Big Bang Fic: circa regna tonat, part 3

[narniabb_mod]

Title: circa regna tonat
Author:deathsblood
Rating: PG-13?
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: Angst, AU, Major character death <--Highlight to view
Author's Notes:Thank you so very much to sophiap for the wonderful art, and to cofax7 for the brilliant beta.
Title comes from Thomas Wyatt's poem of the same name.
Summary: Following Edmund's assassination, the Pevensies fall apart

Comments

[rthstewart]

This was so chilling and tragic. I felt so badly for them all, stumbling about and not wanting to see just how evil this thing was, and that the price paid was too high for something that was not meant to be. The final scenes involving the ritual were especially chilling and terrible. I really loved your Lucy here, in the description of her rooms and how she'd be able to find anything and her knives!

Susan too is so brave as she sees, in her heart, what has happened and does not want to admit it, anymore than the rest of them.

Thank you for this story!

[deathsblood]

Thank you, I'm really glad you liked it and that the chilliness of the ritual scenes came across. I normally find it rather hard to write Lucy, because I find it hard to identify with the faith she has, but I guess the bitterness of the situation made it easier, so I'm really happy you liked the girls so much.

[tiabolt]

This truly gave me goosebumps and shivers. This last part in particular was horrifying. All in all, a terrific horror story. I really enjoyed Lucy in this, she was as Valiant as she should be. I also really liked this characterization of Edmund, this evil spirit that reminds them too much of the crueler Edmund. And Madame Vess was also very creepy in a good way, reminiscent of the Lady in the Green Kirtle and her serpent form. Wonderfully written tale!

[deathsblood]

Thank you! I'm really glad the creepiness came across well. There are too few Narnia horror stories.
I'm really glad you liked the characterizations.

[edenfalling]

*shivers* That is just creepy, and less for the evil spirit/raising the dead aspect than for the perfectly ordinary bits like all the things the Pevensies have forgotten about England, how casually they talk about conquering and killing and turning Narnia into an empire (not exactly a "kindly land" anymore, is it? but I suppose violence is not a terribly strange overreaction to a hundred years of Jadis's rule), and how terribly uncertain and alone they all are without anybody (even their siblings!) to trust unconditionally. The overwhelming impression I got from this was cold: the loneliness of a long walk through a strange town on a dark winter's night without a map, with the wind seeping fingers down the back of your neck, never quite knowing where you are, where you're headed, or what might be lurking in the shadows.

[snitchnipped]

Oh dear, the Pevensies sure did reap what they sowed, didn’t they? And then off back to the castle where troubles still await them. Tragic, indeed.

A very eerie, dark piece of work this was. I really enjoyed it!

[autumnia]

Oh, how very sad for the three of them! I had already suspected it was Edmund himself that was evil, given how Aslan hinted to Susan about the price to be paid for her brother's return. It was bad enough to lose their brother the first time but again, even if he was just a disguise used by some other creature. And with this new loss added to their already existing troubles, things are now harder than ever to deal with.

It's interesting how in one part, even Lucy questions the meaning of Aslan not being a "tame Lion". We don't really seem to know for certain in this story what his motives really are. He tells them the dead can't return, and yet he seemingly agrees to return Edmund when Susan speaks to him. But why would he return Edmund to them when not only is he not the same boy, but he is made of something of a completely different nature? I kind of think that perhaps a really, tiny portion of Edmund was still there, in this spirit, given how he sometimes remembers or do things the real Edmund did.