to him, then you'll be helping the villain... again."

Terra crossed his arms, and I knew I had hit a nerve there at referencing to Maleficent and Aurora.

"We've still got this chest to worry about." Terra said. "Maybe we should play along."

"Prank the prankster, huh?" I said, tapping my finger to my chin with a smile. "Now you're starting to think like me!"

"Oh, boy..." Terra shook his head. "Come on."


Terra and I lugged the wooden chest up to Skull Rock and plopped it down in front of Hook. I shook out my arms to relieve them from the intense cramping I had to experience for the past fifteen minutes.

"Why has this journey not left me totally ripped?" I said, stretching my arms. "If I don't get results by the time I get home, I'm going to be so disappointed."

"Well done." Hook said, ignoring my complaints.

"Pardon me, Cap'n..." Smee said as Terra and I walked away. Their conversation echoed into my ears. "...but it's about that shooting star I was mentionin' to ye-"

"Mister Smee, I ordered ye to drop that. I'll not have ya gushin' on about some shooting star."

"B-b-but Cap'n! Most shooting stars twinkle for a bit and then they go out. But this one, i-i-it kept on sparklin' and shinin' even after it crashed down. Why, what if it's really a big, enormous, priceless gemstone?"

"Idiot! Why didn't you tell me?!" Hook turned to us. "Ahem... We've a bit of business to attend to and must, I fear, step away. I trust you can see to things till I return..."

"Sure. We'll keep your chest safe." Terra said.

Shooting star? I thought as Smee and Hook left the cavern. I wonder what that's all about...

"Now what do we do?" I said.

"We wait for Peter Pan to show up." Terra said.

We heard something swoosh above us. We looked up to see a teenage boy wearing a green tunic, green tights, brown boots, and a green hat over his red hair.

"I see Hook's got himself some new flunkies!" Peter Pan said.

"You must be Peter Pan." I said. "We're not affiliated with that creepy pirate!"

"Ha! Like I'm gonna believe that!" Peter Pan pulled out a dagger from the sheath wrapped around his waist. "C'mon! Show me what you got!"

"We don't want to fight you!" Terra said.

"Look! We got the chest, Peter Pan!" Two boys carried the chest towards the exit.

"No, not yet, you blockheads!" Peter Pan said.

"Wait a minute!" I called. Terra and I ran after the two boys. They picked up the pace, but the chubbier kid in front tripped, and the chest went flying. It crashed upside and spilled mounds of gold coins and treasure onto the ground.

"That hurt!" The skinnier kid, Slightly, dressed up like a fox, said.

"Oh... Sorry." The chubbier kid, Cubby, dressed up like a bear, said.

"Treasure?" I said, crouching down next to the treasure. I picked up a handful of coins and let them fall through my fingers. "So much for that light Hook talked about. Told you he was lying."

Terra crossed his arms and remained silent.

"Gosh, sorry about earlier. I didn't know you were good guys." Peter Pan said to us. "Who are you guys, anyway?"

"Terra." Terra said.

"I'm Hallie." I said, standing up straight. "We know about Hook, and we decided to go along with his shenanigans. I personally would like to see that old codfish squirm."

Peter Pan laughed. "I like you guys! We can work together to get back at Hook! Do you know where he went?"

"He said something about a shooting star." Terra said.

Peter Pan's face fell. "Shooting star? Tinker Bell must be in trouble!" He turned around and took off into the air. "Men, guard that treasure with your lives!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" Cubby said.

"You go an' get 'em, Pan!" Slightly said.

Suddenly, the cavern rumbled, and huge hordes of Jellyshades came down from the ceiling.

"Ah! Monsters!" Slightly said.

Terra and I summoned our Keyblades and struck our battle stances. "We'll take care of this. You boys get to safety!"

"But... but the treasure!" Cubby said.

"Which is more important: the treasure or your lives?!"

Even though the boys spent a moment pondering, they both took off out of the cavern. The Jellyshades, despite their number, were very weak, able to be destroyed with a single swipe of the Keyblade. I even sneezed and took out a few of them. Once we cleared them out, the two boys returned.

"Boy, you sure cut those monsters down to size!" Slightly said.

"Shh." Terra said, listening intently to the silence.

"Ahoy! How fare ye, laddies?" Hook called from outside.

"Hook!" the boys cried.

"Go hide." I said.

"Fine. All's well." Terra said as the boys scurried off behind the rocks.

Hook sauntered over to us. In his real hand, he carried a glowing lantern.

"What's that?" Terra said.

Hook held up the lantern, and the light came from a tiny fairy with blonde hair dressed up in a bun, a green dress, and green flats with white fuzzy bobbles on the tips. She pressed her hands against the glass and gave us pleading looks.

"Tinker Bell. One of Peter Pan's dearest friends." Hook said.

"Can we look at it?" I said, reaching out a hand. I shot Tinker Bell a discreet wink, and she looked between Terra and I hopefully.

Hook smiled and handed the lantern to me. When he turned around, I opened the small window, and Tinker Bell flew out.

"So long as I have his precious pixie, Pan's demise is all but assured." Hook chuckled. He heard tinkling, and when he looked forward, Tinker Bell floated in front of him. She drove her foot into his nose, and the force caused him to fall back to the ground.

"Oops... my bad." I said, dangling the empty lantern on one finger with a mischievous grin. I tossed it aside, and it tumbled to the ground with a clang. "I guess you forgot to lock it."

"What's the meaning of this?!" Hook said. "This is mutiny! And you'll walk the plank for it!"

I rolled my eyes, and Terra and I summoned our Keyblades. A ticking sound filled the cavern, and Hook immediately tensed up, flinching to the beat of the ticks.

"That sound!" he cried. He turned around to the small lagoon inside the cavern, where we saw a large, green crocodile. It grinned, bearing its sharp teeth. The ticks came from it, and its tail flicked back and forth to the beat of the ticks.

Hook took off from the cavern, screaming like a frantic little girl. Tinker Bell and I giggled, and I listened to the soft jingles of her laugh.

"Hooray! We sure showed Hook this time!" Slightly said.

Terra and I looked up at the sight of the soft rain of pixie dust that fell from the ceiling. Tinker Bell flew across the ceiling, the chiming bells of her voice expressing her gratitude. Terra looked up at the dust with a soft smile.

"Aww, so much for the pirate treasures..." Cubby said.

Terra and I walked over to the two boys as they stared broodingly at the empty treasure chest.

"Did you guys really want the jewels and gold that badly?" Terra said.

"Nah, we don't care about that stuff." Slightly said.

"Uh... but, uh, Pan was countin' on us." Cubby said.

"I'll tell ya what- put the stuff that's really special to you in there." Terra said. "That can be your treasure."

"Yeah!" the two boys said.

"Real swell idea. Thanks!" Slightly said. The two picked up the empty chest and carried it out of the cavern.

"Kind of makes me wonder what I'd put in there." Terra said quietly.

I rested my hand against my crown necklace. "I think I already have a good idea."