Belief Extraordinary

Chapter Six: Games

She was still screaming when they reappeared on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. Pan, clearly annoyed, shoved his hand over her mouth to cover the sound. The spell must have been wearing off, because she felt her knees getting weak. When she saw where they were, she wrenched her eyes shut. Though the view was beautiful, she had never liked heights-especially heights in windy places, like this one. The braid she had tied her hair up in to sleep was already messy, but the harsh sea winds were ripping even more strands free, and they whipped at her face and neck. When Pan released her, she sank down to her knees, gripping the solid earth with her hands. It felt oddly comforting, as though the ground itself was trying to give her strength.

Pan rolled his eyes at her antics. "Get up." He told her. Sarah shook her head slowly.

"You're going to kill me." She said quietly, her voice barely audible over the crash of the waves far below. She was trying to shove the raw fear in the back of her mind down enough to figure a way out of this mess. The cliff was much too high to survive the fall, even if she didn't land on the jagged rocks below. Peter could teleport, so running wasn't much of an option. Still, it might be the best one she had. To her surprise, Pan laughed.

"Now where would be the fun in that?" He asked casually. He turned to look out over the water. "No, you see, I like games." As he spoke, Sarah was doing her best to subtly scoot away from the edge. Her eyes were open now, but fixed resolutely at the ground. She refused to look over the water again and remember just how high up they were. Thus transfixed, she didn't see Pan had moved away from the edge until he was hauling her to her feet. "Do you like games, Sarah?" He asked, a wicked glint in his eye. "Because we're going to play one right now." Sarah shuddered, and the boy king grinned. He liked games, but he loved fear. And Sarah was serving him a veritable feast of it. He took a step towards the cliff edge, Sarah in hand. When he tried to take another, he found her rooted in place. He pulled on her arm, gently at first, but she remained transfixed to the ground. He narrowed his eyes.

"You have to explain the rules." Sarah told him quietly. She was crouched ever so slightly, planting her weight in her legs so Peter couldn't pull her towards the edge without some force. Trying to ignore the taken-aback look on his face, she continued. "If we're going to play a game, you have to explain the rules first." Even with her hands removed, it still felt as though the ground was helping to stabilise her, and her mind was starting to clear. He's just a bully. She told herself sternly. And you know very well how to deal with them. Her captor watched with some interest as she schooled her face from sheer terror to a calm mask. Her shallow breathing and the tension in the arm he was holding told him she was still afraid, but he wondered about this new tactic from her.

He tilted his head and said wryly, "Very well. Let's talk about the rules." Maintaining his grip on her arms, he gestured out at the water. "This game is called 'Chicken'. Whoever can get closer to the edge of the cliff, wins." Sarah forced her eyes to his face, staring just above the bridge of his nose.

"That's hardly fair," She began, forcing her voice to an even calmness. "You can fly and I can't." Pan looked at her with interest.

"And how do you know that?" He inquired.

"Everyone knows Peter Pan can fly." Sarah replied, matter-of-factly. Pan wondered briefly just how much the outside world knew about him these days, though since Sarah hadn't seemed to think he was real, it likely wasn't too much of a problem.

"How do you know you can't?" He asked her. He knew she couldn't, of course- only he could fly in Neverland. But as crazy as this new girl was about magic, it might be fun to see her try. Sure, she'd go plummeting and he'd have to swoop down to save her, but that could be fun too. Even villains liked to play the hero at times.

Sarah broke through his musings in a testy voice. "If I could fly, do you think I'd still be standing on the cliff with you?" Granted, she hadn't tried to fly in years, and certainly never in a land with real magic, but...No. She lectured herself. He's trying to trick you and you'll go plummeting off the cliff to your death. Keeping her face in the same calm mask, she dared a few seconds of eye contact. "You are trying to kill me."

Perhaps the new arrival was smarter than he thought. "Would I do that?" He asked innocently. Sarah just stared at him. Once again, he was struck by something about her that was a bit unsettling-but he still couldn't put his finger on what. "Like it or not, that's the game." He said brusquely, trying to brush off whatever odd feeling had just come over him.

"And what are we playing for?" Sarah was stalling, if she was honest with herself- she knew it didn't really matter since she would lose this game anyway. How could she not?

"You'll see." Pan said with a smirk. He, too, knew this wasn't a game he could lose. "Time to start." Standing next to her, he took a step forward towards the cliff edge. "Your turn." Sarah took a deep breath to steady herself and took a step up to match him. Two more steps for each of them brought them almost to the very edge of the cliff. Sarah was breathing heavily now, but kept her face stoic. She refused to look down, knowing if she did the ground would yawn away from her and her knees would give out. She didn't see the grin spreading over Pan's face as he took one more step-balancing himself on the very edge of the cliff, a feat only possible if he were holding himself up with magic. "I win." He said slyly. Sarah, still refusing to look down, was silent a long moment.

"It's still my turn." She said at last through gritted teeth. Her mind was racing. She couldn't take another step without falling she knew, but she didn't want this boy to beat her. Heart pounding, she lowered herself to the ground. Pan watched curiously as she lay down at the cliffs edge, scooting her body out until her legs were dangling off of it and only her upper body strength was keeping her from plummeting onto the jagged rocks below. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed, and her whole body was shuddering with ragged breaths. Was it exertion? Fear? A mix of both? A very thin, very quiet voice broke out over the waves, "We tie."