Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 10)

Ch.45 Pirate advisor

(Flashback) Not remembering how long it had been, Marissa looked ahead and could see an island in the horizon. Knowing that it had to be Treasure Island, she went down into the storage room where she saw Chris laying asleep on the floor.

"Oy" she called while kicking his leg which startled him awake as she pulled out the key and began to unlock his chain "Get up, we're here."

When they both got onto the deck, they looked ahead and could see that they were getting closer to the island.

"That's it huh?" Chris questioned.

"It has to be" she replied "We followed thee map."

"Wow" he gasped with a small smile "After all these years, I finally made it to Treasure Island."

Once the ship sailed onto the shore, everyone got off and onto the sand where they looked around.

"Seems deserted" one of Marissa's crew commented.

"Where do we go from here?" another one asked.

She turned to Chris.

"Ye know where thee treasure is?" she asked.

"My father didn't tell me" he answered.

"Well then-" she sighed as she pulled out the map "Let's get searching."

"What about the lad?" another crew member asked.

Marissa turned to Chris who awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to say. After a moment of thinking, Marissa suddenly spoke as she held her hand out towards her crew.

"Give me the rope" she ordered.

With one end of the rope tied around his waist and the other being held by Marissa like a dog on a leash, Chris was forced to follow the crew as they hiked through the forest.

"Is this really necessary?" he asked Marissa dully.

"Aye" she replied "I never know what ye could be planning."

And with that she tugged on the rope causing him to stepped forward. He groaned as they continued through the forest. Pretty soon they came to a stop in an open area where they decided to take a break. As some of the crew went off to gather some supplies, Marissa and Chris sat down on a log as she kept her hold on the rope.

"You know Marissa-" Chris started to say "If you really want to make this an adventure, I suggested we explore the whole island."

"Aren't ye afraid of Vandala's warning?" she put in.

"Well there's a chance we can survive those warnings. And besides, I'd rather die doing something I enjoy then not do it at all."

"Ye sound remarkably okay with death" she commented a bit astonished.

"Well I'm scared too you know, but like what Vandala said, no one knows for sure."

"And ye really wanna find out?"

"Well-".

But before he could continue, he was cut off by the sound of a loud terrifying scream that made them jump.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Marissa demanded with her eyes widen.

They got up and followed where the sound came from, and when they finally came to the discovery, they were both terrified with shock at what they found. One of the crew members was laying dead on the ground with multiple sharp bamboo sticks pierced all over his bloody body.

"Holy mother of God" Chris gasped.

"How the hell did this happen?" Marissa gasped.

As Chris looked around, he soon spotted what appeared to be levers hidden in the trees that were connected to a trip wire that appeared invisible to the naked eye.

"Booby traps" he answered as he pointed to the trap "I guess one of the rumors is true, booby traps are on this island."

"But who set them?" Marissa put in "And why?"

"Perhaps to keep invaders from taking the treasure."

"Who the hell would do that?"

"I don't know, but we better watch our step, if we're not careful, we may not leave this island alive."

After walking away from the group, Piper made his way to a large tree where he sat down against the trunk while taking a sip of his rum. His head was hurting from stress, and thinking that being alone would help, it wasn't.

"I thought I'd find ye here" he turned to see Jane "Although I would of expected ye to be in the trees, but then I remembered ye still can't fly."

He said nothing as he avoided eye contact. Knowing that he wanted her to leave, Jane refused to do so as she sat next to him.

"Can I have a sip?" she asked while looking at his rum bottle.

Once again he said nothing, but he handed her the bottle as she took a sip.

"Look-" she started to say "If ye don't want to talk about it I get it, Pan is just trying to fill ye up with fear to make himself more powerful, don't listen to him."

"I can't" he finally spoke with frustration "He's me, everything he says about me is true."

"Then do what I do, fight against it."

"I'm trying to, but I think I can. I don't feel like the same guy I was before, being away from Neverland has really changed me, and I hate it."

"Well-" she sighed "Ever since ye disappeared, I changed too. I thought that I wasn't going to see ye again. But I learned to fight through it, and now I'm telling you to do the same thing. I know you're still the same Piper I've known me whole life, ye just have to bring it out."

He didn't say anything as he nervously bit his lip.

"Piper" Jane continued "Ye don't have to go through this alone, we're here for you."

"That's the thing I'm worried about" he put in "I know Pan is going to hurt the ones I care about, haven't you forgotten that he's planning on killing the Wonderlandians? If Pan wins and they die, I would never forgive myself."

"Well if you lose and die, we would never forgive ourselves. Piper, you're the bravest lad I know, I mean of course there's always gonna be fear but, listen to what yer mother said, the more ye let fear control you, the more Pan wins. Don't forget, Pan is yer fear, and his only weakness is yer bravery."

At that point Piper gave a small smile as he looked her in her forget-me-not eyes.

"Since when did you become such a great adviser?" he asked.

"Since ye wanted to be my friend" she smiled back.

He couldn't help but smile back, feeling glad to have a friend like her.