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────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒

────── ★★★ ──────

The teens didn't stay much longer at the warehouse, wanting to get away from that place as fast as they could. Instead of going back to Granny's, they decided to go to the loft to meet up with everyone and figure out what happened in their absence. However, what they didn't expect to find was Emma, Mary Margaret, David, and Killian sitting around the dining room table with different expressions on each of their faces. It surprised Everly even more when she saw the anger and hatred in her sister's eyes as she stared at their parents.

"This whole time, I was right. You were lying," Emma broke the silence surrounding them as her eyes bounced between David and Mary Margaret, "I wanted to believe you. I wanted to believe in you."

The shock and confusion within Everly continued to grow as she looked between her sister and their parents. What made everything even worse was seeing the guilt and hurt on both David's and Mary Margaret's faces. It made the Jones girl silently wish she had been around to hear the beginning of the conversation she and her friends were clearly interrupting.

"We were just," the Nolan man paused as he looked away from Emma and down at his fidgeting fingers, "trying to protect you."

"Emma," Everly called out, drawing everyone's attention toward the teens for the first time since they entered the loft. The Jones girl forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat as soon as her sister's eyes were on her. They were filled with something Everly never imagined they could hold. Darkness. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not okay," Emma snapped, shocking everyone even more as she slowly got to her feet, "I gotta go."

Tears continued to form in the Savior's eyes as she walked toward the door, passing Everly, Sam, Katherine, and Pierce without even looking at them. Emma was about to walk out the door when Mary Margaret called out to her, making the Swan woman stop in her tracks. "Please, stop. I'm your mother."

A single tear ran down Emma's cheek as she slowly turned to look the Blanchard woman in the eyes. "I don't care."

────── ★★★ ──────

A week passed since Everly warned Felix about Vincent's threat. She went to their meeting place every day since then, but he never showed up. Despite Sam trying to convince her that he was okay, the Jones girl couldn't help but worry that something happened to him. And for the first time in her entire life on Neverland, Everly found herself wanting Pan to be victorious.

Just like every other day since Vincent's threat, Everly was pacing around the beach near the cove. Her thoughts were going through her head a mile a minute, not slowing down at all to give her a chance to understand them. It wasn't long before her train of thought was derailed by a chirping. The Jones girl instantly looked up to find one of Tinker Bell's birds flying toward her. Everly didn't hesitate to hold out her finger, allowing the bird to land in it. She let out a sigh as she untied the note from its leg before watching it fly away.

Pan's battle with Vincent lasted longer than expected. There were a few losses but, in the end, the Lost Boys were able to take down Vincent. I don't know which boys were lost. All I know is that there were four.

Tink

"What's wrong?" Everly instantly jumped at the sound of the new voice before she turned around to face Adam. The Remington boy just stared at her for a moment before his eyes wandered down to the note in her hands. "What's that?"

"It's a letter from Tink," the Jones girl answered while trying her best to keep her voice steady, not wanting to worry the boy standing in front of her, "the Lost Boys beat Vincent."

"That's great!" Adam responded with a smile on his face, only for it to fall when he finally saw the worry in Everly's eyes, "is everything okay?"

The former Lost Girl hesitated, not knowing how to answer the Remington boy. Instead, her eyes scanned over the note in her hand one last time before she looked back up to meet Adam's gaze. "I need to go. Tell Sam I went to the tree. He'll know what it means."

Before Adam had a chance to respond, Everly turned and sprinted into the forest. Panic coursed through her veins as she jumped over logs and avoided running into trees. The only thing she could think about was Felix as she ran through Neverland. She would give anything to see him alive and well, even if that meant going to Pan's camp.

It wasn't long before Everly finally arrived at her destination. She quickly climbed up the tree and sat there, waiting for Felix to appear. Just as she was about to give up hope and return to the cove, the Jones girl heard a branch snap. Relief flowed through Everly's veins after she looked down to find Felix staring up at her. He wore a small smile on his face as he climbed up to meet her. Once he was settled on the branch, Everly pulled him into the tightest hug she had ever given him as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I was so scared I lost you."

"It's okay, Sunshine," Felix whispered just loud enough for her to hear as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, "I'm okay."

The two of them stayed in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity, neither of them wanting to be the first to let go. However, the time had come for them to end their moment, allowing Every to wipe the tears from her face. She took a moment to compose herself before asking the question that was bouncing around in her head. "Tink told me there were losses. Who?"

Felix just hesitated, not because he didn't want to tell her, he just didn't know how. He stayed silent for another moment before finally opening his mouth to speak. "Andy, Zachery, Wally, and..."

"And who, Felix?"

"Toby."

────── ★★★ ──────

It wasn't long after Emma left when Everly explained everything that happened to her and her friends over the last few days. They were shocked, to say the least, and Killian made it clear that they were no longer allowed to go after a crazy villain alone. But they all knew that that wasn't going to happen any time soon. As soon as they finished their conversation, the pirate captain left to go find and talk to Emma. That left Everly, Sam, Katherine, and Pierce alone with David and Mary Margaret, who still looked as though the world was crashing down around them. When the silence finally became too much for the teens to bear, they said their goodbyes and made their way out of the loft.

"So, now that...you've fixed your mistakes, what're you going to do?" Everly asked Pierce as they walked through the streets of Storybrooke.

"Well, I was thinking of staying a bit longer to help clean up the mess my mom made. I wish she stayed to help, but I understand why she left," the Sea Prince told them with a small smile on his face, "Granny said I could stay at the motel until I leave Storybrooke."

A comfortable silence fell over them as they turned down the street that led to Granny's. Another moment passed when Everly noticed the look in Sam's eyes. Something was bothering him and she had a feeling she knew exactly what it was. But before she had a chance to ask him, the Jones boy began speaking. "Do you know why my...Cruella is helping them?"

Pierce hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say to make Sam feel any better about his mother being in town. When he couldn't come up with anything, the Kai boy let out a long sigh and opened his mouth to respond. "I have no idea what she gains from all of this. Honestly, I didn't even know what my mother gained until my grandfather showed up."

It wasn't long after that when they finally made it back to Granny's. The four of them ordered some food and took it up to Pierce's room to help him unpack the little belongings he brought with him. After helping him put his clothes into the closet and setting up his desk, Everly walked over to his suitcase to see if there was anything they missed. To her surprise, the only thing left was two matching brown journals. The Jones girl carefully picked up the journals and turned around to face Pierce. "Where do you want these?"

"I almost forgot about those. They're for you," the Sea Prince responded with a smile before it grew even wider when he saw the confused look appear on Everly's face, "look at the inside covers."

The confusion within Everly did nothing but grow as she opened the first journal, only for her blood at the sight of the name neatly written in the top corner. Peter Pan. The Jones girl hesitated for a moment before opening the next journal. The name in the corner was a lot messier than Pan's, but she would recognize his name anywhere. Felix Thorne.

"How did you get these?" the Purest Heart asked after tearing her eyes away from the journal to meet Pierce's gaze.

"Vincent had them. He wanted to use them against you," the Kai boy explained while thinking back to everything his former friend had told him before they arrived in Storybrooke, "I took them when I left him. I thought you might want them."

Everly did her best to force her tears back as she opened her mouth to respond. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Pierce said before a hint of sadness appeared on his face, "hopefully there's something in there that will give you some closure."

The Jones girl forced a small smile on her face before she turned and walked out the door. She listened to her friends' distant voices as she made her way to her room. Once she was inside, she carefully placed the journals on her desk, wanting nothing more than to start reading them then and there. However, before she had a chance to begin, her phone went off. An irritated sigh passed over Everly's lips as she pulled out her phone to see a text from Killian.

KILLIAN:
The Author's out. He made a
run for it. We need help looking
for him. Text me if you find him.

EVERLY:
On it.

Everly took one last look at the journals before rushing back to Pierce's room. She soon explained what was going on and how they needed to go look for the Author before the villains did. After they each grabbed a flashlight from the drawer, they ran downstairs and onto the streets of Storybrooke. They began by looking around the lake in the park before searching the surrounding woods, only to come up empty at both places.

"Should we check near the well?" Pierce suggested before Sam and Katherine looked over at Everly with concern in their eyes, "is there something wrong with the well?"

"Sort of," Sam answered while continuing to stare at his sister as if she would break at any second.

"This isn't 'pity Everly' time, it's 'find the Author' time," the Jones girl announced while trying her best to hide the fact that she would rather search anywhere but near the well, "if we have to go there to find him, then so be it."

Just as they were about to continue their search, they heard bushes rustling followed by the snapping of a twig. Everly instantly put her finger to her lips before gesturing in the direction of the sounds. It wasn't long after that when they quietly made their way through the forest. They soon found an unfamiliar man standing in the middle of a small clearing. Confusion began flowing through all of their veins as they watched him try to sharpen a stick with a dagger.

"Do you think that's the Author?" Katherine whispered just loud enough for her friends to hear without drawing the man's attention to them, "I've never seen him in Storybrooke before."

"He has to be the Author," Sam responded while keeping his eyes glued to the stranger, not liking the sense of familiarity he felt as she watched the man, "who else could it be?"

"What are we gonna do?" Pierce questioned after looking over at the three teens standing next to him.

"We have to get him," Everly told him as she took a step forward, only for Sam to instantly pull her back. The Jones girl sent her brother an annoyed look before she noticed him staring at something behind her. That caused her to spin around to find Rumplestiltksin standing in front of the Author.

"What are we going to do now?" Katherine asked a bit louder than intended after a wave of fear washed over her.

"Well, first you're going to calm down before he hears us," Sam told her while wrapping his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to settle her nerves.

It wasn't long after that when they saw flashlights in the distance, meaning that the rest of their friends and family were on their way. The Author instantly tensed at the sight of the lights before Rumplestiltskin took a step closer to him. The four teens watched as the two men had an inaudible conversation, resulting in them disappearing in a cloud of maroon smoke. As soon as they were gone, Everly, Sam, Katherine, and Pierce came out of their hiding spots right as Emma, Killian, David, Mary Margaret, and Henry reached the clearing.

"Find anything?" Emma asked as she looked between the teens standing in front of her.

"Nothing good," Sam muttered under his breath after interlocking his fingers with Katherine's.

Everly let a silent moment pass before letting out a long sigh and breaking the news that no one wanted to hear. "Rumplestiltskin has the Author."

────── ★★★ ──────

"Toby's...dead?" Everly whispered just loud enough for the Thorne boy to hear while trying her best not to let her emotions get the better of her. All Felix did was nod in response, causing the Jones girl's heart to break. Toby was only seven and now he was gone. "And what of Vincent?"

"Pan banished him from Neverland," Felix answered, only for Everly to look up at him with no emotion in her eyes.

"That's it? After everything he did, he just gets banished from Neverland?" the Jones girl questioned, earning another nod from the Lost Boy before Everly scoffed, "that doesn't sound like much of a punishment."

Felix let out a long sigh as he wrapped his arm around Everly's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "I agree, but Pan didn't want him on the island anymore. He thought Vincent would be a bigger threat in the future."

Silence surrounded them once again as they stared out at the surrounding treetops. The two of them stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before Everly asked the question bouncing around in her head. "Will there be a ceremony for the fallen?"

"They will be buried on the beach near the Pixie Woods at sunset," Felix told her before a wave of realization washed over him, "you're not planning on going, are you?"

"I need to, but I'll wait until after the Lost Boys have left."

────── ★★★ ──────

The heroes planned to continue to search for the Author and Rumplestiltskin in hopes of convincing the former not to help the Dark One. But before they did, they made Everly, Sam, Katherine, Pierce, and Henry go back to Granny's. None of them bothered arguing, well, except for Henry. The rest of them just wanted a moment of peace, something they hadn't had since before Vincent arrived.

Everyone was in Pierce's room laughing and watching Frozen while Everly sat at her desk. Her eyes were glued to the two journals in front of her, both calling out for her to read them. The Jones girl just sat there for another moment before finally making a decision. A small sigh passed over her lips as she picked up Felix's journal and went out on the fire escape. All she could think about as she made herself comfortable on the metal was what could be inside. If she were being completely honest, Everly was scared to open it. She didn't want whatever was inside to change how she saw the boy from Neverland. But it wasn't long before she brushed off the negative thoughts and opened the journal to the first entry.

Entry 1: Griff

I lost Fletcher. Pan made him fight Griff. He has hated me and Fletch since I took his spot as Pan's right hand. Griff challenged him to a fight today and Pan agreed. During the battle, Griff managed to pin Fletcher to the ground. He pulled out a dagger and stabbed him in the side. I jumped into the battle and tackled Griff to the ground. I was able to subdue him but got a huge cut on my face in the process. A few Lost Boys took Griff away as I rushed to Fletcher's side to find him barely breathing. I begged Pan to heal him, but it was too late. He was gone.

Entry 2: The New Members

We have got two new members for the Lost Boys, or should I say Lost Ones now? One of them is a girl, the first ever. The Shadow didn't bring her, Pan made her come. He threatened the lives of her family. I don't know why she's so important, but he told me to make sure she came. I kind of regret bringing her, yet am strangely happy she's here. She's beautiful. I hope to spend some time with her without her little lap dog around.

Everly felt a smile creep on her face as she continued to read through Felix's journal entries. Each one made a hint of happiness flow through her, making her feel more connected to the boy she lost. Unknown to her, with each journal entry she read, her heart slowly began to mend itself.

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