castle runaway. ˡᵉᵉ ᵈᵒⁿᵍʰʸᵘᶜᵏ

TWENTY

Monique's POV

"But weren't you so quiet back then?"

"Tootles was my favorite Lost Boy!"

"You also almost killed Wendy!"

"Oh my God, can you keep it down?!" He groaned and covered his ears with his hands. I pretended to zip my mouth. He sighed and folded his arms. "First, yes, but people change. Second, thank you if I was. Third, yes, I know, but you don't need to remind it. You gotta put your behind in the past."

"That's from the Lion King!" He laughed. "I know, but it's not being all cheery I always focus on. I kill the bad people." He said cooly. "In what kingdom exactly?" I asked for the nth time.

"There are many criminals out there, unknown and known. But I will always represent Neverland even if I don't live there anymore." His face became gloomy. "What happened to Neverland?"

"Peter went berserk and totally ruined a part of the island. He became insane trying to think of a plan to defeat Hook but the Pirates won anyway. He told me and the others to disappear from his sight. We did, and right when we were travelling to Earth, he blew up our headquarters, thankfully not Neverland."

"Is he still alive?" He nodded. "Totally. He must have followed us right after. He even tried to steal the only copy of the book," He rubbed his chin and looked up. "Where was it again? Oh, yes, Crescent Kingdom. The remaining book copy was in there."

I froze. I remembered when I was in the balcony and a boy was being chased by the guard knights. I started to breathe heavily and my heart can't stop beating so fast. "Monique, are you okay?"

"I.. I was the princess of Crescent." This time, his jaw dropped. "Really?!" I nodded slowly. "But let's not talk about it. Why did Peter want the book?" He tapped his fingers on the table.

"He wants the Fairy Godmother to re-write the ending because, you know, everything has changed. My friends and I departed ways and I never saw them again." He muttered sadly.

I pouted, thinking. "But why was he jumping and not flying? Doesn't he fly when he thinks happily?" He shook his head while chuckling. "Oh, Monique. I told you, things changed. So did he. He's now a villain."

"How come?"

He pressed his lips together, forming a hard, thin line. "He doesn't think happily anymore. He thinks murderously and.." He pulled the collar of his shirt. "He killed Tink."

Wait, the Peter Pan killed the Tinker Bell? "Hold up, can you make things clearer?" He motioned his finger down, telling me to sit. I didn't realize I was standing.

"You heard me right. He killed Tinker Bell." I raised a brow. "Why?"

"Tink was against his plan on attacking first at Hook's. Evil attacks, Good defends, but that depends on the situation. The Good kills if they have to, but that was not necessary.

"Peter was enraged by Tink's opinion that he completely lost his mind and killed her. When he realized what he's done, he never forgave himself," Haechan paused before continuing. "She was his bestfriend. Tink was the only companion he had, rather than us but we weren't much help, and she helped him move on. Wendy was his bitter past."

"I'm sorry." Haechan collected himself and smiled. "No need to be. I try to forget it but maybe you wanted me to be depressed, too." I laughed. "Let's get depressed together."

He stood up and stretched his arms. "Nah, go solo. By the way, is your fever gone?" I nodded. "We'll hit the river tomorrow. Get some sleep and make it well. Don't even try to kill yourself again."

I shrugged. "I'll try not to sleep-walk and get the knives from the kitchen." He let out a sarcastic laugh. "Haha, very funny. Like I will let them on your reach." He pulled me up from my seat and gently pushed me inside my bed room.

He patted my head. "Good night. Sweet dreams." He smiled and walked away. He stopped halfway and said, "Let's not fight anymore, alright? Let us.. try to understand each other."

"Hmm, alright." I said and he continued to go inside his bed room. I slowly closed the door and slipped myself under the blanket.

At least I now know I'm completely acquainted with him.

But he won't change the fact I still wanted to meet death.

•••

"Wake up! Rise and shine!" I shifted in my bed and turned the other way. "One more hour." I replied with a yawn. I shrieked when I felt something slimy on my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw Elyas licking all over my face.

"Stop it!" I can't help but laugh. I didn't know dogs can be both adorable and annoying. Elyas finally stopped licking me and woofed. "He wants you out of the bed."

I slowly sat up and the dog jumped on me. "El, do you want her to have a bath or not?" He went down on me and sat on the floor like a good boy. Haechan helped me stand up. "Thanks."

"Breakfast can wait later. And you look dreadful. If someone sees you, they'll mistaken you for a witch." I rolled my eyes as he lead me out, Elyas tailing behind us. "Oh, wow, thank you."

"Well, appearance matters nowadays." I glanced at him. "Maybe that's why I didn't realize you are Tootles. You grew up and you look much more mature." We started walking and I just followed him to the direction of the river.

"Of course I grew up, but I don't know about Peter. I didn't get to stay long in Neverland, though." He said. We continued to talk about a lot of things when we heard horse steps a few feet away.

Haechan pulled me behind a tree before I can even react. The trunk was enough to cover the both of us and Elyas was on guard, lowly sneering. "Stay it low, boy." He said to his dog.

The sounds got closer and I can hear two men talking.

"I'm pretty sure we're lost now, mate."

"Ugh, why are we the ones to be sent in the woods in search of that dim-witted princess?"

"She's nothing but a nuisance, probably."

Haechan looked down on me and whispered lowly, "They're talking about you." I gasped and he immediately covered my mouth, then dragged the both of us down.

"Did you hear that?"

"What? I didn't hear anything."

Elyas suddenly ran towards them and barked at them.

"It's just a dog."

"Come on, we have to continue our search. If we go back without her, the King would behead us." Their chat got distant every second until they were gone.

Elyas ran towards us with a wagged tail. I petted him. "Good boy." He barked happily. I turned to Haechan and he was giving me a troubled look. "Are you okay?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes. Let's head to the river. I don't feel good in my clothes anymore." Haechan gasped this time and covered his mouth.

"What?"

"Your clothes! I don't have women clothes." He squirmed and flushed red. "I can borrow your clothes then we'll go together to the nearest kingdom to buy some."

"I have no gold!" He scratched his head. "But surely I can borrow from Goldilocks."

I shrugged. "Then we have no problem." He sighed and nodded before we continued towards our walk to the river.

•••