Here you go! Chapter Nineteen. Those of you who haven't read the Last Battle will probably be up in arms by the end of the chapter, but I have the shield that Lewis did it first!! You will understand by the end.
Disclaimer: I am merely borrowing C. S. Lewis' charming characters and world, and will eventually return them. The only thing that is mine is the plot.
Disclaimer 2: If this story in any way resembles any other fanfiction it is by complete accident, as I go out of my way to avoid reading fanfictions that resemble mine until mine are completed. My apologies to any other great minds.
Author's note: This story is set pre-, during- and post- The Last Battle. I am a first time fanfiction writer and any reviews are appreciated.
Chapter Nineteen: The End of All Things
Peter could see Lucy, Jill, Eustace, Digory and Polly coming to stand next to him and Edmund. Tash had vanished back into his own place, hopefully for good this time. Peter lowered his sword to rest it against the ground.
The man that Eustace claimed was the current King of Narnia, King Tirian, had finally turned his full attention on Peter and the others. The poor man seemed completely overwhelmed by what had just happened. Expecting to arrive in a stable, he was instead in open air, and the Calormene he had just fought had been absconded by the evil god, Tash. Peter could see why Tirian would be a little confused.
Tirian started to bow to them, clearly recognizing no one, when Jill could no longer keep a straight face and started to giggle. The king looked at her, and started, finally recognizing her. Taking pity on him, Jill went to him, took his arm and brought him over to their group.
First Jill took Tirian to Peter, saying, "Sire, let me make you known to Peter, the High King over all the Kings of Narnia."
Still a little overwhelmed, Tirian sank to one knee before Peter, as was proper. Peter reached down and drew the man to his feet and kissed him ceremonially on each cheek. Peter then took over from Jill and introduced each member of their party in turn. After everyone had been introduced, Eustace asked to know what Peter's story was, as they hadn't gotten to explaining that yet.
Between the five of the original party, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Digory and Polly, they managed to compare notes and get the story out. No one other than Peter seemed to remember there being a train accident, so he didn't mention it. All that the rest of them remembered was a noise and a jerk, then finding themselves in the meadow, dressed in Narnian garb, with crowns on their heads. Lucy had just finished telling about how the cat had come through the door, then the ape, Eustace, Jill and then King Tirian, when the earth beneath their feet seemed to shiver in joy, and the sweet air seemed even sweeter. Almost as one, they turned to see what was behind them, but Peter's heart already knew what they would find.
Walking towards them, on velvet paws, was Aslan.
His heart more filled with joy than it ever had been before, Peter rushed with the others to meet the lion. Almost weeping with happiness, Peter buried his hands and face in the warm, golden mane. Indeed, there might have been some dampness left behind when Peter pulled back a little to look at Aslan. As he did so, Aslan turned and rubbed his face gently against Peter's and Peter almost sobbed with joy and a complete, all-encompassing feeling of "home." Aslan's rich voice echoed in Peter's head, saying, "Oh, you are well come, Peter. Long has been your road, but you have walked it well, and now you are home."
Peter wrapped his arms around the Lion even tighter, like a child desperate for love and comfort from a beloved parent, then pulled back to look at the others surrounding Aslan. The girls were openly crying with happiness, and Peter noticed tears on Edmund, Digory, and Eustace's faces as well. None of them had ever dreamed of being able to see the Lion again. Peter looked around for King Tirian and saw him standing a few feet away, seemingly afraid to come any closer to Aslan without invitation.
Aslan turned to the young king and motioned him forward. Tirian came the last few feet on trembling legs and fell to his knees at the Lion's forepaws.
Peter expected Aslan to be the first to greet Tirian, but to his surprise, Tirian spoke first.
Without looking up to Aslan's face, Tirian said, "Forgive me, Aslan. I have failed you. Narnia has fallen."
Aslan shook his mane and leaned down, using a paw to raise the king's head to look him in the face. "No. Well done, last of the Kings of Narnia, who stood firm in the darkest hour."
Tirian gave a small cry of relief at this sign of forgiveness and then tentatively reached up and buried his own hands in the long mane. Peter turned away a little to give the other man a bit of privacy.
Peter spoke to Aslan after Tirian stepped back wiping at his face. "Tash has been appearing off and on for a little while. I sent him away, but he said that only someone called the Guardian could defeat him."
"Only with the help of the Guardian could you defeat him," Edmund corrected, annoyed at his brother's attempt to sell himself short as usual.
Lucy cut to the point, and asked what all of them had been wondering ever since Tash had mentioned it. "Aslan, what is the Guardian?"
Aslan turned to her and said, simply, "The Guardian is someone who has agreed to be whatever I need her to be."
Peter blinked. Well, that was a typical Aslan answer, saying everything and yet giving no information! Before he or anyone else could ask for more information, Aslan continued.
"She will be needed to defeat Tash, but there are other things to do first." Aslan then walked towards the door still standing in the middle of the clearing. The humans followed him, unwilling to leave his side for even a second and came to stand a little behind him on his right. Aslan stopped in front of the door, and said, seemingly to the door itself, "Now, it is time." Then, in a louder voice, "Time!" Finally in a voice so loud that it seemed to shake the heavens, and Peter had to clap his hands over his ears, Aslan roared, "TIME!!"
The door flew open.
Beyond the door was blackness. The fire that had been burning on the hill on the Narnian side of the door had gone out, and it took a moment for Peter's eyes to adjust to the darkness and see the stars shining in the sky on the other side. The door seemed bigger than it had before because everyone was standing directly in front of it and could still see though it easily without crowding each other.
They could also see far better than they ever could before in England or Narnia, and were able to focus their eyes on events happening miles away. A dream-like sense of unreality came over the humans as time seemed to stand still, yet move swifter than ever. It never occurred to them to question anything as they looked through the door and saw the enormous outline of the greatest of all giants silhouetted against the sky. The giant raised a horn to his lips, and a few moments later they could hear a beautiful yet terrible note calling to the very stars.
The stars answered. They started falling one after another and landing with hissing noises at the doorway and coming through to stand behind the humans. Stars in Narnia are as human as the trees, taking the form of beautiful men and women that glowed with their own inner light. The light they cast shown through the ever growing doorway to set every shape into sharp relief. Peter felt a thrill as he remembered Aslan's blessing at his coronation. "May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens!"
When every star had rained from the sky, the world beyond the door was silent and still for a moment. Then, Peter realized that the horn had called for something else far less welcome. Great monsters, dragons and other lizards came boiling up through cracks in the earth and Peter could hear cries of alarm and the sound of hundreds of feet heading towards the door.
Soon, Peter could see where the noise was coming from as every thinking being in the world was herded to the doorway. As that countless multitude reached the doorway every creature did one thing: They looked full into Aslan's face. Those that looked upon him with loathing and anger surged off to Aslan's left into his enormous shadow stretching into the distance through the doorway into Narnia, and were never seen again. But, those who looked on Aslan with love came through the doorway on Aslan's right, and joined the stars behind Peter and the others.
There was much greeting and rejoicing for a few moments, as some of the newcomers were known to Tirian, Jill and Eustace. But, as soon as everyone had come through the doorway the newcomers all joined the larger crowd with the stars, leaving Peter and the others with Aslan watching the events beyond the doorway.
Now that the monsters had Narnia to themselves, they began to devour it. Trees were rooted up and eaten, and when the land had been completely laid waste the monsters laid down and died, decayed, and then disappeared completely. The world was still again.
Then, with an ever-building roar of sound, a long silver line of water appeared on the horizon, rushing ever nearer, filling in the valleys and pulling down the mountains. By the time it reached the very foot of the doorway everything was underwater, and not even an island of land was visible. It began to grow lighter as dawn approached, but it was a dark and fearsome dawn. The sun rose, larger than it should have been, in the wrong place and a dark blood red color. The moon rose as well and the sun reached out long fiery tentacles and drew the moon to it, and absorbed it completely.
Aslan spoke for the first time since he had called out, "Time." Speaking to the giant that was the only thing still standing beyond the doorway Aslan said, "Now, make an end."
The giant reached out an impossibly long arm towards the sun, grasped it in an enormous hand and squeezed it out. Instantly a wave of cold air blew through the doorway and icicles covered the doorway. Aslan turned to Peter.
"Peter, High King of Narnia," Aslan commanded. "Shut the door."
Somehow knowing what he was to do, Peter walked up to the doorway and reached out for the door to pull it closed. His hands went blue from the intense cold before the door was even halfway closed, but he persisted and dragged the heavy door over ice and pulled it shut. Then, on instinct he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key that hadn't been there before and locked the door.
Peter gave a small laugh as he recognized the key in his hand. When he had ruled Narnia he had a set of keys for the various doors and chests in the castle. But one key on the ring had no lock to match it. No matter where he tried, Peter never found the lock to which it belonged, but had never bothered to throw it away. It seemed that he now knew what the seemingly insignificant key was for. With a small smile he put the key back in his pocket and turned to Aslan. He was almost startled to be in bright light with fruit trees in the distance, and life and light surrounding them. It was painful to think of all that lay frozen and dead beyond that door.
Surprisingly, Jill was the first to do anything. She walked up to Aslan and put her hand on his mane. "Did it have to end?" she asked sadly. "I had so hoped that Narnia would last forever."
Aslan nuzzled her gently. "All worlds must come to an end sometime, dear one." Then a spark of mischief lit in his eyes. "But, who said that Narnia is gone? Look around you, this is Real Narnia!"
At Aslan's words everyone looked around again, and this time truly recognized the place in which they had found themselves. Digory had said before that nothing in Narnia had ever seemed this real, and it was true. It was as though the Narnia that they had all loved and was now dead beyond the door had been just an echo or misty reflection of the land they were now in.
As the others were exclaiming over the various mountains and saying things like, "There's Mount Pyre!" and "I thought those mountains looked familiar," Aslan walked over to Peter.
"You have a question, Peter?" Aslan asked.
Peter nodded, and asked the question that had been niggling in the back of his mind ever since they had arrived in this Real Narnia.
"Aslan, are we dead?" Peter asked.
The others fell silent at his question and turned to Aslan as well, wondering at his answer.
The Lion nodded. "There was a real railway accident. You are -- as you used to call it in the Shadowlands -- dead. The term is over, the holidays have arrived. The dream is over, this is the morning!"
As the realization that this time they would be allowed to stay forever hit them Lucy started laughing for pure joy and everyone followed her example as she again rushed to the Lion and hugged him.
"What about our Mum and Dad?" Edmund asked Aslan. "They would have been on the train, too."
"They are dead as well, but do not grieve," Aslan told him. "There is a Real England just as there is a Real Narnia, and they are connected. You will be able to see them whenever you like."
"Aslan," Peter asked, hesitantly. "I know you won't tell me any story but my own, but I was wondering something. I remember Leona being there when I... I mean to say..." Peter stopped stammering and made himself steady his words. "I was wondering that when Leona does die, would I have to go to her in Real England, or might I bring her here with me?"
Aslan chuckled and didn't reply for a moment. To Peter's surprise Lucy came to his side and grinned up at him, with that little smirk that told him she was up to something.
"I don't think you need to worry about that," Lucy said with a secretive smile.
Peter cocked an eyebrow at his sister. "You know something, don't you?"
Lucy didn't reply but Aslan did. "Leona is welcome here," then almost to himself, "Whenever she decides to finally arrive..."
Peter cocked his entire head at the Lion, confused at that last comment. Before Peter could ask for more details, someone spoke from behind him.
"I am glad to hear that. I was almost certain that I was meant to be here, but I do prefer being invited."
Peter slowly turned, his heart in his throat. This was too much, this couldn't be real! He faced completely around and just looked at her for a moment, drinking her in as though he couldn't truly believe his eyes.
Leona was standing there, in a dark blue Narnian dress, her hair loose and her head bare except for a few flowers peeping here and there through the dark strands. Peter's heart clenched as he saw her bite her bottom lip nervously, and that little habit more than anything convinced him that this was no dream. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and then finally spoke to him.
"Hello, Peter," she said, simply. No more, no less. No more or less was needed - Peter didn't know how or why she was here, and at the moment he didn't care. He didn't recall taking the few steps to close the distance between them, but she was suddenly in his arms and he was holding her as close and tight as he could. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and he could feel her hot tears soaking the front of his tunic. With a joy-filled shout, Peter gripped her tightly around the waist and started spinning her in a circle, unable to believe that this could be real, but knowing in every fiber of his being that it was. Leona started laughing too, and as he finally lowered her to the ground, he bent down and gently claimed her lips for a kiss.
They parted a moment later, and Peter rested his forehead against Leona's. He was going to ask her why she was here in Real Narnia instead of Real England, but in one of the flashes of insight that happened so easily here, he knew.
"You are the Guardian, aren't you?" Peter asked.
Leona pulled back a little. "You knew about the Guardian? You did do this properly after all then. How did you find out?"
"Tash mentioned a person called the Guardian, but I didn't guess it was you until just now," Peter said.
Leona made a face. "Tash. So that vile creature is creeping about somewhere. Lovely."
"He was here for a bit before Aslan arrived and..." Peter stopped, uncertain how to explain what had happened. "...ended the old Narnia."
Leona's eyes suddenly flashed with annoyance and a little betrayal. "About that..." she said with an almost feline hiss. Putting her hands on her hips she rounded on Aslan. "Why on earth didn't you warn me? I come back expecting to be home and suddenly I find that you decided to end everything!"
Aslan looked at her calmly. "I didn't warn you because it would have driven you mad to know that the world you had guarded and protected for almost two millennia had to end and there was nothing you could do about it but sit back and watch."
Leona sighed in exasperation. "Well, I'll give you that. But, I would have liked to have been here to help."
"You were late," Aslan said coolly. He was not angry or unhappy, simply stating a fact.
"I was pulling the dying body of the man I love out of a train wreck!" Leona exclaimed indignantly. "Forgive me for being a bit distracted! - Oh, and another thing!" Leona added, in a betrayed tone. "You told me when I first became the Guardian for you, that if I ever fell in love I could stay with him. Why did you call me back?"
"Would you rather I had left you in England and called only Peter to me?"
Leona opened and closed her mouth for a moment, contemplating Aslan's response. Finally she simply stomped her foot in frustration and said, "It would be a lot easier to stay angry at you if you would stop being right all the time!"
Everyone laughed, even Leona joined in after a moment's sulking.
Aslan simply gazed at Leona with wise, loving eyes and her expression softened. She left Peter's arms and ran to give the lion a hug, leaning her head against Aslan's with an air of long and loving familiarity. Peter couldn't tell if Aslan spoke to her, but when she finally stood back all trace of her annoyance had vanished. She placed a kiss on Aslan's head before going back to Peter's side.
Peter pulled Leona back towards him. "We will deal with this Guardian thing in a minute, but I want to know something," he said. "If you were from Narnia and knew that I had been too, why didn't you tell me?" Peter was feeling almost betrayed at the idea that Leona had known that he was King Peter of Narnia and had never felt like mentioning it.
"But I didn't know that you were from Narnia," Leona said. "Not at first anyway. I started guessing after you described Cair Paravel to me that one night. I was more certain than ever once I met your siblings, but I didn't really know until Lucy asked me on the train if I'd ever heard of a place called Narnia."
Peter turned to his little sister accusingly. "You didn't mention this to me, why?"
Lucy shrugged. "I was distracted. I didn't even think about it until you mentioned Leona."
"I kept dropping little hints, but you never picked up on them," Leona said, almost accusingly. "Or if you did notice, you never acted on them. You have no idea how hard it was to try and give you hints without outright asking or giving away too much, just in case I was wrong..."
"Wouldn't it have made sense that if you were in the world that Aslan called his helpers from, that you might meet one of us?" Peter asked.
Leona shook her head. "Aslan never told me which world he got the children from. And how could I have guessed? I've never encountered a single place in England called Spare Oom!"
Peter laughed. "True enough! Mr. Tumnus had misunderstood Lucy, and by the time we found out it was too late to change it."
Aslan, swishing his tail, said to Leona, "Take as much time as you need to explain everything to them, but come further up and further in as you do so. There is still work to be done!"
Then, with another flick of his tail and an echoing roar, Aslan was off, running to the west with a speed that no other creature could match. He was out of sight within moments.
The Narnians looked at each other for a moment then started off walking in a westerly direction following Aslan. Peter had pulled Leona close to his side, but turned for a moment to see if any of the ladies needed help. Jill was being attended by an unusually solicitous Eustace and the Lady Polly had her arm linked through the Lord Digory's. Lucy was being attended rather closely by the King Tirian who seemed eager to tend to her every wish. Peter met Edmund's eye with a little grin that his younger brother matched. It seemed that Lucy had made another conquest...
They all walked in silence for a short ways, then Leona spoke.
"I suppose that I had better explain everything," Leona said. "What do you want to know first?"
Lucy spoke first. "What is the Guardian? What do you do? Aslan said that you are someone who has agreed to be anything he needs you to be, but that doesn't make any sense."
"Well, in the simplest term that's exactly what I am," Leona said. "Aslan had a need for someone to be... his hands for lack of a better word, in the world. There were times that he needed a person to be in a certain place at a certain time in order to set events in motion." She frowned, then sighed, "Oh, I don't think I'm explaining this at all well!"
Leona took a deep breath then said slower, "Most of the time I worked as a catalyst. I am the single soldier who is in the right place at the right time to turn the tide of battle. I am the mutual friend who introduces a man and a woman who later marry and whos son becomes a great hero. I am the stranger who appears just in time to find the lost child.
"Then, some of the time I have missions like those that Eustace and Jill received. I quell rebellions, and sometimes start them. I am the nursemaid who keeps a royal child from being corrupted by privilege." Leona turned a mischievous look upon Peter. "I am the dancing slave girl who is set by the Tisroc to seduce the young Northern King, sent by Aslan to keep him alive."
Peter choked and started blushing red. "That was yo- Never mind, pray, continue."
Edmund looked excited. "Yes, do continue. What's this about seducing a king?"
Leona laughed. "Maybe someday I'll tell you Edmund, but not just now."
"But, how do you do all of these things?" Peter asked. "I've seen you fight and you frankly aren't that extraordinary. No offense!"
"You have seen me fight, not the Guardian," Leona said. "I am simply a vessel for Aslan's power. All I have to do is believe that he will give me everything I need to do his will and I receive it, and in doing so become more than I can achieve on my own."
Peter shook his head. "I still don't completely understand, but it doesn't matter for now."
Edmund gave the next question. "Aslan said that you had served him for millenniums. What are you? Are you human or something else?" Edmund was thinking of the seemingly immortal White Witch who had lived for over a thousand years before her defeat.
"I am human, but I'm not necessarily mortal," Leona said. "I'll explain more of that later."
"How did you become the Guardian?" Jill asked. "Were you born in England or Narnia?"
"To answer your first question will take quite a while," Leona said. "But, we have the time. I better start by saying that I was not born Leona Hart. My mother named me Dareena. I was born in the 548th year of Narnian time, in Archenland near the borders of Narnia..."
TBC...
Author's note for the chapter: I know you will want to kill me for leaving it there, but the next few chapter's are in flashback form and it just makes more sense to cut it off here. Next chapter you will see where Leona, or Dareena as she was then called, came from! Don't forget to review!!!