Alliance

Chapter 9- Calfacio

Calfacio

Latin

Thaw
-

tore
the soaked child from the water
wondering if he was still alive or which
fate
had him.
-

"What rubbish, she's not-" Lucy started, snorting.

"I am." Sanya cut her off. "All humans in this world are- you four are the only ones purely and completely human." She turned to Jadis then. "But if you think I'm killing a child- or anyone but you- you're gravely mistaken."

"You'll kill me?" She laughed, a sound most inhumane. "Even I don't know how to kill me in this form."

"You're tethered to this castle." Edmund said, and the look on her translucent face confirmed his theory. "I knew it- since the Sphinx confirmed that this was the final destination- because where else? This is where you were Queen, where your throne stood, where you trapped anyone who rebelled as statues- this was your home- if something like you can have a home."

Jadis hadn't expected him to know that, it was clear, but why did she still look smug?
"Yes, I am tethered to this castle- not as chained to it as he is to the wall, though." She jerked her head towards the unconscious Graeme. "What will you do about it?"

"We'll destroy the castle." Lucy declared, sounding far more confident than she actually felt.

"How? Blow it up? Fire won't work against my ice." She smiled. "I won't let you all leave- you're trapped here until she kills him."

"The only thing she's going to be doing-" Edmund said, stepping ahead "is destroying your castle."

His siblings goggled at him, and the Witch gave a positive shriek of laughter.

Sanya turned to Edmund, panicked, "What are you doing? I can't- the Poseidon thing is just a theory- and not even a very plausible one!"

"You have to. Believe in yourself, Sanya." He looked at her, trust and faith in his eyes. "You can do it- Aslan said you could."

"He what?" Lucy and Jadis asked in unison- though the former sounded awed and enthusiastic while the latter sounded angry and- scared.

"I can't-" Performance anxiety and stage fright wasn't a good combination. "You don't even know-"

"I do!" He said passionately, his hands cupping her cheeks, fingers tangled in her hair. "You will do it- I believe in you."

"This is ice- even if you're right, it's water which is-" Her voice was breaking, she couldn't do it- she didn't know why or how she could warrant such strong belief-

"Oh, pity." Jadis remarked as an ice stalactite fell from the ceiling and hit the surface in the same spot Peter had been standing not a second before. "Missed."

"You know, now I wish you did have a body just so I can run my sword through you." Peter said irritably, cutting the stalactite in half to vent his feelings.

Edmund's eyes were full of anguish as he looked back to Sanya, his hands gripping her face. "Please- I can't lose them. Believe- after all, ice is just frozen water- focus on the water coming back to its natural state. Just concentrate."

Never in her life had Sanya been able to concentrate. She was always thinking of a million things, stressing and overanalysing even when she tried hard not to, she was never able to focus fully on any one thing.
"I've never been able to concentrate- I can't- my mind's all over the place- please-"