Disclaimer: i am broke, so therefore i don't own narnia or have anything to buy the deed to narnia with. unless someone would be interested in trading it in for a poorly-written fanfic and an explosive banana?

ahhh, yes... i've changed the title yet again... deal with it... haha :)

sorry guys... i haven't been updating this for a loooong time! i've been so busy with end-of-the-year school stuff! but, now it's summer and i am officially a high-schooler! *cheers* and i guess i had a writer's block ... more like a wall, actually. a wall through which my creative juices can't flow through! but... yesterday night, inspiration struck me... and it was going like 96 miles per hour, right at my head, too... fortunately, i only sustained minor injuries! *more cheers*

well, i guess you don't want to hear my sorry excuses any longer, so on with the chapter then!!!

r&r?

There was a loud thud as Peter dismounted his horse with a curious expression on his face- a rather comical mix of perplexity, curiosity, and worry. It was a rather silly expression to have on one's face, though he stood properly and erectly (only fitting for a king). He was dressed casually - a simple white cotton shirt, black trousers, and riding boots. Edmund was dressed in a similar fashion. Neither wore a crown upon his head, and if it weren't for the way they held themselves and their guard, one would have thought them as just commoners. Even from a distance, Dani could tell that Peter had at least a foot and a half on her and had quite a lot of muscle on him, though he couldn't be more than five years older than her.

Dani wondered whether she should bow to him - she felt it would be a terribly awkward feeling to do so (curtsying wasn't really her style). So instead, she opted for a bright smile and a cheery optimism that she wouldn't be thrown in the Cair Paravel dungeons for what she was about to do.

"Well, there you finally are!" she bellowed at them. "I was really hoping for somebody to show up, you know, before we got attacked by a werewolf or something..." She took notice of the blank expression on Peter's face, and the wariness in Edmund's. "You see, I'm in a bit of a pickle here," she elaborated in a quieter voice, "I'm new to this place- very new actually- and the only person who has the slightest bit of knowledge of this place is a bit... incapacitated." She pointed at Kacey, lying on the ground.

She took a few tentative steps toward them but grimaced as she saw several of the guards place anxious hands on the hilts of their very large swords. She stopped in her tracks and gave the guards a reproachful glare. "Honestly, do I really look that dangerous?" she said sarcastically, "Ooh, look! I can flick this rubber band at you! I'm so evil!"

"It is wise to always be on one's toes, miss," one of the guards told her, but he gave her the flicker of a smile.

Dani grinned back at him. "Sorry... Heavy artillery just makes me nervous for some odd reason, you know?"

At this, both Peter and Edmund cracked smiles. Peter walked forward and extended a polite hand. "King Peter the Magnificent," he said, "and that's King Edmund the Just."

"We really do prefer to be called just 'Edmund' and 'Peter', though... No need to bother with the 'king' stuff," Edmund said from behind him.

"Ahh... Okay then... Well, I'm Dani Dower and that's-"

"-Kacey Brinkley," a cheery voice from behind Dani interrupted her, "But we really prefer to be called just 'Kacey and 'Dani'. No need to bother with the 'Brinkley and the 'Dower' stuff..."

Dani turned around to find Kacey sitting up and smiling, though she was rubbing what looked like a very large bump on her head. "Kacey! OMG! You're alive!"

"Well, I would hope that I'm alive, or else I would start wondering what I'm doing, walking and talking like this..." Kacey grinned as she got up. "Oh, and, nice to meet you, Your Highnesses." She gave them a little curtsey and elbowed Dani to do the same. Dani smirked at her as she bowed down and elbowed Kacey's arm back.

"Oh, okay... Yeah... That hurts..." Kacey groaned, clutching her arm. "There was a bruise there from when I... fell!"

"Oh, sorry!" said Dani.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked raising his eyebrows.

"Never been better!" Kacey replied brightly, though her eyes were watering slightly.

"You must have fallen harder than I thought! Really, Kace, just fainting out of nowhere like that- you kinda scared me!"

"Fainted?" Edmund asked, and Kacey turned very red in the face.

Dani opened her mouth to explain, but Kacey replied quickly before she could divulge any more rather embarrassing things. "It was just shock. Most people aren't used to randomly popping up in magical countries and meeting their monarchs that they've only read about in books," she said casually.

"We're in a book?" Edmund asked, sharing a surprised glance with Peter. They doubted that they would be in very many books, as it was quite early in their rule. Even if they were in a book, it would most likely be found only in Narnia, as no one cared much about a country ruled by teenagers, magical or not. And judging by their attire, these two girls were clearly not from anywhere around here.

Kacey grimaced as she realized her mistake. She couldn't exactly explain to them that they were characters in a series of children's books written over 50 years ago. She had no idea how to tell them that none of them were supposed to exist, that Narnia wasn't supposed to be a real place, and that all of their adventures here weren't supposed to have happened. She couldn't tell them that they were all just a figment of C.S. Lewis's imagination any more than she could call the centaurs 'pwetty ponies!' without being chucked in the loony bin. So, she opted for a more... believable explanation, though it was not entirely true.

"Well...more like an... old document, really." She then explained in a very hurried voice, "Well, see at the library back home, that is to say back in Connecticut in the year 2009, oh by the way, we're from the future- just so you know because I really don't think I told you- anyways, at the library, I found this section with all of these old-looking documents and newspaper articles- see, I was working on a report for history class- and I happened upon this thing, it said it was written about 50 years ago (well, 50 years ago from my time, so I suppose it's around your time), and it told the whole story of Narnia and Aslan and the White Witch... It even told all about you guys! And I really liked the idea of it- you know, a magical world inside a wardrobe- but, well, I just kind of figured it was just some old story- I'm not really used to the idea of magical lands being real, you know- but I thought it was just really cool, so well, I, well, I tend to not pay attention in class anyway, so I occasionally daydream about it... And well, and and I-I never actually thought it would be real." Kacey finished her confusing explanation on that rather lame note.

She sighed at the bewildered expression on both of Peter and Edmund's faces. Even Dani looked a little perplexed. See, her... improvised... explanation would be perfectly believable, thanks to the fact that Kacey was very accomplished at making up stories on the spot (one would believe so with an imagination like hers). Besides, the story did have a bit of truth to it... She did find out all about Narnia from something she found at the library (C.S. Lewis's works, of course), and they were most certainly written 50 years ago according to the copyright page, and she does occasionally (if everyday could be considered occasional) daydream about Narnia, and never, even in that convoluted dream world of hers, did Kacey imagine that she would actually find herself in Narnia. The only thing was, Kacey did tend to babble and stutter and talk ridiculously fast when she gets nervous... And lying to a couple of Narnian kings is just one of those things that makes Kacey Brinkley nervous.

"Could you please repeat that, a bit more slowly?" Edmund said, a slight smile on his face.

Kacey opened her mouth slightly in shock. Could this possibly mean that they actually believed her? She stammered, "Well, I-I-"

"Okay, well, key points," said Dani, who appeared to have gotten over her befuddlement and was now grinning at Kacey with understanding and mischief. "Basically, me and Kacey are from Connecticut as in America-Connecticut, and we're from 2009. Okay, so Kacey finds old document in library because Kacey is a dork like that, and she actually goes to the library. Old document is about Narnia and Kacey learns all about it. Kacey, again, because she is such a dork-" at this, Kacey gave her a dangerous glare "-daydreams about Narnia in class when she's supposed to be paying attention and copying the notes so I can get them from her later. While Kacey is daydreaming, magical portal appears-"

"Magical portal?" Peter suddenly interrupted.

"Yes, Mr. I-Need-To-Listen-When-Dani-Is-Telling-Me-Something, a magical portal to Narnia," Dani told him, smirking slightly, "I suspect it was Kacey's doing, with that brain of hers. All of our tiny minds bow down to it." At this point, Kacey was trying very hard not to smile at Dani's rant. "Anyways, me, Kace, Brian, and Rachel go through it and end up here." At the mention of their names Dani suddenly remembered. "Brian and Rachel! Where do you think they went off to, Kace?"

"Oh yeah..." Kacey said and then turning to Peter, she told him, "See we came here with two other people... Brian's about ye tall, and he has really short brown hair, and he's probably going to have this really dazed expression on his face- yeah, that happens a lot- and he has this really cute little-" She stopped short- she had almost told him about that adorable little dimple Brian had on his left cheek. "-this really cute little... sock. Um, yeah, it has Christmas elves all over it... Well, anyways, it's really important we find him- he's kinda clueless about Narnia, so who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into..."

"Oh, alright..." Peter said, "Wait- what about the other girl? Rachel?"

"Oh..." Kacey said. In truth, she did not care one bit about what happened to Rachel. Narnia was probably better off without her airheaded, giggling, annoying muck. It wouldn't surprise Kacey if Rachel had been dragged away by a troop of dwarfs, anyway... Probably called them 'midgets'...

"...Yeah... her, too..." Kacey replied reluctantly.

"I'll get some of my guard to go look for them," Peter said, nodding to a couple of leopards who nodded back and silently disappeared into the trees. Kacey dearly wished the guards some luck. She could only imagine Rachel's reaction when she finds a couple of leopards talking to her as if that was normal behavior for wild animals...

"Sooo... What now?" Dani said brightly.

"We can't exactly leave you here, wandering the woods, can we?" Edmund said.

Kacey looked around the clearing. "Hmmm... I dunno... A girl can get pretty comfortable here... You know, sleeping on rocks, getting attacked by creepers... Yup! That's the life!" she retorted, suppressing a smile.

"Hardy har har, very funny," said Edmund dryly, "Keep on giving cheek like that, and maybe we will leave you out here, ma'am."

"Ma'am? That makes me feel old... I think I prefer 'Kacey', thank you very much."

"Well, sorry then, Kacey," Edmund said, grinning.

When he and Peter turned around to remount their horses, Dani gave Kacey a knowing look as she mouthed, "Ma'am?" She merely chuckled as Kacey absurdly red, quite the opposite from her calm facade just a few moments before. She was extremely grateful that the two kings were turned around.

"Oi! Are you two just going to stand there, or are we going?" Peter called from the horses.

Dani squeaked happily as she grabbed Kacey by the arm, ushered her over, and enthusiastically said, "Are we going where I think we're going?!?!"

Peter looked at her grinning up at him and raised his eyebrows. "Well, Susan always does love entertaining guests, and I could never deprive her of a chance to show off her brilliant hosting skills."

At this, Dani squeaked again and started hyperventilating.

Kacey stared at her, amused. "Holy crap, Dani. I think you're more excited than me... Now tell me, who's the Narnia geek again?"

"But, Kacey! I've never been in a castle!" Dani blurted out, "Never, ever, never!" With that she turned around and, with Peter's help, clambered up on the horse behind him.

"Wait... I've never been in a castle either!" Kacey told her, but Dani wasn't paying attention. She was a bit too busy asking Peter if the 'imperial and grand walls and towers of Cair Paravel glistened and shined and sparkled in the early morning sun'.

"Huh... Haven't seen her this excited since she found out that they gave out free chocolate at Hershey Park..." Kacey wondered aloud as she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Are you getting on or would you rather walk?" Edmund grinned at her.

Kacey made a face at him as she scrambled up on Phillip's chestnut back. She couldn't fathom the idea that she was actually going to see Cair Paravel. The real one- not the cheap mini cardboard version she made for an art project (though admittedly, it did earn her an 'A' in that class).

"Hey, Kacey?" Edmund said from in front of her.

"Hmm?"

"I don't suppose you've ever been to a Narnian party, have you?"

huh, a bit shorter than my usual standards, but it will have to do... hmmm... even though i know i've been a terrible authoress, making you wait for over a month, but i don't suppose it would be too much of a lost cause to ask for reviews?

justplaincrazy8