WARNING PLEASE READ: This chapter includes violence, torture and mentions of blood. Please read with caution. If this is too much for you, i'll put a warning sign [.] before and after the scene for you to skip it.

Blood curdling screams were pelted one after the other at a bone-chillingly shrill volume across Pan's division of Neverland. The sounds of desperate pleas and agonising torture reverberated through the Lost Boys' treehouses, making them constantly flinch or block their ears with their eyes squeezed shut. They were certain it was Pan's doing, and in a way, it was - but in truth, the truth no one knew, was that the captured Indian was being tortured at the hands of sweet, kind-hearted Metanoia.

The demonic, lunatic boy standing a few feet behind her, marveling at Metanoia's brutality with an impressed smile, had once again managed to infiltrate her mind and pinch it, nudge it towards doing his bidding. He'd successfully manipulated her, using taunts and hurtful jabs to trigger open Metanoia's deepest and darkest desires of a gruesome vengeance, so horrifying that it would make her victims beg for death.

His words kept repeating in her mind on a constant loop.

'He forced you to the ground so Tiger Lily could burn your flesh, Metanoia.'

'He kept you down as you struggled against him while she pushed the hot coals deep into your skin.'

'He treated Jeremy like a filthy animal, shoving him and hurting him and forcing him to the ground as he was dying.'

'He played a massive part in the murder of your close companion, Metanoia.'

'Jeremy is dead because of him.'

It was too much for her to fight against. She couldn't bare listening to Pan's manipulative mind control without her seeing red, and her nerves craving violence and payback for all the pain she'd been through. Payback to avenge Jeremy. Payback for all the Lost Boys who lost a dear brother. She was doing this for everyone's sake.

[.]
Or at least, that's what she thought. All Metanoia wanted to do was to rip that man to shreds until he was no longer identifiable. She plunged her blade further into the man's stomach, causing him to scream shrilly, the tears rolling down his cheeks profusely, and Metanoia smirked sadistically.

"Still don't feel like talking?" She asked sweetly, twisting the knife in his body and causing him to scream even louder.

"Answer me." She spat venomously, and Peter raised a single brow at her authoritative tone.

She pulled out the knife agitatedly, and Pan quickly healed the man with his magic before he could look into the light and leave his body behind to die. The man whimpered, kicking his feet against the dirt while his wrists kept chained against the sturdy bark of the tree.

"Please." The man begged hysterically. "Please. Not again. Please. Please. Please!"

Metanoia grabbed his face aggressively to force him into looking right at her unforgiving face. "Did you listen to me as I begged for Jeremy's life?"

The man sobbed, and Metanoia shot him a disgusted look. "I don't think so."

She moved back, before revealing the blade again, ready to inflict more torturous pain upon him, but he screamed out quickly.

"No! I'll tell you everything you want to know - just please - PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"
[.]

Suddenly, Pan's hand was on Metanoia's shoulder, and in that precise moment, he dropped the manipulation from her mind, and Metanoia blinked. She was dazed for a moment as Pan shoved her back, and he took her place, talking lowly to the Indian guard. Metanoia's confused eyes traveled down to her body, and they widened in sheer horror. Her clothes were splattered with blood stains, and her hands were practically coated in them. She gasped upon noticing the knife clutched in her palm, before she dropped it immediately to the ground with a loud gasp.

What had she done?

She snapped her gaze over to the back of Pan's head.

"What is Tiger Lily planning?" Pan demanded, and the guard panted, attempting to regain his breath.

"She's ... she's planning to visit King Trident. She believes he could be an ally." The guard confessed, his voice cracking painfully.

Pan's shoulders tensed and his jaw hardened angrily. "Is that so?"

The guard gazed at Pan's face helplessly.

"When is she planning to meet him?" He asked stonily.

When the guard slowly shook his head, Pan aggressively gripped the man's jaw and squeezed, using his supernatural strength to crush his jaw. The man screamed horrifyingly, before Pan let go of him abruptly and watched him weep.

"When?" Pan growled threateningly.

"She didn't specify a day!" He sobbed. "All I heard was she would do it when your division's at its weakest."

Pan's brows dulled, casting a daunting shadow over his malicious eyes as his darkened gaze flashed dangerously with a predatory instinct to go for the kill. The guard gulped at his threatening sight looming before him, and so he specified, his voice trembling violently.

"She'll meet King Trident on one day of the week of the Blue Moon."

Pan's nose twitched in fury, before he let go of the man harshly, the guard's back of his head aggressively hitting the back of the tree. Breathing deeply to regain his composure, Pan lifted his hands, and slowly enchanted the guard to heal all his wounds, wipe his memory, and render him unconscious. Snapping his fingers, the Indian guard disappeared from sight, transported by Pan straight to Indian territory, where he wouldn't remember a thing from his torture and deceit to Tiger Lily.

"How dare you?" Metanoia demanded coldly, and Pan was momentarily surprised that she was still standing right there behind him as he slowly turned to face her. He knew she would be furious. He was well aware of the violation he'd sinfully committed himself to by penetrating her mind and stealing her free will and contorting it into an artfully sadistic form of manipulation to have her do as he pleases without her knowing it.

He stared at her blankly, before he mundanely replied, "How dare I what?"

Metanoia's face twisted in repulsion towards him, before she took another step towards him with an unshakable fury resonating and building up inside her.

"You used me." She spat in disbelief. "You - you manipulated me!"

Pan blinked. "And? Why does this shock you?"

Metanoia growled, clenching her fists and taking yet another step forward. "I thought you'd have some form of respect towards me by now after knowing exactly who the hell I am, enough to not rob me of my consciousness and free will."

Pan's jaw ticked irritably. "You weren't going to do it, were you? You're weak, and disappointingly pathetic."

Metanoia lips pursed and her eyes flashed dangerously, before she lunged forward and shoved Pan as she screamed in frustration, her emotions propelling her unpredictable dormant magic outward and, unsuspecting of her triggered magic, for once, Pan was pushed forcefully back by an invisible force, but he was quick enough to weaken the impact it had on him.

His eyes were slightly widened now, and gazed at her intensely, with Metanoia glaring viciously at him.

"I'M NOT YOUR PUPPET, PAN!" She roared, the wind around them picking up its speed as a result of her raging magic, but Pan used his own to keep it from behaving erratically.

"You made me do unforgivable things." She hissed, her tone laced with anguish. "Do you realise how utterly fucked up it is for you to control me like this?"

Pan stepped forward, and grabbed her wrists before she could pull them back and away from him. He towered over her, staring down at her with an emotionless expression etched onto his face, and Metanoia struggled against his grip.

"Look at you!" She snapped. "You don't even have an ounce of empathy to take note of how hideously manipulative you are to the one person who wants to be close to you!"

Pan tightened his grip on her wrists, causing Metanoia to clamp her mouth shut to avoid whimpering in pain.

"Let go of me." She spoke through gritted teeth, her power growing slowly, and Pan could feel it coursing through her. She was a ticking time bomb, and he knew it.

"Tell me one thing, love." Pan sneered, pulling Metanoia further into him so their noses were almost touching now. "How come is it that after what this wasteful excuse of a man had done to you, had done to your friend, you still insist on not hurting him?"

Metanoia glared hotly at him, before retorting, "Unlike you, I'm not a heartless, callous creature constantly craving violence."

Pan smirked, "How poetic of you. But have you already forgotten your confession to me a while ago?"

Letting go of her wrists to pull her by her lower back against him, he used one hand to run his fingers through her hair, falsely providing her with the affection she ashamedly craved from no one else but him.

"How you yearn to get your hands dirty and avenge Jeremy? You said to me yourself a while back." He pressed.

"I haven't forgotten." She stated flatly.

Pan raised an eyebrow and hissed, "So now that you had the opportunity to avenge him, why did it have to be me to control you to do it?"

Metanoia blinked at him in sheer disbelief. "No. You don't get to manipulate me, control me, and gaslight me like this."

She shoved him, and Pan allowed her to push him away. He raised his chin at her, belittling her just by a subtle movement of his face, as though he were looking down at her and she was beneath him.

"You didn't answer my question, Metanoia." He smirked. "If you wanted vengeance, why didn't you jump at the chance to do it yourself?"

Metanoia groaned and gripped the roots of her hair distressfully. "Because I can't let myself become you!"

Pan scoffed. "You will never have the honour of being anything like me, love."

Metanoia glared at him, lifted her hand angrily, and was about to slap him right across his cheek, but Pan easily caught her wrist again.

Raising an eyebrow, he taunted, "You thought you could strike me?"

Metanoia attempted to pull herself out of his grip, but Pan twisted her wrist painfully, causing her to cry out, before he shoved her backwards and let go of her. Metanoia was a crying mess now, her tears of betrayal glistening on her cheeks, and her eyes broke in him demolishing her trust. Although Pan was who he was - the ruler of all demons, the devil's worst nightmare, the embodiment of everything horrific and torturous, Metanoia never thought he would play her the way he did.

He was always honest with her. When he wanted her killed, he wasn't afraid to announce it to her. When he wanted her out of his face, he never hesitated to communicate that across to her. When he thought she was weak, he took pleasure in insulting her for it.

He was always brutally honest, no matter how much it hurt.

But this? This was a newfound level of unbearable pain, for the one person Metanoia thought would always be honest with her, would support her for whose daughter she was, for strengthening her, the one person Metanoia trusted entirely, had betrayed her in such violating ways that left a gaping hole in her heart, bleeding profusely with pain and heartbreak.

As she stared at him in disgust and disappointment while staggering backwards, Pan stood his ground. He was glaring at her for attempting to slap him, something he never thought Metanoia would be idiotic enough to try anymore, but he was admittedly wrong. Metanoia was still the foolish girl he met so long ago within the depths of Neverland, dressed in her pretty, little white dress and looking like an innocent, lost deer.

"Don't tell me you honestly thought I'd let you go unaccounted for this, because if you did, then I'm afraid you're even more foolish than I presumed." Pan easily belittled her with his words, his tone harshly mocking, and his gaze so intense and furious - it would have burnt Metanoia alive right in the spot if he allowed it.

However, Metanoia stood her ground, stepping forward and diminishing the space between them as she stared up at him defiantly. Her vicious glare on him hardened and her lips curled in a blinding rage the longer she stared at him.

"Oh, I didn't. I'm well aware of what you're capable of by now - I just simply don't give a damn anymore." She replied, her tone eerily calm despite her livid feelings, and Pan smirked down at her in amusement, entertaining the conversation further by willing to prod for an elaboration.

"And why is that, my dear Metanoia?"

Something flashed in her blue eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. Nonetheless, Peter noticed it easily, and realisation flickered within him.

"Because I've got nothing left to lose." She responded simply, her voice laced with a hint of heartbreak, but the ruthless rage was a perfect tone to conceal it. Still, Pan noticed it.

Metanoia took a step backwards and threw her arms wide open in the air as she laughed humourlessly. "And that is why I am now a threat to you, Peter Pan. Because thanks to you, I no longer have a shred of humanity left within me, making it that much easier for me to end you once and for all."

Pan laughed in return. "You think you can end me? Forgive me, love, but that's the most foolish thing you've said so far since I've known you."

Metanoia's gaze darkened. "Maybe not alone. But I can with some help."

She turned her back on him, before drawling, "No matter how long it takes, I will make sure you no longer recognise yourself, Pan. I promise."

She vowed the same vow Pan had taken against her, and left him all alone in the forest, alone with his intrusive and paranoid thoughts chipping away at whatever sanity remained within his mind.

A/N: Shorter than usual, but it seemed fitting that way. Who else feels bad for Metanoia? 🙋🏻‍♀️
Thanks for your constant support, and i hope you enjoyed reading! 💗
Take care everyone ☺️