Set Your Sails...to Atlantis || Peter Pan, OUAT

Chapter Seven - En Route

~ Davina

We climb from the remnants of the pod, crawling onto the damp sand of the island inside the air pocket and taking a moment to catch our breath. Others do the same, shaken from the attack. I look around and notice there are considerably less crew members around us. Rourke, Sinclair and the others are safe and sound, with Doc making the rounds and checking for injuries. We've escaped into cavern, so large it's hard to believe something like it could exist so deep under the ocean. The ceiling, made of what seems to be volcanic rock towers for miles above us, shrinking us down to the size of ants in comparison. Spires twist up, stretching to reach the ceiling, but some have lost their sharp points. I turn to peer behind me, see the opening to a tunnelled path framed by a structure carved into the shape of a coelacanth. Or, a "living fossil" of a fish, rarely sighted or found throughout thousands of years. Possibly since the sinking of Atlantis. Makes sense.

"Davina." I hear.

I turn to Peter, who's leaning forward with his forearms resting on his knees, his brows furrowed with concern and eyes flitting over my face, searching for something.

"What happened back there?"

I sigh. "I don't know. Something...came to the forefront of my mind, and I couldn't see anything but that. I couldn't get rid of it. It's like I had to see the images I saw, like nothing else mattered, like something in my mind opened and a memory or a...vision, I don't know, had to be shown to me."

"Was it your nightmare?" Peter asks.

"No...something else entirely."

"What was it?"

"People. Fear. An attack or...a war or...something. Maybe we'll know more soon," I say, looking around at the cavernous pocket.

Towering pillars, cracked with their missing pieces wedged into the sand, frame an archway with a path that disappears into more shadows. Something within me stirs, almost nostalgic, and I instinctively touch the crystal hung around my neck. The shadows beckon, whispers in my ears that call to me. I have to fight my muscles from leaping into action and making my way on my own.

"What matters is that we made it through the other side. Bit odd, isn't it? It's like Rourke knew that those subpods would be needed, and from what I gather, that submarine was built before they met Milo, and they knew anything about a leviathan or a tunnel," Peter says quietly.

"Perhaps. We'll need to do some investigating. For now, let's stay focused," I reply, jumping to my feet and dusting sand from my hands and clothes.

"Davina, wait," Peter says, touching my arm to stop me. "What did you see when we were staring down that machine?"

I huff, our eyes locking, "I think...getting to Atlantis will give us answers that we need, whether we ask for them or not."

He frowns, and I leave him to mull over my comment. I join the group, helping Audrey to her feet and handing her any of her tools that had fallen from her overalls.

"What's the damage, Commander?" I ask Rourke, spotting pieces of debris and fragments of pods littering the sand and floating in the water.

He lets out a long sigh, "Half the crew, maybe more. Let's give it some time, a few more might turn up. Try and collect what you can Miss- Captain Jones," he replies solemnly.

I nod, and continue with helping the crew collect loose items.

* * *

With the sand cleared, surviving trucks loaded, the injured patched up, and no other crew members arriving after a short time, Rourke calls it. He lights a candle, and Sweet places it inside a loose, lost military hat and places it in the water, letting it float away. Everyone gathers at the water's edge, standing behind the Commander and Lieutenant, other military members with their hands over their hearts and visibly holding back tears.