FAITH | Caspian X [1]

What's Happening

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

I looked at Lucy with wide eyes. How am I supposed to explain all of this to her? I looked at Mr. Tumnus with panic in my eyes. He looked at me with a calm expression. I looked back at Lucy and tried to control my breathing.
"I'll explain everything to you later, okay?" I said in a soft voice. She nodded and smiled at me. She then turned to Mr. Tumnus.
"You're Mr. Tumnus, right?" She asked and the faun nodded. "I'm Anna's younger sister, Lucy Pevensie." She said in a sweet and kind voice, extending her hand for him to shake. He looked at it, confused. I then remembered that this is all new to him.
"Oh, you shake it." I explained with a smile. He looked at me confused.
"Why?" I thought about an explanation, but to be honest, I have no idea. I don't see a reason for shaking hands, but I guess someone did. I don't think Lucy came up with anything either.
"I... I don't know. People do it on the street when they meet each other." She said, and Mr. Tumnus looked at me for a second. I nodded in agreement. He looked back at Lucy. He grabbed her right hand in his left one, and shook it. I chuckled when I saw how he did it, and she giggled and started swinging their hands in the air. I smiled at her childish innocence. Mr. Tumnus laughed nervously.
"Well then, Lucy Pevensie, from the shining city of War Drobe, in the wonderous land of Spare Oom, how would it be if you and Anna came and had tea with me?" He asked in the same, kind voice that I grew to love over some time, opening his umbrella. Lucy looked at me for permission, and I nodded. She was about to agree, but then must have remembered something, because she frowned.
"Well, thank you very much, but we..." She trailed off, and I looked her. "We should probably be getting back."
"Don't worry, Lucy. We'll be fine." I told her, and she looked at me, still a little uncertain.
"Anna's right. Besides it's only just around the corner." Mr. Tumnus said with a smile. "And there will be a glorious fire with toast and tea and cakes. And perhaps we'll even break into the sardines." He raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know..." Lucy trailed off, uncertain.
"Oh please. I rarely have any guests lately." He begged, and Lucy looked at me, as if asking for permission. I nodded with a reassuring smile, and she looked back at Mr. Tumnus with a smile.
"Well, maybe we can come for a little while." She said, and picked up another package from the snowy ground. I picked up the last one, and then looked at Mr. Tumnus. Lucy walked over to his side and hooked her arm through his. I smiled at them, and then went over to his other side and hooked my arm through his other one." If you have sardines." She finished, and looked at him with a smile. I chuckled, and so did Mr. Tumnus, but it sounded a little off. Almost nervous. I decided to shrug it off as nothing.
"As many as you want." He assured her with a small smile. We then made our way over to his house.

*15 minutes later*

We finally reached our destination, which was a door embedded in a stone wall. Lucy stopped dead in her tracks and gasped in amazement. I smiled down at her, whilst she looked at the door with fascination in her brown, wide eyes.
"We're here." Mr. Tumnus announced, looking back at us. "Come, come ." We both smiled and walked over to him. "Here you go." He said, opening the door for us like a real gentleman.
"Oh, you're so nice, Mr. Tumnus." Lucy complimented with a smile.
"Oh, thank you very much." He replied with a smile. Lucy and I walked inside, and Mr. Tumnus followed after couple of seconds. I don't know what it was, but there was something off about him. I decided to ignore it for now, and just enjoy being back in Narnia. But again, there was something off about the land itself as well. Lucy placed the package she was holding on a the staircase, and looked around in wonder. I placed the package that I was holding on a small table, and made myself comfortable in a chair near the crackling fire. I saw Lucy pick up a picture of Mr. Tumnus's father, who I knew and liked very much. I wonder where he is now. "Oh and that... That is my father." Mr. Tumnus said, pointing to the picture she was holding.
"He seems nice. You two look alike." She said with a smile. I saw Mr. Tumnus freeze, and look down in an almost shame.
"Oh no... We are very different." He said quietly.
"Our dad is fighting in the war." Lucy said with a frown. I got up from my seat and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me, and I hugged her closer to my body. We both missed Dad. Mr. Tumnus looked back at us.
"My father fought in a war too." He said, and I looked at him.
"Where is he now?" I asked, fearing the answer. Mr. Tumnus looked down, and that is all I needed to know that his father was gone. I let go of Lucy and walked over to him. I then pulled him into a hug, and he hugged me back tightly. We finally let go of each other, and I sat back down in the chair next to the fire.
"But it was a long, long time ago. Before this horrendous winter." He said from where he was in his small kitchen.
"Winter's not that bad." Lucy said, while looking at the collection of Mr. Tumnus's books. "You can ride the sleighs, have snowball fights." I looked at Mr. Tumnus and we both smiled at my younger sister. "Oh! And there is Christmas."
"Unfortunately... No. We didn't have Christmas here for 100 years." He said, placing the tray with our snacks and tea on the table in front of me. Lucy and I looked at him in shock. 100 years?! How long has it been since I was here? It's only been a year for me, and I remember playing in the meadows full of flowers in the sunlight.
"What? No presents for 100 years?" Lucy asked, coming over to stand next to me.
"We have winter all the time, but no Christmas." Mr. Tumnus said, sitting down across from me. "A very severe winter." I tapped my lap, indicating for Lucy to sit down, since there was no more chairs. She sat down on my lap, and I wrapped my arms around her. I saw Mr. Tumnus glance at us with a smile, and I smiled to myself. "But you would love Narnia in the summer." He said, giving each of us a cup of tea. I know Lucy would love it during summer. It was like a dream. "We fauns, dance with dryads the whole night." He said, pouring some milk into Lucy's tea. he didn't pour any to mine, probably still remembering that I don't like tea with milk. "And we don't get tired at all." He continued with a smile. "And the music! Ah, wonderful!" He exclaimed, and I smiled at the memory of him dancing around the bonfire with his father and some other fauns and dryads. It was really wonderful. "Music... Would ... Would you like to hear some it now?" He asked, and I looked at Lucy for opinion.
"I would love to." She replied with a smile. He smiled at her, and then reached up for a box on the shelf above his head. He opened the box, and took out his flute.
"Do any of you know any Narnian Lullabies?" He asked, and I, again, noticed something off about him. I decided to lie, and see what was going on.
"No, sorry." Lucy said, and then he looked at me. I shook my head.
"No."
"Oh, that's great!" He exclaimed, enthusiastically. A little too enthusiastically. He put away the box and looked at his flute. "Because this music sounds nothing like it." He acts really strange, and I started to get suspicious. He cleared his throat, and then started playing.
The music was absolutely beautiful, but again, there was something off about it.I heard Lucy gasp, and I looked at her in concern. I saw her staring at the fire, and followed her gaze. There in the fire I saw shapes of many creatures dancing and having fun like the last time I was here. I heard a crack, and saw Lucy's cup on the floor, broken. I felt Lucy's head fall onto my shoulder, and then I realized that the music Mr. Tumnus was playing was the most effective Narnian Lullaby. It can make anyone fall asleep within a minute. I looked at him in horror, and then felt my eyes drop. Then, I saw only darkness, but before I went completely unconscious, I heard a lion's roar. What's happening?