Aewryn
We awoke the next morning to a storm. Drinian said we'd entered it some time in the very early morning and there was currently no end in sight. I believe we spent nearly three days being pummeled by rain and waves. It was dreadful for all aboard.
Drinian was the voice of reason most times. Caspian wished to press forward as expected, but the captain was concerned for our now dwindling rations and worn out crew. He suggested we turn back while we still had the chance. Caspian looked to Edmund then to me. I kept my expression placid, but I was certain he knew what my advice would be. In the nine years we have known each other, I have always favored one course of action.
"These are strange seas we're sailing. The likes of which I have never seen before," Drinian said shaking his head.
I looked to Caspian waiting for his response. He stood calmly and crossed the room.
"Then perhaps Captain, you're the one who would like to explain to Mr. Rhince and Gael that we are abandoning the search for their family," he offered.
Drinian paled a bit. It was no secret the man had developed a soft spot for the little girl who was now always about the ship on Percy's heels. Most of the crew had. Her bright laughter brought smiles to everyone's faces and her games kept Percy preoccupied so he didn't pester the crew with questions.
The man nodded slowly, "I'll get back to it."
He started to leave. He paused though after grabbing his jacket.
"Just a word of warning," he said turning back to us, "The sea can play nasty tricks on a crew's mind."
And with that chilling remark, he headed back above deck. I shook with head clicking my tongue lightly.
"Such a downer," I hummed.
Edmund chuckled, but Caspian made no acknowledgement of my comment. My frown deepened as I saw the concerned look on the man's face. I walked over and placed a hand on his arm. He looked down at me silently.
"You made the right decision. It is through trials that we grow stronger and through facing our fears that we grow bolder. Do not let one of weaker faith cloud your mind with doubt," I told him gently, "Aslan sees all. Aslan knows all. He is watching over us, even from the midst of a storm."
He nodded slowly. I looked to Edmund who now had a thoughtful expression on his face as if contemplating my words. Offering them both a small comforting smile, I left the chart room to return to my own quarters. It was late after all judging by my own biological clock. I don't know how, but I fell asleep with ease.
It felt like moments later that my eyes opened. But instead of the dark belly of a ship, I was greeted with the sight of sunshine and a slight breeze.
I frowned in confusion looking around. I was back in England. I began to walk down the street. My confusion grew as I realized this wasn't England. It was... I passed by a newsstand and looked down at the paper. The New York Times. This was America.
No...no it couldn't be. How? I turned in a slow circle. The scent of food suddenly wafted my way and I felt my stomach rumble. Without thinking, I followed the delicious smell down the street to a diner. I had just entered when a certain laugh caught my attention. I turned and my jaw dropped.
"Peter..." I breathed.
He sat just across the diner, dressed in a collared shirt and dark gray slacks. His blond hair was slicked back and a sport coat hung from the chair behind him. My lips immediately curled up into a smile and I took a step toward him.
But then a second laugh met my ears, this one was unfamiliar to me. My smile slipped as I realized he was sitting across from someone. She was taller than me, but not by much, with beautiful black hair and dazzling brown eyes.
Confusion filled me as the two laughed once more then he stood and offered her his hand. She took it with a bright smile then looped her arm around his. My confusion changed to horror as he gazed down at her with the same look he always gave me. He grabbed his coat and the two left the diner together.
I found myself following them out of the door. They paused on the street and he kissed her lightly. She blushed the prettiest shade of pink I'd ever seen looking up at him with a timid smile. It was at that point I felt a hand in mine. I looked down to see Percy, but he was only about five.
"Momma?" he called looking up at me with those eyes...Peter's eyes, "Is that Daddy?"
My eyes flew open and a choked gasped left my lips. I sat up quickly as hot tears ran down my face. It took my mind a moment to catch up, and it was then that I realized I was still on the Dawn Treader. An overwhelming pain swallowed my heart making my chest hurt with each labored breath. I buried my head in my knees crying. Something warm and soft brushed my shoulder. I jolted then looked over.
"Aslan," I gasped out sliding from my bed quickly to hug the great lion.
I felt his massive paw moved around me as I buried my face in his thick mane. For a long moment, he said nothing and merely held me as I cried. Only once my sobs began to weaken did he pull away.
"My child, why do you doubt?" he asked gently, his eyes soft.
"I- I don't have any doubt," I stammered wiping my eyes with my sleeve, "I trust you Aslan."
"Yes, you have faith in me. You have a great, undying faith. But that is not what I am talking about. You doubt Peter's love for you, his loyalty to you," he responded.
My stomach turned at the gentle rebuke. Letting out a small breath, I nodded slowly.
"It has been so long," I murmured, my fingers fiddling with the ring on my finger, "I'm afraid."
"I know. But you must have faith."
I nodded once again. He nuzzled my cheek lightly and I felt a sense of peace wash over me. I smiled a little as the fear and the pain faded away.
"You are not alone in this," Aslan continued, "The evil that haunts the ship has tried to mess with each and every one of you. Guard your heart, my child, and look after those in your care. You will see your love again soon."
I blinked and he was gone. I let out a breath turning back to my bed. Something in me made me stop. His words repeated in my mind, "Look after those in your care." I left my room quickly and made my way to Lucy and Gael's room. I knocked lightly.
"Lucy?" I called in a whisper, poking my head into the room.
She stood facing the fireplace in the room. She turned at the sound of my voice.
"Are you alright?" I asked her.
"Y-yes," she nodded, fiddling with her hands, "I am now."
My brow furrowed at that. So I entered the room fully and walked over to stand beside her. Gael was still fast asleep.
"What happened?"
She nearly collapsed into my arms telling me about the spell she'd taken from the book of enchantments and what it had done. I sat with her holding her tightly as she cried softly. We stayed together for some time before she had recollected herself. She decided to try and go back to sleep.
I left her room and made my way to Percy, Edmund, and Caspian's room. When I entered, Edmund and Caspian were not there. Only Percy was in the room. He sat in his hammock gazing into the shadows.
"Percy?" I called softly.
He turned toward me with a strange look in his eyes. I walked over and stood beside him running a hand through his hair.
"Where are Edmund and Caspian?" I asked.
"They decided to take a walk around the ship," he answered, "Bad dreams."
I nodded in understanding.
"I had a dream...about Father," he said slowly, watching for my reaction.
I simply raised an eyebrow.
"You did?"
He nodded. "He was with you and Uncle Edmund. You were all sitting in the throne room of a castle. Then there was this woman in all white. She said she had magic and made the dream and that if I did as she asked, I could stay there with you and Father."
At that, worry began to creep up. His gaze had turned to his hands as he spoke, recounting the dream. I had no doubt who this woman in white was. He continued though.
"I told her to get away from me. That her magic was not stronger than Aslan's word like you always say. She got really angry and she said that I'd never see Father or you ever again. But then Aslan appeared and he ate her. He told me that when the time was right I would meet Father, just like you and Uncle Caspian always say."
My worry faded as I nodded with a smile.
"He's never wrong," I agreed, "And the time is much closer than you think."
He smiled. I kissed his head running my fingers through his blond hair once again. He leaned into me, relaxing.
"Would you like to sleep with me?" I asked softly.
"Yes please," he nodded.
I smiled and we went back to my room. The two of us slipped into the bed. And though sleep did not come as quickly as it did the first time, this time, neither of us had a bad dream.
Percy
When the storm finally broke, Uncle Edmund spotted an island. We decided to check it out seeing as we really needed more supplies and it was possible the lords had stopped there. Unfortunately as soon as we got close, it became obvious that this island had little living on it. To make things worse, when we landed on the beach, I was put on Eustace Watch. How fun.
He wandered off almost immediately which meant I had to follow him. I think we walked for near half an hour before he saw something that caught his eye. He ran forward abruptly. Rolling my eyes, I followed only to freeze immediately.
Below us was a valley. The thing about this valley was that it was overflowing with gold and precious gems. There were expensive vases and decorative beaded necklaces and scarves everywhere. Eustace immediately began scooping heaps of the treasure together.
"You shouldn't just pick random things up," I told him with a frown.
"And who are you to tell me what to do?" Eustace huffed, "You're a child!"
"I'm ten. You're not much older than me," I argued glaring at him.
Why'd he always have to be so stubborn? He doesn't know anything about Narnia. I do. Why can't he just listen for once?!
He walked around a corner still grabbing things and muttering to myself. I rolled my eyes crossing my arms over my chest. After five minutes though, the clangs of him moving about and his muttering stopped. It was silent. I frowned in confusion.
"Eustace?"
A strange sound emanated from around the corner. I walked closer, my brow furrowing.
"Eustace?" I called, a bit less surely.
As I got closer, I could make out a grating sort of growl sound. It almost sounded like- A dragon?! I gasped seeing that where Eustace had once been, a massive golden dragon now stood. It stood wobbling a bit and turned.
"Eustace?" I breathed as its eyes met mine.
It looked around a bit then down at itself. It then jumped in alarm roaring and breathing fire. I gasped scrambling back. My foot caught on something and I fell back. Fire leapt toward me, but I couldn't get up in time. I screamed in pain ducking down.
Aewryn
Percy and Eustace had wandered off almost as soon as we landed on the barren shores of the island. We let them though trusting that Percy would watch out for his cousin who was far less familiar with Narnia. The rest of us split up in two groups: one to seek out supplies and one to search for clues.
"Do you think they'll be alright on their own?" Lucy asked.
"Probably," I nodded.
"Unless Eustace becomes too irritating and Percy decides to push him off a small cliff," Edmund snickered.
We all shared knowing smiles. We only hiked for about five minutes before Caspian spotted a rope dangling between a large fissure in the rocks. We climbed down it and found a pool of water within a large cavern.
"What's that?" Caspian asked drawing my attention to where Edmund was standing over the pool.
Lucy and I joined the boys, looking into the pool.
"It appears to be some sort of golden statue," I answered with a puzzled frown.
Edmund walked over to the wall and pulled down a root. We watched as he then walked back to the pool and tried to use to root to reach the statue. But the moment the root touched the water, it began to change. He gasped dropping it by mistake.
"What just happened?" I gasped.
"It was turning to gold," Lucy breathed in awe, "Was it real gold?"
"It sure felt heavy enough to be," Edmund nodded.
Caspian moved closer, looking down at the statue. It occurred to seemingly all of ius at the same time that it looked a bit too realistic.
"He must have fallen in," Caspian remarked, voicing all of our assumptions.
"The poor man," I murmured shaking my head.
"No wait, look!" Edmund exclaimed pointing just beside the statue, "You mean, poor lord."
The man's shield bore the insignia of a lord of Telmar.
"There's his sword," Lucy pointed out.
"We need it," Caspian nodded as Edmund drew his own sword.
He carefully dipped the tip into the water. He then used the tip of the sword to hook onto the lord's sword and draw it out of the water. He passed the second sword to Caspian.
"The swords didn't turn to gold," Lucy remarked with a look of awe.
"They are enchanted," I pointed out with a nod.
She nodded then looked back down at the lord.
"He mustn't have known what hit him," she somberly said.
"Or maybe he did..."
We all looked to Edmund, confusion clear on our faces. He walked over and grabbed a shell from the ground. He carefully dipped one edge of the shell into the water. Once it began to turn gold, he lifted it out allowing the she to complete its transformation to gold without getting his hand wet. A chill ran down my spine. I frowned looking around; darkness was near.
"Ed, what are you talking about?" Lucy questioned.
"Whoever has access to this pool, could be the most powerful person in the world," he breathed gazing at the golden shell with a look that made my stomach churn.
I glanced to Caspian with a worried frown. He also looked concerned with Edmund's sudden fascination with the pool. Edmund looked up to his sister with wide eyes.
"Lucy, we would be so rich...no one could tell us what to do or who to live with," he continued.
"You can't take anything from Narnia," Caspian pointed out though it seemed rather obvious.
"Says who?" Edmund snapped, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Edmund," I chided, frowning at him.
"I do," Caspian responded.
I looked back to him astonished. His eyes were dark as he stared at the younger boy. What is happening? Why are they acting like this?
Edmund stood, taking his sword in one hand and the shell in the other.
"I'm not your subject," he said coldly.
To my shock, Caspian responded with the same cold tone.
"You've been waiting for this haven't you? You doubt my judgement, my leadership," he responded drawing his own sword.
The two began circling each other.
"You doubt yourself," Edmund hissed.
Lucy's jaw dropped. My hand flew to the hilt of my sword as the tension grew.
"Boys," I called.
But it was like I said nothing.
"You are a child," Caspian growled.
"And you're a spineless sap," Edmund shot back.
"Edmund-" Lucy frowned trying to intervene.
He pushed her away though. I caught her to keep her from falling into the pool, my own scowl forming. They were being ridiculous. They were going to hurt someone or themselves. And over what a stupid pool of- oh...
"I'm sick of playing second fiddle! First to Peter; not to you," Edmund huffed, "You know I'm braver than both of you. Why do you get to decide everything? Peter's sword should be mine! And you gave it to a child. I deserve a kingdom of mine own. I deserve to rule!"
My eyes went wide with horror. This was their trial.
"If you're so brave," Caspian said lowly, "Prove it!"
The tension snapped as the two leapt into battle. I drew my sword quickly blocking both of their blades. I knocked Edmund's from his hand and caught it before knocking Caspian's to the ground. They both backed away, stunned expressions on their faces as I leveled a sword at each of them.
"Enough!" I snapped.
"Can't you two see what's going on here?" Lucy frowned moving forward, "This is one of those trials. You've both being tempted. This place is bewitching you. It's just as Coriakin said."
They seemed to make them both think.
"Let's just get out of here," I breathed lowering the swords.
"Agreed," Lucy nodded turning to head back to the rope.
I handed Edmund his sword then followed her. The boys soon followed. As we walked back, an awkward silence filled the air. Both boys knew the things they'd said hadn't come from nowhere. They had each harbored these feelings for some time now and the pool merely brought them to light. Lucy and I said nothing, letting them process what had just happened.
The group looking for supplies had not had much luck as it would turn out. After all, this place was volcanic meaning not much could grow.
"Where's Eustace and Percy?" Lucy asked looking around.
I frowned looking around as well. Sure enough, the two blond boys were nowhere to be found.
"Perhaps Percival got Eustace out of his shell and they are out still exploring?" Reepicheep suggested.
A scream suddenly rang out. Everyone froze and I felt ice flood my veins. I knew that scream...My eyes met Caspian's.
"Percy," I breathed in horror.