New Dawn: Caspian X Reader

Epilogue

Eustace Scrubb visited his sister and King Caspian only a few times in his teenage years. Though time was normal enough for the younger Scrubb, the years went far more quickly for (Name).

The first time Eustace had returned, he was surprised to find that nearly four years had passed in Narnia. It was a summery afternoon when he had somehow slipped through the mirror in his grandparents' bathroom, and he fell face first into a shallow stream. His hair was wet and dripping when he heard the pounding hoof-steps of a pair of grand stallions. Only moments later was he greeted by his elder sister looking, well, older.

She and Caspian had told Eustace that they had managed to bring the countries of Calormen and Archenland to a semi-peaceful alliance with Narnia and the other countries in the north. In addition to this, (Name) was working on an education system for the children previously unable to get schooling due to location or prejudices. His visit was shorter than that of his voyage on the Dawn Treader, however he achieved much with his sister and Caspian regardless.

The next time he wandered into Narnia was on the eve of his fourteenth birthday, and he had quite peacefully walked through the door of guest bedroom in the eldest Pevensie's new home.

It was an unceremonious arrival for himself, but nevertheless he still managed to surprise his newly-wedded sister as she stood at the altar, a delicate crown resting upon her head.

He still remembered how hard both of them had cried at the perfect coincidence that Aslan had allowed them to see each other for such an event.

Eustace had very little time between the wedding and his departure to properly enjoy Narnia like he had wished. Once again, Eustace was pulled into a disarray of conflict between an ancient race that had awoken in the far south and the Narnian's living in the northwest. Queen (Name) had to stay within kingdom grounds for 'personal' reasons — her wardrobe shifting to that of larger dresses to hide her growing stomach — so it was left to Eustace and King Caspian to help aid the Narnian people.

They bonded better than they had before, mostly in part to their forced companionship, and Eustace found his new brother-in-law to be significantly more tolerable than he had anticipated all those years ago.

The last time Eustace went to Narnia was only a few weeks before his last year in secondary school. He had managed to gain a spot in a prestigious university in America, and he was very much looking forward to exploring his own world as a man, not just the one he had the joy of traversing in his years as a boy.

It was much safer to travel by plane in 1950, and Eustace was quite happy to experience what it was like to fly on something that didn't have a mind of its own. His companion on the trip, a girl named Jill Pole, sat next to him, her thin fingers rifling through one of Eustace's old notebooks. Unlike most transcontinental flights in that decade, the plane Eustace and Jill had boarded had a different destination than the one they had anticipated.

Eustace had thought he had fallen through the floor of the small jet. Steel splintered around him as he fell, but his feet hit something soft — pillowy even. His lithe frame buckled in on itself as he plummeted through the twigs and sticks of a flowering tree. The tree seemed to cradle him in its branches as it placed him on the floor of a lush forest.

"I don't think this is America," Eustace remembered saying. He was, unsurprisingly, correct.

The tree, that apparently had a conscience, whispered to the young man and woman, voice hushed and wise from its life through a thousand winters and a hundred storms. It spoke of a war, far harsher than anything the continent had seen in nearly three decades.

Eustace could only fathom how his sister fared, and he was relieved to find that (Name) was alive, but she was not well.

Time had treated her kindly, but the stress of conflict and hatred had poisoned the soul of the Queen. The war stemmed from the disappearance of Caspian and (Name)'s eldest son, Prince Rilian; Countries surrounding their kingdom began pointing fingers, and what was once sweet, turned sour.

Now a man, Eustace — accompanied by Jill and a Marsh-wiggle who went by Puddleglum — searched tirelessly for the Prince. Months had gone by, and they had come up fruitless until it was discovered that the Prince was hidden away by the ghost of an old queen. Her thirst for revenge against the High Kings and Queens had been driven thickly into the soil she once ruled, leading to the capture of their distant relative.

The trio had encountered a cursed knight on the final stretch of their voyage to find the prince. The knight, bound to a silver chair, wailed out to be released as he began transforming into a serpent. Scales had only just started to peek through the collar of his breastplate before Eustace had cut him free, the transformation ceasing instantly.

The spell faded, and with it fell the guise surrounding the knight, revealing him to be Prince Rilian. Moments passed before they encountered the one who imprisoned the Prince, the Queen of the Underland. She towered over them, piercing ruby eyes challenging them to take the prize she took. Her false charm attempted to enchant them, but quick action from Puddleglum resulted in the spell's failure.

Outraged, the Queen slithered into her serpentine form — an appearance similar to the beast Eustace had fought only seven years prior — and she struck, her fangs barely scathing the armour worn by the Prince.

The battle lasted mere moments before Eustace managed to relieve her body of her head. The spell was lifted from her slaves, and all went to their home country.

Eustace, Jill, and Prince Rilian arrived back to the kingdom, alas the King and Queen were holding onto what was left of their lives. The King, relieved to see his children home safe, passed within hours of their return.

The Queen, however, did not give into her illness so easily.

Her hands shook as she grasped onto the fingers of her younger brother. Eustace remembered how frail her body had become, yet the sparkle in her eye reminded him that, though she was physically old, her spirit was not.

(Name) took her last breath minutes later.

~~~

Eustace returned back to England, grieving the loss of his sister. Heart aching, he stayed with his cousins in their old home for months, infrequently leaving his room save the few times he had to eat.

He refused to touch any foods that his sister adored, scared he would dishonour her memory by enjoying it without her.

The day he left the Pevensie household was on a trip to the market with Lucy and had planned to meet the Pevensie brothers at the station. Eustace enjoyed feeling the train wobble as it sped down the track. He even found himself helping an older couple stay comfortable, the constant tremor of the train-car distressing their aged bones.

He dared not think of how their frailty reminded him of the brief moments before his sister's passing.

They approached the station, and Eustace still recalls the deafening scream of the wheels beneath the train as they fought to grip onto the rails. Eustace blinked, and suddenly the hard steel beneath his feet became sand.

A warmth passed over him. The same familiar ache he had when he was a boy. Like when he would be told off for eating sweets before dinner, or when gentle hands would wrap a blanket around his shoulders.

He stood on the beach beside Lucy, Edmund, and Peter, and surprisingly, the older couple joined them, their wrinkles fading under the sunlight. A deep grumbling voice greeted their ears, and Aslan stood before them.

"This is Aslan's country." Lucy had said, and suddenly Eustace understood where the train had gone.

There were no tears from any of the people on the beach at that moment, but as a pair of figures began making their way down the beach toward them, Eustace could barely contain the river that seemed to flow from his eyes.

His feet tripped over the sand as he fumbled his way over to them, his arms winding around his sister's middle. They toppled over, falling back into the soft embrace of the sand.

And at that moment, her laugh was the best thing he had ever heard.

~~~~~~