Chapter 21: The Truth

Think of circle time at preschool, that was exactly how we did it. Well, minus the comfortable pillows. 

“So, Peter, tell me. How much do you know about starstuff?”I asked.

Peter visibly flinched. There was a silence while we watched Peter fidgeting and looking around uneasily. 

“I feel like I know it, the starstuff I mean. I have been having so many dreams that don’t seem to be dreams at all. Actually, they don’t even seem to be my own dreams. My first dream, I was talking to a girl named Molly. Then a porpoise taught me how to fly and some man clarified to me that I will be a flying boy forever,”Peter explained, then his gaze darkened,”When I held a plank in my hand that read “Neverland”, I knew that I am not what I think I am anymore.”

There was a silence while Peter was deeply breathing. I could only watch him in empathy. 

So it is true . . . 

“Then I had another dream. This time I was facing the Skeleton and Ombra, whoever they are, in a train and I held a sword in my hand. Then I broke a chest lock with the sword . . . when I woke up . . . the tip of that exact sword was under my bed,”Peter said, voice trembling as he pulled out a sword tip from his jacket.

Everyone gasped. I was speechless without any words. Tears threatened to fall out of my eyes. I knew what was coming, but to see the tip of the Sword of Mercy takes it to a whole different level.

Peter stared intently at me and asked,”Elysie . . . am I, Peter Pan?”

The name seemed to linger in the air for a while.

I closed my eyes, trying to gather all my racing emotions. But all I could do is think of Peter, Peter Pan to be specific. 

“Will I ever see you again?”I asked.

He just looked at me sadly.

“I don’t know. Maybe . . . but you probably won’t recognize me for a while.”

“I believe so,” I stuttered out, “All the dreams you have are true.”

“But, how am I Peter Pan?”

“Maybe, he is possessing you. You may not be him, but you have his thoughts and powers.”

“Like flying,” Allan said, recalling back to the time they went flying with Paul and Asia. 

“Yea. Maybe the more memories triggered, the more Peter Pan wakes up,”I mumbled. 

Peter just sat bewildered, feeling very overwhelmed by everything spoken to him. 

“What if he fully possesses me? What will happen to my soul?” he asked,

I looked down glumly,” . . . I don’t know. But we will take it step by step.”

There was another silence.

“Woah, Peter, can you believe how amazing it will be to be Peter Pan?” Allan encouraged, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Haha, yea . . . great,”Peter stuttered nervously. 

“Do you think you can handle it? There are a lot of strings attached,”I clarified. 

Peter just looked me in the eyes. 

“I’ll manage. You know, I did actually listen at the youth group. If this is some sort of calling from God, that big guy, I’ll do it. Maybe I was meant to be Peter Pan’s keeper all along,”Peter said. 

“Well said brother,”Allan teased in a southern baptist accent. 

After we shared a time of stories and laughs, I decided to cut it there.

“Well, let’s get ready. It’s time for action.”

Chapter 20: Captives in Shadows

The only thing Paul could see was darkness. 

He could feel a grainy rocky floor under him, but that is as much as he knows of his surroundings. He could feel Asia’s feebly arms wrap around his and his father’s calming breathes nearby.

He could see a dimly lit lantern, slowly lighting up the tunnel. The keeper of the lantern, he dreaded to see for the air got very cold. As the lantern got close, he could see that they were in an ancient jail cell.

“Hope you enjoyed your stay,”the keeper rasped.

“Using the executing cell. Pretty cliche don’t you think?”his dad spat back sarcastically.

Then a horrible molten hand . . . no claw, reached out and brushed his father’s shoulder. He slowly fell to the ground, immense pain shown on his face.

Asia screamed and gripped Paul’s arm tighter. 

What just happened? Paul thought, frozen in fear. 

“I prefer you to keep your mouth quiet,” the keeper rasped.

Then Paul and Asia could see the figure turn towards their direction, though they couldn’t see his face since the hood of its cloak shadowed its eyes. 

“I could do the same for your children,” he continued.

“Who are you?” Mr.Haddock panted.

The man lifted the lantern towards his face. Paul wished that he didn’t do that at all. It looked like the man’s skin was melted and then cooled liked used wax. He had only one lone yellow eye and a void socket. There was no mouth but another void hole on his face that would give anyone the creeps. 

“I am the Skeleton,” he rasped. 

Mr.Haddock looked shocked. 

Then, the Skeleton let out a laugh, well, as close as he could get to a laugh. 

“I never died. Demons never die. They can be killed though.”

“What do you want?”

“What I alway wanted. Starstuff.” then he knelt close to Mr.Haddock’s face, “Where is it?”

Mr.Haddock looked at him straight in the eyes, well, eye.

“I don’t know.”

The Skeleton growled and swiped his hand across Mr.Haddock’s arm, leaving him crying in pain.

“You will tell me soon enough. Or every single one of your children will die, just like your wife. Though what a tragedy of how she died, pity,” he rasped in Mr.Haddock’s ears.

Mr.Haddock’s eyes widened as he remembered that vivid memory. A memory that wasn’t that long ago. So vivid, it felt like yesterday.

-----------------------------------------------

“Kie!”Dreki yelled, in the swarm of Vikings. 

There was another raid from the Traitorous, but this one was more war then raid.

Dreki lost his wife and children in the sea of fighting Vikings. 

Soon enough, he found his two of his children, Paul and Asia. He grabbed then and ran for cover in one of the nearby houses. He clutched them tightly for a moment.

“Never leave my sight again,”he scolded. 

He left his children in the safe haven, going back out to find his wife and their youngest children, Ender and Estelle. 

He looked around feverishly, knocking down anyone trying to attack him. 

“Aim . . .,”he heard a familiar voice say. Then he turned and saw his father and his troop aiming fire catapults towards a big Traitorous ship. Then he remembered where his wife went. She was held captive on the Traitorous ship. 

“No! Dad!” he screamed, running towards his father.

His father seemed oblivious to his cry,”FIRE!”

Then Dreki could see the glimpse of his wife and his children as they stumbled out of the doors in the ship. But it was too late.

As if in slow motion, he saw the ship bomb and sink very rapidly, engulfed in flames. 

He couldn’t think or speak. Just feel his hot tears streaming down his blood stained face. 

In anger, he walked up to his father and yelled,”HOW COULD YOU?”

“How could I what?”he answered coldly. 

“How could . . . how could,”Dreki said, trying to get his words in other,”take out that ship and knoxw that my wife and children were on that ship?!’”

There was no reply. 

“You see, Dreki, there is a choice of a chief between his tribe and his family. If you want your tribe to survive, you have to risk your family.,”he replied.

Then he pointed to the retreating Traitorous tribe.

“Besides, you have enough kids. Paul seems to be a good heir, what was the use of the others?”he continued.

Dreki couldn’t believe it. How could his father be so cold? So cold at heart? 

“Why? Why don’t you care about family anymore? Is it because we lost mom?Or is it because you lost Toothless? What is it? Why make me suffer? Why? TELL ME WHY?” Dreki ranted.

When his father just stared down at him, no emotion at all, Dreki couldn’t help but blurt out the words in his heart,”You are no better then the Traitorous. You are a traitor.” He tried his best to bite back the tears,”I’m leaving. I never want to see you or think of you again.”

“Dreki . . .,”he started, sounding like his voice was  . . . breaking?

“Don’t you dare call me that. For now on, my name is Calvin. I am no longer your son and my children are no longer associated with you.”

Then Calvin walked away. 

---------------------------------------------------

Calvin and his children walked up the peak. 

He knew that there was a bridge to a different time. A time far from this time. 

He held up the locket that was given to his family by the people of the future. A locket he stole from his father so many years ago, when the dragons disappeared from the face of the Earth. 

Soon they were in the cave with a special device. 

He gripped his children’s hands tightly. 

Then he looked back at Berk.

“Goodbye,”he whispered.

Then he flicked the locket open and all went white.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Tears came to his eyes as he was forced to relive the memory that he tried so hard to erase from his memory. So hard to forget because every time he looked at his children, it kept reminding him.

“Your father wasn’t all what he seemed to be. Gave into the coldness that slowly creeped into his heart. What was him name again?” the Skeleton rasped.

“Please . . . no . . .,”Calvin pleaded.

“Oh, yes. Hiccup, wasn’t it? Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the greatest chief in the archipelago, until his dragon disappeared. Probably that’s what he was trying to teach you. Teaching you to not hold your love ones so dear because you will fail. Fail because of them,”he continued and knelt down to Mr.Haddock,”So he killed your wife and kids.”

“STOP! PLEASE STOP!” Mr.Haddock screamed, wanting the Skeleton to stop replaying it in his mind all over again. 

The Skeleton backed off, clearly pleased on how much he broke Mr.Haddock.

“Stop hiding. There is nowhere to hide anymore. It’s the end of the line.”

Mr.Haddock just stared at the ground, tears in his eyes.

He looked towards his kids who were also brimming with tears. In shock that their dad never told them before. In shock that they didn’t belong in this time. In shock that their admired hero was their mom’s murderer.

“You know where it is. You used it. I will give you time to think,”the Skeleton said.

At that, he blew out the lantern and the darkness returned.

Chapter 19: Base Camp

“The camp is just up this road,”Allan said, constantly looking down at his GPS.

Being put as the tracker did make him a little antsy. 

“This road looks pretty steep. How long?” he asked.

“A little over a mile. Mr.Haddock does mention that there is a . . . gas station?”Peter said, looking rather confused at the directions. 

I looked over Peter’s shoulder and the gas station seemed to be a,”Garage. There is a garage that holds a automobile that can take us up the hill,”I concluded.

We walked to the base and saw the fault line. I ran my hand over the fault and felt a button. Of course, I pressed it. The rock lifted up like a regular garage would and inside were . . . “Snow bikes! Pretty fancy,”Chelsie said.

There seemed to be only three. 

“I will get one snow bike. Melana, you share with Peter. Chelsie, you share with Allan,”I directed. 

They nodded and ran off to their bikes.

---------------------------------------------

Peter held onto Melana tightly as the bikes climbed higher and higher up the road. As they were barely at the center of the peak, the air became very frosty. 

Just as the road turned off into the cave, a wave of heat hit Peter. He took a sharp intake of breathe, confused on where this heat is coming from. It wasn’t very near but he could tell that it was very strong.

But  . . . how can I tell? He thought, very confused. 

His confusion only made the heat more annoying and unbearable. He became very clammy and his hair was matted in sweat, despite the cold weather. 

Melana could feel Peter heating up.

“Are you okay?”Melana asked.

“So . . . hot,”Peter said, fighting to keep his eyes open.

Immediately, Melana knew something was wrong and sped past Elysie.

“What are you doing?”Elysie yelled.

Melana couldn’t reply, all she knew was to get to the base. Peter could slowly feel the heat reside and the cold come back in as they sped farther up the peak. 

What was that? He thought.

Peter limply held on to Melana as they neared a sealed automobile door. Melana turned around and helped Peter sit near the rock wall. He shivered slightly but didn’t care after a while. 

Soon enough, the team caught up.

-------------------------------------------

I pushed my bike to the limit when I saw Melana speed off with a unresponsive Peter

“What’s wrong?”I asked as I halted my bike when I was in the entrance. Soon enough, Chelsie and Allan’s bike halted after me. 

“I don’t know. Peter got really hot even though it was super cold,”Melana said.

“Is he still hot?”I asked as I walked over to her.

“Not anymore.”

I paced around a little.

What if that heat was heat from starstuff? But, only a Watcher can sense that. None of us experienced any extreme heat . . . except him.

“Let’s just get inside,”I said.

Allan and I walked up to the door and typed in the code written on the blueprints. The doors slide open to reveal a dimly lit hallway with a door at the other end. We walked up to the door and typed in another code. We heard a low hum as the doors opened. The room lit up with monitor and controls of the entire island. 

A dome of security. 

We all walked around in amazement.

Melana and Chelsie helped Peter sit down in one of the chairs. 

“Wow,” he muttered, also in amazement.

“Yes. But before we move on, what happened back there?”I asked, kneeling in front of Peter.

His eyes flashed with fear and confusion. 

“I really don’t know. Once we were at mid peak, there was a rush of heat that felt so unreal,”he explained. 

Then he looked at me, hands shaking. “Elysie, what’s wrong with me? The flying, dreams, and heat . . . what’s happening to me? I feel like you know more about it then I do.”

I sighed and looked at the ground. I glanced to the other agents.

They need to know too.

“I will tell you the truth,”I said, looking Peter straight into the eyes, as if those eyes didn’t bore a hole into my soul already.

Chapter 18: Skeleton

The team decided to rest the night at the Haddock’s house, planned to set out first thing to the security base.

Peter kept his tossing and turning on a shark mattress that he was forced to sleep on. 

How was this considered as comfortable?

He couldn’t stop thinking about the evens that happened today. Apparently his gut feeling was right. Somehow, the Starcatchers are in this mission and from his dreams, he can’t help but know that he will play a big role. He knows the Others took the Haddocks because there were no signs of break in. 

Which Others are we up against? Peter thought to himself as he slowly let himself fall into a deep sleep.

------------------------------

He remembered Wendy’s words. Leave us behind if you have to. Just don’t let him get the stone.

He started to crawl back the way back he and others had come, away from the struggle. Slowly, he rose to his feet and shuffled forward, feeling for the wall in the utter blackness. Behind him the shouts continued. He heard Wendy scream. And then an odd sound, a deep rumbling, then a fearsome roar. The sounds of struggle increased, a confusing mix of shouting and banging. Peter listened for a minute, paralyzed, then again started shuffling away from the noise. 

Stop!

Tink’s urgent chime was right in his ear. Peter froze.

Close your eyes.

Knowing what was coming, Peter shut his eyes tight. Through his eyelids he saw the brilliant flash. He opened them just as the flash ended, and saw the reason for Tink’s alarm. 

The hooded man was in front of him, not even three feet away. His back to Peter.

Either he had been looking the wrong way, or he had somehow known that the flash was coming. It had not blinded him. 

He was turning around . . . as the last of Tink’s light faded, Peter saw the gaping hole where a mouth should have been, the empty socket, the lone yellow eye . . . 

The claw-hand reaching out . . .

Peter screamed and turned. In the blackness, he stumbled away from the hideous thing,

-------------------------------------

“Peter,” she said

He didn’t move.

“We’re going to need you tonight,” she said.

His head snapped up. His eyes red, his face tear-streaked. 

“Why?” he said. “So I can fail again?”

“Peter, it wasn’t your fault. That man, or that thing, whatever it was, would have been too much for any of us.”

“I ran away, Wendy. I left the stone. I left Tink. I left Tink. Because I am afraid of him. I am afraid of him.”

--------------------------------------

Peter screamed, and it wasn’t a quiet one. He gripped the sides of the shark mattress as he tried to ease the entire dream away. 

But all he could think of is the hooded figure. That figure who scared the wits out of him, even in his dream

“Peter?” called out a familiar voice. Though Peter still flinched like he was about to run.

“Woah, woah, dude, I’m no ghost,”Allan joked.

“Oh, it’s just you,”Peter panted.

“Wow, that’s hurtful,”Allan said, then noticed Peter’s odd behavior. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing. Just a nightmare. Just a normal nightmare,”Peter said, mostly to himself.

“Ah, I see,”Allan said. “Yea, this place does give you the creeps.”

Peter just nervously laughed.

“Well, get some sleep. You will need it,”Allan said.

“Yea, night.”

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A hooded figure stood at a cliff, waves rumbling below him. 

The figure smiled, whatever was left of his smile that it.

“He’s here,”he rasped. “He’s here.”

Chapter 17: Berk

I tied the last knot to keep out boat on the ancient dock. We all had to put on our coats since the temperature dropped dramatically after we enter Berk waters. 

The first sign.

I took out my sniper and Chelsie did the same.

“Do . . . do we get one?”Allan asked.

I nodded and tossed both boys a couple. Their faces broke out in grins as they played with the guns in their hands. Probably excited to use a weapon since the juniors at JUSS just train.

I really don’t blame them. Training is boring.

We slowly walked into the abandoned village area. Most of the buildings were worn away: rotted wood, cracks, and broken windows. The village seemed to be from the Viking era since there was a forge filled with trashed weapons and dragon gargoyles. Allan tried to grab one of the weapons but I snapped at him. 

I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that we were being watched. Specifically by the Others.

“So, their home is on top of the hill. Commonly known as the Chieftain house since the chiefs used to live there,”I directed.

We walked up the hill and arrived at the steps of the home that seems more refurbished then the rest. I slowly opened the door, its creaks echoing through the silent home. 

Once we got inside, we saw furniture thrown about, plates broke, and stuff thrown everywhere.

“An ambush?”Allan whispered.

“Yea,”I murmured back.

I looked around, trying to find any clues of where they went. Apparently shadows don’t leave any evidence. But I am not going to explain it to the newbies.

“Search the upstairs,”I commanded.

Chelsie lead the way as we walked upstairs to the two rooms. The first room to our right seemed to be Mr.Haddock’s room. We searched throughout his entire room for any clues.

“Wait! I found something,”Allan said.

I walked over to Allan as he held a coffee stained notebook.

“Inside, it explains where the base is and how to get there. Lots of blue prints though,” he continued. 

“Great job,”I said.

“Umm, I don’t know if this is going to help but there are some interesting things in the kid’s room,”Peter shouted from the other room.

“He already searched it?‘Chelsie said, surprised that Peter checked there without orders. 

“Deal with it,”I said.

We walked into the room and saw Peter next to an open floorboard next to one of the beds.

“What did you find?”I asked.

Peter pulled out a large book, a ancient piece of some sort of faded red fabric, and a ancient notebook.

“What’s this?”

We opened the book and notebook and all it read in sticks. 

“Old Norse. Haha, the only language we never learned,”Chelsie commented. 

“This book is the Book of Dragons according to Asia. She told me that Berk used to be inhabited by dragons,”Peter said.

“Really?”

He nodded and flipped to a page with a black dragon and a boy.

“The writer of this book is a young viking who I forgot the name of. He trained the dragons and brought peace. It is said that he is one of the most famous chieftain of Berk.”

“Wait . . . you don’t mean,”Allan started then pointed to the pictures of the viking boy pressing his palm on the dragon’s snout,”that this boy is Hiccup and the dragon is Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.”

“No stickin’ way,”Chelsie and Peter said.

“The movie,”I questioned.

“Yes. This means that this red thing is Toothless’s tail and the notebook is Hiccup’s”Allan said.

“Unbelievable,”Chelsie kept sayinf.

“Snap out of it,”I said.

I took the notebook from Peter and opened it. It had many drawings and a lot of writing. I took out my phone which had a sight translator. 

“When did you get that?”Chelsie asked.

“ A month ago. Don’t have it? Too bad,”I teased.

The pages mostly read about information of dragons and ‘flight training’. The last few pages caught my eye. And strangely, it was in really horrible English handwriting.

It read - Mission: Stuff. 

I read it aloud to the team:

I was told not to journal about this but I feel like I really should.

The stuff is located where the forbidden happened.

Beneath the picture, under the stars.

*Gosh I sound like Hamish the Second*

“A riddle? Hiccup left us a stupid riddle? Why can’t he write like, clear instructions? Did he train  people with riddles?”Chelsie complained.

“Cool it, we will figure it out somehow,”I said.

“The forbidden. If we find out where that is, we are good,”Peter said.

There was a moment of silence. 

“The cove,”Chelsie said. 

“What?”I asked. 

“Hiccup made a forbidden friendship with Toothless in a place known as the cove. And the picture must be the picture he drew with Toothless.”

“What about the star?”Allan asked.

“Sign of the Starcatcher. This sign usually leads to . . . starstuff. Which means that Hiccup somehow had connections with the Starcatchers to obtain the starstuff,”I concluded.

Everyone looked shocked.

Chapter 16: The Journey Begins

It’s Saturday and it’s the day we set out to our journey. Currently, I am double checking that the new agents have all their stuff.

“Jacket?”I asked.

“Check,” chorused the other agents.

“Gloves?”

“Check.”

“Hand wa -,”but interrupted by Chelsie,”Check, can we please continue?”

“Yea, whatever. Berk isn’t the warmest tropical island in the world,”I noted.

“We know. I wish Melana didn’t have to go to her grandma’s funeral.”

“well, it is her grandma . . .,”Peter added.

“So what? If she were here, we wouldn’t be listening to Elysie’s constant babbling.”

I just rolled my eyes. 

“So, what’s our transportation?”Allan asked.

“We are going to fly to Scotland and take a small boat to Berk,”I said.

The boys nodded.

“So . . . we ready?”I asked.

“Ready,”the entire team said.

-----------------------------------

“Does this boat have any food?”Allan complained, looking everywhere to find  a good piece of food. 

“No, because it is a old rusty fisherman’s boat that no one used since the 50’s,”Peter replied.

“Perfect.”

I looked over the map of Berk, trying to locate the possible base. Calvin had planted a security base in the middle of Berk peak to monitor all activity on the island. How we are going to find it and get there is a whole other story.

“So, any background you can give us about our destination?”Peter asked.

“So . . . I have to be true right now on why we are actually here, right?”I mumbled.

I heard Peter gulp and fidget a little.

He knows something.

“So, there is a family who takes care of this island. They are called the Haddocks and there is only a father and two kids. We don’t know what happened to the mother but we are assuming that she is dead. They have recently no been in touch with their organization for three days and has raised alarm.”

“What organization?” Allan asked.

I hesitated for a little until I said,”the Starcatchers.”

Peter took a harsh intake of breathe and starting coughing. Like this entire subject is harsh on Peter. 

Dad is right. Something is up with this kid.

“Our job is to find the family and secure their security.”

“Seems pretty easy to me,”Chelsie said.

“So, Asia and Paul are missing? Man, I love those kids,”Allan said.

“Only because Paul believed everything you said,”Peter added.

“Because he knows who’s boss, unlike you.”

“Yea, like you ever will be a boss at anything.”

While Peter and Allan bickered about each other, I just couldn’t help but pray that they will stay safe until we get there. 

Somehow I know that this island will be infested with Others and there may be a leader that I am not looking forward to seeing. 

After an hour, the peak of Berk could be seen from our location and strangely, the waves quieted.

The cold set in.

We’re here.

Chapter 15: Oceans

It’s finally Friday night, a day right before we set out to Berk. 

My favorite thing to go to is youth group at my church. Tonight, I decided to drag some additional persons. 

“Why do we have to waste out time hearing a man talk?”Allan complained. 

“Can’t we go to a bowling alley or something?”Peter added.

“Because you guys need to be reenergized,”I said.

“By an ancient book?” Peter questioned.

“Yes, because the Bible knows more then you think.”

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In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus,”Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed had withered!”

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.

“I will tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea’, and does not doubt it in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins. - Mark 11:20-25

“From this small chunk of Mark, you see Jesus talking about faith over a withered fig tree. From last week’s study, the tree is used as an example for his disciples. In Mark 11:12-14, Jesus passed by a fig tree, hungry. Seeing that the fig tree had no figs, he said to the tree “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” The next day, it withered. But this passing example of the fig tree is an example of humans at times. 

Have you ever made a promise and just flaked out at times? For example, you promised your best friend that you will help them with a school project but you always give an excuse not to because you need to take care of your own. This is what this passage is talking about, but on a deeper level.

The fig tree is us, when we believe in God, we promise him that we are all in. Ready to get our hands dirty for his glory. But when he expects something out of us that we don’t want to do or think we can’t do, we don’t do it. Thus, we bear no fruit. And as you can see from this passage, believers who bear no fruit are no good. If you don’t bear fruit, you probably might not reach the kingdom of God. 

You may be asking, how can I bear fruit?

Well, first of all, you have to give your life to Christ. 

But that’s the first step. There is more afterwards. 

Everyone should take note of this: A believer must always have faith to back up their belief.

If you don’t have faith in God, why did you believe in him in the first place? 

You become the one flaking out in your promise. 

That’s how Jesus explains it to his disciples. He told them to “Have faith”, because that is one of the most important factors of the Christian life. 

Jesus used the example of a mountain throwing itself into the sea. And it did. This is a example of how God’s capabilities are endless. If a mountain can be able to jump into the sea, we sure can do what God wants us to do. 

As believers, God calls us to do certain jobs for him. And he wants us to follow through. Sometimes they seem absurd, but we have to believe that we can do it with God’s help because in the basic verse of Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things in Christ, who strengthens me”; through Christ, we can do anything. If it’s His will. If it’s our, probably not. 

Another thing Jesus brought up is prayer. 

If you are having a difficult time, ask him for help. Believe that it will actually go higher than the ceiling and that someone is listening in the other end because I can tell you a 100% of the time, God hears your every prayer. And he will answer. 

Jesus used this explain before in Matthew 7:7-8 ;

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Finally, the last thing Jesus mentioned is to forgive. 

Forgive your enemies as He forgave you. 

You may know some really difficult people in your life that you are not that forgiving too. They may bully you, say snide remarks, or just act flat out not-so-nice with you. Even though you want to hate them so much, you have to learn to love them. If you don’t have a loving heart towards your enemies (which is really hard), you will have no loving heart in your service. 

Our main job is to bring others to Christ. Which means we have to have a open and forgiving heart to everyone like Jesus does. This doesn’t mean that we will be like Jesus because we will never be like him, but we are to be examples of him. I am pretty sure that Jesus didn’t forgive us because we were nice. We were probably real jerks in his eyes. Sinning all over the place. But he died on the cross and forgave us of our sins anyways. He loved us so much that he died for the sins of people that weren’t even born yet. 

So have an open heart and mind and forgive/love your enemies and neighbors. That shows an example of Jesus Christ working in your life because sinners would never think of loving on their enemies. 

To conclude our message, remember: Through faith, we will be able to shine the work of God to the people around us.”

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Hillsong 

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown

Where feet may fail

And there I find You in the mystery

In oceans deep

My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace

For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters

Your sovereign hand

Will be my guide

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me

You’ve never failed and You won’t start now

So I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace

For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters 

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander 

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

So I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace

For I am Yours and You are mine

Chapter 14: Is This Real?

Peter kept looking across the room, towards his neatly folded JUSS uniform which had a really dull green color.

Why can’t it be the cool black color like the elites? Probably be I am a “junior” elite.

To Peter, it makes no sense. Either you are an elite or not, there can’t be any in between. 

The whole apollo has taken his life by storm. All the plans he made with his team (Elysie, Melana, Chelsie, and Allan) made his mind so overwhelmed. 

This apollo doesn’t seem right through. He has a feeling that this apollo is more then it seems. That it’s more important top him then it seems. It gives him a sense of fear. A fear that his inner feeling thinks is true.

He shakes it off quickly.

 Stop psyching yourself off. Just go to sleep.

Peter laid back in bed and slowly dozed off. Again, not knowing that another dream is about to haunt him further.

--------------------------------

Peter picked up the sword.

“Get into the front car,”he said. “Everybody.”

“What are you going to do?”said Wendy.

“The only thing that will stop them,” he said, looking at the chest.

“Peter,”said Wendy,”you can’t.”

“Please,”said Peter,”I’ll be all right. This is our only chance. They’ll have us in another minute.”

There was no argument to that.

“Go to the front, and stay away from the passageway,”said Peter. “Mr.Magill, when I tell you, call Karl.”

Reluctantly, the others went into the front car. Peter holding the sword, positioning himself next to the chest. Karl, still snarling had been backed up halfway through the cart. The Skeleton came relentlessly forwards, followed by the guards and Ombra. Peter tried not to look at the glowing eyes, He knew they were looking at him. 

Another station flashed past.

Peter took a breath, then turned to Magill.

“Now!”he shouted. 

Magill growled something with a roar, Karl reared up on his hind legs, took a massive swiped at the Skeleton, then spun and ran past Peter, into the front car.

Now Peter stood alone next to the chest. He tapped the lock with the sword.

“If you come any close,”he said. “I’ll break it open.”

The Skeleton hesitated. 

Ombra spoke, his groan coming through the charred hole that had once been von Schatten’s mouth: “You don’t know that the sword will break the lock..”

“You don’t know that it won’t,”said Peter.

A moment of silence. Another station flashed past. The train rocked violently as it rounded a curve it was not to take at such a high speed. Peter staggered sideways, then caught himself. 

Ombra moved forward, toward the Skeleton. The guards spread to the sides of the car. Ombra groaned something, too low for Peter to hear. Peter gripped the sword tightly and drew it back. 

There was an urgent sound from Tink, and at the same instant the two creatures moved toward Peter, the Skeleton to his right and Ombra to his left. With all his strength, Peter swung the sword at the lock. The two piece of metal clashed together in a brilliant cascade of sparks; there was a clattering sound as the tip broke off and fell to the floor. A light whiter than white filled the car.

-------------------

Bam!

Peter groaned loudly when he connected with the floor. He slowly rubbed his eyes and noticed that there was something under his bed, Something shiny.

He slowly reached out and touched the shiny thing. 

It felt really warm. Then he grabbed it and felt it cutting into his hand.

“Ouch!” he mumble and drew back his hand with a hiss.

He looked at his palm and blood was quickly dripping out of the slit in his hand. 

He then again, tentatively reached for the tip, not wanting to cut his other hand. 

When he looked at it in bright moonlight, he knew what it was.

The Sword of Mercy. 

Then he remembered the dream. 

“Ahh!” He yelled a little too loudly as he dropped the tip and backed up into the wall, away from the tip.

Was that dream real? Why is the tip here? What is happening? Why is this happening?

All Peter could do is look in fear at the tip. All he could think is why the tip was still there, gleaming in the middle of the room. 

Was that nightmare real? Was he actually in that dream?

Was it really real?

Chapter 13: New Schedule

“On three,” Peter said, dangling by his legs on the roof of the school. 

There were three boys who were currently running away from the school officials for selling drugs. 

Peter’s plan: eat their dust, literally.

Right when they were a few feet from the tree, Allan let go of Peter’s leg and Peter flipped continuously towards the ground. His legs kicked the first two guys to the ground while Allan finished off the third. After their stunt, they immediately sprinted away, leaving the boys to the officials.

----------------------

Peter rounded a alleyway near the school and took deep breathes to calm his frantic breathing. 

“Dude, that was awesome,”Allan said breathlessly.

“Yea,”Peter replied. 

Once they got their breathing back in control, they strolled casually into their schools, as usual, like the entire ambush never fazed them. 

This part of their day is called action, it is very common in their schedule. 

What comes next is very new.

---------------------------

“19 . . . 20!”Allan yelled in desperation after doing twenty pull ups on a bar over a foam pit. 

This part of their day is called training. 

Ever since they joined the JUSS, everything was training in knowledge and physical ability. Nothing exciting. 

“When do we get to do the guns and stuff?”Peter asked, getting himself ready for his set of pull ups.

“That’s at the next level, which the test isn’t towards the end of this month.”

“Darn, training is so boring.”

-----------------------------

After their long hours of training, they finally were able to leave the base. 

When they neared the entrance, they saw the same three girls who recruited them a couple of days ago.

“Hey,”Allan said.

“Hey, can I talk to you two for a minute?”Elysie asked.

They nodded.

“So I saw your stunt today and I have come to a conclusion.”

Peter motioned her to continue.

“I talked with the JUSS and we have arranged an apollo to a remote island near Scotland. This mission is just securing bases and setting up security systems, no big danger involved. I have been given the permission to assign you two as temporary agents for this apollo.”

“This rarely happens so take this as a honorable privilege,”Chelsie said.

“Why us?”Peter asked. 

“You shown capable abilities,”Melana replied.

“But when are you going to need it?”Allan asked.

“That can be explained further once you accept this apollo,”Elysie said.

Peter and Allan looked towards each other and shrugged.

“Sure, we’re in,”Peter replied.

Chapter 12: Contact Loss

“It has been three days and their has been no contact with base Berk. Jon, something is wrong,”Mike said to my dad. 

“Mike, it is not a big deal. They probably forgot and going on another dragon fossil exhibition on Dragon Island,”dad said. 

“Yea, Asia was ranting on that she found the crushed skull of the Red Death,”I added. 

“Not helping. Please, we might need to consider the worst,”Mike said. 

“The Others?” Dad asked. Mike nodded in reply. 

“Well, there has been suspicious things according to the recent meeting,”I said. 

“But the starstuff on Berk is impossible to find. No one knows who hid it, where they hid it, and why. We just have a hunch that starstuff is there,” Dad said.

“Well apparently the Others think so, too,”I said. 

“What should we do?”

“Send a team,”Mike replied. 

“That’s ridiculous. Everyone is too busy right now, especially in tax season,”Dad said, frustrated.

“Well, I’m open,”I said. 

They both turned to me. 

“No Elysie, it’s too dangerous for you,”Dad said.

“Please. I am a trained and very well qualified JUSS agent. I can gather a small team with the JUSS and go to Berk. No biggie. Just another mission,”I said.

“But this is the Others we are talking about.”

“As in the Others last year in Neverland?”

My dad stopped speaking after that. 

After a silence of glances between my dad and Uncle Mike, they finally came to their decision. 

“All right. You can go,”Dad said.

Chapter 11: Shadow Invasion

The ocean waves lapped gently on the shores of a small island known as Berk.

Being deserted and remote from the world for several hundred years, its ghostly peak brings uneasiness to the mind. A island once filled with life, now a dead graveyard. And it is planned to get darker. 

The sign planted on the abandoned docks still shows rusted letters that say:

Remote Area. Do Not Enter.

Slowly started to turn pitch black. 

Soon enough, the entire dock area was pitch black. Forms of human bodies emerged from the shadows, scattering everywhere. 

----------------------------------------

The Haddock family slept peacefully in their small home after their flight from America. Even though they are the only humans in the entire island, they don’t think of their existence as lonely. 

The youngest of the family, Asia, woke up very suddenly from her sleep. She knew something was off. The night was too quiet and the temperature was too cold. 

Recalling her very little Starcatcher training, she knew that quietness and low temperature is a sign of a powerful Other. She didn’t tale any chances and woke up her brother.

“Whaa . . .,”Paul started but Asia put a hand over his mouth. She made a “O” with her hands and Paul looked at her questionably. She gave him a serious gaze.

He figured out that something is wrong and got out of bed. 

They silently sneaked downstairs to grab their weapons. 

Paul is used to using crossbows and Asia prefers dart guns and daggers. 

Their dad won’t let them use any type of gun until they were of high school age. 

They quickly grabbed their weapons and woke their dad.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“Others,” Asia said. 

He grabbed the nearest gun and motioned Asia and Paul to hide under the window. 

They waited. 

They heard the slightest moan outside. 

Mr.Haddock took a peek and saw millions of shadows roaming about, their eerily white eyes searching frantically. Before he knew it, the shadows went into their home and he saw no more. 

The screams of his children can be heard and the only thing he could think of before he lost full consciousness is,”God have mercy on us.”

--------------------------------------------------

The shadows cleared out and nothing was left but the eerily silent Berk, its shadows infested with Others looking for the only thing they ever wanted. 

The only thing they ever searched for. 

Chapter 10: JUSS Recruitment

“So that’s our plan.”I said, clearly relieved to get it off my chest. Melana and Chelsie just kept on eating their sandwiches.

“So, you want us to corner two kids and drag them about seven miles to the JUSS base?”Melana clarified. 

“Yea, um, a lot of things can happen in those seven miles,” Chelsie added.

“We are going to persuade them. Like do a bunch of cool stuff,”I said. They still stared at me critically. 

“Don’t worry. My plan is going to go perfectly.”

---------------------------------

Peter waited patiently in the bench area for Allan. 

Finally (after thirty minutes), Allan rounded the corner and kept sprinting towards Peter.

“What took you so long?”Peter asked.

“Shh . . . don’t yell. I think I am being stalked,”Allan whispered harshly. 

“By who?”

“Three girls. One of them is the Pan girl.”

“Ooo, you are in big trouble.”

“I didn’t do anything. All I did was put Pop Rocks in Nick’s fruity pebbles.”

Peter thought for a moment. 

“Well, we can’t just wait here for them to find us.”

“You’re right,”Allan said. 

Peter collected his backpack and they casually walked towards the school’s entrance. That’s when they spotted the three stalkers. They just kept walking very cooly and exchanged a couple of small laughs here and there. 

---------------------------------------------

We saw the two boys exit the school. We have been following Allan for a while but lost him in the crowds. I looked towards my friends as a signal. We started approaching them.

“Excuse me,”I said. 

They stopped and looked at us. 

“May I speak with you?”I asked.

One of them shook their head and said,”We’re grounded and have to go home immediately.”

Then they started walking away. We just kept staring and soon enough, they started running. So. we ran after them. 

The boys weaved through the crowd, trying to lose us but we knew better. 

“Cut them off at the bicycle stand,”I whispered. Melana nodded and sprinted off. 

As soon as we broke through the crowd, I saw Melana holding their wrists. 

“What do you want?”Peter asked. 

“We need you, Peter,”Chelsie said.

He looked a little taken back that we knew his name.

“Again, what do you want?”Peter asked. 

I cooly gave him and Allan an envelope with the JUSS seal on it. 

They tentative;y took it and read the note:

You have been recruited as a trainee of the Junior United States Secret Service. 

Accept or reject this offer in 24 hours.

“Woah,”Allan said, “This is like the real deal, do you feel this paper and seal?”

“Yea, I see,”Peter said. Then they turned away from the girls. 

“What do you think?”Allan asked Peter. 

“Do it if you do it,”Peter replied. 

“Yolo.” Then they turned back.

“We accept,”Peter said.

Chapter 9: The Dream

Peter’s mom will never let him hear the end of it. 

She was so angry, he thought she could have summoned the lava from the center of the earth. But there was still one thing that bothered him.

The weird starstuff (a horribly lame name) felt so familiar even though he never heard of it before. 

Where have I had this starstuff before?

The question that bothered him more then the strange history of the Haddock family. 

He felt like he was connected to this Starcatcher business, but he just couldn’t place it. 

Peter moaned in frustration as he face planted on his bed, overwhelmed by all his thinking. 

This is too much! He yelled over and over in his mind.

He didn’t car if his street clothes were still on, he fell into a deep sleep. 

------------------------------------------------------------

“Molly,” said Peter, exasperated. “Just tell me.”

“All right,”she said. She took a deep breathe. “Peter, have you ever seen a shooting star?”

“Yes,” said Peter.

“Do you know what they are?” said Molly.

“They’re rocks,” said Peter. “That fall from the heavens.”

“That’s true of most of them,”said Molly. “Almost all of them, in fact. But not quite all.”

“What do you mean?” said Peter. 

“I mean some shooting stars are not rocks. Some - and very few - are made of something quite different. It’s called starstuff. At least that’s what we call it.”

“Starstuff? You mean pieces that fell from a star?”

“We don’t know what it is, truthfully,”said Molly. “But it’s not rocks, and it comes to Earth. And when it does, we have to find it, before the Others do.”

Peter shook his head. “Who d’you mean by ‘we’?” he said. “Who are the others? What does this have to do with . . .”

“Please, Peter,”she said. “I’m explaining it as best as I can.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Go on.”

“All right. First, what I mean by ‘we’. Peter, I’m part of a group, a small group of people. Well, mostly people. We’re called,” Molly’s hand went to the gold chain around her neck”--- the Starcatchers.”

“Starcatchers.”

“Yes. My father is one, as was his mother, and so on. Most of us are descended from Starcatchers, but not all. There have been Starcatchers on Earth for centuries, Peter. Even we don’t know how long. But our task is always the same: to watch for the starstuff, and to get to it, and return it, before it falls into the hands of the Others.”

“Return it where?”
“That’s . . . difficult to explain.”

“Well, then, who are the ‘Others’?”

“They’re . . . people, too, or most of them are. And they’ve also been around for a long time. They are out --- that is the Starcatcher’s --- enemy. No, that’s not quite right: we oppose them, but in truth they are mankind’s enemy.”

“Why? What do they do?”

“They use the power. They take it, and they . . .”Molly saw the puzzlement on Peter’s face. “But you don’t know what I mean do you? I need to explain, about the starstuff.”

“Is that’s what’s in the trunk,”said Peter.

“Yes,” said Molly. “That’s what’s in the trunk. It has amazing power, Peter. Wonderful power. Terrible power. It . . ., it lets you do things.” “What kind of things?”

“Well, that’s one of the mysteries. It’s not the same for everybody. And it’s not the same for animals as for people.”

“The rat,” said Peter. “The flying rat.”

“Yes,”said Molly. “That’s one of the powers it can give. Flight.”

----------------------------------------------------------

What’s happening to me?

Peter felt his body rising with the swell of the wave, and then, as the wave receded, he felt himself rise out of the wave, all the way out, back into the wind.

I’m . . . like the rat. Like Molly.

He twisted around and saw that he was several feet above the water now, drifting across the tops of the waves, the wind pushing him away from the Never Land. He heard an odd sound beneath him, looked down, saw the familiar rounded snout.

The porpoise. It pushed me up out of the sea.

It was chittering at him, but he had no idea what is was saying. Peter was sure it was the large porpoise, the one Molly had been talking to. 

Ammm, that’s what she called him.

The porpoise began to swim toward the Neverland, now receding in the distance, then back toward Peter, then toward the ship again, then back. More chittering.

He wants me to follow.

Tentatively, Peter waved his arms; the wind was carrying him away, but he found that his arm motion had him turn his body, so that he was horizontal with his head pointing toward the ship. He waved his arms some more, nothing. Then he heard Ammm squeaking urgently, now directly under him. Peter looked down.

Whoa.

His body suddenly swooped forward, against the wind, gaining speed . . .

I’m going into the sea!

Peter raised his head; instantly, his body swooped upward, into a vertical position. He stopped moving forward and fond himself again being carried back by the wind. More squeaking from below. Tentatively, Peter leaned his body toward the horizontal again, and again he started moving forward, more slowly this time. 

Ammm is teaching me to fly.

------------------------------------------------

“So you picked up the golden box?”Leonard asked Peter.

“I did,”said Peter. 

“And how long did you hold it?”

“I don’t know,”said Peter. “A few seconds, I think. I can’t say for sure. As I told Molly, I almost fainted.”

“You almost did far worse than that,”said Leonard, but softly to himself.

“What did you say?”said Molly.

“Nothing,”said Leonard. “Molly, did you pick up the box?”

“Only for the briefest instant,”said Molly. “I had to pull my hand away. I don’t know how Peter managed to pick it up.”

“Nor do I,”said Leonard, studying Peter now with an intensity that Peter found disconcerting. “Nor do I. Tell me, Peter,”he said. “How did you fly out to rescue Molly from Slank?”

“I used the loose starstuff,”said Peter. “I poured it out of the trunk and scooped some into my hand.”

“I see,”said Leonard. “And you gave some to Molly, so she could fly back with you, is that right?”

“Yes,”said Peter.

“Molly,”said Leonard. “Can you fly now?”

Molly closed her eyes, concentrating. 

“No,”she said, after a few moments. “It’s worn off.”

“Peter,”said Leonard. “Can you fly?

Peter’s body immediately started to rise.

“That’s odd,”he said, hovering a few feet off the ground.“Usually I have to try, but this time . . . I just thought about it, and here I am!” He floated gently back down.

“I see,”said Leonard, his expression grave.

“Father,”said Molly. “What is it? Is something wrong with Peter?”

“Not wrong, no,”said Leonard. “Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”said Molly and Peter together.

“I mean,”said Aster,”that the starstuff may have changed Peter. Just as it changed the fish in the lagoon”---he gestured to the mermaids ---”it can change people too, if there’s enough of it.”

Peter was pale. “How did it change me? I don’t feel any different.”

“Fly,”said Leonard.

Immediately, Peter rose again.

“That’s how,”said Leonard.

“You mean . . . you mean I can just . . . fly now? Without needing more starstuff?”

“Yes,”said Leonard.

“And it’s permanent,”said Peter. “I’ll always be able to fly?”

“I believe so,”said Leonard. 

“But that’s wonderful!”said Peter grinning happily, still floating just off the ground. “I can fly!”

“But, Father,”said Molly. “If that’s so, why don’t all the Starcatchers do what Peter did? Why don’t we expose ourselves to enough starstuff that we can always fly as well?”

“For two reasons,”said Leonard. “One is that the concentration of starstuff required for the transformation is ordinarily fatal, even for a Starcatcher, let alone a normal person. Peter is very, very lucky; he must have an extra ordinary tolerance for starstuff. Most people who picked up that leaking box would have died; in fact, we understand that several did die when that box was filled.”

“What’s the other reason?”said Peter. 

“The other reason.”said Leonard,”is that the starstuff, in that concentration, causes other changes in humans, beyond just enabling them to fly.”

“What do you mean?”said Peter. “What other changes?”

“I don’t know frankly,”said Leonard. “There are few cases like yours of a person surviving the exposure, and each one is unique, but it’s possible that . . . that you . . .”

Leonard hesitated. 

“That I what?”pressed Peter.

“That you won’t get any older.”

“What?”said Peter.

“That you’ll stay as you are,”said Leonard.”A boy. Forever.”

----------------------------------------------

Never Land

Peter looked at it. And then looked around him, at the lagoon; at the rock where the mermaids lounged; at the palm fringed beach; at the tinkling fairy flitting over his head; at his new friends the Mollusks; at the jungle-covered, pirate-infested mountains looming over it all.

Then he looked at the board again, and he laughed out loud.

“That’s exactly where I am,”he said.

-------------------------------------

Peter abruptly arose from his head in a cold sweat, his breathe coming out as shallow pants.

What was that?

The entire dreams, they seemed so real. He felt like he was the one named Peter. 

Who was this Peter? He knew that he was related to the Starcatchers and could fly. 

In the midst of his thinking, he realized a big factor.

The board that had the name “Neverland”, a flying boy, tinkling fairy . . . that could only mean one thing. 

Peter Pan. 

But . . . am I . . . Peter Pan?

Chapter 8: Scaldingly Brilliant Idea

“Elysie? Elysie . . . Hey! Elysie!”

The annoying voice snapped me out of my thinking trance. 

“What?”I asked annoyed.

“You are elbowing your sandwich,”Chelsie said.

“Sorry.” 

“You have been acting weird all day,”Melana pointed out. 

“Well, I can’t stop thinking about the two boys, especially Peter,”I said. 

“Oh,”they both said. They knew about the entire event that happened the other night. 

“It’s so weird how the kid could still fly,”Melana said.

“And his name is Peter,”Chelsie continued. 

“I don’t really think he could be Peter Pan,”I said, trying to end their discussion that was making me feel a little uncomfortable. 

“Think about it!”Chelsie said. 

“Ha . . . what should I do?”I asked. 

“Um, ask him on a date.”

“Eww. You don’t just date a fifth grader,”Melana said. 

“What? No, I mean, I think he may know something related to the starstuff,”I said. 

There was a silence of thinking between us. 

“Maybe, you should recruit him and Allan to the JUSS,”Chelsie suggested. 

“You know, that might not be a bad idea,”Melana said. 

“I have a scaldingly brilliant idea thanks to you two. When we recruit him to the JUSS, I can get his backstory or profile. Maybe get to know him and he might open up to me about the starstuff deal,”I said. 

“We are with you,”Chelsie and Melana said.

Chapter 7: Unexpected Visit

All four kids were sitting in the Pan’s living room in a uncomfortable silence.

There was Paul and Asia but there were two other boys who I recognized as Peter Starr and Allan Driscoll. 

Peter has a dusty blonde hair with blue eyes. He looked a lot like Peter in his face and body built.

I shook my head, No Elysie, he’s gone and if it were him, he would tell me.

Allan has a golden blonde hair with brown eyes. He had a mischievous look on his face, like he was planning some prank. 

“I can’t believe you two!”Mr.Haddock yelled at his kids angrily.

“Sorry . . . dad,”Paul said.

My dad came in and said,”Mrs.Starr is going to be here soon.”

“How did you fly?”I asked. 

Paul and Asia sheepishly pulled out their lockets. 

“Really?”Mr.Haddock said sarcastically.

“What I am still worried about is how this boy is still flying, um, what are your names?”Dad asked to Peter and Allan. 

“I’m Peter Starr and this is my best friend Allan,”Peter replied.

“Well, Peter, do you know anything about starstuff?”

Peter nervously looked around. 

“Should I know about it?”he asked.

I walked up to my dad and whispered,”He doesn’t know about any of this.”

“Well, never mind. Just forget about everything that happened today and don’t tell anyone,”Dad said to Peter.

“Yes, sir,”Peter said. Allan just nodded. 

“Come on, you two. Time for bed,”Mr.Haddock said, shuffling his kids out the door. “Sorry about their mess.”

“No problem,”Dad replied. 

Once they left, Mrs.Starr came in. 

“My god, Peter and Allan what did you do?”She asked, a frustrated look on her face. 

“Sorry. We just decided to throw more eggs at Mrs.Book’s window but we accidentally hit the Pan’s,”Peter said, covering the entire incident flawlessly. 

“I am so sorry for their trouble,”Mrs.Starr said.

“No worries,”Dad replied. 

Then Mrs.Starr took Peter and Allan home. Soon, the Starcatchers were gone. That’s when I started to rain questions. 

“Dad, why did the starstuff not wear off as easily on Peter?”I asked, wincing slightly at the name because it reminded me so much of Peter Pan. 

“I don’t know. Elysie, I want you to scout out this boy. Find out his backstory, talents, hobbies, anything.”

“Will do,”I said. “I don’t know why but it seems like Peter is more then his looks.”

“Let’s hope not. The Others will hunt him down.”

------------------------------------------------------------

“Sir, new starstuff has been located.”

“Where?”he rasped.

“In the United States. There is a signal of possible high starstuff levels.”

“Is it the boy?”

“Maybe. It was very similar.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, we drove the Haddocks to the local airport. 

“It was nice seeing you,”Dad said,

“It was. I hope we can come to the next meeting,”Mr.Haddock replied. 

“Yes. I will radio you when I know the date.”

“Great. Say goodbye,”Mr.Haddock said to his kids. 

“Goodbye,”Paul and Asia said in synch.

I smiled at them.

They are so cute.

The Haddock family left and we decided to stand in the airport for a while.

“Do you think they will be safe?”I asked.

My dad didn’t answer.

“Dad?”

“I don’t know. Let’s hope they will be.”

Chapter 6: Da Da Daa! We're Dead.

Peter, Allan, and Bobby were amazed of how great flying was. 

It took Allan and Bobby a while to get used to it but Peter, strangely, was pretty good at it. 

Paul and Asia swooped down to a nice apartment complex. They stopped at a window and saw a group of men about Mr.Haddock’s age and one girl that Peter and Allan recognized.

“Is that Elysie Pan?”Allan asked.

“I think so,”Peter said.

They listened in about the radio of the Others, which shocked Paul because his dad never told him about it. Then Elysie started talking about the Skeleton, which created a harsh atmosphere in the room.

“Do you know what they are talking about?”Peter asked Paul.

“No idea. My dad doesn’t tell me anything about what they discuss in their meetings,”Paul replied.

Then Bobby started whimpering loudly in panic as he slowly descended to the ground. 

Then Allan, Paul, and Asia started descending too. Allan tried to grab the windows but missed it and slammed into the building. 

Peter swooped down and carried Allan to the rest of the group.

“Thanks,”Allan said, guilty that he may have alerted the meeting.

“Why are you still flying?”Allan asked,

Peter noticed that he wasn’t descending at all. 

I don’t know, it haven’t wore off yet,”Peter said, swooping around in the air.

“Strange,”Paul said. 

Then his eyes widened in fear when he looked up at the window. Their dad and a couple more guys were staring down at them.
“Da da daa! We’re dead,”Paul said sarcastically, throwing his hand up in the air.

Chapter 4: Dragons and Stuff

“Peter! Come down here right now!”Peter’s mom yelled from the living room. 

He stood too soon and banged his head on his desk. 

“Darn . . . Yea, mom, in a minute!”he replied.

Allan just shook his head and said, “Your system is so fried. What did you do?”

“Nothing. I just clicked a link and it just went blue,”Peter replied. 

“But we need to change our report cards, like tonight,”Allan warned.

For a long time, Peter and Allan covered up their vigilante endeavors by shutting off their school’s phone lines, internet, and manipulate their report cards. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work as smoothly this time around. 

“Peter! Allan! Now!”Mrs.Starr yelled. 

They both got up and went downstairs. 

“Mrs.Starr, babysitting is for girls, not guys,”Allan pointed out. 

“Don’t you start. This mom gets you your fifty dollars every Christmas. Watching over someone’s kids is the least you can do.”

He just rolled his eyes. 

Allan Driscoll has been part of the Starr family for forever. His parents are always working so he would always hang out with Peter until dinner after school. 

Bobby, Peter’s five year old brother, ran up to Peter and punched him in the gut.

“What was that for?”Peter asked.

“You never gave me back my mentos!”Bobby said, angrily. 

“Well . . . I will buy you another pack in no time.”

“You said that last time about the Pringles.”

“I promise.”

Bobby still looked at Peter doubtfully. Peter has been borrowing Bobby’s stuff for his plans and never actually gives the back. One time, he even broke Bobby’s expensive remote control helicopter by accident. 

The doorbell rang out in the house. 

“They’re here,”Mrs.Starr announced, excitedly.

Allan opened the door to reveal a man with two skinny kids.

Gosh, does he even fed his kids? Peter thought. 

“Hello Mrs.Starr. Sorry for dropping in last minute,”the man said.

“Anytime Calvin,”Mrs.Starr replied.

“Where’s your husband?”

“Oh, working late at the computer shop.”

As the two parents were talking, Peter observed the two skinny kids who he knew were Paul and Asia. Paul seemed to be a little small for a seven year old and looked like a twig. So was his sister who was even more thinner. Their dad, however, is totally normal and even on the tall side. Paul sported ice blue eyes while Asia had a deep emerald. Paul had a slight mix of brown and blonde, while Asia had auburn hair. Not to mention, the coat of freckles they had, thanks to Allan for noticing that. 

After the parent’s conversation, Mr.Haddock bent down to hug his ids. When he left, Mrs.Starr eyed Peter to start ‘sitting’.

“Hey, um, I’m Peter and this is my friend Allan,”Peter said nervously.

Paul and Asia just stared at them.
“Okay . . ., um who’s hungry?”Peter continued.

“No, no, Peter, you are doing it all wrong. You have to go like this. Hey! Do you want to pig out on some junk food and drinks?”Allan said.

They both looked lost.

“Junk food?”Paul asked, clearly confused.

Allan slapped Paul on the back, almost toppling him over.

“Yes! Like sour candy, M&M’s, Twix, you name it!”Allan replied. 

“You mean candy?”Paul clarified.

“Yea.”

Then they both exchanged understanding. Asia slowly walked up and tugged at Peter’s shirt.

“Can I have yak milk please?”she asked.

“Uh, we have milk but it doesn’t come from yaks,”Peter answered.

“Oh,”she said disappointed, clutching her doll that looked like a t-rex with wings.

Allan was over in the kitchen, explaining the history of junk food to Paul, so Peter decided to talk to Asia. 

“What’s that doll you got there? Is it a dinosaur?”Peter asked.

“No, silly. It’s a dragon!”she replied, lighting up with a smile.

“Oh, dragons. You gotta love them.”

“I love dragons! This is a Deadly Nadder,”she said excitedly, lifting the doll’s ail,”this tail can shoot poisonous spikes at it’s enemy.”

“Ah, lethal.”

“Very. And it’s firepower is one of the strongest in the Book of Dragons.”

“That’s cool.” 

Clearly, Peter couldn’t add on because he knew nothing about dragons.

“Do you want to read it?”she asked.

“Read what?”Peter asked, in a daze of thought.

“The Book of Dragons! My dad told me not to bring it but I brought it anyway,”she said, walking over the the couch in the family room. 

She unzipped her luggage and pulled out a gigantic book that seemed to be her size. Peter helped her place it on the table near the couch. Allan, Paul, and Bobby walked in with a big bag of Sour Patch Kids. 

“Anyone want some?”Bobby asked.

“Absolutely,”Peter said, grabbing and tossing a hand full in his mouth. Asia paid no attention because she was busy mesmerizing her book that looked ancient. 

“Woah, that thing needs to be dealt with gloves,”Allan commented, looking over her shoulder. She didn’t reply. 

“Ouch, no reply,”Allan teased. 

“Why is this page filled with weird sticks?”Bobby asked.

“That’s the written Old Norse language. We learned how to read it. This book was written in the Viking era of our island,”Paul answered with his mouth full of sour gummies. 

“Okay, Vikings. Rough and tuff. Peter, we should go to school with horned helmets and hammers,”Allan said.

“You’re on. Monday?”Peter said.

“Perfect.”

Peter looked to back to see Asia talking to Bobby all about dragons. They were open to a page with a black dragon drawn all over it.
“Woah, is that a over grown salamander with wings?”Allan asked. 

“It’s a Night Fury. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself,”Asia quoted. 

“How does she know all this stuff?”Allan asked Paul.

“I don’t know. She is the dragon lover,”Paul replied. 

Peter looked a little more closely at the pictures. One was a boy placing his palm on the head of the dragon. There were lots of pictures of this twig-like boy with the dragon. Playing, riding, hanging out, etc.

“Who’s that?”Peter asked.

Asia just shrug her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“That’s Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. The first Viking to actually train and ride a dragon,”Paul explained.

“Wait, Vikings train dragons? Somehow that seems so un-Viking like,”Allan commented. 

“What I don’t get is that dragons are real,”Peter said.

“Of course they are. They just been extinct for several centuries in the depths of the ocean,”Asia said. 

“Yea. Hiccup also discovered a powerful dust a few years after he trained dragons,”Paul added. 

“Powerful dust? What do you mean, pixie dust?”Allan asked.

Peter laughed. “Pixie dust doesn’t exist.”

“Actually, yes it does. My family calls it starstuff. It can make you fly and do a lot of other things,”Asia said.

Before she could add more, Paul covered her mouth. 

“Actually, we can’t tell you this stuff because it is a family secret. We kinda gave too much away but promise that you won’t tell my dad. He will kill me,”Paul pleaded.

Peter and Allan nodded, eager to know more.

“Do you have the dust with you?”Peter asked.

“Yea.” Then they both pulled out matching gold lockets with their initials engraved on them.

“I have a job for,”Peter said. 

Paul nodded.

Then Peter led led Paul upstairs to his fried computer.

“Can it fix this?

“Sure it can.” Then Paul flicked the locket open which filled the room with light and bells. Allan and Bobby were grinning their face off while Paul and Asia were busy pouring a little bit of starstuff on the mother board of Peter’s computer. 

Peter felt like he recognized this starstuff. 

Suddenly, dizziness overcame him when he was flogged with different visions. 

A chest, flying over a island, rocket, train, fireworks. 

He collapsed to the floor, gripping his head. The world seemed to be doing flips in his eyes and made him want to throw up his dinner. 

Paul noticed this and immediately shut the locket.

“Peter!” Paul screamed, breaking Allan and Bobby out of their trance. They tried to get a response from Peter. Nothing but anguished moans. 

“Peter? Honey, is everything all right up there?”Mrs.Starr asked. 

Allan ran to the door and mimicked Peter’s voice,”Everything’s fine.”

Peter slowly regains control of the dizziness and sat up.

“Are you alright?”Paul asked, clearly feeling guilty. 

Peter shook his head and opened his eyes. 

“I think so,”he said, unsure if the dizziness will come back. He didn’t want to mention about the strange visions.

“Good news, the computer is back up and our report cards are clean,”Allan said, playing on the computer. 

“Paul, what is your dad?”Peter asked.

“He is a Starcatcher, They protect this stuff,”Paul replied.

Somehow I heard about this before, Peter thought.

“He’s at a Starcatcher meeting nearby,”Asia added.

“You know what? We should sneak in on their meeting,”Allan suggested.

“That’s not such a bad idea.”

“I don’t know,”Paul said, unsurely.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”Asia and Bobby chanted.

“It can’t hurt, Paul. Besides, we can use the starstuff to fly,”Peter said.

Paul thought this over and nodded.

Soon enough, they were all sprinkled with starstuff and flew out the window.