This was her fault, was all Lilith could think. Somehow, in some way, the Pevensies and Sanya dying and being thrown into the 21st century was her fault.
And she had to rectify that. She had to keep them safe. Keep them- okay after being ripped from where they belonged.
It was her turn now. Her turn to protect them.
She should probably explain what the hell was going on first, she decided as she allowed herself to look to them, hauling out her fear of meeting their eyes.
She swallowed.
"This is my room. Yorkshire, England. 2019... Sorry for the mess?" She added, her confidence dwindling.
This wasn't how they were supposed to see her- stood in an old hoodie and jeans, amidst the mess that was her roo-
Her eyes flew to the desk as she dived to it, narrowly avoiding the glass of water as she scooped the papers up in her arms and throwing them into the corner. Perhaps piles of research on their FIRST death wouldn't be the best thing to see after just waking from their SECOND.
Well, that's how it seemed for her, anyway.
The Unwavering finally turned back to them, with a slightly lost, helpless smile, realising none of them had yet to say a word.
"Please don't hate me?"
"My family-" Sanya spoke hoarsely, almost ignoring Lilith. "I- I have to see if they're alive, any of them- I-"
"Shush." Susan spoke comfortingly, clad in a baby blue skirt and a canary yellow crop top, laying a calm hand on her shoulder and despite the shaking in her heart, she asked Lilith, "2019, you said?"
She nodded.
"That's- that's how many years in the future-" Peter, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, tried to do the math in his head but his ears were ringing.
"74." Edmund, in a dark shirt rolled to his elbows and jeans, and Sanya whispered at the same time- the former looking at the latter, who ignored him.
"So technically... I'm 89 now?" Lucy tried for a smile, surveying her knee length shorts and off shoulder pink shirt.
"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Lilith said again, dropping to sit on her bed.
"You can't have known." Sanya said automatically, though her mind spoke 'if I'd just gone on the date with Peter- oh, PETER!' "We thought we had about 2 to 3 years till that train accident."
"I should never have taken you all." Lilith felt the world collapse around her once more. "It's my fault, my fault-"
"Sure you got us on the train, but you didn't make it crash." Edmund said logically, meaning to be comforting.
Peter gave him a filthy look and went over to Lilith, both trembling badly, and put his arm around her.
"Fuck Aslan." Sanya said, getting to her feet, just a little dizzy.
"Sanya, don't." Lucy said reproachfully.
"No, I will." She pushed her hair back from her face. "He's been playing us like a ping pong ball! Telling Peter and Susan that they would never come back to Narnia, only for them to come back. Separating Su and Cas again. Telling Lilith she'd be in Aslan's country only to send her, alone and cold and hungry, to the 1940s. Him telling Coriakin that our baby was the future of Narnia and then taking it away. And now this?" She seethed, she hadn't ever felt so capable of hate and utter revulsion.
The others shared a glance- Sanya never made speeches but when she did, she sure made them count.
Lilith only half watched Sanya's outburst from the comfort of Peter's arms as she let her mind wander.
"We'll- we'll make it work. For now. Until we find a way to-" what? What would they do?
They couldn't stay here, not all in one room and there was no way her parents would-
Oh shit.
As much as she hated to, she shushed Sanya as she finished her speech, pulling away from Peter's arms before she yanked her door open and flew to the hallway.
Please don't have heard them, please don't have heard them-
After a moment of listening from the top of the landing, she decided it was safe. No one seemed to be in except-
"Goose!"
Her beloved small Terrier immediately came bounding up the stairs, as happy to see her as she was him as he calmed his barking and allowed her to pull him to her chest.
Oh, how she'd missed him.
Yet then, her mind fell back to Ev, to Gryff, to-
Now was not the time to be crying over her cat, nor the rest of her pets, she decided after a moment.
There was a million other things to be done.
"Where did she disappear off to?" Peter asked, looking perturbed.
"You'd think she wouldn't even leave us for a second." Edmund snorted. "But that's clearly not the case."
"Maybe she went to check on her parents." Susan said fairly.
Lucy nodded, "She hasn't seen them in a while, for her."
Sanya walked over to the window- taking in the smell of the air, the smoke, the difference in the atmosphere and- were those cars?
"Look at the cars." She muttered mostly to herself- they were sleek, shiny and so smooth!
She and her dad had had a mutual love for automobiles- she pushed that thought away.
Suddenly a loud ringing cut through all of their muddled thoughts.
"What the-" Lucy started but Edmund lunged forward and clamped a hand on her mouth.
"What the fuck?" Sanya said as she crossed the room- Edmund dropped his hand from Lucy's mouth as she'd licked him.
The Indian girl picked up a - what WAS it? A rectangular slab about the size of her palm, with a name written on it and a little circle which kept bouncing.
The phone suddenly vibrated loudly in her hand and she dropped it on the bed.
"The fuck." She said again, bending and peering down at it.
Lilith heard the ringing and groaned internally. NOW what?
She couldn't help a small, amused shake of her head at the sight of such confusion over a phone as she crossed the room, Goose firmly under one arm.
She reached through the small crowd and grabbed her phone, answering it.
"Yes?"
Oh. She'd forgotten her conversation that she'd been in the middle of when she'd left... well, a LONG time for her- but not even ten minutes to her 'friend'.
"5 times!" She repeated to her friend, giving a glance to the Pevensies and Sanya before turning to stand outside her bedroom door and bring her conversation to a speedy ending. "He slept with your sister 5 times! Literally, just tell him to fuck off, Abi... yes, but that's no excuse! That's what he told Camilla!... I- Look, I don't have time, right now. I'm sorry, Abs." She spoke quickly, hanging up the phone.
She indeed did NOT have time for frivolities such as boy troubles right now.
She had two boys- and three girls in her room that needed a place to sleep.
The redhead re-entered her room, grabbing her backpack, and purse.
She still had a thousand of her Grandma's will in her savings. And... £15.62 in her purse.
Hm.
"D'you guys fancy an outing?" She asked, rather sheepishly.
"I don't suppose it's one back to the 40s?" Edmund asked waspishly.
Lilith glowered at him before a soft murmur reached her ears.
"I'm not good with change." Sanya was telling herself and then louder. "Maybe I should stay back?"
She didn't know this room, but it was much more familiar than the outside world.
Also, she was a homebody.
Everyone looked at Lilith to see what she'd say.
"I-" Lilith hesitated. She wanted nothing more than to allow her friend to stay in a place she felt at least vaguely comfortable in. But, in the end, she'd be best having a more permanent place of sanctuary.
"I'm sorry, Sanya. Really. But I can't leave people here." She spoke turning her back and pulling an old gym bag down from the top of her wardrobe before continuing to cram as many clothes in- she could help the girls in that respect, but she'd have to sort Peter and Edmund out later- and other bits she might need.
Near the end of her packing, her eyes fell of the bookcase. She walked over, sliding a boxset off and handing it to Sanya, who looked incredibly put out by her previous answer, yet the presence of Goose seemed to distract her (ever so slightly).
"I- I can't change any of this right now." She told her steadily, "And I'm sorry. But I'll try make this work. But until then- here. It's nothing- no compensation at all but- now you can see I wasn't making the house stuff up. You're a Gryff. And no matter how intimidating the next few hours- days- hell, weeks are- Gryffs can take it."
Sanya squared her shoulders, allowing herself to try to delude herself into again being brave.
She took the box from her, seeing the first book have a boy on the cover with green eyes, black hair and a lightning scar in front a scarlet train.
"Thank you." Sanya said, pressing the box set into her chest. "And it's not your fault, Lilith."
She gave her a clumsy pat on her back with her free hand but it warmed Lilith's heart.
Then the True turned to the others and smiled her wide, reckless smile. "Come on, let's go."
Lilith smiled slightly before turning and grabbing her bags, leading them down the stairs.
Oh, how weird it felt to have them in her house.
She'd built such a disassociation between her other worldly friends and- well, here. She felt rather exposed, if anything. They'd seen her as she'd wanted them to. In what still felt like a fantasy world, or some kind of 1940s drama, but here- things felt a lot more real. And it made her uncomfortable.
The Unwavering reached the front door, turning to Sanya, noticing the books in her arms and so to Lucy, tossing her Goose's leash.
"You want the honours?" She asked with a small smile as Goose barrelled down the stairs after them.
"Where are we even going?" Lucy asked, as she gratefully accepted the leash and tugged it onto Goose.
Lilith pretended not to hear her.
"Are there flying cars? Robots?" Edmund, who'd read many books set in the future, asked, his natural curiosity overpowering his apprehension of the outside world.
"No." The ginger girl answered shortly. "There are robots, but none in common use."
Susan laughed a brittle laugh at the dismayed look on Edmund's face.
"Is Cambridge still there?" Peter wanted to know.
"Yep, that and Oxford-" She gave Sanya a worried look but the girl didn't react outwardly. "are immortal."
They turned around a street corner and continued walking, no one knowing that most of them were from 74 years ago, and thus not giving them a passing glance.
"Did India get independence?" Sanya suddenly asked. "We used to get news about the rebellion."
Lilith wracked her head and then remembered Google. Quickly flipping out her phone and a search later, she said, "Yes. 15th August, 1947."
Sanya said nothing more, preferring to instead look around her. Edmund tried to extend his hand to hold her free one but she simply moved away.
Perhaps that kiss had meant something akin to a new beginning to him. But for her, it was the end.