Down to Earth~ Sequel to Peter Pan's Dragon Girl

Chapter 26

3rd p.o.v

"What's the matter, love? Never seen a ghost before?" Reine had whipped around at the voice and stood in shock at the person behind her. He was dead, she watched him fall into the chasm. Elias smirked at her silence, until she slapped his cheek with a stinging vengeance.

"What the hell, Elias! I thought you were dead! I watched you fall!" Her eyes filled with tears and she launched forward to crush him in a hug. Elias braced against her hug attack and held her close to himself as he hummed in his chest to calm her down.

"I did fall, but I stopped my descent and found an old stream tunnel that fed into the old waterfall. It opened out just outside the wall and I found you by smell." Elias rocked back and forth to help calm her down as she gripped his shirt and cried herself out.

"I was so alone." The boy shifted around so they touched foreheads and he gently cupped her cheeks with his calloused hands.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry, love. I didn't want to, but there wasn't any other way." Reine took in a deep breath to calm herself down. She doesn't cry.

"Don't ever do something stupid like that again." Elias smirked at her demand and he leaned backwards a few inches to see her entire face clearly. She looked so scared and yet relieved. He figured she would slap him again but he did it anyway, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers softly. He waited a few seconds for her to yank away and get insulted like when he kissed her nose before the medicine run so long ago it seemed. But she didn't pull away, instead she kissed him back. It was sweet yet salted by her tears, but neither of them cared about that.

Oxygen forced them to pull away from one another. Elias gently licked his lips to prolong the taste of her. He wanted to kiss her again, and to keep kissing her forever and always. Elias settled for kissing her forehead just as sweetly as he kissed her lips.

"We need a way off this island, love. The other need us, and we need them." Reine nodded against his sternum but neither of them moved, they didn't want to leave the comfort of each other's arms.

"Why must the world be so messed up?" The female mumbled to herself, not thinking that Elias heard her speak.

"The world has always been messed up, love. You just need to look for the good moments. And keep them close. That family we shared, those are the good moments you need to keep."

"You say that like you're leaving. Last I checked we're still stuck on an island in the middle of Lake Superior." Both shared airy laughs and the reality set in that he will have to leave them behind to go home to Neverland. He can't bring them with him as much as he wished he could.

"For now, but when we leave this island I can't stay with you any longer. I have my own family to go back to, they need me too." Reine sighed, she figured he would still want to go back to his family he left behind. She did push him away after all and banished him from the Base and her family.

"I know, but can't you just stay with us until we find a new home? With the Jabbers migrating North for some reason, I can't protect them the way you can." Elias battled with the different argument points of both options of staying or going home. As much as he missed his family in Neverland, the humans here on earth needed him more than they did. He had to help them.

"I'll stay, you need me."

"Thank you, Elias." The boy slyly smirked, they've been so lovey dovey and sappy with each other that he felt like a lovesick puppy.

"I have a way you can thank me properly." Reine groaned at his implication and playfully shoved him away.

"Don't push your luck, Dragon boy." Elias quirked a brow, a trait he picked up from his father.

"Dragon boy? I am half human too. Where do you think this pretty face comes from?" Reine mirrored his eyebrow quirk, a look that Elias found he liked on her.

"I figured maybe you skinned someone and glued it on, because there's no way you naturally look like that." Elias feigned insult and placed his hand over his heart before leaning back against the tree behind him.

"Oh my pride, it's been murdered." Reine rolled her eyes and tugged him behind her by his shirt to the cave they've been sharing with the Black Pirate.

"I see you found your little boyfriend. About time you two came back from screwing." He snapped as they slid into the cavern. Elias lowly growled at him and knelt down to lift his shirt to check on his wounds. Everything was healing nicely, he should be back to full health soon enough.

"You'll be good enough to leave in a few days." Elias clipped out and dropped the hem of his shirt before standing.

"Perfect. Can't wait." Both Reine and Elias opened their mouths to snap at him, but both were cut off by an earth-shattering roar that rocked the ground under their feet.

"What the hell was that?!" Demands Reine as the two ran from the cave to see what was making all the noise. Once Elias spotted the source of the noise, he pushed Reine behind him protectively. It was a huge predatory bird, but much like the rest of the world, it was falling apart at the seams. The feathers were missing in huge patches and there were rotting claw marks like the beast had ripped itself to shreds out of hunger.

"Reine, what's that?"

"I have no idea, I've never seen it before." The bird monster turned its head and tilted downward to see them clearly through its bleeding eye that dripped from the tip of its beak to the dirt below. Elias lowly growled at the beast in warning to stay away from them. The bird opened its beak to expose teeth sharp and shaped like the piranha teeth of the Mermaids back on Neverland.

"Elias, maybe you shouldn't do that-" Their conversation was cut brutally short when the bird attacked with a shriek. It was quicker than Elias expected due to its size. The huge talons ripped through his shirt and deep into his shoulders to send him flying into a tree close by. He forced his eyes open he saw as the bird clamped its talons around Reine and launched into the sky.

"Reine!" He forced up to his feet and raced to catch her hands before it got too far away, but he wasn't quick enough and she was swiftly swept away.

"No, no, no, no! Reine! REINE!"