Chapter 11
The Everything Plant was unlike anything Maggie had ever seen.
There were things that were relatively unique to the human world – peacocks being one.
But none of them would shock a Neverland-native into silence, or send a chill of excitement down their backs when they first lay eyes on it.
Nothing in the human world rendered such awe or wonderment, at least there was nothing that Maggie was aware of.
Everything in Neverland was worthy of shock and amazement, but out of all the things Maggie had the chance to see so far, they all fell quite flat and boring in comparison.
Close enough to the treehouse to be an easy source for food but far enough away to be left undisturbed, the Everything Plant rested over a hill, beyond a narrow forest of thick maple trees.
Following the path towards the plant meant not catching a single glimpse of it.
According to Peter, one could only see it after making the journey through the dark rows of trees.
On the other side, well, he decided to leave that bit up in the air.
As Maggie followed a comfortable Peter through the dark and shadowy wood, she peered into the treetops, expecting to see the shimmering sparkles of fairies. All of the trees were full of them around the treehouse, it only made sense for even more to find better homes near the Everything Plant.
But the treetops were quiet and dark, simply blocking out the falling afternoon sun.
Maggie peered at it until she was stumbling over roots and fallen branches.
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Peter whipped around with perfect timing, hooking one arm around the middle of her back and steadying her feet.
The look on his face was certain and even, the same twinkle of the fairies resting in the bright color of his eyes.
Maggie felt lost within his gaze longer than she wanted to, stuck and unable to even mutter a word of thanks.
Peter let his arm fall away, the smile gentle against his lips. “Careful now,” he murmured. “You haven’t even seen the best part.”
With her eyes no longer stuck to the skies, Maggie followed closely to Peter’s heels through the rest of the thick forest. Every so often he produced a blade from thin air, it seemed, slashing daringly through fallen vines and wilting leaves.
The bushes and thorny batches quivered easily beneath his touch, clearing the path in the matter of seconds.
Maggie imagined herself to be a character in a storybook, following her dashing guide through the wild unknown, tracking down an unbelievable discovery, or buried treasure forgotten long ago.
The thought swept her away and the same feeling she had when her magic flourished rushed through her veins.
She glanced at her hands. Peculiar. It felt just like magic.
“Peter,” Maggie called out as they began to trek uphill. The maple trees still blocked out the sun, but she kept smelling something salty on the wind. It was oddly nostalgic, though she couldn’t figure out why. “How magical are the Everything Plants?”
“More than I know,” he replied, throwing the words over his shoulder.
He reached the midpoint, where the trail grew steeper and sharp with protruding old roots.
Using a crooked tree as a sort of ledge, Peter hooked one hand around it while reaching for Maggie, the loose earth beginning to crumble beneath her shoes.
“Some old stories say that it came before Neverland itself.”
Focusing on his words and not the idea of falling down the ragged hill, Maggie eagerly snatched his hand and strode forward, relying entirely on his guidance to pull her up the rest of the way. In an instant, Maggie rested against the tree beside him, his shadow falling across her like an embrace.
“And what do you think?” she asked.
Peter looked down at her, eyes squinted. “It was here the day I came to Neverland, and according to the creatures who came before me, it had always been there.” He lifted his shoulders. “Says something about its age, doesn’t it?”
“But a plant can’t make all of Neverland,” Maggie blurted. “Can it?”
He smirked. “For a magic wielder, it seems you lack the faith needed to truly believe in it.”
“I believe in it!”
Walls erupted all around Maggie’s mind in an instant.
Her voice reeked of defensiveness, but she could hardly tell where it came from.
Why would a tease like that trigger her in such a way, make her angry and incredibly self-conscious at the same time?
She wished to turn away and hide her face, hide the obvious expression and irritated red hue that was sure to follow, but there was nowhere for her to go.
The opposite direction would be the way back down, and she could hardly do that.
“Why don’t we keep going?” Peter’s voice was kind and gentle, but Maggie couldn’t help but wonder if he sensed the change in her, if he felt the insecurity she couldn’t hide. But, graciously and reassuringly, he simply kept going forward, his hand holding onto her own.
Maggie followed silently behind him. The final trek was steep but not as it was before, and she managed to catch her breath along the way.
In the back of her mind, Maggie wondered about how much magic she truly believed in, and how easy it was to think none of it truly existed.
The world around her felt as though it had been plucked out of a fairytale, but resembled something like home at the same time.
It was just as much familiar as it was entirely new.
The feeling haunted Maggie, resting upon her shoulders like an old friend.
Every bit of her wanted to sink into it, to ignore everything she left behind.
But that was her dream.
Everything left behind was her dream.
Maggie kept walking with a newfound determination. The Everything Plant would be healed, one way or another. Making sure her eye never caught onto Peter, Maggie moved till she could release his hand, and climb over the final push of the hill.
On the other side, the trees thinned out into narrow stalks with a few green palms erected from the top.
Patches of grass followed the path forward, until it entirely thinned out and made way for pearly buckets of white sand.
Beyond the tall treetops of the maple trees, directly in the eye of the falling sun, were the Everything Plants.
Maggie walked forward as though she had been caught in a trance.
It was a thing of beauty, a thing of wonderment.
Any speculation of it being nothing more than a simple plant went out of her head.
There was nothing familiar about it. Beneath the sunlight, the leaves and bark and petals flashed a series of different colors, catching onto the rays in spectacular ways.
The entire rainbow displayed across the sand as Maggie got closer, her position changing the shade she saw.
It was like an art show, created just for her.
Nothing about the plant gave off the impression of sickness.
Botany was a nice pastime for Maggie a decade or two ago, but she kept up the passion nevertheless.
Recognizing disease or sickness within leaves was easy to spot, but the Everything Plant was as healthy as it could be.
There wasn’t anything out of place. After crouching along the sandy floor and spending some time along its thick stem, Maggie rose to her feet and brushed the sand off her as she approached Peter.
“Has anything changed in the plant’s environment?” Maggie asked. “Before it stopped producing berries, I mean.”
Peter pressed his lips together. Looking over the series of Everything Plants living alongside the shore, his eyes narrowed as recognition began to pass over his face. “The fairies used to call this place home.”
Maggie snapped her fingers together. “I knew it!”
“You didn’t say anything,” he said with a light laugh.
“No, no,” she murmured, one hand resting thoughtfully beneath her chin as she paced. Ideas ran amongst in her head, the energy from the beach almost humming in her ears with anticipation. “It was a hunch. The forest surrounding the beach looks like the perfect spot for them.”
“Most of them lived in the Everything Plants,” said Peter, one finger pointing to them.
Maggie’s brow furrowed. “Really?”
“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “For a really long time until something drove them away, though I’m not entirely sure what.”
She followed his gaze towards the Everything Plants. “Fairies living in the plants,” she whispered. Something clicked in the back of her mind. “Peter, is it possible that the fairies gave the Everything Plant magic?”
Peter looked up. “Gave it magic?”
“I mean,” she waved a hand through the air, “made them stronger, healthier, able to produce more berries? The plants might already have some magic inherently, but would it make sense that the fairies were the ones to really strengthen it?”
He remained silent for a moment or two, thinking over the theory. Finally, after a few tense minutes, Peter snapped his fingers at her. “I think they would,” he said. “All the trees surrounding the treehouse have been stronger since they moved in.”
“We need to know why they left,” Maggie said, filled with a growing determination, “and give them enough encouragement to welcome them back. You can help them, right? As the King?”
Peter’s smile turned proud and smirking, one brow beginning to strike up like a lightning bolt. “Well, of course,” he cooed dramatically. “The Queen of the Fairies would be the one to see about that.”
“Can we go now?”
He flourished a hand forward. “I thought you’d never ask.”