DISCLAIMER: This story is based upon the series, Charmed, that was created by Constance M. Burge. All Charmed characters are the property of Spelling Productions. All the Narnia characters belong to the estate of C. S. Lewis.
THE PLACE: SOMEWHERE
THE TIME: INAPPLICABLE
Rex Buckland looked around in astonishment. He was standing in a forest glade, covered with snow, and he had no idea how he had gotten there. "Hello!" he called out. "Hannah? Where are you?"
"Rex, I'm here!" the voice of Hannah Webster replied as she appeared from behind some bushes. "Where are we? How did we get here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Rex replied. "Do you remember anything before you found yourself here?"
"No, not a thing. Is this some Demon trap?"
"I guess we're going to have to find out." Rex said. "Let's go." The two former Warlocks made their way through the mysterious forest, keeping an eye out for anything. However, they soon came to a sight that stopped them short. Ahead of them was a lamp post in the middle of a clearing, a lamp post one might have found in London of the early 20th Century, and to their astonishment, the lamp post was actually lit.
"Rex, do you see that?" Hannah asked.
"Oh I see it, but I don't believe it.!" Rex replied, shaking his head. "This can't be!"
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"This is the lamp post in Narnia."
"Narnia?" the baffled Hannah asked.
"The Chronicles Of Narnia were a series of books written by an author named C. S. Lewis in the years following World War II." Rex said and went on to describe the books in detail. "What we're seeing here, the lamp post with the snow on the ground, comes straight out of the first book in the series, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe."
"Oh yeah, you have that collection, don't you, Rex. I've seen them on the shelf in your study."
"Yes, I have. They've also made some good movie adaptations of these books in recent years." Rex replied. "That is how I was able to recognized all this. However, this is impossible, Hannah. Narnia is fictional, it never really existed!"
"Yet here we are." Hannah said.
"Yes, here we are. And I would like to know how and why we've ended up somewhere out of an author's imagination."
"Well, I guess the only way to find out is to take a look around." Hannah said.
"I was thinking the same thing. Let's take a recce." Rex replied and led Hannah past the lamp post an into the woods.
"So, picking up on what I asked earlier, could this be a Demon trap?" Hannah wondered.
"I could be." Rex replied. "However, if there is a point to this trap, I've yet to figure it out. Why go through all this trouble? I immediately saw through it and recognized it for what it was."
"Well, Rex, not everyone is as well read as you are." Hannah pointed out.
"True. However, I still don't see the point of it."
"Could it be something else? Could the White Lighter Elders have done all this?" Hannah suggested.
"Once again, Hannah, why would they do it? Why would they send us here? It makes no sense at all." Rex said, shaking his head.
Some time later, Rex and Hannah arrived at what appeared to be a table made of stone. "The Stone Table." Rex said slowly. "A meeting place for the magical denizens of Narnia."
"That is correct." a new voice said.
"Who said that?" Hannah said, looking around.
"I did." the voice said and what appeared to be a lion materialized in front of Rex and Hannah. "I am Aslan. Welcome to Narnia!"
"Pleased to be here." Rex said. "My name is... Peter Pevensie." He gestured to Hannah. "This is my sister, Susan."
"Wh..." Hannah began, but was silenced when Rex gave her a stare, indicating that she should follow his lead. Clearly he had a better understanding of what was going on here than she did.
"Son of Adam, Daughter of Eve, I greet you." Aslan said.
"I must ask you, Aslan, did you bring us here?" Rex asked.
"Alas, it was not my hand that brought you from your world to mine. However, your arrival is fortunate."
"Why?" Hannah asked.
"My old enemy, Jadis, the White Witch, is hatching a new scheme."
"Ah, I thought as much." Rex said.
"Jadis? Who's Jadis?" Hannah asked.
"She calls herself the Queen of Narnia, but officially she holds no such title." Aslan said. "In fact, she is not even native to Narnia, but came here many years ago from another world. Even since, she has planned to conquer Narnia and the lands beyond and rule them herself."
"And you wish us to stop her." Rex said.
"Yes, Son of Adam, that is my wish. Will you help me?" Aslan asked.
"Well, I guess we will." Rex said. "We have experience in fighting evil beings in our world."
"Good." Aslan said. "On the stone table, you'll find a map that will lead you to the palace of Jadis. Take care and good luck." With those words, Aslan vanished.
"Rex, why did you agree to this?" Hannah asked. "This isn't our fight, or our world, for that matter."
"I know." Rex replied as he moved over to the Stone Table and picked up the map. "However, if Aslan didn't bring us here, perhaps Jadis did. The answer to getting back home might lie with her."
"I see. Who are Peter and Susan Pevensie, by the way?"
"They're the two oldest siblings in the Narnia books. I felt that if we are somehow in a story, we should assume the identities of some of the characters, at least until we have a better understanding of what is going on here."
"Are there other Pevensie siblings?"
"Yes, two younger ones, Edmund and Lucy. Obviously, we're much too old to be them. We're even stretching it to be Peter and Susan, but Aslan seems to have bought it."
"Why did he keep calling us Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve?"
"There are no native humans in Narnia, Hannah, at least not yet. Some do come and settle here in the later books, but that's another story." Rex said. "In the meantime, any human who comes here is address like that by Aslan. C. S. Lewis's writings did seem to have some Christian undertones in them, at least that is how the debate goes."
"Well, Aslan using those terms sure supports that theory." Hannah said.
"Indeed it does." Rex said as he studied the map.
"So no humans, just animals here." Hannah said, nodding her head.
"Correct, and unlike on Earth, the animals here can talk."
"So evolution followed a different path in Narnia."
"Not quite, Hannah, you see Narnia didn't always exist. It was created by Aslan."
"Created by Aslan!?"
"Yes, and in a very short time." Rex replied. "Once again you can see the Christian influence in the books."
"Yes, I can understand that now." Hannah said.
"Ah, good." Rex said suddenly. "I think I've found a quick way to get to Jadis's palace. Hopefully there we'll find the answers we need to get out of here and back to our own world."
A while later, the two former Warlocks were making their way through the woods when suddenly, Rex stopped them short. "What is it?" Hannah asked.
"Someone's coming." Rex replied. "We better hide. Since there are no humans here, we'd stand out." The two of them hid behind some bushes. As they watched, a minotaur and a centaur emerged from some trees.
"What is it?" the minotaur asked.
"I thought I heard something." the centaur replied.
"It was the wind." the minotaur said. "We better get back, before Queen Jadis has our hides!" The two mythical creatures turned and left.
"A minotaur and a centaur." Hannah said as the two of them came out of hiding. "Aren't those from Greek mythology?"
"They are." Rex replied. "Mr. Lewis populated this land with mixed bunch."
"You don't think we'll find Medusa or a cyclops around here."
"I'm not sure, Hannah, but I think we should take nothing for granted here. Let's keep moving."
"Yes, we..." Suddenly, Hannah stopped short. As Rex watched, she collapsed to the ground, a dart of some kind in her neck.
"Hannah!" Rex said and started for her, before he felt the pain of a dart hitting his back and he collapsed to the ground beside Hannah.
"I told you I heard something!" the centaur said as he and the minotaur emerged from some bushes and looked down at the unconscious former Warlocks.
"You don't have to rub it in." replied the minotaur as he looked down at Rex and Hannah. "What manner of creatures are these?"
"I don't know, I've never seen anything like them before." the centaur said.
"Well, let's take them to Queen Jadis. She'll sort them out." the minotaur said. "Maybe we'll even get a reward for this capture!"
As consciousness returned, Rex found himself in a dungeon of some kind, chained to a wall. He looked over and saw Hannah chained to the opposite wall. "Hannah, wake up!"
"Wha..." Hannah mumbled as she opened her eyes. Quickly, she took in her surroundings. "Rex, where are we?"
"If I were to hazzard a guess, I'd say we were in Jadis's dungeon.
"And you would be correct." a new voice said.
Rex and Hannah looked over and saw a woman, dressed all in white, standing in the doorway. "Jadis, I presume."
"Yes, I am she." Jadis replied. "Queen of Narnia."
"Or rather what you call yourself." Rex said.
"Ah, I see you've met Aslan." Jadis said, smiling. "No doubt that old cat has filled both your heads with propaganda against me. None of it is true, I only want what's best for Narnia."
"Somehow I don't quite believe that." Rex replied, shaking his head.
"That doesn't matter now."
"You're human, like us." Hannah said to Jadis. "I thought there we no humans in Narnia."
"Remember what Aslan said, Hannah. Jadis is not from here." Rex said.
"That's correct, my native world is called Charn." Jadis said. "It circles a cold red sun."
"A red giant." Rex said slowly. "A sun entering its dying phase."
"Exactly, as our sun grew colder, resources on Charn grew more scarce." Jadis said. "A strong leader was needed, and both my sister and I fought for that leadership."
"And if I remember, all life on Charn was destroyed in that battle, except yourself." Rex replied.
"How do you know so much about my world?" Jadis asked.
"I read a lot." Rex said. "I'm guessing that ruling a dead world wasn't to your liking."
"It wasn't, so that is why I came here, to this living world. Once Aslan stops opposing me, I'll be the rightful ruler of Narnia. The Revered One will always be safe under my care."
"I'm sorry, who?" Rex asked.
"We'll talk again later." Jadis said as she made for the door.
"Wait." Hannah said. "Does the name the Source mean anything to you?"
"I do not understand that reference." Jadis said. "Therefore it is of no importance." With that, she headed out, closing the door behind her.
"Rex, how can this be?" Hannah asked. "Jadis is clearly evil, so how can she never have heard of the Source?"
"An interesting question, Hannah." Rex replied. "I would also like to know more about this Revered One she mentioned. None of the Narnia books make any reference to such a character."
"Rex, this is not a book, this is really happening." Hannah said.
"Maybe, maybe not, Hannah. I don't quite know why, but none of this feels real. I can't explain it, but perhaps this Revered One can. From what Jadis said, this being must be here in her palace somewhere. All we have to do is find him or her."
"Well then we better get started." Hannah said as she spotted a set of keys hanging on the wall nearby. Quickly, she used her powers to turn into a kitten, freeing herself from the chains.
"Good thing Jadis wasn't aware of our powers." Rex said, smiling.
"True." Hannah said as she reverted to human form, grabbed the keys, and freed Rex from his chains. "What's our next move?"
"Find this so-called Revered One and see if we can get some answers." Rex said as he moved to the door. Seeing that no one was around, he gestured for the two of them to move out.
Slowly, the two former Warlocks made their way down a hall. As they did so, Hannah noticed stone figures placed at regular intervals. "Jadis likes her statues." she said, indicating the nearest one.
"Actually these were once denizens of Narnia. They had the misfortune of opposing Jadis. This was her punishment, turning them to stone."
"So, I guess Mr. Lewis did have his version of Medusa after all." Hannah replied, thinking back to the conversations she and Rex had earlier about Greek mythical figures in Narnia.
"Yes, I guess that's true." Rex said. The two of them moved on and we soon peeking around a corner. At the end of the corridor, a set of golden doors could be seen, with two minotaurs on guard. "Ah, this looks promising."
"How do we get back those guards?" Hannah asked.
"Well, this place does have talking animals, Hannah." Rex said with a sly smile.
"Of course." Hannah said and shape shifted into a tiger. "Here we go."
The two minotaurs were surprised when the tiger came down the hall. "Halt, who goes there?" one of the minotaurs asked.
"I'm here to see the Revered One." the tiger replied.
"No one sees the Revered One without orders from Queen Jadis." the other minotaur said. "Go back!"
At that point, Astral-Rex appeared behind one of the minotaurs and whispered into his ear. "Queen Jadis has approved the tiger's visit. She also wants to see both of you right away!" After whispering his message, Astral-Rex faded out.
"What is it?" the other minotaur asked.
"Queen Jadis wants to see us right away. She has approved the tiger's visit. We better not keep her waiting." The two minotaurs hurried away.
"Well done, Hannah." Rex said as he came down the hall.
"It was nothing." Hannah replied as she reverted to human form. "Although I'd hate to be those two minotaurs with Jadis is done with them.
"Indeed, they might find themselves added to the collection of statues here. However, we had no choice." Rex opened the doors and the two of them stepped into the room. It was adorned with comfortable rugs and furniture. Food and drink of various kinds were placed on tables throughout. However, what brought Rex and Hannah up short was the sight of a young man, dressed in the uniform of a British soldier of a century ago, seated on one of the chairs.
"That's the Revered One!?" the baffled Hannah asked.
"So it would seem." the equally baffled Rex replied.
"Oh thank God!" the young man said once he saw Rex and Hannah. "Have you been sent to rescue me?"
"That would depend." Rex said. "Who are you anyway?"
"My name's Jack." the young man replied.
"I'm Peter Pevensie." Rex said, using the name of the Narnia character.
"And I'm his sister, Susan." Hannah said. "Nice to meet you."
"Can you tell me how to get back to my unit. I was at the Western Front, and now I'm here!" the young man said.
"The Western Front?" Hannah asked.
"Jack, what year is it?" Rex asked slowly.
"What year!? It's 1918, of course. April."
April, 1918. Rex thought slowly. "Of course, now all this is beginning to make sense." He turned to the young man. "Jack is not your real name, is it?"
"No, only my close acquaintances call me that. My real name is Clive." Clive said.
"Clive Staples Lewis, I presume." Rex said.
"That's right. How do you know my name?" Clive asked. "Did you bring me here?"
"No, Mr. Lewis, we did not." Rex said. "Also, you never left the Western Front, you're still there. You see, you were wounded, a shell landed near you, and put you into a coma. You're still in that coma now."
"What!?" Clive asked.
"Yeah, what?" Hannah said.
"Hannah, this man is Clive Staples Lewis, C. S. Lewis, the author who wrote the Narnia series of books. He was a soldier in the First World War and he was wounded in April of 1918 as I just described."
"Are you saying all this is a dream?" Hannah asked as she gestured around her.
"Oh it's more than that, Hannah. This is the power of the human imagination unleashed. In a coma, Mr. Lewis's subconscious mind has full control, and has created this whole scenario."
"But how did we get here, Rex?"
"I suspect that part of Mr. Lewis's mind wants him to wake up, so it reached across time and space and found us, while we were asleep."
"We were asleep?" Hannah asked. "We're dreaming too!?"
"Yes, Hannah, we are." Rex said. "That's why we can't remember how we got here, you can never remember when you start to dream. That's the way out for all of us, we have to get Mr. Lewis to wake up!"
"Get me to wake up?" Clive asked. "How?"
"Very simple." Rex began. "We have to..."
"YOU MUST STOP!" Jadis said as she appeared in the doorway. "Leave the Revered One alone!"
"That's the crazy woman keeping me here." Clive said with fear.
"Mr. Lewis... Clive, you must understand, she is not real. She's part of you, everyone here is." Rex said. "Everyone here was created by your unleashed imagination. Aslan, Jadis, they're all part of you. No one here can hurt you. Look into my eyes."
"Yes." Clive said and looked into Rex's eyes.
"You must wake up, Clive, and go back to your life. Return to the real world."
"You can't do this!" Jadis howled. "Don't you understand, he's the one keeping us all alive! If you do this, we'll cease to exist!"
"As it should be." Aslan said as he appeared next to Jadis.
"You'll be gone too, you miserable cat!"
"Yes, but one day we shall live again." Aslan said. "I just know it."
They will, when the books are written. Hannah thought.
"Wake up, Clive!" Rex commanded. "Your family and friends are waiting for you!"
"Rex, I think it's working." Hannah said as the room around them began to blur.
"I must wake up. I must wake up." Clive said, over and over again.
"Yes, wake up!" Rex said and the room became even more blurry and began to break up.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jadis screamed as everything vanished.
THE PLACE: PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
THE TIME: MARCH 1, 2011
"Rex we're back!" Hannah said. The two of them had just woken up to find themselves back in their apartment.
"Well, technically, Hannah, we never left." Rex replied as he got out of bed and put on a robe.
"You know what I mean." Hannah said as she too got out of bed. "So, I'm guessing Clive woke up."
"He did and was on the road to recovery." Rex replied. "He was shipped back home to Britain soon after."
"And that's when he started writing the Narnia books."
"No, Hannah, as I said, the first book was not published until a few years after the Second World War."
"But that's thirty years later." Hannah said. "Why did he wait so long?"
"Well, Hannah, we don't know how much he remembered once he woke up. Perhaps seeing his country go through the trauma of another war brought back the memories. Or perhaps when he became more involved in Christianity also influence his decision. No one is quite sure. All we know is that Clive Staples Lewis, or C. S. Lewis, created a popular series, on par with Tolkien's Ring saga."
"And we helped." Hannah said. "Of course, the world will never know that."
"Yes, I guess we did help. We did use the names Peter and Susan Pevensie and two characters with those names would appear in the books. Mind you, Mr. Lewis made them younger, and added the younger siblings Edmund and Lucy. However, it seems we were responsible for the two older ones."
"Yeah, how does that work?" Hannah asked. "You came up with names, that, from Clive's view, did not yet exist! I mean when he went into a coma, the books would not be written for decades. Yet, we got the names from the books that... Gah, I'm getting a headache just trying to think about this stuff!"
"Ah, Hannah, best not to think of such things too much. You can give yourself a headache. Come, let's go have breakfast."
"Right behind you, Rex." Hannah said, smiling.
EPILOGUE: THE WESTERN FRONT, APRIL, 1918
Clive Lewis lay in his bunk in the Infirmary as a solider friend came to visit. "Good news, Jack." the soldier said. "Once you're back on your feet, you're going home."
"That's good to know." Clive said. "I'm glad to be alive."
"You get some more rest now." the soldier said and left.
That was some dream. Clive thought to himself. An evil witch, a talking lion, a strange land, and two strangers named Peter and Susan Pevensie. It all seemed so real, especially those two Pevensie siblings. I wonder...
Although three decades would pass before the first Narnia book appeared, Clive Staples Lewis always remembered the two strangers in his dream that helped him created a legend.
THE ADVENTURES OF REX AND HANNAH CONTINUE!