CHAPTER TWO
Neverland's Rule

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     WHEN ZELDA FINALLY LANDED, SHE WAS HAPPY. Her mother was no longer there to torment her and treat her like a slave. She felt like she could finally be free but she didn't know where to begin. She never had this much freedom before so she didn't know what she could do and she didn't know the rules and regulations of Neverland.

     "What am I supposed to do here?" she turned around to ask the Shadow but it was gone without a trace.

     She looked around the beach but the Shadow was nowhere to be seen. The sand felt warm between her toes and she was tempted to feel the waters that kept crashing against the shore.

     "Beautiful, isn't it?"

     Zelda turned around and a young boy with brown hair and green eyes stood before her. His skin was like smooth porcelain and his eyes pierced right through her.

     "This is Neverland?" Zelda asked.

     "So far, you've only seen the beach. But let me be the first to tell you that you haven't even seen half of it yet," the boy said. Zelda looked at the crescent moon and the stars in the sky and looked at the boy in front of her. He could tell that she was still confused. "Pardon me, miss. My name is Peter Pan."

     "Zelda," the young teen said with a small smile on her face.

     "Zelda. What a lovely name for such a lovely lady," the boy said with a charming smile. His reaction was very different from her mother's reaction. But to be fairly honest, any reaction of hers was never a good reaction and that was something that Zelda knew all too well. "How about we go into the jungle and I'll introduce you to all my friends."

     "There are more people here?"

     "And you're about to meet every single one of them."

     Zelda followed Peter Pan into the jungle filled with tall trees with thick trunks and long vines. The leaves and sticks snapped and crumbled under her bare feet as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the jungle. A small glow came into view and the boy soon led her to an area with space and a group of boys who played around the fire that was built in the centre of it all. All the boys stopped playing and paused when they noticed a girl standing next to Peter Pan. They all looked like they could be kids themselves and none of them were girls.

     "She's a girl," a blonde boy said as he stepped closer.

     "Yes she is," Peter Pan said and Zelda pursed her lips.

     She wondered how she ended up being the only girl on Neverland so far and everyone else were boys. Was she the first girl to ever set foot on Neverland? The whole idea seemed very unlikely to her but she stopped thinking about it when Pan started introducing her to everyone who was there. They were all wearing hoods over their heads while carrying weapons like makeshift spears and Zelda felt out of place in her white long sleeved nightgown that went below her knees.

     "That one is Felix," Pan said while pointing to the blonde boy who stated that she was a girl upon her arrival. Now that she knew who everybody was, she didn't know where to start. "Wait here."

     Pan ran off into the jungle, leaving Zelda alone with Felix and all the other Lost Boys surrounding the fire. She cleared her throat as she shifted from one foot to another and waited for Pan to return. She didn't really interact with a lot of people outside of her house so she didn't know what she was supposed to say or if she would offend any of the boys in front of her. When Pan did return, he was carrying a pair of folded clothes and held them out for Zelda to take.

     "Go ahead," he said and Zelda accepted the clothes he offered.

     She went into an area away from the Lost Boys and took her nightgown off. She constantly checked to make sure no one was watching as she put on a baggy white long sleeved shirt and a dark brown pair of overalls. She had to admit that they were more comfortable than the dresses she had to wear and she was able to breathe in them. After she pulled her long hair out from under the back of her shirt, she picked up her nightgown and put on the shoes Pan gave her along with the clothes. She wondered where he got those clothes and how he knew they would fit her but she figured that if she questioned every little thing, she wouldn't be able to enjoy the amount of space between her and her mother.

     "May I ask what the rules are around here?" she asked as she sat down on a fallen tree trunk.

     "Just do whatever you want. There are no grown-ups to boss you around and tell you no," Felix said while shrugging his shoulders.

     "He's right. Your mother can't hurt you here in Neverland. You can be free," Pan said.

     Zelda sighed as the thought of finally being free from her mother started to sink in. If what Pan said was true and she would never be able to come to Neverland, then she actually would be free. And as far as she was concerned, she was not planning on going back to her mother any time soon.

     "What do you guys do around here other than sit around a fire in the jungle?" she asked. Pan tossed a large stick at her and she caught it in her hands. When she looked at it more closely, she realized that it was another makeshift spear just like the one Felix was holding. There was a sharpened stone at the end of it and it was secured by a vine that was tied around it very tightly. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she questioned in confusion.

     Pan and all the other Lost Boys stepped to the sidelines, leaving only Zelda and Felix with their spears. She still didn't know what he wanted her to do but the longer he stayed quiet, the more her thoughts wandered.

     "Fight him," the boy said and all the Lost Boys cheered.

     "What? I can't fight him or anybody!" the young teen said as her eyes widened in horror.

     She had never fought anyone before in her life but that was because she didn't have to. If she was able to fight, she would've been somewhere else far away from her horrible mother a long time ago.

     "You can fight and you will," Pan said with his arms crossed.

     "Why do I need to fight?" Zelda asked frantically as Felix stepped closer with his spear ready.

     "If you fight, you won't have to be weak anymore. You can finally stand your ground and defend yourself from anyone who dares to wrong you again," Pan said. "Now fight."

     Felix lunged forward and thrusted the sharp end of his spear towards Zelda. She quickly got up and moved out of the way before the sharpened stone could pierce her skin. All the Lost Boys yelled and Zelda tightly clutched the spear in her hands. The blonde boy charged at her again and she dodged him just like the first time he attacked.

     "Come on, Zelda. You let your mother walk all over you your entire life, isn't it time for you to fight back?" Pan asked.

     "I was trying to survive living with that wretched woman! If I defied her in any way, you have no idea what prices I would pay for it!" Zelda countered.

     "In Neverland, you still need to know how to survive," Felix said as he thrusted his spear forward.

     "No one else will fight for you, so you have to fight for yourself," Pan stated and the words struck a cord inside of Zelda.

     No one has ever fought for her before and she was never able to fight for herself. The only way she got to see the other townsfolk was by doing her chores or by merely looking outside her bedroom window. No one wanted to face her mother's wrath anymore than she did so how was anyone supposed to fight for her or help her? She couldn't afford to wait for someone to rescue her yet here she was in Neverland after the Shadow made a promise to take her far away from her home and somewhere her mother couldn't reach her. And even after that one exception, no one was in any position to make an assumption that someone would come to her aid again. As she thought about her mother's harsh words and cruel punishments, she was able to see her face replacing Felix's own face. She replayed everything she said and did to her and she clutched the spear so tight that her knuckles turned white.

     When Felix thrusted his spear towards her again, she used her own to block his attack and the Lost Boys yelled in excitement. The blonde boy and the young girl continued to attack each other and block each other as well. Zelda planted her feet into the ground and held the spear tightly. She thrusted the large stick forward towards Felix's chest but he stepped out of the way. She quickly twisted her body and swung the spear towards him. The pointed end of the weapon cut the top of his hand and he dropped his own spear onto the ground. Zelda pointed her spear at his throat and he held his hands up in surrender but she could still see her mother's face and hear her voice taunting her to no end.

     "You won, Zelda. Put the spear down," Pan said and Zelda exhaled sharply as she lowered her spear and took a few steps back.

     Felix looked at the fresh cut on his hand that was still releasing blood as Zelda sat back down on the fallen tree.

     "I'm sorry," she said while holding the spear in her lap.

     "Sorry for what? Winning?" Pan questioned while furrowing his brows together.

     "For his hand," Zelda corrected as she watched the fire burn.

     Pan sighed as he sat down next to her. "You did what needed to be done to win," he said.

     "But I didn't have to hurt him."

     "It's just a scratch. He'll be healed before you know it."

     Zelda sighed as all the other Lost Boys sat down around the fire and Pan pulled out a pan flute. She looked at it confused and wondered what point he was trying to make but when he blew into it, the instrument made one of the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard in her life.

     "That's a beautiful song," she said as she smiled lightly.

     "You can hear it?" Pan questioned.

     "Of course I can hear it," Zelda chuckled.

     Pan smiled as he continued to play the flute and all the Lost Boys got up and danced around the fire. They sang songs and cheered and played games that Zelda never even knew were considered to be games. For her entire life, all she could do was watch the other children in her village play games and have fun and not once was she ever able to feel that joy for herself. But here she was, outside with other kids and she was able to do the same things they were able to do without someone telling her she couldn't. There was no one to tell her that playing with the boys was not ladylike and no one could ridicule her for her clothes either. In Neverland, she was allowed to wear clothes that were comfortable and didn't make her feel like she was suffocating. She was finally able to breathe literally and metaphorically and she never realized how happy she would be once she could.

     "I don't ever have to go back to her, do I?" she asked.

     "Never again," Pan replied before continuing to play his flute.

     Zelda sighed in content as she closed her eyes and let the music flow into her ears. She had listened to plenty of music before in her life by listening to the radio she had in her room but none of it compared to the music that emitted from Pan's flute. It was like a gentle lullaby that calmed her soul and told her that everything was going to be okay. She was in a place where nobody could hurt her and nobody could tell her what to do.

     "There was a shadow that brought me here. How is that possible?" she questioned as she craned her neck to look at Pan.

     "Would you believe me if I said it was magic?" the young boy asked.

     "Magic? Don't be silly," Zelda scoffed.

     "It's true. Do you ever wonder why you've never heard of Neverland?"

     "Because I spent my whole life being a prisoner inside my own house?"

     Pan chuckled as he lightly shook his head.

     "Because of magic. Neverland exists because of magic," he said.

     "If magic really does exist, then prove it. Let me see it with my own eyes," Zelda countered. Pan sighed as he stood up and called Felix over. The blonde boy lifted his hand and Pan held his own hand over the wound Zelda caused with her spear. A purple aura surrounded Pan's hand and the wound on Felix's hand and the cut disappeared without a trace. It was like the wound was never there and Zelda watched in awe. "How did you do that?" she asked.

     The brunette boy chuckled as the blonde sat back down on another fallen tree trunk. "Like I told you. Magic," he said with a smirk on his face.

     Zelda didn't know how long it had been since she arrived in Neverland but she spent the last few hours dancing around the fire and sparring with the Lost Boys. She could only imagine the look on her mother's face when she woke up the next morning and realized that Zelda wasn't there to make her breakfast and she wanted to laugh. She also imagined how her mother would react once she realized that she was truly gone. While she would at first be angry that Zelda dared to leave the house, she would quickly realize that she was a liability and not bother searching for her. Was she really that disposable? But at the end of the day, it didn't matter anymore because there was nothing left for Zelda back in England. She couldn't go back to her mother and her old life and she refused to do so.

     "What's going on inside that little head of yours?" Pan questioned as he put down his flute.

     "I don't ever have to see my mother again but knowing that she would be so happy to have me gone doesn't really feel so good either," Zelda answered while shrugging her shoulders.

     "Well, like you said, you don't ever have to see her again so don't worry about it. You can even stay here forever," Pan said and Zelda chuckled.

     "I think I'm just gonna go for a walk," she said as she stood up and started walking through the jungle.

     The leaves and twigs crunched under the soles of her shoes rather than her bare feet and something as simple as that made her feel slightly more comfortable since she was outside. Once she got to the beach where she landed with the Shadow, the waves were still crashing against the shore as they were a few hours ago. She didn't live anywhere near a beach and never got the chance to ever see one up until this moment even after she had already seen a lot of things. But when she started to think about it, she knew that there was so much more the world had to offer and now that she wasn't living with her mother anymore, she finally had the chance to see it all and Neverland was just the beginning.

     She went back into the jungle to find Pan with the hopes of being able to get off the island and land somewhere else so she could start seeing more of the world. When she saw the glow of the fire, she knew that she had found her way back to Pan and the Lost Boys. They were still dancing around the flame and Pan was nonchalantly sitting on the fallen tree while watching it all from the sidelines. The boy noticed her presence and he smiled as he stood up to greet her.

     "Did you enjoy your walk?" he asked.

     "I did. I was also hoping that we could talk about something," Zelda said as her hands rested at her sides.

     "Sure thing, love," Pan replied.

     "I really appreciate how you welcomed me here, gave me clothes and introduced me to all your friends and I really appreciate the Shadow bringing me here, but I can't stay," Zelda said as she pulled her sleeves over her hands. "I never had the chance to see any of the world from outside my house because of my mother and after seeing everything here in Neverland, this is just the beginning and I want to see more."

     Pan sighed as he paced back and forth. "That's very touching, but I'm afraid you can't leave Neverland," he said and Zelda awkwardly chuckled.

     "Well, why not?" she questioned.

     "Because I don't want you to leave, therefore I can't let you," the boy replied as he turned around and faced her.

     Zelda's eyebrows pulled together at his response and she scoffed, "You can't just keep me here on an entire island."

     "Actually I can. How Neverland works is that once you set foot on this land, you can't leave unless I say so. Magic binds any kid who lands here, kids like yourself and the Lost Boys. And I'm sure you've been wondering why there hasn't been a girl here until you showed up and here's the answer to that question of yours. Magic automatically binds little boys here, the ones who feel lonely and unloved and that's why they were able to hear my flute and that's why you were able to hear it too," Pan said as he looked at her.

     "But why keep me here if the magic doesn't automatically bind me here?" she asked.

     "Because I simply don't want you to leave," the boy said before waving his hand in front of her face. It felt like she inhaled a toxin as her mind became cloudy and her vision became fuzzy. Her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the ground and her body felt light and paralyzed. Before she lost complete consciousness, the last thing she heard was Pan's voice.

     "Sweet dreams."