Never Moon

part 13

"Unaware of the tragedy being enacted above, Peter had continued, for a little time after the children left, to play gaily on his pipes: no doubt rather a forlorn attempt to prove to himself that he did not care." 

Peter Pan, "Do You Believe In Fairies?" 

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disclaimer: this chapter contains discussions of suicide. if you want to skip it, the conversation starts at "even the piece of the island in Char's heart lay cold and quiet." and ends at "Bobby saved him." 

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It was only after Char had lost sight of Peter and Turner that she finally accepted that this was happening. 

It had all seemed like a surreal dream, the shock and panic and confusion disconnecting her, removing her from her body. 

Now, she slammed back into herself and reality, wrapped in the tight, smelly paw of the Neverbeast as it galloped through the ever-dying forest and away from Peter Pan. 

With her arms pinned at her sides, Char couldn't move. Actually, there wasn't much that she could do at all, except cry. Which she did. Mikey, next to her, had passed out from blood loss. 

Strings struggled in the other paw, screaming something that she couldn't hear over the wind that whipped past them. Tear tracks streaked down his grimy face as he shouted, looking insane. Marcus, next to him, hung limply, all fight gone from him. 

It started to rain. Warm, salty drops landed on her face, which she turned to the sky and hoped with all her might. Peter Pan was still out there. There was still a chance. If he was alive, then there was a chance. 

The compass in her chest burned hot and straight, unwavering in its direction back towards him. A bond, he'd said. A promise. 

Well, all she could do at this point was hold him to that promise. 

After what seemed like hours of running, the Neverbeast slowed, coming to the edge of a dry basin. At the far end, the mouth of a cave greeted them, darkness pouring out of it like water. 

Mikey's head lolled on her shoulder, his fair hair sticky with blood. His face, ever-comforting in its familiarity, was slack. 

She worried for him. 

The Neverbeast stomped right up to the cave and went in, crunching bare bones on the ground as it went farther back, the light receding to a pinprick behind them. After a short slope, the pressure around Char suddenly disappeared and she found herself falling, landing on her shoulder so hard that stars leaped behind her eyelids. She heard the others hit the ground next to her, expletives from Strings and Marcus informing her that they were close.  

The Neverbeast huffed, barely distinguishable in the darkness of the cave. Then it turned and walked back up the slope and lumbered away. 

As soon as it retreated, Char got to her feet and attempted to leap into the air, but the cave simply crackled with dry energy, smothering the magic that allowed her to fly. She did not leave the ground. She turned and scrambled for the beginning of the rise, but as soon as her hands and feet touched it, she slid off and onto her butt. Next to her, she heard Marcus encounter the same fate. 

"Bloody hell," he said. "What the fuck is this?" 

Char ran her fingertips along the slope. It was cool, smooth and absolutely unclimbable for them. "I think it's glass," she said. "What would glass be doing in a basin like this?" 

Strings' voice came from behind them. "That's because we're in the Mermaid Lagoon," he said. "Or, what's left of it. This used to be where they lived--there are tunnels that go for miles around here. Glass was for decoration. Now it makes the perfect cage. Sucks all the magic out of the air, too. We're not going anywhere."