This was going to be extremely hectic, and some of my friends probably wouldn't Believe, but it was worth a shot to get them back.
Frying Pan finally caught up when we were about to reach Astrid's home. I saw her look up, rub her glasses, then put them on again. An evident look of astonishment was plastered on her face.
I flew closer to her window, and so did Frying Pan. I motioned for her to open the window. Still paralyzed with shock, Astrid just stared at us. I rolled my eyes and tugged the window open.
"Hey, sorry for intruding--I see that pile of holiday homework on your desk." I smiled.
"No way. I'm hallucinating, right?" Astrid was still staring.
"Nope," I chuckled. "And Frying Pan's outside," I added.
"You came," Astrid finally recovered from her shock. "Are we going to Neverland or something?"
"I'm assuming you need a break," I gestured to her homework.
Astrid threw her hands up. "Why not."
I threw a pinch of pixie dust onto Astrid. "Faith, trust and pixie dust. Come on, we've got no time to lose, so hurry!"
Astrid laughed, and scrunched up her face to focus on her happy thoughts. Before going, though, she turned off all the light switches. "Don't want to waste energy," she muttered, and I laughed. Astrid was always the most responsible.
Astrid's feet slowly left the floor, and rose up into the air. I pulled her hands, and we raced away into the night.
Frying Pan looked expectantly at me. "Where to next?"
I knew exactly where to fly. "Let's get a move on to Ianna's."
=========================================================
Astrid and I flew to Ianna's home next.
"So," Frying Pan said, "What's your genius plan again?"
I rolled my eyes. "We're taking my friends to Neverland."
"Oh." Frying Pan replied, and didn't speak for the rest of the way.
When we reached Ianna's, we found her curled up in a ball with her elbows out like a chicken. Who knows what had gotten into her.
"Hey, Ianna!" I hollered. She looked up, and I don't know how she didn't break the windows with her high-pitched squeal that lasted at least 30 seconds long. Even Frying Pan was impressed.
"YOU CAME! YOU CAME! YOU ACTUALLY CAME!" Ianna started running around the room. "IWASLISTENINGTOHAMILTONANDIWASTHINKINGABOUTWHYEVERYONEWASSODEPRESSEDANDTHENIREMEMBEREDYOUANDTHENYOUANDFRYINGPANANDWAITISTHATASTRIDCAMEAND--"
"Ianna, there is something called taking a deep breath." Astrid floated in the air, sitting in a criss-cross position. Ianna did so, but then continued to vent.
"AND THEN--OH NEVER MIND. I NEED PIXIE DUST!!!!!!!" Ianna couldn't control herself, and leapt out the window. Frying Pan was obviously delighted at the sound of Ianna as a companion, and threw a bunch of pixie dust on her. "Here ya go!" he laughed.
Needless to say, Ianna was a natural at flying.
=========================================================
"I can't wait to see the mermaids! Oh wait, that might not be a good idea. What about the Native Neverlandians? Nah, they seem too scary. Oh oh oh! THE LOST BOYS!" Ianna shouted suddenly.
"I can't wait for Ianna to be in Neverland," Frying Pan whispered. Astrid was trying to tell Ianna to take deep breaths, but Ianna wasn't taking her advice. "She would be a very good Lost Girl." he added. I agreed wholeheartedly. If Neverland couldn't take her excitement, where else would she have left to go? Maybe Wonderland, but that was it.
"We're going to Kyra's next," I told the girls at the front. "KYRA'S?!" both girls responded. I frowned at them.
"Truth be told, I think SHE'S the one who's going to need Neverland the most. Something to make her remember what HAPPY is. AND we're taking Scarlet too, so I know she'll be fine. Don't freak out,"
When Kyra saw us, she rubbed her eyes. "I must be dying," she murmured. "That's why four angels are at my window. Oh wait, I don't deserve to go to heaven--"
Ianna cut her off. "That is highly offensive. I am not an angel, and please don't delay us from going to Neverland. We have to take you, said FAITH."
Frying Pan looked at Astrid, Ianna and me. "That girl," he pointed to Kyra, "does NOT have any magic in her. It's going to be tough to bring her to Neverland."
I scoffed. "Just watch," I grinned. Then, I said two magic words to Kyra.
"Scarlet's coming."
"Alright then, let's go!" Kyra suddenly exclaimed. We looked at her mischievously. "I just have a new interest in Neverland, it's got nothing to do with Scarlet. Maybe it could make me feel less depressed or something," Kyra defended herself.
"Yeah, right." Astrid, Ianna and I chorused. Frying Pan just looked at us quizzically. I didn't blame him, he didn't need to get what we were talking about.
Frying Pan poured a generous amount of pixie dust on Kyra. "It'll take a lot to make her fly," he said disgustedly.
But I assume the thought of Scarlet made Kyra fly easily.
=========================================================
"At least Scarlet's going to be slightly easier to coax. She's practically a Disney character, whether she likes it or not. In fact, all of you are." I commented as we flew to our next stop.
"Really? Who?" Kyra looked at me with sudden interest. It took a great amount of willpower for us not to raise our eyebrows at her.
"Cruella," I smiled. My mission in making Scarlet a Disney character had long since been accomplished. I just wanted to see how much it took to make her Believe.
"Cruella DeVil?" Frying Pan chuckled. "Sounds like she would want to join Hook's crew more than follow us,"
"Trust me, she's SCARLET DeVil, not CRUELLA DeVil. Nothing like her 'mother'," I laughed. "And Kyra and Scarlet both need each other's company anyway..."
Ianna and Astrid raised their eyebrows at Kyra, and Kyra hid her face. "Let's..let's just go and pick up Scarlet first," she mumbled. "And stop it, you guys!" Kyra uncovered her face and glared at us.
Scarlet was peacefully looking out the window at us with an expressionless face. Frying Pan waved his hand in front of the window, and used his other hand to point to the handle. "Open up!" he mouthed.
Scarlet blinked once, twice, three times. She slowly reached for the door handle. "Either I am dying, or I am gradually becoming insane." Then she jumped up, "For goodness sake! A boy who looks like he's 13 is dressed in green with a weird feather cap, and he and Kyra, Faith, Ianna and Astrid are flying! FLYING! So help me now,"
We patiently waited until Scarlet was done proclaiming her insanity. "Can we go to Neverland now?" Frying Pan asked. When none of us gave him a reply, he threw his hands up in the air, and pixie dust fell on Scarlet.
"We're going to Neverland?" Scarlet slowly began to take all of this in. We all nodded. "But I don't Believe like you guys," she murmured.
"Try," Frying Pan and I said together.
"It's kinda hard to believe when the world has forced you to grow up. But yeah, there's still a possibility out there that I can try."
And with a little help of pixie dust, Scarlet finally flew for the first time (in forever).
=========================================================
"We just have one more stop to make!" I informed all of my friends as we cruised across the black canopy of the night sky. I began to brief my friends on the way to our last stop, "I have a new friend--"
"Two weeks in school and she already has a new friend. Is she extroverted or is she extroverted?" Scarlet deadpanned.
"THANK YOU Scarlet, I'm ambiverted. Frying Pan can back me up, but he's currently too busy SHOWING OFF," I pointed at the night sky in which Frying Pan was doing the loop-the-loop. I rolled my eyes and continued. "She's called Thea, and she's really cool. We're also bringing her to Neverland. I will not take any objections because that's how I am and you've got to deal with it,"
"We know," Astrid said, "We know."
"Frying Pan," I shouted, "all the girls you bring to Neverland are so helpless; they can't even play a simple prank on Hook. This time around, Neverland's going to be so much more fun!"
Frying Pan gave me a thumbs up, and flew to my side. "But I got nobody to save," he scrunched up his nose. "Well, shame on you," I said, and zoomed off. "It's time the girls run the place,"
"Hi Thea," I said when I reached her windowsill. "I'm here to take you to Neverland."
Thea looked shocked. "Doesn't Peter Pan do this kind of stuff?"
"Well, you can either choose to believe and follow us, or stay here and hope," Frying Pan said and waved to Thea. I nudged Frying Pan. "Tell her about the Native Neverlandians," I whispered.
"Oh!" said Frying Pan, shooting up into the air. I rolled my eyes. "You see, there's this really cool tribe of Native Neverlandians, but some people say that their tribe is falling apart. They need another leader to help Tiger Lily!"
I rolled my eyes AGAIN. At least half of what he said was true. Tiger Lily wanted a friend, and she chose to disregard Frying Pan's "offer" to be the new chief. I respected her choice, but Frying Pan became indignant and tried to stir up the tribe.
"Tiger Lily?" Thea questioned. "Yep! You can find out more when we get to Neverland." I sprinkled a little pixie dust on Thea, and she rose into the air. Taking her hand, we flew out the window.
Frying Pan took great pleasure in introducing my friends. "Here's Astrid, the girl who loves birds and is really quiet, that's Ianna who's the next Lost Girl, over that way is Kyra who's always unhappy--we're trying to fix that now, and next to her is Scarlet, and Faith says she's practically the daughter of Cruella DeVil. And you know Faith,"
"THANK you Frying Pan." I smiled. "Let's get to Neverland!" he exclaimed.
"FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Ianna gave a shout.
"Ready?" I hollered. Everyone nodded, and Ianna pumped her fists.
"TO THE SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT!"
The Second Star to the Right
Shines in the night
For you
To tell you that the dreams you plan
Really can come true
The Second Star to the Right
Shines with a light
That's rare
And if it's Neverland you need
Its light will lead you there...
✨✨✨