SELCOUTH - P. PEVENSIE (1)

II. Euneirophrenia

Euneirophrenia - the peace of mind that comes from having pleasant dreams.

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As much as Peter and Susan had both promised their younger sister a beautiful day the next day, it seemed to be raining to no end. No matter how many times they said, "It'll let up!" in a cheerful voice, mother nature seemed to have other plans. Rain, rain, and more rain. Though Lilith generally predicted the worst, even she was disappointed in the ever-coming sheet of rain. Maybe it was Lucy's sadness rubbing off on her.

"Come on, Peter. Gastrovascular?"

Susan had begun a game for the older kids consisting of her reading from a rather large dictionary and having the others guess what the word meant. They had been on this one, gastrovascular, for around ten minutes. Lilith had given up after two, going back over to Lucy and reading more. Edmund was laying under a chair, fiddling with something on the bottom. His eyes had rolled back in his head so many times since they had started that Lilith began to worry they would get stuck there forever. Maybe he wouldn't be able to glare at her anymore if they did.

Peter sighed, causing Lilith to look up at him. "Is it Latin?"

"Yes." Susan replied, her voice monotone. Whether or not that was a good thing was up for debate, though since it wasn't whiny or sad, Lilith suspected it was.

"Is it Latin for 'worst game ever invented'?" Edmund said from under the chair, grinning at his own genius. Lilith had to admit it was a little funny, though she would never say so to Susan, whose face had dropped when Edmund spoke. To cover up her annoyance at not being able to keep everyone entertained, she pulled a face at her little brother, which Lilith did laugh at. Peter grinned a little at her laugh, turning to see her. As with the night before, his smile filled her with music. Lucy must have noticed her grin and the hitch in her breath, as she rose from Lilith's arms to suggest another idea.

"We could play hide and seek," she said, going to where Peter sat. He tore his gaze away from Lilith to look at his little sister, his eyes glinting.

"But we're already having so much fun," he said, turning to look at Susan. She slammed the book shut on her lap in anger, fed up with everyone else being so critical when they hadn't come up with anything better.

"Peter, please! Pretty please," Lucy added, doing her best puppy dog eyes. Lilith laughed behind her, nodding to Peter. He relented, beginning to count.

"One, two, three-"

"What?" Edmund demanded as he stood up, annoyed that they were playing what Lucy had suggested. Susan and he both bolted from the room, Lucy and Lilith waiting until Peter was up against a cabinet to leave. As Lilith ushered Lucy out of the room, she glanced back at the boy. She had meant to admire him secretly, but he was looking back at her already. His small smile sent her happiness over the edge, making her let out a little laugh. He seemed surprised, but smiled wider at her laugh. Before she could do or say anything she'd regret later, she chased Lucy out of the room.

Susan had tucked herself into a cupboard, though both Edmund and Lucy were gone. Lilith had to go further into the hallways than she was used to, turning unfamiliar corners and going through new rooms. She finally found a spot where she could hide behind a curtain, though it seemed Edmund had the same idea.

"I was here first!" he protested, pulling the curtain away from her.

"Shove off, there's room enough for the both of us!"

"Hey! Hey, guys!" Lucy came bounding up to them, her face twisted into a beautiful smile. Edmund, however, could not see the beauty in it, and was also very insistent on winning.

"Shut up! He'll hear us!" he hissed at his sister.

Peter's smile was smug as he saw the lot of them. "I don't think you all have quite got the idea of this game."

"Weren't you all wondering where I was?" Lucy sounded surprised and a little hurt.

"That's why he was seeking you," Edmund replied, clearly annoyed that she had gotten him caught.

"Does this mean I win?" Susan clearly seemed pleased she had outlasted the others.

"I don't think Lucy wants to play anymore," Peter seemed mildly annoyed that Lucy had screwed up half the group's hiding places.

"But I've been gone for hours." she said, looking between them all. The rest of the kids looked at each other, bewildered as to how she had come to that conclusion.

"Lu, I followed you out after maybe thirty seconds, and it's been, what, a minute since Peter started looking?" Peter nodded at her assessment. "You've been gone for maybe two minutes at most."

"But the wardrobe, and Mr. Tumnus..."

"The what? Who?" Lucy's behavior seemed odd even to her siblings. They knew she had quite the imagination, even for a small child, but this was over the top. She really believed in everything she was saying.

"Come on," she said, grabbing Peter's hand and running in the direction she'd just come from. The others followed close behind, not letting Peter and Lucy out of view in fear of getting lost. Peter glanced back a few times to pull confused faces at Susan, who shrugged every time. What was Lucy on about?

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"Lucy, the only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe," Susan said. She and Edmund had knocked on both sides, gone in, sent Lucy in, but there was no magical forest Lucy had spoken of.

"One game at a time, Lu," Peter's annoyance seemed to have evaporated, and instead he tried to be the mature one. "We don't all have your imagination." They began to walk back out, presumably to continue Susan's guessing game.

"But I wasn't imagining!" Lucy's tone was both hurt and angry. The others turned back, all of her siblings annoyed and Lilith a little worried. Maybe the young girl had gotten a fever?

"That's enough, Lucy," Susan's voice had taken on a warning tone.

"I wouldn't lie about this!"

"Well, I believe you," Edmund said, stepping forward. Everyone else seemed shocked, including Lucy.

"You do?"

"Yeah, of course," Lilith began to worry Edmund would only get himself in trouble. "Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard?"

"Oh, will you just stop," Peter's annoyed tone returned as he stepped towards his younger brother. "You just have to make everything worse, don't you?"

"It was just a joke!" Lilith had to admit, Peter's reaction was a tad bit strong for what Edmund said. Then again, he had to put up with it on a daily basis.

"When are you going to learn to grow up?"

"Shut up!" Edmund was angry now, getting up in Peter's face as he yelled, "You think you're dad, but you're not!" before running out of the room. Susan looked at Peter in disappointment.

"Well that was nicely handled," she said before following after Ed. Peter's jaw set as he watched her go, turning back to Lilith.

"You going to storm out on me too?" he demanded. She was shocked at his rudeness. She hadn't done anything! It must have been because he was already annoyed, but that was no excuse to be rude like that.

"Well, I wasn't, but there's no need to be such a prick about it!" At this she did leave, going back to the room where she had left her book. Maybe if she had turned she would have seen the apology in his eyes, or heard his tone soften as he said to Lucy, "Susan's right, Lucy. That's enough."

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wait i just realized how short this chapter is omg. sorry. 

enjoy! i don't really like this one, but it's kinda a filler chapter because yeah. also lilith called peter a prick and i think it's hilarious. even though i wrote it. probably because i wrote it. oops. anyways. have a great day darlings! 

- cecily <3