Of Cloudless Climes and Starry Skies – Chapter 3
Disclaimer: These characters are not my own.
AN: I'm so sorry for the long, long, long, wait! I had some serious stuff to sort out, with this and other random bits and bobs, so thanks for being so patient. I really appreciated your kind reviews, though, everyone. Feel free to leave more, even if you have already, or review if you haven't done so yet.
Meg saw nothing but darkness. Around her, the rain was falling silently, and all she could hear was the wind in the trees. She raised a hand to her face, slowly, and though she could feel her fingers, she could not see her hand.
This frightened her in a different way from the darkness – it was as though she didn't even exist.
She thought a few words, again and again:
Charles… Calvin… Progo… Charles… Calvin… Progo…
The sequence repeated itself in her head over and over, until she could feel it beating in her blood, her heart sending the thoughts of those she loved around her body to her brain, her disembodied self, the only thing anchoring her there as she floated in space.
It seemed like an eternity that she waited there, standing until she could stand no longer, not realising that she was on her knees for a long while after she fell, before a light shone through the all-encompassing darkness.
It was a small light, as though from a candle flickering softly, but it had some effect on Meg of galvanising her into action. She struggled to her feet and made her way across what had so shortly been her orchard – or rather it was as though she was drawn there by the light, like a moth to a lamp in summer.
I thought it, and it was done, thought Meg wonderingly.
The light drew nearer to her, or she drew nearer to it – she wasn't sure which, although it probably didn't really matter. Whichever one of them was moving (Meg suspected it was her), the light grew stronger and stronger, until it was as bright as the sun, and threw Meg's surroundings into sharp relief.
Which made it all the more surprising that there was absolutely nothing there.
To be sure, there was the hard, cold, ground over which she glided, and the endlessly rushing wind, but apart from that? Nothing. Nothing at all, save the ever-growing light. In the glow of the light, Meg saw that the ground was a pure silvery-white colour – molybdenum, perhaps, in its perfect form.
Finally – after what seemed like an eternity – Meg saw the light for what it was. A little girl, only about eight or nine, sat cross-legged on the ground, reading by the gentle gleam of a small flame.
The little girl looked up at Meg with one green eye and one blue.
"Hello," she said quietly. "I'm Emily."
Meg tried to speak, but found she couldn't open her mouth. The little girl blinked once.
"Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to put that one on you…" Emily flicked a finger in Meg's direction, and then another, and Meg suddenly found that she could speak.
"I'm Meg," she said awkwardly.
Emily smiled. "I know that." She left it at that, saying nothing more, just gazing at Meg silently with her disarming eyes. As Meg watched, Emily's eyes changed colour, blue morphing into a deep purple, green fading into brown.
Taking a second look at the little girl, Meg saw that she was very sweet-looking: her features were small, a little sharp perhaps, though not in a bad way, and she seem thoroughly absorbed in her book. As she read, she seemed to alter in appearance, blurring and re-forming. Her hair started off in a auburn bunches, then grew and lightened into blonde locks, settling into a short, untidy black bob, suiting her perhaps the best. Her skin, too, gently faded from a freckled rosiness to chalky pallor, then darkening once more to a light olive-brown. She had long fingers, turning the pages of the enormous book in her lap frequently, and her expression of concentration had the probing look of Charles Wallace – Meg wondered if the child was kything, or reading her mind like her brother did.
"What are you reading?" asked Meg eventually, just to break the silence.
Emily looked up with eyes that were now one bright scarlet, one electric blue. "Fairytales," she replied. "What else is there to read?"
"Anything," Meg answered immediately – not her planned answer, but her real thoughts. She had meant to be polite, to choose a happy medium of an answer, but the words just slipped out of her.
"I only read fairytales," stated Emily. "There's nothing else to read around here."
"Where is here, anyway?" asked Meg, curiosity finally getting the better of her.
"Oh, here and there, round and about," said Emily vaguely. "I think you might call it 'the other side' in your world?"
"I don't know what you mean," said Meg wretchedly, the words spilling over and tumbling out of her mouth inadvertently. "I'm so confused! How I get here? Where're Calvin and Charles?" She shivered, though she wasn't really cold, and felt painfully aware of some perceived inferiority to the child, both mentally and physically.
"Meg," said Emily, smiling, "I know that you and I are going to be such friends."
She reached out a hand, pinched the candle wick, and then they were flying.
When Meg landed, the ground of molybdenum had disappeared, and they stood in a field that seemed to be of lilies. The air was sweet and pure, filled with the scent of spring, and Meg felt a sense of calmness surround her – like she was going home.
(Another!) AN: Hope you enjoyed it! That was really hard to write, but now it's over I think I have some idea of where the plot is going, which I didn't before. Also, I just wanted to say that I'm not really going to include any of the "religious" element of the trilogy, just because that's not really my thing. It's just a bit of fun, this, but please do keep on reading!