Peter's fingers were beginning to get wrinkled. He had spent the last hour in the lagoon, scrubbing the bottom of the pirate's ship. For the first time since he'd been in Neverland he was at the bottom of the rankings, mainly because he had forfeited from the tournament, and so he was responsible for doing the chores that no one else wanted to do. He hadn't minded trimming the zebra trees or shearing the kangarabbits, but the bottom of the pirate ship was covered in algae and sludge and was extremely tedious to clean. He wore his forever breathe mask to scrub the sections that were underwater, but when he was down there it was really hard to see what he was doing.
"Hey, you missed a spot."
Peter spun around and smacked the back of his head on the side of the ship.
"Cora, I didn't hear you coming," Peter said, rubbing his head.
"I guess that's the advantage of being half fish," the mermaid replied, gliding her dark purple tail across the surface of the water, "I can sneak up on unsuspecting victims."
Peter knew Cora was joking, but there was a bitterness in her tone that was hard to miss.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "I've never seen you cleaning the ship before. Actually, I've never seen you clean anything before."
"I'm at the bottom of the rankings," Peter replied.
"Wow. How did that happen?"
"I didn't compete in the tournament. I went to go find Wendy."
"Wendy?"
"She's from the Grey World."
"Oh yeah, I've heard of her."
"She was supposed to come to the tournament, but she wouldn't. Actually, I don't think she's ever coming back to Neverland again."
"Good for her. Get away while she can."
Peter squinted at the mermaid. "Why would you say that? Neverland is amazing."
Cora shrugged. "Sure, it's amazing for a couple weeks, but I wouldn't think anyone would want to spend their whole life here."
"Aren't you going to spend your whole life here?"
"I don't really have a choice," Cora responded, looking away.
"I can't understand why anyone would want to leave."
Cora rolled her eyes and splashed her tail in irritation. "Come on, Peter. Can you really imagine growing old here?"
Peter frowned. He'd never given much thought to growing old.
"Don't you ever want to have a family? A career? Don't you want to make a difference in the world?"
"I...I don't really know."
"Well, you can't do any of those things if you stay in Neverland. Underneath all the games and the fun and the scenery, Neverland is just a big, beautiful prison."
Peter studied the mermaid. She was a lot different from the others. For one, she seemed to be the only one who wasn't thrilled to be a mermaid. She was also the only one who wasn't in love with him, which was fine. He liked the attention of the other mermaids enough, and they were all incredibly beautiful, but they were kind of weird, and he often grew tired of their high pitched laughter and nonsensical conversation. They were nothing at all like Wendy. This last thought made him depressed and he groaned out loud.
Cora quirked an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Peter moaned, abandoning all pretense. "Have you ever felt like you'll never be truly happy again?"
To Peter's surprise, Cora laughed. "Yes, actually, all the time."
He stared at the mermaid in bewilderment, but it didn't seem like she was making fun of him.
"Hey," she said suddenly, "I wanted to ask you if you could look into developing an underwater laptop."
Peter became thoughtful. "Yeah, I could probably do that. Although I'm kind of short on time in the Imagination Tower. Maybe Slightly could help me."
"That'd be great," Cora said quickly. "I'd better go. I think I feel Nerissa coming. If she finds out I've been talking to you she'll strangle me, and that's not an exaggeration." The mermaid shook her long black hair out of her face and dove beneath the water, her purple tail splashing him once before she disappeared into the depths of the lagoon.
*****
Peter collapsed on his bed, exhausted from his day of hard labor. The tree house was deserted, and he was starting to drift off to sleep when he heard a whimpering at the foot of his bed. He sat up to look over the edge and saw a small white wolf. He groaned. It was an animatronic animal that was created from Wendy's Essentia. Maybe he should have listened to Tink when she warned that once someone's Essentia was in the system, you couldn't get it out. Now reminders of Wendy were everywhere, making it impossible for him to stop thinking about her and their recent disastrous encounter.
He wondered about the things Wendy and Cora had said about Neverland, about how it wasn't real or fulfilling. He imagined himself as an old man here and nearly laughed. Maybe there was much more beyond this underground wonderland. Maybe his life didn't have much meaning at all. The possibility of it made him feel incredibly small and he felt a stinging behind his eyes.
"I will not cry," he muttered to himself. "I will not cry."
"You really should cry. Clogged tear ducts can lead to premature wrinkles."
Peter turned and saw Slightly sitting in a chair across the room, sewing a button on a vest.
"How long have you been there?"
"A while," Slightly responded nonchalantly. "Long enough to know that Wendy broke your heart."
Defeated, Peter fell back on his pillow. "I don't want to feel like this anymore. What can I do?"
"Well, you can stop moaning about it and go get her back."
"I don't know. There's another guy, and I think if I go try to talk to her I'll make it worse."
"Nonsense. Go apologize. Sing to her. Give her flowers. Take off your shirt."
"Take off my shirt?"
"Oh, yes. Girls love that. They can't resist a shirtless young man."
Peter furrowed his eyebrows at Slightly, but he seemed so confident about what he was saying that Peter couldn't help but believe him.
"You really think I can make her like me again?"
"Absolutely. With a handsome face and a little bit of willpower, anything is possible."
Peter wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it strengthened his resolve. He stood up and started heading towards the door, but before he left he turned back and looked at Slightly.
"How did you learn so much about girls?"
"Oh, I read a book once."