until your last breath;;

"I wish I could give you an answer," She finally responded after a long moment of silence, her gaze looking out over the waters. "But unfortunately my guess is just as good as yours. Nacre is Nacre, irritating or not." Pearl laughed. "But what about you? We always seem to get onto the discussion of my brother and we hardly know anything about one another."

Dark Twisted Neverland by thearticmnks

I. come little children - hocus pocus // II. twinkle twinkle little star - dead space // III. counting Bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums - a perfect circle // IV. gods and monsters - lana del rey // V. smells like teen spirit - 2cellos // VI. dark paradise - lana del rey //  VII. mind heist - zack hemsey // VIII. kill of the night - gin wigmore // IX. the fantasy - thirty seconds to mars // X. requiem for a dream - clint mansell // XI. sweet dreams - marilyn manson // XII. run boy run - woodkid // XIII. i will not blow - breaking benjamin // XIV. iron (instrumental) - woodkid // XV. thank you for the venom - my chemical romance // XVI. pyrse of varanasi - thirty seconds to mars // XVII. spectrum - florence and the machine //  XVIII. depuis le debút - thirty seconds to mars

"I wouldn’t miss Binky if I lost him.I wouldn’t be alive," Duke said simply, moving forward, "Come here."

Her gaze wandered over Duke's face studiously as if she were taking in every detail of him, trying to rationalize what it was about him that Nacre was so hellbent on destroying. There was a kindness there, behind his dark lashes and taunt expression, and without a doubt in her mind Pearl was absolutely certain that's what it was. The blonde seemed to relax then, her body sinking in to his as she wrapped her arms delicately around his neck, leaving enough space so she didn't seem come of as suffocating.

"He's jealous of you." Pearl's voice was barely a whisper but still as sing song as ever as she gazed thoughtfully upon him. "Of what you have with Binky. He doesn't like having to share."

At their beginning, there was Pearl.

She had dimples and a voice like palms swaying in the breeze, like the whisper of the wind over the water. And when she laughed, it was infectious. She laughed often, in those days. Nacre made her laugh, in those days.

(Endless years later, these bright, hazy days will be what Nacre remembers when Pearl is crying at the bottom of the ocean because she’s aching with loneliness and loss. We wanted for nothing, he wants to scream at her. We had everything. Then you got greedy.)

Piper was always swimming against the current. She was also isolated, not well liked by the other mers. Nacre saw this, and couldn’t resist the idea of her being indebted to his friendship. And as young mers, she was useful as a buffer when Pearl and Nacre fought (“Piper, tell Pearl that just because she has breasts now—” “Just because you don’t—” “And Piper, tell Pearl that I’ve lost my appetite and she can eat my share. I hope she gets fat…”) But Piper was never on the same wavelength as Nacre and Pearl. At night, they slept wrapped so thoroughly around each other that it would seem like they were one creature of silver, gold, and blue. They never wanted for anyone or anything but one another. But then, in those days, Neverland was a place of adventure and light. As young mers, it was their new world of promise. 

Pearl was in awe of the sight of them. Mesmerized by the way their legs carried them across the sandy beaches with such ease and a grace that was, in itself, beautiful. The men with their thick torso's that gleamed with beads of sweat beneath the scorching sun, and the women who concealed themselves beneath heavy clothes where Pearl was otherwise bare and unabashed. They were so exquisite and Pearl ached in places she had never known existed upon herself as she hungrily watched them from where she and her brother sat hidden behind a rock.

"Brother." She spoke softly. (For back then Nacre was not Nacre, he was simply Brother, and Pearl was simply Sister even despite the fact that they very well knew their new names as mermaids.) "Brother look at them!"

The blonde craned her neck, and shifted further out from behind the rock as to get a better view. She was so entranced by the humans that she seemed almost entirely unaware of the way her brother possessively watched her. "Look at them." Pearl's heart fluttered within her breast, and her cheeks were rosy and aglow from the heated flow of her blood. She wanted them, wanted to sing for them. To be seen and adored. Piper would never believe this! Poor Piper, still so on her own. Pearl was so grateful she had Brother, but at this moment Brother was forgotten and Pearl ached with an unknown longing that consumed her like the sun consumed the skies.

She leaned back then, her gaze once again meeting his as she spoke, "You're wrong about Nacre though. He wouldn't care. Why do you think he so adamantly disobeys you at every turn when it comes to Binky? Nacre...would miss me like one would miss a prized possession, but not as one would miss a sister. Not like you would miss Binky if you were to lose him. My...brother...doesn't understand the concept of sibling love. All he understands is the need to own what he can't have, and instead he has the things he already knowingly owns. Like me." Pearl shivered at the thought.

You wouldn't really stab me would you?

The sea above him was burning and the whole world seemed to be made of chaos, pain and fire. He saw the water shone in orange, yellow and red, his mouth opened in a soundless scream no one was going to hear. And in a beautiful irony, he was drowning. The sea was pulling him down and down and down, protecting him from the fire and in the same time, taking all the air of his lungs and killing him slowly. He didn’t remember how the fire started. He didn’t remember how he fell to the water. He only remembered the flames dancing in the skin of his arm and legs, heating his face, destroying him, and how the fire kissed him gently, having pleasure in his ruin.

Father, he cried, Father, I’m here. Save me, save me, save me, save me.

Instinctively, her body of its own accord had unfurled and was now pushing her, thrusting her towards the faint beat of a heart that murmured with panic and pulsated to the beat of a dying drum. The closer she got towards the surface, the more illuminated the still waters became, and in the stillness could she very faintly make out the figure of a man, falling faster and faster away from the haze of the world above, which was aglow in unfamiliar colors.

Pearl watched as in the dim light, the figures throat constricted and bubbles burst forth from his lips exhuming what little air he had left, and in her own panic she made to call out as if she were on land, her lungs filling with the cool water with no ill effects, before she realized that he wouldn’t hear her. In her mind, she was adrift in a memory, caught in a storm of emotion as she recalled a similar situation which had taken away from her the only good thing in her life, and she knew without a doubt that at any cost she had to save this man from drowning.

The mermaid moved in a frenzied blur, blonde hair cascading around her like a cloak caught in the wind, as her arms snaked around the man’s chest, and pressed him tightly to her side. He was so heavy, and the weight of his water logged clothes seemed to pull against her like an anchor attempting to fall into the abyss. Even as she worked, her fin aching painfully, burning at the exertion of her muscles she was afraid that it would be too late and he would be dead before they reached the surface, which still seemed so far away.

Pearl’s gaze looked around the darkness, searching for help but she knew that her brother and Piper were back at the lagoon where she had left them, and she was on her own. Her mind was racing, a blur of thoughts and she wasn’t sure what to do and with every second in her indecisiveness this man’s heart was beating slower and slower. Deep down, Pearl knew that there was only one thing to do and while it wasn’t exactly something she wanted to do, she had no choice.

[He wrinkles his nose. When he flips his hair, it’s with finality. This is his final word on the subject. Suddenly, he says:]

Piper. Would you be a dear and fetch me that orange starfish down there? Just under that rock. You can see it from here. I’d get it myself but… the wounds on my back just hurt so.

[Piper sighed and nodded, moving from Pearl’s nimble plaiting and reluctantly slipping into the water.] Right, you back.

Oh....Duke. Yes, well. I did say he was quite a comely boy didn't I? It wasn't too long ago. He thinks I'm pretty, I'm most certain. The way he just couldn't seem to take his eyes off of me with that hunger of his and with that smile...he has quite a smile. Strong lips...they seemed pretty capable. There wasn't much talking about anything in particular though, he seem quite interested in other things, if you know what I mean.

[The mermaid batted her lashes and lowered her face, smiling to herself with a sigh, just waiting for her brother's reaction.]

Nice? I’d be so disappointed if he turns out to be just nice. 

[He remembers thinking “just like me,” as Duke had him by the throat.]

He’s more than nice. In fact he’s completely amiable, far too much so to attack. Much like that wanderer boy - Gideon? He seems like someone Nacre could spare. He’s surely handsome enough.

[Piper tilted her when she mentioned him, remembering his freckled face and long stature. He was absolutely gorgeous, not someone she was likely to let Nacre destroy.]

I like Gideon. I would say he's pretty but I've been calling too many boys pretty lately. Is it just me or does this desolate island seem to have more than it's fair share of attractive people?

[Pearl sighed and began braiding the other girl's hair, glancing under thick long lashes at her brother with a wicked smile.]

I wonder how that happened?