Hello!

I've always adored the Neverland Arc, which was when I began to write about OUAT, and it's when I came up with this little multi chapter idea. The recent resurgence in fantastic Neverland stories inspired me to continue, and I'd like to thank Light-and-Smoke, who helped me iron out the kinks months ago! The inspiration comes from Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and the title from Ed Sheeran's "Tenerife Sea".

Thanks for reading, and feedback is like a hug x

...

Prologue

The island was beautiful.

The sky did not meet the water's edge - it melded with it, the deep bruising purples sinking into the bleak depths. At first glance, stars lit the sky, each shining dot twinkling in the fractured moonlight - second star to the right and straight on til morning. This was of course a tale designed to warm the heart of every child who had ever cowered in a corner, alone, abandoned, devoid of hope. They were not stars but fireflies, literal fireflies that burned hotter than any sun, searing skin the moment you were a fraction too close. The moon was real enough, casting an etheral glow across the inky black ocean. It never rose higher than the shoreline, and at present it seemed to be trapped by skull rock, a sickening light petering between the rock formations and creating a bright, unblinking eye in the skull.

The ocean was calm, worringly so, the only mark on the gentle lapping of the waves a rickety rowing boat. The crew of the Jolly Roger were bunched inside, agitatedly waiting for their predators. The middle aged men, he had chuckled, would be the perfect bait. For mermaids loved nothing more than to lure men to their deaths. Pathetic creatures, he had remarked, were the favoured prey of the etheral hunters.

Their Captain stood on the shoreline, a slight tic in his jaw the only sign of his anger. He had not lost the Jolly Roger - he would sooner die - but had to enter into a gentleman's agreement with the impish child who was anything but. Legend had said Peter Pan had sold his soul to the devil himself to retain his boyish youth, retaining all of the shrewd, calculating menace a grown man could possess. It was only fitting such a thoroughly dislikable character would see fit to call such a thoroughbly dislikable island home.

Pan wielded magic that had rendered The Captain's superior sailing capability useless. Nothing could outrun the Jolly unless Lucifer himself had a hand in it, and he most certainly did. There was no option, the guns and cannons useless, even plunging his hook into the boys chest did little more than produce a sickeningly childish giggle from the demon. He had agreed to help the boy with his endeavour, but there was no mention of his crew being used as bait. If anything, he had anticipated the deserters from Blackbeard's sunken ship to be the first candidates for the suicide mission. Even before the men had joined with Pan, he would've been reluctant to piss on the depraved drunkards and all round appalling sailors if they were on fire.

"It seems counter productive" Hook remarked coolly, eyes fixed on his doomed crew, "To lure such treacherous creatures to the shore, on an island where every step is a potential trick"

"Not that I don't appreciate your subtle attempts to understand my plan Killian" Pan stage whispered, scanning the shoreline with a demented tinge of excitement, "But I'd prefer to remain tight lipped on the details"

Hook leaned towards him, "Everyone knows your after the chalices, mate"

"Oh, do they, mate? I think you'll find that not everyone is privy to all the information regarding the chalices. There are items to be gathered before even attempting to gain the power from them" Pan crossed his arms casually, eyes fixed on the floating bait.

"Such as a mermaid?" Hook ventured irritably, thumb running along the end of his sharp appendage, the action normally calming him.

"I see your keen Navy perception has not deserted you"

"Seeing the bloody obvious has not deserted me"

"There are more items for collection" Pan quickly interjected, keen to have the upper hand once again.

"The bones of my crew, perhaps" Hook's sarcasm dripping with anger.

"No, it's just more fun to lure them out this way" Pan whispered, his child-like glee chilling.

Them.

The calm waters of Neverland began to change, slowly. One or two ripples began to rock the boat, the men watching carefully. A voice caught on the wind, quietly, growing louder. She sang sweetly, her beautiful voice melodic against the dark night,

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho

Brave sailor beware, for a big 'un's a-brewin'

Mysterious fathoms below

Hook snapped from his reverie, shaking off the warm feeling the voice produced in his chest. Squinting at the boat, he realised the crew were no longer alone, as a young woman held onto the edge of the boat.

Her long, dark hair flowed down her back and into the ocean. Jade green shells nestled in her dark curls, matching the scales that covered her upper body, just visible above the murky depths. Her dark eyes were wide as she smiled sweetly at the crew,

Heave-ho, heave-ho

I'll sing you a song of the king of the sea

And it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho

The ruler of all of the ocean is he

In mysterious fathoms below

She crossed her arms on the edge of the boat and tilted her head to the side. Entranced, Stevens, a crew member they had picked up years ago, edged towards her as her voice rang out once again,

Fathoms below, below

From whence wayward westerlies blow

Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing

In mysterious fathoms below

By this point, Stevens was barely inside the boat. his chin just skimming the water as he tried to get ever closer to the creature. She smiled the sweetest smile Hook had ever seen, running her thumbs along his jaw. Her hands made a slow path down his face and his neck, as she rose up to meet his lips. His eyes were closed in expectation as she gently brushed her lips against his, her hands fisting in his lapels.

He opened his eyes in confusion, waiting for the proffered kiss as she giggled sweetly, before pulling him sharply into the murky depths. The spell was broken; the men began to panic and scream, jostling in the boat. The waves became frenzied, as the other mermaids rose to the surface, the water a mix of beatiful young women and tails thrashing.

Hook tried to move, Pan's enchantment locking him in place. He could only watch helplessly as the little rowing boat was overturned, his men fighting against the mermaids as they were dragged to the depths.

Pan signalled and the Lost Boys at either side of the cove wrangled some rope, the line lifting in the water. It was some sort of fishing net, and the mermaids began to rise to the surface with anguished screams.

The water frothed as the men and the mermaids tusseled, the fishing nets only adding to the confusion. Pan sighed, almost in mock boredom, as he flicked his wrist. The slightly sinister, if not harmless, skull rock began to shake, a line of fire slithering from its eye. The magical snake danced along the waves, before engulfing the whole expanse of water.

It wasn't the usual kind of heat to accompany fire (Hook had fought many a battle on a burning ship) but it crackled with an energy that was most definitely magical. He and Blackbeard's men covered their eyes as the fire sunk below the waves; suddenly, the mermaids began swim frantically to shore.

His crew were also helplessly trying to reach the sandbank, and Hook instintively tried to reach them. The magic that had held him in place no longer pulled at him, and he had a moment of brief doubt, wondering if this was all part of the plan. Before he could give that niggle any more consideration, he ran into the waves, grabbing the back of Smee's shabby coat and all but hauling him towards the shore.

The mermaids began to rear their heads, screeching and reaching towards the Boys with the ropes. An extension of their arm, almost like seaweed, shot across and whipped the Boys from their perches, pulling them into the frantic water.

One of the younger deck hands - a slip of a lad, by the name of Henry - coughed and spluttered as he emerged from the dark water, his thick fringe plastered across his face. Depositing Smee on the dry sand with an unceremonious ooof Hook began to wade out to where the young boy struggled. A pair of female hands grabbed at Henry's tattered waistcoat, and Hook propelled himself forward, pointy appendage raised.

Henry stumbled forward and Hook paused... the hands were propelling the boy, not dragging him to the depths. Usually the aquatic creatures had no qualms about harming children, simply for the crime of being male. Deciding against his better judgement (because this could very well be a trap) he fisted his hand in the front of the young boys shirt, pulling him forward.

The electric current, the magic fucking fire serpent Pan had unleashed on the water began to rise from the depths, the thrashing of the water ceasing as his magic failed to continue to harm the mermaids. Pan's magic began to rumble and shake, the Island itself shaking with the mystical powers. The fire began to spread, hurtling across the water and straight towards the pair.

Sweeping the boy over his shoulder hastily, Hook began to wade back to shore, the magic prickling at the back of his neck. His foot caught, and as he tried to kick the seaweed away, fear curled at him as nimble fingers gripped at his ankle. With a sharp tug, he sprawled forward, curving his body to protect Henry from the fall.

He waited for a darkness that never came, eventually bobbing to the surface. Henry floated next to him, a wry smile playing across his boyish features.

"Bloody hell lad" Hook laughed, gripping the material at Henry's shoulder, "I don't know how we got out of that one"

The feeling of soft sand under his boots had never felt quite so pleasant, nor had the look of fury on Pan's face, "Fishing trip failed then? Bad luck"

Pan's dark eyes flickered over Henry's shoulder, "I wouldn't gloat just yet Killian"

"There's one left" Felix called excitedly, one of Pan's more odious Lost Boys. Boy was a relative term, they were boys once. Now caught within the cycle of Neverland, they had the appearance of late teenagers, but the maturity of children. Sadistic, cold, killing children. Felix heaved at the nets, as his catch thrashed at the waves, "She was the last one left... She's clearly too stupid to have left with the rest"

"Now now" Pan muttered, stepping into the shallows to see his prize, "Let's not insult our guest"

Henry practically tripped over himself to join the rest of the Lost Boys in the shallows and see the creature for himself. Not many a man had lived to tell the tale of a mermaid, and Hook had often heard the boy incessantly babble about mythical creatures and knights and curses. He laid his hook on the boys shoulder, urging him behind his own body. He'd not gone to all that trouble to rescue the little sod for him to be cursed by a sea witch.

Felix pulled the next back with a flourish, the creature pulling away from her rope prison. Her tail was deep rose gold, golden scales running along her supple body, merging into ivory skin. Hook had always found it curious their scales covered their upper body in a tantalisingly chaste way. One last torment for a sailor, indeed. Her hair was long, golden as the sun, hanging in damp waves. Minute shells adorned her damp curls, in what could only be described as a crown.

She looked furious, and Hook had never seen any woman look so beautiful in all his life. Her jaw was set, as she glared at each of them in turn, and he felt like he was looking into the sun. Her green eyes flashed beneath a set of long lashes and he knew.

He knew that shade intimately, he knew every fleck of oceanic green and amber.

He had found the Lost Princess.