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𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 in the air as the otherworlders and the Pevensies tried to comprehend the meaning of the words. The Hogwarts students had explained who they were and how exactly they had ended up into Narnia. It had taken them at least an hour and the weaponry laid untouched on the ground, completely forgotten while the flames of the torches slowly diminished in brightness.

'Wizards and. . . witches?' Caspian repeated with a deep frown as his dark eyes traveled over the group. 'You have got to be kidding, right?' he continued, but in his heart, Caspian knew there couldn't be another explanation for Vittoria's hair that had changed colours.

'I thought there wasn't any magic in your world?' Caspian asked the Pevensies, but the siblings looked as flabbergasted as he was.

Darkan crossed eyes with Mina though she desperately tried to avoid his gaze, and the Archenlander realized something. 'So the inside jokes weren't inside jokes?'

Mina hesitated for a moment but then she nodded in agreement.

Darkan focussed on Oliver, his expression unreadable but a muscle twitched in the corner of his mouth. 'Broomsticks?'

'We play a sport on flying broomsticks.'

Darkan now grinned openly as he imagined people flying around and he turned his attention back on Mina.

'And wands?' he asked, his blue eyes sparkling in excitement.

Mina took her wand out of her yellow-toned jerkin. The reddish colour of the rosewood was veined with a darker colour, almost black, and Darkan saw in an instance it fit perfectly in her hand. The wand wasn't just an ordinary stick.

'It's usually what we use to perform our magic, but as we said, it doesn't work here in Narnia,' Mina said, twirling her wand a few times but no matter how hard she tried, the tip still wouldn't light up.

Darkan and Lucy seemed to be the only ones who were thrilled by the revelations as the others still had a suspicious aura hanging around them.

'How come, though,' Edmund started, 'your wand magic doesn't work here but Vittoria's meta-whatever does?'

'Metamorphic abilities,' Vittoria corrected him under her breath, but he didn't pay any attention to her and George softly stroke with his thumb over her hand. He felt kind of bad for causing her abilities to kick in, but he would do it all over again. No one except him touched her like that.

'We don't know,' Fernrose growled between gritted teeth as an answer to Edmund's question, her voice dripping with annoyance. 'We didn't exactly have had much time to figure out the fine details.'

Giulia crossed her arms, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. 'Precisely,' she said. 'Or did you all forget we nearly froze to death in the forest? Or how we were told we're in a completely different world? And how we got dragged to the tomb of a talking lion where─,'

'All right, all right,' Edmund interrupted her. 'We get the point.'

'Still, why didn't you all tell us the whole truth before?' Peter asked, his voice harsh and demanding but he appeared downcast when his eyes landed upon Elodie.

Elodie's shoulders slumped and she stared at her folded hands in guilt.

Phoenix, who stood next to her, snickered ─ even though it was bad timing ─ and his laugh bounced off the stone walls. 'Oh yeah, that would have been a great ice-breaker. "Hi, nice to meet you, we're witches and wizards from Great Britain. Thank you for rescuing us." Can you imagine that?'

Ella and Noelle couldn't help but to chuckle as well, and soon everyone had a slight smile on their face.

'Very well,' Caspian began. 'We cannot change what has happened, but from now on, no more lies. We need to be able to trust each other blindly.'

They all nodded. 'No more lies,' the group repeated and Caspian nodded in satisfaction.

'Good, because even though Aslan himself cannot explain it at the moment, I am sure you are all meant to be here.'

Lucy felt her heart drop as she remembered the imprisoned and pierced form of Aslan in the mist, but she snapped out of her thoughts when Caolán gently touched her arm, sensing her sadness. She faintly smiled up to him, but changed the topic before anyone else knew what was truly on her mind.

'I am famished,' Lucy said. 'Who else is hungry? I think it is almost time for dinner, yes?' she asked her older sister since June had claimed the role of their cook.

Some answered in agreement while others ─ like Phoenix and Ron ─ were far more enthusiastic about food and practically started to drool by the prospect of dinner.

June snorted in an attempt to keep her disbelief to herself. Surely they couldn't forgive them that easily? However, when she crossed eyes with Caspian who shrugged in nonchalance, as if to say why not, June understood it already was in the past. Apparently it was that easy.

'Fine,' she gave in. 'I'll see what I can prepare for dinner.'

Everyone gathered their gear and weapons again and though the atmosphere still felt somewhat tense, the conversations started to arise between the old and new-found friends again.

Peter, Edmund, Darkan and Caolán each lifted one of the several torches lighting up the improvised training area from their standards, and in a line, the group set course back to the cave they had spent the night.

The tunnels shot in a maze-like logic through the How, but the secret to not get lost was to follow the drawings of the faun as they led to either the Stone Table or the entrance. The round yet high walls stood just far enough apart for three people to walk next to each other and as their shadows danced over the brown-reddish stone, Peter paused in his steps when they came across a painting of Mr. Tumnus; pointing with his umbrella to a slanted upwards tunnel. The Stone Table lay at the other end of it.

'Pete,' Edmund called over his shoulder when he noticed his brother no longer walked next to him.

'Go on with the others,' Peter answered, a bit absentminded. 'I'll catch up in a minute.'

Edmund suppressed a sigh, already halfway turned around. 'You shouldn't go wander around by yourself. It's not safe.'

'I'll be fine,' Peter said with a roll of his eyes. 'Nothing has happened since last night.'

'You're still pretty stupid for a High King,' Edmund retorted.

Peter shot him an annoyed look but directed it at Elodie when she stepped forward.

'I'll come with you,' she volunteered but she froze in her movements when she caught his angry glare. She bit her bottom lip. 'Or not,' she muttered.

Edmund's eyes shot between Elodie and Peter. 'It is either her or me,' he said with a grin as he knew fully well Peter would prefer her company over his.

Peter set his jaw but then gave her a sharp nod before stepping into the dark tunnel. Even though it went up steeply, he walked with long strides and Elodie had to jog a few paces to catch up with him.

She tried to think of anything to say but when she glanced up at him, he seemed even more closed-off than usual and her apology died on its way to her lips. The silence hanging between them grew heavier as the seconds passed and Elodie started to walk a bit behind him to leave him alone with his thoughts.

However, when they reached the opening leading down to the Stone Table, Peter stopped walking again. He lifted his torch a bit higher, causing the orange glow to light up the first few steps in front of them. Just like Lucy, he hoped Aslan would miraculously show up but Edmund's warning rang through his mind and Elodie's presence behind him made him realize it might not be the best idea to test his luck. Who knew what lay in front of them, and with a sigh, he turned left, away from the entrance of the Stone Table.

Elodie quickly followed him but her curiosity got the upper hand. 'Where are we going?' she wondered. The darkness and meandering tunnels really messed with her sense of direction but when the temperature gradually dropped around them, she guessed they were heading to the outer wall of the How.

Peter, though, still didn't answer her and she couldn't take it anymore.

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner,' she blurted out and Peter faltered in his movements, squaring his shoulders as he cast a look back at her.

'It never seemed like the right time,' Elodie explained, 'but I didn't mean to lie. Please believe me?'

Peter tried not to get lost in her pleading eyes but as he tried to place himself in her shoes, he understood he would have acted the same way. After all, Edmund had jabbered out everything about himself and his siblings during his first encounter with the White Witch and that hadn't turned out all too great for him. Peter's expression softened and he smiled at her, causing a flicker of hope to spark in Elodie's chest again.

'I believe you,' Peter said. 'It's all right.' He stuck out his free hand and though Elodie expected an awkward handshake, a deep blush spread over her cheeks when he took her other hand and laced his fingers through hers. Her heart beat irregular in her chest but she didn't complain when he started walking again, holding her hand tightly and comforting.

The air around them felt freezing cold and the tunnel grew lighter as they reached the outer wall and a small opening. Snow and ice covered the ground in front of them as the storm had blown it inside.

'Do you hear that?' Peter asked but Elodie shook her head curiously. She didn't hear anything.

'Exactly,' Peter said, pulling her with him through the small opening. When he had been here with Caspian this morning, the stormy wind had howled through the tunnel, but now it was dead silent.

Elodie gasped for air in awe when her eyes were used to the bright scenery in front of them. They stood atop the squared entrance of the How and the rays of the setting sun fell on the layer of snow. The ice crystals sparkled like an ocean of freezing white and the darkening sky was no longer filled with tumbling and swirling clouds.

The snow storm had passed.

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𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓:

𝑽𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝑭𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒚 gracelikeaWave-
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