beyond the wide world&#39;s end

And their love is a doomed love! *weeps* This is brought to you by the fact that I have apparently characterized Narnia -- some things you don't figure out until you have iTunes playlists called "Peter" and "Narnia."

(and you fight for my honor but I just don't know why, you fight for my honor and I don't understand, but hold on your honor and I'll get ice for your hand)

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I can see that.

In a platonic sense. XD I don't see how you can have a romantic love for your land, but okay.

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It explains a lot. Like why none of Peter's marriages worked out.

(And suddenly I am struck by the notioin that, post-Voyage, Peter would regard any notion that Eustace was as much a part of Narnia as the Pevensies on par with blasphemy.)

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It does, it does.

(OH, HE WOULD! That makes so much sense!)

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I am so tempted to write post-Voyage fic where, like, Peter comes to pick up Lucy and Edmund from the Scrubbs' house and Eustace is all bouncy-happy about Narnia, and Peter just gives him this look of utter disdain. The one that he uses on Caspian, the one that says, "You are a child, and you are very lucky that there are witnesses here so that I can't kill you. Also, it would leave a mess, and Edmund and Susan would yell at me." And Eustace is suddenly terrified.

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WAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA,

I love the second phrase of the second sentence in Peter's hypothetical "dialogue" with Eustace. That'd be SO VERY AWESOME. You must, you must!

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Half the time Peter doesn't do things it's because he doesn't want to get yelled at by Edmund and Susan. *grin*

"Mum and Dad got held up at the airport in New York," Peter's explaining to Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold when Lucy comes tearing down the stairs.

"Peter!" Lucy cries and he turns and grins, catching her up in a hug.

"How've you been, Lu?" he asks.

"Oh, all right," she says, keeping hold of his hand. It's been a while since they've done this -- a few years, since before they'd returned to England the last time -- but she's certain she still remembers the code as she presses her thumb into his palm. We got back to Narnia!

Peter gives her a sharp look. Edmund too? he signals back. "You all packed and ready to go?" he asks.

"I am," Lucy says and drops her hand after adding yes. "But Ed's been waiting too long."

"D'you mind if I go help him, then?" Peter asks Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold, who seem only too happy to get him out of their kitchen.

Lucy only says inconsequential things until they're at the top of the stairs, just down the hall from the room Edmund's been sharing with Eustace, and then she says, "Oh, Peter, we've been back! And we've seen Caspian, and sailed to the end of the world -- beyond the Lone Islands! And Reepicheep was there, and --"

"How long has it been?" Peter interrupts, his gaze sharp. He's not asking out of curiosity, Lucy realizes belatedly; he's asking because he's the High King.

"Caspian said three years," she tells him.

Peter makes a rude noise. "And he thought now would be a brilliant time to go sailing off into the sunrise? Narnia still has to be a hornet's nest. Is he stupid?"

A little hurt, Lucy says, "Caspian said Narnia was at peace, and that they'd even beaten the giants in the north."

"Possibly because the border is at the far edge of Harfang's territory," Peter says. "So," he adds, in tones of great resignation, "what was the crisis this time?"

Lucy thinks about it. "There wasn't a crisis, not really," she admits.

"Which would, of course, be why Caspian decided to go on a cruise," Peter says, voice sharp. Here in England, he's -- muted, there's no other word for it. Dulled, somewhat, all his brilliance leached away. It doesn't make him any less the High King.

"Times change, Pete," Edmund says from his open door. "If you've got to interrogate someone, go ahead and do me, although there's not that much to say. Caspian seems to have things well in hand, unless of course there was a rebellion brewing somewhere in Narnia we didn't hear about. We weren't actually in Narnia, so I can't say anything about the state of the land."

"And we can't go back," Lucy adds, very quietly. "Aslan said we're too old."

There's something sharp and wild in Peter's eyes when he says, "You're younger than I was when we went the first time."

"Oh," Edmund adds, almost matter-of-factly, like an afterthought, "and Eustace went with us."

"What?"

That's it, then, Lucy thinks, strangely calm as she sees the rage chase its way across Peter's face. We've been replaced. And then -- Eustace will be lucky if Peter doesn't kill him.

"Well, then," Peter says at last, "Narnia can't be so badlyy off if that's who Aslan's picking for help now." He puts his head to one side, and says, "Do you really need help packing?"

"Fifteen years of campaigns?" Edmund says. "I never did learn how to unpack again. But you may want to talk to Eustace."

"I doubt it," Peter says softly under his breath. He's not speaking in English, but the High Tongue of Narnia, the old language that a few of the oldest surviving books in the Cair Paravel library -- the only things not touched by the White Witch -- are written in. Lucy only knows a few words, but Peter and Edmund speak it fluently. He follows Edmund into the room anyway, and Lucy follows him.

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Eustace scrambles up. "Peter," he says uncertainly. "I, er, how are you?"

"Fine," Peter says, with the calm civility Lucy has seen him use to emissaries he doesn't like -- the ones he tends to greet with Rhindon unsheathed across his lap. "And you?"

"I, er, I've been to Narnia," Eustace says, visibly girding his loins. Edmund gives him a curious look, lips twisting in amusement. "You...weren't lying."

"No." A pause, and Lucy can see Peter gathering the ragged shreds of the High King around him like a cloak. He is, he isn't -- there's some difference between this return and the last, because this time Peter has ketp all his majesty, even though it's not...quite the same. She doesn't think he's doing that deliberately. "And what did you think?"

Please, please, please don't say anything wrong, Lucy prays. She doesn't think he will, but Peter -- Peter is a king in exile, and if Eustace insults his country --

"It was brilliant!" Eustace says, looking relieved he's found something that seems to be the right thing to say. "There was a sea monster, and a pool that turns everything that touches it to gold, and I got turned into a dragon --"

"It not being Narnia," Edmund drawls, "it wasn't a talking dragon."

Momentarily diverted, Eustace says, "But I thought dragons didn't talk? I know dragons don't tlak."

"Things are different in Narnia," Lucy says.

"It was such a great adventure," Eustace continues. "I can't wait to go back!"

The look that Peter gives him makes him shut up. It's the same look Peter used to give foes before battles began, in what should have been peace negotiations, the same look he gave Caspian the last time he was in Narnia and the last thing Miraz saw before he died. Lucy hates that look because it scares her, and reminds of her of something Susan had said once: Peter's dangerous because he's a weapon.

"Get your things, Ed," Peter says. "I'd like to leave before it's too dark."

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AWESOME, absolutely AWESOME.

I swear this is the brilliant of brilliant.

Aside from a few typos, I loved all of your character interactions! GREAT JOB.

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Heh. Thanks. I can't wait to see what they do with Voyage. (Please don't screw it up, please don't screw it up -- the director's leaving, you see.)

Peter can't be a comfortable person to be around. He just can't be, especially post-Narnia, and I think it's probably worse after PC, because he's actively delegating -- and he's not there to see.

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I'm very excited about VoDT as well. It was actually one of my favorite books, but I only remember vague details, sadly. I hope the new director can live up to our expectations!

~Peter, *sighs*. But you know, what I really like about your Peter is that's he ultimately more human, than any other Peter I've seen written. GREAT JOB with that. :D

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You know, except for the end (CRACK I TELL YOU UTTER CRACK, but then again, we are talking Narnia here), Voyage is one of the better books. Also: no crisis, so why in God's name are Lucy and Edmund and Eustace along for the ride?

Aw, thanks. I no longer venture out in fandom to see what others are writing or meta-ing, but before that started, one of the things I always saw was that Peter wasn't an interesting character -- which, um, well, you know me. Always up for a challenge, I am.

(Also, there is a possibility I may be writing Peter/Narnia now. And, um, ripped off Mercedes Lackey.)

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Oh yes. ('TWAS CRACK. D:) I really don't get that. It was sort of like, "Look, the painting came to life! Let's all fall into Narnia now!" There really was nothing that needed to be done. Unless the crisis was Caspian's head in dire need of a little deflating.

Really? No fandom venturing? BUT THAT'S ALMOST ALL THE JOY OF IT. *rolls eyes* Not cool, not cool. Peter is too much of the archetypal hero from Lewis' writings (no offense to him!), so yeah, he's kinda....blah. CHALLENGES ARE KEWL.

(Oh, dear. What am I going to do with you?)

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Given the fact that Caspian gets visitors not once, not twice, but THREE times during his reign (if we're counting PC as part of his reign), it makes him look like the most incompetent king ever. (Actual title reserved for Tirian, of course. Oh, yes, hand your country over the invaders; we're lucky Peter was probably HIGH OFF BEING IN ASLAN'S COUNTRY or he would have administered a beat-down.)

No fandom venturing. I get to the point where other people's characters/'verses make no sense, because it's completely at odds with my view of the canon. It hasn't been that big of a deal in previous fandoms, but in Narnia, well, my view is at right angles to the majority of fandom, so...there we go. I get too annoyed to concentrate on the stories.

(EARTH MAGIC. 'Tis awesome. Although Trumpkin probably thinks Peter's high and the rest of the Pevensies are just like, "OMGWTF we thought that was just a superstitious legend, not acctual magic." Peter: "APPARENTLY NOT.")

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I was seriously suprised that Peter didn't go and berate Caspian (at the very least) for all those weird things that he let happen.

*sigh* True, true, it's like that with Next Gen in the Harry Potter fandom. Each author has a different characterization of the Next Gen kids, 'cause they're mostly just a list of names on a sheet of paper.

(EARTH MAGIC? WTF?)

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High off Aslan's country. It's the only reasonable explanation. Either that, or he was a simulacrum created to fool everyone because he really survived the train crash and is in a hospital bed with Susan crying over him at this very minute.

(I, um, yeah. See, it's also called the eldest bond, and it directly ties a ruler to the earth, and there's a possibility that after the White Witch some of Narnia's oldest residents weren't really in the mood for anyone else to screw with the weather and the land and, you know, actively harm Narnia, so they bound Peter to Narnia with blood and magic. And since Narnia was healthy during the Golden Age -- repairing itself after the damage the White Witch had done -- it wasn't a big deal. Anyway, most people who knew about it just thought it was superstition, a placebo, nothing to really worry about. Until Peter went back to England and had the most HORRIBLE headaches for a week, and then came back to Narnia and got hit with everything horrible that had happened to Narnia for a thousand years. So, um, we're left with me writing stuff like this:

He’s not in his body anymore. What he feels isn’t human at all, and there are no words to describe it – but he knows it, and it’s as familiar as his sword.

Narnia.

She’s not sentient, not exactly, but she is alive, and he can feel her rousing around him, overjoyed at his return. This is what was missing in England: the feel of something else in his mind, the familiar comforting purr of his country, her depthless love. He tastes: green growing things, the beat of hooves on the earth, the rush of water, the flutter of wings. He feels: confusion, anger, fear, pain. He sees: the forests burning, blood spilling, the dry death, the living put to the sword. He knows: death, terror, despair.

Hope.

An overwhelming presence: you’re here!

Yes. I won’t leave again. He shapes the thought as clearly as he can. Tell me what to do.

No words, but an impression. Fix this. Heal us.

Us. Because the blood and bones of Narnia are the blood and bones of the High King, bound by his life freely offered and a magic as old as Narnia itself. The spell is sixteen and a thousand years old, and he only now understands it.

*facepalm* I just...yeah. Yeah. I got nothin'. Um. Peter/Narnia 4Eva! *waves flag*)

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*simultaneous facepalm and sigh* Oh dear, your Peter/Narnia obsession.

XD I really liked it though, it was a great piece of work! :D

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I almost have a thousand words of Peter/Narnia. And then I went, "No, honey, you have to go work on your actual stories now," but there will probably be more. Oh God. I don't know if I can bear to post this to a comm for fear of getting laughed at.

Of course, it starts out like this:

Narnia…slumbers. There’s no other word for it, and even that’s not right. Peter’s skin itches, but it’s not that, it’s – it’s beneath his skin. Inside his head.

His country is sick, and wounded, and it hits him like a blow to the heart. It’s not that he’s forgotten what this feels like, because it’s the sort of thing that can’t be replicated in England, it’s that he’s never felt this before because his country has always been safe and healthy.

Not now.

He’d barely noticed it back at the ruins of Cair Paravel, but with every step he takes into Narnia’s interior it gets worse and worse. He tastes bile in the back of his throat. His head is pounding. His vision is blurring. He can barely walk in a straight line.

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Well, it's brilliant writing, so I'm sure you'll get commended for that. But as for the "pairing?" I'm not quite sure how people will take to that. XD

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I could always list it as gen and bring in my Aslan conspiracy theory. Aslan is totally opposed to this, by the way. And then Narnia doesn't let Peter leave! The Door in the Air closes on the Pevensies and Aslan throws a hissyfit and Caspian goes, "Well, shit."

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Wait, which part does Aslan oppose? The contents of your conspiracy theory, or the idea of you having one? Well, I'd like to see something as AU as Narnia keeping the Pevensies in Narnia! Very entertaining notion. :D

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Er, earth magic. Because it's outside of his control, and binds Peter to Narnia despite what Aslan might otherwise wish. He doesn't want Peter to be as connected to Narnia as he is; he knows that he's barely keeping a hold on Peter and if there's something that binds Peter otherwise, Peter will always choose Narnia over Aslan.

Vague plot bunnies aside, this will, I think, be the first fandom I don't go AU in. (You have no idea how tempted I am to AU The Last Battle, though. Peter and Edmund instead of Eustace and Jill! Or Peter and Edmund and Eustace and Jill. *vaguely bemused*)

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...Wait, what do you mean, "Peter and Edmund instead of Eustace and Jill! Or Peter and Edmund and Eustace and Jill?"

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In The Last Battle, where Eustace and Jill end up in Narnia? At that point in time, Peter and Edmund have the Rings, so they could conceivably go to Narnia if they touched them with bare skin. And I'm convinced that they could have taken care of the problem in approximately five minutes flat and still had time to give Tirian a stern talking-to.

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....but, everyone dies. They all go to Aslan's Country, but no one really goes to Narnia. I mean sure, they all do, but it's not just Eustace and Jill trying to save Tirian. *is confused*

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That would be one of the parts I'd change. *waves "Narnia Lives!" flag*

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*rolls eyes and grins* You are so very different from all the other fanfiction writers in this fandom. Hehe, it's terribly refreshing though. I'd love to see a Narnia Lives AU! :D

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The Last Battle makes me want to hit things, so to put up with it I'd have to AU it or choose not to acknowledge its existence. I prefer the latter. (Every other one of my major fandoms I've gone AU; with my last fandom, I started out AU.)

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PSH. WHATEV. I have seen Edmund/his torch, and yours actually has thought in it, and you know how I feel about your writing. *ENABLES* I take to this pairing JUST FINE.

I like the notion of the Narnians taking things into their own hands. Is earth magic dark or just a manipulation of Deep Magic? Or is it inherently dark because it is a manipulation of Deep Magic, and whatever goes against Aslan or binds you to other things than Aslan is Evil & Dark?

I'll be honest, when you said 'earth magic' I was thinking, um, the planet Earth, or at least Our World, and when I figured out it was dirt and soil and stuff, I was like, "Ohhhh... That makes more sense." *is out of the fantasy loop*

This whole notion certainly puts whole new dimensions on Peter's movieverse crankiness.

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...wait, weren't we just talking about how Narnia was LESS cracky than HP? *wide eyes*

Deep magic, or even older, I'd bet. And it's not dark, but it's not "light", either, although I lean more towards the latter just because there's not all that much you can do with it that's not good.

I wonder what the Deep Magic is, really.

(And I have a Theory about Cair Paravel tied to earth magic, too.)

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Oh, one Edmund/torch and one Peter/the land isn't enough to outcrack HP. It's a start, but Narnia's got a lot of work to do. I THINK THE TREES HAVE SLEPT LONG ENOUGH, DON'T YOU?

Ya, what it is and its tenuous relationship with Aslan.

Of course you do! <3 I can see where that comes around. Cair Paravel during the 100 Year Winter must've been creepy as hell.

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OH MY GOD. *horrified* Stop! Stop now!

And where Aslan's coming from killing the Emperor-over-the-Sea's appointed, uh, hangwoman, too.

I am sneakily plotting how to work this into a story -- I think it might be Caspian and Edmund during a PC missing scene, where Caspian muses on rebuilding Cair Paravel and asks about the plans. And Edmund laughs. "There aren't any plans -- or at least, if there are, they were lost long before our time. The story is that Cair Paravel rose from the ground in a single night, fully constructed, and that the castle doors wouldn't open until the kings and queens of prophecy set foot in Narnia. Now I don't know how accurate that is, but Cair Parevel's, well -- it always has liked Peter best, just like Narnia herself."

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Morse code on the palms ftw. I think I read a slash fic like that somewhere, or if it isn't, it damn well should be.
What's funny is that, because I've read your Peter meta, Peter's reaction to Eustace going to Narnia reads like meta. This is your meta, in narrative form. (I suck at writing meta, and just go straight to narrative form.)

"You're younger than I was when we went the first time."
DON'T QUESTION INEFFABILITY, PETER.

Lucy's "We've been replaced" breaks my heart. That's Aslan replacing Ed & Lu with Eustace, right?

HIGH TONGUE OF NARNIA aljla;fdksf;sk;fs <33

Peter through Lucy's eyes is interesting. More a distanced view, I think, than Edmund and Susan. I mean, they're all close. But you know what I mean.

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Sometimes I do meta, and sometimes I get fed up with it and go to narrative, and sometimes I'm too impatient to do narrative and go to meta. And sometimes I figure meta out in narrative. ("In Constellated Wars", anyone? I predicted that Peter was a little bit of a sociopath, I did not predict that Caspian was a paranoid schemer, except in the way I kind of did.)

Yep. ~~The bastard.~~ Eustace is damn lucky no one expects him to rule a country.

In retrospect, I do not think there is a High Tongue of Narnia. I think Peter's actually speaking regular Narnian here -- what would be Old Narnian, I suppose, or what was regular Narnian during the Golden Age. Which Lucy's not used to because she's been speaking modern Narnian with Caspian the past few times she's been there.

Right, and I think part of that is because Lucy's the youngest, and she doesn't remember as much.

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I'm much a fan of figuring out meta in narrative. If I could write school essays in narrative form, I would spend more time doing homework. Worldbuilding is kind of like writing a paper backwards. We know the conclusion already, and have to make up the little details that lead to it.

Everyone in your fic sounds like a Slytherin. HEE.

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They are not! Peter is either a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff, and Lucy is a Gryffindor.

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Possibly! And your Peter is a jealous zealous lover, and possibly codependent. <3333

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