Chapter Two:     Unexpected Ruins

//I'll get past the what was
If I live long enough//

Buffy was unaware for just how long she and Peter sat there on the shimmering white sand as she paid attention to his account of the tale of their first trip to Narnia, of how they vanquished an malevolent witch; restoring peace to the land and becoming Kings and Queens of Narnia.

When he was at long last done, she looked away from him and gazed out at the unsoiled aqua coloured ocean and wondered just how she was supposed to respond to all she had just been told. She speculated that in a perfect world that this would be the time to come clean with all of her secrets and permit the group to move on, but even though this stretch of Narnia was gorgeous; she guessed that it was hardly a perfect world and so she kept quiet.

“Well?” he questioned, a little perturbed with her sustained silence.

Sighing, she slipped out of her blazer and removed the tie from around her neck. “I believe you.”

“You do?” Peter replied in bewilderment. He must have expected her to dispute or put up some refuse to accept to his tale. “Why?”

Buffy merely shot him a glare that evidently said, ‘are you barmy.’ “Well... since we were just transported to another world via magic, I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Peter!” a female voice called out. “Come join us.”

Buffy glimpsed over to where the others were playing in the waves and saw that it was the youngest one, Lucy, which was beckoning her brother to the group – as though they could not be separated for more than a few minutes at a time. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Peter standing up and brushing the sand off of his school trousers.

“Are you coming?” he asked her, holding out his right hand to help her up.

She shook her head, “No. I’m just going to sit here for a while and sort out today’s events.” When he didn’t make a move she spoke again, “Go ahead. I promise I’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure...” he said to some extent unhappily, as he retracted his hand and gave her one last look before he went off to join his siblings in their play.

Once he was gone, she could not avoid peeking over at the four of them splashing about – happy-go-lucky – getting pleasure from spending the time together, for the moment simply being kids and she felt the acrimony increase in her heart. When was the last time she had been allowed to be just a kid?

For certain it was before Merrick had told her she was The Slayer at the inexperienced age of fifteen. No, it was even before that. In Los Angeles, before her parents split-up, she had been taking care of herself – and hiding the damage under her designer smokescreen – and all because when she had turned eleven she had been left on her own while her parents worked and socialised with friends, leaving her at home. It was a wonder they had even noticed the slayer-stuff at all.

Sure her mother had tried, in part, to make it up to her once the divorce was through and they had moved to Sunnydale. However as time went by things had been reverting with her mother constantly at work or out of town on business trips, but this time she hadn’t been bothered. She was used to it and at least now she’d had the gang and Angel to keep her normal and give her a purpose to keep in the fight.

Taking a profound and comforting breath, she tried to centre her mind on something else and that is when she became aware that Edmund had stopped playing and splashing about and was staring attentively at something. Standing up, she brushed the sand off of her skirt and legs and looked in the identical direction as he.

She could see a ruin of some sort set high up on top of a precipitous, rock-strewn cliff. A little apprehensive at the height of the cliff-face – even slayers can get vertigo – she inched her way over to the others, just in time to hear their discussion.

“What is it?”

“Where do you think we are?” Edmund asked suddenly.

Peter just looked at him, “Well... where do you think?”

“It’s just I don’t remember there being any ruins in Narnia.”

The other three Pevensies joined Buffy and Edmund in staring at the remnants, speculating about what was once all the way up there. The group exchanged glances and Buffy all of a sudden knew that she was going to have to deal with her uncomfortableness at the elevation, because she was going to have to climb it.

Climbing up the cliff-face took the group the majority of the day, even with using an ancient path that had been carved into the rock. It was so weather-beaten, slippery and damaged in parts that it took forever to get up, in particular when you had to remain with the group and not use your slayer strength and agility to do it in half the time.

When they at long last reached the zenith of the cliff, the five of them collapsed on an unkempt patch of grass to respite. Everyone’s additional clothing items were removed and discarded in an endeavour to cool down and take it easy after the exhaustion of climbing. Edmund and Lucy collected apples from an adjacent tree and the group munched on them trying to restore their dwindling energy levels.

After approximately half an hour Peter recommended that it was time to get on with it and look around the ruins. Every person – particularly Buffy – uttered their protestations at moving so soon after the climb, but in the end they all did get up.

They split up with each one taking a segment of the ruin to look over. Buffy couldn’t help but run her fingers over the smooth stone and marble work that was left and speculate what had once stood proudly at this picturesque position. Whatever it was, she had decided that it had to have been extremely distinguished.

Ahead of her she watched as Lucy walked – barefoot – out onto what she thought was an old balcony. Even from her discrete distance, Buffy could see the astonishment in the younger girl’s eyes as she looked out of Narnia and drank in the vista.

“I wonder who used to live here?” she yelled so that each person could hear her.

Since she had been thinking the same thing and had absolutely no answers, so she remained quiet and continued her examination. She kept on walking until she stumbled over something solid that had been concealed in the grass and weeds, picking it up she found that she held something made of gold.

As she was looking at it, Susan came over to join her and a flash of recognition crossed her eyes as she took hold of it. “It’s impossible,” she yelled to the group. “But I think that we used to live here.”

Like a tidal wave they congregated around the two girls, all desperate to take a look at the artefact that had encouraged Susan’s bold statement. Each one held it and searched their memories until it came to Edmund’s turn and then they were surprised.

“That’s mine,” he told them. “From my chess set.”

“Which chess set?” Peter asked moving over to stand next to Buffy, who did not even appear to notice him.

Edmund shot Peter a dirty look, “I didn’t exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley, did I?”

Lucy shook her head, as if trying to rid her mind of images she did not want to see. “It can’t be.”

Lucy took off running and the others pursued, anxious that in her state of mind the young girl may accidentally injure herself. They found her standing on what remained of a raised area, where at the rear of her sat the remnants of four items. She beckoned her siblings up there with her and at accomplishing that goal, set about lining them up in an order Buffy could not figure out.

“Imagine walls and column over there,” she told him pointing. “And a glass roof...”

A collective look of dreadfulness and revelation came over their faces. That was when Peter whispered, “Cair Paravel.”

“Cara what?”

“Cair Paravel,” Susan replied her voice husky with emotion. “It was our palace – where we lived, ruled and played.”

“Oh,” Buffy answered. “So what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Peter responded determinedly, his High King persona firmly in place. “But I am going to find out.”

They continued to scrutinize the area, this time though they all stuck together. Buffy deduced that the reasoning had something to do with the actuality that they were traumatised that these ruins had once been their residence and they were terrified of what else they might find. Abruptly Edmund broke away from them and set about investigating a construction that looked extraneous when matched up to its surroundings.

“Catapults.”

Peter looked at Edmund in confusion, “What?”

“This didn’t just happen.”

“Well duh,” Buffy interrupted. “Things don’t go all ruined overnight.”

Edmund merely glared at her and continued, “Cair Paravel was attacked.”

The girls gasped in horror at Edmund’s announcement, while Buffy stared out at the view.  She didn’t have an emotional association to this world or to this ruin, so it just didn’t trouble her with what was said about it. While Edmund and the girls were hypothesizing, she did become aware that Peter had wandered off and she gave into the spontaneous decision to follow him.

He didn’t go exceptionally far, only around a corner and on a small ways, but she did observe that he gave the impression that he was searching for something specific and he was so caught up in his pursuit that he never even detected that she was there with him.

“What are you doing?”

He jumped and gave a small shriek in surprise, “You scared me.”

“I could tell.”

Red faced, he went back to his task, “I’m looking for our treasure hold-“

“Treasure?” she questioned. “Like rubies, diamonds and pearls?”

“No,” he told her. “More like our belongings.” It was then he seemed to find something, “Yes.”

“Found it?”

He smiled at her, “I did.” Then he turned and yelled, “Everyone, come here.”

The others materialized more or less instantaneously and smiled when they realised just what Peter was up to. Edmund joined him as they moved a succession of branches out of the way and a false stone wall that exposed the existence of an old wooden door behind it.

Peter, in a hurry, broke the door down – an effortless task seeing as it was so ancient that it was more or less rotted through – and uncovered the darkness of the interior of the building. Perceptibly needing a way to illuminate way inside, he ripped a narrow piece off of the front of his school shirt and wrapped it around one of the smaller branches.

“I don’t suppose any of you have any matches?”

Edmund rummaged through his satchel and pulled something out. “No, but would this help?”

Peter grabbed the torch and laughed at his brother’s joke. “You might’ve mentioned that a bit sooner.”

With Peter illuminating the route they headed into the interior with Buffy bringing up the rear. A few metres into the building steps commenced and as they gradually descended them, it seemed as though there was an interminable quantity of them and then all of a sudden they were at the bottom. Passing through a set of wrought iron gates, they entered a shadowy chamber that contained four statues – one for each Pevensie – with a chest positioned in front of each.

“I can’t believe it,” Peter said the wonder evident in his voice. “It’s all still here.”

With nothing else to do, Buffy sat down on a pile of rubble that was just about the right height for a seat and watched as the others all went through their personal belongings from long ago. Her attention was drawn to Lucy as she pulled out a dress from her chest and laughed.

“I was so tall.”

“Well,” Susan answered logically from her position next to her. “You were older then.”

“As opposed to hundreds of years later... when you’re younger,” Edmund added as he put a helmet on his head.

Laughing still, Lucy went over to Buffy and handed her the dress. “Here you go,” she told her bashfully.

“Um – thank you,” Buffy responded to the unanticipated gift.

“Oh, come on, Lu,” Edmund said looking at the dress Lucy had beforehand held up. “Do you in reality think that will fit her? She’s only just taller than you are now.”

Susan smacked her younger brother and started to say something to him, but Buffy wasn’t listening, she was to spellbound looking at what she had been gifted. The dress was in extraordinarily good condition taking into consideration just how old it must be. It was long and flowing in an intermediate green colour with graceful flowers embroidered around the collar, long sleeves and hem.

Minutes later Buffy found herself concerned by the resonance of a disgruntled groan, she took the justification to look up and found that the commotion had come from Susan who was digging through her trunk looking for something almost hysterically.

What was going on was soon sorted out by Lucy. “What is it?”

“My horn,” the teenager whined. “I must’ve left it on my saddle the day we went back.”

“Are you sure?”

Susan nodded, “I’ve been through everything. It’s just not here.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll find it,” Lucy assured her. “I can feel it.”

Buffy twisted away from the sisters and endeavoured to chase away the awkward feeling. That insignificant talk between the sisters had reminded her too much of the very last conversation that she’d had with Willow. The one where her best friend had made an effort to persuade her that everything was going to be all right.

Blinking back the unforeseen sniffle, she sidetracked herself by looking up and seeing what the rest were up to. As she elevated her eyes she caught sight of Peter grabbing an elaborate sword with a lion’s head and unsheathed it. He scrutinized it in the murky light and Buffy just about gasped in approbation at the weapon and speculated cunningly how much persuasion he may possibly need in order to let her try it out.

“When Aslan bears his teeth, winter meets its death-“

“When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again,” Lucy finished. Her tiny face crumpled in supreme melancholy, “Everyone we knew - Mr. Tumnus and The Beavers – they’re all gone.”

Seeing an opportunity Peter decided to take charge, “I think it’s time we found out what’s going on.”

“And we will,” Susan added. “As soon as you and Ed leave us to change our clothes.”

“Are you sure,” Peter said. “I could stay and make sure...”

Edmund looked at Peter, “They are our sisters.”

“Not all of them,” Peter whispered back.

Edmund shook his head, “You are mental.”

Susan looked at the two expectedly, “Are you going or not?”

“We’re going,” Edmund said as he grabbed hold of Peter.

The two boys left the chamber, all the time Edmund was complaining about girls and clothes, grumbling that was so piercing that it could be clearly heard by the girls.  Once they were gone the girls set about changing out of their school clothes and into Narnian clothing.

As soon as Buffy freed herself from the scratchy textile of the school uniform, she felt immeasurable release and a sensation of being closer to her true self than she’d been for hours. Standing there in a white slip, more or less identical to the one Susan wore; she picked up the dress and stepped into it. However when she pulled it up onto her shoulders she found that she could no longer reach the fastenings on the back of it.

“Here,” Susan said seeing her difficulty. “Let me help.”

Susan did up the dress and Buffy marvelled at the reality that it fit, even if it were made for somebody a good five inches taller than she was. It was then that she wished fervently for a mirror so she could see how dreadful she was looking and then questioned why she even cared, it wasn’t like she had anyone to make an impression upon. Before they went outside, they took turns doing each other’s hair so that it matched their outfits, which in essence meant that Buffy’s earlier hair style was repeated, where she held it to some extent back with a clip.

When they ultimately went outside, Edmund pushed past them muttering about how he would never comprehend girls and something less capable of being heard which Buffy decided she didn’t wish to know because without a doubt it would not have been flattering to her gender. Peter followed him, virtually falling down the stairs after telling the girls that they looked lovely.

Buffy collapsed down onto the grass where the boys had been sitting while they waited and questioned how she was ever going to walk in the dress without killing herself. She didn’t become aware of the exchange of looks between the sisters or the fact that they were inching closer to her.

“So... Buffy,” Susan said sitting down next to her. “Tell us about yourself?”

“Like what?” Buffy replied as she was surrounded.

“Anything...”

“And everything,” Lucy added from her other side.

“Uh – I’m not very interesting.”

“I doubt that,” Lucy said.

“Okay,” Buffy began. “I’m an only child, with no pets and parents who despise each other. That just about wraps me up.”

“What about a boyfriend?” Lucy asked.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Well... you don’t think Peter thought we looked pretty. Did you?” Susan said.

The conversation was stalled – at least temporarily – by the return of the boys, who had managed to change in a fifth of the time it had taken the girls. Buffy had to admit they did not look like a bunch of school children anymore and she warily eyed Peter, attempting to ignore Susan’s speculation. A boy with a crush is something she just did not need right now.

“Well... shall we get to it then?”

End Part

Notes:

I want to thank everyone for their reviews and support.

Lyrics:

LeAnn Rimes – One of These Days