A Tale That Could Not Be

“These sails are going to rip!” Captain Hook called out to Sinbad. “Get men up to them now and tell them to keep an eye on any tears that may arise.”

Sinbad nodded and relayed the order. At once half a dozen crewmen ran up the shrouds and examined the bulging sails. A great wind had suddenly appeared and the ship was sailing so quickly that Captain Hook worried the sails would tear right off. The powerful gusts were beneficial in drastically cutting down time to the destination but it would all be for nought if the ship’s source of power was completely destroyed. Hook had spare canvas belowdecks but repairs would take time and he didn’t have enough canvas to replace all the sails.

Everyone had eventually managed to sleep after Tinkerbelle’s declaration and now that everyone was rested and energized, Hook had them working hard. With the fairy as a guide, Jack was not needed in the crow’s nest and instead helped monitor the sails. Sinbad relayed orders as a good quartermaster always did. Red and Cindy were cleaning debris belowdecks from the minor damage they had sustained in their escape from Arababyl. Belle had transformed into Beast and he aided the men patch up the damage to the hull belowdecks, his great strength aiding immensely in hauling supplies and pounding planks into place. Bigbad was up at the bow, nose to the air and ears perked high, scanning the air and the waves for any pirates or pursuing Noyran warship. Captain Hook was mostly certain that no warships pursued him but he had not become a skilled captain by taking too many chances. If Bigbad sniffed out any enemy he would let out a howl and the entire crew would immediately arm itself and be ready. So close to Selvina, Hook did not want to be slowed down by anything.

The wind, to Hook’s amazement, was constant and steady and kept Marjeneh’s Grace sailing ahead at a pace he had never achieved before. The ship’s speed was almost impossible to comprehend and, according to Tinkerbelle, if the vessel did not slow down it would reach the island in a single day.

As if the gods were on Hook’s side, the wind did indeed keep up for the entire day. Even Sinbad found it incredibly strange. “This rare eastern gale is carrying us across the water like a Swordanian sled dog. I’ve never experienced such a thing before, captain.”

“Neither have I, Sinbad,” replied Hook, glancing up at the massive sails and their rigidly taught binding ropes. The wind was so powerful that parts of the ship were vibrating and trembling, stressed to their limits. “If it blows any stronger I fear this ship will break apart.”

Sinbad looked up at Hook’s head and gave his friend a wink. “At least you smartly kept your hat in your cabin. I doubt even Jack would be able to retrieve it now.”

“Somehow I doubt that, old friend. That kid’s wanted my hat ever since he joined my crew. No wind in all existence would tear it away from him.”

Sinbad laughed for a moment before brushing long strands of hair out of his face. “If only he had saved my turban…”

Hook smiled but it vanished quickly as he noticed something on the horizon. Dark clouds formed a thick, black layer over the line between sky and ocean and brief flashes of lightning could already be witnessed. The storm was still miles away but spanned the entire western horizon, offering no hope of avoiding it.

Sinbad furrowed his brows in confusion. “That storm isn’t moving, captain.”

“Indeed. With a wind this powerful one would assume it could blow storm clouds away. How is that it can carry this ship like a leaf but that storm remains in place?”

“Could it be the storm creating the wind and perhaps dragging us in?”

“It would have to be an extremely powerful storm for that. This wind has been going on all day and we’ve covered dozens, if not hundreds, of miles already. No storm is that powerful.”

“No natural storm…”

Hook’s eyes hardened and the hands gripping the wheel grew cold at the thought. Was Rhiannon the cause of that storm? Was she sucking his ship into a vortex of destruction? Had she been so insulted by his attack on her that she was willing to pull every ship in the area into a massive storm just to kill him? He had heard rumors that she had cursed King Stephen’s child, Aurora, into a deep sleep for simply not getting invited to the celebration of her birth but there were many that believed that to be a tall tale. No woman, or anyone for that matter, was that spiteful.

However, Rhiannon was not just anyone.

Surely her focus must be on Sauradia, though, and not him. She had a war to oversee. Wasting her time on someone she had no dealings with would be foolish. Hook doubted that the woman that was personally responsible for the expansion of her vast empire would spend valuable time on pursuing him. It had no strategic value, and Rhiannon had proven many times to be an excellent strategist.

The storm was now almost upon them, shrouding the western sky in a pall of black. Forks of white lightning crackled and flashed against the dark wall, snaking their way from cloud to ocean or cloud to cloud. Thunder boomed and crashed, drowning out the roar of the powerful wind sailing Marjeneh’s Grace directly into the tempest.

The ocean thrashed and heaved from the storm winds clashing with the eastern one. Marjeneh’s Grace dipped low and slammed its bow into the side of a massive, mountain-sized wave, causing a tsunami to crash across the deck. Crewmen were dragged across the ship and some were thrown overboard. Jack held on to his perch but many of the other men were not as lucky.

Thunder like the sound of a tear in the very fabric of space blasted against Hook’s eardrums, dropping him to his knees. He heard a wailing howl and quickly stood up just in time to see Bigbad tossed overboard by a thrashing wave that smashed into the caravel’s starboard side. The entire vessel listed and threatened to capsize, forcing Hook to hold on with his life to the wheel. The wind blew in every direction but he ordered his men to turn the ship around anyhow. He spun the wheel as swiftly as he could but another mountain-sized wave slammed into the ship and shoved it on its side. Hook cried out in defiance as he held to the wheel with one hand, dangling in the air as Marjeneh’s Grace lay on the water on her starboard side. Crates, cannons, boxes, supplies, men, and anything that wasn’t securely tied down tumbled into the water, lost forever. Sinbad had jammed his sword into the ship’s deck and held on tightly but Hook could already see the blade slipping out of the wood.

“Grab my hand!” he called out as loudly as he could.

Sinbad looked up, grimacing in effort, and reached for Hook’s hand.

Hook’s heart beat madly and adrenaline rushed through him as powerfully as the storm all around him. He held on to the wheel with his wooden right hand, clamped down in an iron grip, and stretched his left arm as low as he could bring it. Sinbad’s hand was only inches away but his sword was barely holding on.

And then it let go.

Hook swung his legs out and Sinbad grabbed a hold of one just in time. His sword splashed into the water below, gone in an instant.

Struggling to keep hold of the wheel, Hook looked down at Sinbad and called out, “Can you see anyone? Do you see Jack and the others?”

Sinbad, his arms wrapped around Hook’s leg like a noose, gazed down the vertical deck of the ship. His eyes widened for a moment and then he nodded. “Beast has the others, captain! In his arms are Red, Cindy, and Jack. He is clinging tightly to the mizzen mast but they are all safe.”

All except Bigbad and the men that already fell overboard, Hook thought dismally.

“The fairy!” Sinbad shouted. “Captain, she is circling the vessel and covering it in golden dust.”

Hook glanced about and did indeed see Tinkerbelle zipping by so quickly she was simply a brief streak of light. She seemed to be circling the slowly sinking ship, surrounding it in golden light and the miniscule bits of dust she deposited with her passing.

Just when Hook thought he could hold on no longer, Tinkerbelle appeared by his ear and said, “This storm will bother you no more.”

Hook was immediately confused but within moments the ship began turning itself over, righting itself and eventually sitting on its keel as it should. Hook stood up and flexed his aching arm, readying to turn the ship out of the storm. He noticed then that the waves were no longer crashing against the sides. The ship wasn’t even bobbing in the water anymore.

“Captain,” Sinbad said as he peered over the edge of the ship. “You have to see this but you aren’t going to believe it.”

Hook hurried to the edge and looked down.

Sinbad was right.

He saw it but couldn’t believe it.

Standing before thirteen doors in a dark room far below the castle was Selvina, Wendy, Rapunzel, and Goldilocks. They glanced at each door in turn, wondering which one to go through. In the middle of the room was a pedestal with a bowl sitting atop of it, filled with water.

Alice stood off to the side, along with Hatter, Hare, White Rabbit, and the Cheshire cat.

“There was a time these doors would transport you to places all over Faeryum but the magic that created them has weakened and now they only take you on the island,” she told them.

“The fairies built them, didn’t they?” asked Selvina. Some of the reliefs and designs on the doorframes resembled the same types she had seen in Celustaria.

“Yes, and just as their numbers dropped so did the effectiveness of their magic.”

“Curse Pan and his wickedness,” grumbled Goldilocks as she glanced back. “The bloody bastard has to ruin everything.”

“Good at ruining things, he is, that one,” piped Hare.

“Yes, the very best,” added Hatter.

Off to the side, hidden in a dark corner, the cage keeping Pan imprisoned rattled lightly. One of the six guards surrounding it clanged the butt of his halberd against the side, causing the beaten Pan to jump in surprise.

“Why do we have to take him with us?” Rapunzel asked worriedly. “I’d feel much safer if he was in the dungeons somewhere.”

“I want Hook to have him,” Selvina said. “I know it’s dangerous but he’s caged and without any magic. Captain Hook has been sailing around forever for him and if anyone deserves to see him like this it’s him.”

“He can just come to Wonderland.”

“Have you forgotten how we got here? It’s not exactly the easiest thing to do.”

“I say we take him along,” Goldilocks offered with a shrug. “We can show him the shining sun, the glittering sea, the golden sand and everything that he’ll never see again. Besides, I’m hoping that Hook just runs his sword into him. I would take great delight in seeing that.”

“For such a pretty little thing, you do revel in violence,” noted Chesh. “I once knew a door mouse that was afraid of nothing. She had a most delicious tangy taste to her.”

Rapunzel and Selvina grimaced in disgust, Goldilocks grinned, and Wendy chuckled.

“If the beach is where you want to go,” started Alice, returning to business, “I suggest the seventh door.”

“That one will take us to the beach?” asked Selvina.

Alice shrugged. “Maybe.”

“What do you mean? Don’t you know?”

“The doors never take you to the same place twice. I just have a hunch that the seventh one will do the trick.”

“Alice always has good hunches,” Hatter said with a nod.

“But not as good as her lunches,” added Hare.

“Indeed. As a matter of fact, I have a hunch that today’s lunch is going to be a most delicious munch!”

“I’m so hungry I could go for brunch.”

“Perhaps it will be a toast with a light crunch and an orange bunch squeezed into a punch?”

“I prefer my toasts without a crunch, or they feel like clunch.”

“What in the world is clunch? Does it scrunch?”

“Ok that’s enough now, boys,” Alice said with half-lidded eyes and tight lips. “Seriously.”

Selvina approached the seventh door and put her hand on the knob. “Can I look through to make sure?”

Alice nodded. “You have to put some fairy dust into the bowl first. After that you can look through but it’ll change destination as soon as you close it.”

Selvina walked to the bowl, eyed her reflection in the water, and then produced the pouch of fairy dust. Squinting her eyes, she dumped a few pinches of dust into the water and watched it glow brightly. The reliefs around all seven doors suddenly illuminated with yellow light, eliciting a few gasps of wonder from the girls.

Selvina then went to the seventh door, turned the knob, took a deep breath, but didn’t open it. Instead she ran to Alice, gave her a quick hug, and said, “It was a pleasure to be here, Alice. I’ll miss you. I’ll miss all of you. Thank you Hatter, Hare, and especially you Chesh for all of your help.” She then bent down and hugged White Rabbit tightly, the shy little animal initially surprised but then hugging back just as tightly. “Know that I’ll always be your friend, White Rabbit. I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I’ll never forget you.”

White Rabbit sniffed back some oncoming tears and pulled away from the hug. “Be careful, Selvina. I will miss you…and worry about you…”

“I’ll miss you too.”

Alice nodded. “We will all miss you, Selvina. Now go! If Hatter and Hare don’t eat something soon I’ll end up going mad.”

“I find that insulting!” Hatter exclaimed with a huff.

“Do not speak to the general that way!” barked Hare.

“Wait, she is the general?”

“Who else would it be?”

“You said the general was a he!”

“I most certainly did not!”

Alice gestured to Selvina to move along. “Go! As soon as you all leave the guards will toss Pan’s cage through the door too. It was wonderful to have you all here and you all helped so much.

“Last night I was asked more times than I can remember if I was going to be queen. I never imagined being one and I don’t know if I really want to be one but it does make sense, in a way.”

“You’d make a great queen, Alice,” Selvina said sincerely.

“The boys are at it again,” Chesh said to Alice, pointing a paw to the back of the room where Hatter and Hare were wrestling about.

Alice sighed and gave the girls a quick wave before addressing her bickering friends.

Selvina exchanged glances with Wendy, Goldilocks, and Rapunzel, and then returned to the door. Without thinking twice, she opened it and walked through.

Marjeneh’s Grace was airborne.

The caravel was high in the sky, soaring above the black storm and making faster time than it ever could on the water.

“How is this possible?” Hook asked Tinkerbell for the thousandth time.

She replied with the same answer she had always given him. “Fairy dust! It’s the reason I can’t fly right now. I used it all on your ship. It won’t last forever but it should get you over this storm.”

Hook shook his head, careful not to knock over the tiny fairy perched on his shoulder. “A flying ship; this is absurd. It’s about as crazy as Selvina’s tales of flying tubes of metal with wings.”

“She never told me about those…”

Red appeared, looking understandably solemn. She stood beside Captain Hook and looked down at the raging storm below. “He’s down there, somewhere, swimming for his life…”

“Bigbad is powerful and capable, Red,” Hook said assuredly. “He’ll make it to shore, I’m sure of it.”

“I know he will,” Tinkerbelle said confidently.

Hook raised an eyebrow at her. “How do you know?”

“I just know,” she replied with a smug smirk.

Jack was up in the crow’s nest and was peering ahead, eager to reach Selvina’s location. Cindy was at the bow with her arms out and experiencing the rush of air across her body, excited and loving every second of being in the air. Sinbad watched over the crew as some of the men were terrified of falling and refused to work until they were back on the water. With a stern look and a word of warning he managed to get them to perform their duties but some were more stubborn than others. Beast was Belle once again and she was tending to any men that had been injured during the storm.

An hour or so passed with the sailing ship soaring across the skies undisturbed, before Jack leapt up in glee and shouted, “Land ho! Island ahead, captain!”

Nearly dislodging Tinkerbelle off of his shoulder, Hook rushed to the wheel and ordered the fairy to descend the ship back to water. The storm was behind them and the huge island was now ahead, visible to everyone. Tinkerbelle nodded and put her hands to her head, as if concentrating deeply.

With a violent lurch, Marjeneh’s Grace plummeted.

“SLOW DOWN!” bellowed Hook. “SLOW DOWN!”

Tinkerbelle, holding on to Hook’s coat with one hand, focused more deeply and the ship’s rapid fall eventually slowed. Not a moment later it splashed into the sea, huge walls of water rising up on either side for a few seconds before crashing down again. An island of jungle and mountains loomed ahead, within rowing distance.

“Captain!” Sinbad cried, pointing off to the side. “Pan’s ship!”

Captain Hook, his blood already beginning to boil, gazed in the direction of Sinbad’s finger and felt his muscles clench at the sight. Bobbing in the water, as calm as could be, was Peter Pan’s ship. It was less than a mile away and it would not take long for Hook to reach it. If ever there was a ship to sink it was that one. It was more heavily armed, however, and may pose a challenge. The fact that most of his crew was missing was not lost on the captain. If he engaged Pan’s ship now he would most likely lose.

“It is within reach and yet still too far!” Hook growled.

“Worry not,” Tinkerbelle said with a smile. “Help has arrived.”

Not a moment later, massive tentacles shot out of the water around Pan’s ship, rising up like fleshy spikes. Pan’s crew attacked them with musket balls and arrows but the massive tentacles didn’t budge in the slightest. Then, as quickly as they had risen, they stretched out over the ship and dropped. The tentacles wrapped the pirate brig in an ever-tightening tight hug and within moments easily crushed it to kindling. In the blink of an eye, Pan’s ship was no more.

Hook and Sinbad exchanged wide eyes and pale faces. They both knew of only one beast with such power. Only one beast in all the oceans could destroy a ship so swiftly and so effortlessly.

The Kraken.

“SELVINA!” Cindy shouted with all her might, effectively chasing away all of Hook’s fears and thoughts of the nearby Kraken. Hopping up and down with utter joy, the young teen was pointing straight ahead at the island. On the beach stood four figures beside a domed cage, eyeing Marjeneh’s Grace.

Still shocked, amazed, and confused as to what happened to Pan’s ship, Hook hurriedly ran to the side of the ship and loosed a rowboat. Sinbad aided him as Cindy, Red, and Belle hopped inside. Whether the Kraken saw Marjeneh’s Grace as its next victim was still on Hook’s mind but reaching Selvina had always been his top priority. Now that she was apparently within sight, the Kraken’s threat would have to wait.

“Jack, get in!” Hook said as he was ready to lower the boat into the water.

When no response came, he glanced back just in time to see Jack leap over the edge of the ship and land in the water with a loud splash. Hook smiled and continued to lower the rowboat. Had he been in Jack’s position, away from the one he loved for so long, he probably would have done the same.

Sinbad rowed the rowboat to shore as quickly as he could as Jack swam with all his might, his eyes on one of the figures. Hook, seated in the middle of the rowboat, produced his spyglass and smiled wider as he gazed through it. The group consisted of four women and one of them, the blonde, was indeed Selvina.

And the oldest of the group was…

Apparently, this day is full of impossibilities… Hook thought, completely flabbergasted.