Chapter Text
How did one rule a kingdom? A land they didn’t know but became theirs as the days went by? A place that was kindly given to you?
You remembered the most important thing, the leading foundation of the Deep Magic and something the White Wizard lacked.
Love. Hope. Faith.
Love pushed Felix to make a mistake when he arrived, pushed him to correct it by playing the Wizard at risk of his life. Love pushed Adrien to travel across the melting snow to reach Aslan and ask for help.
Hope in Felix’s skill kept Adrien calm as he travelled and waited on word of his cousin. Hope that Adrien wouldn’t give up on him kept Felix spinning his lies to keep the Wizard distracted.
Faith in each other led one to lead the army against the Wizard while the other went with Aslan to get the rest of their kingdom back from the Wizard’s castle.
Those principals were what they led with as the Twin Kings of Narnia, from the work heavy days learning how to lead a kingdom and learning the history, to understanding their skills and how to best use them, into trusting each other to have each other’s back when quelling wars against Wizard sympathizers and isles who thought they could take control of Narnia in its new era. It kept the kingdom safe for 23 years.
It kept them from losing their minds when they fell back in time and back into Wang Fu’s house again.
Adrien’s hope wavered with each failed attempt to enter the wardrobe, even with Fu telling him the entrance only opens when he wasn’t looking for it. Felix’s faith was shaken with each memory that started to fade, with each day he felt out of his skin. The love for Narnia was the only thing holding them steady. The only thing they could hold onto.
“That’s quite good.” Adrien smiled up at the art teacher. Fu would send them into the city every now and then to get out of the house, or more accurately, to stop sitting in front of the wardrobe like it would change its mind. While Felix would take his frustration out on the unsuspecting people at the local gym, Adrien came to an arts centre to rent a few hours on the pianos. “Did you write it yourself?”
“No…a friend did.” The Narnian Lullaby that Kid had played for him was always a favourite, regardless of its intended purpose when Adrien first heard it. The Dwarves, Dryads and other humans from different isle all took the idea of a piano from Adrien’s head, mixing it with other instruments to create the Narnian piano Adrien treasured more than anything. He remembered every song he wrote about the Twin King’s arrival to Narnia, even the sad parts like Aslan taking Felix’s place at the Stone Table. The songs were one of the few things that kept Adrien from fully losing hope.
“You know, our centre also has a studio if you wish to record the songs.”
How did Adrien explain there was more than just the simple piano in the songs he wrote? The croaking of the crows, the drum like beats of the centaurs and Talking horses, the melodies that came from the mermaids within the Eastern Sea; he couldn’t replicate that without people asking questions.
Felix was still fighting his frustrations away, so Adrien decided to walk around. The area closest to Fu’s house wasn’t Paris and Adrien had never left the city without guard, so he never had the chance to get lost. His footsteps led him to a church. The European churches always seemed so larger than life, almost similar to the religion itself. Adrien wasn’t religious, especially with his life and the questions of why things happened, but the years in Narnia made him aware of the similarities. The Stone Table and Aslan’s resurrection, Aslan’s father, the White Wizard and his claim over traitors. The easy love he felt towards Aslan and all of Narnia. The vastness of the church, even empty, was amazing and a sight to behold. It was like walking into the throne room of Cair Parvel for the first time. it made him miss it even more.
“Oh. Sorry, the church isn’t open for open prayer yet.” Adrien turned, seeing the black clothes and white collar of one of the pastors.
“Sorry. Just wandered in. Just felt, similar to home.”
“Go to church often?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m not religious.” Was the Deep Magic a type of religion? He believed it really had control over his life but he also believed it wasn’t set in stone. It bent to what Adrien needed, but still stuck to it’s principals and morals. Religion always felt so rigid and unquestioning. Aslan encouraged them to question why the Deep Magic did what it did, even if the Great Lion had been there when it was written into Narnia’s whole being.
“Oh?” the poor man looked confused.
“Yeah. We had to leave home really suddenly and it’s hard to hold onto the hope that I can go back.”
“Hope can be shaken easily. It’s an unfortunate thing and the faith people hold onto can also be rattled. But there’s a reason people are drawn to religions, it reminds them that there’s love in the world. That something higher than them has their best interest in mind.”
Aslan always had their best interest in mind. He’d disappear when he flet it necessary for Felix and Adrien to run things themselves, but whenever they needed him, Aslan was almost always there. He didn’t know when or if he could go back, but Aslan and Narnia deserved to have him hold hope. Fu was years old and he still had the wardrobe waiting in case he was let back. He never gave up hope that he could go back.
Felix seemed calmer when Adrien explained where he ended up. “I guess in a weird way, it’s kind of our religion. Not that I think I’ll ever follow any here. is it really that easy? To just hold hope?”
“I guess we just have to think of it like holding onto the hope of seeing Aslan again when we needed him.”
Felix huffed. “I always needed to see him. But I guess you’re right. Fu waited years and he hasn’t been back. He only cared about what it was like at its height, like he knew he’d eventually get the chance one day. So, holding onto hope, then?”
“Hold onto hope. Hasn’t steered us wrong just yet.”
Aslan’s How was different. Last time he was here with Felix, they’d fought one of the last groups of the Wizard’s followers. The trees on his side had turned against them, separating Adrien and Felix from the rest of their group, Marin and Oreius fighting to get out and to them. he’d explained to his cousin why the Stone Table was cracked, why he’d been missing for hours, staying with Aslan’s body under the Table cracked and he’d sent Adrien to join Felix after he went with Aslan to the Shadowmoth’s castle to revie the members of their army who’d been turned to stone. Now, the Stone Table was inside the cave of Aslan’s How, the walls decorated with pictures of the Golden Age both before and during the rule of the Twin Kings, surrounded by the last of their people. It made Adrien slightly happy that the creatures of Narnia had rules themselves for a time when he and Felix had gone back but the Telmarine people had attacked, hunting them like animals.
Not everyone was like that though. Luka seemed to really care, and from what he explained, so had his mother. Luka had grown up on the stories of the Golden Age from his nanny and his tutor, a dwarf hafling from his description. Luka’s uncle wanted control of the now Telmariane kingdom, to continue driving the people of Old Narnia out, while Luka wanted to rejoin the kingdoms. Adrien knew this, while he got what he wanted which was to come back to Narnia, this was no longer his kingdom. Luka would be the new ruler of Narnia. Now, if only Aslan could appear so Luka could actually believe that. He seemed to have no faith in himself and as much as he tried to hold onto it, little faith in their army. Adrien knew smaller Narnian armies were destructive with enough planning, but it hard to see that when they were here now, hiding after a failed assault.
“He’s fine, by the way.” Felix came back into the room with the Stone Table. Where Shadowmoth almost rose again. The sceptre that Felix had broken, the one that wounded him, it was finally destroyed by fire and very rudimentary readings off the Stone Table that would give such a blessing. Aslan swore that it wouldn’t be touched where he’d sent it, but it seemed the arrival of the Telmarianes had sent Narnians fleeing to even unreachable islands. “An idiot, but fine.”
The ice wall that formed during the ritual had been destroyed by Felix after Adrien pushed Luka out of the summoning circle. Shadowmoth attempted to persuade Adrien, but no matter how desperate he was to save Narnia, he wouldn’t forget the state Felix came to Aslan’s camp in. he hadn’t gotten the chance to get back at the Wizard during their battle on the field, Adrien walking away with a scar from being stabbed in the arm, but he’d taken pleasure in using his quarterstaff to break the sceptre while Felix ran his sword through the Wizard’s form in the ice.
“You can’t get too mad at him.” Adrien said.
Felix sighed, crossing his arms. “No, but I can still be mad at him. No matter how risky the plan on the castle was, it could have gone better if he didn’t wake his uncle.”
“Felix, his uncle killed his mother.” Neither cousin knew if rumours of Adrien’s father being responsible of Felix’s mother’s disappearance was true, but both boys had been close to their mothers. Losing them both and being pulled out from Gaberiel’s care had been a whirlwind. It was the main reason Felix managed to be tricked by the White Wizard, enchanted food or not.
Felix sighed again, one hand going to the strap that kept his quiver on him, using the strap to tug it closer. It was one of the relics from Old Narnia, the time that felt like home. “We’re in way over our heads. I know Aslan can’t fix everything because of the Deep Magic, but we really need his help now. You’re the only one who’s seen him, so you need to find him.”
It felt strange that he’d been the only one to see Aslan. Felix was sure it was because Adrien had always been drawn to Narnia, more sensitive to it’s magic. Felix admitted it had taken him more time to regain hope that he’d come back, so he wasn’t upset about not seeing Aslan that time at the gorge, if only a little annoyed ‘the overgrown house cat’ hadn’t called them back earlier to deal with the Telmarianes. He had a feeling Aslan would actually find the comment funny; he was odd like that.
“What about you? Luka’s uncle knows were we are, he’s not going let what we did slid, not when Luka still being alive stops him from really having power, eve if he did crown himself king.”
“I’ll think of something. I need to meet with…gods, who do I meet with now?” they’d lost their centaur general in the attack. He’d been one of the last to fall.
“Kagami.” The elf who’d nearly been drowned when they arrived had been one of their biggest allies, regardless of not believing in Aslan and slowly driving Adrien up a wall about it. “She’ll be able to help lead.”
Felix nodded, turning to leave when he stopped. Adrien looked and saw Luka, looking sheepish and guilty.
“I already gave him my lecture, have fun.” Felix said, leaving Adrien with the next king of Narnia.
The Telmarian prince’s hand was already bandaged from where it had been cut – god, that dagger had been the same one to kill Aslan too, he thought he’d thrown that dagger into the Eastern Sea with the mers’ permission – and he didn’t look as pale as he did when Adrien and Felix had stormed the room.
“Do you want a lecture?” Adrien asked, walking to sit on the Stone Table, like he had when they’d all gathered to choose if to storm the castle or find Aslan.
“I’d rather you didn’t. Telmarianes have common and our own language and I think your cousin managed to call me an idiot in every language lost to Narnia.”
Each creature had their own language other than English and Felix learned them all, so Luka wasn’t wrong. He nodded to the other side of the broken Table, adjusting his feet to not go sliding forward. He watched Luka rub at his bandaged hand, staring at it like it had answers.
“Did you know who he was?” Adrien asked.
“My nanny used to tell me and my sister that the kingdom had been tormented by a creature as bitter as the snow. That he’d lost his power and still tried to steal more.”
“Shadowmoth, the White Wizard. He’d been here since Narnia’s birth. He wasn’t born here. from what Aslan said, his world was destroyed in a duel between the Wizard and his brother. There was a word that if spoken could destroy everything except the speaker and when the Wizard was about to rule, he used it. he was brought to my world before Aslan set things right and created Narnia.”
“You defeated him, you and Felix.”
Adrien hummed. “Sort of. We went up against his army in war. I fought against him one on one; Felix destroyed his sceptre when I was distracted and got stabbed for it and the Wizard stabbed me with Felix’s sword before Aslan arrived to deal the final blow. I’d like to get a bit farther before we have Aslan come in again.”
“How can you be so sure he’s…real. He’s a lion.” Luka asked.
“He is. I know it sounds strange, putting all our trust in an animal, but Aslan is, more. Did you just agree to work with the Narnian army cause they were just there?”
“No. there was something that told me I could trust them, even if they wanted to kill me. I think having your horn was the only thing saving my neck.”
Adrien smiled. It would be easy to explain that the Deep Magic could have been the reason, but explaining that would take more than a night. “Faith. It was faith. It’s the same thing that allowed me to trust Aslan when I first met him. Not because he claimed he could save Felix, but because he allowed me to have faith in him. It’s what helped us rule Narnia for as long as we did. It’s something you could have more of. We’ve done more with less against stronger opponents.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Luka said, still looking unsure.
“Do you have faith that we can win? Do you have hope that we can still be victorious, even with the odds stacked against us?” Adrien asked.
Luka stared at him and nodded. “I do. If I had more, maybe I wouldn’t have let them trick me.”
“Felix is called the Fox King for a reason and he let himself be pulled into the Wizard’s words before he took a bite out of the enchanted food. We all make mistakes.”
Luka continued to stare at him before his eyes lit up with a thought. “And so will my uncle. Have him battle Felix, fight to see who gives in. My uncle has never lifted a sword, letting his general take care of all the fighting. Felix can outlast him. It’ll give you enough time to find Aslan.”
“That could work. You’ll have to explain the whole thing to Felix to get him to agree.”
“He will.” Luka said, full of confidence. Or maybe it was faith. It was close to what Adrien wanted Luka to reach. Hopefully when they won, Aslan would let them have enough time to help convince Luka to have faith in himself as well. The King of Narnia was going to need it.
Love for Narnia was something Adrien would always hold onto. Even after helping getting Luka onto the throne and Felix losing his ability to come back, it was still one of the things they held onto. Adrien had always assumed the land and its people was the thing he held the most love for. He hadn’t realised it had split into two directions. Well, no, that wasn’t true. One was just deeper than the other was and Adrien hadn’t realised until Luka kissed him moments before he and Felix stepped through the portal that brought them back to the train station they’d left what felt like ages ago.
Adrien remembered the fortune told to him after the war, the one who told Felix his aromantic self would find comfort in the company of Marin, the one that spoke of Adrien’s love coming from a broken or usurped king, the blue gem that went with it. Luka’s eyes were the same colour, but Adrien had been more focused on stopping Luka’s uncle and bringing peace to Narnia again. It was during the procession the heroes of Narnia to crown Luka as king. He’d looked over to share a smile with Luka, who was slightly frowning under the heavy Telmarian crown he already stated he didn’t like and it hit Adrien that the stone that he’d left in his trunk in the Treasure Room was the exact same colour as Luka’s eyes. A prince who’d been usurp from his throne before he even got sit on it. Adrien pushed it to the back of his mind, focusing on helping Luka quickly learn how to rule both his kingdom and all of Narnia and gain respect of his people.
They’d been close since the beginning, when Luka and Felix met swords in the Dancing Lawn and Felix was full of snarky remarks in reply to Luka being surprised they were younger than him. Adrien was used to playing mediator for Felix’s attitude and still feeling out of their skin back in Narnia hadn’t helped. But once Luka had seen their skills, a bouting match between them and any willing participants, Luka laid off and Felix was focused on figuring out how to win without stopping to look for Aslan. So, Adrien spent time with Luka, introducing him to the cultures of all their soldiers, explaining what it was like for those who weren’t there anymore, like the dryads and mers and how Talking Animals used to outnumber most other creatures. It was strange telling Luka tales about his life as king when they were stories Luka and his sister grew up with, but Luka accepted everything. He wanted to learn everything, “So I can help bring these things back after we win.”
Felix would call the future king naive for being so feeling, but it was one of Adrien’s favourite things. Luka always tapped out tunes against the hilt of his sword, the tinging of his ring against the metal almost always following Luka around. The fauns and satyrs would tell Adrien that Luka seemed entuned to the emotions around him, the creatures known for creating music to speak the emotions around them. the music continued when the fight was over and the land was returned to Narnians and they learned to accept the Telmarianes. When Adrien spotted Aslan talking with Felix, serious looks on their faces, it hadn’t been Kagami or Long and Trixx or any member of the army he went to. It was Luka.
“I’m sure it was nothing.” Luka reassured him, letting them sit in the small alcove somehow not overrun with members of the new kingdom. Celebrations still continued as council members had to be talked to and Luka was slowly gaining respect from the people he tended to hid from growing up. “You’re Aslan’s favourite. If it was really serious, he would have said.”
Adrien had smiled, though he knew that wasn’t true. To this day, he didn’t know what Aslan had said to Felix when Marin had collected him after his escape from the White Wizard. “It just…feels like we’re almost ready to go. What if the next time I’m back, if I leave again, so much time passes again? I lost Plagg and Tikki and Kid. I couldn’t know I lost you too.”
“Adrien,” Luka had taken his hands so gently, “no matter what happens, it won’t be like last time. If you want to stay, know I’ll happily open the castle to you. I won’t be upset either if you go. What happened last time wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t!” Luka interrupted when Adrien opened his mouth to correct him. “If you had any clue what was going to happen going back to Spare Oom, I know it would have been different. But honestly, I’m glad you did. It would have been harder to feel ready to be king without your help. You’ve reminded me that having hope and faith in my land and people will always keep me steady.”
“And love.”
Luka’s smile had been so soft, Adrien was screaming at himself now for not seeing it. “Yes. And love, the most important of all.”
Adrien spent the train ride to their new school in a daze. Having to deal with the fading aches of leaving Narnia was one thing, realising what he’d truly left behind in the castle’s courtyard.
“I’m such an idiot.” Adrien breathed after he and Felix were escorted to their room at their new school. The window looked out into the nearby forest, reminding Adrien of where they’d hidden from Telmarian guards still looking for Luka.
“But were you ready to stay?” Felix asked, seeming so calm for the decision he’d made. He came back, losing his chance to return to Narnia, ever.
“Does it matter?”
“Yeah. So, you just realised you’d been falling for Luka, great. What happens if it doesn’t go well? Mindset wise, you’re way older than him and he’s still trying to learn how to rule his kingdom, that’s nothing like the Golden Age. You’d be lonely without me, because I’d still come back and you’d find it hard to adjust. If it’s really meant to be, you wouldn’t have needed him kissing you for you to know.”
Felix, for all his uninterest in love and relationships, always seemed to understand it better. It sucked, but he was right. Adrien hadn’t realised it yet and only just fully remembered the fortune after the kiss. He wouldn’t have been ready. But he missed Luka now.
“What if he’s gone when I go back? What if I missed my chance?”
“Hey,” Felix put his hands on Adrien’s shoulders, “what is it you always said we have to have when ruling Narnia? Hope, faith and love? Put your faith in Aslan that he’ll call you back, hope that you’ll know what to do when that time comes and don’t forget the love you have for Luka. if this is meant to be, you’ll know.”
Adrien bit his lip, tears welling up at his next question. “And if I stay? I’ll never see you again.”
Felix smiled – god, he hadn’t seen that smile in so long when they were here instead of Narnia– and pulled him in for a tight hug, only groaning when Adrien squeezed tight. “According to Aslan, all friends of Narnia are given a place within Aslan’s Country when their time comes. If you go missing, I’ll know to meet you there. I came back for a chance to find out what happened to mom, that doesn’t mean I’m letting you leave alone. If you decide to stay, and it’s something you want, just know I’ll be waiting for you on the other side. Remember, hope, faith and love.”