Thanks I love dance, Katie Ladmoore, and DragonRider2000 for reviewing the last chapter of Light Beyond Shadow!

For my new readers, italics are for flashbacks, I separate flashbacks that are together with 'SSSSS' my prologues are in no particular point of view, and I tend to match songs up with some scenes. Oh, and, due to my potential writing an original story of my own, I may only get a chapter in here every two weeks instead one like usual, but we'll see. Thirdly, I'll probably mix the movies and books for this story; I'll use the movie for a good chunk of the descriptions and dialogue, but most likely stick to the books when the movies veer too far from the original storyline. Finally, for my own selfish reasons, I'm going to probably make at least a couple of the Pevensies different ages than they are in the books by a couple of years. Enjoy!

Prologue: Terrors

"Up on your toes, Kathryn."

The girl squeaked as the prune of a ballet instructor switched her bottom with the polished little stick in her hand. None of the students knew much about the teacher except that she was from France, that she was excellent in her profession, and that she was incredibly strict.

The student she had just swatted was shorter than the other girls by a good inch with dark, nearly black, straight, shoulder-length hair with bangs, narrow (not slanted), light blue eyes, a fairly small nose, small ears, and pouty lips. Because of her faintly tinted complexion and other almost Asian features, she was by far not the most popular person in school or in her treasured ballet classes. Even though her deceased mother had only been part Asian and was born in England, the War had shortened the tempers of many adults and consequently widened the torment range of the kids.

'Daisy' Benten had earned her nickname for her talent of popping up in the most unexpected places, even though she wasn't particularly quiet or mischievous…usually...most of the time...at least, some of the time. Her parents wouldn't let her drive the car (she was, after all, only fourteen!), but if she walked to the studio where she had promised to pick up her younger cousin, at this point, she was going to be quite late. At least, that was her excuse.

The big hazel eyes which peeked over the milk cartons to gaze at the box-like automobile belonged to a pale, rounded face with a small nose and rounded ears that stuck out ever so slightly (but not noticeably) through her wavy, medium brown, waist-length hair. No one was around to notice that the vehicle would be missing, since her mother was volunteering at the hospital and her father and uncle were moving refugees into one of the bomb shelters for the next inevitable attack.

Her thin, girlish figure slipped smoothly into the car and she started the engine.

She looked at the sky. The sun was just going down.

The ballerina and teacher came out of the aged studio as they heard the car drive up in the dark.

"It must be Aunt Agnes. Thank you for waiting with me, Madame," the girl said, cocking her head timidly.

"My pleasure, Kathryn. Just remember to stay on your toes."

They giggled together, completely contrasting the stern matron and frightened student from earlier. In reality, the Madame spoiled the misfit with particularly tough training and homemade cookies.

"Can…can I come ride Jezza tomorrow?"

"Of course, dear." Smiling and biting her lip, the girl hopped into the car, which drove away a second later. "Daisy! You're not supposed to be driving!"

"Oh, please," the older girl grumbled, pushing down on the accelerator a little more. "Aren't you going to thank me for picking you up, Thai?"

"Don't call me that, Margaret!" the younger one cried. "It's bad enough the other kids do."

Daisy rolled her eyes and was about to make some smart retort, but she abruptly hit the brakes, screaming as a nearby building suddenly exploded and the city alarms went off.

"Get out! Run, Kate!" the lighter brunette called, getting out of the car and grabbing her cousin as she headed for shelter.

"Stop!"

"What?"

"If that building blew up, what makes you think we'll be safe in another one?"

After a moment's hesitation, Margaret got back into the vehicle and nervously continued driving to the home of herself, her parents, Kathryn, and her dad. It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the house. Just as Daisy had planned, no one was around to know that the forbidden had been done and both girls innocently went about their business of heading for bed, the room of which they had shared for the past three years.

Early the next morning, they were packing for their day of volunteering at the nearest hospital where Daisy's mother worked when a knock resounded on the front door. The older girl went to answer it, expecting one of her family members. Instead, she was met by a tall, young woman with sad, yet official eyes who was obviously there for a reason.

Once she was seated at the dining room table with a cup of tea, the newcomer set her small case on the surface and spoke.

"You must be Margaret and Kathryn Benten."

"I'm Margaret," the taller one said darkly, not liking the woman's forced cheerfulness.

"I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this, but…"

"No," Daisy muttered, remembering that exact line being said at her best friend's house just before it was announced that her father had been killed.

"Your fathers were bringing some injured refugees to the hospital when it was hit last night and…"

"Which hospital?" Kathryn interrupted, her eyes beginning to brim with tears.

"The one about a mile east of here… We contacted your next closest relative and…"

Again, the messenger was interrupted as the younger girl bolted up the stairs. The other one glared a moment at the offender before following.

She found Kathryn on her bed…not sobbing, but letting tears just flow down her cheeks in a silent waterfall. It had been three years since she had lost her mother, so the sting was not new to her; it was, however, completely new for Margaret, who soon joined her cousin on the bed and sobbed.

"...It's safer there…and the fresh country air will do you some good. We'll have everything sorted out when you get back. Try to enjoy yourselves, dears."

That was what their Aunt Polly had told them before stuffing them onto a train for hours, only a week after the disaster, to be met by the housekeeper of some mysterious 'friend of the family' who was apparently a genius professor. Despite the natural fear and sorrow, Daisy was attracted by the idea of their host being a professor, while Kate was interested in the supposed open space.

Mrs. Macready, who met them at the desolate station in a cart drawn by a white draft horse, was a relatively intimidating character, who drilled the girls about the house rules all the way to the giant mansion, and was overall very much like Kate's ballet teacher. The second they pulled up to the front door and began hauling their luggage out of the carriage, the door opened to reveal an elderly, but almost mischievous-looking man, who was just a few inches taller than Daisy.

"I thought you were going to be in your study for the rest of the day, Professor," the wrench of a woman said.

"I changed my mind, Mrs. Macready," the gentleman replied upon his graceful approach with a cheerful voice and twinkling eyes. "I thought the least I could do for the relatives of Polly was to greet them at the door."

"Thank you…Professor," the younger cousin said quietly. The sudden neighing of a horse broke through the peace, producing a short squeal of delight from Kathryn and a sour pout from Margaret when the other orphan ran straight to the fence near the house where a somewhat tall, black and white painted mare stood. When she came jogging back, red in the face from the sudden joy, she stuttered, "How…?"

"Madam Genare, your dancing tutor, was apparently a friend of Polly, so the dear girl convinced me to take Jezza away from the city until everything settled down. I see you've already met." Kate nodded, biting her lip again, but the Professor looked at Daisy just as she started feeling a little left out. "And you must be the intellectual I heard about. You and I are going to make quite the team, I think. Come to my study tomorrow, if you can. There are many things I think you'll find quite interesting."

Though still a little sour over Kate getting all of the primary attention, Daisy smiled at the opportunity.

"Dais," the younger girl began, "let's get our stuff."

"Yes, uh, Mrs. Macready will show you your room."

Dinner had ended hours ago. The dishes had been cleaned, Jezza had been fed, and everything was unpacked. The room the young Bentens had been placed in was quite large with a sprawl-accepting bed on either side, two oak writing desks, two large dressers with mirrors, two wash stands, and an adjacent bathroom.

Kathryn was curled up in the dry bathtub with the lights turned off, just like she had always done when the bombs were going off in their city home for the past few weeks or so.

"Kate?"

The seated girl looked up at her cousin.

"Listen," Kate whispered; her friend froze after squatting down.

"What? I don't hear anything."

"That's just it. It's quiet…too quiet…and it scares me."

"You know, you need to buck up a bit."

The younger girl glared.

"And you need to quit being such a pain."

Daisy laughed before suddenly sobering.

"They're gone, aren't they? It's not just a dream…a bad dream."

The Pevensies raced towards their little shelter in the chaos of the bombs going off nearby. Suddenly, Edmund, the second youngest, made a U-turn and ran back toward the house, yelling,

"Wait! Dad!"

"Ed!" the eldest boy cried, trying to grab his sibling.

"Come back here!" their mother cried.

"I'll get him!" The two boys rushed back into the house and it wasn't until Ed had already grabbed his beloved picture that Peter caught up and hurled the younger boy to the floor as an explosion rang out, shattering the windowpane and sprinkling them with glass. "Come on, you idiot. Run!"

Ed grabbed the picture from the floor and his brother charged back to the shelter, tossing him to the floor of the small bunker. Peter, of course, had his fair share of yelling to do at Edmund for his irresponsibility and was, of course, chastised for it by their mother as the little brother started crying.

"Why can't you just do as you're told?" he finished. Instead of a final word, Ed got the final glare as his mother hugged him comfortingly.

Ever since the start of the War, the Pevensie siblings had fallen apart. The bombings had brought shortened tempers and long grudges. Something had to happen to change that.

Thanks for reading and please review! Just so you know, my chapters aren't usually this short, with exception of the prologue. :)