by S Cinders
“My Ebony, you have found me!”
The woman didn’t look much older than Ebony, but her facial features were nearly identical. Ebony took no time approaching the much larger life-sized woman and reaching out to touch her as if she were not certain of the realness before her.
“Mother?” Ebony’s choked reply, wrenched at my chest.
The woman’s blue eyes swept over her daughter’s tiny fairylike form with so much love and tenderness that I knew this woman wasn’t evil.
It was at the second that Puck and Tink entered the cavern from another tunnel. They both gasped when they saw the woman. Flying into the cage beside us, Puck changed Ebony back to her life-sized form.
“I have waited many years for you, child,” the woman’s face held sadness, longing, and perhaps a glimmer of hope. “There isn’t much time left.”
“What do you mean?” Ebony took her mother’s hands on her own. “We have just found you.”
“My light is dimming, and it is time for me to pass this power onto you,” the woman said kindly. “I have served as the Never Stone for many years. It is time for you to take my place.”
CHAPTER 46 – Peter
“LIKE HELL, SHE WILL!” I tried shoving Ebony out of the way, but she looked at my miniature self, and to my surprise, she laughed.
“You are adorable!”
I wasn’t adorable. I was a fucking man for Hell’s sake, and I wasn’t about to have the woman I loved be chained and left in this cage.
So, I bit her. Not the Never Stone, Ebony’s mother, but I bit Ebony’s arm.... hard.
“What the hell?” she brushed me away looking at the tiny bite with confusion and irritation.
Puck changed us all to our human form. The Cage was about the size of a twelve by twelve room. So, we were all able to fit, but it wasn’t comfortable.
Alex smirked, “You offended his manhood, Eb.”
Yes, she had, but I didn’t need his help, nor was I about it admit it.
“Ebony will not be chained up in some fucking cave,” I growled, “I will not allow it.”
The Never Stone’s eyes sparkled, “Peter Pan? You are all grown up now, aren’t you?”
I had been for quite some time, but I didn’t see this as a viable way to convince the woman she wasn’t going to trade places with Ebony.
“I remember you coming here as a boy. You tried to help Stevie, and it was very brave of you.”
I felt my throat tighten, “What do you know of Stevie?”
She looked at me, her eyes glowing and I saw his image clearly sketched in their depths.
“I tried to save him,” she whispered, “I begged him to go back. But he was insistent. Stevie wanted to take back my eyes to show the Lost Boys that he was a man.”
I felt bile in my throat, “So, you killed him?”
She paused, “No. But his greed killed him. He drowned after falling and hitting his head on a rock. I couldn’t get to him.”
As she looked at the long chain attached to her ankle, I realized how horrible it would be to watch a child die and not be able to help them.
“I am sorry I accused you.”
“I know you think that I am the villain in this piece, but I am not,” she went on to say. “I never wished to be the Never Stone.”
Ebony took her mother’s hand in her own, “How did it happen?”
“Your father had heard of a place where mermaids swam freely through the sea. He said that dreams came true there every day and so why not ours. We wanted a child, you see very badly. Or at least I wanted a child. I realize now that my husband, Silver, was after more than just my dreams. Once we landed, the island was a wasteland. There weren’t any of the lovely things that he had spoken of.”
The Never Stone smiled sadly, “We were about to leave, heartbroken when a great storm rose in the sky. We secured the ship as best we could and planned to see the storm out before leaving. I was secured below when I heard something. I wasn’t sure if it was a baby cry or an injured animal. But I left the protection of our cabin.”
“You sound like your daughter,” I said gruffly, and Ebony gave me a look.
“I remember the sky was filled with lightning and the roar of the thunder always knocked me off my feet. It was a glorious display of God’s talents, and I was completely captured by it. There was a bolt of lightning that I never saw coming. One moment I was on the deck of the ship and in the next, I was chained in this cage. My hair had turned white, and my eyes glowed blue.”
She laughed bitterly. It was a sound that broke my heart.
“What happened?” I begged her to continue.
“It was a trap,” the Never Stone said looking up, “Hook had conspired with a witch to disguise the island. He then lured Silver here with promises of fame and fortune. But the truth was that they needed another Never Stone. The current one was dying. What we didn’t realize was that I was already expecting when I arrived. So, when the lightning struck me, it gave the power of the island to my child as well. At first, your father took you, but the battles between Hook and Silver were constant. It wasn’t until Hook promised me that you would be raised with all the love and care that I couldn’t give, that I helped him banish Silver. I had loved my husband, but he was willing to trade me for the things Hook had offered him. Of course, I knew Hook would never be a good father. But I couldn’t feed you, and I wasn’t about to let my child be raised in a cave.”
“Then why would you want to trap her there now?” Peter demanded.
The Never Stone wrinkled her nose in confusion, “I have no wish to have Ebony live in this cage. But I needed her to break free from the chains. I am not powerful enough on my own. I have waited for this moment her entire life, when we can destroy Hook once and for all. My time as the Never Stone is running out. Our chance to get rid of him is slipping through our fingers.”
“What do I need to do?” Ebony asked.
“You are just going to believe her?” my voice held more than a note of disbelief.
Ebony turned, “She is my mother. What would you do in my place? I won’t leave her here to die or for Hook to capture. I won’t allow her to live in this cage a moment longer.”
I grasped Ebony to me and kissed her hard. I didn’t care that her mother was inches away or that we were surrounded by friends in a rotting cave. I wanted her to know how much I loved her and that I was dying inside at the thought that something might happen to her.
“Can’t Puck’s magic break you free?” Tinkerbell asked.
The Never Stone shook her head, “No, it is old magic on these chains. I will need a few drops of our blood to make the spell.”
Ebony ripped out her dagger and pierced her skin before handing it to her mother. They dripped their blood over the chain, then she began to chant. I wasn’t sure what the words were that were spoken, but her eyes glowed brighter, and Ebony started to join with her mother.
The chains began to burn away where the blood had mixed, and the cuff on her ankle finally broke free.
“What is your name, milady?” Alex asked as Ebony helped her mother to her feet.
When Ebony turned her eyes were glowing that same shade of aquamarine blue that her mother’s eyes did.
“This is Aria, my mother.”
I took her hand and kissed the back of it and was followed by Puck and Alex. Once it was determined that Aria could fly, Puck changed us back into tiny fairies, and we traveled along the dark corridors. Careful to evade the jagged spears and deathly water below.
The moment we broke free into the sunlight, Aria began to fall behind. Her strength had depleted from her years in the cave. It was decided that instead of flying all the way to the ship, we would go to the shore and rest.
Alex got a fire going, and Puck and I went in search of food. It was then that a heard a whistling noise whip past my ear.
Looking around frantically I saw them, Hook, and his crew were barreling straight towards us with knives and arrows at the ready.
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CHAPTER 47 – Ebony
THERE ARE MOMENTS IN time that I will always remember. The second I saw my mother’s face, when Peter told me he loved me, and when Long John Silver died; these are all etched in a special place in my memory.
But nothing could have prepared me for the battle that commenced. We were outnumbered and fighting men that I had known my entire life. Some of them were far more of a father to me, than Hook could ever dream of being.
They came at us with a war cry, their swords raised, knives in hand and bows pointed at our heads. I don’t know what I was expecting. But as I pulled my sword from its sheath, I felt a pang, knowing in my heart that at the end of this battle too many people wouldn’t be walking away.
I don’t know if everyone fights in their head as I do. It hadn’t come up in conversation before. The clanking of the swords and the screams of the fallen seem to fade away as I focused on my goal, survival.
The worst thing you can do in a fight is panic. In sword fighting, it is imperative to relax so that you can act with speed, control, and mental clarity. The posture and balance are second nature as you strike the opponent. Use sliding steps, be quick, keep your weapon close to the body; these thoughts kept rolling through my head as I killed one after another.
I didn’t focus on the blood spattering all around us, or the smell of shit as men and women met their fate at the end of a blade. Your first attack is often the most important one, so make it count. The eyes, temple, throat, heart, or kidneys is where I aimed, and my sword was true.
A clean thrust into the abdomen and then twisting horizontally will cause the intestines to spill bile into the main body. Cutting the carotid will cause them to bleed out within moments. In truth, if you stab someone enough times they will die regardless.
So, when I saw my mother take a saber to her stomach, I froze. It went against every rule I had ever been taught. I didn’t see my own opponent until their blade was at my throat. In an instant, I was thrown into the present.
Tinkerbell had a large gash on her cheek and was helping Charlie fight off some of the Indian Tribe that had sided with Hook. I didn’t know when the lost boys had arrived, but as I looked around I saw many of them fighting on our side.
“Don’t move, or it will be your head!” Hook hissed.
I looked up at the man that I had called father my entire life. The man I had left Neverland for, because I thought he was dying.
“If you kill me, we all die,” I said in a much calmer voice than I felt.
Hook’s eyes narrowed, “Don’t you think I don’t know that? This is your fault. Ebony. I wanted you to be gone from here so that when I ended it all, you would be safe. I never thought you would find Pan. Shit, if I didn’t know for certain you weren’t my blood I would swear you were my daughter. Always fucking things up, just like her old man.”
“You want to kill everyone?” I hadn’t considered this before. “It’s not about the treasure?”
“There is no fucking treasure. I locked your mother in that cage eons ago. I thought I was being so clever, but like a complete idiot, I had to make a map. Sure, it was disguised, and difficult to read, but you figured it out. Damn it, Ebony, if I knew that I could get you off this fucking island before it dies, I would do it. I am not a good man, but I never wanted to harm you.”
The lump in my throat felt impossible to swallow. I knew that my eyes were filling with tears. I had never heard this man say that he cared.
“Don’t do this,” I begged, “Please, you can’t do this.”
“I have to,” Hook ground out, “Don’t you see that? We are trapped here doing the same thing repeatedly. I won’t leave your mother in that cage any longer, and I won’t leave you vulnerable to men like myself and Silver. Besides, look around us, we have lost so many already. It is time.”
“We can make things different,” I sobbed, “Please, father, please.”
I felt the bite of the blade against my neck and the sting as it sliced the first few layers of skin.
He looked at me with sorrow and regret, “Forgive me.”
I closed my eyes and waited for the strike that would end my life. But it never came. I felt a jerk as the blade left my throat. I opened my eyes and turned to see Hook’s lifeless body, with a blade through his head.
Peter was panting, his eyes wild, “Are you okay? Fuck, Ebony, I almost lost you!”
I couldn’t stop the choked cries as he pulled me tight against him. The fighting was coming to a stop now that Hook was dead. It seemed that people weren’t sure what to do. The dead lay around us in mangled forms, their blank stares etching themselves inside of my brain.
The cut on my neck wasn’t deep enough to need stitches, I was lucky. But in the same respect, we had all lost a great deal, and each day after we would realize more and more the things that were lost in this battle.
A cry raised up above the crowd, “We are done with this useless fighting. Do you understand me?”
It was Tiger Lilly. She had climbed on a rock and stood with the wind whipping her hair behind her. Her clothes were covered in muck and blood showing that she had been in the thick of it.
“You will pledge your allegiance to Ebony or die.”
I knew what I had to do, “Stop!” I cried out. “I am not your leader. Princess Tiger Lilly is the rightful ruler. You may choose to join her, or you will be given the same fate as those that have fallen.”
One by one, they began to fall to their knees in front of Tiger Lilly. She looked at me in surprise, but I nodded and made Peter release me, so that I too could bend my knee in allegiance.
Her father had fallen in the battle along with mine. My mother was in a very precarious place, hovering on the brink of death. It was decided that we would burn those that were lost.
I can’t explain the silence that wrapped around each of us, and we watched friends, family, and enemies all go the way of the world.
Puck used his magic to stabilize my mother, but she was far from in the clear. His face as he turned to me, showed me that this man had truly done all that he could. It was the merfolk that eventually took her. They said they would have a greater chance healing her, but that she would be tied to the waters from that point forward.
I stroked her long-tangled hair and cried against her chest. The wound had been closed with fairy magic, but her eyes hadn’t opened.
In the end, I gave her to the sea with the hope that they could save her. But not before kissing her pale cheek and pleading that wherever she was, that she would find her way back to me.
Peter and I returned to the Henrietta, but the ship wasn’t home. I had no desire to board the Jolly Roger and, so we gave it to Alex, because it should have been his inheritance in the first place.
The Lost Boys returned to their hut, in Hangman’s Tree, and what was left of the Indian Camp returned to live, under Princess Tiger Lilly’s rule.
Peter and I stayed in Neverland, until we got news that my mother had finally returned to us.
I felt ill as we sailed for Mermaid Lagoon. Would my mother be angry at being trapped by the ocean? But the second I saw her, I knew it had been the right thing.
Splashing up onto a rock, my mother grinned at me. Her luminescent, bright blue eyes sparkled with love and life. Her white blonde hair fell on ringlets down to her waist. And her complexion was young and vibrant. She was beautiful.
I jumped into the water, not waiting for a boat and swam the distance to her. The sea couldn’t hide our tears as mother and daughter were reunited again.
She kissed my face, “You were so brave, Ebony. I have never been prouder of you.”
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed, “I led you into danger, and you almost died.”
“No, child,” she said patiently, as she held me close. “You pleaded with a madman to save us all, and barely walked away with your life. You found a way to heal me. Never has there been a better daughter, I love you, Ebony.”
I didn’t know that I was waiting
for the words, until I heard them. My mother loved me and was proud of me. I had been trying to please Hook my entire life, and always fell short. But all I had done was be myself, and my mother didn’t ask for more.
I couldn’t tell you how long we stayed that way. Peter and I stayed on in Neverland for several months getting to know my mother and helping to re-establish Neverland. It would never be the same, but there was hope and promise for a better tomorrow.
EPILOGUE – Peter
A PIERCING SCREAM WOKE me from sleeping like the dead. I scrambled out of the berth and almost landed on my ass. I ignored the way Ebony snorted with laughter. I was trying to be the better person here, and it was my turn to deal with the monster.
Another wail sliced through the silence of the ship, making my ears want to bleed. When we first got the creature, I had scoffed at the naysayers who felt we weren’t ready yet. For hell’s sake, I was over a century old, how much more experience could I possibly need?
It takes a real man to admit when he was wrong. I am not quite there yet. But I will say that I was wholly unprepared for the chaos that has been our lives for the past eight months.
I gingerly made my way toward the screaming banshee, careful that when our gazes met, I didn’t project trepidation or uncertainty. Creatures can smell fear from a mile away, and onboard the Henrietta there wasn’t any place I could hide, that the cries wouldn’t find me.
The cage that we housed the creature had been bolted to the floor, the same as all furniture onboard. Just as I went to peek inside something was thrown directly at my head. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
A smell, so foul and rank that it threatened to melt my eyebrows wafted up and filled my nostrils.
I could do this. I looked inside and there peering up at me was the miniature tyrant that had ruled our every waking hour. She was smiling at me, and right then and there she once again stole my heart. Her curly brown hair was sweaty with sleep, and she had tear tracks down her tiny cheeks.