The Faded Portrait of a Bygone Era

A Curious Beginning

A/N: For a reader-insert version of this, check out my Tumblr (ouat-in-spare-oom-of-rivendell) or Ao3 (Ariminiria)!

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In what had recently come to be known as the Golden Age of Narnia, five royals ruled the land from Cair Paravel. It may seem unusual, yes, but Narnia was anything but ordinary. The four Pevensies were ever so glad to have met the fifth of their band, Margaret Halloran. All of Narnia adored her, and she helped to keep the four siblings in check as they ruled justly and fairly over their people. The royals of Narnia were special, you see, for they came from another world. Margaret was even more unique, for not only was she from the same world as the Pevensies, she came from the future of this mysterious other place.

The great Aslan himself had called together these Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, reaching through time and to fulfill the prophecy. For the evil of Jadis, the White Witch, could only have been foiled by these five.

Lucy had been the first to meet Margaret, as well as the first of her siblings to discover Narnia. Though for all of them, memories of their world faded as they grew, Lucy often looked back fondly on the day she met her family's closest friend.

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Lucy Pevensie's life had changed in the blink of an eye. One night, she was huddled in a bomb shelter with her family, and the next, she and her three siblings had been loaded onto a train and shipped away to a stranger's house, there to stay until the war ended. Who knew how long that would be, though... There had been a glimmer of hope that first night. Peter was always so wonderful about trying to keep her spirits high, but despite his promises that the next day would be better, it turned out to be anything but.

Rain poured down from the sky, trapping the four children inside for the day, where The Macready would certainly appear to spoil any fun they tried to have, terrible terror that she was.

"Gastro...vascular," Susan read out. It was her and Peter's attempt at a game. One of them would pick a word from the thick encyclopedia, and the other would attempt at guessing its meaning.

"Come on, Peter, gastrovascular," she prompted again after receiving no response.

Peter heaved a great sigh and turned his head to face her. "Is it Latin?" he asked boredly.

Susan checked the book. "Yes."

"Is it Latin for "worst game ever invented"?" Edmund said, sitting up from where he had been sprawled out on the floor. The boredom seemed to be infecting him as well, though he portrayed it as irritation.

Susan gave him a scowl, but sammed the book shut. It seemed she couldn't argue with that. The game was rather rotten.

Lucy suddenly perked up, a brilliant thought coming to mind. She stood from her perch on the window seat, coming over beside the arm of Peter's plush chair.

"We could play hide and seek!" she suggested, focusing her plea on her oldest brother.

Peter raised his eyebrows, and then said to her and Susan, "But we're already having so much fun..."

Susan huffed slightly at his antics.

Lucy pouted, knowing he was teasing her. "Come on Peter, please?" She grabbed his hand, giving him the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster. "Pretty please?"

Peter slowly grinned.

"One... two... three... four..." he began.

Lucy burst into a bright smile.