“FG!” Lox squealed happily and jumped up, running over to her friend, where they embraced.
I gave Zane a questioning look, but he was sniffing a spoonful of food with a grimace.
As Lox spoke to the woman, the room began to thin, people leaving for their assigned training sessions. I watched them while chewing slowly on my bread, wondering how on earth they could get right to work like they were. My body still felt drained, unmoving unless I absolutely had to. But my heart fluttered with the reminder of who this woman was to me.
FG had long, silver locks with flowers weaved all throughout. Like those gorgeous older women in the movies, except completely natural. As normal as Neverland could get, anyway.
“Lace, this is who I told you about. Fairy Godmother, meet Lacey Rose,” Lox said excitedly, popping a squat beside FG, who sat gracefully, as if she didn’t have the capability to make her motions anything less than fluid. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when Zane leaned forward to kiss her hand, but my heart was in my chest.
Wait—did she just say Fairy Godmother?
“An honor, Ms. Godmother.” Zane smiled briefly, then went right back to eating. By the looks of it, a male’s stomach was as strong as a pig’s. He wasn’t leaving behind one ounce of slop on his plate.
FG dipped her head to him, and then her light eyes flickered to me. “Hello, Lacey. I’ve heard many great things about you.”
Pursing my lips, I took the rest of the bread Lox hadn’t eaten and started to eat that, too. “Right…” But I was shaking.
Lox cleared her throat, obviously annoyed with my attitude, but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she touched FG’s shoulder encouragingly. “Would you mind telling us all about what you know?”
Fairy Godmother cleared her throat and pushed away Lox’s messy tray with a kind smile. “Well, many years ago, I was assigned to a certain handmaiden who dreamt of going to a wonderful ball. You probably know of her. Anywho, this girl wasn’t just a frivolous teenager. The dreams she had were not just urges for a prince,” she explained, looking alight. “In fact, she was dreaming about the future.” My chewing came to a stop as she spoke. “After she was married off to the prince, she came back to me, and we gave her a name. A name not involving cinders or talking mice, but a name for the powers she possessed—”
“Dream catcher.” I finished for her in a rush, and Lox’s gaze snapped up to me.
“That’s what Lacey’s been dreaming of since she’s been in Neverland.” She assured FG. “Peter told her in one of them.”
“The dreams can predict the future. Dream catchers can also move around in their dreams, in real-life scenarios.” Fairy Godmother set her hands on the table and rubbed her fingers together, as if thinking back on the memory was hard for her. “But this power comes with a price—a price that, throughout all the princess’ life, haunted her. No matter where she was, the dreams didn’t stop. And some… some were horribly frightening.”
I had to stop her. “Wait, you’re telling me Cinderella had the same problems I have? The Cinderella?”
FG watched me calmly. “I wasn’t going to mention names, but now that you’ve said it, yes. Cinderella was a dream catcher. And she is still tormented to this day with the effects of this power.”
“Tell Lacey about the academy, FG,” Lox threw in, a smile permanently on her face as she watched my reactions.
“After working with Cinderella for so many years, I started to wonder how many others were just like her,” Fairy Godmother explained. “So after years of rounding up young girls and boys with the same power—to dream dreams like none other—I also found there are certain levels of the attribute, Lacey. The first level, the simplest of dream catchers, are the Apprentices, who are only allowed to see small bursts of the future in their dreams—”
I glanced at Lox, who shook her head. No correlation to me there.
“Then the Privates, who can dream in the future, but only when they have touched the person or objects involved. Next, the Specialists, those who can only see into the future on certain matters like happiness, sadness, death, or life. And then…” Fairy Godmother smiled kindly at me. “There are those like you and Cinderella. Those who can have full, scenic dreams not only able to envision whatever future the universe wishes them to see, but also teleport into those visions. You are the third I have found in my entire lifetime, and, boy, it’s been a very long time.” When she laughed, everyone at the table joined her.
Except me. I was busy trying not to pee myself.
“Who was the other one?” Zane said through a mouth full of food.
FG smiled. “Her name was Alice.”
Nodding, Zane went back to eating contently.
“Lacey.” Lox leaned across the table excitedly. “Do you get what this means? You aren’t alone in this. There are others like you.”
“Exactly,” FG added. “And when I find them, I urge them to come train with me in my academy, to truly enhance their powers and use them for good, nothing more.”
I let that sink in for a second, nails subconsciously clawing into the bottom of the picnic table.
“S-so you’re saying…” I shook my head in disbelief. “That all those dreams, my entire life, weren’t just silly dreams? I was predicting the future?”
FG smiled. “And teleporting, Lacey. Actually awaking in the present. That is why you knew Peter before you came here. You’d visited him in your dreams.”
That was horribly surprising.
“I can’t believe this.” I leaned back, running my hands down my face, while seeing Zane was finally a bit interested in our conversation. Letting out a shaky breath, I rubbed my eyes like I needed to wake up. “So Peter knew about me being a dream catcher? That’s why he brought me here?”
“Apparently,” Lox said. “But I don’t think that’s the only reason.”
“Then what else is there?” I looked over them for the answer. “It explains so much!”
Lox pursed her lips with a shake of her braids. “Not necessarily. At least, I don’t think Peter would just bring you here to tell the future and then sit on your butt after you did so.” Lox swallowed rather hard. “And we definitely don’t think he would be so involved with just any Mainlander again.”
“With Wendy and her brothers, he learned Mainlanders were dangerous to Neverland. They messed with the… Oh, how do you say it?” FG glanced around us. Getting nothing but silence and wide eyes, she snapped her fingers. “Right. Humans messed with the feng shui of Neverland. Even the Lost Boys, when they find Neverland, don’t stay human for long. It just doesn’t work.”
I felt like all the sludge I’d just shoved down my throat was about to bubble back up.
“What we’re trying to say, Lacey, is you’re too extraordinary to be human.” When she saw my expression, FG smiled. “No dream catcher can be human, and you’re definitely one of the rarest I’ve ever seen.”
My brain was spinning with confusion, trying to take in what she was saying. Not human? Now, I’d been through a lot of crazy things on this island, but that had to be the most absurd idea so far. It definitely beat all the rest by a long shot.
Zane, finally contributing to the conversation, offered, “But I’m human.”
Lox gave him a pointed look. “We all know you aren’t human, Zane. You were born in Neverland. To whom and where, I don’t care to know. But Neverland was written all over you the first second I saw you in your nasty whitey tighties.”
“Whoa, hey—”
Amidst the quarrel, Fairy Godmother said, “Yes, Lacey, you aren’t human. But… I also believe you are. I believe you’re a Neverland Halfling.” Then her gaze traveled down to my neck, causing my heart to practically thump out of my chest. “And I believe your mother had something to do with it.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and gazed at her in surprise. “What?”
Lox shifted in her seat, glancing over to FG uneasily. “Hold on. Let us explain—”
An un
ladylike cackle left my mouth. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
But both Lox and Fairy Godmother were completely serious.
“Lacey, what was your mom’s name?” Lox asked quietly, seeing I was upset. “Maybe we can find out who she is—I mean was—by looking her up in the Anthology?”
“You mean the giant book that’s poisoned and killing stories right now?”
Fairy Godmother sighed. “That is another matter entirely, dear. Now, please, what was your mother’s name?”
It’d been years, almost a lifetime it seemed, since I’d said her name out loud. The sound threatened to stay trapped on my swelling tongue forever, never to be released to bring her beautiful memory to my head again, but it was too late to back down, as the first syllables came and then the rest tumbled out behind it.
“Elise.” I almost choked, feeling tears burning my eyes. “Her name was Elise.”
But all I got was blank, pitiful stares.
“Neverberries, Lace, I thought we might know who she was,” Lox cursed.
FG shook her head. “Don’t lose hope just yet. There are still many resources we could check—”
At that moment, I shot up abruptly with my tray and began to step away from the bench. “Even if I am a dream catcher like Peter and you say, my mother had nothing to do with this place. I don’t know where she got my necklace, but I don’t want any of you to bring her up ever again.” I glared before moving to the trash to dispose of the disgusting meal I hadn’t wanted to eat anyway. Now it provided me another excuse for my dramatic exit. Thank you, cat-food-disguised-as-real-food.
“Lacey! Wait up!” Zane called after me as I practically marched out of the mess hall tent, my fists clenched at my sides and tears in my eyes.
Who did they think they were? And this stupid woman coming in to tell me what my life was like… Where was she when I first got to Neverland? When I was tormented by my first nightmare? Where was the evidence to support their claims? A Neverland Halfling? Now I knew they’d absolutely lost it, and if they were right, they were cruel for not telling me sooner.
Despite the nagging in the pit of my gut, I let my anger take over and control my actions. I wasn’t going to overthink things this time.
Zane tentatively rested a hand on my shoulder. “Lace, calm down.”
When I realized how fast I was breathing and acknowledged the pain in my palms from my nails digging into them, I closed my eyes to take a deep breath. “Sorry.”
“Let’s train.” Zane began to guide me to a nearby tent. “I think it’s the best way to get your anger out. It always helps me decompress.”
I liked that he was changing the subject, running his hands through his hair as I walked beside him now. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I’m always right.”
“You weren’t exactly right when you had to use a pistol to defend me. Isn’t that, like, a sin here?” I asked as he held up the flap of the weaponry tent, then came in behind me
“What?” He picked up a nice-looking sword from one of the tables, the noise of busy soldiers around us making it hard to hear.
“I mean…” I picked up a sword as well, stepping closer to him. “It’s always sword fights and duels here. How did guns come into play?”
Zane gave me an amused look before setting down the weapon to view another. “Peter outlawed them for good guys a while ago.” He slid another blade from a sheath and held it up to gaze at it. “But that doesn’t mean the black market doesn’t sell ‘em.”
“You’re really into the whole black market thing,” I commented, running my fingers over the nice golden hilt of another weapon. “Are you a bad guy? What’s so special about a gun here anyway?”
This must’ve caught him a little off guard, because Zane cleared his throat and set the blade down again. “Ah, well…”
But I already had the answer. “Booze, right?” I raised an eyebrow, grabbing another sword from the stack, then letting it fall to the ground due to its weight. When I looked up at him again, Zane seemed almost surprised I was so nonchalant with the subject.
“We all have our sins, Lacey.” He dipped his head so the little light coming in the tent from the rising sun flashed over his chiseled features. “I didn’t know how to deal with mine.”
“Is alcohol really the only way, then?” I prodded. “To deal?”
After a long moment of watching me evenly, Zane found another sword and licked his pink lips. “Maybe not. But I haven’t found another method yet. Besides swordplay, that is.”
I watched him then, reaching over to pay a soldier some sort of currency for the sword he wanted. It was hard to believe what he was saying after the whole “hope and believing” speech he’d given me. Where was his proof of those things in his life? And why did he want so badly for me to change when he was still living in denial himself?
My questions, maybe never to be answered, were pushed away as Zane motioned for me to leave the tent.
“The sunrises here are honestly the most amazing. And I’ve seen a lot of sunrises in my lifetime.” He changed the subject, guiding me toward the climbing sun on the horizon. My eyes scanned its wonderful array of colors, and I let myself stand still in order to bask in its rays for a moment.
If not for the impending war, death, and destruction, Neverland was a far more beautiful place than any pictures I’d ever seen of the Mainland. Its sunsets and sunrises burst with colors more miraculous than blankets of snow on Christmas Day. Its ocean sparkled and churned with both danger and mysticism, an eerie entrancement, both calling to you and repelling you all the same.
But all too soon, my musing was cut short as Zane grabbed my elbow and moved me forward. “C’mon, princess. We don’t got all year to train.”
Yet, as he led me away, I peered back over my shoulder at the magnificence this world had to offer. The words, Some of the most amazing things can actually be deadly. You should always be cautious of beautiful things, came to mind.
And I thought, What a great definition of Neverland.
Such beautiful darkness, struggling to hold onto what little stars it had left.
Twenty-Six
Sweat trickled down my temples as I blinked up at the blazing sun, trying to pull in a deep breath after so much fighting.
“Are we done yet?” I whined, wanting to slump over in the dirt and die right there.
Zane swiveled his own sword around him and pointed the tip near my chest again. “War waits for no one, princess.”
Panting, I watched him wipe back his sweaty hair and grin at me, groaning, “You don’t understand. I’m going to die.”
“You won’t die. The battle’s not coming after you.”
I just coughed out a laugh. “No, I mean right now. Because I can’t breathe.”
Zane dropped his sword, rolling his eyes. “Lox was right. You are a whiny shinbone.”
“What the heck does that even mean?”
Zane just ignored me and started to peel off his gloves. The chorus of clanging swords and the whisk of arrows rattled around us constantly, though we weren’t even close to the normal training area. The sun beat down heavily now, right above us, and I dropped my sword altogether, finding it too heavy to hold anymore.
“We’re done,” Zane offered, pocketing his gloves and cracking his ringed fingers. “For now at least.”
Frowning, I asked, “For now?”
“Come on. We—” He cleared his throat. “It’s lunchtime.”
I realized I’d totally forgotten about him asking me earlier to come with him. Instead, I’d been busting butt trying to get better trained at defending myself. Though the skills Peter had helped me achieve over the years were still there, thankfully, the fact that I was horribly out of shape was a struggle. Maybe eating pizza in your room every day after school while surfing the internet wasn’t the best fitness plan?
Reluctantly, I followed Zane as he moved back toward the tents. He didn’t walk beside me, which I thought was str
ange, so I lazily jogged to catch up. “Why such a hurry? Are we going to miss our reservations?” I quipped, elbowing him playfully.
“Just meet me in ten minutes at the mess hall,” he grumbled before speeding up and leaving me behind in a horribly confused state. Who’d spit in his cat food?
His mood swing was on my mind the entire time I made my way back to my tent, slipping out of my training outfit and into my old fairy-made clothes. Besides wanting a shower to scour off the nastiness coating every inch of my body, I also hoped I hadn’t done something wrong to make Zane mad at me. Guilt was something I wasn’t good at living with. Example A: leading Peter’s army because I felt his slumber was my fault. If Zane was angry, would wherever we were going to lunch turn out to be a bust?
And without him there to distract me, I knew my mind would go into overdrive, thinking about what Fairy Godmother and Lox had tried to convince me of earlier. But there was way too much to take in, and I needed to process one thing at a time. First, lunch. Then, after lunch, finding out if I was a Neverland Halfling like they said and if my dream catcher powers could be controlled.
Never thought I’d hear that sentence.
I threw my sweaty hair up into a ponytail and ran some well water over my face before I started toward the mess hall to meet him. Early was better than late, after Zane’s shift in demeanor, but he was already there, waiting, looking at his boots. I felt my stomach drop a little.
“Please tell me wherever we’re eating has pizza,” I joked, stepping in front of him. My smile faded when I saw him flash a dangerous look my way before pushing off the beam he leaned on.
“Let’s go,” he said after clearing his throat.
Concerned, I ambled after him, biting the inside of my cheek. Was this his way of concealing his nerves? Being assertive and kind of… rude? I hadn’t seen this side of him since he stole my locket on the Jolly Roger.
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