Ending Pan | OUAT Fan-fiction

16: Under the Fragile Facade

Elle hadn't left her room since the usurp of the Underworld throne. She refused to eat a meal or leave, preferring the silence. What were Pan's plans? Why did he take her with him. What did he hope to accomplish. 

She leaned against the door leading to the hallway. She heard a knock register on the other side and she refrained from speaking. 

"Do you want to build a snowman?" She heard the teasing god asked from the other side. 

"I'm not in the mood," Elle snapped, "Go away."

On the other end, she heard a chortle, "There's at least three parts in that song, we can easily keep going."

"You're insufferable," Elle replied, "Don't you know that no means no?"

His tone went serious, "You're not a prisoner here, Elle."

"Then why did you take me?"

Silence met her on the other side and Elle sulked, "If you were going to abduct me, you could have taken me to Hawaii or somewhere more pleasant."

"I'll remember that next time," Pan's said in a sarcastic tone, "I'll also send a gift basket a week prior to you to notify you of your next kidnapping. Or maybe I'll even promise to bake you a cake."

Elle tried not to smile, "That is a video game. It isn't real."

"And fairytale characters are supposed to be just that... Fairytales? Who determines what is real and not real?"

Elle grumbled, acknowledging the god had a point. Pan continued, "I've lived a long time and learned of a diverse range of beliefs. Some of which I believe and do not believe. But what I learned from it all was to consider every belief before discrediting or encouraging it."

"Such words come from your mouth," Elle snorted, "Makes me almost see you as something mundane."

"Unlike the major gods," Pan informed her, "I still retain some dryad blood. With that, you could same I'm a special case like yourself."

Elle gritted her teeth, "You and I will never be in the same category. Not after what you have done."

"You're not innocent yourself," the god replies, "Don't make yourself out to be a saint. Even those with the brightest of hearts has a hint of darkness."

"I never said I was perfect," Elle answers cooly, "Besides what does that make you?"

She swore that she could hear his laughter on the other side of the door, "Who? Me? I guess you could call me an outlier of sorts. An imposter among a group of gods. Yet I still have tremendous powers after all this time. In a way, we are similar."

"I have no powers," Elle declared, "I gave it all up and would do it all over again in a heartbeat."

"You know," Pan said, "It would be nice to talk face to face rather than through a door."

Elle did not answer and Pan sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"But I also don't trust you."

"Have I done anything to hurt you?" Pan asked her seriously, "Even when I was posing as a mortal in Storybrooke."

"You endangered Hope," Elle nearly growled, "And you lied to me. If you are smart, then you will leave me alone."

"But I'm stubborn," Pan said, "And a god. Like all others, I'm persistent. You recall how Hades was."

Elle tensed at the name she blocked from her mind. Hades, god of the Underworld. The one who fell to Persephone. The one who obliterated Peter from this existence. He was also the one who tortured her father, herself and threatened the lives of everyone she loved. There was no one worse to her than him. Unlike Hades, whose purpose was clear, Pan kept her in the shadows.