A/N: So long time no see! I was inspired to write another part thanks to all your nice messages and reviews. I have honestly been working on this since I posted the first part. lol I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think. I do have ideas for another part or two yet if you're interested.

THE UNDERWORLD

The days had all begun to merge and muddle into one monotonous nightmare for Peter. He would leisurely wake up in what he presumed was the mornings, only for his narrowed eyes to meet the light of the red sky: The damning redness that would neither differ from nor truly mimic the world above.

His meals would yield the same deplorable conditions, with overcooked eggs and a bitter notion of loneliness.

He flexed his magic, trying to free it from its after-death constraints – only for it to dwarf his previous ranges. He had depended on the shadow and Neverland's resources more than his own meager talents. He was a fool to trust in fate. Darkness befell him as the window shades began to unfurl. He was a fool to trust in himself.

He researched and schemed – only to become frustrated at every turn. Hades' riddles mimicked tinnitus in every moment a moment of silence… "Both ways involve another, a heart specifically."

He would tolerate his pitiful existence as long as he could stand – sometimes even devoting himself to the upkeep of his shop - to keep himself from pulling at his hair in boredom.

"The living heart of another…or your true love's kiss."

Peter abruptly turned, dragging the bristles of the broom harshly along the floor. He needed to escape from his thoughts. He grimaced at the display case near the corner of this hellscape.

One little trinket that had signified such destruction…A familiar shell necklace he had obliterated in anger. It brought back such twisted…but wondrous memories.

The crudely constructed jewelry signified his downfall. The addictive rush of discovering… integrating… claiming…. all that was Sunny. The girl that could have prevented everything.

He left her in the jungle on purpose. She had a natural intuition with nature, never truly lost in directions.

He had tricked her into the Echo Caves. Her greatest desire was pathetic. She had wanted to matter, to someone, to everyone. How worthless she believed her existence to be. How insignificant and broken she truly felt.

How attention-starved she really was. One lingering look, or a compliment would make her pliable and compliant.

Then he began to up the ante, he needed to know how valuable Sunny would be for him.

Before Sunny could think, the ground beneath her crumpled, sending her flying into the abyss below. "PETER!" The troop of boys, dropped to their knees peering frantically over the cove's edge. The younger boys hollered in panic unison.

"Sunny!"

"Sonny!"

"Sunnae!"

"SUNNY!" Marcus bellowed, horrorstricken as he watched her fall closer and closer toward the bottom.

Rufio and Felix flinched when she hit the water, the impact almost sounding like a canon firing. If the fall didn't snap her neck, the mermaids would soon tear her apart. The splashing of water and the sloshing of scaled tails, they knew she was done for. Those harpy witches would drown her and munch on her bones.

"Show's over boys!" Felix called, trying to corral the younger ones from also plummeting to their death, but Pan raised his hand.

"Just wait." Anxiously, bubbles began to rise below. To Felix and Rufio's surprise, Sunny broke the water's surface…unharmed?

She spit out some water, her braids sweeping across her face like branches. Sunny was hardly amused at falling in, but she stuck her tongue out in good humor. "Care to join me?"

She splashed and kicked the water at the horrified boys. Rufio and Felix shook their heads in guilty interest, as there were mermaids in that lagoon. The fishy creatures usually were murderous in nature, but oddly, they were keeping their distance, mesmerized by her presence as well.

He had been the cause of her fall, knowing he might have sent her plummeting toward a terrible death.

She had survived, much to the Lost Boys' disbelief. He, on the other hand, was elated. The girl was certainly blessed with the graces of godlike protection. The mermaids around Neverland were vicious and vile, Sunny wouldn't have lasted otherwise.

Peter became enthralled with Sunny. Capitalizing and monopolizing more and more of her time.

"Do you see the horizon?" She observed the reds and oranges fold into purples and blues of the sleeping sky. The twinkling of the stars already appearing on the edges of the space.

"Yes, it's beautiful Peter." He chuckled, knowing where her thoughts would lead her.

"Do you see below you?" Her head dipped, staring out the thicket below. They were on Deadman's Peak, observing the rolling sea, the campfire smoke and swaying of the tree line.

"Everything," she said, revealing a shy smile. Pan pulled her close, returning her smile with a cheeky grin of his own.

She doesn't see the truth. The thoughts that Peter had when she was warming his bed. To her, he was merely smiling, nothing of his true nature. And it would tear her heart to pieces to know otherwise.

In all her naïve innocence, and wondrous oblivion, she was growing to love him. Her love was hard… it was fast.

No matter what tricks he played, what violence he committed, what atrocities he planned, her passion continued to grow. A devilish boy whose ruthless facade masked his darkest truths. He was neither a boy or in love. He knew what he desired and hindered him.

One Lost Boy though, hadn't like what he was doing with Sunny. Showing his distaste for his antics so plainly.

"Pan."

Peter sighed, knowing Rufio had some type of discord with his plans.

"I don't like this. Hasn't she already proven herself?"

Peter turned towards his underlining. The younger boys relied on Rufio's directions and Pan relied on him to follow his orders, but lately - in fact, anything to do with Sunny - had put the two at odds.

"Being a girl, Sunny has had a lot more to prove." Peter tried to sidestep Rufio's question.

"I know you've been testing her, the games, the hunts, but pushing her into the lagoon? She could have been killed over your curiosity!"

Peter turned, grinning like the devil he was. "Figured me out, have you?"

Rufio stepped back, putting distance between the two of them. He refused to meet his wicked smile, "No."

He paused for a moment, then added quietly, "No I don't. But I wish to, before you hurt her." His ears burning red, mimicking the shade of his hair.

Peter's smile grew viciously as his eyes narrowed. The boy had developed a crush... on his property. How unsatisfactory that was.

"Don't look at me like that."

Peter's eye nearly twitched in anger. Rufio was becoming troublesome to him.

"Are you presuming you have control over me?" Rufio knew the question was bait, everyone on the island knew the answer; no. Nobody told Peter Pan what to do.

Rufio tried to deflect, "You've had her in most of the terrible parts of the island-"

"Your point," Peter heckled, trying to get a rise from Rufio. The boy's hands clenched in frustration.

"What next? Leaving her to wander the dark hollow?" The excited look in Peter's eyes made Rufio sputter, waving his hands frantically. "No. No. I was jesting, Pan. Please don't do that."

Peter clapped the boy on the shoulder, causing him to go stiff. "A brilliant idea Rufio."

THE ISLAND OF THE BLESSED

Sunny sat by the pond for hours, days, weeks at a time. Any time that she knew McKinley was asleep. Neal couldn't believe how fixated she was at watching the real world. Perhaps she had been alone for so long that she would rather watch the world turn in silence than enjoy the afterlife.

Most of what she watched was equally interesting and revolting. Often, he could recognize Neverland dancing in the swirling waters.

Neal engaged her in conversation as much as he could. There was so much about his friend that he never had the courage to ask before. They talked about her brother, and her home life.

Neal realized as much as he hated his father sometimes, he had never treated him with such cruelty as Sunny's mother had. To be maimed and forced into servitude for her mother's "family" was… in some ways he couldn't find demented words that reflected that deplorable environment she grew up knowing. Perhaps in some ways, Neverland had been a paradise for her. This sweet gullible girl swept away by a boy, whose bread and butter were fabricating and bearing tall tales. But Peter Pan did nothing for free; that monster always had an agenda.

Healing Sunny repeatedly, for example. He could have taken her right away if he had wanted to spare her from suffering. No, he had played the game well. He had bided his time, gaining Sunny's trust. Spent enough resources until she, a battered teenager, had tunneled her vision of the world until it only revolved around him.

Peter this, Pan that. Neal's stomach squirmed uncomfortably when she spoke so highly of him. If only she had met someone prior to meeting Pan. She could have lived a different life.

"Have you ever loved anyone other than Pan?" Sunny didn't turn, or answer Neal quickly. Her shoulders tensed, her back hunched over as if choking down a sob. Once a minute had passed, all Neal could understand was a whisper.

"Perhaps once." Neal stared at the magical pool of water, a boy maybe sixteen or seventeen appeared on the surface. He had a tan complexion, perhaps of Asian descent. His hair was split into three Mohawks, and red in nature. His clothes were purposefully torn and fringed. His jewelry was outrageous and crudely fashioned, perhaps something the boy made himself. He briefly wondered what land Sunny had come from, if boys had dress in such a manner.

Another image shimmered across the surface, the same boy smiling, handing a club to Felix. Neal sputtered, "Was he a Lost boy too?"

But that hadn't lasted long. Peter Pan would never give in to the weak will of others. He- Peter paused, a freshness lulled over him. It was something he couldn't quite-

"And here I thought story time had ended?" Peter hadn't needed to turn around to see who had entered his shop. Only one soul in this wrenched reproduction of Storybrooke would dare to ask something of him, the Lord of the Underworld had decided to pay him another visit.

Peter smirked.

Hades glowered in return.

He had kept his distance from the demon boy, only to find himself in need of favor from him. A situation he never fathomed to be in.

"Pan."

"Business or pleasure?" Peter asked, while smoothing down his waistcoat. He had no desire to be in a pissing match with a God of Death, he just wanted to get on with his pathetic day.

"What have I done to be graced with your presence?" Only moments in his presence and Hades' head ignited in blue flames. "You felt it too." Peter surmised, referring the magical disturbance he had felt moments before.

"Would you be interested in a deal?" Peter's eyes sparkled with disbelief. Hades must be jesting at his expense. Hades counted the miserable seconds off until the boy understood the premise of his words.

"Another?" The boy smirked, "Interested in another story, are you?"

"Perhaps." Hades was reluctant in answering and falling into the clutches of this devilish boy's wiles. "Specifically about how you entrapped," Hades sighed before whispering her name, "Marcaria." Peter cocked a single brow, a tingling spread across his chest. Had he misheard? Had Hades asked his…

Pan was gobsmacked at the indication. A god was…Peter chuckled. He would entertain this inquiry for a price. He held his hand towards the god to which Hades acquiesced.

In all seriousness, Peter leaned forward, "First you stake out your competition. For me, his name was Rufio."

It all started the day she could hear voices. These boys, boys she didn't recognize, begging to leave the island.

She was the only one who acknowledged them. The other boys couldn't or wouldn't register the howling coming deep from with the forest. As she drew closer to the cries, the darker the forest became. She could no longer hear the rustling of animals in the brush.

And then she saw him.

"Rufio!" Sunny was barreling out from the dark underbrush, she paid no mind to the twigs and leaves stuck in her hair.

"Sunny!" He approached her with the same addictive vigor. She was smiling as bright, to others it was a disturbing sight, her mutilated smile showing the intricate workings of her teeth and muscles, but Rufio didn't see that. He saw the laughter and jubilation beneath her grin.

She clung to his arm excited bouncing back and forth. "Rufio, I can do something new!"

"Oh?" He indulged her, despite the seedy feeling developing in his gut.

"Yes, I didn't even realize it until Peter ask me what I was doing!" Rufio really didn't like the direction of where this was going. His smile turn downwards, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Where were you and Peter?" He slowly asked.

"The Dark Hollows." The pair's attention snapped towards Pan's voice. He had been watching him from above in the tree.

Peter watched Rufio's nostrils flare, green was an unusual color for his disposition. It amused him. "What were you doing there?"

Sunny took the chance to answer, shaking Rufio's arm again in enthusiasm. "I started hearing voices! And, and these voices, I didn't recognize them." Her eyes lit in excitement. "So I followed them. They drew me toward the inner part of the island."

Disappointed, Rufio asked, "You followed voices of people you don't recognize?"

"No. Well yes! I knew it wasn't a trap! No one was there! Nothing penetrated the darkness, no animals, not even the light. They were calling for me!"

"Them?"

"The shadows of those who died here." Rufio understood, any derelict who refused to cooperate and Pan's shadow tore theirs from them. Not many, but it had happen. "They were begging to be free."

"And what could you do?" Peter's lips split in a sinister grin making Rufio nervous. Whatever Sunny had done had pleased Pan.

"I handed them over to death!"

Rufio coughed, feeling his chest pinch and contort, "What? What do you mean? Gave them death?" She shook her head and hands in quick disagreement.

"Death, death the man who I've always seen. I thought he was an imaginary friend, because no one else can see him. He is Death!" Sunny could hardly contain her excitement, she was practically shaking Rufio.

He vaguely recognized the man she described. In her slumber, she mumbled about a man in billowing robes. Marcus had told him and Pan in confidence, wondering whether his sister was plagued with hysterics.

"How do you know?"

"Peter asked me to ask his name!" She frowned slightly, "Isn't it sad that he had to think about it? He almost forgotten his own name, he hadn't heard it in so long."

"Oh... is Death nice?"

"Yes, indeed. He is very kind, but very busy." She paused, her eyes catching another's. "Marcus! I have to tell you something, wait up!" Sunny barreled away from Rufio toward her younger brother. Rufio stood bewildered momentarily. He flinched to hear Pan jump from the tree to stand next to him.

"Sunny the seer of Death. Your plan went off without a hitch Rufio. You must be proud." His stomach turned over itself. It wasn't pride he felt, it felt like snakes slithering in his belly.

"What does it mean for her?"

"Two things really. One, I know who her father is, and two- She. Is. Mine."

Sunny's gaze turned cold, splashing the water in an attempt to disrupt the image. Seeing Rufio's smiling face brought a familiar throbbing to her chest.

"Who was he Sunny?" Neal was interested how sweet friend had fell in love with a monster. Was the boy before him responsible?

"You've never met him," she admitted, pain cradling each word delicately, "Did anyone ever tell you about Felix's brother…." She paused, a tight wheezing clenched her chest, thinking of him caused her great sadness.

"Do you want to talk about him?"

"No Bae. I do not." Rufio's death had caused a rift between her nature and her true self. She did some dark things in the wake of his demise. Something Bae wouldn't understand – not completely.

Neal sat down, stretching his legs out before him as if to get comfortable next to her. "Well we can talk about whatever you want." It made her lip quiver, she dropped her face to hide behind a wall of her hair, trying to dispel the overwhelming feeling of self-disgust. She had done such horrible things in her grief, and Bae would never forgive her.

It had been hours since the boys had lit the pyre. She could tell since the sky slowly darkened and the moon and stars began to shine brilliantly. She wanted to curse at the stars. This was not a night to burn bright. This was a night of mourning. Tears streamed down her cheeks as murmurs of despair left her crooked lips. It wasn't fair, none of this was fair!

"Save your tears, live your life." She stomped her feet, turning away like a pouting child.

Sunny mumbled furiously through her tears. How dare he-

"Macaria there is no reason- "

"How am I... supposed to live...without him!" She was struggling not to let a sob escape. Her appearance pained him, if she could fathom beyond his dark hood she would see the struggling pity seeping into where his eyes should be.

She had attempted to gather herself together before they had burned the body. Her neck was adorned with sea shell necklaces and her dark hair had beautiful turquoise feathers and silk ribbons woven intricately together. She wore the darker of her pelt dresses: It had been a sweltering day, but she had few complaints. Lastly, she had taken the time to gather a droopy flower that bore a sweet fragrance.

But now, her hair was tangled as if she was pulling at the ends. Her large bouquet of succulent flowers was wilting in her grasp and were laying limp in the crook of her arm. Her pale skin blotchy, but her eyes had reminded dearly of a ruined Christmas. The redness in her eyes made her green irises more prominent and defined in her sadness. He yearned to comfort her.

Death reached for her, "To love what I have touched, Macaria it's-" she jerked away glaring at what she thought had been her friend.

"You are going to lecture me on what you can do?" He reached his decaying hand out to comfort her.

She pulled away from him again... and again, feverishly shaking her head in anger.

"Don't touch me..." she kept putting as much distance as she could between her and- an immortal being that could pierce the veil anywhere… at any moment. He appeared before her once more, only for her to step forward, rather than retreat. She accepted his touch but regarded him in a way he hadn't seen. Disgust. Hatred. Revenge. Bitterness disguised her features in a way he would have never recognized. "I will make you regret ever speaking to me. I'll give you so much... I'll-just you wait."

"Next step, you end them," he told Hades a gleam of memory fresh in his mind, "But it is important, mind you…you cannot be involved."

He rolled his eyes, "Involved? Only the weak leave loose ends."

Peter agreed, "Yes you need the perfect diversion. And mine… well… had played their part well, even if they hadn't realized it then."

He knew who Hades had chained up and tortured, a familiar face, and a familiar scapegoat for Peter. Killian Jones.

Peter had her observing from a slightly slight distance. Today he had business with the swashbuckling pirate…whether he knew it or not.

Hook stood, narrowing his eyes – whether from the blaring sun or for the devil that had summoned him. Either way, Hook was none too thrilled with this jaunt.

Pan approached, a confident gait. "You disappoint me Captain."

Killian had prepared for this…disagreement, the last mission abroad entailed a hunt for something Pan dearly sought for, but a few run-ins with rum and the crocodile...well things ... had gotten out of hand to say the least. "Aye, but you knew this when the Jolly Roger returned. Despite this recent blunder, here my ship and crew are at your service."

"Pretty sentiments – but nothing more than false promises, captain." Hook could feel the ominous pretense in the boy's words. He could see the other boys were scattered among the beach front - while that unfortunate girl was spying from a treetop - it felt as if he was being set up for ambush.

Peter spied the Captain's hand inching toward the hilt of his weapon, to which he raised in brow in mock disbelief. Resulting in a terse glare from Hook, he knew the boy was inclined to seek retribution rather than talk it over.

"I will not be pawn in one of your games Pan. I've come to settle this matter with good form."

"Good form? What a laugh." A magic bean appeared in Pan's possession, "this what truly looking for, isn't it?"

Hook reaches for the bean, only for Peter to switch hands. Another dramatic puff of smoke and the bean in Pan's right hand had changed form, now a mere shell in his palm. Then the shell disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Hook was annoyed to say the least.

"I have no use for parlor tricks boy."

Peter opened his arms wide, gesturing to the island as a whole. "But can't you see, Captain, I'm full of tricks and games. But you-" Pan stepped forward leaning uncomfortably close for Hook's liking, "it appears as Childs play. For me, it's part of the rules. You will play by my rules and my games. I would be dull boy indeed, if I didn't see your words for what they are. You seek escape from my island, but Captain, dear Captain, you will leave when you have MY permission. And if it's a magic bean you seek, you will have to do my bidding or dare try to take one for yourself."

A challenge, Hook realized, the boy was offering a challenge.

Sunny slept very little that night. Her mind kept wandering back to her and Baelfire's conversation by the pond.

"Rufio." She whispered his name like a prayer. She had searched for him extensively in the afterlife, but she hadn't found him. Not once.

She desperately wanted to cleanse his death from her guilty mind.

Sunny could easily dub that day as one of few worst days in her life. The memory of his demise was still so fresh after all these years. That day's encounter with the pirates had changed everything. It had been all her fault. She had thought she was impervious to Death's devices, but her oldest friend had proved her wrong that day.

A flash of silver.

A bone-chilling scream. He pulled the blade from him.

A flash of silver.

A bone chilling scream. He pulled the blade from him once more. Silver stained in red.

The thump of a body.

Captain Hook wiping the bloody blade across his trousers. It was as if time was moving in slow motion.

"RUFI-OOOOO!" Sunny scrambled through the hot sand, tripping and slipping as she dodged various blades and hands that reached for her.

Red was dribbling from his mouth. A gurgle bubbling through his oozing chest.

Rufio, her heart cried. She dropped to her knees to help him.

The pearly white sand was sticking to his arms, his legs, and his hair. No, he was so proud of his hair. She began feverishly wiping the sand from his hair. "You'll mess it up." Rufio choked out, trying to push her hands away. Sunny let out a nervous laugh, he could barely hiss in a lungful of air. The mohawks were caking with the scarlet ruin pooling beneath his body, overwhelming the berry color he used to color his locks.

He began gasping as she cradled him.

"No. No. No." She pressed her hand against his chest, trying to stop the bleeding.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to carefree Rufio. Not the boy who rimmed his eyes with ash from leftover fires or braided necklaces from the bones of their meals. Not the boy who showed her how to overcome her adversity to rope swings and climbing large trees. Not him, not her friend.

The thick liquid was seeping through her hands.

It was futile.

Death was looming over the two.

His face was paling considerably in the dying sunlight. "Rufio please," she begged, "please don't go." She tried to wipe the tears clouding her vision, her face now marred in the ichor of her friend – "Please don't take him. Please don't!"

"I must Macaria. It's his time."

"But I don't want him to." Death nodded but leaned down to touch his head. "Please, please." And with Death's touch, Rufio became limp in her arms.

Her devastating wails were etched into the minds of all who fought that day. Pirates and Lost Boys alike, no one would forget the day that Sunny cried over Rufio's lifeless corpse. It was the last day any pirate of the Jolly Roger stepped foot on Neverland's soil.

"Love ruined her." The devilish boy smirked, "her love for Rufio died along with him. As Sunny crumbled into herself, she latched on to the one whom had lived for her." Peter gestured to himself. "I became everything that the dead couldn't be, and she became everything that I desired."

He cracked his neck before glancing over at Sunny.

Dead heroes were nothing to mourn for. He scowled, she was an unseemly mess crying over Rufio's body.

The other boys had given her a wide breadth, except for his second in command. Felix loomed over her shoulder. His slashed face mattered little as he stared down at his dead brother. His own wounds dripped blood down in an irritated fashion.

The swelling sadness began spreading to the weaker boys first, just as an epidemic would target the young. Weepy, pathetic tears, snot dribbling down their chins… disgusting. Peter had no time for it. He knew what would turn this tide of self-pity.

"It would be rude to forget our guests, boys," he stated, smiling wickedly. They had managed to capture three of Hook's crewmen as the cowards retreated. Two of the three were bound and gagged, pleading for their freedom, while the third was nearly close to death himself- the boys hadn't even bothered to tie him up.

Now, he had their attention.

He circled the frantic pirates, kicking sand into their faces. The two lucid ones plead and cowered, while the half comatose pirate proceeded to lose control of all body functions, pissing down the front of his trousers.

"What should we do boys? Torture them?" He stopped suddenly in front of one, causing him to fall onto his back trying to keep his distance. Peter turned to the boys again. "Spare them?" He began to circle the pirates again, until a voice finally broke from the crowd.

"No." The answer came in a whispering voice. The boys turned to the only one who could speak so surely. Usually the boys let Pan choose his option. Her scarred hands were seeping in the last of Rufio's blood, her hair momentarily obscuring their view of her.

"Speak up Sunny," Peter hissed. He wanted to make a show, to prove to the pirates what crossing him had led to. If Sunny wanted to interfere due to her womanly delicacies… she will rue ever interrupting him.

"No." She raised the tip of her chin upright snarling and angry. Her green eyes watery with tears. "Give no quarter Peter." The demon boy smiled, "Make them understand…Peter…that…they…will…lose."

She stared down at McKinley. He certainly had lived long enough to be an older man, but in this realm, he remained a younger boy. Slowly, he would grow into young man, although she would remain relatively the same.

Impartial and confusing, she had argued semantics with Death several times, only to accept a truth she didn't understand. But she didn't lament, she was given more time than an average person to spend with her son. He was the light in her eyes, the reminder of a beautiful truth, the love her and Peter once shared.

But... there seemed to be that impending... what if...What if her son grew to learn what his parents had done in their grief? What if he discovered that in that time of mourning his parents had decimated small factions of people who did relatively minor offenses against them?

Death for failing to ask permission.

Death for those who dared speak Rufio's name in vain.

Death because she felt like hurting someone else, instead of dealing with her pain herself.

So much senseless killing to punish Death himself. He dared take Rufio, she dared to take as many as she felt deserved so. A time in which she wanted to prove to Death, she was not the better part of him. She was vindictive and angry.

Love had destroyed her. Rufio's death had destroyed her, which made her fall head first into loving Peter.

Her life was devoted to nothing less than to the boy who loved her enough to live. A better part of a hundred years passed, and she became less angry, and less defensive. She grew quiet and meek once again. Any newer boys thought she was mute due to the communication barrier. Felix and Peter took care of what little things she needed to be said.

Peter had assuaged much of her yearning for destruction over that period. They had made many great things, great chaos, and great love. Focusing solely on Peter had brought her more joy that she knew what to do with.

And then... she coughed - her throat suddenly parched - a great sadness. She had to leave. Leave her love for another, her son. If the day every came, where he would learn the truth, she hoped McKinley would forgive her.

But tonight, she would appreciate her son's innocence.

"She trusted you entirely?" Hades sounded skeptical. Was his daughter's naiveté that apparent? Was love truly that blind in the world of ugly truths?

"Yes, and she followed my every whim and desire from there on out." Peter paused, his gaze affixed Hades with a sharpness. "Why are you here?"

"Because I wanted to trade banter about the women not in our life." Peter looked doubtful. "Well not in my case, soon I will be reunited with my love. All I need is your son to do so."

"Rumple?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Yes, the Dark One."

"I'm already dead how I-," realization crossed Peter's face, "Oh that little cheeky bastard. It's his blood you need then."

"Unfortunately, he is bringing a few… problems with him as well." Specifically, the savior. Hades hadn't anticipated that.

"Too bad you don't have someone who could take care of your problem for you. Sunny had always readily dealt with mine."

"Well look at you," the demon child circled around her. There she was, so broken. Her hair lackluster and unruly.

So despondent.

Her expression was numb.

And missing her wings.

She was now on her knees subservient to his wishes.

He stared at her like she was a freak exhibit from a traveling band of royal minstrels, with equal parts of interest and disgust. "How the destroyer of dreams has fallen. Here boys," he gestured towards Tiger Lily, "look at the wingless fairy trying to seek refuge in Neverland. And without my permission."

He tutted, in a ridiculing manner. "I am rather insulted. And here I thought we were such good friends."

Tiger Lily gritted her teeth. She did not know of this Peter Pan, but he did know of her. Her former life. Her powers. Her failures. Had she unintentional wronged this boy in another life?

"I hadn't meant any harm. I just want to live in peace," she admitted, hoping this small band of teenagers and boys would allow her freedom. She just wanted to live with her shame in anonymity. No one to remember the fool that she was but herself.

The boy sneered, his teeth ready snarl threats he no longer could hold. "You thought you would hide here, among the Olde Ones?"

She nodded her head slowly, while a worry began festering in her gut. His tone was ominous. She flinched at the rage in the boy's veiled stare.

"Mhmm... I thought you couldn't disappoint me much more. Peter Pan is hardly ever mistaken." He snapped his fingers, depositing 20 of the natives onto the beach front. Startled yelps and cries came from them as they were bound and restrained in a similar fashion.

"Now, now." He teased with mock reassurance. The natives knew the devil was going to torture them. Their cries and struggles became harsher and more desperate.

"Please, your displeasure is with me. They are my only family," Tiger Lily pleaded, she couldn't remember wronging this boy to receive such a terrible response. She had only failed one.

"Family, you say? I've only witnessed you tearing them apart," he stated. Her head snapped up in confusion.

Immediately, a name stumbled from her shocked lips, "Rumpelstiltskin?" Was this the boy she had failed to protect all those years ago? But there wasn't a wisp of Fiona in his features.

Suddenly, the island began to stir as the temperature quickly dropped. Pan's form became rigid and cross. The best years of his life had gone without an utterance of that name. His child, the child he abandoned.

The boys, especially the younger boys, began to cower in fear. Pan was undeniably angry when the fairy mentioned that name. Only Felix knew the implication of that name.

"Sunny," he snapped.

The boys parted only for delicate footsteps to reach Peter's side. A girl haunted with her own ghosts of her past. The natives shuddered once again, just from the sight of her.

Death. Death. Death.

Pan whispered in the girl's ear, the grimace overtook her monstrous profile.

His hand feathered through her braided and matted hair, his knuckles only stopping short of her chin. She sighed and acquiesced to his desires. They wouldn't feel any pain. They wouldn't feel much of anything... anymore.

"Please, don't hurt them." Tiger Lily pleaded. Peter nodded, encouraging Sunny to go ahead.

Ignore her weeping sentiment, his voice tickled inside her mind. Show them they are weak, show them that they messed with the wrong family. Lost boys, me, you... she stared at Peter with an endearing gaze…

"Make an example Sunny." She stepped away, and gracefully toward the prisoner natives restrained on the beach. An inkling of hate boiled beneath Sunny's normally docile features, quirking her mangled smile into a fiendish grin. In her eyes, the natives were interchangeable with the Jolly Roger's crew. They would die.

Death. Death. Death.

They were screaming at her, one tongue - in every tongue - pleading for their lives. She had to protect her brothers from them. This was for Rufio.

"No... no... NO!"

Peter leaned down, his teenage wiles darkening quickly as Sunny approached her victims. His devilish smirk seared itself into Tiger Lily's mind, "You run to escape your failures, but…" He pointed at the beach. The screaming lessened as bodies thudded to the sand one by one, "the past doesn't want to leave you."

The next morning, on the other hand, yielded some surprises.

"Sunny!" Neal went running through the weeds. "Sunny!" He was tripping over himself trying to find his friend. Something was happening. SOMETHING BIG was happening. "Sunny!"

Sunny smiled, hearing Bae call her in the distance. She opened a shutter of her treehouse, "Bae!" She called back, like it was a game.

She was ready for something... well cheerful. Neal looked winded by the time he reached her treehouse. "Sunny, Emma is going down to the underworld!"

"Did she die?" Sunny asked carefully... Bae shook his head. "So... umm...why is savior-former-dark-one wanting to go there?"

The situation was certainly intriguing, it had her heart pumping with excitement. If others could go to the underworld, perhaps others could get out.

"To save Hook."

Sunny stepped back, her excitement suddenly turned to ire. Neal's eyes widened in surprise; it was uncharacteristic for Sunny to have a temper.

"Captain Hook, as in Killian Jones?" She clarified in a chilling tone.

Neal recognized instantly that probably wasn't the best thing to say. Sunny, being an ex-lover for Pan probably had a checkered past with Killian. "We need to stop her, Sunny," he emphasized. Sunny shook her head in absentmindedly in agreement but was trying to process what he said in the last few moments.

"Death," she called, turning quizzically to her left, "would it be possible to relay a message while someone is sailing in between?" Neal had no idea who she was talking to, but that's not exactly what needed to happen.

"No, no." He patted his chest, Sunny paused, to regard him again, "Emma needs to hear it from me, if she doesn't... she'll think it's all a trick." Neal looked desperately between the spot Sunny kept looking to and Sunny herself.

"He says, Bae, go to your happy place and call out Emma's name three times. While she's in between, you will be able to talk to her." Neal nodded, "but you'll need to hurry."

She watched Neal charge toward the amusement park, probably on his way to find the yellow bug. She sighed. "Is it terrible that I want him to succeed?" Death remained momentarily silent.

"Not entirely."

Hades, in all, was vastly underwhelmed. Pan had kept his story and details rather…vague. But he knew this power play was purposeful. The boy was trying to invoke interest by evading the boastful remarks. Keep Hades wanting to know more, to ask for more… He wouldn't be played so easily this time.

What Hades didn't realize was he had given him all the information he needed. Living souls were coming to the Underworld, which meant living hearts were coming to the Underworld. Hearts that could free him of this wretched place. But Peter would require one… more… thing…

"Perhaps, I would like to strike a deal – a contract appeared suddenly in his hands – in writing this time. I promise not to harm Rumple, IF, your friend, who is older than time, sends a message to your only daughter." Hades knew who he spoke of but would not acknowledge it out in the open.

"Friend?" He gestured to himself, "You believe I have the luxury of friends? I am the king of the Underworld. No one here is worthy of my loyalty."

Peter's brow quirked up. "Is that so?" He dared to step closer, examining the god with a knowing smile.

"Who are you speaking to?" Peter had been watching Sunny's lips quirk and she addressed him happily.

"They have many names in many cultures," she looked at the nothingness beside her, as if trying to repeat words spoken only to her, "and most only know legends of deities or psychopomps. But Peter, I call him my friend."

Mildly amused, he played into Sunny's naivete nature, "And he is?"

"He beguiles me in times of loneliness, mourns for my pains, and revels in my happiness." Peter's brow's rose instantly as he watched Sunny reach past what he couldn't see. A barrier? It was as if… impossible, Peter thought. She pulled a decaying hand from across the veil, shocking him thoroughly. His presumptions were true. Her green eyes settled on Peter softly, "He is Death."

Peter swallowed down the excitement burning through him, "And you are to him?"

She turned staring almost lovingly into the direction of the invisible creature. Sunny smiled, happiness filling her eyes once more, "He says more or less, I'm the better part of himself."

The audacity of this smug little bastard, it took all of Hades self-composure to rein in his desire to maim Pan. He was rather limited on options: Rumpelstiltskin's blood was key to the portal he needed.

"Fine." He barked, snapping his fingers. His brand lined the contract line. "What is it?"

His viper smile consumed his face once more, it was almost too easy.

"Tell her…" the pure excitement tingled across his sternum. Not an exact truth, but something that would give her hope and enrage her father at the same moment. "I'll have her again."

"Macaria, my friend."

Sunny smiled. Only Death would greet her in such a formal way. She carried on, folding the laundry down from her makeshift clothesline. Death accompanied her no matter what she did, mundane or not.

"I have a message for you."

Her arms slowed, and she bit her lips anxiously. He usually told her whatever was on his mind. It was strange, like he was informing of her of something she might not like. He had never hesitated before.

"What's wrong my friend?" She reached for his bony hand, he only clutched his scythe tighter.

"I'll have you again." Death disappeared as her heart thumped.

Peter was coming for her.

Peter still loved her.

She watched the swirling waters beneath her feet. The memory revealed itself, the day Peter had expressed his true feelings for her.

"You believe that I need friends? No, no." An arrogant utterance. "Peter Pan needs no one."

She bit her trembling lip, dabbing at her tearful eyes. He knew where her mind wandered. She felt unloved, and in many ways still the same, wrapped up in the insecure thoughts that had plagued her, just as when he first found her. Sad, lonely girl. She was dependent on his affection completely. Affection she had earned over time.

"But Peter, I thought-" his hand held her head in place, forcing her immortal green eyes into his.

"Stop sniveling Sunny, it's unbecoming and, frankly, unwarranted."

She nodded. Peter never liked any trace of weakness, least of all from her. She admired his show of strength when she had so little. His fingers pinched harder, bringing her attention back to him as well as a mild pain spreading through her jaw.

"I don't need anything Sunny. And I want for nothing." A small lie on his part, but helpful in this aspect. "I already have you."

It almost had become an addiction to watch the water.

Would Peter appear?

Would... her father?

Would they appear together? The rhythm in her chest began to pound rapidly as she began to smile.

Peter had to have asked her father to pass along the message. Death only appeared to someone when they died, which many forgot. Her father, Hades, could summon Death at any time. Sometimes he would appear before something would even happen. He knew where he needed to be, even if it wasn't abundantly clear to her at the time.

After helping Bae to talk with the savior, she couldn't help but impatiently wait for them to come back.

Bae had told her that Emma's intentions were to SAVE Captain Hook. Sunny was mortified that she would want such a thing. Rufio's death... she...She just knew if Emma was successful, Peter and her would make her regret ever doing so. But Bae... she would keep that little bit of information to herself.

Suddenly the pool of water had changed in color, a red... She nearly flung herself into the water with excitement. The impossible had happen.

Her father stepped through with his true love and her daughter.

She went off to tell Bae the good news. She was going to finally meet her father.

STORYBROOKE

Hades stood adjacent to the window, admiring the small property that Zelena owned. Sparse of others, well isolated and possessing many protections that remained unused. She felt comfortable in her surroundings, something the others would soon take for granted. He would evolve the barb wire fence and aging farmhouse. It was meager, and surprising, but much how he would have imagined it. Soon it would be much more- he, they, would be more than any of those silly heroes would bargain for. And soon she would be able see it. He just had to set the traps.

He smiled, feeling a chill in the frigid air.

"My old friend, how nice it is to see you again." He raised his glass of scotch in greeting. Zelena was out trying to make failed amends with her sister, while the baby was swaddled up in the other room sleeping. She had trusted him to guard her, which he would do until the earth stopped. But he would make his stops around Storybrooke in the meantime. He placed his empty glass above the mantle, Death had always been a silent, solemn sort. Although today, he had brought a guest, someone who was delicate on their feet. "And whom might your friend be?"

A girl coughed, clearing her throat. The feminine tone liven him exponentially. "Papa?"

The horror, the beauty, the anger that cocooned him, swallowed him whole in that moment. Her feet were bare, an oddity in this temperature. Her dress was fastened of linen and pelts, another interesting choice. It held true to the freak show that demon child had claimed. He had scoured time and locations near the oceans trying to confirm the daughter Pan had spoken of. Her face was as ragged and unfortunate as he had seen in memory. The ire bubbled beneath his skin. No one would lay a hand on her again. But that didn't matter, it only tested true to her strength. His eyes met the auspicious green hue of his daughter's. Like emeralds sparking beneath sun. His newly beating heart, palliated hard against his entire chest. She was so precious, the sight of her- it had been a long time waiting.

"Macaria." He held his arms open inviting her in. She fell into his embrace easily, biting her lips to keep from trembling. She had finally found him.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, the very bedrock of Storybrooke shook in tandem climax with the pillars of Olympus. An ominous warning of the destruction to come. Both sides of death had been brought together for the first time. The world stood in silence once more, trying to equate for the new-found equilibrium. The love of a family, and the doubled strife of death: The gods were not pleased. Zeus stared down from the heavens, ever vigilant. Danger was imminent, and there was little they could do to stop it.

Their only hope was faith.

Their faith in people.

Their faith in their abilities.

Humans were flawed, but more powerful than they would ever know. They understood their humility. Their ability to love without profit and save others with sacrifice. Hard challenges lie ahead of the ones who loved their brother the most.

"I need you to do something for me." He whispered in his daughter's ear. Her arms squeezed a little tighter around his neck.

"Anything," she breathed. She would move the Earth leaps and bounds if he asked her so. She never wanted to leave the comforts of his arms. Her father, her father, had been searching for her all this time. Had wanted her! To love her in a way she loved McKinley. A way she had little ground knowing her own.

"Never leave me again." And like that, her happiness came pouring out like compromised floodgates. Her heart fluttered with boundless and ravenous joy. He smirked, resting his head against hers, holding her in his staunch grasp. His fingers were tightly pressed around her back that his could dive through her layers a skin and take ahold of her soul. She was clueless to what he had done and would remain that way until he possessed what he hungered so deeply for, power.