Chapter 54: Neverland Misadventures – The End of Time
(When: Somewhere in Time)
Wendy was crying when Jim clambered onto the Second Star. The sound cut him to the bone. It was unforgiving that a child could feel such pain.
Wendy was fighting Peter, trying to get away. She started pulling so forcibly, Peter eventually let go, unable to maintain his hold without hurting her. Still crying, Wendy ran towards the bulwark. Jim intercepted, but Wendy backtracked, stumbling into Ariel.
Ariel stopped Wendy before she fell. Terrified, Wendy looked up. Then she curled into Ariel's embrace, sobbing for her mother.
Ariel was surprised, but she hugged Wendy back.
"Wendy?" Ariel stroked Wendy's hair. "Honey it's okay. You're safe now, we're going home! Jim knows how to get us through the Black Hole. We're going home, we're –"
Ariel looked helplessly at Peter and Jim. Wendy was holding her for dear life, but otherwise, she was inconsolable.
"Wendy?" Ariel ventured, "Sweetheart, please stop crying. Tell me, what's wrong?"
"She doesn't remember anything!" Peter hovered over Wendy, shielding her from the snow. "She only remembers bits and pieces, but she thinks the memories are bad dreams!"
"But Peter, she's sobbing! What happened back there? Is she hurt?"
Peter was grim. "Hook just killed her mother."
Wendy shook her head against Ariel's chest. Choking on tears, she wished over and over again for her mother.
Jim knelt. Wendy recoiled as he took her hand.
"Wen," he said, "Wendy listen to me –"
"Jimbo!" Silver shouted over the whistling snow. He pointed wildly toward the mainland. "Hook! Maleficent! They're comin'! Get yer sorry bum over here before they reach the Jolly Roger and release all Hell upon us!"
Jim peered through the snow. He saw two smudges on the shoreline – Captain Hook and Maleficent morphing into a dragon.
"Shit!" he breathed, racing towards the helm. The Second Star pitched as he ran. "Peter set the sails! Get ready to gun the engines! Ariel stay with Wendy, don't let her out of your sight! Maleficent is alive, she might try to pick us off! Silver, where's the Jolly Roger?"
"Two points abaft the beam, starboard side!"
"How far?"
"A nautical mile if it's any, but a dragon will fly faster than a galleon Jim!"
"Doesn't matter." Jim seized the helm. "We've got the windward advantage. Okay Peter, PUNCH IT!"
Peter dove down the mast, snapping open the sails then drawing them tight. As the sails filled with wind, he swept under the pixie dust engines and wrenched the throttles to full power.
The Second Star roared into the sky. Maleficent and Hook followed from the shore, and the Jolly Roger followed from the sea, but the Second Star caught the wind for a faster launch.
However, their advantage was short-lived. The snow turned into a blizzard. Within seconds, the Second Star was lost in a silver storm.
"We're going nowhere Rattail!" Peter braced the wheel, helping Jim control the flailing ship. "This storm is turning us in circles! Eventually, we're going to ram into Maleficent or Captain Hook!"
"He's right Jim!" Silver slid across the icy deck. Anchoring his robotic hand to the helm, he hollered over the storm. "What are we lookin' fer anyways?"
"The Wishing Star!" Shoulder bolstered against the wheel, Jim bent into his pocket, "The Wishing Star is the Black Hole, so we've got to fly through it to get home!"
"The Wishing Star?" Silver waved, "Blimey Jimbo we'll never find the Wishing Star in this! What with the snow and ice, you wouldn't see the bloody thing if it twere a hair from yer face! And what's more, we're still in Wendy's memory, ain't we? The Wishing Star is still a star and not a black hole unless –"
"Unless she remembers the present, yeah I know! Don't worry –" Jim ripped Billy Bones' map from his pocket. "I've got a plan!"
Without thinking, Jim aligned the intricate grooves, unlocking the map with a magical combination that his fingers would never forget.
Luminescent lines spiraled from the orb, arranging themselves into glittering green coordinates. The coordinates shimmered for a moment, laying grids that showed the pathways between constellations.
Then the coordinates consolidated into a single sparkling line. The line shot into the air, slicing through the blizzard like a laser.
"The map..." Silver gaped at the sparkling green line. He followed the trajectory first through the snow, and then to the metallic orb in Jim's hand.
"By the powers," he breathed, voice heavy with the hunger that only pirates feel for treasure, "Tis the blessed map of Billy Bones."
"No," said Jim, fighting the helm with one hand. With the other, he held the map to his chest, "This is my map. And this is how I'm getting us home!"
He cranked the wheel. The Second Star reared upwards, following the glittering green line.
Jim peered through the snow. Sparkling pulsations throbbed from the map as they neared their destination. Ice bit their bodies as the ship climbed into freezing temperatures.
"Silver!" Jim barked, "Bring me Ariel and Wendy! We've got to trigger Wendy's memory before we reach the Wishing Star, or we're screwed! Peter! Keep a lookout for Maleficent and Captain Hook! They must have seen the map's coordinates by now, they'll be heading straight for us –"
The ship suddenly rocked, hit from below. Jim saw two dark shapes before they disappeared into the snow.
"Peter?" he hollered.
"Maleficent to starboard!" Peter yelled, "And that sounded like a cannon to port! It must have come from the Jolly Roger! They're following us!"
Jim half turned. Silver was approaching with Ariel and Wendy. Behind them, dark shapes loomed off the stern of the ship. If Jim used his imagination, he could make out a dragon and pirate ship chasing them through the storm.
"Okay!" Jim waved at Peter. "Pan! Get over here! Take the wheel!"
Peter flew over. Arms crisscrossing over the spokes, they exchanged positions.
"Keep flying straight for the Wishing Star," Jim instructed. Still speaking to Peter, he drew Wendy from Ariel. "Follow the map and don't stop, no matter what happens. Got it?"
"Aye, aye." Peter grunted, straining to maintain their course, "What about Wendy?"
Jim didn't answer. Pulling Wendy to her feet, he looked her in the eye.
"Tell me about your dream." he said.
Wendy hugged her shoulders. Crystalized tears clung to her cheeks. "I want my momma..." she whimpered.
"I know, I know." Jim squeezed her shoulders, forcing himself to stay stern. "But I know another little girl that wants her mother. Her name is Gwendolyn."
Wendy's eyes flickered black. Jim continued.
"Gwendolyn's mother was a magical woman, a shadow worker," Jim clenched Wendy's arms as she tried to step back. "Her mother was going to have a baby, a little boy named Peter Michaleen. But bad men wanted Gwendolyn's mother. So they kidnapped her. They took her away. And then..."
Jim gave a little shake. "They hurt her."
Again Wendy's eyes flickered. Pressing her temples, she tried to squirm away, but Jim was stronger.
"They hurt her badly," Jim wrestled Wendy still, "They played games with her. They tortured her with a monster. The monster was a shadow with sharp teeth --"
"Jim!" Ariel protested, "You're scaring her!"
"Never mind that!" Silver yanked Ariel to her feet. "Ready yer trident Little Mermaid! Maleficent's on our tail!"
A barrage of teeth and flames erupted below the ship. Peter veered sideways as Maleficent appeared. As Peter changed direction, the Second Star collided with the Jolly Roger, which had flanked from the opposite side.
Ariel swung her trident. Silver fired his flintlock. With Peter's maneuverability, they broke free of the assault and frantically resumed course.
Maleficent and the Jolly Roger disappeared into the blizzard. The second of relief was ended by a vengeful cry as the Maleficent blew fire and the villains reappeared.
Jim turned Wendy towards the Jolly Roger.
"Do you see them Wendy? Do you see Eris? Do you see Captain Hook?"
Wendy closed her eyes. She covered them with her hands. But Jim knew she saw them.
"Do you remember them Wendy?" Jim shouted into her ear. "Did you see them in your dreams?"
"Jim!" Peter pointed to map's line. The green pulsations were becoming rapid, closer together. "Jim, we're almost there!"
Jim grasped Wendy's chin. He lifted her face, making her look. "Did Captain Hook hurt you Wendy?"
Wendy grabbed his wrist. She started to cry.
"Jim!" Peter yelled. The snow was thinning, giving way to a brilliant star. "Jim we're right on top of it!"
"Did he hurt you Wendy?" Jim flattened his hand. He shoved it into her abdomen. Over. And over. "Did he hurt you? Did he hurt you right there?!"
"No!" Wendy sobbed. "He hurt my mother! He took her away just like he did...before..."
Wendy froze. Slowly, she touched her temple.
"Mother...that was my..."
Jim saw Wendy's childhood dream peel away to realization.
"No!" Wendy wrenched from Jim. She ran towards the Jolly Roger. With every stride, memories hit her like bullets. She remembered everything she had ever lived, but the memories of what she had just relived filled her with a hatred more powerful than anything she had ever loved.
Wendy moved as if she were extracting her magical needle. She was a child, so the needle was not there, but the motion was one of power that Wendy remembered. Arm raised, she aimed for Captain Hook.
Peter caught her. He pulled her shadow working arm behind her back.
"Wendy stop! It's too late!"
"Turn around! Turn the ship around!"
"Wendy we can't!"
"But he'll kill her!"
"Wendy it's over. It's already over."
Wendy strained. She sank to her knees, sobbing. "We can stop it!"
"Wendy we can't."
"But my mother...my..."
"Darling," Peter cradled his wife. "You can't change the past. Let it go."
It broke her heart, but Wendy did. Clinging to Peter, she 'let go' of the past, allowing the memory to release its hold.
And as the memory faded, the Wishing Star vanished. Once again, the guardians found themselves spinning inside the Black Hole, still pursued by Captain Hook.
Jim had recovered the helm, but this time he was not without direction; Billy Bones map radiated through the darkness, guiding them through space and time.
Jim sailed faster and faster. He tore through the fabric of time, glimpsing the past, glimpsing the future, but once he saw what he thought was the present, Jim threw Billy Bone's map from the ship.
The map blinked. Once. Twice.
And as the map flickered out, Jim reached for the edge of the Black Hole.