Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, only my OC's and plot. :)
Hey readers, welcome to the last chapter of 'The Orphan Prophecy'! Thank you so much for all the support over the last couple of months, it's meant the world to me!
Now please enjoy the story! :)
"Are you ready to fly?" Cloudbeak asks us all.
"Absolutely!" I respond.
Chapter 19: Prophecies
The journey home is one that I can only describe as incredible, but also absolutely terrifying! There's nothing quite like being held by a griffin whilst flying thousands of feet in the air. My mind races with each cloud we go past and it certainly doesn't help with my fear of heights. I can't deny the beauty of Narnia from the air though. It's so lush and green and the rivers are the brightest blue you could ever imagine! It doesn't take us long at all to transverse the country side before we're all the way back home. The griffins drop us off at the beach that Mr. Hogelsworth said he'd meet us at with acute precision before standing on the sand. They all bow to us before taking off. We can't forget what an honour it is for griffins to carry us home like that.
"Bye! Thankyou! See you another time!" we all shout after them.
"That was so much fun!" Edmund exclaims while turning to Abby. "Did you see all the lakes!"
"And all the forests and mountains!" she adds on. "It was so majestic! Did you enjoy it, King Peter?" she asks while smiling brightly up at Peter.
"It was amazing," Peter admits before going over to the shore. I watch him as he dips his feet into the ocean, letting the water splash over them. He seems to be deep in thought. I leave the two excited children alone and walk over to him. Jokingly, I kick water at his legs. He smiles ever so slightly.
"What are you thinking about?" I ask while bending down ever so slightly to wash my legs. They haven't had a proper clean yet and they're still covered in blood. He sighs.
"That this trip is nearly over which means we'll have to part ways." Oh. I freeze for a second before straightening up. That caught me off guard.
"It doesn't mean we have to. Maybe we can still see each other occasionally," I hint as I playfully shove into his shoulder. That big chat in the cave has certainly changed my perspective of the King; even if it did take me a month to figure out.
"Isn't it funny how you've gone from hating my guts and never wanting to see me again to suddenly never wanting to leave?" I grimace. He has a point.
"It does seem counterintuitive I guess."
"You know, you're a pretty amazing person, Athalia. Anyone would be lucky to get to know you."
"Including you right?" He smiles at me, more genuine this time.
"Yes, including me." It's silent for a few minutes as we watch the sky change colour ever so slightly. It's going to be dark soon.
"So what do you think we do with the prophecy now?" I ask, breaking the silence once again.
"I suppose we wait." And so we do. We wait for what feels like an eternity, in reality it was probably only an hour or so, before we hear the sound of a horse neighing up on the track. Mr. Hogelsworth walks down the small path not long after the sound, hobbling along with his walking stick, before meeting us on the hardened sand.
"So what now, Professor?" I ask him.
"Well you see, there's actually a secret on this beach. Now if you'd just like to follow me." He walks along the sand for a couple of minutes before stopping next to a sheer cliff face. He taps his walking stick against the rock a couple of times before there's a loud sound. The rock moves out of the way, revealing a cave on the side of the cliff. "Come on through," he says as he walks in and down the stairs, much to all of our dismay.
"Not more caves!" King Edmund complains for all of us before we start to head inside. There are torches scattering the walls as we make our way through the long downwards tunnel. It's quite wide and has more steps than I would really like at this part of our journey. It opens up eventually to a large open cavern that is covered in markings – all in old Narnian language. In the centre of the room is a golden pedestal. It's covered in what looks to be woven gold. It sort of reminds me of roots to a tree. We look around the room in fascination. Mr. Hogelsworth continues forward before coming to a stop in front of the pedestal.
"Athalia, have you got the prophecy?" I walk forwards towards him before pulling the gold case out of my satchel.
"I have it right here, Mr. Hogelsworth."
"Very good. Now place it on the stand and take a few steps back. Once it opens, we need to place it in the slot on the wall for it to fully take place." I do as he says and place the gold case on the little pedestal. Immediately the top of the stand begins to wrap around it, like a tree spreading its roots, before it unlocks the latches and flips it open. There it is! What we've been waiting for! The prophecy is in view. It looks very old, but is extremely shiny and gold.
"Who would like to read it?" I ask looking specifically at Peter. He is the High King. It probably should be his right to read it as much as I would really like to.
"As much as I appreciate the thought, I thi – "
"I'm going to read it." Peter stops what he was saying instantly. Who said that? I look around at all the familiar faces before my eyes land on – wait – Keziah? My best friend. She's standing at the bottom of the staircase, her hair tied back into one of her signature buns whilst her hand sits on the hilt of her sword.
"Keziah? What are you doing here?" She smiles at me before running forward and giving me a huge hug. Something feels off though.
"I've missed you while you've been gone, Alia, so I thought I'd come and say hello!" she tells me as she moves over to the golden stand. Alia…
"Wait – that's not really…yours…to…read…" She picks it up, her eyes sparkling with excitement, as she twists it around in her dainty fingers.
"I've been searching for this for years! You really made this way too easy, Alia. I mean when I sent Marille I never thought he'd come back to me because you're just a much better fighter than he is, but I also didn't expect you'd actually come back with the prophecy. Well done! Good show!" Wait a second…she sent them!
"Drop it, Keziah! I mean it or I'll –"
"You'll what? Kill me? Please." We all run forward at the same time, but it's too late. She unrolls it, her eyes twinkling in the process, while she reads the text that's on the parchment moving behind the stand in the process.
"Kings will fade as evil takes place,
enemies will stand from the wonders of the land
Tash will rise to Aslan's demise
While Narnia dies below forsaken sand."
"It seems you're too late," she spits out, turning her gaze on me. The earth begins to shake immediately throwing us all to the ground while Keziah grins from ear to ear. "This is it! The moment we've all been waiting for! You know constantly having creatures attack us at town was really hard to achieve, but we managed to do it! You became an incredible fighter, Alia, which is exactly what we wanted! It's just really too bad that you didn't get to achieve your goal of becoming a guard. Sorry about that." My eyes grow wide as it hits me. It was planned. Everything was planned and not only that – we've failed. We have actually failed. I can't help the tears that roll down my cheeks in defeat. There's nothing we can do now. "Let all of those who perished rise! Sorry, Kings, your time was always going to be short lived though." There's nothing we can do now. This is it. The end of Narnia as we know it. She walks over to the wall amidst all the shaking. Her hand rises when –
"STOP!" I look up only to see Abby rushing over to her, her eyes full of so much rage she's unrecognisable.
"NO, ABBY!" We all shout in unison. All at once she pushes Keziah away with all her might, using her shock to rip the prophecy out of her hands. Keziah comes back to her senses though and I watch in horror as she rips a dagger out of her belt and thrusts it into Abby's stomach. I hear a scream as she pushes Abby back onto the ground before Edmund is running forward with his sword drawn. Keziah already has hers drawn too ready to attack. Edmund leaps at her, metal clashing against metal. The fact they're having a sword fight while the earth is shaking is honestly something to be admired. After a few more swings, Ed manages to get his sword underneath hers, cutting her down where she stands. The shaking has finally stopped with Keziah's death. I don't know how to feel right now. My best friend of years has betrayed us and is now lying here dead. Turning my attention away from her, I notice Abby lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. The blood drains from my own face as I jump up.
"Abigail!" I scream, finally letting all my senses take over. I run over to her and pick her up, cradling her in my arms as I drop to the floor. The blood is pouring out of the dagger wound, covering both us with it. I press my hand against it, trying to keep the pressure on it. Stop bleeding! Please stop!
"Alia, leave that, it's not important right now. The prophecy! We can still change the prophecy, I'm sure of it." I shake my head, the tears falling freely.
"It's too late, Abby. There's nothing we can do. She already read it out," I whisper, holding her close to me. "Don't leave me. Promise me. You can't die," I cry, holding her close to me. I push her hair out of the way while she just smiles at me.
"Thank you for the adventure, Alia. I love you," she chokes out, her eyes watering themselves. She's struggling to breathe.
"I love you too," I whisper down to her, my face flooded with tears. I feel something touch my hand then. Looking down I realise it's the prophecy.
"Take it and put it back where it belongs," she says. I can't do it…
"It won't work."
"It will. I promise." And with those final words, her body goes limp.
"Abigail. Abigail! No! You can't die! No! Abby!" I wail. I feel hands on my shoulders and instantly both Kings are at my side. Both of them crying along with me. "I'm sorry I let you down," I whisper to her. I put her body down on the ground gently before turning around and falling into Peter. He wraps his arms around me automatically. A comforting gesture.
"Athalia, the prophecy, my dear," I hear Mr. Hogelsworth say. I turn to him, standing up. Does he even care that my sister just died?
"I can't. It's already evil."
"You must try!"
"How? How was any of this worth it? I lost my best friend, my sister, all for the sake of a prophecy that became evil due to my friend who betrayed me! None of this is okay! Everything here is my fault! I should've never come on this quest! I should've left it up to the Kings!" I scream at him. I fall to the ground again, a mess of tears and blood. Why have I gone through this torment?
"Alia, look at me," Peter says grabbing my hand. "Look at me!" Against my better judgement, I look him in the eyes. "You've got this! You must try! If not for anyone else then try it for Abby! Don't let her die in vain." He's right, we have to at least try. I open it up, looking at the words on the parchment. Please, Aslan, let it change. Nothing. I open it and close it again and again in hopes for something, but nothing happens. Nothing! Just those evil words! I guess I can try one last thing. I roll it up and place it back into its holder when something peculiar happens. It latches itself closed again before opening once again. I pick it up and open it, my heart racing, as it begins to reveal new letters. I wipe my tears away as I read over the words;
"Time will pass and winters fade,
but the Golden Age will forever reign,
With Aslan as lead we'll find our way
to joyfully delight in all our days."
It changed! "Peter! Edmund! Mr. Hogelsworth! It changed!" I read it aloud again, before placing it into the slot on the wall. I watch the parchment disappear before words begin to engrave themselves onto the wall. It's all in the old language, the wall translating it all magically to what it needs to be. I get enveloped in hugs, both Peter and Edmund as excited as I am before I turn my attention back to Abby. "Abby, it worked! Please you have to wake up now! Please!" I grab her and hold her to me, tears taking over again. We stay like this for a few more minutes before Mr. Hogelsworth comes over to us, his face very somber, before he kneels down and blows on her. "What are you doing?" I ask pointedly as I move her slightly away from him.
"Everything will be alright, dear one," he says although his voice doesn't sound normal, it's deeper more majestic. I watch as he transforms, his old grey hair turning into a golden mane. A moment late I'm no longer looking at Mr. Hogelsworth, but at the most glorious lion you ever will meet.
"Aslan!" We all say at once. He doesn't say anything, but breathes once again on Abby instead. Nothing happens straight away, but after a few minutes her eyelids start to flutter open. She blinks a few times looking at me confused.
"What happened? Who died?" I laugh as I hug her to me. I can't even describe the relief I feel! She's back!
"We did it! We saved Narnia!" She looks up at me in awe before the biggest smile comes across her face.
"We did! I knew it! I knew we could do it!" she says before wincing. Her dagger wound is still there.
"Edmund, go and find Lucy. Tell her we need her cordial." I hear the footsteps racing out before the reply begins.
"I'll be right back!" I laugh before turning my attention back to Aslan. Aslan. We're actually in front of Aslan right now! He's here! For the first time in my life, I struggle to come up with the words to say. He's just a magnificent as the picture of him hanging in the main room at home is! Abby is also looking at him in absolute wonder. I see her swallow a few times, trying to find the words to say.
"Aslan, first off thank you for saving Abby, but I must know, were you Mr. Hogelsworth this whole time?" I manage to get out. I honestly don't believe it, although it does make sense. He laughs a great sound before he lays down on the ground.
"I was indeed." He seems very amused by his charade. I can't help but smile back.
"So wait – this really was a quest sent from you then, Aslan?" Peter asks as he comes to sit beside me. He nods once in response.
"It was."
"I suppose an apology is in order then," Peter continues as he turns to face me.
"I'm sorry," I interject. Peter furrows his eyebrows.
"Well whatever for? I was going to apologise to you."
"I mean, Mr. Hogelsworth, although he's turned out to be Aslan, was the one who sent us and we didn't know it was Aslan, so I suppose we still technically lied to you, even if it was actually Aslan who sent us. Does that make any sense?" He smiles with a chuckle while he moves a stray, blood-covered piece of hair away from my face.
"Apology accepted." I smile at him before planting a kiss on his cheek. Abby giggles as quietly as she can while staring at me with her cheeky smirk.
"Thankyou for all your help."
"You are more than welcome. It's been – I would say a pleasure – but we did quarrel a lot and you did put me through my paces so why don't we just say it has been an adventure." He winks at me, his eyes glimmering with happiness.
"It was a great adventure."
"Peter, I'm here with the cordial and – Aslan!" That must be Queen Lucy. I see a whoosh of long hair before she's buried deep into Aslan's side. "I've missed you so much!"
"Now now, dear one, it's time to heal your brother's friend." She sits up and looks at us then before noticing the blood covering both of us.
"Oh gosh, that is a lot of blood! Please let me help you!" she comes over to us before slipping a few drops of her cordial (apparently, it's got healing qualities) into Abby's mouth. She swallows them before looking back at Lucy.
"Thank you for helping me."
"You're welcome. I'm just glad you're okay."
"Abigail! You're okay!" Edmund yells. I quickly slide her onto the ground before he runs over to us, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm seriously so glad you're okay." Abby blushes into his shoulder. Aww young love. My insides churn at the idea. Men are way too much hassle; although in saying that…I glance back at Peter who is already looking at me intently. It would never work. I look away and bite my lip slightly. I wish it could though. I look around the room once again, trying to distract my mind from the High King, one again curious about all the engravings on the wall.
"Aslan, what do they all mean?" I ask him. He glances around the room himself before looking back to me.
"They are all prophecies, some have been fulfilled, others are yet to come to fruition. All of them are very important though. The one you found today is probably one of the most important however. It promises Narnia many good years to come. You all stopped a great evil from taking place today and, for that, Narnia will be forever grateful." We did it. We saved our land! "Now, if Miss Abigail is feeling better, I think it's about time we close this cave up again. If everyone would like to follow me out." I grimace, but does as he says anyway. I duly note that Peter has to carry out Keziah's body too. When we step back outside, that means our adventure is officially over. It's a rather sad moment. We all walk out either way and watch as Aslan closes up the cave for, I'm sure, many more years to come.
"Bear it well, Your Majesties. Bear it well Athalia and Abigail. Just know that what has transpired here today will forever be marked in the history books as the day you all saved Narnia from being overrun with evil. You should all be very proud of yourselves; as proud as I am about it," he says before he parts ways with us; walking out onto the water to go and do whatever it is he does when he's not here with us. The night sky is shining above us now, the stars twinkling in the heavens. The ocean looks extremely fresh and inviting, but we ignore the pretty view as we instead turn to the Kings, both of us with somber faces.
"Well it's been fun, Abby and Alia. I'm sure we'll see each other around though," King Edmund says before giving both of us a hug.
"It's lovely to have met you both. You must visit us someday!" Queen Lucy says as she hugs both of us too. I was wrong about the royal family. Even though they're young, they do actually know how to help their people out and for that I'm thankful. I look to the last King now. He's standing there, digging his feet into the sand as he watches our exchanges with his siblings. I wish I could tell you what is happening in his brain, but unfortunately, I'm no mind reader.
"I'll see you around, Your Majesty," I say to him with a curtsey. "Thank you again for your help."
"Goodbye, King Peter," Abby says with a hug. "It's been lovely getting to know you both better."
"It has been indeed. Goodbye, Abigail. Alia." And with those parting words they walk towards the castle. I feel my eyes well up again, but I dare not let them fall this time. It's not a big deal, Alia! It's the High King for goodness sake. It would never have worked out! I grab Abby's hand as we turn around to walk back to our place. I'm sure Miss Fink is going to be ecstatic to see us, if not very concerned about our blood-stained clothes. I make the snap decision that we should change before we see her, maybe wash a little as well. I lead Abby over to Glasswater Creek to do just that before we begin out trek back to town. We're both quiet on the walk home until we reach the gate to our town that is.
"Why did you let him go?" Abby asks inquisitively as we pass through. I can tell that question has been eating her inside for the past half an hour. Yes, why? I shrug.
"We live in different worlds, Abby. That's just how life is sometimes." She's quiet for a moment before responding.
"It doesn't seem fair."
"Life isn't fair," I state with much chagrin. She grimaces as we walk through our little, wooden front gate. I close it behind us as we walk up to the front door and knock. I hear the sound of hooves on the wooden floor before the door opens up.
"Hello, welcome to Meteor Hole Village orpha – Athalia? Abigail?" Miss Fink is standing at the door in shock. I see her eyes flood with tears before she gets over her shock and pulls us both in for a massive hug. "Oh I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you both so much! Girls! Look who's home?!" The orphans all run out immediately, all their eyes growing wide, before jumping on us all at once. They're all in their nightgowns, ready for bed I suppose.
"We're so glad you're home!"
"Did you have fun?"
"Did you meet lots of Kings?" We get bombarded with questions as Miss Fink pulls us down to the seats in the loungeroom and has us talk through the whole adventure. We end up telling her the truth, now that we're back safe. She's upset we lied to her, but is also extremely happy that we did what we set out to do. She feeds us dinner then (which I'm so thankful for because I am starving!) before most of the girls go off to bed. I stay up though to help Miss Fink clean up the stable a bit before we sit down and relax together.
"There's something bothering you. I can tell," she says before taking a sip of her tea.
"It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing."
"I promise you. It's not important. Just…a difficult situation." She nods in understanding before there's a knock at the door. It could be someone passing on their way through looking to adopt one of us. "I'll get it," I say as I hop up, leaving my tea behind. I straighten out my dress to look slightly presentable as I open the door. "Welcome to Meteor Hole Villag – " I trail off trying to understand the sight beholding me. It's the High King. He's dressed in his proper clothes again, looking very fresh indeed. He looks nervous, sheepish almost.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your night, Alia, I just wanted to come and see you." He's come to see us!
"Would you like to come in?" He smiles at the invitation before following me into the stable. We round the corner just as Miss Fink spies us.
"Oh, Your Majesty, it's so lovely to see you again. Are you here for anything in particular?" She asks.
"Not particularly, I just wanted to talk to Athalia about some protentional work," he says eloquently.
"Oh, of course. I'll leave you to it then. Please give me a call out if you need anything." She runs out of the room then much to my joy.
"So what are you really doing here?" I ask timidly as we sit down on the lounge.
"Well, I'm down a guard at the castle and so I thought you might like a job," he tells me while looking down at his hands. Oh, so that is all he wanted. I feel my smile falter.
"A job? I mean, sure, that sounds great. That's my dream after all." This is exciting right? Right!
"If you don't want it, that's fine, I'll find someone else." I look at his face. He looks nervous. Open up. Just do it!
"I'm scared of letting people in." What did I just say?
"I'm sorry, what?" I take a deep breath in to calm myself down before continuing.
"I don't like to open up to people or let people in because so many people in my life have left me and it scares me. That's why I come across as very unfriendly sometimes. I am truly sorry about the way I treated you on our quest. It was all so stupid, but I was just scared that if we just got along I'd develop feelings for you which I didn't want to happen because you're the High King and I'm just an orphan and this could never work so I tried to tell myself that if I kept you at a distance it wouldn't happen, but…it has. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you any of that. I've just been so scar – " He places his lips on mine, effectively cutting off my rambling, rendering me into a ball of mush. He pulls away after a minute, putting his forehead against mine. That was pretty incredible.
"I'm not sorry for that at all." I giggle – yes, giggle – at him before throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him again. I pull away smiling before putting on my more serious face.
"Can I still accept that guard position?" He just laughs at me and nods his head happily.
"Of course, just don't be surprised if you're not doing it for too long," he tells me with a wink.
He wasn't wrong about that statement because after a couple of amazing years working as a guard and courting, I found I was at his side; only not as a guard anymore, but as High Queen.
Abigail spent many more years learning about random stuff until she ended up getting adopted by a wonderful family from Owl Wood. Not too long after that though, she ended up getting married to her first love interest, King Edmund, which means we're now officially sisters by law, much to both of our excitement.
We helped Miss Fink do up the orphanage too. Now it's all clean and renovated and each child has their own bedroom which everyone was very happy for! We also fixed up the front gate; it now closes by itself!
It's now that I realise how wrong I'd been this whole time about queens. I definitely was not sitting at home waiting for my knight in shining armour to come home every day; I was out by his side instead. Riding around (after I got over my fear of horses), having adventures, and just enjoying life. Together, we helped fix the poverty crisis in Narnia from all the trauma the White Witch had left behind, we cleared out the Western Wild of any foul creatures claiming the whole of Narnia back, and we even took down the Giants in the north! And the best part? We ruled Narnia together for many joyous years to come, that Ancient Prophecy ringing true throughout all the years to follow.
The End.
And that's it! The end of an epic adventure! Thankyou to everyone who has supported this story and left favs and reviews! It's been so awesome that you've all enjoyed the story so much and don't forget to drop a review if you enjoyed the end! :)
Also I'm probably going to leave this as a stand alone story without a sequel - I think it's perfect the way it is. :)
If you haven't already, don't forget to check out some of my other stories and I hope everyone has a happy New Year! (Even with everything going on) :D
- narnia and beareject fan 1 xoxo