𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ━ edmund pevensie¹

Twelve

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𝕬𝖑𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖗𝖊
𝖎𝖘 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝕴'𝖑𝖑 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖉.

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━━━━━━━Ｅｄｍｕｎｄ

UNFORTUNATELY, THE boys were having no easier a night than the girls. The green mist had entered the men's sleeping quarters and wreaked havoc, sliding into minds as easily as a knife through butter.

"Father— father!"

"Edmund!"

He froze.

That voice. Edmund knew that voice— it haunted him everywhere, even when he was unwilling to admit it. Sometimes it was a quiet echo, sometimes it was a shout in his ear but it was always there. His blood turned icy as he lay in his hammock, both from the fear of her and the paralysis he always felt that made him easy bait. 

She wasn't supposed to be here. Not now and preferably not ever. She wasn't allowed to come back and plague his mind, not when he'd tried so hard to free himself of her shadow. She wasn't allowed to take away this adventure in Narnia like she had the other ones. She wasn't allowed to poison his time with his soulmate— he wouldn't let her.

But the road to hell is always paved with good intentions. 

Slowly, he turned to face the Witch, though she was more green than he remembered. Her face was the same and that was the only thing that mattered. A part of him still wondered what she wanted.

"Edmund—"

Even the vile sweetness of her voice had remained the same despite all the years that had passed. His resolve faltered, the soothing quality of her tone eased into his mind and pushed away the more jarring sound of Nelly's voice telling him not to be stupid.

"Listen to me. Nothing will harm you. It's alright."

It hardly seemed like the sort of thing that she would say but evil was funny like that— it only told you what you wanted to hear.

It was alright, Edmund repeated in his mind. He felt his stomach turn at the remembrance of the long, cold Winter days he'd spent in her castle with the only source of hope being his soulmate. Her voice echoed in his head, driving out the unpleasant memories and covering them up with nice ones: a sparkling blue castle, snowflakes falling on ash-blonde hair, the warmth of a hand in his.

"Come with me. I want to give you something."

She wanted to give him something— that was good, right? It was usually the kingdom or an award or something similar so there was truly no harm in it. His curiosity overshadowed any lingering doubt, allowing him to sit up curiously as his grip on his sword loosened. The Witch's face floated in the darkness, almost like a guiding light, leading him down, down, down, down, down—

"Edmund!"

Lucy's voice made him turn, jerking him away from the promises the mist offered. The relieved look on his face at the sight of his sister quickly disappeared and was replaced by an alarmed one at the sight of his visibly distraught soulmate— why hadn't he felt that?

As he took in the fact that she was being supported by the younger girl, Edmund hastily extricated himself from his covers, all but tumbling down to the floor as his sword landed loudly on the floor. Edmund felt it her emotions now of course and a part of him wished that he her still lying down; he'd sensed her grief often enough to recognize it but instead of the usual prick that followed certain phrases, this was almost a tidal wave. It was nearly strong enough to make his own eyes sting with tears and he wasn't even remotely sad.