Oh Darling | Harry Hook x OC |

XXIX: A Great King

~ Harry's Point of View ~

"She's alive, Harry."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Elizabeth.. your mother." He paused. "And my best friend."

It never occurred to me that a day like this would ever come. From the day I saw her in a pool of her own blood, I knew that was the last time I was ever going to see her. I actually thought she was better off dead than alive but wishing she wasn't.

But now that Peter told me the truth.. I don't know whether to be happy or terrified. I mean it's been almost a decade, who's to say if she would even recognize me.

There was this voice at the back of my head saying my mother would still look at me with fear in her eyes, like they always did. She saw me as no different from my father- and I don't doubt she still does.

Maybe she doesn't even wanna see me anymore. She's been gone for years and I don't think I can take that as a sign of her actually wanting to get back to her family, or whatever's left of it anyway.

And to be honest, I'm.. afraid. Afraid that I might scare her away again and push her to the brink of suicide. And this time, she might actually succeed, and that's what scares me most.

"Harry, do you understand what this means? Your mother-"

I looked up to Peter with tears stinging my eyes. "I don't wanna see her. Not now, not ever."

"What?"

"You don't get it, Peter. You weren't there when she shot herself- I was. A little runt was all it took for her to go bat-shit crazy and put a bullet in her head. What more if she saw that little runt all grown up with a mug that resembled the one man she developed a paralyzing fear over?" I scoffed. "She'd kill herself all over again."

The King's stern gaze softened after hearing me out. "Lizzie was never afraid of you. She was afraid for you. If she were here right now, she'd tell you why she did what she did, and its not what you've been told."

No. I hurt her. I hurt her so much she chose death over reason, and I'm not gonna let that happen again.

"She has a chance now. To live as she pleases without the fear of us ever coming back into her life."

"Harry-"

"I don't wanna lose her again!" I snapped, and suddenly realized that I just raised my voice in front of the man who no one dared defy. "P-Please just.. just don't."

I could tell he wanted to tell me more but decided against it, to my relief.

He simply grit his jaw and nodded.

My feet dragged across the floor as I made my way to the door and was half way out when Peter said one last thing.

"If it's not much trouble, take my daughter's pan necklace and wear it for tomorrow's fieldtrip."

"And why would I do that?"

"So your mother would know your answer to this matter." He smiled. "She'll be there tomorrow, after all."

~

I wiped the smudge of blood off the pan pendant and kept it inside my shirt for safekeeping. "We're close."

"And you can tell that how? By the number of Chimeras we just slaughtered?" William rolled his eyes while brushing off his stained clothes. "You owe me a new coat, by the way."

"Isn't this familiar to you, like war tactic-wise? Haven't you learned anything as King?"

"I've learned plenty, thank you very much. I'm actually taking notes if there comes a time when I need to bring about war on Neverland, I'd avoid the jungle."

It was my turn to roll my eyes at him. "You missed something obvious. I mean you won't put up so much defense if you've got nothing important to protect, right?"

His eyes widened at the thought of that. "So we are close."

I nodded, then moved forward.

Knowing Peter and his unpredictable shenanigans, finding Peyton wouldn't be easy. At least now that I'm in the game after years of absence, I know how stupid-dangerous its gonna get.

Four years ago, I won the Hunt. And now that I'm back, I'm sure as hell that sore loser of a King and his advisers won't make the same mistake twice.

And I like those odds.

I charged at the creature with the body of a bull and the head of a rhino, then dropped to my knees and let the momentum I built send me forward. I took the chance while I was underneath the creature to rip its stomach open, bringing down the mighty beast.

At my side, Will ran his blade down the skull of another Chimera then twisted it before pulling out for good measure. "I don't wanna ask, but I'm gonna. So you've had dark magic imbued into your blood before, four years ago right?"

"What about it?"

"Is it too soon for me to assume that you were exiled for that very reason?" He questioned. "Or am I dead wrong?"

I scoffed with a smirk. "Spot on, kid. The head of the Royal Guard wanted to settle things with a death penalty since dark magic was forbidden- I literally would've lost my head if it weren't for Peter exiling me instead."

"So if you had that kind of power that would equal even the Fairy King's.. why didn't you rebel?"

The image of Peyton flashed in my mind and I felt my shoulders drop from their tense state.

I was finally able to face Will calmly. "Because I had someone I wanted to protect. If it weren't for her, I would've turned out like your old man- no offense."

He shrugged. "Believe me, none taken. I guess I was just rattled by the fact that you were sent away despite being promised the throne. Doesn't that screw with your mind? Not even a little?"

"Yeah, sometimes, but it was for the best. In the end, it was Peter who saved me. I'm actually grateful I was sent to the Isle despite how I grew up there. The man's not half as bad as people say once you get to know the motive behind his actions."

"Are you sure about that, Hook?"

Will and I whipped around with weapons at hand when we heard a voice not far from us.

It was Peter.

"Because I don't recall any of that. Actually, I think I was the one who wanted you dead more than anything." He drew out a dagger and then threw it in my direction so fast that I wasn't able to dodge it.

I ended up on the ground when the blade went straight through my shoulder.

"Harry-"

The next thing I knew, Peter flew towards Will and swung a fist square to his jaw, knocking out the poor young King cold.

"And here I thought he would put up more of a fight." He laughed dryly as he made his way over to me and knelt down to put a hand on the dagger's handle. "Young man, let me tell you a little secret very few people know; Neverland is constantly at war. Apparently, cowards like Adam and Benjamin don't know shit about the power that comes with magic. But you do. Which is why.."

A cold shiver ran down my spine when he tightened his grip on the dagger and grinned like a madman.

"I think you'll make a great King someday."

Then twisted the blade.