Return to Narnia (Edmund Pevensie) (FINISHED)

Returning

Edmund Pevensie was in yet another fight.

   Susan pulled him away and after a long moment of struggling, even Peter had to intervene and help her. Which was saying something, since more than anything it was usually Peter getting into the fights and Edmund only getting involved because he wanted to help. It had always been like that. Peter was the hot head, and Edmund was the one who jumped in when he was needed. If Peter was going to get beat up in a fight, Edmund would do it at his side. It wasn't right that Peter was the one forcing Edmund to be logical. To see reason. But... nothing was right anymore. Not since they'd left Narnia.

   It had been five years. One year since they'd been sent to boarding school, in which things had gotten increasingly bad, but five total since they'd been to Narnia.

Edmund was devastated, and as time passed it was showing more and more. Leaving behind the girl he loved had taken a tole on him, and continued to do so more every day. Not to say that was exactly a rare thing with the Pevensie siblings these days. They'd all left something behind.

Susan had left behind a society she had mastered her hold around. She was not used to the way this world worked, having memorized what it was like to fit into dresses, and the processes of courting, and the patterns of going to balls with princes. Peter had left behind power and influence. He could make a difference in Narnia. His words held weight, and he was an extraordinary leader. These days no one listened to him or his advise and his words meant nothing. Not only was he no longer a King, he was no longer a man. He was almost as angry as Edmund, hating that they treated him like some regular punk kid when he was a full grown king not but five years ago. Lucy had left behind her very heart. Her home was in Narnia, and the way that she could feed her curiosity and excitement and love of adventure and all of the things that made Lucy practically sparkle in the light of the Narnia sun were... stifled here. Duller. She tried to keep her siblings going and she tried to keep her hopes up but five years had passed and she was slowly feeling herself... fade away. She had responsibilities that shut her up and locked her down instead of fueling her and feeding her. People who demanded things of her that left no room for the things her soul needed. She couldn't recover fast enough.

The people around them could tell too. Not just that the siblings were missing something essential, but that they were... different. It was in the way Peter walked and spoke, his eyes sharp and his jaw locked and his shoulders stiff, back straight - all relaxed, as if the rigid posture was completely natural to him. The way he fought was so foreign. Even against several people, his feet moved so fluidly and he seemed to see each of their weaknesses as if they were mapped out. The only way to defeat him was to get him very angry so his head cleared. That and, as time passed, he seemed to lose it a little bit at a time.

Susan had become ethereal. Graceful, gorgeous. Gentle. She had a smile so soft and lovely that it pulled at your gut - both because of its beauty, but also it's danger. She was so tantalizing that it made one nervous. She could make you do anything if she asked nicely enough. Her touches left warmth on any skin she found, and everyone was drawn to her as if they were apart of her. Trying to reunite. Come home again. She spoke differently, inflections off and using words that made her sound ancient. People had mused that she was a Queen in another life... Well, they had five years ago. Susan had started to harden and become cold. She rarely spoke to anyone anymore, let alone touch them. Her magnetism had turned into a repelling force. She was sharp, snappy. She shut everyone out. At one point she had stopped gliding across the floor when she walked, and started to hit the ground harder than everyone else. Like an angel who had lost her wings.

Edmund had bit hit the worst. No one knew why, but when he had first been around starting five years ago, he never teased his siblings anymore or picked fights or been the rude little boy he had been known as, holding onto the past and a father he missed dearly as he shut everyone else out. Edmund had seemed very poised and out together. He made jokes and witty remarks and even if you hated him you couldn't stop yourself from laughing. He had a sharpness to him, a mischievousness in every curve and line of his being. He could climb to any height, and often sat in the rafters or on the roofs of building, grinning while his teachers yelled at him. He sat so poised, so practiced, that he seemed to grow larger and fiercer - like a Lion. He became hard to look at, and made one nervous to be around. He was like swimming: beautiful, thrilling, and wonderful to explore, but dangerous if you stayed under too long. The poise and control had waned though and now... he was only unbridled rage. All danger, no reprieve. Barred teeth and curled fists and narrowed eyes. He was broken. He was missing something.