VILLAIN

Chapter 26

As it was, Max's plan was fairly simple:

1. Get to the coast.

2. Get on Blackbeard's ship.

3. Wake up Peter.

4. Go home.

It took us about four days to finish Step 1, with us finally arriving at the Lakelandian share in the Pirate Bay coast just before twilight. The coast was beautiful, but in a different way than Neverland's. Where Neverland's beaches were sandy and tropical, Lakeland's were more of the grassy, rocky sort. We could see the Neverlandian peninsula in the distance, its curving form serving as a barrier, keeping Pirate Bay separate from the Great Sea. The Great Sea was horribly dangerous and led out for miles in every direction, its deadly waves and sea monsters swamping even the most formidable of ships. As far as anyone knew, no one had ever sailed outside of Pirate Bay and made it back to Fairfolke to tell the tale. As a result, no one knew what lie beyond the Sea – or if anything did at all.

Most people thought there wasn't anything at all, and that sooner or later the Sea just dropped off into nothingness. Those few who didn't believe that theorized either that the Great Sea separated the living and the dead (in other words, beyond it was simply heaven) or that some uninhabitable land existed beyond its treacherous depths. There were still a select few who believed the Sea was the gateway to a land of paradise and plenty, where carts rolled themselves and everyone was a king of themselves. As for me, I wasn't quite sure what I thought, but it didn't seem that important considering I wasn't planning on ever finding out. I was perfectly content to spend the rest of my life without ever setting foot outside Pirate Bay. At least, that's what I thought, anyway.

Pirate Bay was so named because of the dreaded Captain Blackbeard and his crew, who weren't stupid enough to leave it. Being pirates, there wasn't much for them outside of the Bay – unless, of course, the rumors of a land of wealth were true. Even if they were, it didn't seem like the pirates were particularly interested. Why take that chance when they had access to all the wealth and skirmishes they could possibly want right here in Fairfolke? For as long as anyone could remember, there had been pirates in Pirate Bay. Given the lack of good occupation choices for Villains, I couldn't say I was surprised. Pirating was a fairly easy way to live lavishly and without rules, minimizing the threat of being killed by a Hero. I sort of assumed that was what had Blackbeard so intent on getting rid of Peter. He was one of the only Heroes who had ever defied the old pirate's rule of the sea, and it irked Blackbeard to no end. I wondered idly if Blackbeard was as satisfied by his defeat of Peter as he thought he'd be. Was he still celebrating his death? Or was he wondering what to do with himself now that his enemy was gone?

I wasn't sure. And I supposed it didn't matter all that much anyway, considering we were about to wake Peter up regardless of how well Blackbeard was enjoying his death. And once we woke him up, there'd be no getting rid of him. He'd be immortal, an eternal torment to Blackbeard and his crew. I wasn't sure if that thought made me happy or just uneasy. Maybe a little bit of both. Either way, we were going to wake him up. I made myself believe it, because if we couldn't...I didn't know what I'd do with myself. That thought scared me more than anything else, because I was powerless against it. If it turned out that none of these girls truly loved Peter, there was very little I could do about it.

I hadn't really allowed myself to think on that before now. I had always been focused on finding the next girl, escaping the next place, walking the next mile. I hadn't let myself think about what would happen once we found everyone we could think of. I had been extra careful not to think too far in the future. I had packed up all my fears and put them in a box and tied it with a neat little ribbon. I had purposefully distracted myself by the business of everything, consoling myself by the fact that I was taking action and doing the only thing I knew how. But now I had nothing to distract me. I had nothing left to do. The ribbon had been cut and the box was open, and I couldn't stop the terrifying what-ifs that poured through my mind like ice.