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🔱Buried Treasure🔱
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The storms were soon replaced by bright blue skies and clouds when land was, once again, spotted from a distance. The crew of the Dawn Treader were finally at ease, eager to explore the island for possible rations and supplies. At the first sight of land, they immediately loaded themselves onto boats.
"I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege," Reepicheep suggested sceptically from a separate boat, "there's no sign of anything living."
"Right— Well, once we get ashore, take your men and search for food and water," Caspian ordered, "The four of us will search for clues."
"Hang on, you mean the five of us?" An offended voice sounded from behind him.
Everyone turned their bodies, silently staring at Eustace in perplexity. Charlotte was pleasantly amused and nudged his cousin with a triumphant smirk. After all, she somehow had faith in Eustace. Edmund briefly glanced her way, before turning his attention to the young boy.
"Who're you and what've you done with Eustace Scrubb?"
"Oh come on, don't send me back to the rat," he begged while shaking his head. "We clearly don't work well together."
"I heard that." Reepicheep warned him with a side-eye glance.
A sheepish silence surfaced among the group on the two boats, replaced by splashes of the sea waves. Eustace peered away from the rat, mumbling mellowly to himself.
"Big ears."
"I heard that too."
Eustace briefly met eyes with him, strangely horrified by his hearing range, as everyone chuckled at their exchange.
"I was in the room with you guys, I heard what the old man said," Eustace complained, "come on, the story around Charlotte and her ancestry is a tad worrying — real or not."
"Oh, so you've come to care about this quest only because of Charlotte's life at imminent risk." Edmund scoffed.
"Well, yeah, she's nice, unlike you."
Charlotte and Edmund both communicated with their eyes, with their eyebrows stringing silent sentences together. Edmund softly shook his head, and Charlotte pleaded with a pout. Eustace shifted his gaze warily between them, anticipating their verdict. Charlotte then turned to him with a disappointed expression.
"It could be dangerous, you'd best help the others out on shore where it's safe."
Eustace scrunched his nose, but he trusted Charlotte's judgment begrudgingly over anyone else's. After all, she was the one who involved him when he was needed.
"Fine."
Once they had landed on shore, the Kings and Queens navigated past the sandy rocks, leaving Eustace behind with the crew.
"You know I just didn't want him to come with, didn't you?" Edmund chuckled to himself. "But your words were nicely put, as usual."
"Edmund, that's mean," Charlotte lightly smacked his shoulder, only causing him to laugh with his eyes shut, "he's warming up, can't you see? He wanted—"
"Look—" Caspian abruptly cut off their conversation, pointing out some cracks and a hole in the grounds, "— We're not the first ones on this island."
"The Lords?" Edmund presumed, aiding Charlotte on the steep, coarse terrain.
"Could be," Caspian suggested as he experimented tossing a pebble through the cracks. "What d'you think could be down there?"
They peered their heads into the hole, only to be greeted by darkness.
"Let's find out," Edmund suggested, handing a rope over to him.
Once they had tied the rope to a large boulder, Charlotte, Lucy, and Caspian held on tightly while Edmund lowered himself. Once he arrived at the ground, he signalled the rest to come down. Caspian allowed the ladies to go down first, before taking his turn.
Edmund anticipated their arrival at the bottom. He aided Charlotte on her feet, followed by Lucy.
They continued treading on a path inside a dark cave, until they came across a pool. In the pool, sat two golden figures sitting at its bottom.
"What's that?"
"Dunno," Edmund glanced back at them, "looks like some sort of statue."
He went ahead and broke a piece of wood from a corner, and dipped it into the pool in an attempt to reach the golden figure. Then, a tint of gold coated the end of the stick, reflecting into his eye.
Edmund removed it from the pool, bringing the stick closer to him for an inspection. The gold began to spread like wildfire, inching closer and closer to its other end in his grasp.
"Edmund, let go!" Charlotte reached out to him, her voice trembling with trepidation.
"Ah!" He yelled, releasing it from his grip.
The golden wood splashed into the pool, sinking with the rest of the treasure beneath its surface. Caspian analysed the statue, his eyes widening in horror at the epiphany of its state.
"He must've fallen in," he deduced, shaking his head.
"Poor man," Lucy commented with sympathy.
"You mean poor lord," Edmund gestured towards a shiny shield.
"The crest of Lord Restimar." Caspian confirmed his identity.
"And his sword!" Edmund pointed out.
"We need it, but how are we going to—" Caspian pondered aloud, but Edmund was already a step ahead of him.
The Just King pulled out the sword of Lord Bern, and cautiously hooked it under the handle of the sword of Lord Restimar, leveraging on its intricate design.
"Be careful." Lucy warned.
Edmund lifted it out of the water cautiously.
"Your sword hasn't turned to gold," Lucy commented, "I wonder why..."
"This sword hasn't either," Charlotte added on.
"Both swords are magical," Caspian theorised as he grabbed the new sword, "here."
"He mustn't have known what hit him," Lucy suggested.
"Maybe, or maybe he was onto something," Edmund pondered.
"What are you talking about?" Caspian frowned at him.
Edmund grabbed a shell, and dipped it into the pool. He let it rest on the ground, enabling the gold to spread all over. Once all the gold had set, he examined it closely. A second soon turned into a minute, and the rest were increasingly unsettled with his silent obsession with their newfound discovery of gold.
"What are you staring at?" Lucy prompted, perplexed by his odd silence.
"Whoever has access to this pool could be the most powerful person in the world." He hypothesised, his gaze toggling between the pool and the golden seashell, then at Lucy, "Lucy, we'd be so rich, no one could tell us what to do— or who to live with."
"Edmund," Charlotte began, "I know you despise li—"
"You can't take anything out of Narnia." Caspian swiftly shut him down. "It's forbidden."
"Says who?"
"I do."
Edmund glanced at Caspian, his eyes darkened with rage.
"If you say so, then why can Charlotte own a bracelet made of Narnian gold?" He challenged, gesturing his blade rudely towards Charlotte, who raised her arms in response.
"Edmund!" Lucy was taken aback by his challenge.
"This is a precious heirloom created as a symbol of love," Charlotte tapped on the flat tip of his blade, forcing it downwards, "let's not challenge Aslan's judgment."
"Exactly," Edmund dismissed her, staring daggers at Caspian, "Aslan decides, doesn't he? Not you. Just who do you think you are?"
"I think I'm King of Narnia," Caspian reminded him sharply, "and what I say goes. Remember Edmund, the chain of command starts with me."
"Caspian!" Charlotte glared at him, repulsed by his pride.
"I'm not your subject," Edmund reminded Caspian, standing up to him, "I'm a King, just as you are. Aslan crowned me, just as he crowned you."
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Caspian accused him, "to challenge me, you doubt my leadership."
"You doubt yourself," Edmund corrected him.
"You're a child," Caspian stared him down.
"And you're a spineless sap," Edmund retaliated, "I may be a child but your uncle didn't even consider you a threat to his throne. To him, you were nothing but a speck of dust."
Lucy stepped forward to restrain her brother, but he simply shoved her aside. Charlotte rushed forward and caught Lucy, preventing her fall.
"Boys, this is gettin' a bit out of hand," Charlotte nervously spoke.
"I'm tired of playing second fiddle— first, it was Peter, and now, it's you," Edmund hissed, "You know I'm braver than both of you— why do you get Peter's sword?"
"Careful, Edmund," Caspian hissed back, "you're beginning to sound like that arrogant, rotten, piece of—"
"Caspian!" Lucy gasped. "How dare you!"
"Oh, no, it's okay, Lucy," Edmund feigned a chuckle through his rage, "all the more Caspian proves that he's not worthy of Peter's sword— Peter made a mistake entrusting it to you, you ungrateful—"
"Edmund, listen to yourself, this isn't you!" Charlotte pleaded, but he flinched from her touch.
"Stay out of this, Charlotte!" He barked, turning to Caspian. "I worked hard to get to where I am, yet Narnians label me a traitor to this day, and you just had everything handed to you, including their trust — That's not fair, is it? I deserve a kingdom of my own, I deserve to rule!"
"If you think you're so brave, prove it!" Caspian shoved him backwards.
They began to land strikes on each other, horrifying the girls. Lucy immediately cut in, glaring between them.
"Stop it!" She bellowed. "Both of you!"
The boys paused immediately, stunned by Lucy's outburst. Charlotte was shaken up, hiding in the shadows as Lucy fumed between them.
"Look at yourselves, can't you see what's happening?" Lucy reminded them. "This place has tempted you, it's bewitching you— this is exactly what Coriakin was talking about."
Silence seeped in, as everyone pondered over the hurtful exchanges and rage within.
"Let's just get out of here," she huffed a frustrated sigh, marching on without them.
Caspian's gaze lingered on Edmund, right as he trailed behind Lucy.
Edmund met Charlotte's gaze, instantly recognising her eyes swimming in despondency. She shook her head disapprovingly, and he sighed, glancing at the seashell. He tossed it back into the pool.
"I'm sorry Char."
"Edmund," she reached out to him, "I'm not the only one who needs to hear that, you and Caspian owe each other an apology."
"I know..."
He trudged away in shame, keeping his head down.
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When they returned to shore, the crew observed their unusual distance from each other.
Caspian led them, ambling at a quicker pace. Lucy travelled along his side, shielding her eyes from the sun yet her gaze was lifted towards its direction. Edmund trailed a distance behind them, and kept his gaze glued to the coarse grounds. Finally, a crestfallen Charlotte trailed behind, her fingers playing around with her bracelet while she gazed at her friends.
Caspian jogged over to the crew, eager to examine the supplies that they had compiled in crates.
"What food did you find?" He peered in, awaiting some justification for the underwhelming quantity.
"It's volcanic, Your Majesty," Rhince sighed, "not much grows."
Lucy searched the crew, spotting a missing face in the crowd. With a frown forming on her features, she extended her search towards the island, exploring its vacancy.
"Where's Eustace?"
"I believe he's out not helping us load the boats," Reepicheep complained, "snuck off somewhere, probably."
"Eustace?" Lucy called out. "Eustace!"
Unfortunately, the only response that returned was the hissing sounds of steam emitting off the volcanic grounds. Lucy turned to her brother with pleading eyes.
"Edmund, I've got a bad feeling."
Edmund hesitated for a brief moment and shrugged. "I'll go find him."
"I'll come with you."
Edmund was perplexed by Caspian's offer. Caspian handed the ancient relic to Lucy and jogged towards Edmund. Together, the two Kings called out for Eustace.
The crew looked to the two Queens, lost and uncertain without their King's presence. They shared looks, wondering what their next course of action might be.
"Your Majesty, should we head back to the ship?" Rhince suggested, gesturing to the crates. "It could quicken the pace."
"Someone has to stay on shore in case Eustace comes back on his own," Lucy instructed, looking to the crew for volunteers.
Charlotte observed Lucy's trembling hands. Deep down, she understood Lucy's worry for her cousin's safety. After all, Eustace was not exactly well-received by others on the ship. Yet, it amazed her how professional and sophisticated Lucy remained towards the situation.
"I'll wait for him," Charlotte offered, seeing that no one volunteered.
Lucy's features were still coated in uncertainty and distress. She begrudgingly nodded and turned to the rest of the crew.
"Alright, let's load the ship," she ordered, cuing Drinian to guide the crew. "We'll leave a boat behind for Charlotte and our Kings."
Charlotte watched them load the boats and sail towards the Dawn Treader anchored a far distance at sea. When they left the shore, she overlapped her arms across her chest with a sigh and turned her back to the sea. She scanned the island, hoping that the boys would somehow fix their sticky situation together.
*****
A/N: Wow Final Year ain't playing, y'all. It's a long race against time until I graduate but we'll finish this adventure, I promise. I'll never abandon this project, or my upcoming wizarding world projects! Like I didn't waste all that time brainstorming plots for nothing, right? 💀