Chapter 122: All Those Fairytales are Full of Shit

Peter threw the circlet from his head. The woven crystal smashed. But it did not break.

A wave of people followed with Headmaster Mickey and Admiral Triton in the lead. Headmaster Mickey paused for a disapproving look at Peter before closing the castle doors. Then, ushering aside King Arthur, Master Merlin, Mistress Minnie, Captain Amelia, and Cobra Bubbles, he turned to the four chosen guardians.

But Peter drew first.

"What is this!?"

Headmaster Mickey straightened. Peter was red hot and out for blood. Calmly, Headmaster Mickey raised his hands. "Peter - "

"What the Hell -?" Peter yelled, turning to King Arthur and pointing to the shiny circlet on the floor. "- is this?!"

King Arthur opened his mouth. He looked bewildered. "I -" he floundered before Headmaster Mickey or Merlin could interject. "I...I think...You're guardians."

Peter's ears burned. "That's not true! It can't be true!" He rounded on Headmaster Mickey. "Is that true?"

Headmaster Mickey glanced at Merlin. Then he turned to the chosen four, all with shimmering circlets - save for Peter - on their brows.

"Four seasons turn, all are cursed." Headmaster Mickey closed his eyes. "Yup. It is true. You, Mr. Hawkins, Miss. Triton, and Miss Darling...are the guardians of Fantasia."

Peter stared. He staggered. He looked at Wendy.

And then he exploded.

"WHY?"

Wendy rushed forward. Jim held her back. "Wait. Pan - "

"WHY?" Peter struck the wall. His voice was pitched and desperate. "Why us? WHY US? Why are you doing this to us?!"

"Pan!" Jim took Peter's shoulder. "Pan stop screaming!"

"I can scream!" Peter thrashed. "I can scream as Hell loud as I want to - "

"Shut up! You're upsetting the girls!"

Peter glanced wildly to Wendy. She was clutching Ariel's hand. Her eyes shown against a heart-shaped circlet. Peter jumped, suddenly overcome with the urge to tear it off. Jim caught him underarm and pushed back.

"Pan stop!" Jim wrestled with Peter. He felt his own circlet - braided silver - cutting against his forehead. "You're overreacting! The star! The Wishing Star! Pan, it can choose again! It can choose - "

"Can't you see! Can't you see what they're doing to us? Four seasons turn, all are cursed? Hook was right - the stupid prophecy was talking about us! Four seasons! Think of our birthdays - Me Spring, You Winter, Ariel Summer, and Wendy Fall!"

"And this -" Peter yelled. "- this is our curse! You heard them! Guardians live in separate realms! Forever! Forever! Do you know what that means?"

Peter shoved. Fireworks popped against the window, catching Peter's anger. "It means never, no more, nothing! It means no more high school! It means no more being a kid! It means no more family! It means no more brothers, or sisters, or mothers, or fathers! It means no more friends! No more chances! No more futures!"

Livid with accusations, Peter turned. He looked straight at Wendy.

"It means goodbye! And goodbye means going away! And going away means forgetting! Forever! Well - I won't have it!"

Peter grabbed Wendy's hand. "Come on!"

"Peter!" The masters and adults protested. But Peter - assisted by his shadow - shoved through them. Pulling Wendy, he flew across the hallway.

"Young man!" Captain Amelia, Mr. Bubbles, and Master Merlin pursued as Peter wrenched the door. "Peter!"

BANG!

Fireworks, enough to stock an arsenal, exploded. Gold, purple, orange, and bronze popped across the threshold, driving everyone back. The fireworks squiggled inside before screaming to the rafters and detonating into a million sparkles.

Shielding Ariel, Jim searched through the fireworks. Peter held Wendy behind him, trying to find a safe route. Jim squinted. Peter's fingers inched over the doorframe. He was reaching for a robotic hand extending through the fireworks.

Silver.

Jim rose. He watched Silver grasp Peter's hand. Water sprinkled from a nozzle in Silver's shoulder socket as Peter and Wendy slid through the door.

"Wen!" Jim darted, dodging crackling spinners. He tripped, colliding with Headmaster Mickey. "Wen!"

Silver turned. Wendy and Peter disappeared into the confusion as he found Jim. The opportunity for escape dwindled, but Silver wasted the precious time. Without haste, Silver looked past Captain Amelia, Mr. Bubbles, and Admiral Triton.

He stared directly at Jim. Touching a finger to his tricorne, Silver gently lifted the brim.

Jim swallowed. He didn't know how to respond. He didn't know if he could. Not now. Not yet.

But the moment passed before Jim was sure it was real. Unweighted by sentiment, Silver hefted his mechanical arm. Teeth flashing and blaster revolving, Silver waited only long enough for Morph to squiggle into his pocket, Captain Amelia to holler "Hit the bloody deck!" and Jim to cover Ariel's head before blasting all unlit fireworks to kingdom come.

It was beautiful actually - minus the danger of chemical burn. Fireworks painted the sky, and they say Fantasian nights are marbled with the colors still. Off course, Long John Silver escaped, camouflaged in the firework fray. No one saw him. But, some heard the cyborg; laughing brassily and happily. Just like the fireworks.

"Fa! Amelia! Basil! Bubbles! Shang! Search and hunt, now! On the double! Silver is a threat to the crown! He must not escape Fantasia! Move! And you - "

Admiral Triton pointed a shaking fist at Headmaster Mickey. Ariel wavered in his peripheral vision. "- you and I will discuss this...this outrage when I return. I'll not have a damn star take my youngest daughter from her family. Amelia! Fa! Onward! Rally the troops! Commence the search! Find that cyborg!"

Admiral Triton followed his officers. Suddenly he paused, setting aside duty and kissing Ariel's forehead.

"Not to worry, Ariel. This will end. Before it begins." Admiral Triton pinched Ariel's chin. He tried to smile, but his eyebrows were stuck down. Kissing her again, Admiral Triton departed. "I promise. You will not be a guardian."

Ariel watched her father go. And for a second - a wonderful second - she was relieved. Because Admiral Triton- for all his rules and stringency - was her daddy. And he loved his little girl, very much. And all of his promises came true. When Ariel was scared to swim, her daddy had taught her to float. When Ariel was hurt, her daddy was there with a Band-Aid. When Ariel was scared of monsters under the bed, her daddy chased them away. When Ariel missed her dead mother, her daddy hugged her close. And when Ariel needed him, her daddy was there. Always.

Ariel smiled. Reassured, she ran a hand through her hair. Her fingers caught in the magical circlet. Remembering that Peter had torn his off, Ariel removed hers. It was complicated - impossible really. The tiny pearls and gold thread snagged and pinched. Frustrated Ariel tugged. But the harder she tried to doff it, the more tangled the intricate jewelry became.

And at that moment Ariel knew. She knew that her daddy would not be able help. Not this time. Ariel Triton was a guardian of Fantasia. Cursed in magical glory forever.

Heart skipping into her mouth, Ariel panicked. The trident buzzed with her emotional influx. Slowly, she crouched. Fingers pressed to her eyes, Ariel sobbed.

Jim knelt beside her. Adjusting her golden circlet, he held Ariel against his chest. Words of comfort were lies and Jim knew it. Instead, he held Ariel tight.

They hadn't much time.

Painfully, Jim lifted his head. Headmaster Mickey, joined by the old wizard and young king, met his gaze.

"How long?"

Headmaster Mickey looked up. The Wishing Star blinked in the corner window.

"Sunset on the third day."

"Peter! Wait Peter! You're going too fast! Peter I can't keep up wi –"

Wendy stumbled. Peter's shadow caught her only to have Peter wrench forward again.

"Peter!" Wendy pleaded, feet lifting and falling erotically from the ground. Shoulder burning, she tried not to drag as Peter flew. "Peter! For goodness sake stop! We can talk to Headmaster Mi – "

"Take it off!"

"What?"

Peter veered. Swinging in air he rammed into Wendy. As she hit his chest, his hands were in her hair.

"Take off this thing!" Ripping Wendy's circlet, he hurled it down and kicked it into the ground. Amethyst and gold burrowed beneath his toe. "This stupid, ugly – "

Wendy seized Peter's shadow. "Stop acting – " she cried, throwing the shadow, " – like a child!"

Peter turned. And before his shadow attacked, Wendy saw Peter was crying.

"Oh no! Shadow no! No, no get off! Get – "

Peter slammed onto his back. Spring buds and soggy earth gasped as he fell under the shadow. Horrified by her actions and desperately trying to rectify, Wendy grappled with the shadow. Peter was trying to do the same. And in a swirl of earth and stars both had tumbled over.

Peter's shadow – thoroughly irritated – drifted into the sky, resigned to pout. Wendy lay on her back, breathing in the starlight. Peter lay beside her, breathing in his tears.

Wendy turned.

"Boy…" she whispered. "…why are you crying?"

Tears streamed over Peter's pointed ears. "You're going to grow up." He inhaled, chest jumping. "Without me. Wendy…this was our fairytale. We were going to be a family."

Wendy stared. Then, she rose, laying Peter's head on her lap. Brushing grass from his hair, she started to cry. Peter rolled, facing up. Gently, he stroked Wendy's cheek.

"Will you always believe in me?"

Wendy smiled. Tears twinkling, she nodded. "I will always believe in you Peter Pan."

Jim and Ariel found Wendy and Peter, asleep in the Spring night. Once aroused, the friends sat, four in a row.

The guardians of Fantasia.

"Well…" Jim finally sighed as the sun rose. Above, the Wishing Star vanished into the golden lavender rays. "…we've got three days. Let's go wild."

sultal's note: Title (c) lyrics from "Payphone" by Maroon 5