AUTHOR'S NOTE – Sorry this update is late today. Enjoy.
Chapter 11 – Playing second fiddle
"I better go and find Lucy. You should get some sleep." Lauren told Caspian, both still sitting in the same spot they had been for the last hour.
"Yes I suppose you are right." Caspian returned, the couple then leaving the room and walking towards the bedroom that Lucy and Lauren were sharing.
"Sleep well." He added with a tired smile, touching his lips to Laurens cheek before turning to go and find his own resting spot.
"You too." Lauren called back before he turned the corner, catching one last glimpse of the man she had just told she loved.
Lucy was in the bedroom getting into her night clothing when she heard the door open and close. Of course it could only be one person, but where had she been?
"I was beginning to think I might have to send out a search party for you." Lucy said as she got into her side of the bed, Lauren following soon after.
"Very funny Luc, I was just talking with Caspian. He is a little bit stressed. He needed to talk to someone." Lauren told her younger cousin, not lying just omitting to tell all of the information.
"And that is all it was? Just talking?" the youngest Pevensie asked, not quite yet convinced.
"Yes Lucy that is all it was. I told you we are just friends nothing more." Ok now she was lying.
"It's ok Lauren you don't have to tell me the truth yet. I can wait." Lucy grinned now admitting to Lauren that she knew exactly what was going on. There was only one person that could make Lauren smile the way she was at that moment and it wasn't any of her cousins.
"Ok Luc, believe what you want to believe but I'm really tired so do you mind if I go to sleep now?" Lauren asked, not waiting for a response before shutting her eyes and drifting off into unconsciousness.
Lucy couldn't get to sleep. For nights on end she had been thinking about what Coriakin had told her, the part where he said that they would be tempted and tested, that evil had the upper hand. Lucy was just waiting for that moment to come, the moment when evil was going to strike and decide it was time to mess around. Little did she know, but that time was now, the moment when Lucy looked at Lauren with a smile etched on her face as she slept and a huge feeling of jealousy built up inside of her.
Lauren and her older sister Susan had grown up to be so beautiful, they could command the attention of anyone with just the flutter of the eyelashes or a flip of the hair. Susan had American naval officers vying for her attention and Lauren had the King of Narnia in the palm of her hand. Lucy looked on at her sleeping cousin who was totally unaware of the way she was feeling. Lauren slept so soundly with the happiest expression on her face. Would she ever meet someone that would make her so happy, even in sleep? Lucy didn't think so, and that's when she remembered the piece of paper she had hidden under the bed, the infallible spell from the book of incantations.
"Transform my reflection, cast into perfection..." Lucy began reading after gently reaching down to obtain the parchment, careful not to wake her sleeping cousin at the side of her.
"Luscious lips and complexion. Make me she whom I'd agree, holds more beauty over me." Lucy finished looking over her body once she had done so only to notice there was no change.
Lucy confused as to why she had not changed, slowly got out of the bed and walked over to the mirror. At first it was just her own reflection that looked back at her, but after a moment things began to change. Her freckles disappeared, her hair grew darker, she was becoming taller, growing in certain places she had not yet and even make up was appearing on her face, a 1940's outfit of the American style taking over from her night dress.
Now it was not herself she saw in the mirror but her older sister Susan, the one person she had always thought the most beautiful.
Without even thinking on it Lucy now looking like Susan pushed the glass of the mirror slowly and it opened without so much as a struggle. As Lucy stepped from a Narnian ship into the American party that was on the other side she failed to notice the infamous green mist floating all around the room. She didn't know what was happening, all she did know was at that moment she loved it.
Taking the step, Lucy was suddenly transported. No longer was she on the Dawn Treader looking as plain as she did, now she was a woman, an attractive woman who was walking through an amazing party in America. A jazz band was playing in the background and men all around were looking at her, huge smiles on their faces. Lucy had never felt this good, this special.
"Edmund." Lucy smiled when her brother approached, linking her arm in his as she carried on walking.
"You look beautiful sister." He said, Lucy suddenly realising that he never told her that when she looked like she normally did.
"As always." Peter said, linking on to her from the other side.
"Peter." She couldn't help but grin widely. God, she had missed her big brother.
They continued walking through the party, Lucy still getting lots of attention as they did. Her brothers looked so proud of her as she was complimented by the people all around them.
"Excuse me miss. Do you mind if I get a picture? An older man asked placing his large camera right in front of them.
"Oh yes mother will love this." Peter started, the three Pevensie children posing in front of the lens.
"All her children in one picture." He finished, smiling for the photograph that was just about to be taken.
"Hang on, where am I?" Lucy stated confused.
"I mean where's Lucy?" she giggled nervously, realising her brothers thought she was Susan looking the way she did.
"Lucy? Who's Lucy?" Edmund answered baffled. It was as if he had never heard that name before.
Lucy didn't like this one bit. She knew now that she didn't just look like Susan, she had become Susan. What did that mean for her? Did she not exist? She wanted to get out of this situation. She wanted to be back on the Dawn Treader with her family, not here in a place where no one knew her.
"Susan, what's wrong?" Peter asked when she began to struggle, attempting to get out of the gaze of the picture.
"Come on miss, a nice big smile." The man behind the camera urged, Lucy having none of it.
"Edmund I'm not sure about all this. I think I want to go back." She said, pulling away from her brothers finally.
"Go back where?" Edmund questioned, still totally confused.
"To Narnia." She stated bluntly, it being the obvious answer.
"What on earth is Narnia?" Edmund then chuckled, thinking his sister was joking around.
Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She looked over her brothers faces and she could see they genuinely had no idea what she was talking about. She didn't exist, Narnia never happened. She began to panic, not wanting any of this at all. If this had to happen for her to look like Susan then she wanted none of it. She wished she'd never stolen the page.
"What's going on? Stop this?" She screamed at the top of her lungs, hysteria in her voice.
Suddenly she saw the man in front of her press the knob on the camera which would take her picture. She lifted her hands suddenly to protect her eyes from the flash and as soon as she did so everything went quiet. The music had stopped, the chatter all around her was no more, and she could no longer feel her brothers latching on to her from both sides.
Slowly she took her hands away, opening them after a moment to find herself back in front of the mirror in the bedroom, a huge Lion walking to her side.
"Lucy." The lion said with a sad face stopping at her side as a reflection, Lucy not taking her eyes off of him as he only appeared in the mirror.
"Aslan?" She stuttered quietly and close to tears.
"What have you done child?" he asked, disappointment clear in his voice.
"I don't know. That was awful." She said in a voice lower than a whisper.
She looked at the expression on Aslan's face and had never felt so ashamed of herself. She didn't see him often so when she did it was always so special, so savoured. This time however was different. It was like he had come to tell her off, to tell her she was wrong.
"But you chose it Lucy." Aslan answered her question in his unique deep voice.
"I didn't mean to choose all of that. I just wanted to be beautiful like Susan, that's all." She said trying to defend what she had done, but knowing Aslan was right for the way he felt.
"You wished yourself away and with it much more. Your brothers and sister wouldn't know Narnia without you Lucy. You discovered it first, remember." Aslan made clear to her.
What had she been thinking? If she had taken that path and it had been permanent then it wouldn't have been just her that changed, everyone would have in some way. Her brothers and sister would never have found Narnia, the white witch would have continued her reign without disruption, Caspian would have been defeated by Miraz because he had no help and then Lauren would never have come here, never have met him or been cheered up by the stories they shared with her. God knows where she would be without Narnia.
"I'm so sorry." She cried, the emotions beginning to take over.
"You doubt your value. Don't run from who you are." Aslan said finally, realising from the sadness on her face that he had gotten through to her.
With that Aslan disappeared and Lucy was left alone, looking at herself alone in the mirror once more. For the first time in a long time she was content in her own skin.
Then, she woke up
Yes that's right, she woke up. Reading the incantation, changing into Susan, travelling to America and then her brothers not remembering her. It was all a dream, the green mists way of messing with her head. She wasn't even sure if the part with Aslan was real. Still, she was glad it happened because what Aslan said to her made everything clear. She was needed just the way she was.
"NOOOOO!" Lauren screamed, waking up next to her suddenly, no longer a smile on her face.
"Lauren what is it?" Lucy asked, shocked by her cousins sudden outburst.
"Ummm bad dream. You?" The older of the two questioned, getting out of the bed to fetch a cup of water, shaking as she did so.
"Me too." Lucy admitted, hanging her head.
"Maybe we should go and find the others. It's too much of a coincidence that we both had bad dreams at the exact same time. We should see if they are ok." Lauren thought out loud
She had just a dream where she had to watch her parents die over and over again. This time though there was no Aunt and Uncle to take her in, no Edmund and Lucy to make her feel better and because of that there was no Narnia and no Caspian to hold her, to make her feel loved. She had felt so helpless, so alone.
The two girls held on to each other's hands and walked silently through the ship, fearing the worst. The green mist had decided it wanted to play.
When they reached the room which the men were sleeping in their worst fears were confirmed. Caspian was lying in a restless sleep shouting out for his father, a sheen of sweat crossing his forehead as he tossed and turned.
Edmund was sitting upright in the hammock, holding his sword out in front of him and staring into thin air like he could see something coming after him. He looked terrified.
"Lauren you take Caspian, I'll deal with Ed." Lucy whispered as they slowly approached the sleeping men.
"Caspian." Lauren whispered at the Kings side, stroking his hair back with her hand.
"Caspian, wake up." She said slightly louder, and nudging him so he would wake up.
"Father?" He yelled, waking up and jerking in the bed before seeing Lauren and then calming down.
"It's ok, it was just a dream." She assured him, placing her palm on the side of his face as he gathered his bearings.
"How did you know?" He asked, blinking his eyes to wake himself up and confused as to how she knew he was having a nightmare.
"Well, umm you and Ed weren't the only ones having bad dreams." She informed looking over at Lucy and Edmund who was now wide awake himself and shuddering like a wet leaf.
"So either we're all going mad or something is playing with our minds." Edmund said, knowing exactly what had happened. He was so tired and couldn't keep his head up for long before it hit the pillow once more. He knew he wouldn't get to sleep though, not after dreaming about Jadis.
The next morning when the weary crew of the Dawn Treader worked hard on the ship it was clear that none of them had gained very much sleep. They had all experienced bad dreams just like Caspian, Edmund, Lauren and Lucy had.
It wasn't long before they eventually found some land up ahead. Maybe the tides were turning in their favour finally. The sun was shining and there was a chance there may be food once they reached shore. It was either that or the evil was giving them a false sense of security, setting them up for a big finale.
As was the norm now, the crew from the Narnian ship along with the royals, Lauren and Reep got in the long boats and made their way towards the yet undiscovered island.
"I doubt the lords stopped here my liege, there is no sign of anything living." Reep observed aiming his comment at King Caspian who was in the opposite boat to him.
Getting closer to the island it became clear that maybe their hope for food was already diminished. There was no sign of anything green, no trees, no birds flying over head, nothing.
"Well when we get to shore take your men and look for food and water." Caspian began, instructing between boats as he rowed with Edmund, Lucy and Lauren towards shore.
"The four of us will search for clues." Caspian finished, gaining an annoyed huff from Eustace who was also sitting in their boat.
"Don't you mean the five of us?" He asked, the others turning to look at him for a moment in shock. Was he really offering to help?
"Come on please don't send me back to the rat?" he begged after seeing the unsure expressions on all their faces.
"I heard that." Reepicheep shouted from the other boat.
"Big ears." Eustace whispered under his breath thinking Reep wouldn't hear from where he was.
"I heard that too." The mouse yelled, exasperated and getting to the point where he wanted to start up another duel with the boy again.
Edmund and Lauren looked at each other from their side of the boat and burst out laughing, there was no stopping it, just the look on Eustace's face was enough. Once they had started it wasn't long before Caspian, Lucy and the other crew in their boat joined in. Eustace was priceless.
As soon as they reached the land and everyone was unloading the boats Eustace took it upon himself to wander off and look for clues alone. Unfortunately no one had even noticed he was missing.
Lauren stood on the beach taking in the scenery around her. Compared to the other islands they had visited this one seemed rather plain in comparison. There was literally nothing, just rocks and mountains. It's whilst making this observation she noticed something, something that caught her attention.
"Look, we are not the first ones on this island." Lauren said, running over to a rope which she had noticed was tied around a large bolder, its end hanging down into a dark hole at its side.
"The lords?" Edmund immediately assumed as the other joined her to investigate.
"Could be." Caspian thought out loud, peering down into the abyss as he did so.
Before going any further Caspian wanted to make sure that everything was safe, that there would be nothing down that hole to surprise them. He picked up a stone that was lying at his feet and then threw it into the space, watching it clink and fall until it hit the base not soon after. This being a sign that it wasn't endlessly deep.
"What do you think is down there?" he wandered, looking back at Edmund and Lauren as he said it.
"Let's find out." Edmund encouraged, always the adventurer wanting to discover as much as he could.
Edmund eased down the rope first, closely followed by Lauren and then finally Caspian. It was decided that someone should stay at the top to keep watch in case anything happened, Lucy was given this task.
What they found when they reached the base of the hole was a vast underground cave that had a small pool in its centre. It seemed nothing special at first glance.
"What's that?" Caspian asked intrigued when he saw something glittering under the surface of the pool.
"I don't know. It looks like some kind of gold statue." Edmund realised, confusion soaking his voice.
To find out more Edmund walked over to the wall of the cave where he obtained a metre long stick which was lodged inside it. He then went back to the pool, leant down and starting prodding the statue with the piece of wood.
"Be careful Ed." Lauren begged, watching on with trepidation. Judging by their luck these past few weeks, there was bound to be something behind all of this.
Distracted by Laurens words, Edmund pulled the stick out of the water only to discover that when he did so the stick began to turn gold, solid gold.
"That isn't a statue is it?" It dawning on Lauren when she looked back at the awkward statue rested at the pool side.
"He must have fallen in." Caspian observed, bending down to get a proper look but making sure he was not making contact with the water.
"Poor man." Lauren answered, thinking about what this individual must have gone through.
Edmund then noticed to the side of this man was a shield, a shield which bore the crest of one of the lost lords of Telmar.
"You mean poor lord." He confirmed, bringing this point to everyone's attention.
"It's the crest of Lord Restimar." Caspian observed, looking at the image on the shield Edmund has seen just a moment earlier.
Lauren noticed something else in the water whilst the men were looking at the body of the lord, something long, shining and familiar.
"His sword." Lauren pointed out immediately once she had worked out what is was.
"We need it." Caspian said, knowing that they had to retrieve it to continue on their journey.
Whilst they were pre-occupied getting hold of the sword, Edmund being given the task, all of them failed to notice the now infamous green mist circling above their heads, ready and waiting to make its presence known.
"Why haven't the swords turned to gold?" Lauren asked out loud after Edmund pulled it out of the water using the identical sword bestowed to him by Caspian weeks earlier.
"Both of the swords are magical." Caspian informed, taking the weapon out of Edmunds hand as he said it.
"He mustn't have known what hit him." Lauren continued, looking down at the man who had been immortalised in gold.
"Maybe or maybe he was on to something." Edmund wandered out loud looking to find something he could experiment with, finally setting his sights on a large shell which he proceeded to submerge in the water, making sure that his fingers did not get wet whilst he did it.
"What are you doing?" Caspian asked confused. Not knowing what in Narnia's name Edmund was up to.
The shell turned to solid gold the second it hit the water and Edmund could not help but gawp at it in excitement as he waited for it to dry off and then took it in his hands.
"What are you staring at?" Lauren asked her cousin, stepping forward to make sure he was alright.
"Whoever has access to this pool could be the most powerful person in the world." Edmund answered, not taking his eyes off of the pool or the shell for a second.
Caspian and Lauren looked at each other nervously. Money and material things like that weren't the sort of things that interested Edmund usually. Something was definitely going on.
"Lauren, me, you and Lucy, we'd be so rich. No one could tell us what to do or who to live with." Edmund urged trying to enlighten his cousin on his way of thinking. All he was succeeding in was making her nervous.
"You can't take anything out of Narnia Edmund." Caspian told him, thinking Edmund knew that was obvious already.
"Says who?" Edmund replied with a snap, looking back at the shell. Lauren had never seen him act this way. This person talking was not her cousin, something was inside him, it was changing him before their eyes.
"I do." Caspian stated, using his regal tone as he did so. Lauren could feel the tension in the air now. She knew that all the jealousy Edmund had felt against Caspian would bubble to the surface and it wasn't going to be pretty. She would give anything just to get them away from this situation right now.
"I'm not your subject." Edmund seethed through gritted teeth, getting to his feet and taking his sword in hand.
"You've been waiting for this haven't you? To challenge me? You doubt my leadership?" Caspian acknowledged, remembering himself the way Edmund had acted the first time he was informed that Caspian was first in command.
"You doubt yourself." Edmund threw back, knowing full well how strongly Caspian felt the need to make his long passed father proud.
"You are a child." Caspian shook, angry now that Edmund would even bring such a thing up.
"And you're a spineless sap." Ed shouted back. Not caring what Caspian thought of him.
All Lauren could do was watch. She did not have the physical strength to break the two apart. They were staring at each other with such hate it was hard even for her to watch. Two of the people she loved most in the world were on the verge of a serious fight. She couldn't let it happen.
"Edmund." Lauren begged reaching forward to touch his arm, only to have him push her back with all his might. This alone got Caspian angrier and Lauren could see his shoulder begin to shudder.
"I'm tired of playing second fiddle. First it was Peter and now it's you." He screeched, staring Caspian directly in the eye, now no more than a couple of inches between them.
"You know I'm braver than both of you. Why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own. I deserve to rule." The Pevensie boy screamed in the Narnian kings face, venom dripping with each word.
Caspian had had enough. First Edmund insults him, defies his orders, pushes Lauren and then keeps screaming. He needed to be taught a lesson.
"If you think you're so brave, prove it." Caspian yelled with a deep voice. Pushing Edmund in the chest and then grabbing hold of his own sword.
Within an instant what Lauren had feared most came true, Caspian and Edmund were fighting, not play fighting though. This was serious, they were after blood.
She looked at the both of them for a second, the swings of their swords and the hatred on their faces and she knew for sure then that this was the mist's work. These dear friends would never do this to one another unless influenced by something.
Lauren knew she had to do something. It had been made clear that she didn't have the physical capacity to pull them apart so she had to think fast. What could she use to distract them from the fight? That's when it dawned on her. She could use herself.
She waited for them to draw their swords back, preparing for the next swing and that's when she made her move. Stepping forward swiftly she stepped in between the two, their blades stopping within millimetres of her.
"Don't. Stop it, both of you." She shouted, looking from one boy to the next, both calming down just enough to lower their swords. Whatever problems they had with each other neither of them wanted Lauren in the middle of it.
"Look at yourselves. Can't you see what's happening?" She began, tears filling her eyes as her gaze settled on Caspian.
"This place has tempted you. It's bewitching you. This is exactly what Coriakin was talking about." She cried some more, both Edmund and Caspian starting to come to their senses as they felt the evil leave them.
Lauren felt like she was suffocating. Watching what the mist had done to two people who are usually the closest of friends, made her fear for what else was to come. Caspian could see the anguish in her eyes and so could Edmund. All she wanted was time alone, just a moment where she didn't have to watch the mist destroy everything around her.
"Can we just get out of here?"
Wow that was a long one. I'm glad I got this chapter out of the way to be honest. A lot had to happen and I could have split it into 2 but I wanted all the stuff surrounding the green mists influence to be in one. I hope that was ok. Please review as usual x