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Just and Magnificent	By : SubOrbital Category: A through F > Chronicles of Narnia Views: 11258 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Just and Magnificent

Volume 1 - The Price of Redemption

Chapter: 6 - Evil has a name, it is Jadis

Pairing: Peter/Edmund

Summary: The final battle against the nameless evil begins. Jadis's evil plan is revealed. Peter faces his worst fears. Will Edmund betray him once again?

Disclaimer: C.S. Lewis owns the characters. I just love them!

Warnings: Incest. Slash. Romance. Action. Movieverse. Slight AU.

Thank you to everyone who has written feedback and reviews. They make me want to write even more. This story is set in the movieverse of Narnia, and this chapter takes place a year after the battle with Jadis at Beruna. Please Read and Review!

TO SAVE A QUEEN, TO SAVE A CITY
“General Lero!” Peter cried as he galloped to the centaur’s side, “Where is Queen Susan?”
Peter had finally managed to breach the southern end of the city, thanks to the Shian Kingdom. He knew Susan had fought for over a day, and he feared for her safety. He’d pushed as quickly as he could, trying to break the nameless evil’s lines so he retake the south, and get to Susan. He knew he’d taken too long though. As he saw the numbers of Narnian soldiers who lay dead on the streets of Cair Paravel, he began to fear the worst for Susan.
“She has fallen, my king.” Lero said with a bow, “She fought hard and led well, but they would not cease their attacks on her. The nameless evil targeted her and kept her away from us. We urged her to retreat, but she would not.”
Before Peter could voice his anger or his shock, Edmund rode up behind him. His sword was rich with the blood of the enemy, and his face was solemn and somber. He studied Lero for a moment, before turning his attention to the high king of Narnia.
“They do not fall in numbers, Peter.” barked Edmund as he trotted back and forth on his horse, his mind full of thought, “We have killed them twice over and they continue to overwhelm us as if spawned from hell or the air itself. The citizens have managed to escape, Peter. You should take what living are left and leave. Hurry, before more lives are lost.”
“No! We will not let them take our city! If we let them take Cair Paravel, they take Narnia! I will not let evil run free over this land.”
“No one said anything about letting them take Cair Paravel.” Edmund insisted, “For once, Peter, let me be in charge. Leave this place. I will stay here until they are defeated. The Fallen Army of Beruna will not leave Cair Paravel until this evil is stopped. Take the survivors and take refuge in the Shian Kingdom.”
“No.” Peter said using his regal tone, “Susan did not run and neither will I. Her death will not be in vain!”
“What?” Edmund said confused.
Edmund tilted his head to the side as if channeling a thought or magic that Peter could not understand. His thought was intent for a moment, until finally he nodded as if conversing with someone.
“She is not dead, Peter. Trust me, I would know.”
“Then where is she?” Peter insisted, “The southern city has fallen. I have rallied all remaining Narnian forces to me. Princess Eris is already moving on the northern end of the city to join your army. The nameless evil seem to be concentrating their efforts in that section of the city. We can win, Edmund. We just need more time.”
“Susan, where are you?” Edmund asked, closing his eyes, “Where …”
“They’re holding her captive!” yelled Edmund as his horse reared up, “She’s in the northern tower!”
“Advantages of being half dead?” Peter asked with a curious eyebrow, “Do you have any other neat tricks that might help us win this battle?”
“Yes, Peter.” smiled Edmund, “I do. But first I must save Susan before they kill her! They’re rallying around the north tower, Peter. My army is already there. Come from the south and we will force them into you. This battle will be won!”
Before Peter could say another word, Edmund rode away as fast as his horse could carry him, and a little faster than your average living horse. Peter had been so used to ruling Narnia on his own, he found it odd being ordered around by another king. Only Susan could tell him what to do, but never in battle.
“Majesty?” General Lero, “What are your orders?”
“Did you not hear King Edmund?” Peter asked in annoyance, “Do as he commanded. Rally the armies together and march from the south, to the northern tower.”
THE CENTER SPIRE
Lucy opened her eyes and found herself in surroundings she did not expect. She couldn’t remember how she got here, or how she’d been kidnapped without anyone noticing. She was chained at her wrists, hanging from a large wooden beam at the top of the northern tower. She could see Susan across a marble walkway over fifty feet away. Lucy had never been this far up the tower before and she knew why now. It was dreadfully high and she was absolutely terrified.
The center spire consisted of a marble walkway, shaped in a cross. In the center was the form of a dial etched into the marble, while at the four corners were symbols that Lucy could not understand. Lucy hung off the edge of one end of the cross, while Susan hung opposite her. She could see that there was one more hanging mechanism, that she imagined must be for Peter. Who would do this and for what reason? To shame them and destroy Narnia?
Far beneath her feet were dots of black and red, soldiers battling one another. The center spire had a staircase that ran up from the base to the top platform. Lucy couldn’t even imagine how high it was. And as high as it was, the base opened up to a further spire that led down to the great caverns, the depths of which were beyond her vision. It was enough to make Lucy sick from her fear of heights.
“Susan!” Lucy called, “Susan, wake up!”
Tears of terror rushed down Lucy’s face as she waited anxiously for Susan to move. Her sister was beaten and bloody, covered in blood and dirt. She was a far sight from the beautiful and gentle queen she usually was.
“Susan!” Lucy cried out, “Susan, wake up!”
Slowly Susan began to stir and when she opened her eyes, Lucy smiled through her tears. She almost feared her sister had left her the way Edmund had a year ago.
“Susan, what’s happening?” Lucy yelled.
“I … I don’t know, Luce. I … thought … I was … dead.” Susan stuttered, barely able to speak, “I …”
“Susan?” Lucy cried, “Please don’t go to sleep. Peter will come for us, Susan. He will!”
Lucy knew Susan was in bad shape, but she did not have her fireflower cordial on her. She knew she had to get Susan away from here somehow and get her back to the infirmary. Before Lucy could think of a way to escape, the walls began to shake violently. At first she believed the building was about to fall apart, until the top of the tower slowly opened, revealing the fearsome sky above.
She looked down the center spire which was overrun by wraith. She wondered how anyone would ever be able rescue them with only one way up, and the entire way blocked by the nameless evil. She closed her eyes and imagined a lion. She imagined that the great lion would come to save them. That he would drive this evil from Cair Paravel and Narnia.
A sudden commotion distracted Lucy from her silent wishing, and she watched in horror as wraith began filling the platform. Some went to Lucy, while others went to Susan, but most seemed to circle the center dial. Lucy could not see what they were doing, but she had the fearsome sensation it wasn’t anything good.
“Peter!” cried Lucy as wraith began circling her with their metal claws stretched out, “Help!”
DARK PLANS REVEALED
For the life of him, Peter could not understand why all of a sudden, the nameless evil were rallying to the north. He hoped it was due to the overwhelming numbers that the Shian Kingdom, Narnian Army, and the Fallen Army provided. Each army worked to lock the nameless evil into the northern end of Cair Paravel.
Peter fought from his horse, riding through and using his height and speed to cut down any and all who stood in his way. He was trying desperately to get to Edmund so he could help him rescue Susan. And he’d just received word that Lucy had been taken prisoner, and Mr. Tumnus had almost become a casualty of war trying to save her.
“Majesty! They’re in the north tower!” General Lero called out from behind Peter, “King Edmund is advancing up the center spire.”
Peter looked to the northern sky to see the tower was now open at the roof. The thunder in the sky, lightning cracking, it all made Peter feel a sense of foreboding. He couldn’t help the feeling that the scope of this battle, of this war, had not yet been revealed to him.
He charged forward with two centaur flanking him. They cut their way through to the base of the north tower, where the Fallen Army were well and truly engaging the nameless evil. It was then that Peter looked up the center spire inside the huge tower and saw Edmund riding the spire on his horse, cutting through all in his path.
“Edmund!” Peter called, “Wait for me! Why do you always have to be such a hero?”
Peter’s vision was good enough to see that Lucy and Susan were both hanging at the top of the spire platform. He knew if he tried, he could get through on the staircase, much as Edmund had. His quick thinking gave him another option, that he hoped would give him the element of surprise he needed. Suddenly, he was forced to double back when he was overrun by three demon giant.
Before he could even contemplate a defensive strategy, the demon giant were overrun by two giants from the Fallen Army. Peter’s own centaur then quickly joined in, while several of Princess Eris’s Shian Elite warriors helped finish off the demon giants. Peter recognized that one of the centaur was none other than Oerius. Someone he’d thought dead because of his unusual absence.
“Forgive me, Majesty. I was caught in the southern quarter, and could not reach you until now.”
“I’m just grateful you’re alive, Oerius.” Peter said sincerely, “We’ve lost so many today, Old friend. You must help me finish this. King Edmund is advancing the spire. I’m going after him. I need you to formulate our army strategy to keep the nameless evil pinned in here. Peg them in and wipe them out. The Fallen Army and the Shian Kingdom will make sure this is where the battle ends. This is where we finish every last one of them for what they’ve done to our city. To our land.”
“Majesty, I have been trying to reach you. There’s something of great importance that I was told by the seers. King Edm…” Oerius began to say before General Lero interrupted.
“King Peter, look!” Lero said pointing to the center spire.
Once Edmund had reached the halfway point of the spire, all the nameless evil on the ground suddenly rushed for the center spire and actually began forcing Edmund up, while the wraiths above him barely put up a fight. It was then that the demon giants moved in and defended the base of the spire, surrounded by thousands of wraith so that no Narnian, Fallen, or Shian forces could break through.
“Haven’t you noticed they have been slaughtering us for over a day and suddenly we began to push them back? Their entire plan was to draw King Edmund here.” Oerius said urgently, “This was all just a trap to draw him to Cair Paravel. Then to draw him to the north tower by capturing the queens.”
“What?” Peter asked in horror, “What are you talking about?”
“Jadis, Majesty. She wants to live. From where she dwells, there is no return. But there, she has access to the deep magic. The magic that governs life here in Narnia. King Edmund betrayed you in his last life. That binds him to her. She knew he would return from Salei Barion, but he thinks his return is to destroy her. Jadis was not sent to Salei Barion, her body is dead and gone. She wants to live again, Majesty. So she’s going to take King Edmund’s soul, and his body. His body is still whole, and yet he neither dead nor alive. He is between worlds. He is a conduit for her to enter this world again. To enter him. And then she will have life.”
Oerius’s words were not lost on Peter. His heart filled with dread as he realized that everything, from the battle to the kjell, to drawing him away from Susan and the army, to the nameless evil coming to Cair Paravel, to drawing Edmund here to the north tower. All was Jadis’s grand plan and Peter had played right into it.
“Griffon!” Peter yelled, “Griffon, come to me! Now!”
THE JUST AND THE MAGNIFICENT
“Lucy … I … don’t think I can …” Susan moaned as she gasped for breath.
Susan’s vision was blurred and broken. She could make out the dark shadows of wraith before her. She could hear foul cries and one battle cry that seemed eerily familiar. She could make out one dark shadow that seemed to strike out at the others. For a moment, she almost believed that one figure was here to rescue her. Finally, her vision began to focus and she realized just who she was looking at.
“Edmund …” Susan said with disbelieving and gentle cries, “Edmund!”
“Kinda busy, Su!” Edmund called as he fought the wraith alone, “Be with you in a moment! Don’t die on me! You won’t like it! It’s about as fun as one of your word games!”
Susan cried with tears of joy cleaning the dirt and blood from her cheeks. He was still the same Edmund. The same cheeky Edmund. Even dead, he was still the same. But as she watched him fight for her and Lucy, she could not believe he was dead. He seemed more alive than ever.
At least until she witnessed some of the less humanistic qualities he possessed. Between swinging his sword and cutting wraith in half, she saw Edmund could force them back with his will. He could even move like the nameless evil did. He could move like a spectre, half there, half gone. It was like a blur that somehow terrified Susan. It reminded her that though this was her Edmund, he wasn’t exactly the same Edmund.
“Edmund!” Lucy cried almost hysterical, “Edmund! You’re alive! Edmund!”
“Yes, Lucy, I can hear you!” Edmund growled, “Just hang on a moment, will you? Oh sorry, you’re already hanging. I’m almost done, Lu.”
And sure enough, with a few more swings of his sword and a few unnatural moves for good measure, Edmund cleared the spire platform. When he finished he smiled at both his sisters before he rushed to Susan’s side and prepared to free her. Before Edmund could try and remove her restraints, Susan leaned forward and kissed Edmund’s cheek. She drew back quickly in horror. Edmund turned his head in shame when he realized what Susan had done. He studiously finished removing her first wrist chain without making eye contact and started on the next.
“It’s ok, Edmund.” Susan said softly, “It’s ok.”
“No, it’s not.” replied a despondent Edmund, “It’s not ok, Su. You felt it. It’s not the cold you can ignore. It still sits on your lips, doesn’t it? It’s unnatural, isn’t it?”
“Edmund, it’s ok.” Susan said again, this time making sure Edmund looked at her, “You’re home. That’s all that matters.”
Before Edmund could respond, he felt a rush of activity behind him followed by Lucy’s scream. He turned around to see the entire platform fill with wraith. They quickly circled Edmund, but did not seem to rush to attack him. Instead they forced him into the center of the platform, violently if necessary. Edmund soon tired of their wraith’s lack of activity and began attacking them. Only this time, they flooded the platform faster than he could dispatch them. Wave after wave invaded the platform until he could barely move.
“Edmund, get down!” Peter cried.
Edmund fell to the ground and looked up just in time to see Peter and Oerius being flown through the roof by two griffon. The griffon were advanced by a phoenix who swept in low and ignited the wraith above Edmund’s head. As soon as the Phoenix had left, Edmund jumped to his feet and was soon joined by Peter and Oerius. Their celebrations were short lived however, as more wraith continued to swell the platform.
“Edmund, take the griffon and go! We’ll get the girls!” Peter yelled, “Hurry!”
“Whatever do you mean, Peter? I’m not leaving you here. You two get the girls and I’ll keep these nasties away.” Edmund said as he grabbed one of Oerius’s three swords and began dealing double damage to the wraith, “I didn’t come here just so we could find peace, Peter. I didn’t come here for anything except to make sure you didn’t get yourself or the girls killed. As much as I’d enjoy the company, you have no idea how precious your life is, Peter. Now do as I say for once!”
“Just because you’re dead, doesn’t mean you get to be stupid! It’s a trap, Ed! Now do as I say and get out of here!” Peter yelled, this time grabbing Edmund and physically holding him while a griffon swooped down, “Jadis wants to …”
Peter was suddenly thrown off his feet by the griffon crashing to it’s death on top of him. He looked up to see the second griffon had also been struck down by lightning bolts from the sky. Unable to speak under the weight of the griffon, Peter could only watch as Oerius was overwhelmed, and Edmund was cornered. Peter tried to scream out to Edmund, as the sky above them intensified with lightning.
Finally, Peter managed to get himself away from the dead griffon. When he stood to his feet, he saw Edmund surrounded in the center of the platform. Yet there was no fear on Edmund’s face. But as Peter realized what the wraith were doing, there was nothing but fear on his own face. The wraith encircling Edmund suddenly raised their hands to the sky and chanted. A single bolt of lightning cracked down from the sky, hitting Edmund and running through his body. The dial beneath his feet lit up before Peter was knocked back by a blinding explosion.
“Edmund!” Peter gasped as he pulled himself to his feet.
The wraith surrounding Edmund had been literally blown away. Oerius lay unconscious, while a few more wraith lay lifeless beside him. Peter tried to catch his breath as he stumbled towards Edmund.
“Ed, are you ok?”
Edmund brushed himself off, glancing at his fingers before he sighed in relief. Peter too breathed a sigh as he put his hand on Edmund’s shoulder. Peter smiled at his brother, and squeezed his shoulder in return. Edmund too smiled back at Peter, only his smile seemed almost cocky. Too cocky for even Edmund.
“I have never … felt … better, Little King.” Edmund said, but with Jadis’s voice coming from his mouth, “How have you been?”
Peter’s face dropped in horror, before Edmund grabbed him by the neck and tossed him back. The high king picked himself up and stared at Edmund in cofusion. He couldn’t believe he’d led Edmund right back into this. Jadis had returned to Narnia, and she had used Edmund’s body to do it.
“You know, Peter. Before you die, I want you to see what’s left of your city fall.” Edmund smirked, “After all, I still control … them.”
Edmund pointed to the Fallen Army of Beruna. An army that played a pivotal role in driving back the nameless evil. To Peter’s absolute horror, the fallen army suddenly stopped fighting the nameless evil. After a few brief seconds, they turned on their allies, the Shian and the Narnian.
“No … NO!” Peter yelled, “Edmund, stop it! You’re killing our own!”
“Get out of him, you witch!” Susan yelled as she struggled to break free of her last restraint, “Go back to the hell you came from!”
“She lives in me, Peter! Don’t you understand? Do you understand how powerful she is? How powerful she can make me? I will live again through her and rule Narnia!” Edmund cried with malice in his eyes, “And now I have two armies to follow me!”
Peter watched in horror as the Narnian Army was forced to fight their own brothers. Something Peter was slowly beginning to realize, he would soon be forced to do.
“Time to die, Little King!” Edmund yelled as he rushed for Peter.
Peter barely managed to block Edmund’s first swing at him. Before he could even think, Edmund came at him with a ferocious volley of strikes. Peter ducked and dived, always on the backfoot. Edmund was much stronger than he once was, and had the unnatural power of the half dead to add to it.
“Edmund, please!” Peter begged, his eyes welling with tears, “You have to stop her, Ed! I won’t fight you!”
“Then you’ll die.”
Still Peter would not swing at Edmund. He simply deflected any attacks that came his way. He could not bring himself to fight Edmund.
“Get out of him, you witch!” Peter commanded, “Out, I say!”
“I told you he was mine. Didn’t I, Edmund?” Jadis spoke through Edmund.
Edmund tilted his head as if contemplating. The smug smile of Jadis’s seemed to fade and for a moment, Peter could see his Edmund again. He hoped beyond a hope that somehow Edmund could fight free of her.
“Sorry, Peter.” Edmund said, this time in his own voice, “Once a traitor, always a traitor.”
“No!” Peter screamed as Edmund charged at him.
The swordplay between the two brothers was more ferocious than ever. Peter cried out as he finally began defending himself with attacks of his own. The heartbreak on his face was evident as he began matching Edmund blow for blow, finally knocking him to the ground. He kicked Edmund’s sword from his hand and held him down with his foot.
“Don’t make me do this. Please, Ed. Fight her.” Peter cried, “Please, Ed!”
Edmund scowled at Peter and threw his hands up, knocking Peter back with a force of will. Just as Edmund was over him with his sword ready to crash down, Oerius grabbed Edmund’s ankle and held him back. Edmund looked down at Oerius and tilted his head again, before his voice changed to that of Jadis.
“Didn’t I kill you last year?” Edmund said with Jadis’s voice, “Oh well, die now, centaur.”
“No!” Peter yelled rushing at Edmund and throwing him back.
“That’s the spirit, Little King!” Edmund smiled, kicking up to his feet, “You know, Little King. When I’m done with you, I’m going to kill both of your sisters. Slowly. Then I will burn this city and hunt down every last member of your pathetic little empire. And they will all pay for joining … him. Jadis has come home. Now where’s your precious lion?”
“Ahh!” Peter yelled, this time charging with his sword.
Once again he met Edmund in sword battle, only this time neither side held back. Peter could no longer tell if he was fighting Edmund or Jadis, but he knew he had to stop the white witch. He knew he had to fight. At the back of his mind he felt Aslan’s words hitting him with realization. Peter believed he’d already faced his fear. He now realized, he was truly about to face his fear if he was to save Narnia.
“Yes, Peter!” Edmund screamed in anger, “This is how it should be! Fight me, Peter! The Good King against the evil brother who could never live up to him. I’m the dark knight and you’re the good and proper king. Isn’t this how it should be? Isn’t this what you’d always believe I’d be? The bad seed?”
“You were never a bad seed, Ed. If I made you believe that you weren’t good enough, then I failed you.” Peter cried despondently.
“Then I guess you failed me!” Edmund yelled, swinging back into Peter with his sword.
As if a mirror to the battle between himself and Edmund, the Narnian Army fought their own Fallen Army. Friend against fallen friend, brother against fallen brother. And like the Narnian army below, struggling to fight their fallen brothers, Peter’s heart broke with every blow he aimed at Edmund.
“Edmund, fight her! Come back to me, Ed!” Peter cried, “Please!”
“You always thought you were better than me, didn’t you?” Edmund spat in his own voice, “Peter the Magnificent. Not anymore, Peter. The only name they will say is Edmund. King Edmund, High King of Narnia!”
“Yes, Edmund.” Jadis spoke through Edmund, “We will rule as one. Dispose of him, little one.”
Lunging at Peter, Edmund sliced horizontally with his sword. Barely managing to dodge the slice, Peter countered with a slice of his own that just caught Edmund’s face. Edmund gasped, but no blood was drawn. Peter had little time to hate himself for hurting Edmund, for he was soon defending himself again.
Peter quickly found himself being overpowered by Edmund, who began using every power at his disposal to attack Peter. Susan cried out as she watched Peter and Edmund fighting to the death. Lucy seemed too stunned to comprehend what was happening. Her eyes were filled with horror as she cried tears of confusion.
“Edmund!” Lucy called, “Stop fighting Peter! He loves you, Ed! Can’t you see?”
“He loves you, Ed!” Susan cried, “We always knew! Even before he did!”
Edmund seemed to falter at the words of his sisters, but quickly recovered. The brief moment did not pass Peter by without notice. Yet before Peter could say a word, Edmund kicked him in the sternum and knocked him on his back. Peter grabbed for his sword, but it was too late. He felt the cold steel of Edmund’s blade press against his neck.
“Peter, Peter, Peter. Where’s your little lion now? Do you know why I’m standing here, and you’re down there?” Edmund asked, pressing the blade so it broke Peter’s skin.
“Because of her, Edmund! You won’t hurt me! I know you won’t, Ed!” Peter cried out, “You always said you believed in me, Ed. Well I believe in you! You won’t hurt me, because you’re my Edmund. You’re not her Edmund. You’re my heart, Ed. I love you. You know I do! If you love me, then help me stop her. And if you don’t … then end this.”
Edmund looked down at Peter in confusion, staggering back a few steps and holding his head in anguish. Oerius was slowly pulling himself along behind Edmund and Peter could already read the signal in the eyes of the centaur. But Peter knew if Edmund had to be stopped, it would be by him and no one else.
“Face your fear, Peter.” Aslan’s words echoed in Peter’s minds.
“You can’t stop me that easily, Little King.” Jadis’s voice spat with venom through Edmund, “You think simple words will rid him of me? We are bound forever!”
“You can’t stop her, Peter. Because you can’t stop me.” Edmund said with his own voice as he looked at Peter, a surprising amount of sincerity on his face, “You can’t kill me if I’m already dead, can you? Don’t you understand? I do, Peter. I understand now. Not even your love can save me now.”
The words, combined with Aslan’s words to give Peter an eye opening revelation. He finally knew how to make Edmund warm again. He finally knew how to make Edmund breathe again. But he knew just what Edmund was telling him. Edmund was trying to help him.
“You’re right, Edmund.” cried a heartbroken Peter, “It can’t save you. But it can save Narnia.”
“What are you playing at, Little King?” Jadis laughed through Edmund, “I am amused no more. Time for you to die. I have a kingdom to restore.”
As Edmund moved towards him, Peter stood up and stared right at him. He saw Jadis in Edmund’s eyes, but he did not falter, and he raised no weapon to defend himself. As Edmund raised his own sword to strike Peter down, he spoke, swift and strong.
“Edmund Pevensie, I love you.” Peter said staring straight at Edmund.
Edmund stopped dead in his tracks, his resolve faltering. The words were so direct and matter of fact. Peter knew exactly what he was doing, and how to do it. His eyes full of tears, he stepped toward Edmund, as the younger king began stepping away with fear in his eyes.
“I have never loved another soul as I love you, Ed. Oerius, Susan, Lucy, I need you to hear this. I want all of you to know that I love Edmund more than … I thought I could. More than some think I should. More than even I thought I should. Every waking moment is filled with him. Every breath is laced with his name. The only joy my heart will ever know comes from you, Edmund. I say now to all of Narnia, I love King Edmund the Just!” Peter called out, his voice growing stronger with each word, “I have no room in my heart to ever love another the way I love you, Ed. And I will not rest until each and every soul in Narnia knows that I will only ever love you. You have my heart and my soul for as long as they are mine to give. My love brought you to me, Ed. But it was a love I could only whisper to you. I will not whisper any longer. Let the world know, I love you, Edmund. Aslan said, a love that is hidden or denied is no more powerful than a whisper. A love that is free and pure can defy death, it can bring life. If my love is worthy, then from now on, let it be free and pure. And let it be known by all. I love you, Edmund.”
Edmund faltered and stumbled back with tears in his eyes. He looked at Peter with eyes wide and disbelieving. His face began contorting with horror before he fell to the ground. Peter also noticed that even the Fallen Army of Beruna had stopped fighting the Narnian and were all falling to the ground, just as Edmund had.
Peter watched anxiously as Edmund screamed and shook. The fallen king gasped for breath and crawled along the ground. Unable to stand back and watch Edmund experience such agony alone, Peter knelt beside him. He knew Edmund was experiencing the agony of rebirth, just as the entire Fallen Army of Beruna did far below. He slipped his arm under Edmund and pulled him into his arms. It was almost the exact same position as when Edmund died in the battle of Beruna. Finally, Edmund closed his eyes and stopped moving. Peter held Edmund to him and realized, something was remarkably different about the fallen king.
“Peter … I … I feel warm.” Edmund said in his own voice, before Jadis spoke in hers, “Thank you, Little King! I live again!”
Peter jumped back as Edmund opened his eyes and slowly raised himself to his feet. His head twitched and shook, as if he were fighting a battle inside his head. He held his hands to his head and screamed in deafening agony, drawing tears from Peter and his sisters. Edmund fell to one knee, still screaming out while he shook his head so much blood began seeping from his nose. Suddenly he stopped shaking and his screams subsided. He looked down as the Fallen Army turned their weapons to the nameless evil once again, his face seemed to contort from a scowl to finally, a smile. A smile that Peter believed was only Edmund’s. Edmund’s eyes twinkled at Peter, and the high king smiled back as if all his wildest dreams had come true. Had Edmund bested Jadis in his mind?
“I’m alive, Peter. I’m alive! Thank you.” Edmund smiled sincerely, “Oh, Jadis?”
“Yes, Edmund.” Jadis’s voice spoke out through him, “What is it, my prince?”
“We’re bound, aren’t we? Our lives are bound as one?”
“We are, little one. We are.”
“Good. I die, you die?” Edmund said with a tired smile.
“Little one … I can hear your thoughts …” Jadis said sounding almost fearful.
“Good. Can I hear you scream now?” Edmund smirked, “It would make this all frightfully satisfying.”
For the first time since his return, Peter saw a glow in Edmund’s cheeks to accompany his mischievous smile. Yet Peter did not share Edmund’s joy, for he already knew what Edmund was thinking. He ran to grab Edmund, but the younger king backed away. He looked at Peter with a sad smile as he stood on the edge of the spire platform.
“If you do this, you will be bound to me forever! You will never see the ones you love again!” Jadis cried out, “If you take your own life, you are forfeit!”
“I’m forfeit already, aren’t, I, Jadis?” Edmund said with a sad sigh, “Once a traitor, always a traitor? Isn’t that how it works? So either way, I still lose. I think I’d prefer to lose on my terms.”
“Don’t say that, Ed.” Peter said holding out his hand, “We’ll get her out, Ed. We’ll find a way. Don’t you dare leave me again.”
“Fallen Army of Beruna! I am Jadis!” Edmund cried, “She lives in me! Finish your task so you may return freely to your lives here in Narnia! Now!”
“No!” Jadis screamed, her voice angry and distraught, “Edmund, you’re going to kill us both!”
“Ed, what are you doing?” Peter gasped, “Stop it!”
The Fallen Army of Beruna began attacking the base of the spire with all their numbers. Giants began climbing up the side, while Griffon began circling in the skies. The stairwells were overrun with fallen centaur and animals of all kinds. Some giants didn’t even bother climbing, but chose instead to hurl huge boulders at the platform, causing it to shake violently.
“They’re going to complete their task, Peter.” Edmund smiled, “But don’t be afraid. Just take the girls and go.”
“Sod it, Ed!” Peter snapped as he grabbed Edmund and looked down the spire, “Fallen Army! You breathe again! That makes you my dominion! I, Peter the Magnificent am High King of Narnia! You dare make another step and I’ll have you myself!”
The force and intensity of Peter’s words resonated from the top of the tower down to the base of the spire. Surprisingly, the Fallen Army immediately stopped their movements, but not before one giant hurled a boulder directly at the platform. The marble cracked beneath Edmund’s feet and quickly gave way. He smiled at Peter, before pushing him away. Edmund smiled wistfully at both his sisters as the marble platform fell beneath him and he began to fall.
Peter would not have it. He would not let Edmund leave him again. He jumped at Edmund with all his might, grabbing hold of his arm. With all his might, Peter held onto the platform with one hand, and Edmund with the other. He cried out as he felts his fingers struggling to hold onto Edmund.
“Peter! What are you doing?” Edmund gasped in surprise, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Edmund, shut up! What do you think I’m doing? I’m trying to save you!” Peter snapped, “I know what you’re doing. And … I knew what I was doing when I brought you back to life. I was going to … finish you myself. I thought I could do it for Narnia. But I can’t!”
“Peter, it’s ok. I’m not afraid to die for you. I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again.”
“You’re so quick to die for me. Why won’t you live for me?” Peter yelled angrily, his face red from the strain of holding onto Edmund, “Why is it so easy for you to leave me? If you love me half as much as I love you, the thought of being apart has to be unbearable.”
“Peter, I’m doing this because I love you. Because I love Susan and Lucy. Because I love Narnia. I told you your love couldn’t save me. It could bring me life … but it couldn’t save me. It could only save Narnia. Because only by bringing me to life with her inside me, could you kill her again.” Edmund sighed, “Being alive … it makes it easier for me to keep her inside. But she’s still there. I can’t fight her forever, Peter. She can never be allowed to rule Narnia again.”
“Why couldn’t you tell me before? I could’ve saved you! She couldn’t have gotten inside you if you were alive first!” Peter cried as he used one arm to hold Edmund, and the other to grip to the platform.
“Let me go, Peter. Before you kill both of us!”
“No, Little King! You only have one chance at a miracle! Are you so eager to throw your miracle away?” Jadis’s voice screamed out of Edmund, “Let him live! Save him and I will spare your family!”
“Don’t listen to her, Peter.” gasped an Edmund struggling to keep control of his own mind, “She speaks through me, she does not speak for me. Let me go.”
Peter cried the cry of the heartbroken, tears streaming down his face. He struggled to hold onto Edmund, but struggled even more to heed Edmund’s words. How could he give Edmund life, only to take it from him a moment later?
“No, Ed. No!” Peter insisted, “Please don’t do this. Don’t give up on me, Ed. We’ll figure it out. Oerius! Help me!”
“I never gave up on you, Peter.” Edmund smiled, “You’re the best of us. You’re the best of me. As long as you live, the best part of me will too.”
“Face your fear, Peter. You must release Edmund, or Narnia will fall.” Aslan’s words spoke in Peter’s mind.
Now Peter understood what Aslan meant. To kill Jadis and stop her from entering Narnia, he would have to kill Edmund. Peter believed Aslan meant he would simply have to release Edmund to Salei Barion. Now he understood Aslan meant something a lot more difficult. How could Aslan expect Peter to make a decision like this?
Peter’s tears overwhelmed him, his sobs shaking his body. Oerius struggled to drag his huge bulk along the platform and Peter knew his loyal general was moving as fast as he could. Peter still refused to let go of Edmund, even though he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer without falling himself. As far as he was concerned, that was a better alternative than letting Edmund go.
Peter looked down to see Edmund’s face also awash with tears. However, Edmund’s tears were more hopeful and resigned than Peter’s. Peter’s eyes met Edmund’s and he knew in that moment, Edmund was going to fall whether it was by Peter’s release, or his own letting go. One way or another, Edmund was determined to make sure the white witch that lived inside him, would die inside him.
“Peter, I can feel you. My tears are warm, Peter. I’m not afraid.” Edmund cried, “I’m ok.”
“Ed … I love you so much.” Peter cried with heartbreak in his voice, “Forgive me.”
“I love you, Peter.”
Edmund used the last of his strength to pull himself up so his face was next to Peter’s. Their lips met finally in their first real kiss. Peter had no idea that such a simple gesture could fill him with so much hope and despair at once. He held onto the moment for an eternity, feeling Edmund’s lips against his own in a tear filled kiss. A kiss that represented everything they’d denied each other, and then were denied of each other. Finally, there was nothing between them. Nothing stopping them from sharing their first act of physical love. It was the most magnificent and torturous moment of Peter’s life. And it was over all too soon.
“Goodbye, Peter.”
And then he was gone. Peter wasn’t sure who let go first. He didn’t care. It was his fault and nobody would ever tell him otherwise. He looked down as his Edmund fell away into the night, still looking up at Peter. Jadis screamed out of Edmund’s body, but Peter’s final glimpse was of an Edmund who was content. It was a far cry from anything that Peter felt.
“Edmund!” Peter cried out, before he felt the urge to let go himself.
He wondered if he did let go, would he see Edmund? Would he be cast down with Jadis, as Edmund expected he would? In the end it made little difference as Oerius soon lifted him to safety. Peter was too numb to do anything except slump against the dead. He didn’t care anymore. He simply sat there, while Oerius freed Susan and Lucy. He did not seem to care when the nameless evil seemed to whither and die once Jadis herself had died. He was filled with a silent despair that would not die. The one thing that broke his grief, was the feeling of a cold hand smacking him across the face.
“How could you?” Susan screamed almost hysterical, “You let him go! You killed him! You killed Edmund!”
Peter wanted to tell Susan she didn’t understand. That it wasn’t his fault. But he said nothing. He felt as though he deserved any punishment he received for failing Edmund. Even though Narnia hung in the balance, Peter knew that somehow didn’t justify letting Edmund go.
“We could have helped him. We could have found a way!” Susan cried before Lucy held her back from hitting Peter any further.
Peter did not say anything to change Susan’s mind. And as Susan and Lucy embraced in their grief, he felt unworthy to join them. He did not have the heart in him. He had no fight left. And even as all of the Narnian, Fallen, and Shian armies rejoiced at the sudden demise of the nameless evil, Peter wanted to crawl to the edge of the platform and toss himself down after Edmund. He had saved Narnia, but the cost had been his soul. His heart. His happiness. His Edmund.

Volume 1

- To Be Concluded -

'A New Age'

Author’s Notes: The war is over. Jadis IS gone, and so has the evil that swept through Narnia. Evil plans were revealed and at a heavy price, thwarted. New prophecies were fulfilled. The four were together when evil was vanquished, as prophesied. True love did indeed bring life. Peter did have to face his fear to save Narnia. And Edmund finally got his kiss. Not exactly the ending you were expecting I imagine. I’m sure you hate me, but please don’t lol. It isn’t over though. I had originally planned to end the story in this one chapter, but it was going so long that I cut the end off and saved it for the next chapter. Even though the ending was something you hated, I hope the final act of this chapter was a fitting climax. The next chapter closes off Volume 1 of Just and Magnificent, before leading the story in a new direction. Peter can still dream …

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Just and Magnificent