➹₊•°༉彡˚✧
   

    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
THE MOMENT HE AWOKE, a large gasp had escaped right from his throat. Like he had been interrupted from his sleep by a strange force that tingled around his whole body. He was laying peacefully on the soft leaves beneath him, surrounded by multiple trees that danced elegantly. Tranquil sounds of running water had reached his ears, a magic surrounding the whole area which made it so lively.

In his mind, he was already piecing everything together. Admittedly, it has been long that he was inside one of these situations. And dare say he really missed the feeling of coming back here to free his mind. It was one of the things that gave him solace, like a soft comfort embracing him that gave him pure calmness. Especially since just a while ago after they went home from the battle, he was already facing another threat which was the near escape of Jadis.

Caspian was sure he just wanted to lay wallowing there on the ground, knowing there would be no more fox to greet him as the true owner vanished. The boy knew deep down that he was also in fault of her disappearance, that she would've lived if he just went with the plan. But then he just had to be blinded by his anger, the ring noticeably not lighting up to warn him.

“I am sorry,” He raised his hand towards his eyesight, playing with the accessory on his finger. “I have failed you.”

Closing his eyes, he continued spinning it around, same to all the times he was somber. Only a few more minutes passed where he just frowned miserably until a soft fur tickled his nose. He thought it was merely some dust floating around but then it occurred again, making him sit up with expectant eyes. Then lo and behold, a majestic fox was sitting right beside him, looking at him with a tilt of her head.

“This can't be real.” The boy shook his head, rubbing his eyes to possibly clear out his hallucination.

But the animal still remained there, later going a few distance away which made him almost grumble in protest. Suddenly, a bright light succumbed the whole area, blue flames swallowing the fox which twirled around her with grace. It continued for some time until all the ember had dispersed and revealed a beautiful maiden.

“Technically, you're having a dream so . . .” Snorted the blooming girl, tucking a loose golden hair behind her ear. She then rolled her eyes when the boy merely gaped at her, picking up a dead leaf on the ground then pushing it inside his mouth. Choking sounds chorused with her harmonious laugh, grinning at the glare he was sending her way.

“You have turned the fox unkind?” Caspian moved to sit near her, crossing his legs for a more pleasant position.

“Did you anticipate something different?” She asked, nodding at him when he shook his head. “Exactly.”

For the boy, he was happy to be able to talk to her since she just had that soothing air around her despite all the mean comebacks. The only time he's spoken with the fox was before he left his castle, after that came no more dreams. So as he was back here with her, even the girl being human, he was extremely grateful for the mental help.

“I don't have much time, this thing works only for a few minutes,” Ophelia suddenly stated, leaving a noticeable frown to etch on the face of the boy. “You lot need to stop slacking, a serious threat is headed your way.”

“We can't possibly just act normal after what happened.” The young Prince argued, looking down in shame.

Sighing at him, she then patted his shoulder. “Everything doesn't always go as planned, not everytime can you expect triumph to just occur.”

“But if I could have just been obedient in the first place, you would still have lived!” Raising his head, he then released all of his stress.

“Pardon?” She blinked at him, processing his words before biting her lip from smiling.

“You,” Caspian ran his hands through his hair, looking at her with sadness. “You have not survived due to my mistakes—”

A cackle from the girl had stopped him from continuing his monologue, prompting his features to morph from downcast to confused. She quickly silenced after that, remembering how little she can stay in the dreamland she created.

“You absolute nincompoop! If I died, that would mean I wouldn't be here in the first place. Now quit being all regretful of something that didn't even happen and train the troops for the upcoming war!” Scoffed the Queen of Old, rolling her eyes when he scratched his nape sheepishly.

Telmarine's rightful heir then leaned slightly forward, tilting his head to the side. “Why are you still not with us yet?”

“As supposed with having to travel in a huge circle just to reach the Western Woods, who wouldn't be very exhausted to take some rest?” With eyebrows raised in disbelief, she frowned at his question.

“Where did you even esca—”

“Leave all midget details for later, for now you have to listen carefully,” The mood unexpectedly turned quite serious, a pressurized air blanketing their spot. “A day or so from today, your uncle's army might be knocking at our doorstep. I want you to prepare the Narnians for the inevitable battle.”

“I will be waiting for your return.” He implied, having set his mind of not being able to lead without her great help.

Of course the girl knew this, immediately shaking her head in disagreement. “No, you must do it with haste, I do not know when I'll be returning.”

“But we need you.” Ophelia understood his simple statement, thinking back to feeling their lack of motivation.

“I have something of mine that I must reclaim,” She gave him a small smile, later perking up upon remembering something. “Also, a surprise might arrive later this day . . . both of which will serve as my temporary aid.”

The wind suddenly felt light for the boy, like the gravity was slowly loosing its hold. His panicked eyes met the comforting one of the girl's, seeing her own body dispersing in blue elegant mists. He calmed down in understanding, recognizing this to be the time they have to wake up.

“Don't confess this with the others but I really do miss the lot of you,” Ophelia's hand played with the ring on her finger, the boy momentarily flickering his gaze there. “And tell my husband that despite the distance, his smile continues to kill my sadness.”

For the second time, Caspian had gasped as he awoke from his slumber. His concentration took a few seconds to focus back to the real world, going over the entirety of his dream before quickly rushing to fix his appearance. Not even seconds after, he sprinted right outside the quarters he resided in, trying to find the location of the siblings.

The Narnians saw him stumble a few times in his steps, the haziness of sleep still slowly depleting from his vision. A few distance away from him however was the fortunate huddle of the Pevensies, the four siblings gathered by the wall of carvings. All of them had a mutual thought of just observing the ancient room, meeting each other there to respectfully do what they wished; which was to stare at the paintings.

Albeit not saying it, they all knew that they were there to wallow from the disappearance of the girl. They missed her terribly, no words to describe how much they do. It has been awfully quiet inside the vicinity, one that was quaintly uncomfortable for some to say the least.

“She's not dead,” Someone finally spoke from the four, breaking the tight silence surrounding them. “She just can't be.”

Their gazes travelled to the person who spoke, expressions visibly embedded with grief. It felt as if it was the only thing they felt from the moment it happened, too demotivated to even do their jobs properly. And they all knew it would receive painful slaps of disappointment from her as it wasn't how a person of their titles should act even with the situation but they completely disregarded that very plausible thought for now.

“Sorry, Ed—” A male stepping into the room stopped the person from replying, all their eyes snapping to his hyperventilating form.

“Caspian?” Susan confused, not expecting the boy to be there. Their eyes met momentarily, an underlying look getting ignored from their obliviousness.

“I had a dream.” Edmund almost snorted at the Prince's introduction, a sarcastic response remaining unspoken.

“Yeah, we all have them.” Yet Peter managed to take his words, voicing it out for everyone to hear.

“Peter.” The eldest female Pevensie warned the boy, giving him a serious look.

“No, it's not like the normal ones we have.” Caspian shook his head, them weakly remembering the words of the girl about him getting her guidance through unconsciousness. Same with how they all knew that it's been long since he's received them again.

“But I thought the ring's been inactive?” Lucy tilted her head in curiosity.

“I thought so too,” He breathed out, hands going to play with the mentioned accessory. “But it suddenly functioned!”

“What was the dream?” Hope was unknowingly rising in the chests of each of them, solely concentrated on what the boy had to say.

“It was quite different from the rest of them, almost similar to the last one I had.” The Prince was searching for an easy way to say it all, thinking of the right path to word it gently.

Impatience was clear as Peter frowned, not wanting to get anticipated over nothing. “Did the fox speak again?”

“The fox . . ,” Caspian trailed off, unexpectedly feeling his ringer finger tingling abruptly. “Turned into her.”

“Oh, you've got to be joking,” Peter stressed, dragging a low groan at his words.

Being the only one having negative thoughts of it being made up, he went to banter with the boy. The others were swallowed in the world of their own puzzles, gathering the pieces of how it wasn't actually far from happening. In the words of her, the fox was the literal representation of the Queen. So, was this headed to the direction they had been hoping for?

“You're taking this too far,” The blonde continued, gripping the wooden object in his hand tighter. Like the first time there, he was the one holding the torch that lit up their way. “Have you ever realized how much any sort of false hope can b—”

“Pete?” Edmund patted his shoulder with a gulp, gaining a look of perplexity from his brother. But then he saw how all of them were now staring at something near him, his own eyes following their lines of sight. A short breath puffed out from him, not believing what he was watching.

Right in the hands of the boy was the flames of the torch glowing vibrantly. The once warm red enveloping the whole room was replaced with a comforting shade of blue. Their eyes reflected with the light brought by the hue, the hope they recently felt, fully strengthening. Just before they could speak their amazement, loud chatters from outside suddenly reached their ears.

Along with it was a faun stumbling in the room, urging them to go outside of the walls. The five shared a look of daze before scrambling outside where they were greeted by equally confused Narnians. Peter has placed the torch back to where it initially was, having seen how it was back to its usual colour.

“What's happening?” He inquired as they arrived outside the How.

Glenstorm, who has walked to stand beside them, spoke with uncertainty. “Our scouts have recently found out how the bridge near Beruna has been smashed.”

“But that's deranged! I don't recall one of us ordering for it to occur.” Susan pointed out, not understanding who among them could've requested for the rash decision.

In the mind of one of the Kings, it was a mess of pieces being scattered around. He was slowly but surely piecing it together, having his claims about the happening. It was a thing he had learned from her, how he should never settle for a single hypothesis as the vast field of doubts is always filled with unexpected conclusions.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I have no idea regarding the matter. Only of how the damage seemed to have been done from above.” The general centaur bowed his head in his usual respect.

“So the gryphons just decided to fly away and do it themselves?”

“Or it wasn't us,” Edmund at last declared his deduction, gaining all their attention. They only urged him to proceed, making him spill his thoughts. “Think about it, there's only one person who would even come across the absurd idea. Maybe even know how much we need time to prepare for the inevitable.”

A small smile was lining the face of Lucy, getting followed by the rest of them. Caspian was finally understanding what Ophelia told him in his dream, realizing the surprise she was talking about. But then he remembered, she said there was two?

Gasps suddenly escaped from all of the gathered people, the royals stepping up to see what they were looking at. It took a while for them to spot but their own shock came as they saw it.

“No way.” Unbelieving grins were now stretching on the expressions of everyone, shaking their heads at the scene.

A few distance away from was the strutting forms of ten Narnians, all of which were rumoured to have sacrificed themselves in the battle. They were proudly walking to the How's direction, strictly following the orders given by Ophelia. Which was to give their best in having a dramatic entrance as it would give a more pleasing impact for the people.

“Your Majesties.” The centaur from the group greeted, all ten of them courtesying as they arrived in front of them in a synchronized manner. He then raised a small card from his hand, handing it to Edmund's direction.

Receiving it gingerly, he then opened the paper. The boy was both saddened as he saw no sign of his wife being one of those who returned, along with being happy of how glad he was that these lives were never lost at all. Yet a cheshire type of grin suddenly split his lips as he didn't expect how a little message would give this much joy.

Peter gently took it from his hands, reading it for the others to hear. “Vixen sends love.”

“Ophelia Pevensie.” Susan finished, stating the name written by the sender.

The morning might have been full of shocking things for them, a true series of such bizarre events to occur. But that didn't change the fact that a flame much stronger than those from the torches burned from them with new hope. A girl accurately being a match to kindle the dark times of sorrow, giving them pure determination in readying for the battle.

They had celebrated the return of the Narnians, asking some questions concerning the young Queen, next to Caspian's continuation of his dream's explanation. It was a long day followed by harsh training and making strategies, basking in the feeling of being alive once more. Merriment was roaring wildly in the camp, enjoying how everything has gone back to how it was. Also with those people that were sure to endlessly thank the lady for saving those who were thought to be gone.