𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. ➪ 𝙴. 𝙿𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚎

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

When Lucy was sure that Gael was asleep, she sat up in their bed, and pulled out the page she'd torn from the Book of Incantations. "Transform my reflection, cast into perfection. Lashes, lips and complexion. Make me she, whom I'd agree, holds more beauty over me," she read from the page.
At first nothing seemed to happen. Lucy didn't even notice the stillness of the ship and the quietness of the storm outside or the sun beaming in through the windows. She climbed out of bed, approaching the long mirror in the corner of the room. As she neared, her reflection's nightgown turned into a lovely blue, flowery dress. Her hair was pinned back and she had lovely red lips. She lifted her hand up to stroke her own cheek, her reflection - who looked identical to Susan - copied. Lucy pushed open the mirror, and she stepped outside into a garden of sorts. Cheerful music was playing and the sun beamed down at the happy crowd. Lucy could see a large body of water, the sun bounced off it, making it glow in the warm afternoon. "Ladies and gentleman," said a steward, "Miss Pevensie."
The people clapped as she walked down the steps of the white patio she'd emerged from. "She's quite a looker. Swell," an officer said to some of his friends.
The attendees ranged from elderly couples to young soldiers. Either way, Lucy loved the sudden attention she got. She had to remind herself that she was Susan, though. "Edmund!" she grinned as her brother joined her side.
He was dressed in a lovely brownish suit, his hair not completely done to perfection. But that was always Edmund's look, and he always managed to pull it off nicely. Edmund held his arm out for Lucy to slip her hand through. "You look beautiful, sister," he smiled.
"As always," came a voice Lucy hadn't heard in a while.
"Peter!" she grinned.
Peter was dressed in a grey suit, his hair also covering his forehead. He seemed shorter than Lucy remembered, but that was only because she was now taller. "Excuse me, miss, can I get a photo?" an older man asked, placing his camera down in front of them.
"Mind if I join?" a voice came.
The three turned to look at a pretty blonde woman. "Not at all!" exclaimed Peter joyfully.
"Hello, darling," Edmund said, kissing her cheek.
Lucy recognised this woman to be April Elmslie, the girl Phillis was often comparing herself to. Edmund wrapped his arm around April's waist, smiling at the camera. April had a particularly photogenic face. "Mother's going to love this," Peter said, "All her children in one picture."
"Smile!" called the photographer.
"Hang on," she said, her eyebrows furrowing. "Where am I? I mean, where's Lucy?"
"Lucy? Who's Lucy?" asked Edmund.
Lucy tried to pry her arms out of her brothers'. "Susan, what's wrong?" asked Peter, still trying to pose for the camera.
"Come on now, miss. Nice big smile," said the photographer.
"Edmund, I'm not sure about all this. I think I want to go back," said Lucy.
"Go back where, Su?" asked April.
"To Narnia," she said, the other three looking at her curiously.
"What on earth is Narnia?" replied Edmund.
"What's going on? Where's Phillis?" she asked.
"Who is Phillis?" asked Peter, still trying to smile for the camera.
"Edmund's girlfriend!" cried Lucy.
"Girlfriend?" asked April, clearly offended.
"Susan, I'm married to April," replied Edmund.
"Stop it!" Lucy screamed.
The camera went off and the flash of it felt blinding. And just like that, she was back on the Dawn Treader and back in her own body. She stared at herself in the mirror; she was back to being Lucy again. Aslan appeared beside her. "Lucy."
"Aslan?" she breathed.
When she turned to see if he was really there, he vanished. But when she turned back to the mirror, he stood staring back at her. "What have you done, child?" he asked.
"I don't know," she sighed. "That was awful."
"But you chose it, Lucy," replied Aslan.
"I didn't mean to choose all of that," she said. "I just wanted to be beautiful like Susan. That's all."
"You wished yourself away, and with it much more. Your brothers and sister wouldn't know Narnia without you, Lucy. You discovered it first, remember? And perhaps, without Narnia, Phillis and Edmund would still dislike each other as much as they did when they were younger," Aslan said.
"I'm so sorry," she was crying now.
"You doubt your value. Don't run from who you are."
He turned and left. Aslan was gone. And with his departure, a loud crack of thunder woke Lucy from her God awful dream. She screamed the lion's name, sitting up suddenly. But he was nowhere to be found. Lucy stared at the page for a moment, before clambering out of bed and tossing it in the fire. Aslan's face emerged from the embers, a glorious road emitting from the flames before vanishing just as quickly as Aslan had in her dream.

Below deck, Edmund lay awake. Caspian was tossing and turning in his sleep. Phillis was sobbing and crying out. It broke Edmund's heart to hear her sound like she was in such pain. "Eddie," she whispered.
At first, he thought she'd woken up. He turned to look at her, but she was fast asleep, hugging her pillow tightly, her hammock rocking to and fro. "Eddie," she said, slightly louder this time. "Please don't go."
He wanted to wake her from her nightmare, but he knew she hadn't been sleeping particularly well. "Please don't leave."
He wanted to pull her close and tell her he was right by her side.
"Don't leave me like the rest of them."
He sighed, his heart slowly cracking at her sleepy, hurt tone. Edmund, trying to stay as stubborn as humanly possible, decided to ignore her. "Edmund. Edmund," whispers came.
Unfortunately, Edmund recognised the voice immediately. It was the White Witch. Next to Caspian's hammock, the green mist had formed the eerily familiar figure of Jadis. "Come with me. Join me."
He sat up, pulling out his sword. Tommy had been crying out for his mother only twenty minutes ago, but his nightmares soon faded away. "Edmund."
This time, it was Lucy. She stood next to his hammock. Edmund almost jumped out of his skin, but when he turned back to face Jadis, she was gone. Tommy had woken from the sudden commotion, sitting up in his own hammock. "Oh, Lucy," he breathed a sigh of relief.
Loud thunder echoed through the cabin, waking Caspian suddenly. Phillis lay, not moving. She cried out, scaring the other four, "Don't go."
There was a long pause before Edmund's name fell from Phillis' slightly chapped lips. They all stared at each other. "God, someone wake her. She's clearly having a nightmare," Caspian said, as he too had had a dreadful dream.
Lucy quickly shook the girl awake. Phillis looked around, in a slight panic. However, when her eyes settled on Edmund, she let out a sigh of relief. Caspian felt bad, having recently learnt of Phillis' fear of being forgotten and abandoned, especially by Edmund.