𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. ➪ 𝙴. 𝙿𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚎

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎

The corridor opened to a large room. Books lined the shelves and the higher walls seemed to have a coat of beautiful stars on it - the Magician's work, Phillis expected. The stars moved around, and it gave the lower walls the impression that they were in a room with a pool in it (just like the one her and Tommy had been visiting before they ended up in Narnia). Coriakin tossed a scroll across the floor, it unravelling as it went. When it lay straight on the floor, it displayed a map. It looked terribly lifelike, as the mountains were really coming off the parchment and the water seemed to really shine in the light of the sun. "That's quite beautiful," said Eustace suddenly.
The other four (being Edmund, Tommy, Lucy and Phillis) all spared a moment of shocked glances. On the bottom of the map (where it wasn't water), it showed moving pictures of Aslan's Camp and then an army galloping across the Fords of Beruna. Peter on his infamous white unicorn, accompanied by Orieus and Elmer, racing after the cheetahs and leopards. Phillis smiled, knowing the big cat leading the charge was Cobalt. It showed the White Witch's army charging towards Aslan's too.
The four looked at Eustace, waiting for him to say anything more. "I mean, for a make-believe map of a make-believe world," he corrected himself far too quickly.
The four shared a quick smirk and a knowing glance. Eustace was beginning to accept Narnia and just how real it really was. He was sort of like Susan in that sense. "There is the source of your troubles," Coriakin spoke up, the map suddenly turned to a eery looking island. "Dark Island. A place where evil lurks. It can take any form. It can make your darkest dreams come true."
Phillis shifted uncomfortably. She feared being left behind or abandoned a great deal. And she was beginning to feel left out. Edmund was too busy talking with Caspian to bother with Phillis, Lucy had recently acquired a new friend in Gael. Tommy and Eustace spent most of their time trying to fathom what was going on. Reepicheep had befriended the two newcomers, paying them more mind than he ever would Phillis. The brunette gulped quietly - perhaps her worst fears were coming true. Coriakin snapped her out of her dangerous thoughts, "It seeks to corrupt all goodness, to steal the light from this world."
"How do we stop it?" asked Lucy.
Caspian noticed Phillis hug herself tighter, curious as to why she was acting so timid. He made a mental note to speak to her when they were back on the ship. The reason Phillis was doing such a thing, was because with her thoughts darkening, she suddenly felt self-conscious and that she wasn't wanted there at all. Then, her mind snapped to April Junes. Perhaps if she looked like her, then people would pay her more mind. Maybe they'd ask how her day was, or how she was feeling. Instead of just assuming she was fine because she was Phillis, and she'd been through plenty of heartache and battle wounds.
"You must break its spell. That sword you carry," Coriakin pointed to the one hung on Edmund's hip, "there are six others."
"Have you seen them?" asked Ed.
"Yes."
"The six lords, they passed through here?" Caspian questioned.
Coriakin nodded, "Indeed."
"Where were they headed?" Caspian pressed.
"Where I sent them," said Coriakin.
Phillis sighed quietly. She hated when people were vague like that. Suddenly, the map began to move again.
"To break the spell, you must follow the Blue Star to Ramandu's Island. There, the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table. Only then can their true magical power be released. But beware, you are all about to be tested," explained Coriakin.
"Tested?" repeated Lucy.
"Until you lay down the seventh sword, evil has the upper hand. It will do everything in its power to tempt you. Be strong. Don't fall to temptation. To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself."

The darkness of the night fell on the crew of the Dawn Treader once again. Rain poured and the seas threw the ship from side to side. The thunder and lightening kept the members on board awake. Phillis stood in one of the cabins with Edmund, Caspian and Drinian. "So, we're stuck here," the bald man pointed to the map. "At half-rations, with food and water for two more weeks, maximum. This is your last chance to turn back, Your Majesties."
Caspian glanced at Edmund, and then to Phillis, who was staring out the window. He needed just a minute alone with her to ask her what was wrong. "There's no guarantee we'll spot the Blue Star anytime soon. Not in this storm. Needle in the haystack, trying to find this Ramandu place. We could sail right past it and off the edge of the world," continued Drinian's moaning.
"Or get eaten by a sea serpent," Ed added in a mock cheerful voice.
"Or drown," Phillis sighed.
Drinian and Caspian looked at the two fifteen-year-olds, not impressed with their joking and their negative attitudes. "I'm just saying the men are getting nervous," Drinian said, glaring at Phillis and Edmund. "These are strange seas we're sailing, the likes of which I've never seen before."
"Then perhaps, Captain, you would like to be the one to explain to Mr. Rhince that we're abandoning the search for his family," Caspian stood, walking towards Drinian.
"I'll get back to it," said the Captain, glancing between the three younger members of the crew. "Just a word of warning, the sea can play nasty tricks on the crew's mind. Very nasty."
He grabbed his lantern, and left the cabin. Phillis went to grab her cloak, to leave the cabin but Caspian stopped her. "Can I have a word with you?" the King asked, towering over the girl.
She looked to Edmund, who had a look of confusion and jealousy etched onto his face. "Yeah," she nodded, putting the cloak back down.
"I'll be leaving then," Edmund huffed.
Within a moment, Edmund was gone. Caspian sat down on the long seat below the window, staring at Phillis. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Pardon?" she stuttered slightly.
"Something's wrong. I just want to know what it is," he sighed.
"Nothing's wrong," she assured him.
"Phillis, I grew up studying you, I've fought in battles with you," he began to list everything he'd ever done with her off. "I can tell when you're not behaving normally."
"Well, I suppose when we spoke with Coriakin all those days ago, and he spoke of being tested and our darkest dreams coming true, I guess it just made me paranoid," she shrugged, sitting down beside him.
"Paranoid of what?"
"Well, since I was here last and we invaded the Telmarine castle and I didn't get out fast enough, I've always hated being left behind," she sighed. "And I just feel so left out and out of place here."
"How so?"
"Edmund has been ignoring me completely for a reason I have not been made aware of. Lucy's found a new friend in Gael. You have been too busy with Edmund and Drinian to spare me a second glance. Tommy, my friend, has been busy befriending Eustace. Reepicheep has been too busy talking with them that he's more than likely forgotten I exist," Phillis explained. "I know it sounds petty. I'm probably just being ridiculously, annoyingly jealous-"
"You're not being jealous. There's a difference between being jealous and being afraid of being forgotten," said Caspian.
She smiled gratefully up at him, "I just- what if Edmund doesn't love me anymore? What if he's decided that he'd rather have someone like April Elmslie than someone like me?"
"April Elmslie?" Caspian repeated the name.
Phillis seemed to remember that Caspian would have no clue who the girl was. "Just this blonde, scarless, pretty girl from school."
"Is it the scars?"
"Huh?"
"Your scars? Is it them you're self conscious of?" asked Caspian.
"I always have been. In Narnia, it's not as bad, but at home I have to come up with some pathetic excuse about how I got them," she told him. "I hate that one of the ones on my stomach always makes Edmund feel guilty. And I hate that the one on my cheek is a constant reminder that I was too slow to get out. I hate them."
"You're scars are what make you so beautiful, Phillis," it felt weird hearing Caspian say that, but she knew he said it with only the best intentions. "Each one has a story of its own."
"Yeah, about how I was attacked about five times," she joked, Caspian chuckling slightly.
"I'm sure if you speak to Edmund about his recent neglect, he'll have a perfectly good reason," shrugged Caspian.
"There's a war going on, you know, at home. My father died because of it," she finally said, after a minute or two of silence. "He drowned. Did I ever tell you about the time I nearly drowned?"
"No," he said.
"I did. When I was thirteen, on our first trip to Narnia. We were trying to get to Aslan's Camp. The river was melting and I got my foot stuck on the rocks at the river bed. I couldn't get out and I was so sure I was going to drown. So, I hate water. My father died in it and I nearly died in it," she whispered. "Elmer's gone too."
"Gone?" Caspian said quickly.
"Not really gone. He's in Hawaii," she said.
"Sounds dull," Caspian added.
She chuckled, "It's actually very sunny, I hear. He flies planes."
"Planes?"
"They're like big, mechanical birds," she explained. "Wars are fought differently where I'm from."
"I see," Caspian nodded, listening intently to every word. "Do you miss your father?"
"Everyday. The last thing I ever told him was that I hated him," she mumbled.
"But he knows you won't have meant it," assured Caspian.
"But that's the worst bit: in the moment, I think I really did mean it."