Chapter - 16 - Selene’s Gambit

The council chamber, silver-lit and suspended in Aetheris's celestial realm, awaits Aenor's arrival. The gods stand, eyes trained on the center where divine flames swirl, expecting a figure to emerge.

"Let the hound of moonstone appear," Aetheris commands, voice echoing through the marble and light. But the flames die down. No Aenor. No howl. No answer.

The silence is heavy. Mira tightens her lips in suspicion. Selene lowers her head… but her knuckles are white.

Inside, she breathes relief. Her barrier still holds. Aenor cannot breach Neverland.

Selene steps forward, hands folded before her robe of silver stardust with false grace, voice calm and composed:

"Let me find them—the missing fairies, nymphs, shapeshifters. Before their magic falls into the wrong hands."

The council hesitates. There are murmurs—some agree, others hesitate. Mira's narrowed eyes never leave Selene.

But Selene's mask never slips. She bows.

"So be it," he says finally. "But return them unharmed."

"Of course," Selene says, bowing low.

"I vow to bring them all back," she lies taste sweet when gilded with devotion.

As the council disperses, Ira–the radiant sun goddess of Selesthra, approaches Aetheris quietly.

"Do you think they're still alive?" she asks. "The lost ones?"

Aetheris pauses.

"I don't know."

Then, softly:

"Why do you ask, Ira?"

Ira hesitates—her eyes shimmering like the first light of dawn. She turns away before answering.

"Just a feeling."

That night, within a realm of black glass and starlight, Selene stands in a dream-temple of her own making. She opens her palm—within it, a mirror made from Leviathan scale. Whispering an ancient chant, she summons Hook.

Hook appears in the dream, seated on a throne of bones and sails. He smirks.

"Ah… the pale goddess returns to me. What order brings you crawling this time?"

Selene doesn't blink. She smiles; voice soaked in silver:

"Remember when I asked you to follow the Nocti tribe?"

"Yes."

"Seems it fell in your favor."

She circles him slowly; a serpent made of stardust.

"You wanted the Leviathan dead, so you could rule the seas and avenge your beloved Ivory... Now you can."

Hook's eyes flash.

"Speak."

"On the moonlit shore, a fairy and a boy hide. The boy is no ordinary soul—he's a demon, locked in mortal flesh. And the fairy…" her voice lowers to a whisper, "...possesses the magical seashell that commands Leviathan himself."

"Kill them both. Take their essence. Become more than a man—become magic incarnate."

Hook's hand curls into a fist.

"And if I succeed?"

"You rule the seas."

She leans in, eyes glowing.

"Selene always keeps her promises. She showers blessings on her worshipers… now, doesn't she?"

Hook bolts upright in his cabin, breath heavy, chest burning.

"Smee!"

The old boatswain stumbles in, confused.

"Captain?"

"Unfold the sails. Load the cannons. Sharpen the harpoons."

"Where are we headed?"

Hook turns to the sea, eyes locked on the distant glow of the moonlit shore.

"To the edge of Neverland. To gut a demon... and slay a fairy."

On the Moonlit Shore…

Aenor stood firm on the shore, his body half-lit in lunar glow. His moonstone, embedded deep within his forehead, pulsed in a chaotic rhythm—glowing with flickering blue flames.

He had been summoned.

But the portal to the Council… wouldn't open.

Aenor growled in anger, eyes narrowed. He could feel the power calling to him, but something—someone—was severing the link. A divine interference.

Selene.

The moonlit shore glimmered with stillness, but not for long.

From the horizon, the black silhouette of the Jolly Roger crept closer, its torn sails casting long shadows like claws reaching for the land. The ship growled with a number of hungry cannons. Hook stood at its helm, his one good hand gripping the wheel and the other—his infamous hook—gleaming with anticipation.

"Are the harpoons ready?" he asked, "and the cannons loaded? Tonight, we hunt."

A boom cracked the silence. A cannonball surged through the air, spinning flame and metal straight toward the shore—towards her.

But before the explosion could strike, a blinding arc of light erupted—Aenor stood at the edge of the shore, arms outstretched, a glowing moonstone pulsing on his forehead. A crystalline barrier bloomed in front of them, shattering the impact and holding firm as another volley followed.

From behind the shimmering wall, Peter yanked Tinker Bell's hand and pulled her behind a moss-veiled tree. The ground shook. Her breath was uneven.

"He can't hold that shield forever," she said, her voice trembling—not with fear, but fury. "They'll break through, Peter."

Peter looked to Aenor, his silhouette flickering in the glow of cannon fire, the strain evident in his arched spine. Then he looked at her—at her trembling hand pressed over his chest. His heart pounded beneath her touch. The moons etched into the golden cuffs around her wrist shifted, clicking together… until they formed a full moon.

Silver light bled from her eyes.

Peter's eyes followed, glowing with the same fury. He tightened his grip on her hand. "Then we stop running."

Tinker Bell dropped to her knees and pressed her palm into the earth. The ground hummed. A sudden ripple pulsed from her fingers and surged toward the sea, growing into a tidal push that rocked the Jolly Roger, sending it off its course.

Peter did the same. His palm hit the soil—and the shadows of Hook's crew twisted violently. Each sailor was yanked by their own darkness, falling limp as screams echoed through the ship. Their minds were now trapped in their worst nightmares—visions only Peter could summon.

Only Hook remained.

He snarled, unfazed by illusion or wave. He fired a harpoon, not at them—but into a tree along the shore. And with a predator's grace, he swung.

He landed beyond Aenor's barrier.

Aenor whirled to stop him, but Hook threw a glowing blue leash—woven with ancient celestial runes. It latched onto Aenor's legs, and he gasped, collapsing to the ground, unable to move.

"Aethereal bind... forged by moonlight," Hook hissed, stepping over him.

Peter lunged, but Hook grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"You should've stayed hidden, boy."

Tinker Bell tried to strike—but her spell fizzled as it touched Hook's skin. She felt it… a divine shield. The kind only gods could wield.

She narrowed her eyes. "She blessed you. Didn't she? Selene gave you that shield."

Hook tilted his head, amused. "Blessed? No, darling. She made a deal."

Tinker Bell's breath caught. "What deal?"

He smirked. "The boy has demon blood running in his veins. You… possess the sea shell that controls and commands the Leviathan, a monster who snatched my beloved from me and now with this shell I will summon that monster and keep him under my thumb, make him serve me and only me till his last and for that I will have to kill you both—absorb your powers. Become lord of the seas. Rule its depths. And finally… silence the moons that betrayed us all."

Tinker Bell's lips parted in horror.

"You're not her champion," she whispered. "You're her pawn."

Hook's breath hitched, a flicker of uncertainty in his maddened eyes.

Tinker Bell took a step closer, her silver-lit eyes unblinking. "You think Leviathan is under my command?" Her voice now rang with quiet fury. "He isn't. Because he only honors one moon god—Selene