Mere Phantasy

by Ashley Lauren

  The girl was bent over, watching me expectantly. “What are you doing? Help him!” she yelled, making me even more flustered.

  “I-I don’t know how!”

  Letting out a breath, the little girl pushed me aside, back into some cattails, and pressed her ear to Peter’s chest.

  Suddenly, he jerked back to life, sputtering and gagging up water as the girl helped him onto his side. My heart drummed in my chest, relief coursing through me, and I let myself fall back onto the solid ground, trying to catch my own breath.

  After Peter had coughed up all the water in his lungs, he mumbled, “Walk, she said. Peter Pan doesn’t always have to fly. Water can’t be that bad, right?” Then he garbled some curse words and tried to get to his feet.

  Before he saw me, he saw the girl, as if finally realizing she’d just saved his life.

  I used a tree to help me stand shakily, while Peter’s face lit up. “Who are you? What happened?”

  “Oh, we’ve never met before. But I pulled you from the Naiads being a little too ‘bubbly’ for Pan,’” she told him, throwing out her hand for him to take. “I’m Rhiannon.”

  A bit wary, Peter hesitated. But the minute he took her hand, his face changed to relief. “Peter, which you already seem to know.” Getting onto his feet, he finally acknowledged me, frowning a bit in confusion. “’You okay?”

  Embarrassed I hadn’t been able to help, mixed with the fact I’d almost just drowned for the second time since arriving here, I was only able to nod at him while peering down at my necklace warily. Had my locket done anything to scare off the river women? Or was this girl Rhiannon responsible for saving both our lives? It had all happened so fast, and I’d been so close to passing out, so I couldn’t give a distinct answer to my own questions.

  “The river Naiads, huh?” Peter shook his head. “What made them want to attack me?”

  Rhiannon watched him steadily. “There seems to be a great force awakening, changing the hearts of the land. Wouldn’t you say, Peter?”

  “It’s changing all right.” Peter sighed, sheathing his sword. “But hey, what’re you doing out here anyway, Rhiannon? This is the Lost territory. You know, for the Lost Boys and me?” Peter actually was taking interest in the girl.

  “Well, I guess you could say I’m… running away,” she said while rocking from heel to toe.

  Peter raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

  “I used to work for an evil witch. She forced me to be her servant without any contact with the outside world. So… I finally ran away. I’m hoping she won’t find me here in the Neverwoods. I don’t want to go back.” She began to get a little teary, and Peter’s brow furrowed.

  “All right… Well then, where’re you staying?” he asked.

  “Nowhere at the moment. I’ve been sleeping in the forest.”

  Something about the way she looked, so dolled up and perfect, it made me suspect she was lying. Peter didn’t catch on, though, like usual.

  “Well, me and the Lost Boys have lots of room in the hideout for you, if you need a place to stay. I mean, it’s the least I could for someone who saved me from becoming a very drowned Lost Boy.” He pointed to the forest before us, in the direction of the hideout tree.

  Rhiannon smiled sweetly, her face lighting up. “Oh, really, I’m fine on my own—”

  Peter held out a hand for her. “If you’re one of the few left with an unchanged heart, I’d be honored to have you around. C’mon.”

  After a few seconds of hesitation, she took his offer gracefully, and before I could even open my mouth to protest, they began to walk away from the river like nothing had just happened.

  Appearing in the hideout once more, still soaking wet and really annoyed, I trudged right into another bout of chaos. Not only had Peter brought this strange girl back with us (was he so keen to bring strange girls into his home?), but he’d also moved along so quickly through the forest to get back to the hideout that I could’ve easily gotten lost if I hadn’t run to catch up.

  Seeing me, Lox laughed openly from her seat at the kitchen’s wooden table, apparently amused by my disgruntled appearance. “What happened to you?”

  “Naiads,” I grumbled, flopping into a chair next to her. “I don’t even know what those are.”

  “Water nymphs, Greek mythology,” she answered simply. Taking a sip from a teacup in front of her, Lox’s shoulders bounced with amusement.

  Compared to her, I looked like sludge on the bottom of the river I’d just come from. Her hair was pulled back into a green bandana, golden braids cascading over her shoulders and making her light eyes seem even lighter. Dressed in a fitted green-and-brown vest and pants, she looked like an adventurer extraordinaire having her morning cup of joe before heading off to find the lost temple of Ra.

  “Is every mythical creature ever known in Neverland or something?” I huffed in annoyance, watching as Peter was showing Rhiannon around the hideout. I hadn’t gotten a tour of the place. What made her so special? Was she supposed to be a hero now, too?

  Whoa, chill, Lacey, I told myself.

  Raising her eyebrows in mock surprise, Lox lifted her teacup to her mouth again. “Guess someone finally told you, eh? Maybe I don’t have to take you to Merlin’s after all.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked.

  Moving to get up and place her drink in the small water pump’s basin, the only source of water in the whole hideout (I didn’t even want to get into thinking about the hydraulics and factors of how they fed running water into a tree), Lox sighed. “Sometimes I wonder why I even work here.”

  Seeing this as an unfit answer to my question, I pushed. “So all these creatures—”

  “Monsters,” she corrected.

  “Monsters,” I rephrased with a glare. “Are real? I mean, I thought they were just my dreams coming to life or something.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself, kid,” Lox sassed. “These monsters have been around a lot longer than you. Anyone who’s ever written about any sort of mythical monster or dwelling in the past had to send them somewhere, right? So here they are, in Neverland.”

  Shocked, I gazed down at my hands in my lap. “Wait, so that means…?”

  Letting out an annoyed breath, Lox dropped her things, her voice rising. “Yes, dear Mainlander, I am in that category. Three bears, awful porridge, and frilly dresses. You happy?”

  I shook my head in response, afraid she might freak out on me some more. Satisfied she’d shut me up, she walked toward the other end of the hideout to the room in the corner and disappeared.

  Saying I was less than excited for a long trip tomorrow with that doll was an understatement, obviously.

  With no little room of my own to run off to, I decided I should go check on Zane again. Shuffling past Peter and the Lost Boys all trying their best at making impressive jokes for their newest guest, I sighed in relief when I saw Zane sleeping softly on the same bunk as before. Why I was so adamant on his safety, I didn’t know, but the enigma of this boy kept me wondering.

  As I was thinking this over, Peter came up behind me, excitement written all over his face, before he motioned to Rhiannon, who was laughing with the boys behind him. “Man, she’s great. Isn’t she great?” he asked rhetorically. Not like I would’ve answered the way he wanted anyway.

  When she waved over at both of us, Peter waved back happily as well. “Rhi-Rhi says she wants to help the cause of the war, so I think I’ll take her with me tonight to get her used to the troops.”

  Now we were getting into nicknames? Awesome.

  “Wait, tonight?” I pulled at him to force his attention off her for a second. “I thought you were leaving tomorrow?”

  “Change of plans—didn’t realize how much work has to be done,” he said simply, shrugging, and then motioned to where Lox disappeared. “Lox will guide you to Merlin’s, and I’ll be back by dinnertime to train with you some more.”

  “But if I’m going to help you… in this ‘war,’ then shouldn’t
I be going with you, too?”

  Peter flapped his hand in dismissal. “You have to know about what you’re fighting for before you go into it blind. Besides, I take trips to see the troops all the time. You can come with me on the next visit.”

  “So what you’re saying is I’m supposed to just sit back with the news that I have to help you win a war, but I can’t actually learn anything about it until I study up on some old history textbooks?” I scrutinized.

  “Yep.” He grinned. “That’s exactly what you’ll be doing.”

  My cheeks instantly turned hot. “Wait, what about—”

  Before I could continue, Peter interrupted. “Oh, right! I forgot.” Flying over to one of the draped hammocks, Peter pulled out a stack of clothes from them and zipped back to hand them to me. “I had the fairies make you an outfit… better fitting for Neverland.” Then he snapped his fingers. “Oh, and the giant in Mitch’s bed shouldn’t wake up when we’re all gone, but if he does, I’ve posted a fairy guard outside as a lookout.”

  Stumbling to find make a good argument, I was just about to open my mouth to protest when Peter flew away from me, toward Rhiannon, and grabbed a baggy satchel of his things along the way. Over his shoulder, he called happily, “Don’t… destroy anything while I’m gone, Lace.” And then he smiled at Rhiannon before they both ascended up and out of the hideout.

  Fifteen

  I didn’t remember falling asleep, or dreaming for that matter, but I was definitely awoken. And by that, I mean an entire bucket of freezing-cold water was thrown onto my head in order to do so.

  Sputtering to life, I gasped in my half-awake state, flailing around to try and see what was happening. When I’d wiped the water away from my eyes, I looked up to see Lox setting the bucket back down with a passive expression on her face.

  “Get dressed and meet me outside.”

  Her bag was slung over her shoulder, and before I could protest, she started to climb out of the underground to leave me behind. In a serious daze, I rubbed my eyes, teeth gritted in anger.

  A subtle poke on the shoulder would’ve been just fine.

  Seeing that I’d fallen asleep in a jumble of blankets on the floor beside where Zane was still asleep, I groaned to fall back into them and wipe the water droplets off my face.

  This was going to be a long day; I could already tell.

  Ten minutes later, I was dressed in a grey shirt, topped with a very fitted brown leather hooded vest that was really hard to tie up myself since the cinch was in the back. Once I got that over with, I had to slide on some rather strange-fitting pants, obviously meant for a stick-straight girl like Lox, when really, I was curvy in most areas. But when I finally tightened them around my waist, they seemed to form to my body like they were meant for me. I couldn’t help but feel relieved as I sank my feet into the boots, which fit me well, and threw my disheveled, nasty clothes into the corner. Why couldn’t fairies make all my clothes back home? These clothes fit perfect.

  I met Lox outside, where she was furiously writing things in a small journal. I watched her for a second, still trying to find the right comeback for her rude awakening earlier. But once on my feet, I only asked, “So why’re you Peter’s apprentice anyway?”

  She finished what she was writing before stuffing the book in her bag again and moving to begin walking. “Clothes fit, right? Good.” She stepped over a log, and I was forced to follow. From in front of me, I heard her say, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I became his apprentice about the same time he came back from his fifth trip to the Mainland, trying to find you.” Her hand reached out to push back a branch as we passed, which would’ve smacked me in the face if I hadn’t ducked in time. “He was pretty upset and needed someone to take over things around here while he was gone. We met near the Nevernettles—” I was starting to think everything here used the prefix “never” in front of it like a weird little fad or something. “—where I was trying to train myself to fight after running away from my story. It’s really hard to do that, by the way. But whatever. Peter found me and told me if I worked for him, he’d teach me how to be a warrior. And even after he was done teaching me, I stayed around. The bears didn’t want me back anyway, and Peter’s the only person allowed to have pixie dust here. So he pays me by giving me a place to sleep and a way to get around easier.” She shrugged when she’d finished, still trudging through the forest.

  “Yet we’re walking.” I was panting like a dog by then, trying to listen but already winded from our hiking. The forest was crowded here, with lots of trees and humidity, and I was definitely not in the best shape. Heck, I barely ever left my house or room back home. Exercise was out of the question.

  “Keep your eyes open. The monsters can smell us,” was all she said, continuing to hike into the forest and completely oblivious to my stopping and staring around us in fear. Quickly though, I jogged to catch up with her.

  For what seemed like hours, we pushed through undergrowth, cutting into what was too thick to walk through, thanks to Lox’s thin sword, and only stopping to drink water from our canteens. (She threw mine into the mud when offering it to me. Such a sweet girl.) The forest was heavy with mugginess, and the nice breeze that lingered through its veins near the hideout was nonexistent here.

  The farther we climbed inside, the denser and more evident the presence of darkness entangled in my gut, reminding me of the deepest and most horrific parts of my nightmares. At every shuffle in a nearby bush or the cracking of branches beneath our feet, I would flinch and panic. But when nothing came and Lox continued on without me, I had no choice but to follow.

  Despite her attitude, I knew she could sense the darkness as well; she was just too stubborn to admit it.

  Stepping over a rather large boulder that rooted down toward a stream, I hesitated at its top, looking down into the water with a lump in my throat. Seeing I wasn’t following her at the bottom of the bank, Lox glowered up at me, her sword dropped at her side in annoyance.

  “What now, Rose?” She shook her head.

  “I’d prefer not to be drowned by Naiads again, if at all possible.” Tentatively, I peered down at the water that couldn’t have been more than a few inches deep as it glistened over the river rock, I could just imagine a watery hand reaching out from the ripples and tugging me down to my death.

  But just as Lox was about to open her mouth to yell at me again, there was a loud, bellowing yowl that literally shook the ground beneath our feet, sending me toppling off of my large rock pedestal and onto my shoulder, my knees hitting me in the chest on impact. Crying in pain, I moved to try and get upright again, shoulder throbbing, and wrenched my neck just in time to see a large, moss-covered hand come down through the trees, scoop Lox off her feet, and send her flying right into the wide trunk of a tree with a sickening crunch.

  The sun was bright and it made it hard to make out what figure was beginning to push through the trees, but I recognized it instantly. A giant, about the size of Peter’s ancient hideout tree, arose to its full height, completely shadowing me from the sun now. His face was the wrinkled, ugly recreation of a man’s, the size of his feet stepping onto the entire stream and sinking into it like it was a mere puddle. I was petrified beneath his massive size, gawking as disturbed birds in the forest cawed to life and soared into the air.

  Seeming to be made completely of earth, gravel and dirt sprayed off of the giant as he moved, large arms soaring to grab Lox in her crumpled form, about twenty feet away. His breath was strong enough to ruffle the trees, and when I, stupidly of course (what else were you expecting?), screamed out to grab his attention away from her, still stuck between the two boulders, the giant’s muddy gaze garbled into place to see me. The seriousness of this situation hit me, too late, the second the giant opened his mouth, revealing sharp teeth of ivory, a huge mouth hinted with human, animal, and who knows what other remains throughout, and roared deafeningly, pushing my hair directly back behind my head and suffocating me for a few second
s.

  I mean, the least he could’ve done was floss before he decided to snack on a small girl from Chicago. What kind of giant manners was he raised with?

  Scrambling to my feet, I winced as my shoulder, probably out of place or at least sprained, shot hot pain down my back. But apparently, the giant also had no patience, because he didn’t wait a considerable four seconds for me to get off the rocks, slowed by my injury. Instead, his rocky hand that had almost crushed Lox moments before descended straight for me. I had no other option but to leap toward the solid ground, just as his hand exploded into the boulders, showering rock and debris all over my body.

  Landing in almost a belly flop, my head swam with the desire to black out, but seeing Lox motionless, too, I tried to muster every bit of strength I had, breathing through the pain. When I looked up again, the giant was raising his hand to once more grab for me, but with his size, this process took him a long time. My only chance at somehow getting us out of here was to do so as he readjusted his aim.

  “Hey!” I screamed, hoping he would hear me over his own angry roaring. The murk of his eyes slurped to see where I was, three yards from his feet, trying to stand with only one arm working correctly. Where the large act of courage to let the beast know exactly where my location was sooner than he would have discovered himself came from, I don’t know, but it was too late to run by the time he started to paw down toward me again.

  Standing at full height, I realized in those last few moments that if I never came back with Lox and she still survived, I wouldn’t mind. Peter and the Lost Boys needed her, and everything I’d done since arriving in Neverland had only made a big mess. I mean, I’d practically led us straight into the Naiads’ clutches, and the entire reason behind this trip to Merlin’s was because of me.

  So I thought, what better way to let a loser go out than being crushed by a giant’s hand?

  And as the world got dark and I went to squeeze my eyes shut and accept my demise, a fierce burning sensation erupted on my chest. My eyes shot open just in time to see my locket, activated with the brightest red glow I’d ever seen, shooting out a powerful force, sending me flying backward. As I smacked my head into a low-hanging branch, falling flat onto my face, the last thing I saw was the bottom of the giant’s foot rising into the air before the earth shook vigorously and unconsciousness consumed me.