𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. ➪ 𝙴. 𝙿𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚎

𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

"I can't sleep," Lucy said.
"Let me guess, bad dreams," said Edmund, glancing between the four other boys and girls. "So, either we're all going mad or something is playing with our minds."
He turned to Phillis slightly, lying back down. She had tears in her eyes and she was shaking. But upon seeing her friends, she seemed a lot calmer.

The crew had stumbled across a hot, dry island. Tommy decided to help Reepicheep with setting up a camp. Caspian, Edmund, Phillis and Lucy opted for exploring. Which meant no one saw Eustace slip away. "Look, we're not the first ones on this island," exclaimed Caspian, seeming to have discovered something.
"The lords?" asked Edmund.
Caspian shrugged, "Could be."
He'd found a piece of rope tied around a large rock, dropping down a large hole. Caspian dropped a stone, to see how deep it was. "What do you think could be down there?" he asked.
"Let's find out," said Edmund.
Edmund descended the rope first,
getting down safely. He was followed by Caspian, who helped Lucy down and managed to catch Phillis as she slipped. Edmund grumbled something about loyalty, rolling his eyes. Phillis thanked him, blushing slightly.
They seemed to stumble across a pond of sorts, with a seemingly golden statue of a man in it. "What's that?" asked Caspian.
"I don't know," shrugged Edmund. "Looks like some sort of gold statue."
Edmund tore a twig off the walls, dipping it into the water. When he pulled it out, it began to turn golden. Edmund threw it into the water quickly before it turned him into a gold statue. "He must have fallen in," said Phillis, noticing the way the man was positioned.
"Poor man," sighed Lucy.
"You mean 'poor lord'," said Edmund, noticing the shield that lay beside him.
"The crest of Lord Restimar," sighed Caspian.
"And his sword," Edmund pointed to the weapon submerged in water.
"We need it," Caspian said.
Edmund crouched down, unsheathing his own sword. He managed to pick up Lord Restimar's sword from the depths of the pond. When he brought them back out, neither of them seemed to be affected by the magic of the pond. "Your sword hasn't turned to gold," said Lucy.
"Both the swords are magical," said Caspian.
Edmund carefully passed the lord's weapon to the king. "He mustn't have known what hit him," Lucy sighed.
"Maybe. Or maybe he was onto something," said Edmund, placing his own weapon down.
"What are you talking about?" Phillis furrowed her eyebrows.
Edmund picked up a shell, submerging it partially into the water. He dropped it onto the rocks beneath him, watching it turn to gold. When he deemed it safe, he picked it back up, admiring the golden shell. "What are you staring at?" asked Lucy.
"Whoever has access to this pool could be the most powerful person in the world," said Edmund.
Caspian shared a look with Lucy and Phillis, slightly confused at Edmund's sudden greed. "Phillis, we'd be so rich," he said.
Phillis shifted uncomfortably at his dark eyes and his evil tone. "No one could tell us what to do or who we can be," he said.
"You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund," informed Caspian.
"Says who?" replied Ed.
"I do."
Edmund's eyes flicked from the golden shell, to an uncomfortable Phillis, to a stern Caspian. "I'm not your subject," Edmund picked up his sword, approaching the Narnian king.
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" replied Caspian. "To challenge me? You doubt my leadership?"
"You doubt yourself," Edmund glared.
"You're a child," Caspian fired back at Edmund.
There was nothing worse you could say to the Pevensies or the Opals. For they weren't children. They'd faced more war than any of the children in London.
"And you're a spineless sap," Edmund snapped.
"Edmund," Lucy said, trying to grab her brother's arm.
He shoved her away, turning his attention back to King Caspian.
"I'm tired of playing second fiddle. First it was Peter and now it's you! You know I'm braver than both of you. Why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own. I deserve to rule!"
"If you think you're so brave, prove it!" Caspian shoved Edmund back.
Edmund cried out, raising his sword. Phillis pulled Lucy back, keeping her out of harm's way. The girl looked up at the brunette, pleading with her silently to do something. The men fought for seconds before Phillis took matters into her own hands. She dived between the two boys. "Stop it! Both of you. Look at yourselves," Phillis snapped.
"You've always had it all!" Edmund yelled at her, making her flinch slightly. Edmund had never really yelled at her in their time of being together. Even when they were younger, they got into petty arguments, but they never exactly yelled at each other. "You're the best swordsman Narnia has ever seen - or so everyone says! Somehow, you're always the one that ends up with all of the ugly scars!" cried Edmund.
To add to her physical ugly scars, she now seemed to have the mental scars of Edmund being so cruel to her. Caspian and Lucy seemed shocked at what Edmund had just come out with. It took Phillis a moment to recollect her thoughts. Her mind yelled at her not to cry. Luckily, she managed to keep it in for the time being. "God, Ed. If you think I don't know how horrible to look at they are, you're wrong! I have to live with them, so I don't know what you're complaining about," she said.
"Well, I have to look at them," he told her, suddenly noticing the disgusted faces of Lucy and Caspian.
"No one's forcing you to," she told the dark-haired boy, her voice weakening slightly.
Nothing seemed to make Edmund snap out of his sudden trance of greed. So, the next thing Phillis said certainly needed to be said as it seemed to work. "Eddie," he went weak at the nickname, "we've been through this before! Don't you see? You get greedy and you're not yourself! You betray those who trust you the most and it never ends well, whether that be for some gold or some Turkish Delight."
They all knew exactly what she was talking about.
"And your moments of greed leave people like me, the ones who love you most, with all of these ugly scars," she said.
Suddenly, the darkness left his eyes and he realised what he had just said to Phillis. He lowered his sword, his eyes clouded with guilt. "Can't you see what's happening?" Phillis asked. "This place has tempted you. It's bewitching you. This is exactly what Coriakin was talking about."
Phillis turned, she couldn't bear to look at Edmund any longer. She knew he wasn't himself when he said those things, but it still hurt to see him say it. "Let's just get out of here," Lucy sighed, hugging Phillis tightly, the two girls walking away.
The boys shared a glance before hurrying after them.