“Yes,” Nibby confirmed. “We took Eirwen to Merman Lagoon to….” She trailed off looking at Joan and Michelle concernedly. She didn’t think it was probably a very good idea to let the little girls know they’d tried to drown their brother.

Petra shot a shocked, disapproving look towards Tinker. “Tink, we’re going to have words later.” She then turned her attention to the Lost Girls that had started to gather around them. “Now, listen up, Lost Girls, Eirwen is not a slaver! I brought him here from Earth…from a place called London, England to be our knight. But-”

“Our knight?” “Eirwen is a knight?” “He’s the Chosen One!” “Our Savior!” “The would-be King of Neverland!” The Lost Girls began to make excited exclamations that continued to rise in volume.

“I knew he was trying to say something important,” the pink-haired Tootles said softly to herself.

“I knew he wasn’t a slaver,” Slightly scoffed with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I mean, look at what he’s wearing. What kind of slaver goes around dressed in their nightclothes?”

The Lost Girls rushed over to Eirwen and surrounded him with apologetic looks on their faces. “We’re so sorry. We really had no idea!” “Will you ever forgive us?”

Eirwen put his hands up before him in a placating gesture. “Uh, it’s okay, really. I’m okay, so no harm done.”

“Please, forgive us!” the girls continued.

“Here, please take this as a token of our repentance.” Tootles placed a wreath of flowers around Eirwen’s neck.

Eirwen smiled at her. “Thank you-”

Suddenly, all of the Lost Girls were placing flower wreathes around Eirwen’s neck - not to be outdone by Tootles of all people!

“Ah, thanks, but I think I have enough flowers,” Eirwen said after the flower wreathes began to obscure his vision.

The Lost Girls giggled, and then guided Eirwen over to a log where they had him sit down. They continued to shower him with gifts. With an unnecessary dramatic flourish, Nibby presented Eirwen with a roast chicken leg. Slightly handed Eirwen a wooden tankard filled with mead. A girl with curly purple hair presented Eirwen with some kind of candied fruit. The Twins approached and started playing a merry tune for Eirwen on their matching pipes while dancing at the same time.

Nibby held up her hand-carved wooden tankard. “A toast! To our Knight - Eirwen Darling - who has come to save us! He has brought back hope!” There was a tear in Nibby’s eye.

The Lost Girls raised their tankards in unison. “To Eirwen!” And drank heartily.

“Ah, I’m really not-” Eirwen started to object uneasily before things got too out of hand.

“Eirwen, I don’t know if you realize how much this means to us,” Nibby was saying. “To have hope again. Tezcatlipoca stole our hope. We’re all dying, you see.”

“Dying?” Eirwen gulped.

All of the Lost Girls began to remove their brightly colored wigs. One by one, they revealed their matching bald heads.

Eirwen sucked in a shocked breath at the unexpected sight, and shot Petra a questioning look. She nodded grimly, and started to tell Eirwen the story of the Lost Girls. “I went to these girls when they were on their deathbeds on Earth. They were all dying from terminal diseases. I used the power of the Neverland Clock to turn their bodies’ time back to a time when they’d been healthy. After that, I brought them to Neverland. While the Neverland Clock’s time was stopped the girls were able to continue living here while not aging.”

“Brilliant,” Eirwen murmured, obviously impressed.

“There are rules I must follow though when it comes to using the power of the Neverland Clock,” Petra continued in a solemn tone. “I’m not supposed to use the clock to bring people back from the dead, for example. Only people who are sick or dying are allowed to be brought here. Because Neverland is a place that exists outside of time…there are certain rules that must be followed to preserve the balance here. Only people whose time has run out on Earth can be brought to Neverland. If a person from your realm who still has time remains on Neverland the delicate balance that keeps this place magical will be disrupted. The very existence of magic would be threatened.”

Eirwen’s attention returned to the Lost Girls. “They’re all just like me,” Eirwen realized to himself, speaking in a low voice. Their faces were the same as the face that stared back at him every morning in the bathroom mirror.

“Ah, bloody hell!” Eirwen ruffled his hair with both his hands, and then let out a defeated sigh. He looked up at the Lost Girls who were all giving him an expectant look. “Alright, fine. I’ll do my best to be this knight that you all need, but I make no promises that I’ll save you all. I’m probably going to fuck things up - big time!”

Tinker flew over and bit Eirwen right on the tip of his nose. “No swearing in front of the Lost Girls! Do you want to corrupt them?”

“Ow!” Eirwen complained as he rubbed the tip of his bleeding nose. “What are you, part piranha?”

Petra’s green eyes were wide as she stared at Eirwen. “Oh, Eirwen,” she sighed happily.

Joan was looking proud of her brother’s brave decision to try and help these people that were obviously in need of help. “That’s our brother alright. Eirwen, the hero.”

“Our brother is going to be a knight?” Michelle asked with wide blue eyes filled with awe. “Cool.”

Eirwen offered his sisters a crooked smile. He just hoped he wouldn’t let everyone down.

A warm ray of sunlight hitting his face awoke Eirwen the following morning. There was a slight throbbing behind his eyes. He felt so…exhausted and achy. He glared up at the wood beam ceiling. He was inside of a tree house in the Lost Girls’ Forest in Neverland.

Neverland.

He could still hardly believe the mystical island was real, and Petra Pan too.

Somehow, he’d ended up agreeing to be their foretold knight. A groan slipped past Eirwen’s lips at the remembrance, and he covered his face with both hands. What the hell had he been thinking?

Joan and Michelle were snuggled up against his sides on the bed, which was made up of soft green moss and leaves. It was surprisingly comfortable considering how primitive the bedding was. Eirwen’s lips dipped into a frown. He needed to protect his sisters and needed to get them home safely.

But after watching the Lost Girls remove their colored wigs to reveal that they were all dying of terminal diseases - just like he was - it was impossible to say ‘no’ to them when they were reaching out to him for help.

Looking at their hollow faces and the dark shadows beneath their eyes had been like looking into a mirror. Only their eyes were less ‘dead’ than his own. Their eyes sparkled with life and hope.

Hope.

He’d given them that hope, and he couldn’t be the ungrateful asshole who took it away. The Lost Girls had been kind and gracious enough to offer one of their tree houses for the use of him and his sisters.

Eirwen glanced around the interior of the tree house since he hadn’t really had a chance yet to check it out. It was incredibly well-made with a solid wood door and pretty latticed windows that had no glass. Flowery vines were twisted around the windows artfully. Piled on a small, round wooden table were all of the gifts the Lost Girls had given their ‘knight’ - flower wreathes, shiny, polished stones, weapons, armor, and clothes.

The sight of all those gifts made Eirwen feel incredibly guilty because…he was a fraud. He wasn’t the real foretold knight or would-be King of Neverland. He was just a gloomy young man who was out of time, and knew how to fence.

Making sure not to disturb his still sleeping sisters, Eirwen carefully got out of bed and made his way over to the pile of presents. He spotted a pile of carefully folded clothing that hadn’t been there before and smiled broadly. The Lost Girls had made him some clothes. “Thank God. I can finally get out of these pj’s.” Running around Neverland in sleepwear truly sucked.

Eirwen quickly stripped out of his pj’s and put the new clothes on. The Lost Girls had made Eirwen a dark green tunic with lace-up collar, brown leather pants, and a pair of brown leather boots with cuffs. He tried to adjust the crotch of his pants and was happy that his sisters were still awake. The leather pants were a little…tight. In fact, he’d never worn pants so tight before. He’d never worn the color green either. He felt a little like Robin Hood in this earthy getup.

On the table Eirwen noticed a thick brown leather belt with a scabbard attached to it. His eyebrows rose to his hairline when he realized it was a rapier. He grabbed the belt, enthusiastically buckled it around his waist, and then unsheathed the rapier in one fluid movement. He began to inspect the blade. It was solid steel, sharp, and well-balanced. The rapier was rather fancy with a jewel-encrusted pommel. It reminded Eirwen of sunken pirate treasure. Eirwen had the sneaking suspicion that Petra had ‘borrowed’ this sword from Captain Hook.

Eirwen sheathed the rapier and felt a little less vulnerable now in this strange land. He was incredibly thankful for the gift. Today, they were planning to travel to the Indian village. There, Petra would introduce Eirwen to Chief Pantera and request the opportunity to try and pull Excalibur from its stone. According to Petra the Indians were the only ones who knew the whereabouts of the legendary sword.

Eirwen wondered darkly if the Indians would see right through him and realize that he was nothing more than an imposter. He shuddered as a chill crawled up his spine. They were probably going to scalp him. He unconsciously ran his hand over his head.

At that moment, Petra flew into the tree house from the open window. “Good morning, Eirwen Darling!” She flew over to Eirwen and hovered in front of him, her jiggling cleavage pretty much right in his face. Before he could properly react she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him sweetly.

Eirwen grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back, a stern expression on his face. “Haven’t you ever heard of using the front door?”

Petra tilted her head at Eirwen. “Front door?”

Eirwen scratched his head. “Yeah, thought so.”

Petra tried to kiss Eirwen again, but he pushed her back. “Hey! Quit it, will you?” Eirwen concernedly glanced over his shoulder at his sleeping sisters. “What if my sisters see?”

Petra pouted and landed on the wooden floor, looking thoroughly put out. Petra’s gaze lowered and she caught sight of the clothes Eirwen was now wearing. She grinned wolfishly. “How do you like your new clothes? Nibby was up all night making them. She’s always had a flair for style. The Twins helped too. They made the boots.”

“Ah, they’re nice,” Eirwen said, smoothing his hands down the front of his new tunic in order to get rid of any wrinkles. “The pants are a little tight.”

“Really?” Petra questioned innocently before grabbing Eirwen’s shoulders in order to spin him around. “Let me see.” Her gaze immediately went down to Eirwen’s behind that was now tightly encased in brown leather. Petra felt herself salivate a little. Eirwen had a really nice butt. “I think the pants look perfect.” She raised her hands and her fingers were twitching like a cat about to grab a mouse. Petra couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and grabbing his butt with both her hands. “Mmm, yep, very nice.”

“Ack!” Eirwen yelped in surprise as Petra squeezed his ass cheeks. He spun around and glared at Petra angrily. “What are you doing?”

Petra blinked her green eyes innocently at Eirwen. “What? I was just checking the fit of your pants. I should probably check the front part too.” She glanced down at his crotch, and a mischievous smile started to curl her lips.

Eirwen followed her line of sight and his eyes bulged. “Don’t give me that bollocks.” He grabbed Petra’s wrists in order to restrain her and stop her lewd pawing. Petra giggled madly as she struggled against him. Perverted little minx! Eirwen thought to himself in exasperation. “Will you cut that out? You know, this kind of behavior is extremely unladylike.”

Petra pouted. “How about a kiss then? I like kissing.” She pursed her lips and leaned forward. “Mmm!”

A muscle ticked beneath Eirwen’s eye in irritation. “No. No kissing! My sisters are in the room with us, you know?”

“You kissed me before,” Petra reminded.

“That…that was a momentary lapse of judgment,” Eirwen said evasively. “It won’t happen again.”

All the commotion between Eirwen and Petra ended up waking Joan and Michelle. The two girls caught sight of Eirwen and Petra ‘playing’, smiled, and got out of bed.

“Good morning, brother, Petra,” Joan greeted their host politely and with a cute little curtsey.

Michelle got out of bed more slowly and reluctantly, rubbing sleep from her wide blue eyes. “Good morning, brother, Petra Pan…”

There was a purple squirrel perched on Michelle’s shoulder that Eirwen hadn’t noticed before. He frowned at it suspiciously. When had she gotten her hands on that unsanitary rodent? The squirrel chittered at him in greeting, and its purple and blue striped tail twitched behind it back and forth in an excited manner. Eirwen shrugged helplessly. Whatever. Neverland.

“Morning, girls,” Eirwen greeted them and ruffled their heads affectionately, making their sleep-tousled hair look even worse. “Go wash your hands and faces. And then we’ll have breakfast.”

“Kay!” The two little girls skipped off to a porcelain pitcher filled with water and that was sitting on a small table. Next to the pitcher was a large, white porcelain basin that Joan carefully started to pour water into. Apparently, that setup was the Lost Girls’ solution to not being able to have plumbing up in their tree houses.

Petra was giving Eirwen a wistful look. He was reminding her of a ‘father’ she’d brought to Neverland long ago…

“What?” Eirwen questioned when he noticed Petra staring at him.

“You act like their father,” Petra said casually.

Eirwen watched as Joan and Michelle washed their faces diligently. “Our parents died in a car crash three years ago. Joan was five at the time and Michelle was only one. I’ve raised them since then. All we have is each other. I’m all they have, and…” Eirwen cut himself off, not wanting to finish that sentence when Joan and Michelle were so close by and could overhear him.

Petra followed Eirwen’s line of sight to the girls and her eyes widened with realization. “They don’t know.” She placed a comforting hand on Eirwen’s shoulder. “I don’t remember my parents. But if my father had been more like you he probably would have protected us from the slavers.”

Eirwen arched a quizzical eyebrow at Petra. “Us? Slavers?”

But before Petra could respond Joan and Michelle ran over to show Eirwen that their hands were clean. “Our hands are clean! Can we eat now?” Joan questioned.

“Yeah, let’s go get some breakfast, kids.” Eirwen took their hands and started to walk towards the front door. He shot Petra a concerned glance over his shoulder though. He’d have to talk to her more later about what she’d mentioned about slavers.