Where the Sidewalk Ends
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Kristen, my very own, customize as you wish character.
Chapter Four: Expectations and Invitations
((Strap in...this is going to be a long chapter))
He never thought she'd be so average looking. After Lucy mentioned that the girl might get his mind off of Isabel, he was imagining a tall, gorgeous girl who would have taken his breath away by one glance of her brilliant green eyes. But when his eyes rested on the bloody, injured, average looking mess standing infront of him, he felt his hopes drop. She's not that bad...what am I talking about. She's no Isabel. Isabel was gorgeous and she...she's just...barely even average, he said to himself. With her now even more crooked nose ((A/N-No straight nose for Kristen electricxrain!)), which was puffy, red, purple and was trickling blood down her face, she was quite a sight to see. He hated being so harsh about her looks, but at least he was being honest to himself. She wasn't at all what he expected.
Aslan took turns introducing the siblings and when the lion introduced Peter, he smiled weakly at the new girl and she returned it with a small, yet innocent smile. Something told him she couldn't see him very well anyways, seeing as she had been squinting. As Lucy ran forward and gave the girl a hug as soon as she had been introduced, Peter felt his instincts snap to attention. The girl was wobbling on her feet and her eyes were rolling all over the place, her head spinning around slowly. As the four siblings got up to greet the girl, Peter went to her arm and tried to steady her, but before he could she fainted, falling backwards and hitting her head on the floor with a thud. The crowd let out a collective gasp as several women shrieked and chaos exploded in the palace hall.
"Lucy, get your potion. The rest of you, take her to one of the guest rooms and lay her down. She needs her rest" Aslan said to Peter, Susan and Edmund as Lucy scamped out of the hall. Peter, being the strongest of the 3 other siblings, picked up the fallen and now unconscious girl with ease, her head gently resting on his chest as he began walking out of the hall, his two younger siblings at his side. People were shouting and screaming in fear, but the three of them kept their cool, knowing Lucy's potion would cure the girl back to perfect health. They left the hall and hung a left, going up a few flights of large, intimidating white marble stairs until they hit the fourth level. It had several rooms, some without doors, but Peter carried her to the end of the hallway, where two red oak guarded the entrance of what would be an extravagantly decorated room. Susan threw the doors open and revealed the mystery bedroom, which was just as lavish as anyone would have anticipated. Peter swiftly carried the girl over to the large, canopy bed and gently put her down on the plush red and gold blanket. The red satin canopy above the bed and gold satin that was wrapped along the delicately carved mahogany bed posts fluttered as Susan threw open the windows, a gust of wind entering the room. Peter sat down beside the girl and leaned over her, propping the pillows up behind her head. Her eyes flickered.
Her nose was unbearably painful. Her knees were starting to sting. Her head was still dizzy and shaky from her fall on the marble floor. She was a walking advertisement for the Band-Aid brand. She felt a cold breeze wash over her face and someone's hand brush against her face. Her eyes flickered awake and saw a sandy brown hair, aquamarine eyed boy leaning over her, but as soon as their eyes met he retracted, and his face became blurry. Everything was blurry.
"Your awake" a female voice said as one of the Queens, the older one Susan, drew closer to Kristen and looked at her. There were only three people in the room, not including Kristen. Susan, Edmund, and the sandy hair boy who's name she couldn't remember.
"You took a rather nasty spill there. Lucy's gone to go get her potion to heal all your cuts and bruises. What happened to your nose?" Susan said as she nudge Peter off of the bed and sat down beside Kristen.
"It broken when I face planted in the ground when I landed. I broke my glasses as well so I can't see" Kristen replied as she rubbed her eyes and gingerly felt her nose. It was swollen still, but the bleeding had stopped. She saw the outline of the taller, sandy haired boy go to the window, turning his back on Kristen. Edmund handed Susan Kristen's bag and she set it down beside her.
"Do you have another pair in here" Susan asked Kristen, nudging the bag towards the injured girl. Reluctantly, Kristen groaned and opened her bag, taking out a small box. She ripped open the box and found a figure eight plastic model and inside there were two, small, clear circles in what looked liked water. She was going to have to wear the stupid contact lens.
"I have no idea how to put these in so it might be a while" Kristen said, taking one of the lens on her finger. She tilted her head back and slowly placed the contact lens on her left eye, blinking a few times as it got into place. Everything on the left side of the room was now instantly clearer and hastily, she got the other lens and put it in her right eye, blinking as it readjusted itself. She looked around the room, astonished that everything was clear and that she could actually see.
"Can you see us?" Edmund asked, waving a hand infront of his face and holding up fingers with the other hand. He was standing next to one of the foot posts at the bottom of the bed and Kristen could now tell he had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, rosy cheeks and freckles that were faintly seen all across his face. He looked about 13 or 14 years old and he stood at about 5'7, so he was shorter then Kristen.
"Yes, finally. How long was I out?" she asked Susan, turning to get a better look at the eldest queen. Susan had long, wavy brown hair that was half up in a bun and half down, the waves gently playing on her shoulders. She had a long, oval face and pale, piercing blue eyes that seemed to penetrate the soul of anyone who dares to look through them. Susan smiled and looked at Peter, who was still staring out the window.
"Just a few minutes. Lucy's on her way so you will have the chance to rest as long as you like" Susan said warmly as a little girl bounded into the room, a satchel and flask held tightly in one of her little fists.
"Kristen Kristen!" the little girl shouted as she jumped on the bed and started jumping up and down.
"Oh, Kristen, is that your name? Aslan never told us that...Kristen. I like it" Edmund said as he leaned against the post and smiled at Kristen. His smile was different then the others she had received that day. His was a genuine, I'm-glad-to-see-you smile. She smiled back and turned all of her attention towards the fidgety, young girl.
"Here, lie back and let me use my potion to help you" Lucy said as Kristen lay back against the pillows. Lucy fell to the side of Kristen's head and uncapped her flask, letting only one drop of the precious, red liquid fall between Kristen's lips. Immediately, Kristen felt her body starting to change. The pain from her nose stopped completely and her knees began to heal, and seconds later they returned to normal, not even a scar from the cuts she had developed on them. Her nose decreased in size, returned back to the normal, olive complexion it always was and any sign of bruising was erased from her face.
"All fix! Aslan needs to see us 4 to arrange some ball tonight so you should get some rest. There's some clothes and a hot shower waiting for you in the bathroom" Lucy said as she hopped off the king size bed. The four siblings retreated towards the door, Peter keeping his back turned to Kristen. They all left and Susan shut the oak doors, leaving Kristen to be alone. Finally, some down time.
The sheets were soft and warm, as she crawled underneath the plush duvet cover she had been lying on. Shutting her eyes, she fell asleep, catching what she thought was some well deserved rest.
She woke up what seemed minutes later, but it was actually hours seeing as the sun had gone down. She was still alone, and throwing back the bed covers she hopped out of the bed and into the bathroom, where she quickly undressed and turned on the water of her shower stall. After about a half hour of letting the warm water wash away any traces of the no dry blood (the potion hadn't gotten rid of that), she stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself, stepping back into the bedroom. This whole day had been one huge blur and Kristen, although everything seemed so real, was expecting to wake up any moment and be back at home, huddled under her own bed sheet covers. But Narnia was so real that Kristen was starting to believe that maybe, in some weird, parallel universe, she had actually transferred into another world through a sidewalk step.
She heard a knock on the door. Being only covered by a towel, she scampered into the bathroom, pulling on her bra and panties before putting on a dress similar to Susan and Lucy's that had been laid out for her. It was blue velvet and fit her perfectly, the arms of the dress ending with a dramatic arrow half way up the back of her hand. It had intricate beading and detailing, all in gold, and the back was lace up. She slipped on the pair of golden coloured, flat shoes that were laying on the floor where the dress had been before noticing how loose the dress hung on her. The dress wouldn't fit unless someone tied up the back for her so she went over to the door, threw it open and turned around, not even seeing who was calling for her.
"Give me a hand, would you?" she asked politely. A pair of rough hands brought the two pieces of black rope together and tightened the dress until she said stopped, in which the person finished the lace up with a pretty bow.
"Thanks so much...oh. Hello" Kristen said in an unintentional cold manner, turning around to see who it was. There stood the boy who she had first seen when she awoke after her fall, his turquoise eyes as vivid as she remembered them. He was about a foot taller then she was and had sandy brown hair that was almost long enough to be hanging infront of his eyes. A golden crown was on his head and a grim smile was placed upon his cute, perfect-shape-for-kissing lips. He was wearing black and purple Medieval style robes with a long, black cape cascading down his back. He looked down at her brown eyes and then looked away.
"I've come to fetch you...Lucy and Susan are waiting for you in the dressing room" he said, his voice thick with a British accent as well as husky and masculine. He looked about 18 years of age, a perfect fit to Kristen's 17.
"Oh...alright then. Thank you..." she said, waiting for him to fill in the blank. He backed out of the door, waiting for her to follow. And once she did, he shut the door and began down the hallway.
"Peter. Peter Pevensie" he said as he stopped the walk and held out a hand. Knowing well aware that he was royalty in Narnia, Kristen curtseyed infront of him, not exactly sure what she was doing. As she looked at his face, his expression turned to sour to amused and a half smile appeared on his lips.
"Nice try, but that wasn't right at all. What's your name?" he asked as they continued down the hallway, descending down one flight of stairs to the third level.
"Kristen. Kristen Phoenix" she said as they came to a room who doors were flung open. Inside, Susan and Lucy were tearing through piles of dresses, beautiful colours of silk and satin lying everywhere.
"Kristen! You look so much better! Come on, let's find something to wear" Lucy said, running over to Kristen, giving her a huge hug and then dragging her inside the room. Kristen laughed and then looked over her shoulder to Peter, who gave her a smile before disappearing down the hallway. She felt something inside of her flutter, doing a little dance in her stomach as he left from her sight. Returning her attention towards the two other girls, she joined them in their hunt for the perfect dress while Susan filled her in on the night's events.
"So the ball starts in about an hour. We have dinner and then the coronation ball and what not. It's really straight forward. Oh Lu, I think I found the dress you were looking for" The eldest Queen said, tossing a pale pink velvet dress at Lucy, who caught it in the air. The little girl ran to the bathroom and shut the door, excitingly pulling the dress on. A few seconds later she emerged from the bathroom, a pretty pale pink gown framing her 4'11 body.
"That's adorable. You look beautiful" Kristen said honestly as the little girl twirled around. It was true, Lucy did look fantastic in the dress. The neckline had some detailing in purple that looked like little rosebuds and ivory and the arms of the dress flowed gracefully outward at the elbows. It poofed out wards gently as it hit Lucy's waist and covered her feet so it would look like Lucy was gliding. It was a lovely dress for Lucy and complemented her well.
"Here, Susan. This dress will bring out those eyes of yours extremely well" Kristen said, looking at a forest green gown in her hands. Susan took it from her gently and ran into the bathroom, coming out a few seconds later dressed in the gown. What Kristen had said was right, Susan's eyes did become more prominent because of the forest green colour of the dress. It was a lovely, renaissance style dress that had a front lace up, a panel of a darker green providing the background for the cris-cross of the ropes. It also fit her amazingly well.
"Wow...thanks Kristen! Oh, here. This is perfect it'll look amazing on you" Susan said as she threw a sky blue dress at Kristen. Reluctantly, Kristen trudged past the two sisters and into the bathroom, where she pulled off her red dress and pulled on the blue one. It was a sky blue dress that although was made out of satin, had a lot of structure to it. It hung gently on her shoulders, daring to slip off but never actually falling. It went straight to the floor and fit her nicely, bringing out her curves wherever needed. As she examined the dress further, she noticed that a piece of dark blue sheer fabric with flowers, vines and roses sewn all over was placed over the sky blue satin material, creating a gorgeous offset in fabrics. The neckline came low, bur rounded before any serious skin could be shown. It was gorgeous.
She stepped out of the bathroom and the two girls squealed in delightment. The ball was going to start in 45 minutes and they still hadn't done hair or make up.
"That looks gorgeous! Ok, time to do hair. Me and Lucy want to do your hair, is that ok?" Susan asked as she and Lucy each grabbed one of Kristen's hands and dragged her into another room. They sat her down on a chair and went to work, going at her hair with some sort of gel like substance. In a matter of minutes, Kristen's soft curls went from frizzy and messy to sleek and defined. Her whole head was full of the soft, gentle brown waves and for once in her life, Kristen resisted the urge to throw it up into a pony tail. They then started doing their own hair, leaving Kristen alone. She looked at her face in the mirror, sad that it didn't compete with the rest of her outfit. She left the room silently and tip toed barefoot up the stairs back to her bedroom. Fishing out her make up bag, she took it back downstairs with her and entered the room again, both Susan and Lucy finishing up their hair. Susan's was up in a tightly wound bun, several pieces falling off in curls. Lucy's was in ringlets, the face framing ones were pulled back, obvious to make room for their crowns.
"What's all that on the table?" Susan asked as Kristen emptied the contents of her bag on the counter. Blushes, eyeshadows, eyeliners and lipglosses littered the table and she proceeded to sit each one of the sisters down to do their make up. In a matter of seconds, Susan went from looking like a princess to a real queen with some simple eyeliner and eyeshadow. For Lucy though, Kristen only gave her some lip balm because she was too young to be using anything other then that. The soft clatter of people entering and chatting filled the room and the three of them knew they had to go soon because the ball was starting and it would be un-proper for the two queens to be late.
As the two Queens bustled around getting ready, Kristen took some time to think about everything. She was in a strange land with half breed people. She had fallen through a sidewalk concrete block into Narnia. Could all this be real? Everything felt, smelt, looked and sounded real, and Kristen couldn't help but feel like maybe things weren't as crazy as they seemed. Maybe she had traveled into another world. Maybe Narnia wasn't just a figure of her imagination.
But between all that thought, Kristen took a few seconds to put on some mascara, black eyeliner, blush and lipgloss before slipping on the silver ballet flats Lucy threw at her. The least she could do was look presentable for the four siblings. It was a simple ball, probably to celebrate someone's birthday. They probably only invited her to be polite. It's not like she was going to be on public display or anything, right?
Oh how she would soon which that were true.
((Author's Note: Long chapter with a lot, a lot of fluff I know. But things need to be established before I can get further into the plot. Thanks all the readers who reviewed my work. Keep on reviewing and I'll keep writing))