Chapter Text
Daisy Brien’s laughter chimed through time and space. As she laughed, she got to know the angels, and they laughed alongside her. She felt the stars go past and then a whirlwind of colors, and as she learned the secrets of eternity, the angels learned about her.
Then, she didn’t know how long after, she felt something change. She was no longer careening throughout space and time, though the angels were still with her. She rapidly descended toward what looked like a flat plane, through the atmosphere, then the sky, and touched gently on the ground.
“Daisy Brien, daughter of eve, host of angels.”
She turned around and saw a large lion facing her. If she’d come from Earth, without the angels, she may have feared him. She still awed him, and she felt the angels’ reverence upon seeing him.
“Aslan,” she said, the angels whispering his name in chorus behind her.
“You have worked hard in your world and done well, helping these angels survive and know happiness and peace.”
“I had to,” she said, her voice rising. “They didn’t know love beyond their hosts, and I couldn’t let them destroy Cal and Howie and Adam and even Brick,” she paused suddenly, remembering the others, especially Rilke and Schiller. A lump began to form in her throat and she looked down.
“And you are very brave for doing so. Still, would you like to finally rest?”
Temptation panged throughout her body. The angels burdened her, and she longed to have her head to herself again. She apologized to the angels as she thought this, but they understood, they understood hardship, and were grateful for what she did.
Daisy then realized that she hadn’t given Aslan the proper distance away so they could talk without the Fury affecting him, but he had not attacked her. She felt her limbs, fiery as they were, chill with the realization that she stood before something so powerful that he didn’t feel the angels’ effect.
“I can’t--I need to hold the angels, it’d kill anyone else.”
“I have a place where the angels could be safe and among their own kind. You could be free of your burden.”
Definitely powerful.
Daisy turned inward, expecting the angels to object, but they clamored for release, to be near Aslan. She could tell he was honest, and the angels were so heavy.
“Let them be free, and make sure they’re happy,” she said, tears welling in her eyes.
“Come closer, child, and do not be afraid.” Aslan said, looking at her expectantly.
She took a deep breath in and out, her wings unfurling and her body burning brighter than it ever had, the sun seeming to dim in comparison.
Aslan roared, and Daisy drew back instinctively. His roar shook the trees in the ground, and Daisy’s angels were in a frenzy. She burned bright, felt herself turning into a supernova, and Alsan swiped a massive paw at her. This time, she remembered his advice and did not recoil, and she felt herself ripped in two. She screamed, heard bells frantically chiming, the stars singing, and then the sounds began to fade and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
After a while, she felt the feeling of soft grass on her skin and a gentle wind blowing on her face. She bolted up, startled, and looked down at her arms. They were no longer set ablaze, and her back was whole, with no wings protruding from it. She felt both heavier and lighter as she stumbled onto her feet, looking around.
Her clothes were different than those she left behind, looser, more brightly colored, and Aslan stood beside her, looking far taller than when she’d hosted the angels.
“Are they alright?” she asked, looking the great lion in the eyes.
“Yes, they are well.” he said, smiling down at her warmly.
She looked left and right, and she saw an impossibly green field, and though it was logically too far away to see with her human eyes, leading up to a sandy beach, then shallow water, and then a waterfall going up into the sky.
“Where am I?” she asked, taking in the world with wonder.
“You are in my country, and you may remain here if you choose.”
“That’s good, Aslan, but I should be finding my way home. Cal and Adam must miss me badly, and I’m sure that Howie and Brick would be glad to know that I’m--”
“You cannot walk back to England from here, Daisy. From here, I can take you to Narnia, and then you can decide if you wish to return to your own world.”
“Is this,” Daisy gasped, training her vision at a point high up, overlooking where she and Aslan stood. “Is that Rilke and Schiller?!” she cried, looking up.
“I have to save them, we need to make sure they’re safe, Rilke isn’t okay, and Schiller--”
“They are safe, Daisy. I grabbed them before they were consumed by your Man in the Storm. Whether they deserve to be consumed by him is their decision.”
Horror flooded her like a riptide.
“Nobody deserves that, not even Rilke and Schiller--the Man in the Storm made them do it, I know he did, and they’re just kids! How are they to decide what’s already happened, or what you prevented, and why can’t you save them--”
“Daisy, I saved you because you chose to come to me. Rilke and Schiller fought to the end, and I only captured them inches from death, when the veil between my world and your world was thin enough to do so. They can either spend their eternity in my land, or in the maw of your Man in the Storm. They will not survive anywhere else.”
Daisy looked up at him, determined.
“Then let me help them find peace, at least. They deserve that.”
“Walk with me then, up the mountain,” Aslan said, striding toward the twins.