1.30am - the offices of Professor Chicken-Licken, Professor of Humanology at the University of Domain City.
Chicken sat on his desk top, dipping his beak into the cup of steaming hot coffee that his graduate research assistant had just fetched him - said trusted assistant was now napping in a comfy chair a few feet away, his long yellow checkered trouser legs crossed, white gloved hands folded in his lap and eyes closed.
Moments later Rupert Bear came awake with a start as he heard the Professor cry out. 'Great Scott!!'
'Sir?'
Chicken turned excitedly. 'Quickly my boy, come here. I have succeeded in decrypting the file and ... why its beyond belief! The Hare and Jessica must be informed ...' he glanced down at the gold pocket watch protruding from his tweed waistcoat pocket, which Rupert knew was an affectation, as he could just have easily gleaned the time from either a wall clock, the grandfather clock that stood next to his bookcase or indeed from the computer screen in front of him, that was now displaying the greatest secret in the universe!
'It's even later in Narnia. We shall study this most closely indeed young Rupert and send an informed communique on the morrow.'
Rupert nodded and with growing excitement leaned into the screen to read for himself, barely noticing a hint of a gust of wind that briefly indicated movement beside him. Doctor Hawley Griffin was also interested to read the secrets that had led him to invisibly spy on the Professor for weeks now.
The Wood Between the Worlds.
In the late Victorian era Professor Andrew Ketterley had discovered a way to travel between worlds. His discovery and lifelong ambitions towards a mix of magical science had stemmed from the influence of his Godmother Mrs Lefay. Mrs Lefay was said to have been of fairy origin - a claim that led to her ridicule and shunning by certain elements of London society, all the way through to her death in 1850.
Of course, her time spent in prison might also have been a factor. This may or may not have related to her magical activities, but in any case she was released shortly before her death and summoned young Andrew to inform him of a small box containing mystical elements. She instructed him to retrieve and destroy it, perhaps regretting her lifestyle and wishing to spare Andrew from its consequences.
Naturally the future Professor disregarded her final wish and kept the box. He found it contained powders rumoured to have originated in the mythical Realm of Atlantis and further inquiry in all of the nebulous corners of the unseen world led him to the conclusion that he possessed the power to travel between realms ... if only he could figure out how.
A lifetime of study culminated in much knowledge of the 'beyond,' and finally Ketterley was able to construct two sets of magical rings from the powder. In theory the yellow rings would bring the wearer to the fabled Wood between the worlds. Once in the wood, the traveler would discover an infinite number of small pools - these were gateways to other realms. They could be accessed by placing the green ring upon one's finger and jumping into a specific pool. The traveler would then be transported to that world.
In the year 1900 the cowardly Professor Ketterley tricked his 12 year old nephew Digory Kirke, along with the boy's friend Polly Plummer, into being guinea pigs - his theories proved sound and the events leading up to the creation of Narnia are well documented, both on Earth and in The Mythlands.
However what is most significant is not Earth or Narnia but the very first world discovered by the children - the world of Charn. A dead world that contained only one living inhabitant - Jadis the White Witch, who having initiated the destruction of her realm and placed herself into a form of suspended animation, was awoken by the arrival of the children and transported to Earth and then Narnia.
It was reported that Charn ceased to exist from the moment of Jadis' departure, it's pool in the wood between worlds drying up completely. This was not in fact the case and when The Tortoise, accompanied by Odin, Zeus, Osiris and Poseidon visited the wood some seven decades ago, the latter was able to fan the last droplet of the pool portal to Charn back to its former size and when the deities and Tortoise stepped through, they found a dead but not destroyed world, beyond ... a world that was perfect for their purposes!
Chicken stopped reading and gasped. 'The Vault of Myth is in Charn! Perhaps it IS Charn! It's almost the perfect hiding place.'
'Almost?' asked Rupert, taking in the fearful implications.
'Yes, nobody looking for this place of legend would even conceive it was outside our reality in a place lost to space and time, but for his own reasons, The Tortoise kept a record and we have one copy, while some of the most scurrilous fiends in all existence have the other! Now all they need is Ketterley and his magic rings!'
That was the moment that The Invisible Man chose to quietly slip out. Within moments he was walking rapidly down the hallway, removing his mobile phone from his pocket and calling his employee. 'SC? It's Hawley Griffin. I can verify the contents of Professor Licken's copy of the file. You were right down to every detail.'
Far away on a train to Narnia's capital in Cair Paravel, the black cat with the white markings spoke into his headset. 'I always am,' he replied in tones of the deepest sadness.