It's been another while. For those of you who have been waiting, thank you for being patient with me. The good news is that the story is done. At least the main part of it. I still have a half-written epilogue to finish. But aside from that, the story is genuinely complete. It's been a long time coming. I genuinely hope you've enjoyed this rewrite of my old Narnia fanfic. Please, without further ado, enjoy!

Come morning, the Blue Star looked down at them again. Gael immediately woke Lucy, who proceeded to wake up the rest of their companions. She spared a smile for Edmund and Adeline, wrapped up in each other as they were, before she rushed to have everyone up, packed, and ready to return to the ship.

Unfortunately for the people aboard the Dawn Treader, the joy of seeing the Blue Star did not last long. Not even a full day into the continuation of their search for Ramandu's Island they found themselves stuck on windless waters, with not so much as a breeze to aid. The supplies were running low, as was the patience of the sailors. Whispers of hunger and heat-induced fatigue snuck around, with some testily proclaiming that they had no compunction about eating Eustace if it came down to it.

Reepicheep fiercely defended his scaly friend, vowing to fight any and all who made any attempt to harm him. He had grown rather fond of the transfigured boy, what with him being far less of a nuisance in dragon-form than he had been as a human.

The longer they remained without wind, the more the sailors had to sit by the oars. The morale was at an all-time low, and the whispers only grew louder. Until Eustace had enough of listening to the threats about turning him into various sorts of food. Exasperated, he flew to what he believed to be called the prow and wrapped his tail around the carved dragon's snout. With an almighty pull, he felt the ship move forward. So he kept going.

On deck, the crew scrambled to their feet to see what had caused the lurch. And, for the first time, they cheered when they laid eyes on him.

It was a sight to behold, Ramandu's Island. Beautiful, in all its ruin. The nervous energy that Adeline was exuding was getting to all of them. It unnerved each and every one of the people aboard to see her fidget anxiously, visibly shaken by whatever she saw on the island that they did not. It became rather obvious, the closer they got to shore, that she had no desire to follow them. Her grip on the railing was so tight that her nails left visible marks in the wood and she seemed to be fighting the urge to run.

Edmund removed her dagger from his belt, holding it out to her. "It's been your companion for centuries," he said when she tried to refuse. "It's time for it to find its way home."

He watched as she reluctantly took it, her posture immediately relaxing when the cool metal settled in her palm. There were no words for how terrible he felt watching her unwillingly take comfort in something she was so deathly afraid of. If Ramandu's Island was what he thought it was, Adeline would be forced to confront the memories she had done everything in her power to forget. But Edmund believed in her. She would overcome her fear. She would get everything she had spent so long wishing for. He was sure of it.

"This is just breathtaking," Lucy whispered as they walked through the ruins of what had to have been a grand castle. Even though it since its glory days had been reclaimed by nature, it was easy for Lucy to imagine what it had looked like. She wondered who had lived there. Had it belonged to the kings and queens before her? The rulers of an older, more vast, and untamed Narnia? She knew Adeline had been a queen in the days of old. Had Adeline once sat on a throne there? Lucy turned around to ask, only to be stunned silent by the sight of her friend.

Silver struck, once, twice, thrice. She who hurt must pay the price…

Eyes stinging with tears, Adeline did not quite know what to do with herself. Her emotions were suffocating her, sadness, joy, and fear all rushing to the surface at once. She had never imagined ever getting so close. Part of her had believed that she had been cursed with an everlasting life where she could do no more than attempt to catch up to the hope of finally coming home. But the shadows dancing on the walls cast by Edmund's odd, fireless torch reminded her of the ghosts that lingered. Every corner they turned gave her chills, the fear of coming face to face with an apparition of someone she still loved so dearly, who must hate her so. She remembered. Even blindfolded, she would be able to find her way to each room. Several tears slid down her cheeks as she lost her composure for a mere second.

A flash of silver, followed by infinite red.

"Adeline?"

It was as though everything she had been thinking suddenly vanished, leaving her feeling lighter and emptier. Looking around, she found that the others were gone and that she was alone with Edmund in the hallway she knew led to where she had last seen her eldest sibling. Why she was there, she did not know. She was no wiser on how or when she had left the group. Her breathing was ragged and her cheeks wet.

"I cannot do this."

Her voice was so weak it was less than a whisper, barely a breath slipping past her lips. Edmund was at her side, arms wrapped tightly around her, in an instant. "You can," he murmured. "You've fought for so long, Addie." She trembled in his embrace, burying her face in her hands. He hated seeing her so scared and unsure, but he had no idea how to help her feel better. The demons were hers to fight, as much as he wished he could defeat each and every single one of them for her. "No one is more deserving of rest than you, love."

Adeline slumped against him, letting him lead her away from her nightmares. Her confrontation with her past was not yet over, she could feel it in her bones, but, for the moment, she allowed Edmund to protect her from what lay in wait in the remnants of her childhood.

Once the four have had their turn…

There was a cruel beauty, Edmund thought, in the fact that Aslan's table was to be found in the halls where Adeline had been forced to kill the people she had loved most. As a tribute to the sacrifice his children had made, it was beautiful. But one look at Adeline's ashen face told him that she wanted nothing to do with the table or the island. Even though it was not an expression he had seen often, he could see the wish to flee written across her features.

Holding her hand in his, Edmund did his best to be her anchor. He wished he could say he would help her face the final obstacle between her and everything she had ever dreamed of, but he knew better. If Adeline ran, he would let her. So he held her hand, hoping it was enough to remind her that she was not alone. That, as much as he could not help her confront what haunted her, he would stay with her while she did.

They joined the others just in time to see Drinian warn Tavros against eating any of the food laid out on the table. Lucy gave Edmund his torch back, hand immediately falling to her sword. Her awe at seeing such a beautiful piece of Narnia's history had been eradicated upon entering the room and seeing the table laden with delicacies. There was something deeply spiritual and beautifully terrifying about it.

In the tangle of thin roots and wild shrubs at the head of the table, three men were seated. Lucy approached them cautiously, Edmund and Caspian not far behind her. Each of them was wearing a signet ring and with a horrified gasp, Lucy realised that they were faced with three of the men Caspian had left Narnia to look for. She jumped back when one of the men's beard shifted slightly, expecting to see some sort of insect or rodent normally present to feed on corpses, when nothing came, she let Caspian step past her to further inspect the strange movement.

"I think he's… breathing," Caspian whispered, holding the flat end of a knife beneath the mouth of Lord Mavramorn. Fog formed on the blade, proving that it was in fact the man's breath and not the wind that had moved his beard. He looked at the other two, realising that they, too, were breathing. Almost as if… "Wait!"

Everyone stopped moving at his command, some freezing with food halfway to their mouths.

"It's the food," Edmund stated, coming to the same conclusion as Caspian. "It's likely enchanted, or it wouldn't have kept for this long."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Which means this really is Aslan's table." She maneuvered around the three men to the best of her ability, searching for a space for them to lay down the swords. Beneath the overgrowth, she saw something that struck her as oddly familiar. Pulling at the weeds, she stumbled back when she saw what it was. "Edmund," she said carefully. She gestured to the stone knife she had seen only once before so many years ago. "That's the knife the Witch used," she whispered. "That night, at the Stone Table."

"Lay down the swords," Edmund said, pulling the one he had carried out of its sheath. "This has to be where they were meant to be brought." It was, after all, where it all started. The Witch had cast a curse on the Children of the Lion. It made sense to find a piece of here in the place where all evil was to be brought to an end. "Get the swords from the lords."

They laid them down, one by one until six swords lay on the table. Six out of seven. "We're still missing one," Caspian said grimly. "If only we knew what became of Lord Rhoop."

The swords suddenly started glowing, a blue light emanating from the blades. Above them, the Blue Star seemed to come closer. With a start, Lucy recalled Adeline's story. Stars had walked among the people on the earth. "Look!"

It truly was moving, falling down from the heavens to join them. A woman, as pure white as only a star could ever be. She smiled graciously as they bowed to her. "Arise, travellers of Narnia," she said kindly. "You must be hungry."

"Who are you," Edmund asked. "How can we be sure you, or the food, can be trusted?"

The star turned gentle eyes on him. "I'm Liliandil," she said. "Daughter of Ramandu." She swept her arms out over the table. "This is all for you," she told them.

Seeing that Caspian was far too captivated by the sight of Liliandil, Edmund shook his head. "What about them," he asked and gestured to the lords. "What happened to them?"

"The food is for all who are welcome at Aslan's table," she explained. "Those poor men were half-mad when they arrived, threatening violence upon one another, and violence is forbidden here." Making a quick gesture at the table, the candles lit and shed light upon the feast that awaited the weary travellers. "Please, help yourselves."

"So, you're a star," Caspian managed. "Adeline's told us of stars before."

Liliandil nodded. "We wandered freely once, in a world left without ill will and the evil that roams our lands unhindered," she said. "Now we watch and remember, waiting for the day when that evil is stopped for good."

"You are most beautiful."

"If it is a distraction, I can change form—"

"No!" Caspian blushed at his outburst, catching both Edmund and Lucy's exasperated glances.

Lucy stepped past him, elbowing him in the side as she did so. "Is there any way for us to wake the men," she asked. "Surely they have made up for what they did." Once again, she could not help but think of the families that could be waiting for them to return. She hoped they would be allowed to see their loved ones again.

"They will only rise when all is put right," Liliandil replied. "Come, there is not much time to spare."

While the others were distracted by the table and its contents, Adeline slipped away from the dining hall. The prophecy whispered across her mind over and over while the familiar voices of her siblings called her name. It felt as though she was losing her grip on reality, as though something was violently tugging her away from her body. Though she knew better, she relented, following the voices that called for her. The voices that begged for her to come home.

"The magician, Coriakin, he told you of Dark Island, did he not?"

Caspian nodded, sobered by the sight Liliandil was showing them. There it was. Their final obstacle. "He said that the island's spell can only be broken if all seven swords were laid upon Aslan's table."

Liliandil nodded. "This is true," she said. "I'm afraid there isn't much time left before the evil becomes unstoppable."

"But we only found six out of the seven," Edmund remarked. "Do you know where we can find the seventh?"

Liliandil pointed, confirming what they had all hoped not to be true. "You will need great courage to face what the island has in store." She turned to Edmund, meeting his gaze steadily. "One of you is in dire need of it right this moment."

It was like walking into her worst nightmares. With a trembling hand, Adeline pushed the doors open, stepping into the throne room. It was strangely calming to find it in as much ruin as the rest of the castle, and she found comfort in knowing that it was as damaged as Narnia and her family had been before the Downfall. But that did not stop her from seeing, in her mind's eye, the way it had looked that night. The skies red with a setting sun. The floors equally red with the blood of her dying brother.

A flash of silver.

Adeline…

She gasped. There was no way it was real. She knew it could not possibly be real. Adeline shut her eyes tightly, willing away the closeness and familiarity of his voice. He was not real.

Come now, sweet sister, won't you look at me? It's been such a long time.

"Stop," she whispered desperately.

Look at me, little sister. Let me see you.

Unable to stop herself, she did as he told her. He was right in front of her, his grinning face level with hers. She stumbled back. The look in his eyes took her right back to that night, the ruins around her vanishing and reshaping themselves into the pristine throne room it had been. "William."

Adeline. Oh, how I have longed to see you.

"Please, stop it." Tears welled in her eyes. As was her instinct, her hand fell to the blade at her hip.

What are you going to do, Adeline? You've already killed me.

His hand pressed against his chest, coming away soaked with blood as the wound she had caused suddenly appeared. Adeline took a step back as he stepped closer to her. "I didn't mean to," she croaked hoarsely. "I never meant to hurt you."

But you did, didn't you, dear sister? You drove that dagger straight into my heart and you watched me die.

"I'm sorry!"

I know you are. But that won't bring me back, will it? That won't bring any of us back.

Adeline found herself backed up against the wall, unable to breathe. Unable to escape. Unable, despite everything, to ever make right what she had done that night. William stroked a bloodied finger over her cheek.

Come home, Adeline. Come home with me. We all miss you so dearly, Adeline. Come home, and you'll see that everything has been forgiven.

She shut her eyes again, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, her brother meant it. There was nothing she wanted more than to go home. She wanted her family.

Opening her eyes, Adeline found William crouched in front of her. She was sitting on the floor, back against the wall. His eyes were so warm and his smile was so kind and she took the hand he held out to her. He pulled her up, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

You know what you have to do.

His lips pressed against her forehead.

I promise that you'll barely feel a thing.