𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. ➪ 𝙴. 𝙿𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚎

𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎

It happened a month after the Pevensies and the Opals returned from the house that held Narnia. It was a Saturday at exactly 12:31 am, Virginia was sat at the table, a letter in her hands. Her nimble fingers were shaking. The wireless was humming quietly in the background. Phillis and Elmer ran downstairs to see if they'd received any post, only to find their hurt mother. "Mum?" Elmer called out.
She turned in her seat, her glossy eyes scanning over her two children. "Mum, what's that?" Phillis asked, her own voice beginning to shake as she pointed to the letter.
"I-it's from the war office."
Those words were enough for Phillis and Elmer to know what happened. Their father was dead. Phillis sobbed into her brother's chest as he hugged her close. "What happened to him?" Elmer finally asked, making eye contact with his mother.
"His ship was torpedoed off the coast of France. There were no known survivors," she said, her voice barely above a trembling whisper.
"So, he's gone. He's really gone?" Phillis cried. "I told him I hate him, he thinks I hate him."
Virginia finally found it within herself to hug and comfort her children. "Darling, he knew you loved him. He knew you loved him beyond words," Virginia whispered to her daughter.
Whereas Elmer was trying to decide whether this made him want to join the army more or less. He knew it would break his sister's heart to see him go. But he couldn't just stand by and watch as noble men, like his father, surrendered their lives to the heavens above for their countries. It didn't sit right with him.
A week later, their cousin, Frederick, arrived. He was bearing gifts and words of sympathy for the family of his Uncle. If there was one person who could guide Phillis through these troubling times, it was cousin Freddie. His smile lit up the room and his laugh was infectious, and his stories were riveting.
Virginia sat in her study, staring at her typewriter, debating what to do with it now that Ralph was gone. Phillis sat in the kitchen with Freddie and Elmer, talking about everything that had happened since they last met. "So, I heard you were sent away for some time?" Freddie said, buttering some toast.
"Yes. With the Pevensie children. You know, the children next door?" Elmer replied.
"Oh, yes. Lovely children. Where did you go?" Freddie asked.
"A professor's house. It was a very big house," Phillis replied.
"I see. Get up to anything exciting?" Fred said, pouring the children some cups of tea.
"Well, Edmund broke a window," Elmer said, as if it was the most interesting thing that had happened.
"That all?"
"Well, Freddie, I'm afraid you wouldn't believe us if we told you," Elmer smirked slightly.
"Oh, wouldn't I? Let me try, then," the 27 year old smirked back.
"We found a magical land-" Elmer began before Freddie cut him off.
"In the upstairs wardrobe?" he finished.
"Yes? However did you know?" the youngest asked, baffled as to how her cousin knew.
"To Narnia? Why, my father said he's been," Freddie said, wide-eyed. "He said when he was younger, he and Ralph went to stay with Professor Kirke whilst Grandmother was in Scotland for a few days - he was an old friend of hers. Then, they happened to stumble upon a wardrobe upstairs. When they opened it, they saw a beautiful wood on the other side. They went inside, but only for a moment. Too scared to stay any longer than a minute or two."
The two teenagers sat, jaws hung loosely, staring at their cousin.
"That means Dad's been to Narnia?" Elmer said breathlessly.
"That's not all, I went. Last year, with my girlfriend. Grandmother claimed she had some things at the Professor's house before she died. So, we went to collect any of her loose belongings. The Professor said I looked like my father, then proceeded to tell me the story I'd heard so many times before. I never believed it, but when he pointed me in the direction of the wardrobe, I was amazed to find the infamous thing up there. When I went inside, there was in fact a thick forest. I stayed for about a week, befriending a fox. But when I returned, my girlfriend, Rose, claimed I'd been missing for no time whatsoever. I found it most peculiar."
"Time works differently in Narnia. We were there for 15 years," Phillis told him.
"I had children and everything," Elmer chuckled, sighing at the memory of Flynn and Reina.
"Wait, you had children in Narnia?" Freddie exclaimed.
"We were Kings and Queens, actually," Elmer smirked.
"Kings and Queens?" Freddie repeated.
"Queen Phillis the Zealous of the Sparkling Constellations above," Phillis curtsied at her cousin.
"King Elmer the Audacious of the Hidden Depths below," Elmer added.
"Jesus Christ," Freddie murmured.
"Seems travelling to Narnia through a wardrobe runs in the family," Phillis laughed.