Philadelphia was called the City of Brotherly Love. But for the Malyline children, it was anything but. The four children had lost their parents just the week before, and they were taking it hard. Their parents had been on their way to a conference in the inner city, and had been shot by a gang on their way.

David and Elise were the oldest, and twins. Elise was older by a few minutes, and both were eighteen years old. As the two oldest, they were trying to be brave for their two younger siblings, Ricky and Danielle, but it was difficult. David had heard Elise crying in her sleep every night since, and he had cried a few times himself.

Danielle was the third child, and at sixteen, she was hurting deeply. This was the time in life that she needed her mother the most, and to lose her hurt more than anything. She was normally a quieter child, and she was extremely sensitive. Her mother had been the one person who understood her, and now she felt completely alone.

Ricky was fourteen, and even though he acted like he didn't really care, the loss of his parents had crushed him. All his life had been a joke so far. He played around in school, wasn't serious about his grades, and for the most part treated everyone with a bad attitude. But now that he had lost his parents, he decided maybe it was time to shape up and be more serious about things.

Elise's POV

Elise rose that morning at six with her alarm. It was the day of the funeral, and she needed some time alone before everyone else was up and went to eat. As she and David were both eighteen, the government would allow them to live alone with their brother and sister. For that much at least, she was grateful. Living through a separation would have been horrible.

Getting into the shower, she rinsed the soap off her body and rubbed shampoo into her long raven black hair. Many considered her to be a beauty, with her black hair and violet eyes. She had a fair complexion, which she had inherited from her mother. Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed a towel and rubbed herself dry, heading to her closet. She pulled out the black dress she had been saving, thinking about how it was supposed to be for the winter formal at her college, and instead she was wearing it to her parent's funeral. This started a tear rolling down her face, but she dashed it away.

"Stop it Elise!" She chided herself, looking in the mirror after she slipped on the dress. She had to admit, the dress was beautiful. It hugged her every curve, accentuating her figure in all the right places. But she wasn't there to be beautiful today. Curling her hair softly, she applied a bit of makeup to her eyes to try and hide her lack of sleep, and went to rouse her siblings.

David's POV

The death had been hard. The funeral was dragging along, and David wished it would all just be over. He had never been one to cry in front of others, and mostly he internalized his feelings. He didn't like sharing things with others, and found it difficult to be emotional. All of a sudden, he felt something pulling at him. He glanced at Elise, and by the expression in her eyes, she felt it too. Grabbing Ricky's hand next to him, he noticed Elise doing the same with Danielle. The room seemed to spin about them, and he closed his eyes tightly. Before he knew it, they weren't standing in a room watching people view his parent's bodies, they were standing in a forest.

Danielle's POV

During the funeral, Danielle had just wanted to get home. She wanted to sit in her room and cry while writing in her journal. She felt like her world was crashing down, but now, she had to be in a weird forest with something odd happening to them. Silently, she begged for this to not be happening.

While Danielle was feeling upset and worried, a lion appeared in front of them. All four of them froze. Danielle heard her brother speak first.

"Everyone back up slowly, don't speak a word, and don't run!"
Slowly, all four of them began to listen to him, and they backed up quietly, until a voice broke the silence.

"My children, do not run from me. I will not harm you. I am Aslan, and I am here because I sent for you." Danielle was completely in shock. Since when did lions talk? But yet, he must be talking. So she decided to respond.

"Where are we, and why are we here?" She asked with curiousity.

"You are in Narnia, and you are here because Narnia has been threatened by men called Telmarines. You might as well get used to it now, Narnia is full of talking animals. This land is beautiful, but has been threatened by these human beings. See, they came from a land like you, but they have become evil and power hungry. Their king, Miraz, wants to kill every true Narnian in these lands. That is where you come in. I want you to meet me at the Stone Table Fortress. Your answers will be there." His gaze softened a bit. "I know you have recently had great loss in your lives, and for that I am truly sorry. But your time here, if spent wisely, will bring you great happiness." After that, he gave them directions, and disappeared.

"What on earth was that about?" Elise said with an unreadable emotion in her voice.

"I don't know, but I suggest we go find this Stone Table Fortress that Aslan was talking about. It seems to be the only way we will get any answers." David responded with some reluctance in his voice.

Danielle wasn't sure how she felt about all this, but she knew that she really didn't have any choice but to follow along.

Ricky's POV

Ricky really didn't know what to do with the whole "Aslan" thing. He believed in the lion of course, but he thought that they were being led into a trap. He tried to push his sorrow aside for a little while, and enjoy the land they were in. He'd definitely rather be here than at his parent's funeral, that's for sure. As they walked, he chatted with Elise.

"Elise, what do you think we're really here for?" Ricky asked.

"Well, I think that maybe we're here to fight. I mean, what else could we possibly be doing here for a war? It worries me a little bit, but I guess Aslan knows what he's doing."

"How can you possibly trust a talking lion that we just met?" Ricky said with disbelief in his voice.

"Well, what else are we to do?" Elise answered logically.

"I guess so." Ricky grumbled a little bit.

Elise's POV

Elise trudged along behind David. They were almost to the fortress that Aslan had directed them to. She could see it in the distance. She was putting on a brave front for her brothers and sister, but honestly she had no idea what was going to happen to them. On the inside, she wished her parents were here, they would know what to do. She was the oldest now, and she had to make the decisions and keep her family strong. The only question was, how was she going to do it?