2.11 | Forged from Steel

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"I've had enough of your games;if you're not trembling, you'd better be

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"I've had enough of your games;
if you're not trembling, you'd better be."
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - This Providence

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FOUR YEARS LATER

THE SUN NEVER rose on Neverland again after Adi left the Lost Boys.

Even after four years away from them, every time she looked up at the strange stars, she still felt like she could blink and find herself standing right next to them while they named constellations she had never heard of.

That emptiness that had gnawed at her insides upon first leaving them only amplified with time. She learned to use her magic without fear; she practiced setting fires with a snap of her fingers, summoning weapons without a second thought, creating objects in small breaths of scarlet smoke until all of it became second nature.

It seemed what she'd learned in school all that time ago was true. Adi did return to her baseline level of happiness, despite everything.

Almost.

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" Tinkerbell asked, voice tinged with wariness as she eyed the map with distaste – the same one she had handed Adi four years ago. "It seems...unnecessary."

Adi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You said to wait until I was ready. I think it's been long enough."

Tink gave her a slight frown. "Adi, everything you've been teaching yourself has been good for you. But this? I've seen what it does to people – it can drive the sanest of people mad. Don't underestimate it."

"Don't underestimate me," she shot back.

"Fine, then. Good luck." Tink put her hands up in surrender. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Shoving the map in her pocket, Adi turned her back on Tink's exasperated headshaking and left her alone at the table. Tink underestimated her. She didn't know what Adi was really capable of, nor did she understand why she had to visit the caves.

Echo, Ensorcel, and Eidolon, the chain of caves built into the base of Neverpeak Mountain, waited for her. The first forced you to tell your deepest secret, the second showed you your worst fear, the third showed you your deepest desire.

They had become Adi's unofficial benchmark, the last step in her self-imposed training. Somewhere along the line, she'd begun to build them up in her mind as a sort of final test – if she could face the caves, she could face anything.

The caves weren't difficult to find. All Adi had to do was find Neverpeak in the northern distance and follow it. It loomed ominously overhead, the place she had nearly died. The same place her brother sentenced himself to his own painful demise. Remembering made her stomach turn.

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