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INDIANA JONES
xxvi. CRYSTAL SKULL
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PAST
NEVERLAND
"PSST... WAKE UP."
INDIANA Jones released a small groan in annoyance while rolling over on her side in hopes that whomever was trying to wake her up would walk away. She had finally gotten used to sleep on the hard, dirt-covered ground without a tent, pillow, or blanket. All she had was a small patch of grass to use as support under her fragile body. As of now, Indiana was getting one of the best nights of sleep she had gotten since she had arrived in Neverland, which was months ago, maybe even years. Indiana wasn't really sure at this point. All she knew was that her mysterious friend, Frankie was helping her keep track of the time that passed them by.
Frankie was a strange one. Not only did he disappear at random, but he also asked a lot of questions. Those questions were specifically about Indiana. If it was anyone else, Indiana most likely wouldn't have told him anything. However, this was the boy who she let almost get killed (or maybe he was already dead and he was really just a ghost. Indiana wasn't sure about that either). She felt bad that she didn't do anything when Peter Pan (questionably) crushed his heart to dust. Therefore, she told him whatever he wanted to know. This ranged from questions about her family, to questions about her hobbies and favorite food.
"Psst."
"..."
"Wake up and maybe I won't pour this bucket of water on you."
The brunette's blue-green eyes flew open as those words absorbed in her brain. She forced herself to sit up as she did so, making her feel slightly lightheaded for a few seconds. Indiana looked up to see Peter Pan staring at her with his arms crossed over his chest and his infamous smirk sitting on his lips.
Narrowing her eyes at him, Indiana said, "I don't see any buckets of water. Can I go back to sleep, or does your Royal Annoyance require my special attention?"
All Peter could do was chuckle and roll his eyes at her. It was still dark out, meaning that it was an unreasonable time to be awake. Nonetheless, Peter had woken her up for some reason. Peter usually had his reasons to wake her up, but they varied when it came to level of importance and urgency. The last time he did something like this, it was to test the theory if teenaged girls truly were annoyed when abruptly woken up in the morning. This was proven to be true when Indiana almost successfully slit his throat open with her eyes closed. Almost.
"Gather your belongings. We're going on an adventure," Peter declared, puffing his chest out slightly.
She put on an annoyed facial expression. "I'd rather not."
"Aren't you Indiana Jones: adventurer extraordinaire?" Peter questioned with his eyebrows raised. He knelt down to her level. "Come on. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"If it's not one of my 6 senses, then I don't care," Indiana fired back through a yawn. She laid back down as Peter stared at her in confusion.
"6 senses?" he repeated. "Don't you mean 5?"
Humming, the girl shut her eyes and shook her head. She held out her hands, counting each sense she listed off. "Sight, Taste, Sound, Smell, See, and Sarcasm," Indiana listed. "The 6 S's."
He narrowed his bright green eyes at her. "Taste doesn't start with an S, stupid," Peter matter-of-factly informed her.
"And I would've realized that if I had gotten my 8 hours of sleep, now, wouldn't I?" Indiana fired back. There was silence for a brief moment before Indiana let out a groan. She began to stand up. "I can't fall back asleep. Might as well see what you're going on about."
Peter flashed a grin at her. "I knew you would come around." With that, he began to walk.
As they walked, Indiana did her best to really wake herself up. Since it was dark, she had no idea where she was going or where she was. She could barely recognize her surroundings. All she could see was the silhouette of Peter's back as he led her to wherever it was they were going.
During the process of this, Peter took this time to catch Indiana up to speed. "Long ago, there was a city called El Dorado, also known as the Lost City of Gold," Peter explained. "It was built and inhabited by a small tribe that was led by a young girl named Tiger Lily and her father, who was the tribe's Chief. They lived in peace amongst other tribes until one day, a strange man who called himself the Dark One appeared. He claimed that he was searching for something called the Crystal Skull."
"The Crystal Skull?" Indiana repeated with interest. "Let me guess, it was a skull that was made of Crystals?"
"Ha, ha. Very funny," Peter sarcastically responded. "Anyways, the Crystal Skull was the tribe's token of peace. There were legends of the Crystal Skull having magical properties. It was incredibly magnetic, attracting metals, like gold, that weren't magnetic. The tribe was previously in poverty until they discovered what the skull could do, so it was basically their version of God. Along with that, the skull had psychic properties. It changed color depending on what it predicated. For example, if you were to have good luck in the future, it would become a vibrant shade of green. If you were to experience a great sorrow, it would become blue, and so on."
"A magical skull made of Crystals that brought a tribe out of Poverty? That sounds... incredible," Indiana admitted. "What happened to it? Did they give it to the Dark One?"
"No, but the Dark One did end up eliminating the entire tribe when they refused to," Peter continued. When Indiana furrowed her eyebrows together, he continued by making a hand motion across his neck, indicating that he killed them. She nodded. "However, just before he killed off the Chief's daughter, Tiger Lily used a magic bean that the Crystal Skull led them to long ago and opened up a portal. She threw in the Skull right before her limbs were cut off, one by one, by the Dark One."
Indiana shivered. "Sounds gruesome," she admitted.
Peter snorted. "That's not something I thought I'd hear coming from you," he commented. Indiana playfully hit his back as he kept speaking. "No one knows what happened to the skull. People have been searching for it for years, but no one has found it. Until today."
"Until today? Who found it?" Indiana wondered.
He turned around to face her, causing Indiana to suddenly run into him, for she wasn't expecting him to stop so suddenly. "We are," he responded with a grin. "Legend has it, Tiger Lily felt very unloved and lonely all her life up until she passed away."
A light bulb seemed to flash in Indiana's head. She pointed a finger in the air as she said, "Oh! So does that mean when she opened the portal, she sent it here?" Peter nodded, turning around to continue walking.
"Correct! You're not as dumb as other girls. I'm almost impressed," Peter admitted. "Anyways, we're going to put your little brain to the test. We're going to find the Crystal Skull."
➖➖➖
After walking for much longer, Indiana's excitement only continued to bubble up. This wasn't like any other thing she'd been sent to find before. This was a magical object with a truly intriguing backstory. This wasn't like the Sivalinga or Pandora's Box. For the first time in a while, Indiana was excited.
While Peter chose to lead the two (he didn't want to teleport them to the location because he thought it took the fun out of the adventure), Indiana walked a few feet behind him. "So you're going on an adventure, huh?" Frankie's voice came from beside her. Indiana, who was beginning to get used to Frankie disappearing and reappearing, nodded while pushing a branch upward.
"I guess. Why? You here to warn me that he's actually trying to lure me off and cut me into a bunch of tiny pieces?" Indiana wondered, glancing over to the side to see him. When she saw the boy had a serious look on his face, Indiana stopped walking and turned to face him properly. "Wait... Is he really...?"
Frankie immediately burst out in a fit of giggles, causing Indiana to smack his arm in annoyance.
"You're not funny," Indiana hissed, proceeding to walk once again. "What have I done to earn your presence, hm? Are you here to annoy me or to finally admit that you're just a figment of my imagination?"
Indiana had finally came to the conclusion that Frankie was some form of her conscience. She couldn't figure out why her conscience took the form of Frankie, rather than someone else, like Aunt Lucy. Nonetheless, no matter how much Indiana tried to convince Frankie that he was just her conscience, he denied it by usually saying something like, "I'm not just a figment of your imagination."
"Then why are you here?" Indiana wondered.
"I was just wondering if you had any siblings," Frankie innocently admitted. Every so often, Frankie would ask personal questions about her. She never understood why it was so important, but she answered them nonetheless.
Indiana shook her head. "No, thank the Gods," Indiana answered. "I'm an only child. I hate kids, like Aunt Lucy." She paused to hop over a rock, nearly slipping in the process. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised Lucy could even tolerate raising me. Anyways, why do you ask?"
Turning to glance at the blue-and-brown-eyed boy once again, Indiana furrowed her eyebrows together when she realized he wasn't there. "Still talking to imaginary friends, I see," Peter spoke out, gaining the brunette's attention once more. "You should really talk to someone about that, Indie."
Rolling her eyes, Indiana grumbled under her breath, "I would if you'd just let me off this island with what I need." She stopped walking when she reached Peter's side. The two of them stood in front of the opening that led into a cave. "What's with the nickname, by the way?"
"If you can call me Peter, then I can call you whatever I want," Peter decided.
"Right. Indie it is. And why did we stop? Get tired already, old man?" Indiana wondered, slightly amused with herself.
Peter looked down at the 5'6" teenager with an annoyed look in his eye. "Who are you calling old man?" he demanded. A grin twitched at the girl's pink lips.
"You," Indiana calmly, yet confidently told him.
"And what would that make you? A weak, little kid?" he wondered while smirking at her deviously.
"You have fire. I like fire," Indiana declared, her childish grin only growing. "Call me what you want, but you know what you are?" She stood on her toes slightly to meet him at eye-level, causing their faces to suddenly become a few inches apart. "An ugly, old man."
Observing as how Indiana had created some kind of strange tension between them, she matched his infamous smirk with her own. Lowering herself, Indiana started to walk toward the cave. She stopped when she realized Peter wasn't following her.
"Well, are you coming, gramps?" Indiana called out. She could feel his glare on her back, but nonetheless he walked over to her.
"Let's get this over with," he mumbled.
Together, they walked toward the cave. It was dark, nothing but dimly-lit torches along the walls lighting up the pathway. A rather chilling wind blew at the duo, causing goosebumps to emerge all over Indiana's arms. When she exhaled, she could see her breath appear before her face until it faded into the atmosphere.
"It's freezing in here," Indiana complained, beginning to walk forward. As she took a few steps forward, she suddenly couldn't feel the ground beneath her anymore. Indiana let out a squeal as she felt two arms pull her back. "What the—?!"
"There's a drop-off, stupid," Peter said into her ear as he placed her gently on the ground again. He retracted his arms and looked back at the girl, who stared at the drop-off with wide eyes. "You need to figure out how to get across."
"Me?" Indiana repeated. "Don't you mean—?" She was interrupted by Peter suddenly vanishing, only to reappear on the ledge not too far away from her. She narrowed her eyes at the boy. "How do you expect me to get across? Not all of us have magic, you know!"
Without saying a word, Peter pointed his index finger to the left. She followed his gaze until she stopped on a small ledge that she would have to shimmy across. Letting out a quiet groan, Peter chuckled and said, "It's all apart of the adventure!"
Indiana bit her tongue and made her way over to the ledge, hopelessly doing what she had to do to get across. She grabbed onto jagged pieces of rock that poked out along the wall, silently praying to whatever God that was listening that she would make it out of this alive. Shuffling her feet along the ledge, Indiana eventually made her way onto the other side, tripping in the process and landing in Peter's arms.
"I suppose you could say you've fallen for me," Peter joked as Indiana stood up properly, dusting herself off. She shot a glare at him.
"I was so nervous, I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest," Indiana admitted while getting herself situated once again.
"I tend to have that effect on people," Peter added. Glaring at him again, Indiana started to walk ahead of him. "Oh, come on! Was it something I said?"
As Peter started to run after her, Indiana started to reply, "You're so annoying, you know that?" Indiana swatted at a spider web while walking. "You're obnoxious, extremely flirty for someone who's lived around a bunch of boys for centuries, and you're annoying."
"You said that twice, you know," Peter pointed out. She glared at him again, growing more and more annoyed by the second. "You want to play that game? Fine."
"I'm a decent person," Indiana fired back. "There's nothing you could possibly say that could irk me because I'm decent, unlike you."
He snorted. "On the contrary, dear Indie the killer, you're far from decent," Peter retorted. "You're arrogant, a know-it-all, utterly naïve, sarcastic, childish, extremely defensive, and cocky."
Indiana audibly gasped. "Cocky?" she repeated. "In what world am I cocky?"
"Pfft, please," Peter mentioned, pushing her shoulders down so that she wouldn't smack her head against a low-hanging rock. Even if they were arguing, Peter still felt the need to make sure she didn't hurt herself. "You're no better than a one-handed pirate with a drinking problem."
Indiana gave him a weird look. "Oddly specific, but I'm more taken aback by the fact that you compared me to a dirty pirate!" Indiana snapped. "If I didn't know any better, I'd ought to—!"
She never got to finish her sentence, considering she was interrupted by her foot sinking into something. Glancing down, Indiana noticed that the specific spot on the floor below her had sunk down once there was weight on it. With that, an arrow went flying out at Indiana's face. Peter reached forward reflexively to grab the arrow before it sunk itself between the brunette's blue-green eyes.
"What was that?" Indiana cried out, taking her foot off of the spot on the floor. "A booby trap?"
"Run, you idiot!" Peter hissed.
For the next few hours or so that greeted the constantly bickering duo, they encountered several different kinds of hidden traps. From running away from randomly firing arrows to Peter Pan getting trapped in Quick Sand (which Indiana enjoyed entirely), it seemed as though things were going horribly well. They were going horribly because Indiana kept triggering random traps, but they were going well because Peter seemed to keep them going without one of them getting hurt or dying.
Eventually, they found themselves walking along another long, hallway. The silence was filled with their echoes as they spoke to one another. "Are you even sure that this stupid crystal is here?" Indiana wondered.
Peter snorted. "I wouldn't put myself through hours of being accompanied by you if I wasn't sure," Peter fired back.
"Shut up," Indiana immediately told him. "You enjoy my company. Don't lie. I'll know."
"You're lucky you're right," Peter admitted to himself under his breath. They ended up at the end of the hallway. There was a pedestal that was illuminated by the torches along the walls. Upon the pedestal was a strange object that was in the shape of the skull.
Indiana walked over to it curiously. "I'm getting war flashbacks," she sarcastically stated, thinking about how she retrieved the Sivalinga for the Dark One. She reached out to pick it up, but Peter smacking her arm caused her to stop. "Um, ow! What was that for?"
"You've triggered enough hidden traps," Peter told her. "What if you trigger something else? I'm getting tired of saving your arse every time something happens."
Indiana rolled her eyes at the sound of this. "Please!" she exclaimed. "What else could happen? We've already been through the worst, including me having to listen to your annoying voice." Indiana quickly grabbed the Crystal Skull. "See? Nothing happened! You worry too much, darling."
"I worry for a reason, love," Peter retorted. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as the skull became a bright shade of pink. Indiana looked down at it, following his gaze.
"Didn't you say this thing can predict stuff?" Indiana queried. "What does pink mean?"
He sighed before hesitantly replying, "Love."
With that being said, the cave began to shake. It was as if they were standing in the middle of an earthquake. The ceiling began to drop small pebbles on them and dust began to fill up their lungs. Peter rapidly grabbed Indiana and teleported the two of them out of there.
They landed on the ground, one swiftly and the other rather ungracefully. While Peter landed on his feet, Indiana fell flat on her face for the second time that day. Letting out a groan, Peter chuckled and crouched down beside her. "I told you so, love," he sang.
Lifting her head up from the ground slightly, Indiana muttered a simple, "Whatever, darling."