(A/N): Heh! You thought it wasn't possible. Combining Narnia with Spirited Away. But it is!! I proved you all wrong! twitch twitch
"There's the station," Chihiro exclaimed as she waded in the shallow water out to the deserted platform. Bôh squeaked delightfully in agreement as Yu-Bird perched him comfortably on Chihiro's shoulder.
After hearing a distant splash, Chihiro glanced over her shoulder to see the train chugging under the shadow of the bathhouse and coming towards them at quite a speed. "Here comes the train! Come on," she urged her companions.
The engineer seeing people on the not so popular station screeched the red train to an abrupt halt sending waves of cool floodwater sliding across the platform. The side door swung open, but was blocked by the wide body of the train conductor. His darkened face looked down upon the little band and he held out his white-gloved hand.
"Oh," Chihiro murmured, finally understanding what the gesture indicated. "We'd like to go to Swamp Bottom, please," she requested politely as she placed the ticket in his hand."
He held it aloft and pointed at each of the three; counting silently, but after a pause he then he pointed to a fourth standing behind the party of three. Chihiro swung her head around to see the dark, slender figure of No-Face brooding at the far end of the platform.
Having already forgiven the misunderstood monster for his past transgressions, Chihiro offered him to join them for the ride.
"Ah, ah," No-Face replied apologetically
Chihiro nodded and turned back to the waiting conductor. "He'd like to come too, please." The conductor nodded welcoming them inside the passenger car after shredding the ticket with a noisy crank.
"Ah ah," No-Face complained standing idly near the door and looking very confused.
"Sit here." She patted the seat next to her, motioning him to sit down, "Behave yourself, okay?" Chihiro warned. And with those words, the group was off.
The journey was most abundant in all the beauties the sea possessed; waters so still, that they reflected the skies like mirrors, seas so dark they seemed like their fathoms could not be counted by a mere man. The train stopped at many stations on the way to Zeniba's marsh, all of them welcoming or parting with the same shadowy figures dressed in fine traveling clothes.
But something extraordinary happened along the way that seemed eccentric compared the normal routine of the train. When the locomotive stopped for the third time, it was not at a plain railroad station surrounded by water, but a station that almost looked…normal.
It looked like a station from Chihiro's world; the world Chihiro and her parents had left behind. Her assessments were proven correct when she saw a rusty sign hanging from the station's roof reading "LONDON: KING'S CROSS TRAIN STATION."
On one of the few occupied benches, sat four children conversing in casual conversation. Luggage was scattered at their feet and they were dressed in the strangest clothes. Positive they were from her world, there was nothing to indicate the connection between them. They did not wear t-shirts, jeans, or shorts like Chihiro, but instead wore clothes that implied as though they lived in another age.
Suspenders peeked out from under the two boys' long coats that enclosed around button down shirts. They're hair, the eldest of the bunch, had hair like a dark golden sunset and the other had gleaming ebony locks; both wore their hair parted and combed aside to keep from going in their eyes.
The older girl wore a deep red skirt that ended well above her knees almost touching the high socks that covered the rest of her legs. Her dark mahogany hair was pinned up very mature manner and a fit, tiny hat sat demurely on her head. The youth with a full head of golden ringlets wore a dark green fleece trimming light pink frills from the dress underneath.
Unexpectedly, in a golden burst from behind the bench, out stepped a lion so regal and majestic that Chihiro thought she would burst into tears. His dark brown eyes were so deep even eternity could have subsided in them comfortably. The lion surveyed the children with a knowing glance, howled with such ferocity it was a wonder that the children sat so calmly and unaware of the fact that there was anything, much less a dangerous beast behind them. As he was finishing off his earth-shaking roar, even before its echoes had finished dying away, the glorious lion lifted its mighty head proudly, shook his glorious mane and faded away like mist.
A levitating orb of light appeared, so bright, it looked like the sun had been shrunk or condensed, replacing the large cat behind the bench. Almost instantly an uncomfortable mien donned on coal-haired boy as his face twisted up and he produced a hardy grunt. Latently following his lead all of the other children looked like the first, but now, all were yelling at one another. But soon, the luminescent source, increasing in size, had enveloped them in a scintillating embrace.
Then the train speeded up from its obstructed position with a jerk. Why, Chihiro thought to herself, did we stop if we weren't even picking up any passengers? Her question did not remain unanswered for long, because when she turned around, there were the four travelers sitting right across from where she sat.
Their faces were not shady like the other passengers on the train; they themselves seemed to be life itself in a bodily form; they were there, yet they weren't as if they were ghosts. A trance seemed to have overtaken them, a doze of some kind that made them appear as if the were asleep with there eyes shut and serenity veiling the faces and yet they sat regally erect and not one of them so much as twitched a muscle.
About seven stops later on, Chihiro's attention was yet again stirred as eldest boy's eyes snapped open, rays of light pouring from them with the same intensity as the orb that swallowed the children at the station. One by one the other children opened their eyes each with the same illuminating brilliance shining from them. Chihiro then noticed how they were no longer dressed in their traveling clothes, but in sumptuous doublets rich in color and dresses so ravishing and elegant. And oh, the crowns! Their exquisite crowns blazed like beacons upon their royal heads which made Chihiro's eyes water at the sight of their splendor.
Appreciatively train stopped suddenly just as the effulgence radiating from the kings and queens became almost unbearable. The nobles rose strong and graceful from their seats and strode subconsciously to the nearest exit. Even the portly conductor dropped to the floor, his head bowed in honor to the royal party as they departed from the train.
Chihiro had one last fleeting glimpse of king and queens out her window as they disappeared in the distance. But the magnificent people she had discerned before were as they were at the train station; ordinary children in their traveling clothes. This time, though, they were more confused and disoriented and more importantly, stranded on a beach.
After the children were out of sight, a revelation came to Chihiro while she was deep in thought. Those children were not merely children although they're appearance told otherwise. They genuinely kings and queens. And I would not have guessed it! Have there been other things I have misjudged by appearance too?
Yes she had. She had misjudged her parents concern and love for her. She had misjudged Zeniba and her moral standings. But most of all, she had misjudged her courage. She believed she was not strong, but now Chihiro realized that she did have the courage and the strength because she had to save the life of the one person she truly loved, the only one who was truly endangered; Haku.
(A/N): I think this was a pretty good story. The end, to me, was a little iffy, but I needed a conclusion and I was having writers block. If you are unsatisfied, feel free to make up your own ending. Send it to me if you like. They'd be most welcome;-)