Potential for Darkness (Peter Pan)//(Robbie Kay)

49 ~ Serenity

I PASSED MY EXAMS (I got like approx 90% on both of them which is actually a pretty big deal so yay me)
I do realize most of you don't care and are only here for the story but dammit I'm so happy I want to share it with everyone
(I may or may not have cried for a straight half hour with my family and boyfriend by my side right after having received the results because I was so damn relieved and ecstatic)
Anywayyyyys, life updates aside, let's get back to the chapter

<<<Day 192>>>

It was early afternoon, most lost children's bellies still laden with food and their eyelids fluttering closed in a state of peaceful post food tiredness. They were arranged around the campfire, sprawled onto the logs or the ground, their heavy heads having to be propped up by their hands as they fought the desire to give in to the slumber. Yet a dozen of them were wide awake, their stomachs churning with excitement and anticipation. They fidgeted nervously, their hands flying about their clothes, their hair, straightening every last detail, conscious that in a few moments, the eyes of the entire camp would be on them.

Pan emerged from the forest, Adelina surmised he'd been at his thinking tree, yet for what purpose she could only guess. Their leader's appearance had a stimulating effect on the crowd. Those who had ceded and dozen off were awakened with a nudge from their neighbor, while those who were frantic became even more so, their movements only flurries and tremors.

"Now that we are all gathered, we shall begin," Pan announced as he took his usual place at the center of the attention, shoulders set proudly. He motioned for the group of nervous boys to step forwards. "Come and join me. Let us commence the ceremonies."

Obediently, apprehension written on their every feature, they took their designated places around the burning flames and faced Pan. They were all puppets for his wishes, they would've killed each other if he had given the word, so desperate they were for his approval. Adelina despised them slightly, they should've known better by then than to idolize the monster at their front. Yet was she any better? She was enabling the monster in a way no other could. So how could she judge them after having done worse?

"It is time that you recite the oath of the lost children." A knife glinted in Pan's hand, and as he had done before, sliced the skin of his palm open without the tiniest flicker of pain or even discomfort on his face. "Hold your hands out," he ordered.

Cloaks rustled as they all hastened to do as told. Pan made his way around the half circle of soon to be lost boys, halting in front of each one to cut the calloused, fleshy skin of their palm. They winced and some whimpered as the metal bit into them, yet none backed down as they allowed Pan to let a few of his ruby droplets fall onto their outstretched hand, their bloods mixing together to create the bond between the subjects and their king. Once Pan had made his way through every last one of them, he returned to their head, grinning in a slightly unnerving way. It was that twist of lips that Adelina found so disconcerting yet alluring, a dark promise held in that mischievous expression.

Adelina's mind traced back to when she had been in their place. Her ceremony had been more intimate; Pan used to greet every new addition to the family personally, yet with the constant threat of the pirates and the war looming above them, they'd had to multiply their numbers quickly. This was the second ceremony of the week, the previous week had held three more, each embracing a dozen of new lost boys among them. The camp was unrecognizable to the one that she had first known, their population had quadrupled, the number of treehouses along with it.

"Remember boys," Pan cautioned, grabbing Adelina's attention once more. "Do not take this oath faintly. The bond will be born of blood and magic, and to break such a covenant would be exceedingly foolish, as it would most likely be the last thing you will ever do."