Hi all!
So, I guess I was telling the truth when I said that updating was not my strong suite. I'm super sorry about the long time between updates but to be completely honest, that is probably going to be the usual when it comes to me and updating.
I don't plan to write every scene from the movie and I am going to screw with the plot line a little, so don't be surprised if something is different from the movie. I enjoy the film but this is my story so I'm going to write what I think works best. Also, I find that it's super boring reading the same six scenes with the occasional new piece of dialogue in these OC stories. Feel free to comment on if it works for you or not. Constructive criticism is the best.
I'm sorry if there are any grammar mistakes. Feel free to point them out nicely, I always appreciate constructive criticism. I've gone over some of this but it isn't completely edited because...well, I get lazy sometimes. Sorry again, all mistakes are mine.
Please do review, they always make me smile. Every review just gets me more motivated and makes me want to sit down and write. So really, the more reviews I get, the faster the updates. Not that I'm going to withhold updates for reviews because that's cruel but they do genuinely help me get excited about a story.
On a similar note, thank you to everyone that reviewed last chapter. You are all far more brave then me if you're willing to read a story with only one chapter. Thank you all, you are beautiful people.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mary and I'm not even sure about her.
The sun had long since set and there was a slight chill in the air. The moon hugh high in the night sky and it's reflection shimmered on the water.
Edmund yawned. It had been an eventful day.
He was happy to be back in Narnia but nothing was as he had expected it.
Firstly, Narnia itself was all wrong. The trees were just as beautiful and the water just as clear but nothing was the same, not really. Cair Paravel was gone and so were all of their friends, their family.
In some ways, everything felt hollow. Without the waving of the trees and the chatter of the animals, it was silent. Edmund could practically hear the whispers of ghosts that had once inhabited Narnia. It was eerie and a stark contrast to what had once been there.
Mary Daniels had also come as a shock. Despite only ever coming to Narnia twice before, Edmund had never really considered the idea of anybody other than his siblings coming with him. Nevertheless, Mary seemed nice enough but it was still hard to tell. She had barely spoken three words to any of them after Peter and Lucy had calmed her down.
Not that Edmund blamed the girl for her muteness. He could only guess how strange this entire things was for her. It was strange for him to be back after a four years away, it must be absolutely insane to random come here. When he had first wandered into Narnia, it had been exactly that. It had helped that it had been his feet that had brought him into Narnia and he had been able to see how the fur coats had transformed into branched and pine nettles.
So far, Edmund had been slightly impressed with her ability to cope. Despite her being a bit hysterical in the beginning, Mary had taken everything in stride. Well, maybe not in stride but she had been quick to calm down and had made an effort to be logically.
Coping probably wasn't the right word. She was most likely stuck in a state of shock. Nevertheless, after having lived with two sisters for all of his life, the lack of shrieking and willingness to go along with what she had been told seemed like a small miracle.
While Mary's appearance had been strange, it was hardly the strangest part of today. That title belonged to Narnia itself.
Perhaps strange wasn't the right word. Edmund, even when he was young and bitter, had thought that Narnia was something good. Fierce and unforgiving but always something to be admired. Strange didn't carry quite the right connotation. Startling or unexpected were better words to describe this journey to Narnia.
But there he was, thinking like a king again. It was mighty confusing sometimes, being a grown adult with years of experience in governing and at the same time, a teenager that knew nothing of the world and it's horrors.
The first days back in London had been hell, truly. He had opened his mouth to give an order, something simple and everyday, only to shut it in realisation that no one cared to follow his orders anymore.
The war had been the twist of the knife, the salt in the wound. There he was, a seasoned soldier, someone who had successfully commanded armies, being denied the simple right to even fight. He could handle not being the one to give the orders but to stand idle will men died on mass was something else.
This was one of the immense pluses of Narnia. Here, he was in charge. He gave the orders. No one could tell him what he could or couldn't do. Well, his siblings had considerable sway over his decisions but in the end, it was rare that they ever truly forced him to do anything.
It would be awhile before there would be anyone who cared to listen to his orders though, if their current predicament was anything to go by. Edmund, his siblings and Mary were camped at the moment in the ruins of Cair Paravel. Early in the day, they had climbed up the cliff from the beach and up to the old palace and what had awaited them was astonishing. There was nothing left of their once beautiful home. All that remained were crumbling pillars and half-broken walls. What had once been their safe haven now looked like a tomb.
They had found their old treasure room easily enough and the sight of the familiar items put them all at ease. Peter's sword and his chess set may be relicts of a time long ago but they are also relicts of his time, of their golden age. They confirmed that this was indeed Narnia and more specifically Cair Paravel.
That however brought about a whole new round of questions. Lucy had pointed out easily enough that the palace had probably been destroyed by catapults if the holes in the remaining walls were anything to go by. What was harder to answer was who had been the one to wage war on Cair Paravel and likely Narnia as a whole. To top it off, Cair Paravel wasn't only in ruins, it was ruins. It looked like nobody had been there for years and it was obvious that no one had bothered to fix the once beautiful castle. For all the siblings and their reluctant companion knew, it could have been abandoned some decades ago or perhaps even centuries. This was good because it meant that it was unlikely anyone would bother them here, giving them a bit of safety but the sheer fact that it had been destroyed in such a violent manner put them all ill at ease.
When they had finally had enough of rummaging through their treasure, the group of youths had explored the ruins, hoping for some sign of recent use by some kind of intelligent being. After finding nothing and seeing how the sun had sunk low on the horizon, they had decided to return to the cave that they had originally shown up in and call it a night.
Edmund had opted to take the first watch of the night and from his spot by the entrance of the cave, he could observe the whole beach. For several hours now he had been watching the ocean, trying to call his thoughts. It was a soothing sight, the way the waves swept up and down the sand, never relenting or slowing.
He glanced up at the sky again and noted how late it was. He yawned before standing and waking up Peter for his turn. Pete was unhappy for the disruption but soon his eyes were open and he was taking Ed's place by the door.
Edmund himself settled down near his sisters, further inside of their temporary refuge. Tomorrow they would find their answers. After all, everything was better tomorrow.
Everything was most definitely not better the next day.
It had started when Edmund was awoken by Lucy's complaining. His sister's voice was high and shrill to his still not quite awake brain and all he wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, Lucy had a rather valid reason to be complaining this particular morning and so Ed had no option but to open his eyes and abandon sleep's sweet embrace.
Lucy, it turned out, was complaining about the lack of food, something that everyone agree was an issue. Hell, even quite, subdued Mary had jumped up when Peter had suggested to go looking for some wild fruit. Susan remembered the location of the orchard that had once supplied the palace's kitchen with apples, peaches and cherries. After a bit of bickering, getting lost and remembering the exact path to the aforementioned orchard, the group were happily munching on a much needed, if not particularly well balanced, breakfast of shiny red apples.
Peter had just finished recalling one of the siblings' adventures involving an apple tree while at the Professor's when Mary chimed in on the conversation, "My neighbours, the Browns, have this apple tree that always gives off the biggest, juiciest apples and they would invite all of the block to come and pick the apples and one year, Albert Abbott," Mary's face scrunched up and she giggled, though she looked a bit ashamed, "who had the most unfortunate name, decided to play a joke on Lizzie Preston who always horrid to everyone because she went to a posh school and had these fancy shoes that were always shiny. And, well, he asked her if she wanted to be the 'Queen of Apples' and Lizzie would have said yes to being the queen of anything. So Alby took her to the Browns' Apple tree and told her that if she ate every single apple that had fallen from the tree that she would be queen and that she could tell everyone what to do. So Lizzie ate every single apple on the ground, well, she tried to... but she ended up getting sick halfway through and throw up all over her beautiful, beautiful shoes. And, and the best part was the look on her face when Alby told her there was no such thing as the 'Queen of Apples' and that he had made the whole thing up. She was so angry! Her whole face was as red as the apples!"
Edmund could hardly hold in his laughter. The story itself was hardly deserving of such a reacting but Mary's facial expresses were worth it. She had been her usual reserved self at the beginning but after uttering Albert Abbott she had started to smile and it had only widened from there. By the end of her tale, she was beaming and struggling to hold back her laughter. The result was that she was a strange combination of animated and composed, both sides fighting for control if her smile, partially hidden by her hand, was anything to go by.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess that wasn't really that funny. Well, it was a bit mean but Lizzie is truly a ghastly person and it was so funny when it happened. I'm pure rubbish at telling stories," Mary babbled after seeing Susan's less the approving face and the overall lack of laughter.
It seemed that Mary wasn't entirely sincere when apologizing because a second later her smile had won and she dissolved in a fit of giggles. The was the straw that broke the camel's back and soon Edmund was laughing with her, egged on by the occasional snort that came from the quiet girl.
Peter was soon doubled over himself and Lucy was quick to follow. Even Susan began to chuckle softly, though that was probably directed more at her companions. The entire group lay in the pretty orchard, laughing about nothing exempt themselves.
After a particularly loud snort, Mary called out breathless, "Her face was priceless, absolutely priceless…", before falling into breathless laughter again.
Edmund couldn't help himself this time. "Your face has her beat", he replied mostly because it was true. Mary had turned bright red and her smile contorted her face into something else, more light and less perfect.
Susan, always the polite one, was quick to admonish him, "Ed, be nice!".
In the end, it didn't matter that Mary's story wasn't funny or that Edmund was rude or that their laughter made no sense. This was the moment that Edmund would look back on and see the first signs of friendship and comradery between this unexpected girl and the siblings. Mary had unknowingly made herself a really person to Edmund, a human with experiences and hopes and strengths and faults and weaknesses, something more than a unwanted and unexpected intruder into their world. This was their beginning.
Thank you and don't forget to review!