The smell of salt hit them first, before they had a moment to even work out what had happened. It was fresh, and cold, but oh so very welcome. Although, it wasn't what they were expecting to see upon their great return.
They were situated within a cave, dark and dingy, with a large opening directly in front of them. Both the sea and the sky were blue, and the clouds looked like candy floss. It was all so pure, and so different to London. Thank God, it was different to London.
All they had seen for years was billowing smoke, and the sound of airplane, men running off to war, and running back with tails between their legs. This was a place of the exact opposite. There was no fighting, nor any pain, in fact, there was no other living thing in sight. Only the Pevensie's.
Slowly, and with much caution, they stepped onto the beach, wanting to admire what surrounded them. They were convinced that there was nothing more serene or beautiful in either of their worlds. This... was a treat in all senses.
Despite having walked some way, the siblings were still all in the line they had been at the train station, moments before. Lucy soon broke that, and turned to Susan. At first, there was no change to her behaviour. Soon, she was grinning from ear to ear, mischievously. Her older sister mirrored it, and within seconds, they laughed, running to the water. Their brothers wasted no time in following, neither wanting to be left out.
They rushed to remove their overclothes (things such as hats, bags jumpers, cardigans and blazers). Wet clothes were uncomfortable enough without them being piled on.
"Shame you're not as quick as me, Ed!" Peter called, tauntingly, as he raced across the sand. Whether or not his brother was faster or not was irrelevant when his ego was involved.
"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Lucy teased them, knowing they all had a competitive spirit.
"Watch out!" The eldest Pevensie grinned widely. "Here it comes!"
There had never been so much laughter between the three of them in quite so long. It made Edmund smile. He was exhilarated. Everything inside of him had been ignited like a fire, and he felt free. They pushed the waves onto one another, like a game of sorts. It was just delight.
"Wait a minute!"
"Come on, Susan. Hurry up!"
"Come on, it's lovely!"
"Edmund!"
Susan called out for her younger brother, inviting him to join in their fun more than before. He had started to look a little bit out of it, a little distracted from everything else. Something had caught his attention.
"Ed?"
His mind still did not deter from what he had seen, though his head did turn slightly. His attention had to be partially shared. The cliff top had peaked his interest, though, it looked perfectly natural in almost every way.
"Ed!"
When Susan didn't manage to capture his attention fully, Peter noticed that something was wrong. There was a look of discomfort covering his younger brothers face.
"What is it?" The blonde questioned, rather sternly. The quicker he found out, the better.
Slightly anxious, Edmund shook his head. "Where do you suppose we are?"
Peter just laughed. "Where do you think?"
"Well," He was a little embarrassed by his theory, although, something to him, wasn't right. "I don't remember any ruins in Narnia."
It was safe to say that Edmund had been the only one of them to take any more of the surroundings in than the seaside aspect to it. Across the hill face, and top of the cliff, were stones ruins scattered like litter. None of the remaining structure remained, except for perhaps a few sets of stairs, all of which were fanciful.
It wasn't natural. It didn't belong there. It was the exact reason they had to investigate.
The four siblings made their way to the top of the cliff, and viewed the scenery there instead. This was in hope that they would get more insight into what the building used to be.
Peter was first. He looked with wide eyes upon the untouched greenery, admiring the crowd of birds and buzzing of insects. The others followed suit in action, and found their own significant things to focus upon.
Edmund, not far behind the rest, looked starkly different after leaving the beach. He had decided that it would be best for his hat, jumper, tie and blazer to have all been left there. Truthfully, he had never been a fan of uniform, and the traditional Narnian garb was much more comfortable and suiting. However, he could not leave behind his satchel. There was something which he loved about it too much: it held everything he held dear. Photographs, practicalities... his copy of Romeo and Juliet.
Even he, who knew very little about architecture, could tell that it was a grand structure, even having lost everything that made it great.
Whilst split up, Lucy found herself drawn to the edge of the land so that she could look over the ocean. Something about it was familiar, though, she could not put her finger on it. Despondence filled her heart; how could she have forgotten something that was so close to her.
Lucy signed, unknowingly. "Wonder who lived here."
Susan, who had made her way over, paused as she kicked something. Then, when she picked it up, it surprised her. A chess piece; a golden knight in the form of a centaur. "I think we did."
Curiously, the younger sister took the game piece, and let her eyes wash over it. Another familiar thing she couldn't place. This was the trigger for their brothers to join them, and of course, a reaction.
"Hey, that's mine!" Edmund sounded genuinely surprised at the sight of it. For him, it had been a few years. "From my chess set."
"Which chess set?" Asked Peter.
"I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley, did I?" The younger replied, sarcastically. He snatched the item from his sister, and took it with him as he walked.
Lucy looked around once again, and that was when it clicked inside of her mind. Suddenly, each broken down wall and column made sense. "Can't be." She whispered, barely loud enough for anyone else to hear.
The young girl ran as fast as she could, weighed down by her eldest brother as they held hands. She dragged him to a platform-like space, overlooking the rest of the greenery.
"Don't you see?" Her voice was filled with excitement, and joy. She just couldn't understand why they didn't see it the same way she did.
Peter chuckled. "What?"
"Imagine walls." She put him into place, to the left of Edmund, and to the right of Susan. "And columns there." It was coming back to them all, more than they might have suspected. "And a glass roof."
For a moment, Edmund looked to the rest of his siblings as Peter muttered, a sweet sorrow in his words. "Cair Paravel."
It was the palace of Kings and Queens of a time long passed. It had been their home during their reign, and the home they shared with Aramis. The spirit, lively and elegant in every sense of the words. This felt like their first arrival all over again; spending it completely without Aramis. It had been too long since they had seen him. Edmund thought it might have been like an alcoholic going through withdrawal stages.
He was so heavily relied upon, and now, without him, everything would feel wrong entirely.
Now, they explored together, with more of an idea where things were placed. They remembered a few things, and whilst on their way to finding the treasure room, which had been kept secure all of their time in Narnia, Edmund became further distracted. He didn't actively try to be, but there were so many thoughts swimming around his mind. He couldn't afford to let them disappear.
On the grass, was a boulder-like rock, with jagged edges. He had seen a few of them laying around, and at first, thought nothing of it. Now, he understood, though investigated a little further.
Crouching down beside the rock, Edmund spoke up. "Catapults."
"What?" It took Peter by surprise.
"This didn't just happen." Said the younger king, sombrely. "Cair Paravel was attacked."
Susan and Lucy looked to one another, and sighed, as the two boys pulled open a wall to reveal the door to their treasury. It was wooden, and somehow, wasn't moth-ridden or infested by wormwood. It had been preserved almost perfectly, and it came as quite a surprise.
Unfortunately, they did have to break through it to access the staircase. It was sad, really. It was the last fully intact thing of surface-level Cair Paravel. Edmund was truly sad to see it go.
Peter pushed it open, with much ease, and then came to the issues. It was far too dark down there, and Edmund knew that it was dangerous. Although, he was more interested in what his brother was attempting to do.
Using a penknife, Peter had cut a strip from the bottom of his shirt. He wrapped him around a branch he had ripped from the wall. He was obviously aiming to make a torch, though, it wasn't going very well at all.
"Don't suppose you have any matches, do you?"
Edmund rummaged through his bag, and searched for what might help. When he realised he didn't have any matches, he shook his head. "No, but..." He revealed a silver torch from the leather satchel. "Would this help?"
Peter just smiled, and chuckled a little at his tendency not to mention anything that might have helped. "You might have mentioned that a bit sooner!"
After sharing a few grins, sporting his flashy new torch, Edmund braved the staircase first. His sisters followed, and Peter carried up the rear. It was daunting, for a moment or two. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to see. Perhaps they had been ransacked years ago, and he never would have known. All of this things, they might have been taken, and he would have nothing left of Narnia, physically.
What they saw was essentially a tomb. A large, stone and gold tomb, filled with treasure. Before they could even reach it, there was a gate that Peter pushed upon, strongly.
"I can't believe it." He scoffed. "It's all still here."
The room had been created long before they had ever become royalty. However, it had been utilised to hold their things. And as far as they could tell, it was all still there.
In a cavern created for each King and Queen was a chest, holding everything which might have ever belonged to them. Clothes were folded neatly, leaving straight creases that would fall out in quick time. Their most trusted items, their gifts from Father Christmas, and their loving memories held together by the last spirit were kept inside of there.
Behind each chest was a statue, of who they were at their finest. Edmund was older then. His hair was longer, almost shoulder length, and his features sharper. He was a different man. He ached to be that person again. The one who was taller, and more confident, and handsome. One who could square up to Aramis and not feel like he was being belittled; not that he would ever deliberately make anyone feel anything but warmth.
They all looked different then, and they all longed to be older once more. It was hard not to, especially after all of those wonderful years having passed.
Upon the stone floor, Peter found his shield, surrounded by treasure he couldn't remember acquiring. It was covered in a thick layer of dust.
"I was so tall." Lucy sighed as she held up one of her dresses against her, hoping to find something that might fit.
Susan laughed lightly. "Well, you were older then."
"As opposed to hundreds of years later." Edmund teased, knowingly, letting the others laugh at his misfortune. He looked hilarious wearing a helmet three sizes bigger than would ever fit him. "When you're younger."
Peter looked upon the shied, and blew away the dust, revealing a clearer picture of Aslan. They hadn't seen him for so long. Sometimes, he wondered if Aslan would ever return to them, even in their golden years, and he never came back for them. As of yet, he hasn't opened his chest, for fear of looking upon his own face.
"What is it?" Lucy questioned, softly, looking to Susan who was rather upset.
"My horn." She held onto her archery gear. "I must've left it on my saddle the day we went back."
The remembrance of the horn made Peter think, and it made him think about his sword. He wanted to see it, even if it meant looking upon a man he no longer recognised in himself.
Each of his siblings, quiet and content, watched as Peter approached his chest. Then, he opened it, and sighed greatly. He took the sword, and released it from its sheath. The familiar sound of metal on metal was music to his ears. He was home again, he knew it.
He read, upon the blade, the wise words offered to him a long time ago. "When Aslan bears his teeth, winter meets its death."
They were words that they all needed to hear, however somber. Although, the partner words were much the same in character, only offering some sentiment of joy.
"When he shakes his mane..." Lucy's voice broke under the weight of the silence. "We shall have spring again." She was timid in voice, which was unusual for her. "Everyone we knew... Mr Tumnus, and the Beavers... they're all gone."
Edmund couldn't pretend that he didn't feel guilty. He had forgotten all about everyone else. There had only been one person on his mind the entire time he had been there. "What about Aramis?"
No one had any answers, and that was the issue. Not Peter, nor Susan, nor anyone could answer their younger siblings. "I think it's time we found out what's going on." Peter said, and there was no way that they would disagree with him.
They took the opportunity to change into more comfortable clothes, more appropriate for their status in Narnia, and then, they took to walking. There was no point in standing around and waiting for someone or something to come to them. They would have to seek the answers out themselves.
Walking along the beach, it didn't take long to meet the river. There, they saw a rowing boat. At first, they thought nothing of it, however, upon closed inspection, they couldn't let it stay the way it was. Two soldiers, dressed in metal, holding a dwarf who had been kidnapped. Swiftly, Susan sent a warning shot into the side of their boat. They had to be given a chance.
"Crows and crockery." The dwarf mumbled, muffled by the gag he wore.
When she had their attention, she called out. "Drop him!" Which resulted in many more shots behind fired as the dwarf was dropped into the river.
Susan shot one of the soldiers, the other diving into the water in hope of getting away. He might have drowned under the weight of his armour, but they never would have known, because he was not their concern.
Where Peter dove into the water to save the dwarf they had never met before, Edmund dragged the boat in by himself. The girls stayed on shore by request of their brothers, to ward off any other attackers that may arrive. They were strong enough to hold their own.
All in all, the entire thing was very heroic.
The dwarf was then lain on the sands of the beach, gagged and bound by his wrists and ankles with rope. Lucy cut the bindings around his wrists, allowing him freedom of movement for the first time in a long time. He rolled over, and began to cough up the water he had swallowed when dunked.
With angry eyes, he looked up to Susan. "Drop him! That's the best you could come up with?"
Taken aback, she scoffed. "A simple 'thank you' would suffice."
"They were doing fine drowning me without your help!"
"Maybe we should have let them." Peter hissed, disapprovingly. Anyone who talked ill of his family didn't deserve his time.
"Why were they trying to kill you, anyway?" Lucy wondered. Although, with such a disagreeable person, it wasn't hard to understand.
"They're Telmarines." Said the dwarf, dully. "That's what they do."
"Telmarines?" Edmund must have heard him wrongly. "In Narnia?"
"Where have you been for the last few hundred years?"
Whilst they had been able to estimate how long they had been away, having some sort of confirmation was heartbreaking. Hundreds of years away... it was just too long.
Lucy bit her lip. "It's a bit of a long story."
Susan passed Peter his sword back, bored of holding it for him. That was when the dwarf seemed to make the connections in his mind. Things began to make sense, and he hated it.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." He groaned, unimpressed. "You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of old?"
"High King Peter, the Magnificent." He held his hand out to shake, stepping forwards. It was supposed to be courteous.
Susan shook her head. "You probably could have left off the last bit."
Turning his head to hide the sniggering, Edmund and the dwarf seemed to find the situation hilarious. "Probably." The latter snorted.
"You might be surprised." Peter raised his brows, drawing the very sword he had just received.
The dwarf warned, lowly. "Oh, you don't want to do that, boy."
"Not me." Replied the blonde King, before smirking towards his younger brother. "Him."
His sword was offered to the dwarf, as an act of peace. Although, he knew he had to look after his siblings, and their pride as Narnian royalty. This was his way of doing that. It allowed Edmund the opportunity to draw his own blade, and take stance.
It had been many years since he had fought in this way, even if it wasn't for blood. However, Edmund did have many fond memories of Aramis staying whilst he was training. The spirit never fought, that was known, but he did stick around and use his immense knowledge to aid Edmund in his strategy. Even when it didn't look like he was paying attention, Aramis always knew what to say. He could do a with a moment like that right now.
When the dwarf clasped the sword, it hit the sand instantly. He was weighed down, and it gave Edmund the easy assumption that he couldn't fight. Before he could do anything, the dwarf, who still hadn't shared his name, offered a few violent swings, almost catching his face as he was taken by surprise. He also received an elbow to the cheek, but he would prefer not to talk about that.
Out of shock and fright, Lucy fretted. "Edmund!"
"Oh, you alright?" Said the dwarf, condescendingly. "Oh."
It was a bad mistake to taunt Edmund. The Pevensie boy was rather strong when coming from the other foot. Each and every movement of his blade was calculated just enough to throw him off a little more each time. It was the comeback of the century, to say the least, and his swordsmanship was something to be admired by everyone.
Then, with one swift jab, he knocked the dwarf onto his back. He looked up with wonderment. It made Edmund rather smug to know that he still had what it was which made him great and just.
"Beards and bedsteads!" Said the dwarf. "Maybe that horn worked after all."
Then it all felt silent again.
Susan looked to him, confusion in her eyes. "What horn?"
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Disclaimer!!!!
I do not own these characters. I do not own the Narnia series. I do not own the actors, or the characters. The only thing I own is my adaptation of the story, and my original character.