The Call To The Old - An Edmund Pevensie fanfiction

Chapter twenty-seven

The two boys helped to bring Talia back inside the tomb. The once sleeping Narnians were now almost all awake because of the storm that Talia had created. Edmund had his arm wrapped around the girl, supporting her while she walked; while Peter informed Trumpkin and Trufflehunter to calm the rest of the Narnians down, and send them back to sleep.

Eventually, the three rejoined within the main room of the tomb, where the ruins of Aslan's How sat.

Peter turned towards Talia, "Would you care to explain what in Aslan's name was happening out there?" he ordered.

"Pete!" Edmund snapped back, with a strong distaste for his brother's tone.

Talia rested herself against the broken stone pieces, "Ed, it's okay." she softly spoke, "I should have told you all sooner, but in fairness I didn't find out too long ago."

"Tell us what Talia?" Edmund asked, dropping down to sit beside her, while the elder boy stood listening.

Talia sighed, and let out a laugh, "Surprise. I'm magic." she faked excitement, raising sarcastic jazz hands.

"Since when?" he inquired.

"It's called ancestral magic, I think; when my mother died, well, a bit after she died, she passed on her magic to me- it was a little bit before I was kidnapped." she smiled weakly.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Edmund asked, staring at the girl.

Before she had a chance to reply Peter interjected, "Talia you could have killed everyone! What we saw out there was not just magic- we've all seen magic before, that was something much more!"

"Peter please." Edmund begged his brother, head in his hands.

"I'm just telling you what I know Peter, and quite frankly, it's not that much! I don't know if you've noticed?!" Talia snapped back.

"Ok, yes I'm sorry." he admitted, and too sat down with the others, "So, what are we going to do?"

Talia took a deep breath, "well, evidently I need to get a hold of these powers."

"Yeah, we didn't notice." Edmund spoke sarcastically, with a laugh, causing the others to laugh also.

"I don't even know what happened, one minute I made a leaf fly, the next all the evils break loose!" she exclaimed, still smiling.

"God, I was so worried." Edmund muttered, pulling Talia into his side, wrapping a warm arm around her.

"God?" Talia questioned, "You making up words now?" she chuckled.

~~~

After some light conversation, the three, tired teenagers fell asleep on the floor, next to each other. Talia still lay within Edmund's arms, and she had never felt quite so peaceful.

When they awoke, they found that Peter had already left them; most likely to prepare for the day ahead. Talia turned her head to look up at Edmund, who still had his arms wrapped around her, and smiled when she saw that he was already staring down at her, wide awake.

"Morning." she mumbled, quietly.

"Morning." he returned, "Some night that was."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." she spoke, sincerely.

"I understand- you had a lot going on." the boy replied, his fingers moving in spirals along her arms.

"They said with my magic I would 'save Narnia.'" Talia mentioned, breaking the comfortable silence that they had created.

"They?" he questioned.

"My ancestors, and they won't shut up about it." she spoke, harshly.

"Your ancestors?" they boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"When my mother bestowed her magic onto me, generations of power flowed into me as well- I can hear them sometimes, and that's their main message."

"That sounds awfully familiar..." Edmund spoke, drifting off in thought, "Be right back." he declared abruptly, before sliding away and running off.

"Edmund!" Talia called, before sighing and getting up to chase after the boy.

~~~

Edmund crashed into the meeting room- where his brother was situated. The elder boy snapped his head towards the younger's informality.

"Pete! Do you remember Emeline?" he asked his brother, in between breaths.

"Emeline Baynton?" Peter responded, confused- a pained face began to cover his face at the memory of the name.

Talia rushed in behind Edmund, joining the other boys in the smaller room, "What is going on?"

Edmund quickly turned to face the girl, "When we came here the first time, in Cair Paravel, there was this elder girl, Peter's age- actually, a little bit older, her name was Emeline-"

"What's your point Edmund?" Peter cut off his younger brother, this girl was obviously a sore spot for him.

Edmund turned back round to look at his brother, "My point Pete, is that she spoke of the same 'generational magic,' as Talia does."

"Yes, and it killed her!" he spoke back sharply.

Edmund stepped closer to Peter, so that only his brother could hear his next words, "Let me finish. Do you or do you not remember the prophecy?"

"I do." he replied in a hushed tone.

Talia watched on as the brothers conversed, growing angry at all of the secrets, "I'd quite like to know what you boys are on about." she demanded.

Peter cleared his throat and sent warning looks his brother's way.

"Emeline told us of a prophecy," Edmund spoke, "that a girl with a magic, so strong, it changed the usual properties of Narnian nature, would be the one to eventually save us all-"

"If she didn't destroy us all first." Peter interjected.

Edmund sent his brother a harsh look, "Well, we all believed it would be Emeline, and in our fifteen-year reign we grew close to her," he looked to Peter, "some closer than others... but she died, before her time."

A shocked expression grew over Talia's face, "But how did she die?"

"It was unusual, she grew ill shortly after giving birth." Edmund replied, looking over at his brother.

"Wait! Peter was the father?" she exclaimed after noticing the siblings look between each other.

"No, I wasn't the father." Peter huffed back.

"She married into royalty, far away- we never saw or heard from her again. The only thing we heard was that she had died." Edmund informed Talia, he paused, "therefore, the prophecy still stands, as it clearly wasn't related to her."

Talia heard the rise of her ancestor's voices begin to chorus within her, "So I really do have to save Narnia." she murmured. The voices got louder, but not nearly as loud as the night before, the girl groaned, eventually accepting their words; they only solidified what she already knew- she was destined to be something greater than she had ever imagined, or ever wanted to be.

Edmund rushed over to the girl, who was beginning to look slightly faint, "Look Peter knows quite a bit of magic from her, I'm sure he can help you practice-"

"Yeah, after I also have to defeat a King double my age, and then potentially lead my army into battle... or die! After that, I'll teach you about some spells I barely remember."

Talia froze, "I'll teach myself then, and hopefully I don't kill us all in the process." she sent a sarcastic smile Peter's way.

Reepicheep entered the room where the three now sat in silence, after Talia's last comment, "I hate to interrupt, but they are waiting for you Peter, your highness." he sent a bow in the direction of the three teenagers, and then left the room.

"It's time." Peter spoke.