Edited ✔️✔️
Sorry this took long. Wattpad deleted the first draft I saved so I had to start all over. 😒
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Chapter 10
Rufio, instead of walking around him like a normal person, stepped on top of James's stiff, lifeless back on his trek towards Pan, making Mia cringe and other Lost Boys tense.
"Oh. Are you having a party? It seems as if I've interrupted something!" he mocked now standing face to face with Pan who looked as if he could murder him—which, Mia guessed, he wouldn't have a problem with.
"What are you doing here, Rufio?" Pan asked, trying to control his temper. Then his tone changed to a mocking one, so much like Rufio's that Mia no longer had any doubt that they were siblings. "A little birdie has told me you're working for the codfish now."
"Hook?" The boy, Rufio, scoffed with a lopsided grin. "Oh please, like I'd ever be desperate enough to work for that buffoon. Let's just say I'm working with someone much, much more promising."
Pan took the time to narrow his eyes questionably. "Are you telling me that someone else is on the island?" Pan crossed his arms over his chest and looked like he was officially ready to kill someone. Just the thought of anyone being on Neverland without him knowing was enough to make him want to burn the whole island down just to find them.
"Of course I am, and he is just dying to meet you," Rufio drawled as if he was bored. "But—and I know that this is hard for your simple brain to understand—I'm afraid there is someone more important than you that he wants to meet first."
"That's impossible!" Pan protested with a growl and fisted his hands at his sides, sending out his magic to search the island. Rufio's eyes lit up, completely aware that he'd hit the right nerve. "I know every person that has entered and left this island for the past centuries."
"That would be true unless..." Rufio trailed off to a low, teasing whisper, "he's more powerful than you." He let out a mocking gasp and chuckled darkly, as Pan's ears turned a deep red color in rage.
Pan's eyebrows scrunched together in frustration and began to bite the inside of his cheek, a habit of his when he was deep in thought. Ever since he'd arrived in Neverland, he'd considered himself invincible because of his full control over the island. Now, after everything, he wasn't so sure.
"As I was saying..." Rufio continued and faced away from Pan and to the rest of the boys who'd huddled up together in the center of camp. "There is someone else here that my master wants to meet." He pointed in Thomas's direction. "You."
Thomas was taken aback. "Me?" he asked and pointed to himself nervously, looking shocked.
"No."
It was then they all realized he wasn't looking at Thomas at all, but rather the petite person shaking behind him out of fear. Mia took noticed in this, peaking her head around Thomas's shoulder, and her face became horror stricken when she noticed his stare on her too.
"Her."
There were multiple shouts of outrage and protests and it was Mia's turn to be completely shocked and taken aback. The same boys that were cruel and beat her up during training were defending her. Maybe they aren't so bad after all... she thought, but didn't let the idea linger. She could think about it all later.
"Silence!" They all quieted at the sound of their leader's angry cry. "What does your master want with her?" Pan then focused his attention on Rufio, his anger replaced by curiosity and confusion.
"I don't question my master's wishes," was his brother's only reply.
Rufio walked toward Mia and Thomas's form stiffened in a protective stance in front of her, fists ready for a fight at his sides. Some boys even made a move to step in front of him to assist until their leader spoke otherwise.
"No. Let him through."
Mia, looking at him pleadingly, in that moment wanted to slap Pan across the face. He was the most hard headed person in the realms with more powers beyond belief, yet he would just let the person who had just killed his second in command take her? She understood they were no where near friends and he had a rough history, but this moment made her want to cry from the overwhelming sense of betrayal.
Mia shook her head at her own foolishness. What is wrong with me? she asked herself. Her body was a cage for a whirlwind of emotions, wondering why everything the immortal boy did made her so upset when she had someone like Thomas who was willing to fight for her.
"I'm glad you're being cooperative, Brother." Rufio smirked and began to lick his lips while looking Mia up and down, stalking nearer and nearer.
"You are no brother of mine."
Rufio made no response to Pan's comment and quickly walked over, pushed Thomas aside, and grabbed Mia's bicep. She yelped at the sudden pain in her arm and coward away, kicking at his calves with her heels.
Thomas was being held back from other lost boys. He was shouting curses at Rufio and strained against the boys' tight grips. "What is wrong with you? There are more of us than him!" Thomas shouted urgently. "He wouldn't stand a chance!"
Some of the boys murmured in agreement but Pan neither moved nor made a sound against the scene and the boys wouldn't dare go against his wishes. His eyes were fixated on Mia without any sign of emotion with his hands clasped behind his back in tight fists.
Rufio started to drag her away from camp and Mia tried to run anywhere away from him. Even though Pan could be cruel sometimes, at least he had given her a roof over her head and promised her a way back home. But she knew one thing for certain: if she went with Rufio, she would never see Anna or her mom again.
"Pan, please!" Mia cried out, begging, with her voice cracking with fear. She felt like a sheep being thrown in a lion's den, helpless and with no chance of escape.
Her last ounce of hope diminished when Pan turned his back to her, his head lowered. Mia never stopped fighting though. Even as Rufio dragged her into the woods, even after the sounds of Thomas's and some boys' angry shouts were mere whispers, she never stopped struggling. She knew Rufio was getting annoyed by her protests but she didn't care. She wanted him to know she wouldn't give up that easily, that she'd fight for all eternity if it came to that.
He grunted in both pain and anger when suddenly her knee came up made contact with his groin. Her proudness, although, was short lived.
"That's it." Rufio picked up a rock from the ground and hit Mia across the head with it, right on her temple, and with that broke her skin, bone, and consciousness.
⋆✶
Thomas finally felt the trio let go of their grip on him and felt slightly betrayed when he saw Dimitri, who looked guilty as hell, was one of them.
He shook his head in disbelief at them and used that opportunity to stomp up to Pan in rage when it was still fresh. "How could you just let him take her and do nothing? You're Peter Pan for Christ's sake!" he yelled at him and strained himself from punching him in the face. "I thought you were one of the most powerful beings in the realms but the truth is you're just a coward!"
Pan's face did not scrunch up in anger like Thomas predicted but kept its usual blank look as if Thomas's outburst didn't faze him at all.
"I did not 'let her go'. As they say, Rufio may have won the battle but he has not won the war. I'm afraid we're going to have another bloody fight on our hands and Mia is involved somehow in Rufio's so called 'master's' plans. That is why we must send her home as soon as we rescue her."
"But you said—"
"I know what I said," Pan snapped and pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking of how he could explain his complicated mind. "Hook's ship still contains the magic that allowed him to travel between realms. If we can extract that magic, we can use it to make a temporary portal to send Mia home."
"Why didn't we use that when she first arrived?" Thomas asked, more like screamed while throwing his hands up in exasperation.
"Because once you take magic out of its original host without a new one to put it in you can only use it once. I was hoping to save that specific magic for a time when we truly needed it. But it seems that that time has come sooner than planned."
Thomas still was angry at Pan for letting Mia go that easily but nodded in agreement anyway. There was nothing he could do now that she was officially captured except focus his mind on finding her and getting her home to safety.
"I need you to round up the lost boys and prepare them like we do for war. Send out the trackers. I'm going to go around the island to find as many allies as possible."
"Shouldn't Andrew round up the boys? I mean, assuming he's the new second in command..." Thomas trailed off more confused than ever, although his voice was bitter. He would never forget that Pan let Mia be taken by his psychotic brother, and made his own fellow lost boys hold him down as she screamed for help—screamed for him to help—and did nothing but look away.
"Andrew is not my second in command. You are."
Although Pan would never tell anyone this, he did feel guilty for sending Mia with Rufio. Giving Thomas the second in command position was the least he could do, for both her and him even if it made Pan want to die internally for the rest of his life.
Thomas gawked at Pan like he'd grown two heads, wondering why Pan would do that right after he'd broken his most obvious rule and kissed Mia. He didn't verbalize his questions though, too scared Pan would change his mind.
Pan rolled his eyes and walked away. At camp's border, he stopped mid-step next to James's corpse, feeling grief for the boy who never knew love.
With a wave of his hand and a flick of his wrist, James's body turned into ash and blew away peacefully with the wind, so much different then the boy's personality when he was alive—as if in death, he'd finally found peace.
Pan continued on his way into the woods, gritting his teeth.
He would not let himself be weak or cry in a time like this. The lost boys needed their leader to be strong. He wouldn't mourn the loss of his second in command. No, he would avenge him. Pan would make sure of that... Nothing would stand in his way.
Nothing.
⋆✶
"Amalia."
Mia slowly came out of her unconsciousness and groaned when she felt the throbbing pain in her head.
"Amalia."
Slowly she could feel her senses coming back to her and she noticed the smell of decaying wood and fire. Her eyes began to flutter but felt too heavy to fully open and she began to feel herself slowly but surely begin to fall back into a soundless slumber.
"AMALIA!"
The booming voice woke her so quickly that she almost jumped out of her seat but found that even if she tried she couldn't. Mia winced. Her ankles and wrists were being held down by tight ropes that dug into her skin, giving her rope burns. She was seated in a chair in the center of a wooden room whose walls were aligned with so many lanterns that the light was almost blinding. The chair she was seated in was so large that she couldn't even see around it when she turned her head.
"Ah. Finally my princess is awake."
Mia involuntarily stiffened and the hairs on her neck stood on end at the sound of the man's raspy voice from behind her. She tried to turn to face the source of the voice but hissed in pain when the ropes dug farther into her skin. Mia felt sick to her stomach and swallowed the vile substance that was making its way up her throat and threatening to spill out her mouth.
At that moment she would've given anything to see Pan barge through the door and save her, laughing at her and telling her it was all a sick joke.
She knew that would never happen, though. He hadn't even tried to save her from Rufio; just stood there and then both literally and figuratively turned his back on her. He doesn't care...
With that thought, Mia's body shook as she cried and the walls echoed her sobs back at her as if they were mocking her pain. When she sobbed, she realized, the pain in her skull intensified but that just made her cry harder.
"Don't cry, Princess," the man cooed and she felt his cold hand clamp around her shoulder. Her weeping grew instantly louder, afraid for her life and knowing that no one was coming for her. She wanted to yell, but all that her mouth could emit was her endless sobs.
Her whole body ached but the distinct pain in her chest was unmistakable and the true cause of her great sadness. She was scared and felt betrayed by everyone. She felt utterly lost.
Suddenly the sound of fabric brushing against fabric filled the room and grew louder every second until Mia finally got a glimpse of the man. Her breath caught in her throat. From head to toe he was covered in a long black cloak that dragged the ground, making him even creepier like the grim reaper. The only things visible were his scarred hands and the point of his chin that had a subtle beard. Slowly, he began to blow out the lanterns on the walls, making the room slowly darken each passing minute.
Mia stopped weeping after a while because her throat had become raw from sobbing and she felt too numb and drowsy to do so. Her heart continued its rapid beating as she watched the man blow out the candles one by one. Something about him seemed almost... familiar. But Mia shook off the feeling. Familiar or not this man was a threat.
Soon just one candle was left which was the closest to her. He stopped and slowly looked up at her and Mia got a quick glimpse of his chapped lips and the sharp, downward point of his nose.
"Do not fret Princess for soon you shall feel no pain and all your worries will be wiped away."
The room went completely dark as he blew out the candle. Mia could hear the sound of his cloak sliding across the ground as he walked past her. There was a slight creaking and a short 'click' before she was consumed in complete silents.
Princess? she thought suddenly, letting her head droop in exhaustion. Why does that sound so familiar?
⋆✶
Pan unlocked the lock swiftly with nimble fingers and opened the bamboo barred door, helping the blonde to her feet.
Tink dusted her dirt covered green dressed and glared daggers at Pan.
"What do you want now?" she snarled and her small, pointed ears became distinctly red from her anger.
"I want you to do me a favor," Pan said bluntly and crossed his arms over his chest with an unreadable expression on his face. His needed as much help as he could get.
"And why would I do that?"
"Because if you do... I'll grant you your freedom and you'll never have to see me ever again."
"I would rather be locked up in that cage for all eternity than help you," Tink grumbled, silently bracing herself for that exact thing to happen.
Pan's face scrunched up in anger and frustration. "I understand that what I did in the past was... unnecessary. But please put your hatred for me aside for just this once!" He paused and watched agitatedly as she rolled her eyes. "Rufio took Mia." He sighed.
That being said, her annoyed face instantly fell with concern and fear for the human girl's life. "Oh no!" she gasped, horrified. "What does he want with her?"
"I do not know. He's working for someone whose direct orders were to retrieve her. That's why we must get her back as soon as possible," Pan continued quickly.
He may not have been able to track this so called 'master' but he knew for a fact that he could track Mia, wherever she was, and put an end to all of this.
Tink seemed to think it over before sighing. "Fine. I'll help. But only because of Mia," Tink said, adding the last part even though Pan was already well aware of that. "So what exactly do you want me to do? I'm pretty much useless without my magic."
"You're right. But I hope this will suffice." Pan did an uncomfortable motion with his hands and Tink felt her whole body tingle. She looked down and gasped in surprise and excitement. Her body was glowing a slight yellow and she noticed she was no longer on her feet but hovering a few feet off the ground in her natural, palm-sized fairy form—the form she was meant to be in. "I found a spell to give you your wings back," he explained, watching annoyedly when she did a few loop-de-loops. "Tink, I need you to go to Pixie Hollow and tell Queen Clarence that there is a powerful threat on Neverland that has captured an innocent girl by the name of Amalia who is in need of everyone's help."
Tink made a noise that sounded like small bells jingling while nodding her head before zooming off into the woods until she was out of sight. Pan could only hope that she was fast enough, or that someone else didn't find her first.
~**~**~**~**~**~**~
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