The Hide and Seek Mishap
"You're a right foul prick, Edmund Pevensie."
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"Gas-tro-vas-cu-lar." Susan read from the dictionary as we all sat in the library, bored out of our minds. "Come on, Peter. Gastrovascular."
Long story short, Peter somehow managed to jinx the weather. I say this, because it is currently pouring down rain outside and we are now stuck in the house.
"Is it Latin?" He asked in a bored tone from the armchair next to mine.
"Yes..." The brunette girl replied with a nod.
"Is it Latin for the worst game ever invented?" Edmund joked with a grin, obviously in a slightly better mood today.
I let out an amused snort, nodding in agreement with the boy's statement. "Surprisingly, I agree with Ed. No offense, Sue."
She slammed the dictionary shut, sending her younger brother and I an unamused look.
"We could play hide and seek!" Lucy suggested cheerily as she approached where Peter sat.
"But we're already having so much fun." The blonde stated sarcastically, grinning at his siblings and I. Susan sent him an unamused glare, before rolling her eyes.
"Come on, Peter! Please!" The younger girl asked, before pulling the best puppy dog face I've ever seen. "Pretty please?"
Peter shared a look with Susan and I, am amused smile on his face as he began counting. "One... two... three... four..."
Susan and Lucy bolted out of the room, as Peter continued to count and Edmund let out a groan. "What?!"
I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him up from the floor and out of the library. I let go of his wrist at the end of the first hallway after the library.
I ran towards my favorite hiding spots, the two large chests a few corridors down from the library. After finding Susan hiding in one of the chests, we shared a grin and I climbed quietly into the other one.
After a bit, I could hear Peter coming to an end of the counting. "98... 99... 100! Ready or not here I come!"
Susan and I stayed silent, but the sound of footsteps coming just opposite of the library and a familiar voice rang in our ears. "I'm back! I'm back! I'm alright!"
My brows furrowed in confusion at the younger girl. Does she understand the premise of this game?
"Shh... he's coming!" I heard Edmund hiss from around the corner and down the hall.
"You know, I'm not sure if you two have quite got the idea of this game." Peter told his younger siblings with a hint of confusion hidden in with his amused tone.
"But weren't you wondering where I was?" Lucy asked as Susan and I climbed out of the chests. The older brunette girl and I shared a questioning look and a shrug, before making our way towards the others.
"That's the point! That's why he was seeking you!" Edmund explained to the younger girl.
"Does this mean that Eva and I win?" Susan asked as we shared a triumphant grins.
"I don't think Lucy wants to play anymore." Peter explained to us, confusion evident on his face.
"But I've been gone for hours." Lucy stated helplessly, making my brow to furrow in confusion. Is she playing another game and didn't bother telling the rest of us?
••••••••••••••••••••
"The only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe." Susan told her sister as she finished inspecting the intricately decorated wardrobe.
Edmund and I looked behind the wardrobe, both of us checking opposite sides. We both shared a look and shrugged, having found nothing.
"One game at a time, Lu. We don't all have your imagination." Peter sighed, making Lucy even more frustrated.
"But I wasn't imagining!" She exclaimed, her eyes beginning to tear up.
"That's enough." Susan told the young girl. "If there was any sort of secret entrance in this house, Eva would have told us."
"Ev, do you know of any secret passages here that lead to the forest?" Peter asked me, trying to rationalize what Lucy had said.
"Not that I'm aware of." I replied with a shake of my head, sending an apologetic look to Lucy.
"Well, I believe you." Edmund told his little sister, making me raise an eyebrow. I shot him a glare, silently warning him not to continue his cruel joke.
"You do?" The youngest Pevensie asked the brunette, shock filling her eyes. Peter and Susan looked at their younger brother skeptically, while I continued to glare at the boy.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard?" He chuckled, making me smack the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"You know what that was for, you prat!" I hissed, putting my hands on my hips.
"Why don't you just grow up? You just have to make everything worse, don't you!" Peter scolded, shaking his head at his younger brother.
"Shut up! You think you're dad, but you're not!" The brunette exclaimed angrily, before storming out.
"Well, that was nicely handled." Susan sighed, before leaving the room as well.
"But it was really there." Lucy told us, a pleading look in her watery eyes.
"Susan's right, Lucy. That's enough." He told the younger girl, before walking away.
"Eva, you have to believe me! I'm not pretending!" She pleaded, tears falling down her cheeks.
"I do believe you, Lu." I told the crying girl with a kind smile. "The others will come around, just give them time."
Suddenly, the younger girl threw her arms around my waist and buried her head in my abdomen. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and returned the hug, before hearing her whisper. "Thank you."
"Anytime, Little One." I told her, placing a gentle kiss on top of Lucy's head.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Peter! Peter! Wake up! It's all there, it's really there!"
I groaned as I was awoken by Lucy's excited shouting. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I slowly climbed out of bed and made my way to the boys' room.
I shared a tired look with Susan as I passed her and Lucy's room. She sighed and followed me to where Lucy had awoken the boys.
"Lucy, what are you talking about?" I heard Peter groan, before Susan and I appeared in the doorway.
"Narnia! It's all in the wardrobe, like I told you!" The younger girl exclaimed happily.
"Please quiet down, Lu. We don't want to wake Macready." I politely told her, my voice scratchy from having just woken up.
"But it's there! It's really, really there! Just like I told you!" Lucy told me, her volume still not lessened.
"You've just been dreaming, Lucy." Susan told her sister, trying to calm the young girl down.
"No, I wasn't! I saw Mr Tumnus again, and this time Edmund went too!" She said, causing us all to look at the younger boy in curiosity.
"You saw the faun?" Peter asked the brunette, disbelief lacing his voice.
"Well, he didn't actually go there with me." Lucy explained, before turning to the raven haired boy. "What were you doing, Edmund?"
The youngest Pevensie boy froze slightly, looking the tiniest bit panicked. He seemed to quickly correct himself, before saying quite nervously. "I-I was just playing along."
I let out a disappointed sigh as I saw tears welling up in Lucy's brown eyes. It was obvious to me that the younger boy was lying. However, it was his next words that were the last straw for me.
"You know what little children are like these days." He told us casually, before a cruel smirk grew on his face and he looked directly at Lucy. "They just don't know when to stop pretending."
He sat down on his bed with a smug smirk on his face as Lucy broke down into sobs. I glared over at Edmund through narrowed green eyes, my rage growing every second.
Lucy runs out of the room in tears and the rest of us glare down at the younger boy, disgusted by his cruelty.
"You're a right foul prick, Edmund Pevensie." I growled, before running off after Lucy.
"Ow!" I heard Edmund exclaimed as Peter pushed him over. Susan and Peter were not far behind me as we rushed after the weeping girl.
We followed her down a hall that led to my father's room. I didn't think much of it, due to my being too distracted with trying to catch up to the girl.
Lucy than ran straight into my father, who had come to see what the ruckus was about. She stared up at him for a moment, before wrapping her little arms around my father's waist.
My brown eyes widened as they met the confused gaze of my father. However, I didn't get truly nervous, until Macready's voice echoed through the hall.
"You children are one shenanigan shy from sleeping in the stable!" She hissed as she appeared from another hallway. The older woman's eyes widened at the sight of my father being awake. "Professor! I'm so sorry! I told them that you were not to be disturbed!"
The three of us stiffened at the sharp and scolding glare that the housekeeper sent our way. I shared a nervous look with Peter and Susan, knowing that we were the ones who were going to be held responsible for the late night disruption. Which we were.
"It's alright, Mrs Macready. I'm sure there's a logical explanation. But I think this one is in need of a little hot chocolate." He told her, before looking down at Lucy and smiling kindly at the young girl.
"Yes, Professor. Come on dear."
As he watched Mrs Macready gently lead Lucy towards the kitchen, the two Pevensies and myself tried to sneak off to avoid getting in trouble. The sound of my father clearing his throat, making us cringe because we know that we had failed.
We all turn back around and see the scolding look on my father's face. I share a defeated look with Peter and Susan, before we are ushered into my father's office.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The three of us stood behind the couch that was in front of my father's desk with Susan and I on the ends and Peter in the middle. We watched in silent despair as my father took out his pipe and silver box that was filled with tobacco.
"You seem to have upset the delicate internal balance of my housekeeper." He told us as he filled and lit his pipe, making me cringe slightly.
"We are very sorry, Sir. It won't happen again." Peter said trying to subtly and quickly usher us out of the situation, but Susan had other plans.
"You see, it's our sister, sir, Lucy." She told my father, making Peter and I sigh in frustration.
"The weeping girl." Father said casually, before taking a drag of his pipe.
"Yes, Sir, she's upset." The brunette girl said, pointing out the obvious.
"Hence the weeping." My father said so casually, that if it were under any other circumstances, I would have laughed.
"We can handle it." Peter said quickly, tugging on mine and Susan's wrists.
"Oh, I can see that!" Father chuckled sarcastically.
"She thinks she's found a magical land in the upstairs wardrobe." Susan told the older man, as she sat down on the couch. Peter and I shared an exasperated look, before joining the brunette and sitting down as well.
"What did you say?!" Father said in a shocked tone, hope and curiosity shining in his eyes.
"The wardrobe upstairs, Lucy thinks she's found a forest inside." Peter explained to him with a sigh.
"What was it like?" My father asked the three of us, a look of awe prominent against his aged features.
"Like talking to a lunatic!" Susan said exasperatedly, making me roll my eyes. Such little faith in their younger sister.
"No, not her–the forest!" Father corrected the brunette with a shake of his head. I smiled, knowing that he believed the young girl too.
"You're–You're not saying you believe her?" Peter stammered, both he and Susan looking at him in shock.
"Well, don't you?" The professor asked with a furrowed brow.
"Well, logically it couldn't possibly be there!" Susan argued, confusion written all over her and her brother's faces.
"What do they teach at these schools?" Father muttered to himself, making me grin widely. I looked down at my lap, so that my grin would be hidden by my brown curls.
"Edmund said that they were only pretending." Peter explained, a tad bit of uncertainty in his tone.
"And he's the more truthful one, is he?" The older man asked curiously, his kind eyes glinting mischievously, as if he knew something that we didn't.
"This would be the first time." The blonde boy admitted, a frown etched onto his features.
"Eva, you've been quiet since we entered my office." My father asked, making me look up from my lap. "What do you think of this matter, dear girl?"
"I believe Lucy. For the brief time that I've known her, I can tell that she isn't one to lie." I admitted with a shrug.
"Well then, if your sister isn't lying and she isn't mad, then logically we must assume that she's telling the truth." Father sassed, nodding at me approvingly. "She's your sister, isn't she? You're family! It's high time you start acting like one!"
Without another word on the matter, he sent the three of us off to bed.
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Two hours later, I lay sleepless in my bed, staring up at the ceiling above me. My mind is reeling as I try to figure out why what Lucy said sounded so familiar.
Two short knocks sounded at my door, making me turn my head to look at it before getting up. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see an awkward looking Peter standing there.
"Pete? What are you doing here?" I asked quietly so as not too wake either of the girls in the room beside mine.
"Did I wake you? Blimey, I'm sorry, Eva! You know, I'll should probably go."
I pursed my lips to repress the laughter that threatened to escape. I shook my head with an amused smile adorning my pale face. "It's fine, Peter. You didn't wake me."
"Oh! I didn't?" He asked with wide eyes, making me shake my head again to confirm that he didn't wake me up. "Well, then I just wanted to ask you something. If that's alright?"
"Go right on ahead." I told him with a kind smile.
"Why did you believe Lucy so quickly?" The blonde asked quickly, as if the question had rushed from his lips like a winding river.
"As I told my father, Lucy isn't one to lie." I reminded the other seventeen year old, as I briefly met his eyes. "That and something about that land that she talks about sounds eerily familiar to me. Like I've heard of it before."
"Maybe the Professor has a book on it in the library or something? An adventure novel or a book of fairytales, perhaps?" The eldest Pevensie suggested with a shrug.
"I don't think so." I told the taller boy with a furrowed brow and a shake of my head. "I've read every book in that library and never once have I read anything of a place called 'Narnia'."
"Maybe it was a bedtime story that the professor used to tell you, when you were little? We both saw how he reacted when Susan brought up Lucy's forest." Peter said as he shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the doorframe.
"If it was, then how would Lucy have known about it? If I can't even vaguely remember anything about that place, then I couldn't have told her. And considering that the first time she'd met my father was two and a half hours ago, I highly doubt that he told her about it."
"Nothing about this makes a bit of sense, but it's like something is telling me that Lucy's telling the truth. That she really did find something in that wardrobe, and it wasn't a coat." I admitted to him, leaving my place at the door and pacing around my room. Peter said nothing, he just watched me intently.
"I can't explain it, but whatever is going on inside my head is telling me to trust Lucy on this." I said as my pacing had finally come to a halt. My brown eyes met Peter's kind blue ones and I tried to ignore the erratic beating of my heart.
"Well, first, I need you to calm down a little. Alright, Love?" He told me with a light chuckle and a tiny smile as he approached me, placing his hands on each of my shoulders.
I took a deep breath and nodded, sucking my lips between my teeth as I tried to ignore the heat that rose to my cheeks, because of the odd feeling of his touch.
"Next, I need you to understand that, despite what you may think, you're not alone in this. Susan, Lucy, and I will help you figure out this instinct that seems to frighten you so much. And I know that Edmund will help you too, because believe it or not, he actually likes talking to you. When you lot aren't bickering, of course."
A quiet laugh escaped my lips at his words, and the corners of my mouth lifted into a grateful smile. To say that I had grown fond of the Pevensies in the short time of them being here, would be an understatement.
"Yeah, the lad's not so bad, when he's not being a little prick." I joked with a chuckle, temporarily forgetting about what had previously been haunting my thoughts.
"Feel better now, Love?" Peter asked me with a small smile, his blue eyes searching my brown ones.
"Yes, much better." I admitted with a nod, before chuckling. "Thank you for listening to my crazy talk, Pete."
"Anytime, Eva. And yes, you might be a little mad, but haven't you heard?" He asked and I shook my head curiously, wondering where he was going with this. The eldest Pevensie boy leaned closer to me and whispered with a teasing grin on his lips. "All the best people are."
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