Golden Age, Narnia

"Aslan was raised from the dead," Lucy said hesitantly.

"No, this is different," Mr. Tumnus said nervously, grasping his horns and twisting them side to side in agitation. "Aslan used the Deeper Magic. This…this is evil magic."

"But…for a good cause?" Lucy said hesitantly, looking at the corpse in front of her and the grieving Dryads around it.

"Please, your Majesty. He's…he barely even got to live, he's that young. And it's been done before for Dryads. All it takes is a drop of royal blood, and he can live a hundred years more," a grieving Dryad said.

"Her Majesty cannot and will not," Tumnus said firmly.

"I speak for myself, Mr. Tumnus," Lucy reminded gently but firmly. She was still young enough that she was always nervous about her decisions, but she would never rush to any conclusion this fast. "And my mind is not made up until I have all the facts about this magic."

"It's an ancient Dryad spell, my dear Queen. We say the prayers, and then a drop of royal blood may resurrect him for another hundred years. Which is an admittedly short time, but as a human with a short human lifespan, you must know how much living can be done in such a short time," a Dryad begged.

"I…I don't see the harm in it," Lucy began hesitantly.

"It's evil magic. Death is but the next greatest adventure. All good Narnians go to Aslan's country when they pass," Tumnus argued. "He's in a better place. It's our own cowardice and greediness that would make us want to return someone."

"How dare you?" several Dryads exclaimed.

"Mr. Tumnus! Mind what you say," Lucy reprimanded softly, placing her hand on his elbow.

"Forgive me, I should have worded that better. But your child is in Aslan's country, safe and sound, that I can assure you of," Tumnus retracted, giving a shallow bow to the Dryads.

"I…I think it's up to the child's parents," Lucy decided, unsure how to deal with this.

"Please save him, your Majesty," they begged.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it!" she said, pulling St. Nicholas' dagger out and pricking her finger. The Dryads all began chanting and etching symbols in the ground. Lucy's head began spinning in the confusion. She didn't know what to make of any of this.

Soon, a faint wisp of spirit arose from the body like smoke from a fire, whirling and spinning about in the brisk, cold air. A cold fear thrilled through Lucy's veins, grasping at her heart.

"This…this isn't right," she realized a bit too late. All she wanted was to help the Dryads, but as the tiny Dryad seemed to have life return, it wasn't truly life. It was a cheat as much as they themselves had just cheated death. "H-How do I undo it?"

"My baby," one of the Dryads cooed.

"It's not him…it's not. Get away from it!" another Dryad shrieked. The others, nodding, slowly backed away, terrified.

"There's…there's only one way to stop the possession now…at least only one I know of," Tumnus said, wrenching his horns and closing his eyes in pain.

"N-No," Lucy said breathlessly. "I – I can't."

"Get away from it, please!" some of the Dryads pled to the parents who were still lurking about the ghastly, possessed corpse. "It's not him! It's not your child!"

"I have to kill it," Lucy said with so little breath he wasn't sure she had said it out loud.

As the body reached its tiny hands out, grasping in the air, Lucy grabbed her dagger, crying openly at the thought. "Aslan, please…I can't do this…"

Suddenly, the crazed corpse reached its tiny, stick fingers around the neck of its father and squeezed.

"No, no!" the mother screamed, horror-struck to the core. The father gasped for breath, not understanding.

"Now, Lu. Your Majesty, it has to be you," Tumnus said.

Lucy felt like throwing up, but knew she must do it. She quickly fell those few steps it took to get to the cadaver and plunged her dagger into its heart.

"It's…it's done," Lucy gasped. "It's done…I…I'm so sorry. I should…I should have never tried this in the first place."

Peter glanced around frantically until he noticed a long, blonde strand of hair resting far too perfectly circular to be accidental on a fire hydrant. He headed that way, and sure enough, a strand twirled into a perfect circle. Lucy. Of course she would think to leave a trail for him. But they would never think of just waiting up for a moment, any of the times they would rush about so.

"Pete! Over here!" Lucy whispered urgently from behind the telephone booth that she and Edmund were hiding behind once Peter had finally caught up.

"Why are we hiding?" Peter asked.

"Regina…" Lucy said.

"The thing's moving now. Let's go!" Edmund said.

"So what is it? It looks human…but there's no way."

"Regina knew him. She looked shocked," Lucy commented. "I – I have an idea, but it may sound crazy."

"We're from a storybook, one of my younger sisters is several decades older than me and married to a Neverland character. I think I can take some crazy," Peter reassured.

Lucy took a deep breath to steady herself. "I think it's a resurrected body. That someone tried to bring it to life, but … there's just no such thing, only spells that make you think that you might have. And Ed and I saw Regina drive past him. She clearly recognized him and was shocked and terrified to see him. It might be someone she knew when the body was…alive."

"So it's a … zombie?" Edmund said skeptically.

"That looks about right," Peter said as they walked around another corner. They had stopped bothering to hide, realizing that the creature was solely looking forward.

"So what do we do?" Edmund asked.

"We need to kill it," Lucy said steadily.

"But if Regina knows him –" Edmund began.

"She knows the body. It's possessed, not alive. It's not truly whoever she thinks he is," Lucy said firmly, closing her eyes at the awful memory this was dredging up.

"How can you be so sure?" Peter pressed, shocked that his kinder sister was the one to be harsh this time.

"This isn't the first time I've seen it," Lucy said, trying not to cringe.

The brothers looked at her, startled at the revelation, but could see she didn't want to talk about it, so neither of them pushed her.

"A stable? Why would a zombie go into a stable?" Edmund frowned.

"I don't know, but we should make sure it doesn't attack any of the horses at least," Lucy said, pushing forward.

"There she goes again," Peter said, rolling his eyes and following. They started into a sprint after they heard Lucy give off a bloodcurdling scream.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Peter shouted as they banged through the door. Lucy had jumped onto the creature, using her entire weight in an attempt to pull it back. After a moment's confusion, Peter realized she was trying to yank the creature's fingers off of Henry.

Edmund, who had thought to knick one of Granny's steak knives as a weapon, pulled it out of his pocket and ran up with a yell and jabbed it into the creature's arms, making it temporarily let go. Lucy took advantage of this to make the creature fall backwards away from Henry, jumping off at the last moment to keep from being crushed.

"Henry, you got to get out of here! Come with me!" Peter shouted, grabbing Henry and rushing him out.

"What was that? That was scary!" Henry stammered.

"Don't know. We just need you to get out!" Peter shouted.

"O-Okay," Henry stuttered, terrified.

"Okay, just stay out here, lad. We'll take care of it. Promise," Peter said before rushing back in to help his siblings.

The two of them were still wrestling and stabbing the creature.

"Skubbe den tilbage," Peter shouted, using the Lone Islander natives' language in case the creature also spoke English. If they could shove it into a stall, they could close the stable door. "Mod stabile."

"Got it!" Edmund shouted, kicking uselessly at the creature's legs. Lucy grabbed its arm, trying to whirl it backwards again. Peter roared and ran at it, full strength to try to startle it back.

"Ack," Edmund said as the creature began choking him, stabbing at its arm with the knife.

The three turned around, startled, when they heard the main door open again.

"Get out! It's dangerous!" Lucy shouted just before David and Regina rounded the corner.

"Daniel?" Regina gasped, her eyes ghosted with tragic memories. "Daniel…It's true…You're really here."

"Umph," Edmund said, with one last shove into the stable. David quickly picked up on what they were doing and shoved the door closed.

"It won't hold long. Regina! Can you cast a spell to subdue him?" David yelled as the four of them held the door shut.

"No! I won't use magic against him!" Regina protested.

At that, David reached for a gun from inside his jacket. The Pevensies gasped, but didn't protest.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina shrieked.

"He's a monster, Regina!" David shouted. "If you won't put him down, I will!"

"He's right; there's no other way!" Lucy added. "This is not whoever you think it is. It is a monster!"

"Please, please," Regina said as she pawed at the door in a fruitless attempt to enter. "Just let me talk to him."

"It's too big of a risk! There's no telling what this fiend might do," Peter said.

"You have to at least give me a chance!" Regina said.

"It will only hurt you more!" Lucy protested. "You would be better off walking away right now!"

"No! I won't let you hurt him," Regina said, grabbing David's jacket and yanking at him. "He'll listen to me!"

"It's not him! It's not truly him!" Lucy explained.

"Please," Regina begged again. "Let me talk to my fiancé."

"Your…Aslan's mane!" Edmund swore.

"He's…he's already gone," Lucy said, beginning to cry.

"Lu, c'mon," Peter said, taking her by the shoulder and leading her away.

Lucy turned to him, about to protest, when Peter leaned in and whispered, "She'll have no closure unless she tries. She'll always still believe there was a possibility. It will hurt, but it will end it for good."

They left the stable with David to where Henry was sitting outside.

"So we figured it was someone she knew before…but the Evil Queen had a fiancé?" Edmund said skeptically. "I mean one she loved, rather than an arranged marriage."

"It was Snow telling Regina's mother about it that made her mother rip his heart out. That's…that's what turned her so evil and made her hate Snow," David explained.

"By the Lion, I think she's getting somewhere with it," Peter said, from the crack in the stable wall he had been looking through.

"There's no way," Lucy said mournfully. "Death…death is sacred. Bringing back life is always cheating and when one cheats…you can't get anything real from that. Ever."

"That was weirdly deep," Edmund pointed out. "Also, aren't we sort of cheating death?"

"We were always meant to come back for this. And we aim to return. It's not cheating, it's…a break," Lucy defended. "And I think Susan's horn uses the Deeper Magic, which reigns above death versus life, so this is nothing to it."

"The what Magic?" David frowned.

"Spoke too soon. But she…she has him taken care of," Peter said as he watched Regina make Daniel disappear.

A few moments later, Regina emerged, trying hard not to cry.

"Earlier…the Docter…Hopper was it? The one Susan suggested. Did he help?" Peter said.

"Y-yes, I suppose," Regina stammered.

"Then maybe David could give you a ride back there? I mean, we could all stick around chatting here, but that might be a better idea," Peter suggested.

"Thank you," Regina breathed, grateful they weren't going to pressure her into talking about it. Granted, there was still Archie to talk with, but perhaps she could manage that.

"Any time," Lucy said with a small smile. "We might only really be here for Susan – and by extension, her husband's family – but we always try to help as many as possible. Whatever that means. Including knowing when to butt out."

"Thankfully no one got hurt. At least not from the walk from Granny's to here, which is where we followed it – or him?" Peter said.

"Henry, you are okay I hope?" Regina said, anxious after not having her son under her own roof.

"Y-yes. Should I check on my horse? He seemed very scared," Henry said.

"We could spare a few moments for that before driving back," David agreed.

Past Sweden

Susan could hear noise in the kitchen. She threw a robe over her nightgown as she shuffled out. "Michael?" she called softly. This was not that unusual for him, as he had had trouble sleeping after betraying his brother. But she thought he had been sleeping better the past few months.

"Oh, sorry, Su," he apologized, hardly even looking up at her.

"Mind if I join you for some of that tea too, since I'm already awake now?" she said, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Sure, yeah, yeah, of course," he said distractedly.

Susan stared at him as he fumbled around the kitchen, his mind clearly somewhere else. She pondered on this when it suddenly hit her. "It was today, wasn't it? A year ago?"

"When I supposedly died? No that was...that was last week," he said, plopping down on the sofa, the tea quickly forgotten. "I…I might have done something bad."

"Hm?" she asked calmly.

"Last week, when I realized...when it was, yeah...I tried to spy on my brother," he confessed anxiously. "I…I'm so, so sorry, Su! I just…I had to." He stared at her always impassive face nervously, knowing she would likely to be furious.

After a long pause, she sighed and placed her gentle hand on his thigh. "Is there any chance he or anyone else saw you?"

"I doubt it. I mean, I don't think so. I hope not. I'm so sorry, Su!" he stammered.

Susan frowned, lifting her hand from his thigh and touching his cheek. "Then it's no problem. I mean, I would…never recommend doing so, but it's already done. And I understand why you felt the need to do so."

"Really?" he said, wide-eyed.

"Are you…scared of me?" she frowned.

After an awkward pause, he said in a small voice, "Maybe a little? I…more intimidated? I mean, you were a queen…"

"And you were an assassin for one of the worst criminals I've ever heard of," Susan countered. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to be scared of me?"

"I only had courage because I was too cowardly to stand up to Pan," he said darkly.

"I…honestly…Pan's one villain I might not be able to stand up against," Susan attempted.

Michael just looked at her and shook his head. "You're just saying that."

After a long pause, she admitted, "Yes, but I'm still not nearly as brave as you believe me to be. I…was too scared to believe in Narnia after I lost...well, Narnia. And because of that, I'm here instead of in Aslan's country."

"I guess we're just a bunch of cowards," Michael sighed, getting out of the chair. "Tea's ready."

They sat in silence as they downed their teas. "I'm really glad to have you," Susan finally said. "Nothing…nothing's as terrifying as being alone."

"Same. I could have never left Pan on my own," he responded, reaching a hand out. After a moment's hesitation, she took his hand into hers. He again raised it to his lips, kissing it slowly. As he lowered it, he was as reluctant to let her hand go as she was to remove it. They stared as each other for a few seconds, Susan's light eyelashes flickering down to their hands. Michael took that as one of her silent reprimands that made him so nervous and tried to pull his hand away. Before he could, she caught his hand in a viselike grip to pull him closer.

"I… Kiss me?" she asked softly. "I know… no, this is awful timing. I should never have asked that."

"But, yeah, um, I want to…yeah, kiss," he mumbled awkwardly as he silently wished he could have possibly said something, anything more elegant, but judging by Susan's rarely seen smile, she seemed pleased nonetheless.

"Right, we have heard of that man. The Evil Queen's lover, yes," Susan said when they explained what had occurred. "This magic though..."

"Frankenstein. He's here too," Michael confirmed. "A doctor, if I remember right."

"The monster?" Lucy asked.

"No, that's actually the name of the monster's creator," Edmund argued.

"And as his creation, it would have the same name," Lucy argued.

"And it's his brother anyways," Michael said.

"What now?" Edmund frowned.

"He's pretty unimportant, but we should send someone to see his labs to see if he's trying to create more atrocities," Michael commented, whipping out his cell phone, much to the Pevensies' interests, as they still were bemused by the new technologies.

"Send someone?" Peter puzzled.

"We have contacts," Susan waved off. "Had to have, rather. Hard to hide from Pan without help."

"So how long were you on the run from him for?" Lucy asked, interested in their story.

"Decades. We were pretty old before we felt free to settle in England again. That, and we were travelling about setting everything up perfectly so eventually we can join forces and defeat Pan," Michael said. "We've managed to hit almost every country in the EU –"

"The what now?" Peter frowned.

"When did it turn…romantic?" Lucy teased.

Susan and Michael shared a long smile.

"Almost immediately. I mean…we were both willing to give up anything for each other. It was…amazing," Michael said, a light blush on his wrinkled cheeks.

"Immediately?" Susan chuckled. "No, more about a year. But yes, we both instantly felt some sort of kinship." They wandered about the city, trying to get themselves prepared. There was nothing they disliked more than not being used to an area. While they of course did not anticipate being attacked, the Pevensies were always cautious, which is how they survived so long.

"What was that?" Edmund suddenly frowned. "That tremor?"

"Earthquake? Those happen in America, right?" Peter suggested.

"In Maine though?" Susan pointed out.

"I know nothing of US geography," Peter shrugged.

"I suppose we can go check out whatever this is," Michael said reluctantly. He could tell from the siblings' glances that they all desperately wanted to check out what had happened.

"Now this is getting fun," Lucy giggled, running ahead again, eager for the next adventure.

"Really, Lu? Again?" Peter groaned as he started speeding up after her, making sure she was okay.

"What, you're not going to go sprinting after her, old lady?" Edmund teased his sister, waiting nearer to her.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders, young boy?" Susan teased back, playing with Edmund's hair in a familiar gesture, eliciting a boyish smile from her brother. Michael smiled at the interaction, trying not to think to hard about his own siblings and wonder what their reaction would be to seeing him as an old man.

Meanwhile, Peter and Lucy had disappeared into some cave while Edmund remained with Susan and Michael. While there was no particular reason to think anyone might wish them harm here, he still felt the need to be their protector as their age would make physical combat difficult. A few minutes later, Peter and Lucy reappeared, running up to them breathlessly. "Guess what we found?" Peter said, a grin on his face that Susan was immediately suspicious of.