Edmund's POV
The next morning, the castle was extremely quiet. As I walked through the corridors I noticed that literally, everyone was still asleep even though it was almost past breakfast time. I made my way down to the dining room. As I was finishing up my meal the rest of my siblings walked in. Caspian and Susan looked like a typical college couple after a night of partying, Eustace and Peter looked like the walking dead. Lucy on the other hand looks completely fine and well-rested. How on earth does she drink that much and look like a gem in the morning? I thought to myself as Lucy cheerfully greeted me, "Good morning Ed! You certainly look way better than these guys,"
"Oh shut up Lu. Not all of us are as young as you. Some of us know how to have a good time," groaned Peter as he took a sip of coffee
"I partied harder than all of you all and I feel just dandy," Lucy retorted back at Peter
"Shhhhh. Can we take the volume down a couple of notches?" complained Eustace as he put some sunglasses back on
I laughed loudly on purpose. "You all look hilariously terrible. Though it is our first time getting to actually party that hard since we died. So I guess we all should get a pass,"
Susan put her head on Caspian's shoulder. "I think Aslan wanted to see us but he can wait until after I've eaten and had some coffee,"
"We can talk in here. None of the new kings and queens are awake yet,"
We all jumped at the sound of Aslan's voice. He walked around the table and sat down at the head. He shook his head, "You all really do look terrible,"
"I blame alcohol. Yes, I one hundred per cent blame it on the amount of alcohol that was consumed last night," Caspian said
Aslan laughed, "Well that would make sense. Now, I want to talk to you all about today,"
The room got very quiet and everyone stopped eating. It was Lucy who broke the silence, "We're leaving today, aren't we?"
Aslan nodded. "That is correct. You see, they no longer need your help or guidance. We're leaving Narnia in another golden age and in the best hands. So it is time for you to head back to my kingdom,"
"It's funny. When we're at Aslan's Kingdom, we forget that technically it is almost the same as Narnia until we get back here. Then it feels as if we're moving again but we really aren't. I don't know, it's hard to explain," said Peter
We all nodded in agreement. But I think everyone understood why we had to leave. We weren't needed anymore so it was our time to go. "You all have done well in your short time back here. They wouldn't have won without you. But all good things come to an end at some point. You have had your turn here and now live among me and my people. I'm glad you have been able to return to Narnia once more. Let us hope that you won't be needed again for some time,"
As Aslan got up to leave Lucy said, "Thank you, Aslan, for trusting us enough to let us come back knowing we would have the strength not to fight you when you said it's time to go. Thank you,"
He bowed his head and left. The rest of us finished eating in silence. We weren't happy to have to leave again. It's hard every time. But this time for me at least it would sting a little bit more than normal because of what I was leaving behind.
It was early afternoon when the rest of the castle woke up. Even most of the staff hadn't gotten up until the newly crowned kings and queens did. No one seemed to mind though. I walked into the dining room once again, to find Lucy happily chatting with everyone. Haha, they all look similar to how Peter and Eustace looked this morning. It almost looks like they all got hit by the same truck I thought to myself. Zoran looked dead on the inside and his hair was sticking out all over the place. Ray and Ariana both had sunglasses on and were drinking what looked to be a mimosa. Patrick and Jackson looked the worst though. They both had bloodshot eyes, hair unbrushed, and looked like they had been woken up from the dead and weren't happy about it. Anna on the other hand looked like a combination of all of them but seemed to be the most alive since she was the one talking to Lucy, Why am I not surprised?
I walked over and took a seat next to Lucy. She and Anna were talking about some book they both had read. Justin then walked in the room and burst out laughing, "Oh my god! I really should invest in a camera! Y'alls faces are fucking perfect right now. Oh and I thought my hangover was bad,"
"Justin shut up. Like seriously. Or at least talk way quieter. You're making my head split open," Zoran said while putting his head down on the table. I couldn't help but laugh as well. They all looked pretty bad.
"I regret getting absolutely shitfaced. I don't even remember the second half of the night. All I know is that I ended up in Ari's room to then be kicked out by her maids' god knows when this morning,"
Anna raised her tea, "I second that. I have no idea what happened after I got back from getting some fresh air with Edmund. I don't think I'm ever gonna get that drunk ever again,"
"It's called being blackout drunk my dear sister. I for one am thankful I don't remember most of last night since I don't need images of my baby sister dirty dancing with Patrick or images of her being blackout drunk,"
"And you know this term how? Last time I checked, you, Zoran didn't party according to your stories to mom and dad,"
"Hey hey, what happens in Narnia, stays in Narnia" countered Zoran. We all laughed at that.
At that moment, Aslan then walked in. Anna groaned, "Oh god. Now the most highly respected person in all of Narnia has seen us all hungover. Not something I needed in my life,"
Ariana almost dropped her glass as soon as she realised who Anna was referring too. But Aslan just laughed, "Don't worry about it. This morning I saw the Kings and Queens of Old's ability to also not hold their liquor. They looked almost as bad as you all if not worse,"
"Hey, I thought that was going to be between us! Don't expose us like that Aslan," cried Susan from the doorway. Peter, Caspian, and Eustace were with her.
I guess it's time then I thought as I nodded towards Lucy and Aslan. Lucy looked a bit sad but wasn't going to argue.
"Children, I would like it if you were to meet us by the great oak tree in the gardens as soon as you finish up here. There is something that needs to be done,"
There were mummers of 'ok' and 'sure thing' from around the table. Aslan got up to leave, so Lucy and I followed him out. We walked in silence to the gardens. Lucy looked a bit sad so I took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She looked up and smiled at me mouthing the words 'thank you'.
We all hung out by the tree while waiting for the rest of them to join us. The great oak tree just happened to be the same tree that we walked through after Caspian had gotten his throne back. It was only a few minutes before everyone was gathered around the tree. Aslan stepped forward to speak, "The time has come for us to head back to where we belong,"
Anna and all looked around confused. Ariana was the first to speak, "You're not going to stay longer?"
"We would if we were needed. But you all seem to have everything you need to be successful. You don't need us to be here anymore,"
Peter spoke next, "It's not like we don't want to be here with you all. You guys have done so well that it's only fitting for us to let you guys live here and run things your way. You don't need us,"
There was a wave of acceptance that went through them. Ariana stepped forward to address us all, "I-I I just want to say thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Without you, I'm not sure if we would've succeeded at all. So thank you. Not only for that but also for picking such amazing people to be the new you. I hope our paths cross again," She then went up and hugged each of us. When she got to me she whispered in my ear, "She really does love you both. I can see it. So don't despair, you both will be together someday," When she pulled back I nodded at her.
It was at that point that everyone knew it was time to say goodbye. They all went to their respective person first, so Patrick stood in front of me. He reached out his hand for me to shake but I hugged him instead, "Thanks for everything. The advice and all. I'm gonna miss you, Edmund,"
"You're welcome," I then lowered my voice so he was the only one who could hear me, "Make her happy. Please. She deserves nothing but the best. So don't you dare hurt her, for if you do, you're a dead guy walking,"
He laughed before responding, "I promise. Her happiness is all I want as well," he then pulled back and nodded at me. We shook hands and then he went to say goodbye to everyone else.
I gave hugs to Ray, Zoran, Jackson, Justin, and Ariana. But when it was Anna's turn, I was lost for words. I tried to form a sentence but it just wasn't working. So Anna answered for the both of us, "I know Edmund. I know," I then gave her a hug that felt like a million years. She then stepped back to rejoin her friends. Patrick took her hand in his.
Aslan then blew on the tree. It began to change shape, into a doorway, the same one I had seen before. Peter went first after waving goodbye one last time. He was quickly followed by Eustace. Susan and Caspian went next. That left Lucy and me. Lucy looked at me before understanding. So she went next after giving Anna one last hug. I was standing there next to Aslan, he nodded to me to go. I looked one last time on the sight in front of me before walking through. I locked eyes with Anna and that was the last thing I saw as I went into the portal back to Aslan's Kingdom.