74th day in Neverland
Alianna's point of view
My talk with Karter yesterday had deeply troubled me. I didn't know what to think anymore. I couldn't let Pan die, and I would've gladly given up my life for him, if it weren't for Ethan.
But perhaps I had to think of the bigger picture. If I didn't give him my heart, Pan was slowly going to lose his powers until he's left powerless, then dies. Afterwards, we have no guarantee that the Dark One isn't going to swoop in to get his revenge. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd arrive once Pan is weak but still alive. He'd capture all of us, every single Lost Boy, and torture us, either for amusement or revenge.
If I did the selfish thing, if I did what Pan wanted, I wouldn't only be compromising his life, I'd be compromising Neverland and all its inhabitants. Even Ethan. Especially Ethan. I couldn't let that happen, I was going to have to do something.
***
I found who I'd been searching for in the training center, just like I'd predicted. He was always lurking there, hood covering his face, mace balanced on the shoulder, never really doing anything except watching the others.
"Felix?" I asked as I tapped his shoulder.
He turned around and smiled when he saw me. It wasn't exactly warm and pleasant but I didn't let that bother me. "Well, if it isn't the beautiful Alianna herself," he drawled. "Decided to abandon your lover boy to mingle with the mere mortals? Should I faint in honor?"
I rolled my eyes at his mockery. "I need your help."
He raised his eyebrows. "From me? Can't your precious Peter Pan do it for you?"
"Felix, I'm serious."
"What do you want?" He huffed.
"I need you to call a meeting. Jake told me that you can since you're second in command."
"A meeting for what?" He asked. I could see that he was now curious.
I smiled, I knew that I'd won. "Call the meeting and you'll see."
***
Half an hour later all the Lost Boys in Neverland plus Pan and I were gathered around the long table in the meeting hut. The only ones missing were Ethan and Sam. I couldn't help but feel glad that Ethan wasn't here, it would just make things worse and I wouldn't be able to think rationally if he was present. I'd been in here only once before, on my third day here. That's when I'd truly realized how much of a monster Pan was. So much had changed from that time, it already felt like a lifetime ago.
Pan was seated in the high backed chair at the end of the table, I was on his immediate left, Felix on his right. The people closest to me were Jake, Ian, even Karter. Then further along the table were the boys I'd hardly ever spoken to. The two seats on either side of Ian were empty.
"Where's Sam?" I whispered to him.
Just at that moment, the doors opened and Sam and Ethan entered. I shot up to my feet, oblivious to all the eyes on me.
"Sam, you can't be serious! Ethan shouldn't be here!" I cried out.
He looked at me and shrugged. "Why not?"
"He's just a child!"
"So is everyone else here," Jake murmured but it was heard clearly throughout the whole hut.
I glared at him. "You know what I mean. He shouldn't have to listen to this."
"If anyone has the right to hear this debate, it's Ethan. You're his sister, he should be present, child or not," Sam said.
"No! I..." I didn't know what to say. I looked pleadingly at Ian, hoping that he'd rise to my aid. After all, he was the most fond of Ethan after me, and was the most likely to agree with me. "Ian?"
He didn't meet my eyes and looked instead at the wooden traceries on the table and shrugged. "He does have a right to be present."
If even Ian had sided with Sam and Ethan, I knew that it would be useless to debate further. I sank back down in my chair, glaring daggers at the three of them. Sam took place next to me and Ethan sat on Ian's other side.
Felix cleared his throat. "So, now that that's settled, can we get started?" No one said anything so he continued. "Ali, you're the one who wanted to call this meeting. Care to inform us what it's about?"
I nodded at took a shaky breath, calming my nerves. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to convince the others. I knew I wasn't going to be able to convince Pan, I was just hoping to convince enough other Lost Boys to agree with my idea.
"You all know by now that I have the heart of the truest believer," I said loudly and clearly. There wasn't a single noise in the hut. "You all also know that if Pan doesn't get my heart, he'll soon die. In fifteen to twenty years, I was told." I could feel the tension emanating from Pan but I didn't look at him, instead, I fixed my eyes on Jake. "If that time comes and Pan dies, who knows what will happen? First of all, how do we know that the island of Neverland itself doesn't disappear. Or what if his Shadow tears all of ours from our bodies until we're all dead? Or what is most likely to happen, what do you think is the first thing the Dark One will do once he learns that Pan, the only person keeping him from killing us all, is dead?" There were a few unsettled murmurs.
"But Ali, you can't possibly be saying that you-" I held up a hand to silence Ian.
"What I'm saying is that we can't let Pan die. I'm not simply talking about two lives, about who's going to live and who's going to die. If I die to give my heart to Pan, that's the only life that'll have to be lost. If I don't give him my heart and Pan dies, he sure as hell won't be the last one to die. So this is what I'm asking you; don't you agree that one life, my life, should be sacrificed to save so many others?"
Before any murmured conversations could even start, Pan spoke up.
"There's no bloody way in hell that I'm letting you do this!"
"But it isn't up to you," Felix reminded him quietly. "It's up to all of us, it's all of our lives were talking about. We have a right to decide as much as you do."
Pan slammed his fist against the table. "To hell you do!" He shouted. "I'm not letting this happen! Do I have to remind you all who has the power here?" All the Lost Boys flinched back as if they were reminded of the unpleasant time he'd had to.
One brave and possibly suicidal Lost Boy got to his feet. Rufio, I thought his name was. He was completely enraged that Pan was ready to sacrifice all of them for me. "It's not up to you! We all have a right to choose what happens! Just because she's your own personal slut doesn't mean that we all have to die for her!"
In an instant Rufio was slammed against the wall so hard I heard a crack, his feet were dangling above the ground and Pan was holding him by the throat. Even with a few inches Rufio had gained, Pan was still towering over him.
"Excuse me?" He snarled, his eyes flashing scarlet. "How dare you insult Alianna or me like that?" He slammed Rufio's head against the wall, harder each time, until the wood was stained red. "I think I should teach you all a lesson of obedience and respect."
He plunged his hand inside Rufio's chest and brought out his heart. No one dared move except me. I snapped into action, I couldn't have Pan kill anyone, especially not because of me. I reached the two of them and tugged at Pan's arm, trying to make him snap out of it but nothing happened. His eyes had turned scarlet as he glared at Rufio and he started tightening his grip around his heart. The already half unconscious Lost Boy's breath hitched and he groaned in pain. I didn't know what to do, he was only seconds away from death, I had to do something. Out of pure desperation and lack of any other ideas, I did the only thing that seemed logical.
I punched him in the face
It was a good, hard punch with all of my body weight behind it, just like Jake had taught me, and it should have sent any other unprepared person sprawling to the ground, but on Pan it had much less effect. His head snapped to the side and his grip on Rufio's heart slackened. Pan massaged his jaw and looked at me. I noticed with relief that his eyes had gone back to green.
"Alianna," he started warningly.
"No!" I shouted. "You don't tell me what to do! And you sure as hell don't kill someone!"
"He called you a slut!"
"Who cares? It's just a small, pitiful insult! But no one deserves to be killed just because they insulted someone!"
Pan glared at me and I glared right back. We stayed like that for a long moment until finally he exhaled in frustration and stormed back to his chair.
Meanwhile, Rufio had managed to get his heart back in his chest and he was breathing heavily, slumped against the wall. I helped him up and slung his arm around my shoulders, supporting his weight as he stumbled out of the hut. I ignored all the shocked, disbelieving and impressed looks the Lost Boys were giving me. Once we were outside and I'd closed the door tightly behind me, I laid him gently on the ground, his back against the wall.
"Thanks," he whispered. His eyes were shut in pain and his breathing was labored.
I smiled even if he couldn't see me. "Your welcome. I'm sorry Pan reacted that way."
He snorted. "I called you a slut and you're apologizing? By the way, I didn't really mean to insult you, it's just that I was furious at Pan because he was being insensible. I have those angry outbursts sometimes and I can't contain them, so I say the things that I know will get the person the most furious. That just happened to be calling you a slut. So I guess that I still should apologize for that."
"S'okay. Just not smart of you to anger Pan." He snorted then winced. "Hey, careful there. Just lower your head down a bit," I ordered him.
He did as I said and I placed a hand over the bloodied skin. I barely had to concentrate to heal him. A couple of seconds later he was all healed, the pain also all gone. I removed my hand from his head and he got up, suddenly much better.
"Oh my god," he breathed in surprise as he prodded the skin at the back of his head. "You healed me."
I chuckled. "Obviously, what did you want me to do? Let you bleed to death?"
He shook his head, evidently still in shock. "No, I- I guess it's just because... I don't know. I'm just not used to that type of kindness."
I smiled sadly at him. "Well, I really should get back in there. You should go back to camp, better not risk it with Pan."
He nodded and a second later I was closing the door behind me. The hut fell silent upon my entrance and they were all looking at me. All, except for Pan, who was scowling angrily at nothing in particular.
I got back to my seat quietly. "So, what did I miss?"
"Karter was just explaining," Felix said and then motioned for him to continue.
"Well, I explained that there might be another solution-" Karter started but I interrupted him.
My interest spiked. "How is it possible?"
"You know how there can only be one heart of the truest believer alive at a time? And we also know that there will be another heart of the truest believer to come to Neverland, because Thomas' prophecy said so. We know it's a boy, so it can't be Alianna. I've wondered how it can be possible, until I've read a certain book recently, a book about different ways of putting a person to sleep. One of those spells makes a person fall into some sort of coma for as long as you wish, and then the caster of that spell can remove it whenever they want. What interests us is that during that period when the person is in the coma, they're actually dead, meaning that they don't breathe, eat, any of those things."
"And how does that help us?" Sam asked.
"Once Alianna is under that spell, it'll be like she's dead, so the heart of the truest believer will leave her body to find another one." Karter explained.
"But if my heart leaves my body, how can I wake up?" I asked.
"Well technically, your heart doesn't leave your body. The heart of the truest believer is more like a spirit, if you will. That magical part - the essence - will leave, but your heart itself will be intact."
"So couldn't we just put her to death sleep, then wake her up right after?" Jake asked.
Karter shook his head. "No, the heart searches until it finds a viable option for a host. Alianna was one of them, so if you wake her up afterwards, it'll just go back to her. The only way to be sure that it won't is to wait for another boy with the heart to come to Neverland."
"So you're saying that if we put Alianna in a coma for twenty years, no one will have to die?" Ian asked.
Karter nodded.
"Yeah but even if that works, how do we know that another boy will be born with the heart of the truest believer? Twenty years isn't a lot. In five hundred years, Alianna is the first heart of the truest believer to set foot in Neverland," Roran said.
Karter nodded. "I know, but the prophecy said that-"
"You're storing a lot of faith in that prophecy," Jake interrupted sharply.
"I know, but prophecies never lie. A boy will come to save magic." Karter said it with such conviction that I found myself nodding along to his words.
"I don't like this," Jake muttered. "There are still too many things that could go wrong."
"So this could actually work!" I exclaimed. "Pan? What do you think?" I turned to look at him and he lowered his glowering eyes to look at me, but didn't say anything. "Pan?" I didn't want everybody to hear our conversation so I continued telepathically.
What do you think?
No.
What? But it's perfect! None of us have to die!
He shook his head, his eyes boring into mine. Do you realize how long you'll be asleep? Twenty years?
Yeah but it's worth it! We'll both stay alive!
No, even if this boy does come, there's no guarantee that he'll give me his heart. I'm not taking this chance.
His stubbornness aggravated me. Well too bad, because I'm taking it.
"Okay, so if no one else has anything to say, why don't we proceed to the vote?" I offered.
Felix nodded gravely. "All those in favor for Karter's plan, raise their hand."
A few hands flew up, including mine, then slowly, all the others lifted. Only Pan, Ethan and Jake obstinately kept their hands on the table. I sighed in relief.
"A majority," Felix said. "Karter's plan it is."