In which a young girl who doesn't believe in magic ends up on the most magical place in the world; an island called Neverland. After spending a few months on the island, she wants to go home. However, two years later, Annie Wood makes her return to...
Annie and Victor had continued talking, and trying to get to know each other now that the information that they were siblings had arised. The news was still hard to process as she sat on the beach with the boy, with at least an hour gone since they first arrived.
"Does Pan know you're here?" Annie asked the only question she had been dying to know, even though she already knew the answer. Pan knew the movements of everyone on his island.
"Of course. Do you really think I'd be here if he didn't know?" Victor replied, his eyebrow raising as he spoke. Annie noticed the quick movement but didn't say anything. It was a habit she did all the time while talking.
"I don't think you'd be alive if he didn't know. Peter doesn't like unannounced guests." Annie told him, looking down at the sand.
There was a short pause between the two as Victor hesitated before saying his next comment. "You speak of Pan as if...like, you two are friends." The boy squinted his eyes slightly, the setting sun of Neverland turning his one brown eye into a pool of gold. His other eye was nearly the same colour as the ocean creeping to shore beside them.
Annie let out a short laugh through her nose. "I wouldn't say friends. We protect each other, that's about it. Him protecting me more than the other way around though." She replied, meeting the eyes of her brother who sat in the sand across from her. Her lips turned into a small frown as she started wondering what, exactly, the relationship between her and Peter was. They yelled and fought but also laughed and saved. It was a relationship full of many emotions, but Annie wasn't sure of the label for it. She supposed they could be friends.
"You protect each other? Like how dragons protect a castle?" Victor asked, trying to compare Annie and Pan to two other things that did a whole lot of protecting.
"No, more like how siblings protect each other. We wouldn't burn someone to ash, but we'd sacrifice everything to save the other." Annie corrected his ideology, earning a smirk from the boy.
"You're saying Pan wouldn't turn someone to ash?" Victor asked, his eyebrow quirking in amusement.
"No one can be sure of anything, right?" Annie replied.
"I can be sure of one thing. Well, two things. I would sacrifice everything to save you."
Annie stared at Victor, blinking quicker than normal as her eyes started to squint. She wasn't expecting to hear those words from Victor, even if he was her brother. She had only just met him and couldn't say that she'd be able to lay down her life to protect him from harm.
"What's the second thing?" Annie asked, trying to change the subject away from the boy's nobility.
"The sun's going down, and I wanna get back to camp before nightfall." Victor stated as he stood up and brushed himself off. "See you later?" He asked, looking down at Annie as she uncrossed her legs and pulled her knees close to her chest.
"Yeah, I'll be back at camp soon." She replied. Victor nodded, before heading off the beach and into the jungle. Annie watched with every step he took, noticing him stumble on a tree root and get scratched in the arm by an overgrown tree branch.
Annie felt the grainy sand on her skin as she flopped backwards and stared up at the different colours that were painted across the sky. Sunsets on the island had always been able to mesmerize Annie, as they were much more beautiful than any on Earth. Neverland's magic spread to every corner of the island, including the way the sun sunk down in the sky.
A million thoughts tried to push their way into Annie's mind, but she blocked all of them from entering. She didn't want to worry about Pan, or Victor, or even Grayson. All she could think about was how blessed she was to be able to experience the moment she was in. Different shades of blue, pink, red, and orange, spread across the once light blue sky. The world looked like it was on fire, giving the sun a beautiful farewell as it went to sleep for the night.
"Pretty, isn't it?" The girl heard a voice say, and turned her head towards the water before quickly sitting up. Indigo was close to the shore, her elbows in the wet sand that had greeted the ocean over and over again.
"Yeah, it is," was all Annie managed to say in response as she turned her attention back to the sky. The sunset over the island was holding her in some sort of trance, preventing her from looking away.
"Was that your brother, that was here?" Indigo asked. She didn't seem to be affected by the sunset, probably being used to seeing so many. Instead, her royal blue eyes were fixed on Annie.
"How'd you know that?" The girl turned to face the mermaid, but quickly shook her head. "Do I even have to ask?"
Indigo chuckled softly. "Peter was here. He told me he'd be bringing someone special to the island. What's his name?"
"Victor." Annie replied. She sighed heavily, not wanting to talk about the crazy situation she was just thrown into.
Both girls were quiet for a moment as they admired the sunset. The colours were starting to get darker as the sun got lower.
"I promised you a trip to my home, didn't I? What would you say about taking that trip now?" Indigo reminded Annie of the adventure she had promised, last time the girl came to visit her.
Annie looked over at the mermaid, before nodding. "That sounds great." She said before standing up, and walking into the ocean.
"Great. Lie down in the water, and I'll take you there." Indigo said as she turned herself around in the ocean so she was facing away from the shore. Annie did as she was told, and lied down in the quite comfortable water. Not too hot and not too cold.
"Now what?" Annie asked, looking over at the mermaid. They were now eye level for the first time, and Annie could see nearly every detail of the woman's face. Her long dark blue hair was parted in the middle, and she had small gills just under her jaw. The mermaid also had long blue eyelashes, and small pearls embedded into her skin just under her eyes.
"You'll have to swim out a bit. There's a cliff a little ways out, and when I touch your arm, dive down. Understand?" Indigo explained, earning a nod of understanding from Annie.
"I trust you, Indigo. Don't let me drown." Annie said to the mermaid, elbow crawling along the bottom of the ocean before it was deep enough to start swimming.
"I won't let you drown." Indigo replied, swimming backwards away from Annie as she kicked and pushed her arms through the water. The mermaid allowed herself to float in the water, waiting for Annie to catch up to her. "The cliff is coming up. Ready?" She asked, her midnight coloured tail gently splashing above the surface of the water.
"Yeah." Annie took a deep breath just as she felt Indigo's long, thin fingers touch her on the arm. The brunette girl dived underwater, and tried to swim downwards over the cliff. Indigo was swimming in front of her, looking more peaceful than other.
Annie felt a slight tingling sensation on her throat, the feeling rapidly building up. It was the same sort of tingle that arose when her foot fell asleep, but felt more warm than stabby. Annie, however, would never know what was causing the tingle because before she even had the chance to process that she was running out of air, she felt a tug on the back of her shirt.
The girl let out a gasp as she was dragged out of the water, the cotton material of her shirt tight against her throat.
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