Set Your Sails...to Neverland || Peter Pan, OUAT

Chapter 33 - Arcadia

"Stay with me," I mouth.

I count to three, and we all swim straight at the same time. A strong pulse of magic bursts out from the pendant around my neck as we cross the barrier. I close my eyes against the force, and when I open them, I smirk. It looks just as it did when I first came here. The sunlight streaks through the water, and I swim up. I take a deep breath when I break the surface, and there it is.

I swim to the land, which is mainly water, so Jones won't break his one-day-every-ten-year rule. Jones and his crew join me on the waterlogged land, and they're silent.

"Is this...where I think it is?" Jones asks.

"Yes...this is Arcadia," I reply.

The Greek version of Utopia, and it's real. We're here. The sun is hot, various species of trees stretch miles above us, the water glitters in a way no one can describe, thousands of creatures roam and fly around the island. It really is perfection. Everything is so serene.

The magic is broken when I feel weight clamped around my wrists - chains, with one leading to Jones' belt. He's so displaced here.

"Take me to the Elixir," he orders.

"This way," I say quietly and walk North-East.

We travel through the forest, and I see creatures I didn't think actually existed. Nymphs, Pixies, Imps, Kelpies, Brownies, Centaurs, Satyrs, Sprites and Sylphs, Goblins, Elves and so many more; even the Ladon, the snake that tempted Eve to eat the apple. But the location before the Elixir is the most dangerous, and the one that is the most challenging to pass through. It's the place where the pendant was forged. It's Arcadia's Siren Coast.

"You and your men will need to cover...whatever you use to hear. This is where the Sirens live. If you want that Elixir, you need to resist their song," I whisper.

"Okay. Men! Cover your ears," Jones instructs.

We tiptoe along the coast, and our eyes can't help but wander over the lake, where several sirens sit, combing their hair. They haven't spotted us yet, and we almost make it halfway without having to fight their music. But one sees us, and instantly, the sounds of nature disappear, and they begin to sing.

"Don't listen!" I shout, and the men press their palms to their ears even harder.

How did we make it through before? What did my mother do to stop them? 

I remember.

"Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray. Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay. Conversing with a young lass, who seem'd to be in pain, Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again," I burst out, glancing at Jones who's looking quizzically at me. "My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold. There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold," and the Sirens begin to quieten down as I continue to sing. "His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as coal. May happiness attend him, wherever he may go. From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan. All for my jolly sailor bold, until he sails home. My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold. There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold."

Jones looks at me, and then at the Sirens, and back at me, and nods, giving me the sign to continue singing.

"My father is a merchant - the truth I now will tell. And in great London City, in opulence doth dwell, His fortune doth exceed, ₤300,000 in gold. And he frowns upon his daughter, 'cause she loves a sailor bold. A fig for his riches, his merchandise and gold, True love is grafted in my heart; give me my sailor bold. My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold. There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold," and the Sirens begin to sing with me. "Should he return in poverty, from o'er the ocean far. To my tender bosom, I'll fondly press my jolly tar. My sailor is as smiling, as the pleasant month of May. And oft we have wandered, through Ratcliffe Highway. Where many a pretty blooming girl, we happy did behold, Reclining on the bosom of her jolly sailor bold. My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold, There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold. My name it is Davina, a merchant's daughter fair, And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year. My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold, There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold," I finish the song but the Sirens keep singing, so I hurry Jones and his crew along before they return to their own murderous tune.