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✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩🏞The Realm of Narnia🏞✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆♡⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

Soon, the train vanished into thin air. There was no more train station, no more hustling and bustling crowds, and no more England. It had gone quiet.

The atmosphere became tranquil, as Charlotte could hear the soft whispers of the wind and waves splashing aggressively from a distance. She could smell its seawater from where they were standing, and feel her shoes shuffling on sand. Before them stood a bright sandy beach. The five of them stood still together in an earthly tunnel, slowly letting each other's hands go, emerging towards the sandy beach. Charlotte could not believe her eyes - she was really here.

"Wow..." She whispered, taking in the gorgeous view before her.

The Pevensies looked at her, realising she had followed them. Brushing aside their perplexity on how she managed to follow them into this realm, they exchanged knowing looks that she embodied the same feeling of admiration they initially had when they stumbled into Narnia for the first time.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Edmund asked her with a knowing smile, looking at the beaches ahead.

"It is..." Charlotte nodded in agreement, taking step after step out of the cave with them following behind, "it's just like walking right into a dream."

"Welcome to Narnia, Charlotte," Lucy announced.

"You've been here before?" Charlotte asked.

"We have," Susan confirmed, "it was all thanks to Lucy. She discovered it first."

"Oh, it's even better than how I imagined it to be," Charlotte sighed, taking in the fresh air.

This sent the Pevensie siblings into utter confusion.

"Hang on, you know about Narnia too?" Peter enquired, astonished at her choice of words.

Charlotte looked back at the four of them, and slowly nodded her head. They looked back at her, puzzled, wondering how she could have known about Narnia when it was her first time visiting.

"I've heard of this place," she claimed, much too casually for them.

"You have?" Edmund looked back and forth between her and his siblings, whom he exchanged perplexed glances with.

Charlotte confirmed with another nod, "My mother used to tell me stories."

"Your mother?" Susan repeated, "She's been here before?"

"My parents met here in Narnia, and went on an adventure together," Charlotte revealed.

"That sounds beautiful," Lucy remarked, a wide grin spreading across her face.

Charlotte smiled at her and turned around, standing still, looking out at the sea. Not a word came out of her mouth.

Lucy and Susan shared looks with each other, exchanging smiles. Without warning, they both bolted past her, sprinting cheerfully across the beach.

Peter playfully pushed Edmund back, and made a dash after the girls, laughing away.

"Come on, Charlotte!" Edmund prompted her, lightly pulling her hand, before he let go and continued running after his siblings.

Charlotte broke into a grin and giggled, following after him.

"Shame you're not as quick as me, Ed!" Peter mocked.

"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Susan declared.

"Looks like Charlotte's going to be the last one!" Edmund celebrated gleefully, looking back at her.

"Seems like you spoke too soon!" Charlotte responded with a laugh, shoving past him without her shoes on.

They all started removing some articles of their school attires, like their school jackets and their shoes.

"Well, seems like it's Lu now!" Edmund snickered, taking advantage of his younger sister's height.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Lucy called back, stopping to take off her shoes.

Peter attempted to pull Edmund back to give their youngest sister an advantage to catch up, but his quick reflexes allowed him to dodge Peter's arms by a mere centimetre. They all rushed towards the shoreline, tapping their feet into the water.

Edmund splashed playfully at Charlotte, catching her off guard. Charlotte gasped, and kicked at the water, sending it back to him and Susan. Lucy, at one point, fell down and it sent everyone laughing at her. Charlotte kindly helped her up, giving her a warm and friendly grin.

Being in a fantasy land was much better than being on a train to school in reality. It was probably the first time Charlotte felt joy in what felt like centuries of misery. At this moment, the skies appeared a vibrant and lovely shade of bright blue instead of a dark and sullen shade of grey. The wind blew against her face lightly, instead of howling fiercely. She was almost certain she had fallen into a beautiful dream, one that she would never want to wake up from.

"Ah!" She shrieked with laughter as she felt the seawater slap her face, and she grinned at Edmund who had a smug look of victory plastered on his face.

She ran after him, kicking at him playfully in response. Edmund let out a laugh, barely successful at dodging it. He peered down at his uniform, which was soaking wet.

Susan shared teasingly, "Edmund's never been this playful with the ladies."

"Oh shut it, Susan!" Edmund yelled and attacked her.

"She's not wrong," Peter laughed teasingly and splashed him back to defend poor Susan.

Suddenly, Edmund shifted his attention towards the higher ground on the beach. Charlotte stopped splashing Lucy and analysed his curious expression, and her eyes moved towards the land, noticing ruins of what seemed to be a demolished building.

"Edmund," Susan called, gradually putting her water attacks on Edmund to a stop.

"What is it?" Peter asked, noticing Edmund's stare into the unknown.

"Where do you suppose we are?" Edmund asked the four of them.

"Where do you think?" Peter asked back, "we've already established that, haven't we?"

"I know but," Edmund began, "it's strange, I don't remember there being any ruins in Narnia."

Charlotte looked on, observing the ruins. It seemed odd indeed, and it made her curious.

"Was it always like that, perhaps?" She suggested, meeting eyes with Edmund.

"But there aren't any ruins in Narnia," Susan argued, pulling her eyebrows together uncertainly, "not that we know of the last time we were here."

"Let's explore then," Charlotte suggested, leaving the four behind, "perhaps it's a new landmark no one's ever discovered!"

Edmund exchanged looks with his siblings, and proceeded to follow after her. Then, Lucy followed suit, prompting the older Pevensie siblings to follow after them.

"Charlotte, be careful," Edmund prompted her, as she recklessly pushed through branches, "the trees are alive."

"Of course trees are alive," she replied back naively with a laugh, "silly boy."

"No, Charlotte," Lucy shook her head, "what Edmund means to say is that the trees here in Narnia actually are just as alive as the animals and humans. They can actually move."

"Oh. But, why aren't they moving then?" Charlotte questioned their logic, pausing in her tracks to face them for answers.

This stunned Lucy. Charlotte was right, the trees were not moving like they used to. They stood still, like regular trees. Peter and Susan placed their hands on the tree trunks, investigating their stillness.

"That's odd," Peter remarked, coming to Lucy's defence, "they usually do move."

"Perhaps they're all asleep," Lucy suggested, looking to Susan for confirmation, but Susan was silent.

"I'll go first," he suggested, walking past Charlotte, "we might come across danger. Looks like something bad has happened around here."

Lucy and Susan exchanged worried glances and followed after him.

Charlotte waited to follow after Edmund, only to realise he was waiting for her to do the same. They let out awkward laughs when they both set foot and blocked each other's paths. To ease the awkwardness, Edmund lifted his hand, gesturing for her to go first. Still smiling sheepishly, she nodded in gratitude and carried on.

They emerged through what seemed to appear as an apple orchard. Occasionally, they would respond to the sound of an apple falling onto the ground.

Susan took the opportunity to share with the rest about how Newton founded gravity upon observing an apple falling from the tree. However, Peter was in no mood to hear about his sister's brainy knowledge and, at some point, insisted that she shut up.

Peter grabbed an apple from a tree and rubbed it over his school vest. Turning to Lucy, he threw it to her hands.

"Does anyone still have their sandwiches?" Lucy questioned curiously.

"Well, I left mine in my bag," Peter answered, "and I left my bag at the train station... And I left the train station in England."

"And where have we left England?" Charlotte questioned lightheartedly.

Peter shot her an amused look, "Well... On Earth."

"So where are you from, Charlotte? Before you enrolled into Saint Finbar?" Susan enquired politely.

"Oh, I lived in London before," Charlotte explained, "there's not much to tell."

"But this apple orchard," she diverted the topic, "I wonder who grew it."

"We certainly didn't," Susan replied with a frown, "I don't remember this at all. We never knew there was an apple orchard anywhere in Narnia."

Susan thought about it, keeping silent for a few seconds.

"Perhaps it grew naturally," she suggested, "after all, who knows how long we've been gone? If it was a really long time, this would make sense. Because the trees-"

"Oh, pipe down, Susan," Peter grumbled, "I don't want to hear about it. It's BORING."

Edmund stifled a laugh, causing Susan to roll her eyes in response. Charlotte smiled, admiring their sibling relationship.

"She's always trying to be smart," Peter explained, "as usual. But she's not exactly the smartest in school."

"Still doing better than you are," Susan boasted, sticking her nose in the air.

"I think she's brilliant," Charlotte defended Susan casually, trying to make peace between the siblings, "sometimes we learn in teaching."

"Why," Susan turned to her with a sweet smile, "thank you for that input, Charlotte."

They soon arrived at the higher ground where they saw the ruins. The Pevensie siblings then separated to examine the landmark. Charlotte followed Edmund, having a gut feeling that he would be her closest companion on her journey in Narnia, based on his interactions with her so far. Furthermore, they seemed to be closest in age as compared to his siblings.

"It's strange," he began, "it all feels too familiar here."

"I see," Charlotte spoke quietly, "perhaps you've been here in particular, before?"

"No wonder it feels familiar," Edmund replied dryly, glazing over her as he examined the area, "maybe it's because I have been here before."

"Just trying to trigger your memory retrieval," Charlotte shrugged at his sarcasm, rolling her eyes.

Edmund noticed her looking sullenly towards the ground after the tone in her voice, and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Letting out a nervous chuckle, he spoke softly, "I mean, I recognise this place vividly, but it would help if it was all in one piece."

Charlotte simply nodded and left his side. Edmund pressed his lips together, and decided to continue observing the place.

Charlotte then noticed Lucy strolling over with the apple in her hand to what seemed to appear as a broken balcony. She followed her, and observed the horizon.

"Have you got any ideas?" She asked, hoping for an answer.

Lucy shook her head, "No. But the beaches and the trees..."

"I wonder who lived here?" Lucy wondered aloud, turning back to Susan.

"I think we did," Susan remarked, picking up a golden piece from the ground.

Edmund approached his sisters, instantly recognising the gold piece. Peter, noticing that his siblings have found something, also approached them.

"Hey, that's mine..." Edmund spoke, surprised, "from my chess set!"

"Which chess set?" Peter asked in bewilderment.

"Well, I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley, did I?" he asked back dryly, taking the piece from Susan.

It soon dawned on Lucy, and she spoke.

"It can't be," she said aloud, putting two and two together.

She bolted off without hesitation. Peter's brotherly instincts kicked in and he immediately rushed to follow her, followed by Susan. Charlotte and Edmund looked at each other, and followed after the rest. Lucy continued sprinting, tugging on Peter's hand, until they stopped at a particular site.

"Don't you see?" Lucy questioned her clueless siblings.

"What?" Peter asked, still not catching her drift.

"Imagine walls," she suggested, positioning Peter.

She then pulled Susan to stand beside Peter, and pointed to a distance, "and columns there!"

Edmund seemed to catch on and walked over to Peter's side, turning to face the direction Lucy was pointing towards.

"And a glass roof," she finished, positioning herself steadily beside Susan.

After seconds, it dawned on Peter where they were standing.

"Cair Paravel," Peter spoke upon realisation.