Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, C.S. Lewis does, you know the deal...
Notes: Message me before using any of my characters, yadity-ya-dee-yah, ya'know, the usual. This is my first published work. Kindly read and review!
.: A Glimpse of Change :.
"Halitous," Susan said. She looked down at the dictionary and back up at Peter, who simply threw his head back in exasperation.
"Su, we've been at this for a while now, I'm getting bored," said Peter.
Edmund, who had been playing with the latches under one of the large armchairs, crawled out and dusted himself off. "We could play hide and seek again. Lucy ruined it for us." He looked over to where the little girl sat. Tears ran down Lucy's face, yet despite her sorrowful state, Edmund stuck his tongue out at her. Lucy gave him a dirty look and continued pouting.
"Edmund! Be nice to your sister," scolded Peter.
"No!" Edmund said with spite in his voice.
"Ed! Sit down and shut up!" said Susan, standing up into a position of authority, about lecture the boy.
Edmund glared at her, "Yes, mum."
"Edmund Pevensie, sit down right now!" Susan repeated, this time louder.
Seeing the trouble about to unfold, Peter thought quickly for a diversion. Although Edmund was being horrid, Peter was never one to bear fights, though he got into quite a lot of them himself.
"One, two, three," said Peter.
Edmund moaned. Susan ran off to what was her previous and undiscovered hiding spot and Edmund headed over to the opposite side of the house. Most of the doors were locked, save one. Edmund cautiously opened it.
"Forty-nine, fifty," called Peter.
Edmund stepped inside. He could tell as he looked around that this was Professor Kirke's study. Edmund knew he wasn't supposed to be inside, but he continued to look around nonetheless. Professor Kirke's desk was cluttered with leather-bound books, among other queer things.
"Fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven..." Peter's voice was softer from this side of the house.
A silver apple container was perched on the corner, next to a very odd looking chain that caught Edmund's eye. He picked it up to get a closer look.
"Sixty! Ready or not, here I come!" shouted Peter. Edmund could hear the loud thumps of Peter's footsteps as his brother ran across the stone floors.
Before he could see the queer chain clearly, black began to swirl before Edmund's eyes, making him fainter with every second. With a grunt, he collapsed to the floor.
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When Edmund awoke, he was no longer in the mansion. Instead, he found himself on a platform, standing next to a young man covered with dirt and dressed in work clothes. In his hands he held a shoebox. Edmund was thinking how the man looked familiar when he realized that the man was speaking.
"...and I really do hope they find out the problem," said the young man. Edmund looked at him quizzically. Who found out? What problem? And why did he recognize this man?
"Ed, are you okay?" asked the man with genuine concern. Edmund scowled. Then suddenly it occurred to him - Peter! Peter was speaking to him. Except, this Peter was in his twenties, much older than when Edmund had seen him start counting for hide-and-seek. Edmund decided it would be best to play along.
"W-w-what did you say P-p-pete?" said Edmund, barely able to get his words out straight.
Peter gave Edmund his signature you-really-should-have-been-paying-attention look, but repeated himself anyway. "I was saying, that I wish the train would hurry up so Lucy, Eustace, and Jill could get here faster! Narnia can't wait forever, they need our help."
Narnia? wondered Edmund. He remembered Lucy saying something about a place called Narnia before she had burst into tears at the others' disbelief. Maybe they were in Narnia now? No, that couldn't be right, Lucy had said something about a forest. Edmund looked around only to see concrete, buildings, and cars, and of course the metal train tracks. If Peter was much older, maybe Narnia had been built up since the time of hide-and-seek?
"Eustace was always a fun spoiler, so why shouldn't he spoil it now," mumbled Edmund, mostly to himself. Peter looked up in surprise from the shoebox he had been staring at. Edmund gulped, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut, because his statement didn't even make sense. It wasn't as if Eustace had control of the train and could make it get to the station quicker.
Peter smiled. "I remember when you used to be all against the world. I put up with it of course, but you really were quite a bother." Peter lovingly slapped Edmund on the back, and it was quite a bit harder than intended, causing Edmund to stumble forward from the impact. Edmund peered down to study himself - when he had fell forward, his body had seemed heavier and much more of a burden to move. Much to his surprise, Edmund was also in gritty work clothes and several years older.
"Thanks?" said Edmund, although it came out as more of a question than a statement. He was about to ask some more about Narnia when the whistle of a train pierced through the sticky summer air. Both boys stepped a couple steps forward in anticipation of the train's arrival. Edmund looked to his right, where the train was rounding the corner to the station.
"Pete, don't you think that's going a little too fast?" asked Edmund. Peter turned to look at the train as well. By now, the train was almost at the platform, but it wasn't upright on the tracks.
"It doesn't seem quite right..." Peter's voice trailed off.
Edmund and Peter were fascinated by the train, which was definitely off balance. The train swayed back and forth on the track and made wretched screeching noises as it tried to stop. However, it was too late. The last thing the boys actually saw was that the train's wheels were no longer on the track and that it was dangerously close to them.
All once again went to black, and Edmund felt a sharp pain in the back of his knee fade away. For a moment, he saw a golden light, but that quickly flashed away.
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"Ed?" Peter's voice was hardly audible through a loud lion's roar. Edmund scrambled back but clumsily fell against the professor's desk. He then realized that he was no longer standing, but lying on the cold wooden floor. Edmund also realized that he was once again a boy and not the nearly grown man he had been before... Before what? The train, the conversation, the dream?
"Edmund! Thank your lucky stars you're still alive!" said Susan, who still felt the need to lecture Edmund for his behavior. Regardless of her previous feelings, Susan reached over to hug her younger brother. Edmund made a face at Susan and pulled away. Hurt still shone on Lucy, along with wet lines of dried up tears, but she showed some concern in her face as well.
"What happened?" asked Edmund, mostly uninterested, yet still a bit curious. He sat up to lean against the professor's desk and noticed the chain he had begun to pick up earlier. Edmund reached for the chain. A wave of dizziness engulfed him for a brief second, causing him to release it, which in turn made the sickness go away completely.
Interrupting Edmund's thoughts, Peter said, "Well, I'm not quite sure, but I saw the professor's door ajar, and I figured you had probably gotten into some sort of mischief in there." Edmund glared daggers at Peter, but the older boy continued, "Sure enough, you were in here, but lying on the floor in plain sight. I figured you wouldn't choose to hide like that, so I went over to you and you were passed out cold. Then I called for Susan and Lucy. By the time they came, you were already scrambling back like you'd seen a ghost or something."
Edmund chose not to tell Peter about the lion's roar, as Peter would most likely accuse him of making Lucy feel bad with made up stories. Susan and Peter were already leaving the room. Edmund stood up but noticed Lucy frozen, staring at the items on Professor Kirke's desk.
"Lu..." Edmund's voice trailed off when Lucy broke her trance and spun around. "Um, where you," Edmund paused, thinking of the right word, "Went. Were there any lions, by any chance?" Lucy looked at Edmund with an expression of hatred.
Poor Lucy thought Edmund was simply teasing her again. "Edmund, just stop it, okay?" She sniffled in between words. Lucy turned around and continued studying things on the desk.
"I'm not trying to be mean, Lucy."
"I don't know." Lucy once again faced Edmund and this time kept staring intensely at his face.
"What do you mean," said Edmund, "Don't know?" Edmund soon realized he was going to be in for a long haul of a story, but he couldn't stop Lucy from talking now, otherwise she would burst into hysterics again. He took a seat on the floor.
"Well," started Lucy, "The faun, Mr. Tumnus, you remember?" Edmund nodded, prompting Lucy to continue, "He said something about Aslan."
Edmund shivered at the name. "Aslan?"
"Yes, I don't quite remember what Mr. Tumnus said he was... but Aslan might have been a lion." Lucy frowned at her forgetfulness. She sat down next to Edmund.
Edmund had begun to finger the chain. He was starting to feel queasy when Lucy asked to see the chain, too. Against his better judgment, Edmund handed Lucy the chain, but it was too late. The darkness had come, surrounding both children.
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"Lucy, are you there?" Edmund said with a shaky voice. Exactly where was there? It was still dark, although Edmund could not tell if it was the eerie darkness or just plain old night time.
"Edmund? Where are you?" asked Lucy. Edmund felt around with his hands until he found the shape of Lucy's face. "Ow! Get off of me!" Lucy lashed out.
"Sorry," mumbled Edmund.
"Oh, it's only you." For a few moments they sat in the darkness, unsure of what to do next. Edmund's voice was shaky when he asked, "Lucy, do you hear something?"
Lucy stood up very straight, which of course Edmund could not see, and when they joined hands there was a mutual tension in the air, Lucy feeling strangely excited and Edmund stark still with fear. Sure enough, some sort of song was being sung, and there were human voices, although much quieter, interrupting the song. Neither Lucy nor Edmund could figure out the song's meaning, but Lucy got more enjoyment out of it than Edmund.
The sudden change in the song's pitch came with a golden burst of light. Lucy said, "Look!" Edmund could now see that Lucy had turned around to face this light and when Edmund's eyes focused on the light, he could see that it glowing from a magnificent Lion. "Aslan!" yelled Lucy. She wanted to take a step towards him, but found herself unable. Edmund, remembering the Lion when he had woken from his dream, wanted to turn and run, yet had the same result as his sister.
"How queer," said Edmund under his breath. Following some more experimentation, the children came to the conclusion that they were no more than ghosts, able to see each other, though no one could see them.
Frozen by the strange magic and mixed emotions, the children watched as Aslan continued his song, while trees and mountains sprung from the empty ground. Then, bubbles burst to produce many animals, some of which Aslan touched with his nose. Those select animals began to follow Aslan into a big circle, where he began to talk. At first, Lucy was not listening to what Aslan was saying, but rather concentrating that Aslan was speaking and after the initial shock of a talking Lion she realized Aslan was speaking to her and Edmund.
"My children," said Aslan, "Is this your place?" Lucy noticed that Aslan did not ask why they were here or how they had gotten to be here. Of course, thought Lucy, he knows everything. Head bowed, Lucy shook her head. "Then you must return home."
Instead of the usual darkness Edmund was expecting, a golden light surrounded them. It faded from an amber gold, to a yellow gold, then rose to a scorching white gold. Lucy shielded her eyes, afraid that the light would damage them while Edmund turned away in fear of another dream. When both children re-opened their eyes, they were back home, with Peter and Susan nowhere to be found.
"Edmund?" asked Lucy. Edmund turned to face Lucy. "Did you see him too?"
"Who, Lucy?" said Edmund. Maybe he could pretend it hadn't all happened and then there would be no more dreams.
"Aslan! The Lion! That land!" Lucy stood up and bounced on the balls of her feet.
Edmund's eyes turned a dark shade of brown, hinting of his next evil plan, "No, Lu, I'm sure it's just your imagination."
Tears began to form in Lucy's already swollen eyes. Edmund smirked with satisfaction and walked out of the room. Lucy bent over to pick up the chain on the floor and when her fingers brushed against it, the same golden light began to swirl into the room in a small area, until Lucy thought she saw the shape of a Lion - Aslan!
"I tried," said the Lion. Lucy looked at the figure in confusion. Tried what? It must have read her mind, because it said, "To stop him." Lucy watched as the light faded away until it was no more than a beam of sunlight filtering through the professor's stain-glass windows. She stood there for a while, until she heard footsteps behind her.
"Come on Lu, time for dinner," said Peter, "Your world can wait."
~END~