Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah blah...
Author's Note: Yay, chapter 2! In which Lucy almost turns into a Mary Sue, and Marjorie messes up! Oh no! Read further to find out what happenes...if you dare... (dun dun dun...) Shout-outs and cyber-brownies for everyone after the chapter! Reviews are lovely!
Chapter 2: Weakness
Hmm…"enchanted sleep"…no, that's not it.
Lucy skimmed through the spells on the page, trying to find the one for visibility; but no such luck. She had gone on for about thirty pages and seen lots of spells, such as how to cure warts, find buried treasure or control the weather, but so far none had been the one she was looking for. She took a moment to admire the pictures, then turned to the next page.
"Oh!" Lucy gasped. The page she had just turned to was such a blaze of colors and pictures that she hardly noticed the writing. Her eyes darted all over, not sure what to look at first…then she saw the first few words:
An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals.
An old, familiar, green-eyed feeling stirred inside her, causing her to peer closer at the pictures. They had seemed crowded and muddlesome before, but now she began to see them quite clearly:
In the first picture, she saw a girl who looked just like her, standing at a reading desk and reading a huge book.
In the second, Lucy (for the girl was Lucy) was chanting or reciting something, with a terrible look on her face.
In the third, the immortal beauty had come to her. And though the pictures had looked small at first, the Lucy in the picture now seemed quite as big as the real Lucy. The girl in the picture turned and looked straight into Lucy's face with her new, sparkling sapphire eyes; and Lucy looked back at her with her own, simple, gray-blue ones. They held each other's gaze for what seemed like an hour (but was only a moment), and then finally Lucy sighed and turned away, too dazzled to keep looking into that gorgeous face.
She's so—beautiful.
She bit her lip as an inner struggle began within her.
All I have to do is say a few simple words…
Lucy looked back at the page, still fighting with her conscience.
I can finally be pretty, even as pretty as Susan if I wanted. She's always been the beauty of the family.
And now the pictures came crowding on her, thick and fast; visions of the beauty she had seen began overwhelming her mind. She saw herself throned on high at a great tournament in Calormene, and all the kings of the world fought because of her loveliness. After that it turned from tournaments to real wars, and all of Narnia and Archenland, Telmar and Calormene, Galma and Terebinthia, were laid waste with the fury of the kings and dukes and great lords who fought for her favor. It changed again and Lucy, still beautiful beyond the lot of mortals, was back in England; and Susan came back from America. She looked just like the real Susan, only plainer, with a nastier face…and there was no trace of the Gentle Queen in her eyes. She was jealous of the dazzling beauty of Lucy, but that didn't matter because no one cared anything about her now. Everyone's attention was now devoted to her sister.
The real Lucy swallowed hard, trying to stop the squirmy feeling in her chest. The temptation of saying the spell seemed to outweigh every reason for not saying it. And she wanted so badly to try it…
"I will say the spell," said Lucy defiantly, trying to shake off the "little red flag" that was waving in her mind. "I will say the spell and I don't care."
After all, it's just a beauty-spell, she assured herself; even though she strongly felt she shouldn't do it. What harm could it do?
But when she looked back at the opening words, there in the middle of the writing (where she was sure there had been no picture before), she found the great face of a lion, The Lion…Aslan Himself…staring into her eyes. Her heart began to pound in her chest. Aslan was painted such a bright gold that He seemed to be alive, coming towards her out of the page. He was growling, and all of His terrible, dangerous teeth were bared. Her stomach lurched in fear, and she quickly turned over the page.
She then realized she was holding her breath, and let it out. A wave of secret, guilty shame washed over her. She stopped a moment and looked behind her to see if anyone had seen her foolishness; she felt so afraid that someone was watching her. Her cheeks burned, and her heart now felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing it.
Was He watching me? The whole time? Oh dear…
She desperately hoped not.
It would be terrible if…if…oh, never mind. I must get on.
She shook her head and continued her search. She'd learned her lesson about looks.
A little later, she saw a spell that would let you know what your friends said about you…
Meanwhile, back in our world…
"Margie, when ith the train coming? I'm bored."
"Stop asking me that question, Emily! It's coming; just wait. And stop pouting."
Emily huffed and slumped in her seat. Marjorie just kept tackling her cat's cradle string, trying to ignore her Mother's warning glances and her older brother's smirk. This went on for about ten more minutes, and then she finally groaned in boredom and let the string fall from her well-practiced fingers. It turned out their train was actually due in one hour, not half an hour; and so they were stuck waiting there a while longer. It was torture, having to sit around and wait for so long; with carting and luggage and boxes all over a dreary railway platform.
"I wish that bloody train would hurry up," muttered her brother.
"Jack, watch your language!" said Mother reprovingly, even though they all shared the same thought. Marjorie put the string in her pocket and sat back, letting her mind wander.
I wish Lucy were here, she thought. Now would be a good time for one of her stories.
She smiled and remembered. Oh, Lucy told the most wonderful stories; stories of adventure and magic, of wonderful creatures and animals that could talk, of faraway countries, cool woods, green hills, sunlit seas and shining castles. When Lucy became a storyteller, the dreary, ordinary world around them was forgotten and replaced with the vibrant world her words created. Those stories made them both forget whatever troubles they faced that day, and let them escape to somewhere better. And though Marjorie never said it aloud, she knew that telling those stories especially made Lucy feel better…
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"Princess Lucy, Princess Lucy!"
What's all the noise about? Marjorie wondered. She dropped the chalk she'd been drawing with and made her way to the other side of the playground.
She soon saw a crowd of school-girls (the same ones who had teased her about her glasses) dancing around a blond-haired figure, laughing and shouting at her. Her heart skipped a beat--it was Lucy. They jostled around Lucy, chanting and laughing gleefully. Lucy's face grew pink. "You do not understand!" Marjorie heard her shout above the noise. "I am no princess! I'm…" Lucy stopped herself, and seemed to decide not to finish her sentence. They all laughed even harder and chanted louder,
"Princess Lucy, Princess Lucy!" But she stood tall with her chin up and her shoulders back and let them tease. Marjorie looked around her frantically. She had to do something! She caught sight of the school mistress and ran over to her.
"Miss Catherine!" she shouted, "Help! Miss Catherine…"
"Good gracious, child!" the Mistress exclaimed in her thin, creaky voice. "There's no need to shout so. This is a lady's boarding-school, not a circus! Now what is it? Be quick."
"Some of the other girls are making fun of Lucy. They're shouting and laughing at her and…please, won't you stop them?"
"What! Shouting and laughing? I'll not tolerate such insolent, unladylike behavior at this school." The old woman put her spectacles on her thin, pointed nose, drew herself up and marched over to where the trouble was, with a stern glint in her small, beady eyes. Marjorie followed.
The noise faltered as the children noticed the Mistress heading their way. The crowd broke up and they scattered in all directions, but not without shouting behind them "Goodbye, Princess!"
"I'm not a princess!" Lucy finally shouted after them.
"Come back this instant," called the Mistress as she tried to chase them down. Marjorie made her way to Lucy. She noticed her proud head droop a little, and saw her face grow sad, almost frustrated; and as she came to her friend's side, she saw her lips move in silent words. And if she had been a little closer, she would have heard Lucy whisper,
"I'm a queen…"
"Are you alright, Lucy?" she asked anxiously. Lucy sighed and turned away with mist in her gray-blue eyes.
"I don't think I am alright," she said quietly. "But…I shall try."
Marjorie hesitated, then timidly asked, "What happened?" She remembered the shouts of "Princess!" and added, "Were you talking like a royal lady again?"
"Yes," said Lucy. She gave a short laugh, but the sound was harsh and forced. "I was remem—I mean, imagining again, and my mouth got carried away with my mind. One of the meaner girls heard, and started teasing me about it…and then the other girls saw and joined in."
"I'm sorry, Lucy."
"It's alright; it doesn't matter now. At least the head mistress will take care of them."
Marjorie looked down and studied her shoes, then said shyly,
"You're a princess to me."
Lucy smiled. "I'm not the only one at this school, Margie." Marjorie smiled back. They were both silent for a minute, and then Marjorie asked,
"Lucy? Please, could you…will you tell me a story?"
Something flickered across Lucy's face, and a slow smile tugged at her mouth.
"Alright, Margie. Which one would you like to hear?"
"Will you tell me the one about the evil witch, and the lion, and the magic wardrobe? I do love that one."
"Me too, Marjorie," said Lucy softly, as they sat down under a tree. "Me too." She crossed her legs and breathed in deeply, and the story began. "Once upon a time, there were four children…"
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Marjorie remembered how the color came into Lucy's cheeks and the way her eyes grew bright while telling her tales, her storyteller's voice rising and falling and sweeping them both away to another place, and the wistful, faraway look that would come in her eyes at certain points. Marjorie wasn't sure why, but it was almost as if…as if Lucy were homesick.
Whooo! Whoooooo!
"Hullo! Margie! Wake up, Dolly Day-dream! The train's arrived."
A hand waved in front of her vision interrupting her thoughts and she jumped, startled. She turned to glare at her brother and then stood up, clutching her suitcase in one hand and her art supplies in the other.
"All abooaard!"
"Tickets, please…"
Tickets were punched, luggage was taken and they all filed into the third-class carriage and made their way to their seats. They had almost reached them when Marjorie's pencil box slipped from her hand and crashed on the floor, scattering pencils everywhere. She immediately dropped to her knees and began cleaning up the mess, her face red with embarrassment.
"Marjorie, are you alright?" asked her mother.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," she answered. "You go on ahead; I'll be there in a moment." She reached under a seat and grabbed another runaway pencil as the rest of her family continued down the narrow aisle. She soon found the last one, shoved it in her box and rose to her feet. She made her way down the aisle and was almost to her seat when she heard a voice exclaim,
"Marjorie!"
She knew that voice, and remembered the other features that went with it: the blond braids, the turned-up nose, the haughty smile, the smart, smooth manner. She turned around and was not at all surprised to see Anne Featherstone looking back at her.
"Marjorie Preston!" she exclaimed again, with a huge, happy-to-see-you mask of a smile plastered across her face. "Fancy seeing you here!"
"Hullo again, Anne," said Marjorie, trying to smile back. "Good to see you again."
"Yes indeed! Can you believe the Holidays are finally here? Why, it seems only yesterday we were all buried in Math and English and all that rot."
Marjorie just nodded.
"I say," said Anne, "you will sit with me won't you? I am quite bored and it would be nice for both of us to have someone to chat with."
"Um…" Marjorie looked over at her Mother for permission, and she smiled and nodded yes. "Alright," she said, sitting down next to her school-mate. Just then, the whistle sounded again and with a jerk and a slow chug, chug, chug, the train started forward. Soon it was speeding down the track with a clickety-clack, clickety-clack, and Marjorie could see the telegraph poles flicking past. She looked away from the window and down at her knees. She felt rather nervous and scared about what Anne might think about her. Anne Featherstone was quite popular and influential with the girls at school. Marjorie had always longed to be accepted and liked by her and her friends, but her friendship with Lucy had always prevented that. As long as Lucy was in the picture, she would never gain their complete approval. She often felt torn between the two.
But for now she pushed away her fears, quickly put on her smartest, smoothest attitude, and they began chatting.
"The girls and I have missed you, Marjorie," said Anne, in a cool voice.
"Really?" asked Marjorie, trying to keep the eagerness out of her voice.
"Oh yes. Shall we see anything of you this term, or are you still going to be all taken up with Lucy Pevensie?"
"Don't know what you mean by taken up," protested Marjorie.
"Oh yes, you do," said Anne, smugly. "You were crazy about her last term."
"No I wasn't," said Marjorie, rolling her eyes. "I've got more sense than that. Hmm, not a bad little kid in her way. But I was getting pretty tired of her before the end of the term."
The moment those words left her mouth, she heard a faint, far-off echo of a voice in her head…
"…Two-faced little beast!"
And she felt horrible.
Author's Note: Lucy turning into a Mary Sue...that's scary... shudders Anyways, I hope this chapter was as good as the first one. I was kinda nervous about it. (chews on fingernails) Hope y'all enjoyed it! Please be nice and drop a review! And thanks to everyone who did review...you guys rock!! Time for shout-outs...
Almyra: You are so awesome! Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed Emily's lisp (I did too).
elecktrum: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like this idea, and that you liked the hankerchief thing in the last chappie. I couldn't resist putting that little detail in.
Cirolane: Thanks! Hope I updated soon enough for you.
Western Arawen: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the way I portrayed Lucy.
The North Wyn: Thanks! Wow...Emily's lisp is popular... :-) Oh, you noticed the little Susan detail I put in the treasure box scene; clever you! Yay! I've also loved that VDT scene (and I will be rather miffed if it's not in the movie).
Kelev: Thanks!
ChabeMica: Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I hope this fic does teach people about real friendship; that would be cool!
FaithfulPureLight: thanks
Swanwhite2: Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that I captured Lucy's personality so well. She is a character who is dear to me and close to my heart; I'd be terribly disappointed if I didn't portray her properly.
Thanks again everbody! Stay tuned for chapter 4! Keep reviewing! You all ROCK:-)