hiraeth

twenty-six

xxvi. Nia

Nia stirs to the sound of slamming doors.

Mountains of musty pillows suffocate her body, and she's swaddled in a crustier and dustier blanket. Someone sneezes in the distance.

"It smells like ass," she mutters under her breath, checking her surroundings.

It's a narrow antique shop, grandfather clocks and trinkets and chests crowding the room. Noise come from the opposite end.

"Bitch - !" Nia kicks pillows and cloth sheets off her with annoyance. "...as if I'm up for sale." The blanket eventually releases her and she stands up agressively. "Enne! I thought we established if you want to get rid of me, you can't!"

The cold seeps into her bones now, blanket discarded. She shivers violently and grabs her backpack and sword from the floor.

"Nia, over here!"

Recognizing her friend's voice, she picks her way through the maze of objects to the back, which is just as clustered as the front. Enne pokes her head out from behind a wooden drawer, glasses askew on the bridge of her nose.

"Hey!" Enne says.

"Where are we?"

"We made it to Vegas again, but-"

"Don't tell me I teleported us back in time," Nia groans upon seeing Enne's unreadable expression. "I don't think I'd survi-"

"Argh!"

She screams. "Fuck! What the fuck--" Blue eyes soften and her breath hitches. "I swear to god, I'll--That wasn't funny."

"It kind of was." The former king brandishes some type of terrifying monkey mask in his hand and grins boyishly, dimples and all. She doesn't think she's ever seen Peter smile so brightly. "You're awake!"

"And you're dead," she seethes, reaching for the nearest thing - an entire table lamp - and raising it above her head. "Prepare to perish, Pevensie."

"Okay, calm down," he says nervously, backing away. "It was just a joke!"

Triumph forms on her face as he trips over a potted plant chilling on the carpet. He lands with a thump and fumbles for his sword. Nia closes in on him--

"Peter wrapped you up in those blankets," Enne calls out casually, somewhere in the wreckage. "Said you might be cold without them."

Nia makes slow eye contact with him. "He what?"

Peter's complexion quickly burns scarlet, and she lowers her arms, placing the lamp down on a small shelf.

He coughs. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Well," Nia says, feeling her own skin flush, "I hated it. Those blankets were disgusting."

But instead of giving her a snarky response like she expected, Peter simply chuckles and throws something at her. She catches it. The compass. "I just returned the favour. Quite literally, at that."

"Wow, you're a brilliant comedian." She pulls it over her head. "I'm surprised you didn't lose it."

"I couldn't."

"You make it sound like you had no choice."

"For one, you would have murdered me, which you almost did." He gets up and brushes off his pants. "And for another, I don't break my promises."

"Yeah, yeah," she snorts. "As if you don't need your memories back."

"You got me."

"Jerk."

"Thank you."

"For calling you a jerk? You're welcome."

"No, for trusting me."

She smiles. "All for the prophecy, remember?"

He puts away the blade. "All for the prophecy," he echoes, but his gaze is on her when he says it.

"I found another one!" comes Enne's happy cry, pulling their attention away. Nia stands on her tiptoes to locate her. Enne raises an arm in the air, and she catches a glimpse of something shiny.

"What's that?"

"A key," Peter sighs, and as if on cue, the bang of a door erupts yet again, followed by an explosive yell.

"Careful with the flames. There's wood all around us," someone warns.

"I'm trying to see of this one has a secret panel!"

"Leo, use this flashlight."

"This is more fun. I live on the edge."

"Come on," Peter says. "We're testing something out."

Enne and Peter wave Nia over to the entrance of a spacious storage room, filled with more random shit. Wardrobes line the walls. All of them are flung open, except for one. Peter's friends and siblings are running around, climbing inside of them.

"Uhhhh," says Nia, not sure what to make of this spectacle. "Where's the shop owner?"

"Herman is out on a break," Enne replies. "Said we could go crazy in here as long as we didn't destroy anything."

"Where is he?"

"The bar, I think. He wanted a beer."

"And have you destroyed anything?"

"Take a wild guess."

"He trusted you guys enough to leave? Man's got a big storm coming."

Enne launches into an explanation about a wardrobe and Narnia. Lucy chats excitedly about Mr. Tumnus or Turner or whatever.

Peter introduces her to Susan, who's so beautiful it's unfair. Piper is fierce as all hell and Nia instantly likes her. Will comes off as shy, but when she tells him about Nico, he cries. She tried to greet Leo and Jason, but Leo set a music box on fire and Jason is desperately trying to extinguish it with his wind powers ("You're making it worse!" exclaims Piper).

Nia thinks going to Narnia through a wardrobe seems cool and all, but she has an inkling everyone is hiding something from her: they keep looking at her, then at Peter and Enne, and Peter and Enne keep looking back at them like we-know-oh-my-god.

After Enne tries her new key in the last wardrobe with no luck, Nia suggests she try teleporting the group to Narnia.

"No!" everyone shouts immediately. Peter's voice is the loudest and carries over the rest.

Nia makes a face. "Damn, okay. I just thought it'd be our best shot instead of running into wardrobes."

Enne places a hand on her shoulder. "Actually, Nia, I have-"

"Something to tell me?" Nia finishes. "Figured."

But before Enne can pull her aside, Piper, Leo, and Jason have raised their voices considerably. Nia looks over to see that Leo's music box extravaganza has evolved. One of the wardrobes is caught on fire.

"Called it." Nia exchanges a look with Enne. "I hope Herman gets drunk enough for this."