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　　 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 the birds' songs accompanied the light breeze ruffling through the foliage. The four weeping Willow trees of the courtyard still had wet leaves from the spring rain that had fallen last night. The terracotta-coloured cobblestone path had small puddles of rainwater that slowly seeped into the ground, an earthy smell coming from the moist soil underneath the many flowers.

The entire courtyard was filled with all types of skillfully-grown, pink flowers. From sweet peas, snapdragons and delphiniums to the grandest hydrangea shrubs. Orchids spread over the walls alongside bright-green ivy. The small rose garden was enriched with peonies and astilbe, and everything was tied together with the cherry-blossom tree that stood proudly in the middle of the courtyard, slowly letting go of its petals.

Lucy entered the courtyard together with Eustace, Florence and Raiden through the spectacular arches that connected the castle with the courtyard. She'd seen the three kings walking through the enclosure whilst engaged in a heavy discussion and decided to talk to them. 'Good morning,' she greeted them cheerfully. 'Have any of you ever shopped in the Anvard Pass? The people are so kind.'

Peter eyed the basket in her arms as he walked over to them and quickly looked around to what was in it. 'They have bread over here, you know. There's no need to go to the town,' he said and bit his tongue before he was about to say something he'd regret saying to Lucy.

'Did you have fun?' Edmund asked, a smile appearing as soon as he saw Lucy's frown disappear.

She nodded happily and tightened her grip on her basket. 'Raiden showed us all around the Pass,' she answered.

'Thank you for keeping an eye on them and showing them around, Raiden. You're excused,' Peter said eventually, though he was surprised when Raiden bowed before him.

'It was my privilege, Your Majesty. Queen Lucy is a delight to guard. The people of Anvard love her.' He straightened himself again and nodded politely to everyone present in the garden as he made his way back into the castle.

Florence hadn't been in the garden yet, but she loved the small piece of nature hidden within the castle walls. It didn't feel as claustrophobic and the sweet scents of the pink flowers, shrubs and trees overwhelmed her for a moment. She sat down on a bench that was placed underneath the cherry-blossom tree and slowed down her breathing by observing the bench. The wood was worn down and softened by the centuries of people spent sitting on that very bench.

The wood hadn't fully dried yet, however, and so she could feel the chilly moisture permeating into the fabric of her slacks which she'd bought in the Pass with Lucy, Eustace and Raiden's help. She didn't mind it though. The coldness of the water snapped her out of the thoughts that paraded around her head, waltzing over her emotions in an attempt to tick her off once more.

Eustace watched Raiden retire into the castle and sighed a little dramatically—according to most. 'Wasn't I a delight to guard as well?' he muttered rather crossly.

'Why would you need to be guarded? The people here don't know you, Eustace,' Edmund retorted and just as he expected, Eustace glared at him from his spot.

Whilst Peter let the comment slide, since he agreed with the statement, Lucy shook her head. 'Edmund,' she said in a warning tone. It was something she'd picked up along the way and most times when Edmund or Eustace were taunting each other, Lucy would stop them.

Flashbacks of moments where Susan would warn him as Lucy had done just yet clouded his brain and he chuckled lightly at the comparison between his two sisters and his mother. 'Alright mum,' he said, which made Lucy retreat slightly.

Charlotte walked into the courtyard, holding hands with Harry as she did so. Aiden and Hermione followed suit and in almost perfect harmony, they reached the others. 'Is that fresh bread I smell?' Charlotte asked and peered into Lucy's basket. 'It smells delicious.'

'A garden filled with the sweetest scents of nature and you can smell a loaf of bread?' Aiden asked her and grinned. He outstretched his neck to see who else was in the courtyard, though he couldn't spot Chrys anywhere. 'Has anyone seen the others?'

'Not yet this morning,' Florence answered. 'Though to be honest, we'd not seen you either.'

'There's so much to explore in Anvard. I wouldn't be surprised if they sneaked out into town themselves to get a good look around,' Caspian added. He went to stand next to Florence when he saw her sitting down, seemingly slightly paler than usual. He knelt down next to her and softly laid a hand on her knee. 'Are you alright, Florence?'

The question he asked her piqued everyone's interest and concern, which caused all of the focus to be shifted towards Florence. Though she didn't mind the others' eyes fixated on her, Caspian's gaze made her mind feel numb. 'I'm—well,' she managed to stutter with a slight hiccup in-between words.

Caspian frowned when he heard the light quiver in her voice and gently squeezed her knee. 'Are you sure?' he asked her again.

'Very,' she said as quickly as her mouth allowed her to and stood up with such speed that her mind began to spin. She ignored it and walked over towards Lucy, clutching onto her arm and hiding her face from Caspian.

The attention wasn't long on Florence when shouts silenced the courtyard.

'The Oracle has a vision!'

The Oracle in question was dressed in dark robes, the hood of it covering his face. His body twitched and convulsed, making him move in an inhuman manner. His face shot skyward, his hood revealing his slightly distorted face. His upper lip was sliced into two, the cut going all the way up to his nose. He'd tried to get rid of the harelip himself by stitching it shut, though the stitches gave out, leaving small-dotted trail marks in his skin. One eye was swollen, barely being able to stay open. Yet, both eyes managed to become illuminated like the sun on a warm summer's day.

He extended his hands and without drawing or writing with his finger, words started to appear in front of him. The words were ablaze, scorching from the lightest colours of fire to the deepest reds and even black in some areas. The entire courtyard read every word with much anticipation for the next. Once all words were written in burning flames, the Oracle read them aloud, his voice echoing with an angelic and yet demonic ring.  

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔡𝔢𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔔𝔲𝔢𝔢𝔫𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔒𝔩𝔡,
𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔡.
𝔖𝔥𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔥𝔲𝔢𝔰,
𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔰 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔯𝔢𝔡𝔰, 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔫𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔩𝔲𝔢𝔰.

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔙𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔪 𝔖𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔭 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔰,
𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔞𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔠𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔰.

𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 𝔖𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩,
𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩.
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔅𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔖𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔫 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥,
𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔱𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥.

𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔫𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢,
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔚𝔦𝔷𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢.
𝔗𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔫 𝔚𝔦𝔩𝔡,
𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔦𝔷𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔢𝔵𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔡.

The Oracle fell away again, collapsing onto the ground after all his energy was consumed by the vision he had. Eustace managed to note the last words down in his notebook, which he carried along with him wherever he went, before the fire had stopped burning and the smoke from the dying flames had disappeared.

Edmund had stiffened on his spot as soon as the name of the White Witch appeared in flames. He tried to swallow his fright away and breathed in and out so slowly in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart.

The silence grew only louder in the courtyard. Some were aiding the Oracle into the castle to seek medical attention for him, others were focused on the three kings to hear their verdict of what had just been foretold. That was until the four members of Bellicose appeared in the square.

Lucy dropped her basket filled with goods from the Pass onto the ground, spilling the contents everywhere. Her hands clasped over her mouth and tears formed in her eyes. 'No,' she whispered almost inaudibly.

The people in the courtyard—which consisted of noblemen, lords and ladies and staff of the castle—began to rile up before the kings could say anything. Slurs were thrown into the Bellicose members' faces and yet the people stayed away from them. They were too scared about what the four of them could and would do in response to an attack, though they had no problem accusing Bellicose of being traitors.

'Enough!' Peter's voice thundered above the shouts. 'All of you, out of this courtyard, now. Guards, escort them out.'

The courtyard was emptied of people by the guards in the wink of an eye. The slurs and accusations still echoed through the arches into the open air and into the ears of the Bellicose members.

'I knew we couldn't trust them. I told all three of you and you wouldn't believe me,' Aiden scowled and pointed from Chrys to Alexis to Victoria and lastly Kiano. 'Green, blue, red and black. What are the odds they're the only ones dressed in those colours? Three girls, one guy. Witches, wizard. The coincidences keep adding up.'

Chrys wanted to approach Aiden, but got held back by Victoria's outstretched arm. 'Can't trust us? You seemed to trust me just fine last night at the ball. What have we done that suddenly made you change your mind?' she fired back, her wrath getting the better of her.

Alexis quickly glanced down at her dress, which was made of the same blue as the gown she wore the night before. She tried to make eye-contact with Peter, though he wouldn't look at her. He was looking everywhere else, his focused frown narrowing his eyes. 'What is going on?' she asked in a demanding voice.

Aiden kicked against a small rock that flew past Bellicose and scratched the arch through which they'd entered. 'As if you don't know,' he scoffed. 'You've been playing us the entire time. You knew about this world already, that's probably why none of you seemed shocked when we got here.'

'Is this what your quest is?' Charlotte butted in. 'Did the four of us get in the way of gaining their trust?' She motioned towards the Pevensies and Eustace in a frantic gesture.

'What are you trying to say?' Kiano asked. His eyes seemed as ablaze as the letters of the prophecy. He balled his fists, his knuckles whitening from the bones that got pressed against his tight skin, and bit on his lip in an attempt to not attack them.

Aiden marched up to him and put his finger in his face. Alexis and Victoria stood on either side of Kiano, keeping Aiden at some distance from Kiano. 'I count four traitors,' he hissed and counted each of the Bellicose members one by one. He gasped for air when Alexis and Victoria pushed him back to the others with one strong thrust from the both of them against his shoulders. 

Victoria stood in front of Kiano in a protective manner, though left that position for Alexis to fill as she slowly walked forwards. 'What happened to the "don't make assumptions"?' she asked with a loud sneer, her blood boiling at the sight of her friends. 'Do not accuse us of acts we did not commit.' Her chest heaved with heavy, angry breaths, her hand clutching onto her necklace.

'We cannot risk putting Narnia in danger of them if the prophecy were to be about them,' Caspian whispered towards Peter. 'What do we truly even know about them?'

It didn't take any special ability to see Lucy and Edmund retreating together, their bodies paralysed out of sheer terror. Peter had noticed it too. He felt the pressure building up within him as his muscles tensed. He knew it was too soon to make any assumptions about what this prophecy was about, but every clue so far pointed towards the four. It felt as if he had to choose between them and his siblings and so the decision was easily made.

'We will travel to the Western Wild,' he began his announcement and looked at Bellicose. 'In order to keep everyone safe from harm, you'll be taken with us as prisoners. Until we know the prophecy is not about you.'

'Peter,' Alexis choked out until she too felt a wave of betrayal and fury fall over her. 'What kind of High King are you if you've never learnt from those many mistakes you've made before?' She turned away from him, rotating herself to face Kiano instead. 'Let's get out of here.'

'Guards!' the three kings shouted simultaneously.

Florence had felt Lucy tremble ever since she'd dropped her basket, though as the guards surrounded them from every corner, she felt unsure that it was the right decision. 'Can't we go about this differently? This doesn't feel right,' she pleaded with them, but their minds were made up; this was the best decision.

Victoria's heart ached when she saw her three friends. She felt a certain responsibility for their pain. She told them they could trust them and before this altercation, she thoroughly stood behind that choice. Trust can only be broken when it has been earned. It had been earned and it had been broken.

'You know where to find us,' she spoke softly. Her voice was barely a whisper as she couldn't speak any louder. 'Hopefully when you do find us, you'll have opened your eyes.' She'd withdrawn back to the other three and spun towards them on the balls of her feet, taking a strong hold of them as she spun.

As quick as lightning, Bellicose had disappeared. . .

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Hi everyone!

Finally, a new chapter has arrived haha. This chapter took everything out of me let me tell you. I'm really glad I managed to write and edit it before my vacation to Italy though, so I'm happy!

As some of you know, an applicant is no longer with this apply fic and her character will leave the book shortly. However, another character and applicant will take their places! Everyone, say hello to our newest applicant Jocelyn! Jocelyn-Stark. The cast chapter will come back online as soon as I've received the OC and have made the aesthetics for that OC, so bare with me for now lol. I'm so hyped that you're joining us, I'm sure you'll fit right in with the other applicants.

I'm past the beginning stages, the plot will begin at last! I'm excited :)) Are you too?

Thank you all for reading!

xx Theresaa

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