Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 10)

Ch.78 Strong

As soon as it was noon sharp the next day, everyone along with Peter, Wendy, and Alice gathered at Main Street waiting for Pan to arrive as Piper stood in front of everyone.

"This is so nerve racking" Aidan trembled as he turned to Piper "This plan of yours better work."

"Trust me-" Piper assured "It will."

"Hey where's Chris and Marissa?" Arial wondered.

"We're here!" Marissa suddenly called out as she and Chris hurried to the scene while panting "Sorry, we overslept."

"Um, Chris your-" Terrence motioned his shirt as Chris looked down and noticed that he didn't button up the top part of his shirt.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he quickly did so while acting casual "There."

Everyone gave them odd looks while they tried to act cool as if nothing had happened.

"Piper are you sure about this?" Wendy asked her son nervously.

"Don't worry mom" Piper assured "I got this."

"Well would you lookie here" Pan suddenly appeared with a fake smile "Everyone's here to watch the death of dear ol Piper, I didn't think anyone would want to come witness the death of their friend."

"You let them stay out of this" Piper ordered sternly "You're here for me, not for them."

"I know, now if you're ready, I'd like to take that heart of yours."

"Hold it" Piper stopped him before he could puncture his hand into his chest "Before you do anything, I have to say, just because you're taking my heart and ending my life does not mean you win. You're not immortal, people can still kill you, and that's what they're going to do. Because in this town, nothing gets in the way of their happiness."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Pan doubted with a chuckle.

"Of course he does" Mira suddenly spoke up with a stern look "Believe it or not, I had an evil clone too, and I managed to defeat her without even harming her."

"Let me guess, love saved the day?" Pan gave a mocking pout when he then frown "Well let me tell you a little something Ms. Queen, love doesn't fix everything."

"And how can you be so sure of that?" she crossed her arms.

"Because he has no heart" Darling put in with a scowl "He's heartless."

"For now I am" he announced as he turned to Piper "But that's about to change, if I can't have a heart filled with Wonder Magic, then I guess I'll just take my clone's."

"You may wanna reconsider doing this Pan" Elena suddenly spoke up "Just like what Piper said before, we'll let nothing get in the way of our happiness, I mean I got stabbed by a sorcerer and survived, and you wanna know why? Because I was strong, courageous, and I had love. And this example proves that we wont let anything, even you ruin our lives."

"Well maybe this time, I will."

He then turned to Piper "I'm done waiting, any last words Piper?"

"As a matter of fact I do" Piper smirked "You're not taking my heart, I wont allow it."

Pan gave a mock chuckle "And what makes you think I wont take your heart?"

"Because you're forgetting one important detail."

"Oh yeah?" Pan doubted as they looked straight into each others eyes "And what's that?"

Piper gave a sneaky grin as he replied "You don't have your shadow."

Pan raised an eyebrow "So?"

"Well neither do I, because I sent it away with something to hide."

And with that he raised his hand up as everyone watched as Piper's shadow flew down with something in his hand. Realizing that it was the Dark One's dagger, everyone watched in shock as the shadow placed the dagger in Piper's hand as he twisted his clone around and pinned his arms behind his back as Pan struggled against the grip.

"What are you doing?!" Pan demanded while continuing to fight against the grip.

"You see-" Piper smirked while still holding onto the dagger "I discovered something that's going to surprise you, there is a way to kill you, and I mean end you once and for all. And this dagger will do just that."

"Piper wait!"

Everyone noticed that Pan seemed really scared, and they were surprised to see him like that.

"Look-" Pan breathed while hiding his nervousness "You don't have to do this, we can start over. I'm still your fear, and I can help you face me."

"Oh but don't you see?" Piper said in an obvious tone "I already did. The secret to defeating you doesn't just involve this dagger, it involves bravery. Although I should thank you, because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have faced my fears. And now that I have, I'm ready to say goodbye to you."

And with that he drove the dagger into Pan's heart who gave a cry in pain as everyone gasped with even more shock. Still clutching his now weak clone and the dagger at the same time, Piper felt an ease of relief as Pan rolled his head back and looked him in to the eye.

"No matter what" he breathed weakly "I will always be inside of you, and there will always be fear."

"Oh I know" Piper responded casually "But as long as I stay strong, you will always loose."

He then drove the dagger deeper into Pan's heart as Pan gave his last breath before a glowing aura suddenly shown through the wound. And as it got brighter, everyone shield their eyes from the light. And when it disappeared, everyone couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Pan was no longer in Piper's grip.

Realizing that Pan was finally gone, everyone turned to Piper who continued to stand in the same spot and still clutching the dagger, but was now full of massive relief that he had finally defeated his evil clone, and his fears.