xxviii. how the mighty fall

━ ❝ they fall in love ❞

━━━━★✼☆｡━━━━

forty votes and thirty comments for next chapter!

depictions of violence ahead! however, they aren't too detailed!

━━━━★✼☆｡━━━━

THE NIGHT KNEW of the events about to occur. That was the only explanation for the reason why the moon hid behind the clouds, afraid of facing what was in store. Felix took note of this while they approached the wishing well, Pan still inhabiting Henry's body, Arabella on the other side of him with a smug smile. She was excited, ecstatic. Because her mind was set on winning this battle with the heroes. Her dark magic, however, said something different: this was not a battle, this was a war. One that had been going on for centuries between the long line of sorceresses and the rest of the realms. And Arabella was the only person who would decide who won.

"You never cease to amaze me, Peter. Outwitting the Evil Queen in less than a day. It's impressive," Felix complimented. In his mind, the plan was quite genius. Yet that uncertainty lingered in the air. Something else was going on.

Arabella smirked at his words. Pan didn't think much of it, bypassing the praise. "She loves the boy. That makes her weak."

She glanced over at it him, narrowing her eyes though she was clearly teasing the boy. "Then I suppose you are the fool as well, falling for a royal. How scandalous." The former princess laughed a bit, smiling at Pan.

Expecting a reaction, Felix also looked over. But the leader had absolutely no major reaction, just a simple shrug as they continued walking. Arabella's grin fell instantly, her jaw clenching. The second in command sent her a worried look to which she just nodded.

They came to stop at the well's opening, the darkness peering down through the trees, watching them with skepticism. Felix handed Pan the bag when he asked for the ingredients, moving to stand near the mother who took her place at the well. Pan's movements were robotic, his words monotone, and his expression blank.

"When it's done, will they all be dead?" his best friend questioned with a rise of his eyebrow.

Pan took out a bottle. "Of course. They will be slaves to this new land we're making with no idea who they once were." He glimpsed over at them. "Death is final. Their suffering will be eternal." With that, he continued to set out various bottles and then dropped one into the well. As it hit the bottom, the water changed to a greenish hue.

Both Arabella and Felix watched with hesitation, not sure what to say or do. Now she realized that something was missing. Pan wouldn't lie to her, right? He'd tell her the truth now, right? Right? His words brought her back. "What the Evil Queen did is child's play compared to what I have in mind."

The brunette watched as the water below turned different colors with each ingredient added. Suddenly the ingredients vanished, none left to add. Pan sighed, taking one step back. Arabella grew confused, peering over at him from her spot. "Are we missing something?" Her words were soft and yet he held no regrets when he confirmed her question. She asked what it was. She wished she hadn't. Felix wished he hadn't heard. Pan wished he could stop.

"The heart of the thing I love most."

Arabella's eyes went wide and Felix instantly moved towards her. Unexpectedly, he was thrown backward. Pan turned to her and she felt tears prick her eyes. "No. Please, you don't have to do this." Her hand raised to use her magic but nothing happened. She went into shock, standing still, her mouth open agape. "What?"

"You really think you deserve happiness?" Pan asked, his eyes going pitch black. "After what you did to me?!" He stalked toward her and she began to cry, nothing in her body moving. She was immobilized. "Poor Arabella, always so weak."

His hand went flying to her chest to capture her heart but then the young boy fell to the ground, Felix standing behind him with a rock. Arabella breathed heavily, feeling her bones free themselves. She collapsed into the boy's arms and he grabbed her. "Come on. We'll take him with us."

She shook her head, staring down at Henry's body with the tears streaming down her cheeks. "He wouldn't. He loves me. He loves me." Her mind was swarming with so many thoughts. Malcolm would never—he did love her. He did. He did. He did.

"Arabella!" Felix snapped her back to reality, his eyes full of concern for his mother figure. "You and I know that whoever that was, that wasn't Peter. Now pull it together, be that warrior you are, and let's go."

Her attitude changed, the female wiping her tears before sniffling and spinning to look down at his body. "No, let's leave him here. The heroes are bound to switch their bodies back eventually. Count this as a punishment for him lying to the boys." She glanced back at him and he nodded once. "Come now, we have a few hours before daylight. I think we need to go and check on Tiger Lily."

She was being awfully calm about the situation, given what happened. But Felix spoke nothing of it, following on the side of her, protecting her, his eyes wandering around to make sure they weren't jumped, and no words escaping his lips. Neither of them had to say it because they just knew. Peter would never lay a hand on his wife. Which meant something else was at play. But what?

———

Tiger Lily sat in the living room on the couch, the lost boys sitting around, none of them asleep even though the black, shiny clock on the end table said it was four in the morning. Arabella smiled softly, pulling on a brave face. Felix stayed behind her as she addressed them all. "You boys should be in bed. It's late."

Each one of them jumped up and raced over to her, smiling widely. Curly embraced her. "Mommy you're back! Where's Peter?" She opened her mouth to say something, the tears pushing back. Felix seemed to know because he stepped forward.

"Alright guys, give her some space it has been a long night." And the rest of his words drowned out. The former princess recalled the boys kissing her forehead, saying goodnight, and then asking if she could tell them a story. "I think it is too late for that," the second in command told them in a quiet voice, pushing them down the hall.

Tiger Lily stood and went over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Arabella stared at the fairy. "My husband tried to use my heart for the curse. How do you think I'm doing?" She snapped, gliding past her, over to the fireplace where the embers were dying out. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. "I'm sorry it's just...something's going on. Something's not right." Her back turned away from Tiger Lily. "Something's missing."

"What do you mean?" There was a glint in her eyes that made the woman stop short. She had seen that look before. Then it hit her. King Leo.

"You're lying." Arabella stepped closer and before the fairy could defend herself, she interrupted her. "What do you know Lily? What are you hiding?"

The dark-skinned female sighed, frowning, and then shook her head. She looked apologetic, sad. "I thought I was wrong but I suppose I was right all along." Another sigh. "You ask yourself who took you, Arabella. But deep down you already know. You just won't admit to it."

She shook her head back in response, not following. "No, I don't have any memories of what happened. I've been trying to figure it out while Malcolm is running around trying to curse an entire town and kill children." Her eyes held back tears because as Lily spoke, everything in her memories was appearing from where they hid in the shadows.

"Yes, you do know. The trauma runs so deep that you can't admit it to yourself. Arabella—"

"No!" She yelled, pointing a finger at her while tears streamed down her cheeks. "Don't you dare say that name. Don't. It's not true. Evil may run deep too but not that far." The brunette shook her head rapidly, feeling it creeping on her.

Tiger Lily placed a hand on her cheek. "You have to remember, Arabella. If you don't Malcolm will pay the price. You both will and so will anyone who comes in proximity to either of you."

"I don't know what you speak of," she lied, falling into her old way of speaking. The flashes of memory were going across her vision and it took all of the willpower in her body not to give up. "There's nothing to remember." It was amazing how one little reminder sent her spiraling in the pit of her past. A traumatic thing it was. No wonder she refused to remember.

The fairy pressed forward, knowing that she had to know the truth. "Arabella, listen to me. If you don't let the memories in, the dark magic will take over both of you. Don't let—"

"No!" She screamed, backing up while she covered a hand over her mouth, nearly sobbing on the spot. "No," she whispered. The lost boys had all got out of their makeshift beds of blankets and pillows, listening in the hallway. "Lily, don't. Don't say it."

Tiger Lily stared her straight in the eye and said that name. The name she erased from her memory. The name she refused to say or think about. The name that held the seed of her dark magic. The name that ruined her life by taking her away from the happy life she built. And with that name, Arabella collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

———

FLASHBACK

Her whole body ached, the blood seeping her clothing, the bruises, and the dry tears that stayed on her cheeks. The brunette lied there, the metal, rough chains tied to her ankles and wrists. Here, she was nothing but an animal, nothing but an experiment. Otherwise known as a failure to her family. So she was told.

The room was dark, it always was. She used to reach for the light that stood in the middle. But every time she got close, it moved, teasing her, laughing at her. She'd never win. More tears would erupt from her eyes and screams of agony echoed against the stone walls. No one heard her. No one ever would. This was a prison.

Loud clicks sounded but she didn't bother lifting her head from where she laid on the icy ground. She stopped after a few decades passed. Time blurred and she lost all sense of it in general. Yet there was always that hope in her eyes whenever her chin was lifted up harshly, meeting those dark eyes which enjoyed her suffering.

"So disappointing," they sighed, rolling their eyes. "Where's the fight, sweetheart? Where's the princess I raised?"

Once she was dragged up to look, Arabella kept her expression emotionless, staring right back at Queen Ivy. "Go to Hell," she hissed before spatting. The former princess did not care what would happen to her. She would not let her mother win after the two centuries of torture. Day after day the now teenage girl would let needles, knives, dark magic, practically anything pierce her body. And she would scream, thrashing on the table.

Ivy slapped her across the face, her eyes becoming pitch black, and a sneer passing her luscious lips. "You ungrateful girl! You could've been the most powerful witch in our family. Instead, you left it all for a pathetic village boy."

"Malcolm may have been a village boy. But at least he showed me more love than you ever did. Besides, you wouldn't know love if it slapped you across the face would you, mother?" Arabella growled, her youthful glow glaring.

The Queen stood up, wiping the spit off her face. "Leo was weak. Good thing he's no longer a problem now." She smirked at the way her daughter looked away, tears covering her eyes. "I returned your youth, made you immortal, infused you with dark magic, and yet you still fight your destiny."

Arabella laughed, the chains rattling, her bones protesting because of the way her body moved at the action. "My destiny was to find love, have a family, and be better than you ever were. You just couldn't admit the fact that good always wins."

Her mother laughed that time, getting close to her. "Doesn't matter. Because even if you were to return to your true love, you won't remember him. Nor will you be able to control your dark magic. If you came willingly perhaps I would've saved you from the darkness. But you fought against me and now you are being punished for it. Your precious Malcolm will suffer the same fate if you ever find your way back to him. Because you cannot run from your destiny."

"So what? I don't continue the legacy and you take me from my family, curse me so if I am to leave I forget them, and even if I do manage to remember, my dark magic will take control of me and Malcolm?" Arabella smiled. "We will beat you because true love never fails."

Ivy smirked. "Even then, destiny comes to punish you both. One day the two of you will destroy each other with the dark magic fate has gifted you. There's no running from that and one kiss can't break that. Because it is not a curse, darling." She straightened her back, withdrawing a knife. Twirling it in between her fingers, the sorceress studied. "Well, I think you need to learn a lesson. Talking back to your mother..." she looked at Arabella. "Shame on you."

And then she lunged, Arabella's screams following right after.

———

PRESENT

Waiting for Pan to wake up in his normal body was torture for Gold. He stood there, waiting and waiting. Facing his father wasn't going to be easy. Thinking of what his mother would say about what he was about to do wasn't going to be easy. But that was just the thing: no one knew where Arabella was as the sun rose. At least, none of the heroes knew. The lost boys, however, had been with her the second she woke up from her moment at Tiger Lily's place. And the girl hadn't spoken a single word as the Neverland inhabitants surrounded her where she sat on the bed in the guest bedroom. None of them left her side.

Pan stirred and the Dark One prepared himself as the teenage boy woke up fully. "Hello, Papa."

"Thought you'd kill me in my sleep, laddie," the male sighed, sitting up and turning so he could face Gold. He recalled trying to take Arabella's heart and made a mental note to speak with her later. "I guess you changed your—" then he noticed the bracelet on his wrist. He narrowed his eyes at it, then grew amused. "Oh, wait. I see." He scoffed. "You've taken away my magic. That's why it's so easy for you to strut around and pose now, isn't it?"

He was worried for his wife, who he had tried to kill. But none of that mattered unless he made it out of this alive. And he would.

Gold stayed expressionless. "I wanted to talk to you. I wanted you to see me and think about what you've done."

Pan forced a grin. The guilt was in his heart, but not on his face. "Of course. To look at my son here at the end and really see him and think about what might've been. Is that what you want? Because I do." Speaking his mind, being vulnerable isn't something he could do at a time like this. Not when he could die. "I remember looking at you... the littlest babe as you were being held by your mother. Helpless and all ours. Those big, big eyes full of tears... pulling at her..." Then the harsh lies escaped him. "...pulling her away from me, pulling away Aria's and my time together, pulling away until she disappeared. Pulling away any hope of me and her making a life into something better for ourselves."

Then he spoke vehemently, straightening up as he pointed a finger at him. But Pan wasn't speaking to him, not really. He wasn't talking to the person who took his love. Who that was he didn't know. And he wasn't aware that Arabella did. "This pink, naked, squirming little larva that wanted to eat our dreams alive and never stop! How old are you now? A couple hundred? Can't we be free of you?"

Gold spoke emotionlessly, not showing that the words hurt. "You know my mother doesn't think that way. She loved me, which is more than I can say for you. But don't worry. You will be free of me and she will be free of you." Then he picked up the sword he set aside. "In death."

"Then, one last lesson, son. Never make a cage you can't get out of." He ripped off the bracelet from his own wrist as Gold recoiled, his eyes widening.  "I made this cuff, you know. Doesn't work on me. But on you..." Pan trailed off and then made it materialize on Gold's wrist. The dark magic traveled through his veins, taking control of him as his eyes became pitch black. "Down, boy." His son saw right before he was flung backward into a shelf. "Let's see how you do without magic."

Gold crawled toward the fallen sword, but Pan kicked him away from it. Looking up at the man who raised him for only a few years of his life, the man felt truly terrified. What had happened? "I've come too far for this. For them."

Pan shook his head. "For your son? No. It's too late. Soon, I will kill every last one of them. And you won't do a thing to stop me. Do you know why? Because without magic, you are right back to where you started. The village coward." He smirked. "And then Aria and I can finally be together again. Without you in the way." With one last look, he left the shop in a cloud of green smoke.

In fear, Gold attempted to pull off the cuff, to no avail. He growled in anger, pulling and pulling. Then he stopped. Desperately, he eyed the sword and picked it up. This was the only way. And then he brought the sword down.

———

Regina falling unconscious to the ground shocked the heroes to the core. They hovered over her, shaking her, pleading for her to wake up. Once she did, Henry was right next to her, back in his normal body. "Mom, are you going to be okay?"

She stood up and smiled, placing her hand under Henry's chin. "The important thing is that you are." The curse failed and he was safe. That's all she cared about. Henry grabbed her hand in reassurance, smiling back at her.

"No, he won't," someone disagreed. The group turned to see Pan approaching them, his eyes completely black. They all moved away instantly. He wove his hand, making them all freeze in place. Moving closer, a twisted smirk appeared on his face. "Look at you all. A captive audience. I could play with you like a pack of dolls, couldn't I?"

"And what will you do to them?" someone else questioned. Pan looked past them to see Arabella, looking back at him, seeing his state. She bit her lip, finally reaching the heroes who were frozen. "What? Are you going to kill them?"

He shrugged. "Torture first." And then he waved his hand again, making her freeze right before she used her magic to stop him. The brunette was stopped in a glare. Pan walked over to her and then caressed her cheek once he did. His eyes went back to their forest green hue as he did so. "I am sorry about this, my love. I know I made you upset but we can finally be together again." Then the black returned the second he let her go. He looked at the group, thinking for a moment. "I think I'll start with these two." Belle and Neal. "Hmm. You both look so adorable. Hard to tell who to kill first."

He shifted his gaze between both of them. "No, it isn't," he realized, then pointed to Neal. "You. You first."

From behind him, Gold clamped a hand on Pan's left shoulder and tugged him away from the two. Arabella felt a small sigh of relief. Her son clenched his jaw. "Stay away from them."

"How about this? The worm has teeth." The dark magic was taking control and the leader couldn't stop. "You're here to protect your loved ones."

"I'm not gonna let you touch either one of them and most certainly not my mother."

Pan chuckled at the last part, knowing fairly well that no one was going to keep him from his love. No one. And if they did try, he'd make them regret it. "Oh, I'd like to see that."

Gold smiled a tad, amused. "Oh, you will. Because I have a job to finish, and I have to do whatever it takes. No loopholes. And what needs to be done has a price. A price I'm finally willing to pay." Looking at Neal, he continued to speak. "I used the curse to find you, Bae, to tell you I made a mistake. To make sure you had a chance at happiness." Pan openly laughed at his words. "And that happiness is possible. Just not with me. I accept that. I love you, Bae." Then it was Bella's turn. "And I love you, Belle, you made me stronger. Stronger, yes."

Turning to the last person who truly meant something to him, the Dark One met his mother's eyes. "Mom, you didn't get to see me grow up, and I know it hurts you that you didn't. I can only hope you can find who took you away. But I love you. I always have and I always will." Pan seemed to snap back for a second, staring at her before Gold focused back on him. "I don't need magic, father. You see, you may have lost your shadow, but there's one thing you're forgetting."

"And what's that?" he asked, looking quite bored at the chit-chat.

"So have I. I sent it away with something to hide." He raised his hand into the air; summoning his shadow back with the dagger. Everyone saw this happen though they couldn't move their heads. The second Gold grabbed the dagger, his shadow returned to his body. And then he grabbed Pan.

Arabella went wide-eyed, continuing to fight against the spell since she had been doing so the entire time. Pan struggled against him. "What are you doing?!"

"You see, the only way for you to die is if we both die. And now... now, I am ready." He lifted the dagger ready to stab Pan when his mother broke through the spell, shattering it. She lifted her hand, sending the dagger flying a bit aways. Her eyes too glowed pitch black.

Pan's eyes went back to normal, the dark magic simmering down. Arabella began to stalk toward Gold but he held her back. She hissed at her son before chuckling madly. "You are going to die screaming! You all are!"

———

DUN DUN DUHHH!!! This is the major chapter of the book! I'm sorry if it was a bit of a letdown but I'm happy with how this entire plotline turned out. Please let me know your thoughts! If I'm not mistaken, the next chapter is the last! And then I'm counting chapter thirty as the epilogue even though it isn't an actual chapter.

So, what did you think about Arabella's lost memories?

Were you surprised as to who it was that took Arabella? Or did you already have a feeling of who it was?

What did you think about the dark magic aspect?

And please please please let me know any other thoughts you have about this chapter! As usual, have a great day/night guys! :)

Remember To Vote On This Chapter

Comment Your Thoughts

And Follow Me For Updates!