The world was silent and still. The winds picked up as if the world was taking long breaths after an exhausting wave of battle. The sky was filled with dark grey smoke, hovering above half of the island, the fire's light of embers, reds and oranges reflected against the ceiling of smoke as it reeked through the forests. It's as if Neverland was suffering, slowing to the edge of death, sick in its death bed and about to finish its last breath any moment.

The Lost Boys have grown weak, exhausted, just like Neverland, all tired and sick. Everywhere was full of loss, loss of hope, loss of faith and loss of believing. The Lost Boys looked as if they just lost and had given up as they grieved for those that had fallen during the battle.

Mara lost Tootles and now Curly. Those who were there to make her smile and laugh, it's like this moment was Tootles and Curly had taken her smiles and laughter with them. It's all just desolation and no hope.

She had been mourning with James and Slightly, and she knew it wasn't over yet. It wasn't over just yet, she left the lifeless Curly's side, leaving Slightly and James to mourn for their brother. She had to find Peter and he was nowhere to be seen. Before she left to go find him, she approached Rufio, the boy was sitting on the ground, hands on his head, elbows rested on his knees and looked like he knew everything was doomed.

"Rufio" Mara sniffled, wiped her nose with her sleeve and kneeled in front of the boy. The boy barely looked up and met her glance as a response. "I think you should start patching everyone up before Blackbeard comes back. It's not over yet. You gotta get everyone back on their feet, okay? I'm gonna go look for Peter"

Rufio seemed too exhausted to respond like everyone else, everyone grieving for a friend and family that had been lost. The boy reluctantly nodded. "Let us know when you find him and if he's okay"

Mara nodded and promised. If he's okay, she felt fear thumping in her chest. But she hadn't forgotten that Blackbeard was planning on sparing Peter's life, only him. So, he can't have killed his brother. But Peter was still dying anyway, his heart is slowly giving up like an inch off a cliff. Mara feared for his life, she already lost Tootles who was that sweetest and innocent brother of her's and Curly, a brother who cracks jokes towards her and about her almost every day and yet, she loved that boy a lot. She loved them both like they were her brothers and she never had brothers or sisters. And she lost them both like she lost her parents. It all came back to her the day she lost his father when she heard of her father's death from war. All that pain, she remembers how it all felt, and it hurt so much that her heart had been broken in various ways.

Mara found herself halting at her tracks, she was hurting too much to move forward, both emotionally and physically. But what she expressed more was that grieved from the loss. The ache was all over her body, everything weighed down on her, unable to keep her heavy heart lifted, only to bring her onto her knees and felt as if she had lost everyone and everything. She felt defeated. She whimpered, then cried, and then sobbed. She never cried like this, not at least for a very long time.

Then something cracked in the skies, a thunderous boom erupted, and a torrent of rain followed. It was as if the world began weeping with her, the Lost Boys and the Tribe.

Now she couldn't tell if she was crying as she started to soak by the rain, but she could feel her throat tightening and beginning to hurt from holding it all back in. Her eyes were watery, unable to tell if it's the tears or the rain blinding her, she pulled the collar of her tunic to wipe her eyes.

"Hate to interrupt, but I'm merely showing my concern—" a familiar voice said behind her, she shifted her gaze over her shoulder and found Killian approaching her. "First battles are rough and difficult to endure. I remember my first battle; I was still a wee boy like the Lost Boys. I lost a lot of friends that night. It was terrible, more than terrible. I was scared, scared for my life and I was sure I was going to die"

Of course, Mara wasn't crying because she was afraid of dying, but of the loss. She offered no response.

Killian opened his flask of rum and stood near the girl who remained on the ground. He then offered his rum for her to drink some, "Here, take some. It'll keep you warm, you're getting soaked, you don't want to get sick from the rain, do you?" He nudged the flask on her shoulder. "It'll drain down your sorrows for a second and courage you up. Come on, girl"

Mara didn't move for the longest moment. She envied Killian's courage and confidence, how it all still intact on him after what they just endured, all the battles he went through, he must've gotten used to it all. Mara sniffled, "I don't think it's good to drink while we're in this position, what we just went through and it's not over"

"Forget that crap for a moment and just take a bloody shot" Killian scoffed and planned on never giving up until the girl takes a drink. "Come on up, get up" he offered his arm to help her up.

Mara grabbed Killian's arm, supported her up to get back on her feet then hesitantly took the flask. The last time she had rum was the day Killian gave her up to Peter Pan. That day seems like ages ago. She filled her mouth with the rum and gulped it all down immediately. The taste was different this time, no flavour, it was all just bitterness, and that bitterness almost made her gag. "Thanks" her face contorted in disgust.

"You're welcome" It was his turn to drink. "Anyway, what were you doing here besides moping?"

For a moment, she almost forgot what she was doing, she's supposed to look for Peter and yet she had no clue where he might be. "I'm looking for Peter . . . He's dying"

"Well . . . Cheers to that" he raised his flask before taking a drink.

"Killian, Peter's only trying to save Neverland. Neverland is dying, that's why he's dying too. Blackbeard has something that will save both"

"And that is—?"

"The Heart. The Heart of Neverland. Blackbeard stole it a long time ago when he was a boy"

"Which explains his non-ageing. You know, he remains the same since I was a boy"

Mara didn't really care at this moment to hear Killian's story about Blackbeard. It wasn't important. "I have to go; I have to go find Peter" Mara started to run.

"I'll see you soon in the next battle," Killian said as the girl ran off and disappeared deep into the dark forest.

Peter could be in one of the two places, or maybe anywhere because Mara was never certain where he prefers to be. He spends most of his time in the Lost Boys' camp, but whenever they're asleep, he'd wander off; watch the Tribe dancing, go up on the mountain, his treehouse or . . . The Moonsea. Peter did mention once that he goes to that beach every day since he was a boy because that is where the sun rises. He said it as if it was his favourite place in the world. Could he be hoping to see the sun rising after this battle?

Mara decided to look and see if he's there. She never stopped running, she ran as if Peter's life depended on her, she needed to know if he was okay, or if he's still on the island as it is potentially that Blackbeard might've taken him already. Perhaps that's why Blackbeard called off his army and they could storm through the island any moment like a giant wave from the ocean that'll drown everyone else.

When she made it to the beach, she didn't see anyone on the beach, not for a moment until she glanced left and right thoroughly. Mara found Peter in the middle of the shoreline, he wasn't moving, he was lying on the ground, he looked as if he's dead when Mara got closer. She dropped on her knees beside the boy and pulled his head under her arm as she uttered worriedly, "Peter?" She shakes him and there was no response. "Peter?"

He was still warm, he remained the same, Mara stayed still as a statue to feel his heart beating, but there was no pulse or anything and yet, he was still warm and even breathing but rather so slow. Mara remembers Peter mentioning that Blackbeard stole his heart and replaced the Heart of Neverland with it. Neverland has Peter's heart. Mara wondered if Peter has his heart back, and Neverland doesn't have a heart, the island dies for now until it gets its own heart back from Blackbeard and Peter could live like her and the rest. Blackbeard remains with Neverland's heart. She wasn't certain but she could at least try something and rather do nothing.

Mara and Peter were all alone, no one else around to help, Peter is dying in Mara's arms and he's having his very last breaths. There was not much time left.

"I'll come back" Mara gently put Peter's head down, "I'll come back, I promise" it was difficult to leave him, but she had to save him. Perhaps on the way, she'll tell the Boys to stay with him while she gets Peter's heart. Where could it be though? Someone must know where it is, the Natives would know, the Lost Boys might know.

Mara was running again, running like Peter's life depended on her, or rather everyone's lives depended on her. Because they can't fight or win without Peter Pan. He dies and so does everyone else. Peter Pan was not only Neverland's heart but to everyone else's too. Everyone would fall apart without him.

When Mara found the boys at their camp and they put the bodies of the fallen Lost Boys in one of the tents. The fire had grown worse, seemingly had taken most of the Mermaid Lagoon's forest and the fire is moving to the Cove or to the farther east.

Slightly and James were the firsts she approached to, she asked Slightly, "Slightly, do you know where Peter's heart is?"

Slightly scrunched his face in confusion, "What? Why?"

"Where the Heart of Neverland should've been!" Mara uttered, "When Bishop stole it, where did he steal it from?"

"Wait, what? Who's Bishop?" Slightly was confused. It hit Mara that Peter never tells anyone of his past, even those he trusts, but he told Mara that Blackbeard was once a boy named Bishop. But Peter never told her that Bishop is his brother, Blackbeard told her and James that. No one else knows.

Mara looked at James who was shaking his head, affirming that Slightly doesn't know anything about it. "None of you know?" She glanced around at the rest of the boys. "Where Neverland keeps Peter's heart?"

"I know about the heart, but we don't know exactly where it is" Slightly added. "Pan never told us"

"I do" A girl's voice rang from outside of the camp, Mara looked around to see where the source of the voice came from until she saw a girl stepping into the camp. Tiger Lily. She approached the Lost Girl "Why you want there?" The Native Girl's voice was stern and cold as the way she looks.

"Peter's dying. I think getting his heart back will save him" Mara said.

"You think?" Lily raised her brows, "Can't. Can't let you take . . . from home. Not again. You kill Neverland"

"It's already dying and it's taking Peter along with it. He dies and we all die too" Mara affirmed.

"Peter knows too" Lily added, "he doesn't want Neverland to die"

"But not the Heart" Mara pointed, "Blackbeard . . . Bishop has the Heart and he is here. We both know that Peter is the only one who could defeat Bishop. We give Peter's heart back to him, leave Neverland without a heart for now until Peter gets the Heart back from Bishop"

"If Neverland is dying, so does Peter's heart, why you think giving his heart back will save him?" Lily questioned.

"I don't think" Mara shakes her head, "I believe it will . . . I believe because I'm supposed to save him, and this might be it"

The Native Girl should know, could she know about that Mara can save Peter? The Natives were responsible for telling the prophecies to Peter. If they were, Tiger Lily should know that Mara is supposed to save Peter and she was the only one who can.

Lily heaved a sigh and didn't respond for a moment. Then finally answered, "Skull Rock. It's in Skull Rock"

"Thank you" Mara nodded then turned to the boys, "I need a few of you, or a lot of you to go to Peter, he's at the beach, between the cove and the Native's camp. Between south and west. It shouldn't be hard to find"

Mara was rushing out of the camp when James stood up, "I'll go with you" and Mara merely nodded quickly.

The smoke around the Mermaid Lagoon and the east had grown thick that it made Mara and James almost difficult to breathe and were coughing when they were running. They ran and breathed through the smoke like they didn't about their own lives. It was much clearer when they reached the cliffs that were facing the Skull Rock.

The Skull Rock stood about within half a mile from the shoreline and they needed a boat to get there. "Come on, we have to do a bit of climbing" James led the way and Mara followed. The slopes on the rocks were slippery from the rain and they had to carefully climb down until they reached shoreline where a few boats were. They grabbed one of the rowboats that didn't have any holes on it, the two found pairs of paddles of their own, ones that weren't entirely splintered or broken and got on the boat. Mara sat in the front, facing James's back as they rowed toward the Skull Rock.

When they reached the Skull Rock, they entered its mouth, it was too dark to see, they kept rowing until the boat crashed on something. The only light was outside, the fire from the Lagoon area can be seen, black smoke emerging and hovered over the land. Looking at it was like a huge dark cloud, the embers reflecting and glowing.

James got out of the boat and carefully stepped around. His feet were slowly shuffling around until he found something to start light, a torch or some sort. While he was trying to get a light, Mara carefully left the boat, pulled the boat onto the ground so it wouldn't float away. Finally, James started a light, he found a torch nearby that was prepared, he used stones to spark on the torch. They could see now; it illuminated the entire cave.

Inside of the cave, they were within the mouth of the Skull Rock, the cave was big, but there was more. They found the stone steps that lead the upper level, the steps were uneven, crooked and some rocks were wobbly. The staircase was curved as they climbed up until they found a much bigger cave, two giant round holes, the cold air sweeping through them into the cave, the forest fire's glowing can be seen. It took Mara a moment to realize they were the eyes of the Skull.

None of the Lost Boys have been here, except Peter Pan, and she assumes Tiger Lily and the Natives have come here. And Blackbeard. The lighting in this cave was so different, the walls, the stones, the rocks somehow reflected the torch James was holding, illuminating the entire cave and revealing the size of the inside of the skull cave. The colour of the lighting within the cave was glowing gold, reds and oranges.

"Mara," James uttered behind her, snatching her attention from the eyes of the skull. How could she not saw it when she came in? A giant hourglass stood in the corner of the cave, could be ten to twelve feet tall, it stood on the platform filled with skulls and the sand inside the hourglass were glowing gold. The bottom hourglass was full, and the top had so less, maybe two pinches of sand left. The sand was rather sinking slowly.

And on top part of the hourglass stood a beating, fainted-dark red-glowing heart, slowly sinking down towards the bottom.

"How do we get it out?" James questioned.

Mara immediately had an idea, she didn't care about the hourglass, she looked around for something heavy, she picked up a heavy stone, hoping that the glass is frail enough or as weak like how Neverland it is now. "Back away from the glass!" Mara urged James as the stone was over her shoulder. Before she threw it, she whispered, "Forgive me, Peter" then threw the heavy stone as hard as she could.

The stone only broke through the glass and buried into the golden sand. Through the hole the stone made, the sand fell out like a big leak, slowly draining the bottom level of the hourglass. Then there was a cracking noise, the crack from the hole spread, various zigzag lines growing around the glass. Mara back away before the hourglass shattered down to the ground.

Before the sand could hit the ground, it went dark, the sand was just a normal sand like from the beach, it wasn't glowing anymore, it was colourless and it wasn't illuminating the cave anymore. Like the light of Neverland had died out, she could feel it, she could feel Neverland not being Neverland anymore. Did Mara just blew the light off it's candle? The light being the source of Neverland's magic, did she just extinguished the light?

Mara tried not to think of it, all she had to think of was Peter Pan, and he was all she thought of and save him.

Only the torch that James was holding was the only source of light within the cave. Mara rushes onto the pile of sand to look for Peter's heart and hope that it's still beating. James helped along to look for it. "Mara, what is your plan?" He questioned as they searched around the sand.

"I'm saving him" she said as she was frantically looking around. "Be careful where you step" she watched out for the heart and the glass.

"How do you know giving his heart is going to save him?"

"I believe it will. It will save him"

After a moment, James found it, under the hourglass's roof after he removed it. "Mara" he called. "I found it"

Mara rushed to his side and found Peter's heart, it was normal sized like a human heart, glowing so faintly, a small smidge of red spot within, and beating so weakly. If it's beating, Peter is still alive. "Give me your pouch" Mara urged.

James handed her his pouch, Mara slowly and carefully picked up the heart. It was so odd, mostly it was cold but warm on the red spot. It didn't feel like a human heart at all. She put it in the pouch and hopefully be gentle with it as she rushes back to Peter. "Okay, let's get it to Peter, we have to hurry"

When paddling back to the land from Skull Rock, it was suddenly cold out, the arctic winds blew from one the directions, like winter came to Neverland like a thief in the night. The Arctic winds seems to be blowing the smoke away from Neverland, travelling towards the back the ocean instead, it stopped spreading. It's maybe good but Neverland is dead. Neverland's magic seemed had prevented winter all this time.

"Mara, did we just—?" James was thinking what Mara was thinking. "Did we kill Neverland?"

Mara shook her head, "No. I did" she replied. "This is just temporary. Once we get the Heart from Blackbeard, Neverland will be saved."

"What if— what if Pan is—" James paused, worry was all over his face "What if he is too?"

"He's still alive" She knew because the frail heart of Peter Pan was still beating weakly, "but barely and really weak, we need to hurry" they continued to hurry to Peter Pan.

Neverland didn't feel like Neverland anymore, it felt as if it was the same forest, same trees, same ground, same moss, same greens as the rest of the world, like a normal, non-magic woods as Mara used to walk through when she travelled on foot before finding Neverland. The Neverland's woods were so quiet and empty, Mara used to feel the magic everywhere in Neverland, she could see the brightness, the shine from the trees, the ground, even when its nighttime, she used to see how colourful it was, but now, it's all darkness and grey and dull.

It's just one day. She told herself. It's just one day, then it'll be bright again. We'll see the sun again. We, she thought. We, could be as her and Peter Pan, her and James, her and the Lost Boys. Even her and the Natives.

It felt she's been running for ages. Every muscle in her body ached, it's her legs that burned the most, the heat in her body burned through. When she finally stopped running as she arrived the beach of Moonsea, where the Lost Boys were waiting, Tiger Lily and her warrior tribe too, Tinker Bell sitting with Killian Jones by the woods.

When the Lost Boys saw her coming, they were surrounding the body of Peter Pan, the boys moved back and made way for Mara as she rushed to Peter Pan.

There he was, lying still on his back, unresponsive, he looked alive and not alive. As if he was in a comatose state. She was almost afraid if she was too late, "Is he still alive?"

"Barely" Rufio answered sullenly as he moved away with the crowd.

She got on her knees beside Peter, pulled her pouch onto her lap, she reached into the pouch and gently grabbed the heart. The heart, still beating slowly and very weak in her hands. Did she knew what she was doing? How does she do it? How will she insert the heart into the boy's chest? She thought of Blackbeard when she was held captive with James, she watched the man plunging his own hand into his chest like it was nothing, then put the Heart back into his own chest.

Magic. It's all magic.

Except she was not magic.

But Peter had told her that this place is magic, anything they'll believe, it'll come true, if they truly believe, anything is possible.

Believe. All she can do is to believe. Neverland has lost it's magic. But can it still work?

With every hope she held onto, there is still hope, she believes that.

I believe. She thought as she held Peter's heart close to her chest and her eyes fell closed. I believe.

"I believe," she whispered, with all of her heart, "I believe"

She reached down with the heart softly and gently against the boy's chest. Her eyes were still closed.

"I believe" she said, her voice so gentle and true, her heart pouring out with true and believe.

Then, something magically happened. She never noticed her necklace, the vile of Pixie Dust glowing. She felt the heart sinking into Peter's chest, slowly while Mara gently pressed down until she felt the chest closing on her hands before pulling back slowly.

She let out a soft gasp and her eyes opened, amazed by what she just did. She did it. She did the magic.

Anything is truly possible in Neverland. Believe, truly believe that anything is possible.

Mara watched, looked down at Peter, she saw his chest rising, his mouth agape as he breathed in before opening his eyes. She smiled tearfully down at him.

"Mara" Peter said softly, somehow seeing Mara made him feel, his chest warmth and was whole. That warmth feeling, he had not felt that for a very long time, as if the girl made him feel whole again.

The Lost Boys around the two smiled and were relieved to see their Leader alive and well again,

With Peter Pan still alive, there was hope.

With everyone else believing, there is hope.

*****

Bruh... tf
Sorry for being gone and not updating this for a long time! Hope you all still here.
I had this chapter collecting dust in my draft for so long, with 3000+ words untouched and abandoned for a while... I had to finish this chapter despite hating this chapter, I didn't like this chapter and where this was going >.<

Anyway, I hope you're all safe out there
Self-isolate is important, stay home and keep your loved ones safe
And reminder; keep washing your hands.

Stay weird :)