ℂeleste || OUAT Peter Pan x OC

✭ 𝒮ix - 𝑀agic ✭

Nightfall in Neverland was always the most magical time for me. The stars weren't hidden like they usually are, and instead of a few speckles of light scattered about the sky, there were hundreds, piercing the night with white bullets of twinkling light. And because I had passed Pan's test, I was allowed pretty much anywhere I wanted to go, and so when I wasn't training with Felix and the rest of the Lost Boys, I explored the exotic island and sketched its landscapes in an art pad I had willed up. So far, no massive adventure had found its way here, but Peter had promised me it would come to be. Felix seemed to be extremely loyal to Peter and was usually by his side. He didn't really talk much, but he seemed like a nice person - in fact, all of the Lost Boys did, but there was one definite thing that they all had in common. They were happy to be in Neverland, working for Pan and being as free as they could be, but they all seemed to still be quite sensitive when it came to their past and families. Everyone is part of a family, no matter what size, and although they were all a big group or family here, I could still sense the parts of them that were still hurt or lost because of their parents or carers. And no one, not even Peter Pan with all his pixie dust and Neverland's magical grace, could heal those wounds. They had simply pushed them aside, to the backs of their minds, something I knew a lot about.

I thought of Peter then, as I sat with my back leaning on a tree trunk and gazing up at the starry skies, and what he had told me after he'd woken me from the nightmare just a day ago. I didn't understand why people had children and simply exchanged them for money, or power or something else so easily. To be a parent is to have a strong commitment, a thing that meant less and less to adults. I couldn't imagine a father selling his son to a blacksmith, where he had to work day after day in front of coalmines. I thought of my father, becoming more distant as time went on and burying himself in work. Georgia and the toddlers that came each day was all I had for years.

I sighed lightly and my eyes traced the stars that hung above me. I could faintly hear the Lost Boys' whooping and chanting and their drums, and could practically feel Neverland's magic surrounding me and coating the dreamy place, keeping everything young and beautiful and new. Did I really belong here? Does it take less than a few minutes to feel at home and settled, or does it take months?

"There she is," I heard Pan's voice say, and he sat beside me with a smirk. "Where have you been, Miss Lately?"

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help smiling a little.

"I've just been here. Watching... stuff."

"Sounds fun. The night is quite possibly one of the most magical times of the day in Neverland."

I looked up, curious.

"Why?"

"Well, the pixie flowers bloom at night and soak in the starlight, which rejuvenates the dust's magic," he said, looking up at the night sky too. "Really, the most magical and amazing things happen when we're all unaware."

"So, does pixie dust only let you fly, or does it give you the ability to use, like, proper magic?"

"Pixie dust can do more than just allow you to fly. And to do that, you've got to believe first. But it also has the ability to reunite anyone with their true love, even if the person hasn't met their true love yet."

My eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Really? How?"

"When it's poured over the person, the pixie dust sparkles and finds its way to one's true love. It can't lie, Celeste. It can even open magic doors and portals in the name of finding true love. It's one of the most powerful things in Neverland."

"So... so how can you use magic?"

"It's almost as easy to do as it is to fly. It takes some practice, but in the end, you can do almost anything with magic. I've mastered pretty much all magic."

I rolled my eyes again then, raising a brow in bemusement.

"You've mastered everything, Peter."

Pan gave me a boyish smirk and shrugged. "I won't go against that comment."

I looked back to the stars again in thought, then back to Peter.

"Have you taught the Lost Boys how to use magic?"

He shook his head.

"There's too many of them to teach. And they don't really need to use it."

"Will you teach me?"

Pan studied my face for a moment, then chuckled and shrugged again, looking up at the night.

"Sure, if you're not going to keep running off."

"It's not 'running off', it's exploring."

He raised his brows then, rolling his eyes and smiling slightly.

"It's running off."

"Yeah, whatever. So will you teach me?"

He nodded. "If you like. Why do you want to?"

"I don't know. Why not?"

"No, there's no reason not to. But magic often leads to power, and power leads to-"

"Pride and annoying attitudes?"

He grinned and rolled his eyes at me.

"No, it leads to darkness, and that can turn you evil."

"Oh. Well, I don't want power. I know it ruins people. It just seems mystical and amazing. I never knew there was so many magical things and places hidden away."

"Well, not many people do. But it's here. It's all here." Pan looked straight at me then, his forest green gaze staring at mine. "Do you like it here, Celeste?"

I nodded, smiling lightly.

"Of course I do. It's all... amazing."

He smiled and nodded, watching the stars shine above us.

"You might've already lost our game, Celeste."

"What, where you told me that if I haven't enjoyed myself and had my adventure within 60 days, I can go back?" I raised a brow, shaking my head. "That's not true - I haven't had the adventure yet."

"No. Not yet."

I thought back to when Peter had first taken me to Neverland, and then I frowned in confusion.

"Wait, what did you mean when you told me that I was the girl you'd been looking for all this time?"

"Whatever you want it to mean," he said casually, with his signature smirk. "Don't let the flattery get to your head."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"You're mean."

He grinned then, shrugging.

"I'm not mean. I'm too nice. I'm going to teach you magic, aren't I?"

I nodded, looking back to the stars freckled in the darkness.

Why was Pan going to teach me magic when he wouldn't teach his boys or Felix? What made me so different?

What would this magic do for me?