Panic

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

            “Just swim to the bottom,” Leven instructed me.

            “Why should I do anything for you?” I asked.  “There is a reason such power was confiscated from you.”

            “We need it if we are to defeat Fonce,” Leven protested.  “You don’t understand, Wendy.  With the power of water on your side, you won’t lose.”

            “Peter has power over the water too,” I said.

            “But Peter will be preoccupied with the final battle,” Leven said, and I shivered a bit when she said ‘final battle’.  “You’ll need us to confuse Fonce.  What distorts a shadow more than the absence of light?”

            “Fonce seemed just fine when he was in the middle of the ocean during a huge rainstorm,” I said.

            “Because he created it using Peter’s powers,” Leven said.  “Shadows have the same powers as their masters.  But if Fonce is hit by our rainstorms, and our waves, he shall not have such an easy time.”

            “This is why you needed us to be a mermaid,” I said.  “Because I’m the only mermaid who has a shadow.  I’m the only person who can go to the bottom of the lagoon and live.”

            “I admit, that was my first goal,” Leven confessed.  “But Wendy, this is what we were given.  We were created with such a power.  We need it back.  Then I saw how worried you were, I can sense that this battle is troubling you.  And I want to help you.”

            “You want to help me,” I repeated back.  “I’m sorry, but I still don’t trust you.”

            “Please, Wendy, this is our, your, only hope!” Leven insisted.  “We can help you.  We want to help you!  Please let us.”

            I narrowed my eyes.  “I can’t,” I said finally.  “I stick to what I know, and I know nothing about mermaids with magical water powers.”

            “It’s time for you to take a leap of faith,” Leven pleaded.  “You need to do this, for yourself, for Peter, for all the Lost Boys, for Hook-”

            I whipped my head.  “Do not bring my father into this!” I said.  “I told Peter to leave him out of this battle, and you will do the same.”

            “I promise not to mention him again if you do this for me,” Leven said.

            “You won’t mention his again because you don’t want to be killed,” I said.

            “Wendy, I don’t want to influence your decision with threats,” Leven said.

            “Well, here comes the threat,” I said.

            “But I will not let you touch that pearl and return to human form unless you find that shell and get it from Raina,” Leven finished.

            “I don’t need to be human,” I said.  “You have nothing over me.”

            “Wendy, please!” she said.  “We need this power back.  We will help you, I swear upon my soul.”

            With those words, a blue sort of powder drifted off of Leven and formed a circle around my forearm before sinking into my skin, forming a pale blue ring, sort of like a tattoo.