Chapter Twenty-two: Are We Going Mad
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~ Narnia ~
Whatever Date it is:
Diary, you will not believe the horrid adventures I've suffered through these past days. First, we were, as I have previously written, in a horrid storm, and then we washed up on some island's shores, where this doddering old man lives, he doesn't possess a razor, and dawdles about in a dressing gown, and I thought my cousins and the riffraff they collect were bad enough! So we took the advice (well I should say Caspian and Edmund did, the fools) of this senile old coot, and now were being tossed about like pancakes in this tub, and lost in yet another tempest. Twelve days, and not the slightest sign of land, the only consolation through all this is, however, everyone is finally as miserable as I am.
Bu I hate that rat. He's one of those annoying, glass-is-always-half-full types, you know, the ones going about as if we're not all doomed to death and that we shouldn't turn back because there would be no honor in running away from a little danger like a dog with its tail down between its legs. At least, that's what he was going on about yesterday in the great-cabin. If only someone (a wave preferably, especially in this weather) would accidently knock him overboard, or provide me with some rope. I'm getting close enough to silencing his blather once and for all!
I also noticed something a bit more interesting than talking rats and ocean-going storms. Caspian and his wife (the one everyone continues to call my cousin) seem to be at odds. I mean, it's not something that everyone notices, but, well, I don't have all that much to do – Drinian says I'm a nuisance and Edmund says that landsmen are not of much use on deck, as if he were any different – so I can observe everyone around me a bit better than if I were busy. I assume they've gotten in a row over something. Most likely marital troubles; Alberta always says that when people get married too young, three quarters of couples end up not know why they married, except that they thought one another interesting.
Back to that island, however. When we were there Lucy somehow managed to get kidnapped by God-Knows-What, so early in the morning everyone found her missing and ran off to go find her. But they left me on the beach! So there I was, wandering around, with no hope of ever finding them. Thank heavens they sent someone back for me, or I think I would be dead right now. My reluctant rescuer was muttering under his breath as we rejoined the rest of the party. If he had been muttering in Narnian, I don't think I should be so steamed under the collar about his words, because then they wouldn't have bothered me. But since he was muttering plain English, I heard every word!
He was going on about how wonderful it would be if Queen Susan (Caspian's wife) would just let King Edmund (that's what they call cousin) have his way and leave me behind, and then we should all be much better off! The way I understand it, is that Edmund had some sort of argument with Susan about sending someone to go get me, and that he (along with that horrid pirate Arran and his brother Zephyr) were against bringing me along with them, and then I heard (overheard Lucy talking with Serene really) that Caspian also tried to convince her to leave me for Aslan (some godlike being in this world, apparently) to deal with.
Of course, those weren't their exact words, but you get the general idea. Apparently Susan stood up for me, turning it into a large row, with all the crew and Captain Drinian becoming involved. I'm rather pleased that cousin and Caspian's wife defended me, but then, I shouldn't wonder that they are trying to get on my side only to keep me from mentioning anything to Alberta. Well, I'm going to see if there isn't something decent to eat up there. What with this rain and all, we really haven't eaten well.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
(Early the morning Lucy made everything visible, before her friends and family found her, however)
Not long after the others dashed off in search of Lucy, Eustace awoke. He sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before looking around curiously. "Where in the bloody blazes am – Oh yes, right." Eustace frowned as he remembered, as he had had to do every morning since he'd arrived in Narnia. He looked up in time to watch the sun rise slowly over the waves. Then, as he became more alert, he realized that it was awfully quiet around him.
He looked to his right and realized that no one was there, the beach was deserted. He was utterly alone; in this dangerous fantasy world with all sorts of weird, wild things that might possibly eat him. Eustace swallowed sharply, for the first time realizing just how invaluable and useful it was to have people like Caspian, Edmund, Susan, Lucy, and the Stars who knew all about this bizarre land and the ocean surrounding it.
"Perhaps a reassessment of my situation needs to be undergone," he thought standing. "I wonder why they left me. Probably hoping to get rid of me, eh?" he surmised in annoyance.
"What are you looking at?" Eustace scowled at a large white crane when it stopped, wading through the shallow water near the shore, and eyed him speculatively with a beady, bright blue eye. The bird uttered a throaty screech before flying off. "Lucky it didn't try and peck my eyes out," Eustace muttered, walking away from the shore and into the trees and grass.
"Now, where would I go if I were those idiots?" he said to himself, pausing and looking around him once more.
~o0o~
It was Susan who noticed Eustace's absence, well, more like the lack of his irritable adjectives on why they were doing what they were doing. "Edmund, Eustace isn't with us," she called out to her brother, who was talking with Drinian and Caspian ahead of the party, trying to guess where Lucy might have gone, or where someone might have taken her.
"Great, he's gone. Aslan'll keep the little scumsucker out of trouble," Arran said cheerfully, making pretenses on walking forward. Gavan frowned at his brother warningly and grabbed his sleeve to keep him from moving. "What?" Arran looked at him and shrugged.
"Why? Does he enjoy making my life more taxing than it is?" Caspian muttered under his breath, careful to keep his wife from hearing. Edmund grinned slightly; he had been close enough to hear. "Yes, he does have that effect," he replied.
"What do you wish I do darling? Find your cousin, or find your sister? Which first, Aslan knows I won't be able to do both at once," Caspian said to Susan, his arms outstretched slightly as he asked.
"Don't do anything! He's gone, we're free, let's keep it as such! Pretend he never existed, as I said, Aslan'll take fine care of the, hmm, er, lad," Arran said loudly, struggling against calling the missing boy a less-than-admirable name. Gavan elbowed the pirate in the ribs sharply to get him to stop leaning over his shoulder. Arran narrowed his eyes comically at his youngest brother before looking hopefully back at Caspian.
"Just send someone back for him, is it that hard?" Susan said, looking from her husband to her brother.
"It's his fault he didn't wake when we did! Why should we send someone back for him, it's not as if he'll get lost? Besides, knowing Eustace, he'll probably stand there screaming for someone the better part of the day. Let him learn what not being a light sleeper means, he should be fine," Edmund argued, dead set against sending someone back for the boy, or waiting around for a sailor to return with him.
"See, that's exactly what I think!" Arran agreed quickly.
"You'd say that to anyone as long as it rid you of a discomfort," Gavan contradicted, looking at his sibling with great distaste.
"Anything works," Arran admitted, splaying his fingers in a 'so?' gesture. "And you know you can't stand him either," he added, looking knowingly at his brother. Gavan didn't reply.
"Edmund, be reasonable. You know that if you were in a better mind about Eustace, you'd see that it would be the best thing to go get him before going on," Susan pointed out sensibly.
"Eustace has been a thorn in my side since Mother and Father left Peter, Lucy, and I in Cambridge! I admit it; I'm glad he's gone, in fact, I want nothing more to do with him, and I'd sooner never see him again than stand here waiting for someone to bring him back! He can sit there on the beach and think about the misery he's caused all of us these past months," Edmund said strongly, clearly bent on leaving his cousin where he was.
"And I suppose you'd say the same were it anyone else?" Susan replied, raising an eyebrow at her brother. Waiting for a reply, she absently stroked Rilian's back, wondering how long the little boy would sleep before this racket woke him.
"That's…" Edmund took a slow breath. "That's entirely different, anyone else is not Eustace, and since they are not in this situation, we couldn't say for certain exactly how they would react," Edmund pointed out, his voice low with the effort to control his anger.
"I really must say, as greatly as I know it's wrong to leave someone behind, I agree with Edmund. Eustace has been the most bothersome thing on this entire voyage. And an hour without his endless mutterings would do me some good," Zephyr said, nodding at Edmund in agreement. There was a low sound of concurrence from the crew as well.
"Susan, the boy has been nothing but trouble for us, you know that. So why are you pushing this?" Caspian asked, tired of arguing and knowing they must resolve this and find Lucy quickly.
"Because I know how his mother would feel if she were here," Susan replied.
Arran gave a low, drawn-out moan. "I hate mothers, they're so, so…" he trailed off when Susan turned and looked at him pointedly, her expression daring him to continue. He smiled nervously and straightened, silent.
"Fine, then we send someone to go and get the boy; Rynelf?" Caspian called. He hated giving anyone the task of finding the loud complainer, but someone had to go.
"Yes, Sire," the Narnian bowed, before turning and walking off, muttering under his breath about age and idiot limits for voyages into the unknown.
"I cannot believe we're doing this!" Edmund scowled, looking at his sister in aggravation. "Would you like to join the growing group?" Arran suggested glumly, motioning at a space next to him.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
Even for all Eustace's annoying habits, he was right about Susan and Caspian, they were keeping each other's distance. But because of the storm and the other matters that happened, they put their differences on a shelf until the storm abated. But it was by far, not resolved.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
Caspian and Edmund slammed the cabin door behind them when they entered, trying to keep most of the rain out. Edmund blinked the raindrops from his eyes, running his fingers through his hair to rid himself of the extra water.
"I never understood how you manage to keep your hair cut in such a fashion," Caspian stated, glancing at the young man while twisting his shoulder length black hair to remove the excess water.
Edmund looked at Caspian, grinning at the hint of envy in the king's eyes. "Well, we don't use shears or razors to cut ours like you do here, it doesn't hurt to cut hair in England, I remember Peter having to hunt me down and practically tie me up to cut my hair when we ruled Narnia; God did that hurt." Edmund grimaced at the memory.
"I end up looking like a wet horse next to you," Caspian commented, reaching for a dry shirt.
Edmund laughed. "Well, I can't blame Queen Helen or King Frank for forgetting to bring scissors." Edmund shrugged on a dry shirt as well.
"Yes, I suppose so," Caspian said dryly. A smile – Edmund didn't know if it meant he was amused or thinking of something else – coming to his face.
"How far do you think we've come?" Edmund asked, moving over to the map pinned down by daggers on the table in the center of the room. Caspian turned from reading the papers on a side desk to face Edmund.
"I couldn't tell you, Drinian might be able to," he said distractedly, looking down at the parchment sheets once more.
"What is it?" Edmund asked as he poured the water from his boots, remembering his last time in Narnia; Caspian always got this way when something bothered him.
"Twelve days ago, these were more important than listening to Susan," he replied, a faraway look coming into his eyes. Edmund nodded, taking a breath as he remembered what Caspian had told him.
"You're still having problems over that?" he asked, reaching for a collection of matches to light one of the lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
"Yes," Caspian said, smiling at the patheticness of their argument, and his stupidity. "I don't know how to apologize without her thinking I felt wrong in not telling her my reasons, because I feel no guilt for not telling her, but I feel wrong for losing my temper," he admitted, crossing his arms and leaning them on a chair while he studied the map.
"Hmm," Edmund answered, staring out the windows that were across the rear of the ship, watching the waves crest white and the lightning flash.
Suddenly the cabin door groaned against the wind as it opened. Drinian lowered the hood of the waterproof canvas cloak to nod at them. Hanging it up on a hook to drip, he moved toward the built-in shelves and bookcases along one wall and poured himself a glass of wine from the bottle that was in the decanter. Swallowing it all at once with a toss of his head, he looked at them. Caspian sat down on a seat in front of the windows, pulling off a boot and dumping the water out of it.
"Fierce wind," Edmund remarked, glancing out the windows once more when a loud howl echoed past the ship, causing the wood around them to groan.
"Aye, determined to break the mast again," Drinian agreed, pouring another glassful of strong wine. "Storms like these; they're enough to break a man's spirit too." He shook off the thought as he drank the wine.
"What's our position?" Edmund asked after a moment of silence, each man thinking his personal thoughts. Drinian set his glass down and walked toward the table slowly, grabbing a marker from a carved indention on the tabletop.
"We're stuck here," he began, frustration creeping into his voice as he placed the marker in the middle of the eastern ocean on the map. This wasn't one of the magical maps; it was their old one, with Drinian's sketches to show the new islands they had come across. "With food and water for two more weeks, maximum," he added, the tone of his voice saying that he was close to complaining, but also stating he was giving them the entire truth. "This is your last chance to turn back your majesties," he confided, since they were alone, and Susan, Lucy, and Reep weren't present, he was speaking freely. "We have no guarantee we'll spot the 'Blue Star' Coriakin sent us after anytime soon – not in this storm."
Caspian was silent, almost as if Drinian hadn't spoken, staring blankly at the ocean. "We could sail right past it and off the edge of the world!" The captain exclaimed, trying to get Caspian to respond.
"Or get eaten by a sea serpent," Edmund muttered to himself. Caspian looked up at him with slight disbelief and reproach, unbelieving that Edmund was afraid of nonexistent creatures created by drunken sailors.
Drinian knew he'd been too forward, and gone too far, so to avoid dissent among the two monarchs, he amended his argument. "I'm simply saying that the men are getting uneasy. These are strange seas; I've never seen the like." He said simply.
"Then perhaps you should tell Reepicheep that we're done with this journey, and tell Rhince we're going to abandon his wife to her unfortunate fate, which we could amend," Caspian replied sharply, standing.
Drinian exhaled heavily, realizing he'd only worsened matters. Nodding weakly in acknowledgment of Caspian's statement, he muttered, "I'm going back to the helm." He pulled the cloak off the hook and tied it on, before being swallowed up by the roar of the wind and the darkness of the deck as he began to exit the cabin. "Just a word of warning," he said, stepping back into the light and raising his voice to be heard over the din, "the sea can play nasty tricks on a man's mind. Very nasty." With that, he was gone.
Edmund glanced at Caspian, but the king was staring at the map, lost in thought.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
The Stars sat in the galley, Arran staring blankly into a half-empty glass of rum, Zephyr playing with small spurts of his magic, and Gavan leaning back on a stool against the wall; arms crossed, studying the grain of the wooden floor. The lanterns swayed crazily as the ship crested a swell, causing the flames to flicker a bit.
"Have we been cursed to wander this endless bloody ocean for all time?" Arran scowled, tilting his flagon slightly, some of the dark liquid sloshing onto the table.
"Oh, do come off, you're starting to sound like your normal self, at least keep pretenses up until we return to Narnia, or, die," Zephyr reprimanded sharply, praying that his brother's double nature wouldn't start coming to light because of recent events.
"Calm down both of you, I think the rain and the drink have gone to your heads," Gavan muttered.
"What are you, referee now?" Arran mocked, looking at Gavan in annoyance.
"If I have to be, then yes. Arran, you brought this upon yourself, so stop complaining. Zephyr, you dislike Arran, why did you vouch to watch after him if you knew it would come to blows?" Gavan asked quietly.
"Because Durken was otherwise occupied and Erikk hates the ocean," Zephyr answered, his frown deepening.
"Very well then, but don't get him riled if you're supposed to be keeping him from doing so," Gavan advised.
"You two are amusing," Arran smiled, taking a drink.
"And you're a sorry sight when you get drunk," Gavan retorted, watching his brother drain the glass. Of all the mythical creatures in Narnia, Gavan thought Stars were the worst drunkards.
"Get off your high horse, the both of you! I didn't come all this way for nothing you know," Arran grumbled, standing, but stumbling forward when the ship swayed.
"Go to bed Arran," Zephyr ordered as his brother left the room.
Arran waved off his words, instead going up on deck.
"I hate it when he gets like this," Zephyr mumbled, coming to his feet.
"What did you expect? He was always going to do this sooner or later," Gavan acknowledged, following his brother out.
"I know, that's what I don't like," Zephyr replied over his shoulder, holding the railing for support.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
Lucy woke feeling a bit confused. Unsure of what woke her she glanced around the room, but everyone was still asleep, including Rilian. Suddenly, she got an urge to take out the page from the incantation book that she'd stolen, wanting to see it, that little nagging voice in the back of her head whispering that she needed to make sure she still had it. When she pulled it out and stared at the page, gilt words glinting slightly in the dim lantern hanging overhead, which was being swung around wildly in the throws and rolls of the ship, she found that she just had to read aloud the spell. Just to see what would happen, no other reason, she tried to convince herself.
"Transform my reflection, cast into perfection, lashes, lips and complexion. Make me she, whom I'd agree, holds more beauty over me."
After she finished whispering the words, she realized the picture on the page hadn't transformed as before. A small part of her breathed a long sigh of relief, the part of her that knew it was wrong what she'd done. But that little voice that was growing steadily stronger whispered otherwise. It coaxed her to remember the long mirror across the room, and to see if perhaps the magic worked differently this time. So, careful not to wake her sister, or Gael, she pushed the sheets aside and eased her away carefully to the mirror.
She didn't notice, in her attempts to be quiet and not wake anyone, was that the swing of the lantern had stopped, and the darkness outside the cabin windows had brightened. It was odd, watching her dress change in the mirror. She saw her own reflection for an instant, before Susan's – well, almost Susan's, there was something slightly different about it – stared back at her. Lucy – or was she Susan now? – reached up and touched her face, wondering if it was only an illusion. But the image in the mirror touched her face too. She took a breath to steady herself; this was starting to feel a little scary, when from beside her, she heard a whisper.
"Touch the mirror," the haunting, hissing voice murmured. She did, and surprisingly, it gave under her hand, swinging outward, like a door. She stopped putting force on it, and the door stopped.
"Why not go through it, see where it goes, adventures are interesting," the voice coaxed again from beside her. The voice was right, she reasoned, adventures were always interesting, and besides, how bad could this be? She could always go back if it was dull, or nothing extraordinary.
So, like Alice through the looking glass, she walked through the mirror/door into a brightly lit world. Behind her, out of sight, a faint green mist glowed with growing power.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
Jazz music.
The type she'd only heard when she listened to American radio stations, played around her as she walked into the sunlight, a clear blue sky overhead. Suddenly, to her right, a butler announced her arrival.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Pevensie," He had a distinctly American accent. But she couldn't dwell on it, for people expected her to keep walking. Around her, as she stepped off the porch, or gazebo, or stoop, whichever it was, she became surrounded by soldiers and well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, nearly all of them, except for a few, were American.
She ignored the whistles from the lower ranking officers, her time in Narnia serving her well, and kept walking. To where, she wasn't certain. She walked past a group of young men, each in varying uniform, talking just loud enough for her to hear. "What a looker," one commented. "Swell," a British soldier replied. She was glad she hadn't been looking at them; they didn't see the hint of blush come into her cheeks.
"Edmund?" she said in surprise and joy, noticing her brother as he walked up, lacing her arm through his.
"You look beautiful sister," he said kindly. Which she found odd; Edmund never praised outward appearances so freely, especially not in public like this.
"As always," a deeper voice intoned indulgently from her left. Peter walked up smiling, and she automatically put her arm through his. Before she could ask him where they were, or why they were there, a man in a major's uniform came up from the right, holding the cumbersome pieces of a camera and tripod.
"Excuse me, miss, but could I get a photograph?" he asked, his accent sounding strangely more Narnian than British or American. Before she could object, or even be asked her pinion on the matter, Peter spoke, which was unusual, he never was spur-of-the-moment.
"Mother's going to love this, all her children in one picture." He smiled, standing still as the man set up his camera.
"Hang on, where am I? I-I mean, where's Lucy?" she asked hesitantly, realizing that something was extremely off about this entire thing.
"Smile," the photographer said loudly, grinning in exaggeration as he got ready to take the picture.
"Lucy?" Edmund suddenly asked. "Who's Lucy?" That was not like him. Not. At. All. She stared at her brother, dumbfounded, then glanced uneasily at Peter, who was ignoring the entire conversation as if he hadn't even heard it. She tried to pull away from them, realizing they might look like her brothers, but they couldn't be.
"Susan, what's wrong?" Peter called, still smiling at the photographer as he set up for another shot. His arm went behind her back, forcefully keeping her from leaving.
"Come on now miss, if you want a good picture, smile nicely," the photographer shouted, smiling with false cheer, which she found frightening.
"Edmund," she decided to appeal to her younger brother, since he at least spoke back to her. "I'm not really sure about all this; I think I want to go back."
"Go back where?" he asked with a slightly puzzled expression, before turning to smile for the camera.
"To Narnia," she said in an undertone, not wanting anyone to think her crazy should they overhear.
"What on earth is Narnia?" he asked his tone indulgent as he smiled.
"What's going on?" she shouted aloud, praying someone would hear her, or that it was a dream. "Stop this!" she cried, not just to the man taking pictures, but to everything in its entirety. She covered her face with her hands, wondering just what had she done? Hesitantly, she looked up.
But the nightmare she had been in had vanished, and the mirror and the cabin of the Dawn Treader lay before and around her. She exhaled heavily, before gasping when Aslan came alongside her, his face clearly visible in the mirror.
"Lucy," he whispered softly.
"Aslan?" she said slowly, uncertain. She looked beside her, but nothing was there, and she berated herself for stupidity, the lion was far too big to fit in that small cabin. He watched her in the mirror as she turned to look back at him.
"Lucy, what have you done child?" he asked, his tone stern, and yet compassionate.
"I don't know," she murmured hopelessly, feeling small and inadequate suddenly as she stared into Aslan's golden eyes looking at her in the mirror. "But that was awful," she amended, realizing she did know some of what she had done.
"But you chose it Lucy," Aslan reasoned wisely, his eyes holding pity.
"I didn't want all of that!" she said pathetically, feeling horrid for injuring her relationship with Aslan. "I only wanted to be beautiful like Susan. I didn't want to be her. That's all," she whispered, feeling better for admitting the truth, whatever the lion might say.
"You wished yourself away, and with it, much more. Your brothers and sister would not know Narnia without you Lucy. You were the one to discover it, remember?" The lion was silent for a moment, allowing Lucy to remember all those years ago her first adventure into Narnia. After several minutes, she could look at Aslan again.
"Do you think I care about outward beauty? Your sister is lovely in her own way, but it was your heart that led you into Narnia, she would not have had the courage to tell the others, nor the valiance to believe when they doubted. Your spirit is beautiful, that is why you found Narnia, why I was calling to you. Not Susan." Aslan's voice was warm and gentle as he spoke.
"I'm so sorry," Lucy murmured softly, trying to hold back tears, which she knew were unnecessary because Aslan knew true repentance, tears were not needed.
Aslan stared at her silently, before speaking words he knew applied to many on this vessel. "You doubt your value; don't run from who you are." He turned and left her looking into the mirror at her own reflection.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
Thunder growled, and lightning flashed, its cold blue light illuminating the cabin. Lucy jerked away with a start. "Aslan!" she cried, glancing about the cabin. Susan stirred beside her. "Is it Rilian?" she asked, beginning to sit up.
"No, nothing, I had a nightmare," Lucy whispered. Susan nodded tiredly, before closing her eyes and going back to sleep. Lucy watched her sister for a moment, making sure she really had gone back to sleep, before pulling the page from the Book into the light. The faint flame was flickering eerie shadows across it, causing her to shudder slightly, wondering how she had ever thought the parchment enticing. Glancing around the room, she wondered how to rid herself of the page as she crushed it into a ball.
The small flame in the fireplace crackled feebly. She slid out of bed and walked across the deep violet rugs toward it, remembering another similar flame from her first time in Narnia. Quickly, before she had second thoughts, or that little voice that she hated returned and told her otherwise, she threw the page into the fire. For less than a second, she thought the flames transformed into Aslan as they caught hungrily at the edges of the paper. A lion's roar seemed to echo through the room, before it was quiet.
Lucy exhaled. She was unaware of the green mist fading away slowly toward the door.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
The wind moaned eerily in the dark, pushing against the sides of the Treader, and the waves thrashed, battering the bow as she raked the top of a wave and slid down into a trough. Arran leaned against a rope near the figurehead that was holding the mast in place against the higher winds. He stared absently into the dark water, lightning crashing overhead illuminating the ocean now and again. The wind whispered by him with another moan as he hummed a familiar dirge that sailors sung when burying bunkmates at sea. Drinian came up behind him, concerned by Arran's expression; it was as if he was hypnotized by the waves.
"Are you all right?" he called. Arran startled slightly, but relaxed and resumed his humming.
"All die," he declared absently – his voice oddly light – pausing in his song.
"Arran, come off it," Drinian said, resisting the tremors that crawled coldly up his spine to shiver at the odd words.
"Down to the briny deep," the pirate muttered "and nevermore to see the sun." Arran swayed with the ship, a mirthless smile coming to his face.
"Aslan help us," Rynelf said quietly, coming up beside Drinian. "Thirteen days at sea in a storm, and now the Star's gone mad."
"No, not mad I think, just himself." Drinian disagreed, waving the other sailor's remark away as he watched the Star. "What are you thinking sailor?" Drinian called out to Arran again.
"Cursed waters, Dark magic. Watch for dragons in the storms," Arran answered, looking back at the captain briefly before returning his attentions to the water.
"What is he going on about?" Rynelf muttered in annoyance, shivering. Whether it was from the cold wind or Arran's cryptic sentences, Drinian couldn't tell.
"Something from his past, I shouldn't wonder. Stars are as old as – or older – than the ocean itself, and Arran's seen his share of nightmares come to life. Let him drown his sorrows for a time, he won't do anything foolish, he's no mortal." Drinian dismissed Arran's actions, returning to the helm, leaving the Narnian sailor staring at the pirate, and wondering if this was the queerest they would see that questioned sanity on this voyage.
~|:Xo0oX:|~
The ship swayed, and her timbers groaned belowdecks. Sailors shifted restlessly in their sleep. With a sigh and a moan, green mist tumbled down the stairs, its powers greater in darkness and the brooding tempest. Sometimes it paused in its spreading across the floors, to let faint green tendrils out to a sword, testing to see if they bore the magic it sought, its own magic, but not yet gone dark. With a shriek, like that of an owl or a mouse caught in a trap, it recoiled from the sword beside Edmund, hissing violently as the magic repelled its efforts to create a tempting dream for him.
"Go, dark ones," The calm as summer, resonating voice whispered. The magic in the sword caused the emeralds to flash a bright green when the voice spoke against the mist.
"Let us test him, only test him." the mist fought back, hissing violently when the lantern jerked on its chain and the light fell across it.
"Very well, but I will destroy you if you breach your request." The voice faded, and the gems returned to their former color. With low mutters, the mist spread across the floor into the darkness of the hull beyond it, moving on to the next sleeping figure. But a different magic emanated from her, and the mist retracted. Though slower, it knew with time, she would fall, and when she did, it would be waiting to take every bit of power she thought she possessed. The little boy it ignored. "Already broken, already broken," it hissed to itself, passing him by.
Coming to another man, they stopped; at first the darkmagic was unable to comprehend the lack of protection, or the lack of lightmagic here. Of course, there were the regular kinds, but nothing like Edmund's. With a creaking and hissing that made for a horrific sounding laugh, it fashioned a dream for him too.
~o0o~
The mist towered and billowed, using the young man's memories to perfect their image they were creating. Finally, they finished.
"Edmund," the voice called in her soft whisper, trying to make her as enticing as she had always been.
He and his siblings were in a hunting party, and then he realized it was the White Stag they were after. Then the animal jumped around a bend and was gone. But as they dismounted, seeing the animal in the thicket ahead of them, it turned into the Witch. "Edmund, Edmund," she whispered though the trees, making him shudder with remembrance. Edmund shook his head in his sleep.
He opened his eyes, and alertly looked around. He'd always trained himself to wake up instantly so that in the battlefield, there was less chance of his making a mistake. He peered into the darkness cautiously, remembering hearing someone call him.
"Edmund, come with me, join me." She rose out of the shadow, like the monsters of children's nightmares, as his fear gave her more power and vitality.
Not really even processing her words, he drew the sword from beside him, ready to do battle with her again, if he must.
~o0o~
"Edmund!"
With a low hiss of frustration, the mist faded, leaving them. This wasn't as tempting as some of the things that would befall them, it still had a chance.
Edmund turned to face the voice addressing him nervously, wondering what assailant it was this time. His sister walked down the stairs toward his hammock in the nightdress Susan had given her. He turned back to the corner, expecting the see her eyes still staring at him, hand beckoning. He sighed and lowered his blade when he saw she was gone. He swallowed, before acknowledging his sister. "Oh Lucy," he whispered, breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush.
The thunder and lightning sounded overhead, causing them to jump slightly. Caspian woke with a start, and was relieved to see that his own dream was not reality. He sighed in defeat, not wanting to try sleeping again for fear of facing another nightmare that was all too vividly real.
"I can't sleep," Lucy said, looking at her brother.
Edmund glanced around at them, the expressions across the board were all similar, and so he could imagine his own. "Let me guess," he looked up at his sister, "bad dreams." It was not a question, merely a fact. Lucy didn't meet his gaze; she was staring at the floor, an expression of painful remembrance on her face when she did look at them. Caspian nodded, admitting defeat instantly, which was not something he often did.
"So either we're all going mad," Edmund swallowed, lying back down uneasily "or something's just playing with our minds," he finished, his hold on his sword never loosening, staring off into the darkened corner.
"Just playing? Or trying to harm us," Caspian muttered, standing.
"Where are you going?" Lucy asked as he walked past.
"To help Drinian, and perhaps to think straight," he answered, walking out of sight.
Lucy looked back at Edmund, he tried to smile, but it was halfhearted. She too, felt that her dream was personal, and so they said nothing to the other, unwilling to trust in each another to confide their stories to.
A/N:
Well, tell me what ya'll think! I myself am rather pleased with the way this turned out. Sorry for the long delay on updating, however. So, yeah, *sigh* this was pretty much movie plot, interspersed with my own plot really. It didn't really move anything forward (this is looking to be my longest fanfic yet), although I was hoping it would.
I kind of gave more life to the mist, I hope ya'll don't mind that. I sort of made it this evil entity, unlike the (let me just say it this once) pathetic film. I know, I know, I know, I shouldn't be so cruel and harsh and all, but really, from a Narnia nut's perspective, it really was a shoddy job at trying to recreated Jack's adventure across the Eastern Ocean. I had a whole scene for Caspian, but then, reading it along with Edmund's nightmare, I decided it would probably be best in the future (aka: Do-Not-Know-If-It-Will-Happen-Though-It-Most-Likely-Will) story I'll do centered on Narnia from Caspian's POV. (Remember, if you still read this Bekah, I said that I'd be busy writing on here till about 2017?) Yes, 2017, I know.
Ok, moving on:
So yes, I cut that section, and thought it made this a lot more flowing. I realize that even if there's not much Caspian, Susan, or Caspian/Susan in this, I have the whole of Book Three to write about them, but this is the last time I'll ever get to centre my plot and other items of concern around (solely, I might add) the Pevensies. So, I'm working with them, all past complaints I had about this book wandering from its course, consider null and void please.
Ok, number one thing I want to clarify on: I bet a great bunch of you readers are wondering why I waited two chapters to explain Eustace's absence from the group and how he found his way back. My reasoning's; I did not want to spend time explaining everything around Eustace as I explained Eustace's, well, 'Eustacyness'. I wanted to get my descriptions and what-not out of the way so I could just write Eustace in all his annoying glory. Besides that, it just takes a lot of my writing power to come up with something that sounds like the guy (I mean book character and movie character both – together – as one person) without overdoing it. It turned out nicely. I'm pleased.
I was becoming tired of writing Arran so seriously; I enjoyed giving him a reprieve in that little flashback to Eustace. If I do say myself, he was quite hilarious. But that's merely my opinion, I might have laid it on too thick, however, you tell me.
I like writing these Caspian and Edmund scenes, I always thought they were rather hostile in Prince Caspian to one another, and then in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, they were a bit 'You're king, I'm king, where do we stand now?'. Like they were testing each other, yet at the same time they were friends, but, not really. I don't know, just another of my opinions. Well, I guess I'm done now.
ILoveFanfiction:
Sorry for the long wait, and many thanks for pointing out my errors! If I ever become a published author, you can be sure that all my appreciations and acknowledgements will say this among the other names; 'And for ILoveFanfiction, without this writer, I would not be the writer I am today!' because it's true, and I thank you heartily.
Again, if there is anything I missed, {explanations, punctuations, grammar, misspellings, plot-that-doesn't-make-sense, something that I failed to clarify on, etc...} Please tell me so I can fix/tell you about it in a PM/Author's Note.
Happy reading,
W.H. 1492