( I draw inspiration for my stories from The Chronicles of Narnia in all it's manifestations, both canon and non-canon.)
In loving memory of the best mother a person could ever hope for. The angels are enjoying her fresh baked apple pies now.
(Second edition)
Disclaimer: The chronicles of Narnia are the intellectual property of Clive Staples Lewis and his legally appointed representatives. We come here just to play in his garden.
Entrée
a/n. This story is rated M for violence, death, and drug abuse among other reasons but mostly to give me some wiggle room, if your looking for gratuitous sex, you'll find none here. So without further ado I present for your reading pleasure-
The Narnians
The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe and Beyond
In the Beginning
In that time before time, Aslan approached his father, the Emperor Beyond The Sea, and asked."Father, over time I have made for you many worlds and populated them with multitudes of worshipers to praise your glory. If my labors do gratify you, might I ask a boon?"
The Emperor said to him, "My heart, your efforts do please me royally. Tell me then of your entreat that I might grant it".
"Father, as you will, I wish for a land of my own, that I might fill it with all manner of creature who will praise my glory as yours do you." Aslan expounded further. "I would have for my subjects a place they can live free of all want and strife save to have their father always by their side.
The firmament quivered from the Emperor's edict. "THIS CAN NOT BE ALLOWED! I SHALL NOT PERMIT IT!" Then in a voice of infinite tenderness the lord enlightened his son.
"The empty praise of such untested souls is as satisfying as a drink of tepid water on a heatful day. What inspires their song, My Son, is it their ever lasting devotion to you or is it to their own self interests? I say unto you, better you should fill your kingdom with stone statues and set them to singing your glory then suffer such faithless praise. Your subjects must be given the opportunity to prove themselves before you. They alone must choose to seek you out in fair times and foul. Their spirits tested in this way will reveal their true nature and you will know them from ones seeking only advantage. Those who seek only self-gratification, these you will put aside leaving them to their fate. The ones who come willingly to you, them, you will gather to you and they shall know the joy of your true kingdom, forever. There for I say to you, makest your kingdom but make also a pale imitation of that place. Endow your subjects with free will and in that place of testing have them know all manner of joy and suffering. The faithful by these trials will earn their place at your table." The Emperor so decreed.
Aslan said to his Sire. "Your words are wise Father and it shall be as you say, but You above all know that many will be ground down on the millstone of the test. Ones who wish to be faithful but who's spirits will be broken. Must they also be sent away with the others?"
"My Son, truly you are of such good heart to care so for all your creation, even for those who know your goodness and still turn away. Great shall be the joy in your kingdom when one who was lost does find his way back to you. Your people, who have always kept faith with you and taken comfort in your teachings, they and all your creation will make a joyful song on the lost ones who find their way back into your light. Now my son, upon which of my creations do You plan to pattern your world?" Inquired the Lord of Hosts.
"Father, far and wide have I searched for a special people to call mine own. Enchanted have I been by the descendants of them you called Adam and Eve. I have visited them often and they are a magnificent contradiction. I have seen them at their best and at their worst. At their best, their kindness and generosity would rival even that of a god, but at their worst, the pain and suffering they visit upon the lesser of them would unsettle even a demon." Aslan reflected.
The Father agreed. "Truly they can be a labor my son. So it will be the seed of man who graces your garden?"
"My Lord, there is more. Over time I have watched mankind perilously stumble down the dark road of ignorance guided only by the light of your wisdom. They have with time come to imagine all manner of fanciful creature to help them explain the natural world around them. Their children they do instruct, using fable and exemplum, the ways of their given communities. They have in the telling of these tales given voice to the beasts of the earth and fowl of the air, in hopes of better instructing and enthralling the minds of their young. I have often wondered, what kind of society would these reveries create for themselves if given the chance. Possessing both noble and bestial traits, would justice and compassion prevail over their more baser nature?" Aslan conjectured.
"A most laudable goal my son.' the Father agreed. 'but I see issues with your design. Where as the descendants of Adam, for all their bickering, are all of one people under the skin, allowing only their minor differences to set them apart from each other. Your children will be of a different sort. Like beast of the grasslands, they will mingle together but also will they hold themselves apart, each to his own way. Following none but their own kind, they will lack unity, never to realize their full potential. Therefore I decree that under your counsel and stewardship, along side them who inspired you, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, your tribes shall know unity and plenty. When the rightful Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve sit at their head, then will your subjects truly have peace and prosperity. I will, at the proper time, open ways for them to enter your world, them and others who would follow. Now My Son, tell me, what shall be the name of your kingdom?"
Aslan, without hesitation affirmed. "It shall be a named for something that has no name, something that can only be felt. A feeling shared by a mother and her babe when first she holds it to her breast. That power that enlivens one of good heart to stand against overwhelming odds in defense of truth. It is the earnestness experienced by them who choose justice over expediency. The lightness of spirit one knows when exercising leniency over intolerance. These virtues and many others will be the foundation stones upon which I will build my kingdom, and in the fullness of time all will come to know the name, 'Narnia."
The Lord queried. "Then Narnia it shall be, but I would know this my son, what worth do you ascribe to your Narnia?"
Aslan asked. "If it would please you to elaborate Father?"
The Emperor Over-the-Sea noted. "My Son, the most precious of gems and the rarest of metals are but dust beneath your feet if valued only by the bearer. How does one judge the worth of something if none other desire it? Will future labors I set for you so preoccupy you that your garden will grow feral and brier choked in your absence? Is your devotion to your people as deep as that which you ask of them?"
Aslan implored. "Oh yes Father, set a task for me so that I might prove myself."
"You are My heart, the physical embodiment of Me, the cosmos. Through Me chaos becomes order and through You order is given purpose. Together, We are omnipotent and beyond all challenge. There for I shall test your resolve with a labor. In the beginning I shall place there a serpent in your garden and she will covet this new world. I will give Her great power and many talismans. I will also lessen your authority in this place so that neither you nor her holds a greater advantage over the other. At the appropriate time, armies You and She raise up will engage in great battle and through their efforts will the fate of Narnia be decided." Proclaimed the Emperor.
The Lord of all things continued. "The army of truth and light being triumphant, the serpent will be expelled from your garden to abide in that limbo between worlds, always seeking to gain readmittance. A reminder to all that evil is ever present. Know this My Son, if your peoples are found lacking in heart and substance and flee before the host of darkness and despair. That horde will fall upon you tearing your flesh asunder, your essence being forever barred from your kingdom. Now My heart, will you put this dream aside or do you accept the challenge?"
Aslan announced, "Father, I will hold to my dream. I go now to prepare the way."
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Excerpt from Narnian catechism book. Narnian Year 1001.