"The source of your troubles is called Dark Island." Coriakin made a gesture, shifting the map. The gasps from around him were reminiscent of those he had heard from his audience in the days of the Four. Sometimes, he missed those days, when all he had to do was show a little fire and a little sparkle to amaze the children. He missed his kings and queens. "Most of the evil that has ever been known in Narnia stems from here," he continued quietly, glancing at the Warrior Queen. "It's the result of a curse that festered for a long time until it grew strong enough."

Caspian swallowed thickly. "Strong enough for what, exactly?"

"To take any form, to make your darkest dreams come true," Coriakin replied. "It seeks to corrupt all goodness, aims to turn you into your own worst nightmare."

A sudden burst of bravery came over Lucy. On the other side of the map, her brother's dimly lit gaze met hers. They had faced evil before, had overcome it together. Dark Island would be no different, not if she had anything to say about it. "How do we stop it?"

"By breaking the spell." Coriakin gestured to the sword at the High King's belt. "That sword you carry was forged with six companions by order of The Great Lion," he explained. "When laid upon Aslan's table on Ramandu's Island, they unleash a power known only by the Emperor and Aslan himself, a power Narnia itself must wield."

"The lords passed by here, did they not?"

Coriakin nodded to King Caspian, sweeping his hand over the map once again. "I sent them to Ramandu's Island, just as I will send you," he replied. The scenery changed, showing where they needed to go. "Follow the Blue Star and you will find the answers you seek." He looked up, meeting each and every gaze in the room except one. It was of utmost importance that they heeded his words if they ever wished to defeat what lay in wait on their voyage. "Be vigilant," he warned, "for you are all about to be tested."

"Tested?" Lucy's heart felt heavy and her earlier bravery escaped her. Coriakin nodded.

"Until you lay the seventh sword, evil has the upper hand," he said. "It will do whatever it can to stop you." His eyes flicked away from the High Queen to meet gold irises in the dark. "It has already made its first attempt."

Edmund's hand flew to the still not-quite healed cut in his side as Adeline promptly left the room without a word. Lucy and Caspian both levelled him with questioning glances, to which he shook his head. It was not his place to speak of Adeline's fears and weaknesses. Those were hers to share when she wanted to, if she wanted to.

"Be strong," Coriakin continued sagely. "Be wary." He clasped his hands behind his back, bowing his head to the voyagers. "To defeat the darkness out there, you must first defeat the darkness within yourselves."

They found Adeline sitting barefoot on the beach, water lapping at her feet. She said nothing as they got into the longboat, sat in complete silence as they rowed back to the Dawn Treader. Once they set foot on deck, they all simply watched as she climbed up to the crow's nest, leaving no explanation for her sudden departure at Coriakin's mansion nor her silence since then.

But Edmund knew. He always had.

"You're more than your past."

"It did not affect me then, who's to say it won't do worse now?"

"How do you know it didn't?"

Adeline stared down at the dagger in her hands, her reflection in the silver staring back. She had never been quite so scared of herself before. She had done what she needed to do to protect Narnia on the day of the Downfall, as Coriakin had called it. But if she was capable of hurting the man she loved without reason… there was no telling what would happen to her once they were confronted with the mist again.

"You can't say for certain that it didn't affect you." Edmund sat down next to her, reaching out to lay a hand over the blade. She sighed, returning it to its sheath. "You turned against your own family," he whispered. "You slaughtered them, Adeline, when it was your sole duty to protect them and the kingdom." Her breath hitched and he felt terrible for saying such things to her. But she needed to see where he was coming from. "You may have been known as a warrior," he continued, rubbing comforting circles on her knee with his thumb, "but as your brother turned from Great to Tyrant, you turned from Protector to Traitor."

Adeline clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to physically hold back her sobs. Edmund's arms around her was her undoing and she buried her face in his shoulder to smother the sounds of crying.

"None of us would be here if you hadn't done what you did," he murmured, "and I don't ever want to live in a lifetime where we never met."

Neither Caspian nor Lucy was blind to the way Edmund hovered protectively near Adeline when they emerged from below deck. Caspian gave his companion a look. "Have they always… what does it mean?"

"I don't know," Lucy replied thoughtfully. "Adeline's always been closer to him than the rest of us, but I never understood why." Her eyes widened as Adeline held out her silver dagger, sheath and all, to Edmund. They spoke quickly and quietly, their exchange ending with a resolute nod from Adeline as Edmund attached it to his belt. Only twice had Lucy ever seen Adeline without the beautiful blade. Both times, it had found its way to Edmund. With a pang of sadness, Lucy wondered if she would ever find someone she trusted as deeply and innately as her brother and Adeline trusted each other.

The storm was over them before anyone had a chance of seeing it coming. It had started as a few drops that were dismissed as mist from the waves crashing against the sides of the ship, but within minutes they were all drenched to the bone, the skies were dark and lightning flashed wherever they turned. Adeline had been quick to usher Gael into Caspian's quarters, where she was to stay with Lucy until the storm passed. The rest of the crew did their best to make the storm as easy on the ship and its passengers as possible, but the longer the storm dragged on, the more apparent it became that it was not a natural storm.

Edmund stood in the stateroom with Adeline at his side, while Drinian tried to make a case for why they had to turn back. Edmund caught Caspian's gaze, silently conveying that he had his support whatever he decided. After all, of the four in the room, only Drinian had any intention of turning back before finishing the voyage. If Caspian decided to send the crew home and continue without them, Edmund would be right beside him, as would Adeline, Reepicheep, and Lucy. And maybe Eustace, but hopefully not.

"We're running out of food," Drinian stated. "We're getting nowhere, and even if we did, we might sail right past this Ramandu place with the storm raging like this."

"It would be of no consequence whether we turn back or push forward," Adeline replied. "The evil is a threat that can either be eliminated now or it will obliterate us later."

Glaring at her, Drinian shook his head. "We won't be doing any eliminating if we're dead."

"Then we'll simply make sure not to die," Caspian interjected before Adeline could retort. He leaned back in his seat, considering the options. He would not stop, even if it killed him, because it was his duty as a king of Narnia to ensure the safety of his people. But he could understand Drinian's concerns regarding their shortage of supplies. "What do you think, Ed?"

Holding onto the edge of the table for support as massive waves tossed the ship back and forth, Edmund looked down at the map. "I think our placement on the map isn't quite what we think it is," he stated, moving the marker for the Dawn Treader. "With storms like this, we're likely far more off course than we want, but I wouldn't immediately dismiss that as a bad thing either." He moved to the side to give Adeline room next to him, looking to her for confirmation of his theories. She gave a slight nod.

"I never knew there were islands left from Old Narnia at all," she stated. "For all we know, we could happen upon one where we could wait out the storm." Adeline reached into her pocket and placed out a few silver and gold coins on the map. "These mark where there were islands in my time," she explained. "There's no telling what has changed if they are still there, but it would take longer to go back than to attempt finding one of the islands."

Drinian went to protest, but Caspian silenced him. "We cannot endanger the Narnians simply because we've come upon hard times, Captain," he said smoothly. "We'll continue."

Transform my reflection, cast into perfection lashes, lips, and complexion. Make me she, whom I'd agree holds more beauty over me.

It was perfect. She was perfect. They looked at her, whispered of her beauty in a way that told her they wanted her to know. They wanted her attention. She was the centrepiece.

Oh but how quickly it turned ugly. Why did her brothers not remember? Why did they not recall her name? It was not supposed to go so wrong. She was supposed to become beautiful, like Susan. Why was she in her sister's body? She fought against it all. She screamed.

Lucy gasped as she opened her eyes and found herself back on the Dawn Treader, still stuck in an illusion but back in her own body. Beside her, disappointed yellow eyes met hers in the mirror. Her entire form was trembling.

"Lucy." Aslan held her gaze. "What have you done, child?"

"I didn't know," she whimpered, barely holding back tears. "I didn't know it would be like that, I didn't know it would be so awful."

Aslan's expression softened, grew more sympathetic, yet it still held an imploring edge. "You chose it, Lucy."

"I didn't mean to choose all of that, I just wanted to be beautiful, like Susan." She held reached her hand out to touch his reflection, disappointment washing over her once again when she remembered that all she would touch was the reflection of her own fingers against the glass. "I wanted to be noticed, like Adeline."

Aslan shook his head gently. "You wished yourself away, and with it so much more," he said kindly. "Without you, your brothers and sister wouldn't know Narnia, nor would you know my daughter or any of the friends you have made here, for you found it first."

"I am so sorry."

"Do not doubt your value, child," Aslan said, turning away from her. "Do not run from who you are."

Waking up with a shout of Aslan's name, Lucy pulled out the spell from its hiding place. Furiously, she crumpled it up and threw it into the fireplace, where it went up in flames with a roar. She held onto the mantle tightly, breathing laboured.

"Lucy."

She looked up, meeting yet another golden gaze, oh so similar to the one in her dreams. "Adeline." Her friend stepped out of the shadows, casting a quick glance to see if Gael was still deep in slumber, before joining Lucy on the floor. Lucy could barely stand to look at the blonde, keeping her eyes locked on her hand in her lap. She did not dare to let go of the mantle just yet, terrified of losing control in front of her longtime mentor. "I did an awful thing."

"We all do from time to time," Adeline stated, her own hand moving towards her belt before she remembered that there was nothing there. Rather than seeking comfort from her oldest friend of silver, she reached out to offer comfort to the devastated girl in front of her. "I'll listen," she said, "if you want to talk."

For a long moment, Lucy said nothing, contemplating. Adeline's hand was closed loosely over hers so she could pull away if she wanted to. And there was a part of Lucy that desperately wanted to flee from the conversation, a part that never wanted someone as impressive as Adeline to see her weak. But the blonde was not her tutor, nor her advisor. She was her friend. "Am I beautiful?"

"Of course you are," Adeline replied immediately. "You are one of the most beautiful people I have ever met."

Perhaps if she had not been so deeply buried in her own insecurities, Lucy would have taken comfort in hearing that there had been no hesitation in the answer. As it was, it felt like a lie. "Then why does no one ever spare me a second glance?" Frustrated, Lucy stood up and turned away, tearing her hand out of Adeline's. "Why does no one ever look at me the way Caspian looked at Susan, the way Edmund looks at you?"

Adeline rose from the floor slowly. "Because when they do, you're so busy picking at your own imperfections that you don't notice." She reached out to grab Lucy's arm, turning her around again. There were tears in her eyes and Adeline felt a stab of sympathy for the poor girl. "Have you ever considered," she asked carefully, "if you truly want to be noticed for being beautiful, rather than something else?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you truly think about it, do you really want the first thing people see of you to be your beauty?" Lucy's brow furrowed and Adeline shook her head in frustration over her inability to make herself understood. "I have never been thought of as a beauty," she said eventually, frowning when Lucy scoffed incredulously. "Most people hear of me before they ever meet me," she continued sharply. "They think of me as a warrior to respect before they see me as some beauty to admire, and I would rather that than to be underestimated and dismissed."

Her reasoning brought Lucy to a halt. She had never considered that she was thought of as something else, all she had focused on was the idea that she was not thought of as beautiful. "What am I then?"

Adeline shrugged. "That's up to you," she said, smiling gently as she tucked a strand of hair behind the younger girl's ear. "I've always seen you as curious and adventurous, willing to fight for and defend the people you see being treated unfairly." Wiping away the tears falling down Lucy's cheeks with her thumbs, she cupped the girl's face and turned it down to meet her eyes properly. "It would be a shame if you wasted your time on someone who doesn't appreciate that about you."

Lucy stared after Adeline as she turned to leave. "Edmund thinks you're beautiful," she said quietly, causing the blonde to pause at the door.

"I know," came the reply. "But he respects me enough to not let that be the only thing he thinks of me." Adeline left the room, closing the door quickly to keep the warmth closed inside.

When Lucy went to find her brother, unable to fall back asleep, she was surprised to find him awake but without Adeline. Absently, she wondered where the blonde had gone off to, as she and Edmund seemed to grow more inseparable by the day. "I can't sleep," she offered when her brother spotted her. He had clearly been plagued by something in his sleep as well, seeing as he had drawn his sword before realising who she was.

A rumble of thunder woke Caspian, who needed only look at the Pevensies to see that they too had suffered restless nights.

"Let me guess," Edmund said, gripping tightly to the sides of his hammock. "Bad dreams?"

Caspian nodded, as did Lucy.

"Fantastic," he said, sarcasm dripping from the word. "We're all either going mad, or something is doing its best to make us think we are."