A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much to -my-forgotten-rose-, xxxxInu girlxx93839, Psyche101, Carlypso, shippolove844, Evy201, TheatreAddict, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, and marydidlaugh for reviewing the last beast of a chapter. Honestly, I was going to split it up over three separate ones, but I thought it would be better to keep it all together. I hope you all enjoy chapter 28! :)
Chapter XXVIII
To say she was relieved would have been an understatement; Susan practically kissed the ground as she made it out of the Final Trial. But she was alone in her rejoicing – the rest of the group had yet to arrive. It was curious: there was no one else at all in the large stone room – no Red Sorcerer, no holographic woman – nothing. Perhaps something would happen once she was reunited with everyone else.
As if on cue, Lucy appeared; her clothes were in tatters and she was covered in blood.
Susan couldn't say that she looked particularly well pulled-together either, with her mussed hair and scratched complexion, but she was horrifically shocked by her sister's state of disarray.
"What happened?" she asked concernedly, rushing to her. She grabbed the younger girl's shoulders, frantically searching for the source of the blood. Through all this, poor Lucy stood still as a statue. "Are you hurt?" Susan asked finally – she couldn't find a wound serious enough to have caused such damage.
Lucy shook her head mutely.
"Then what happened?" she demanded.
"I killed it," she said simply.
"You killed what?"
"A bear. Like the one we saw that one time. It was wild."
"Oh. But you're all right?"
"In a manner of speaking."
But Susan, who knew her better than anyone else, could tell that she was very far from all right. Physically, perhaps, she was unharmed. But her sister had changed.
Just then, Peter came through. He looked as if he was about to say something, but then he noticed Lucy.
"What happened?" he questioned urgently.
"It was part of her task. It's not her blood, don't worry," Susan explained.
But Peter didn't seem to want to take any chances, and began his own inspection of the young girl. He licked his finger and tried to get the blood off of her face, but it was more or less a useless venture; she was completely covered. Eventually, he gave up and simply hugged his sister in relief. She stood limp, like a ragdoll.
Then, Robbie emerged. He looked shaken, but uninjured.
"You okay?" Peter asked. He didn't really know the boy, but some odd form of paternal instinct was kicking in.
"Where's Ellie?" he questioned weakly; his voice sounded broken.
"I'm sure she'll be out in a moment," Susan said kindly. She felt bad – she wanted to comfort him, for he looked as if he was on the verge of tears.
He nodded slowly, before sinking into a sitting position and wrapping his arms around his knees.
It was Caspian who limped out next.
"Is everyone all right?" was the first thing he asked, seemingly oblivious to his own condition.
"Yes, but you're not," Peter pointed out, his tone betraying a vague concern.
"I'll be okay," he stated. He probably would be, but it still looked as if he was in a great deal of pain. The Telmarine king stood beside the youngest member of the group and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. He had no idea what the child had experienced, but, whatever it'd been, it had undoubtedly taken a toll on him.
Soon, Elise appeared. Robbie leaped up as soon as he laid eyes on her, unable to contain his tears any longer.
"Shh, shh," she soothed, stroking his hair, "What's the matter? Are you all right?" She inspected him vigorously, before coming to the conclusion that he was, indeed, unscathed. What, then, could be the problem?
"This was horrible," he cried.
"What do you mean?"
"It was a – a werewolf. Like – like the ones in your stories..."
Elise felt a sharp stab of guilt enter her heart. It was her fault – if only she'd known – she'd had no idea that her silly bedtime tales affected him so…
"Oh Robbie, I'm sorry…"
"That's not all," he sniffed, "It was – it was Papa."
"What?"
He nodded violently. "It was him, it was him. Can you believe it? He was there."
"No, no, Robbie. Don't think like that. It wasn't him. It was an illusion. It wasn't really him," she comforted.
"But – but he didn't want to hurt me – he couldn't help it…"
"It's over now, darling, it's over. Don't think about it any longer."
Once he finally seemed to calm down, Elise caught sight of Caspian and immediately sped over to him. He was leaning against the wall, taking the pressure off of his leg.
"What happened to you?" she demanded, almost angrily.
"I had to fight Miraz. You're hurt," he noticed worriedly, motioning to her forearm.
"It's nothing," she dismissed, examining his injured arm, before moving on to his leg. She quickly tore off strips of fabric from the bottom of her skirt and began wrapping the wounds.
"We really should clean them off, but we haven't any water…" she said sadly.
"I'll be fine. They're not that bad. I think the old man missed anything vital, so there shouldn't be any permanent damage. At least I hope not. A limp would be a bit of a hindrance at this point in my life. But let me see your arm…"
Elise looked at him disapprovingly, as if he could have helped getting stabbed. She allowed him to look at her own arm, which stung but was only shallowly cut. When she finished dressing his injuries, she stood up and looked up at him; moving his hair out of his face, she checked for any other cuts or scrapes. Finally satisfied that she'd done all she could, she turned around to face the rest of the group.
"Good Lord, what happened to Lucy?" she exclaimed. She'd been so concerned with Caspian and her brother that she hadn't noticed the state of the poor girl.
"She's fine," Peter explained, "It looks a lot worse than it actually is – the blood's not hers."
"Oh."
"Where's Edmund?" Susan asked her brother fearfully, "Why is he taking so long?"
"I don't know," he replied gravely.
They waited another few minutes.
And then they saw him. Edmund, drenched in blood.
"Oh my God!" Susan screamed. Both she and Peter ran over and helped him into the main area of the room, where they could lay him down and address his injury.
"Jadis," he managed, coughing up thick, crimson blood.
By this time, tears were already streaming down both Susan and Lucy's faces and the rest of the group was silent with agonizing concern. Peter, in particular, was working desperately to stop the bleeding and his own hands were now sullied as a result.
"Lucy, where's your cordial?" he demanded manically. Peter had never been one to cry – not even as a child – but tears were now gathering in the corners of his blue eyes.
"I don't have it," she sobbed in misery.
Peter stripped him of his armor, and finally the gory sight was exposed. Jadis' sword had penetrated almost completely through his abdomen. There was so much blood that it was initially impossible to tell where the wound actually was. There was no denying it – it was most definitely lethal.
"You'll be fine," Susan chanted irrationally whilst attempting to clean the sweat and dirt off of his face.
But it was clear that this was a lie.
"I – I defeated her," he coughed.
"Don't talk," his older sister ordered softly through her tears, "Save your strength."
"This is it," he continued, ignoring her, "I knew this day would come. I – I saw it in the First Trial… It was inevitable."
"Don't talk such nonsense," Lucy cried, "You will be fine! Don't talk like that, Ed, don't say such things…"
The brown-haired king began to shut his eyes, but Susan slapped him lightly on the cheek. "No, no, no, don't do that! Stay awake, Edmund, stay awake!"
This heartbreaking scene was interrupted, however, by the resounding sound of someone clapping.
"Well done, well done," said a cheery male voice.
They all spun around to see an astoundingly flamboyant-looking man in cream chemise and ruff under a red satin vest with gold detailing. He also wore matching red britches, which made his outfit almost painful to gaze upon. He was probably middle-aged, though it was impossible to be sure, and relatively handsome. He had short, black hair and a matching goatee. There was no doubt as to who the man was.
The Red Sorcerer.
He didn't seem at all concerned with their various injuries, but instead delighted that they had made it through.
"It's great that you're here and everything," Caspian growled impatiently, "But we're a bit busy at the moment."
"Oh, of course," he said, bowing apologetically. In an instant, Edmund was fully healed, as were the rest of them. "There we are," he said. He crouched into a sitting position and snapped his figures twice; miraculously, a throne-like chair appeared under him.
Edmund sat up drowsily and stared at himself in shock – there wasn't even a mark where he had been hurt.
"Now, where was I," the man continued, "Oh yes!" he cleared his throat, "I, as you may have already guessed, am the Red Sorcerer. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Elise, and Robbie." He took a deep, almost comical, breath. "My, there are quite a few of you, aren't there? Please, excuse my enthusiasm – I rarely get visitors, you see. But I'm so pleased that all of you passed my little tests. Although," he said thoughtfully, looking directly at Edmund, "some of you had a bit more difficulty than others."
"Now," he boomed gregariously, "what can I do for you? Obviously you haven't come all this way for nothing!"
"They all wish to go home," Caspian explained. Everyone else was too stunned to respond.
"Do you now? Well, I suppose I ought explain the rules before we continue, then," he paused, "You each have one wish – that makes seven wishes all together, for those of you who struggle with mathematics." "Well," he added as an afterthought, "six, now, since I already healed you."
The Pevensies looked at each other in bewilderment. What were they to do with six wishes? That was far more than they needed, but it seemed a shame to waste them.
Elise and Caspian, meanwhile, were more than slightly preoccupied with their own tumultuous situation. Elise was white as a sheet, already emotionally drained from Edmund's previous predicament. Caspian, similarly affected, stood close by to make sure that he could catch her if she fainted, which seemed like a completely plausible scenario.
Finally, she shattered; this moment had been as impending as a ticking time bomb.
"I can't, I can't," she repeated, tears pouring from her eyes. She started to crumble to the ground, but Caspian supported her. She clung to him and began shaking violently both with sobs and anxiety. Robbie stared at his older sister in panic and looked as if he wanted to cry too – to see her so dismayed was extremely disturbing to him. She was supposed to be the strong one. She was older. She was his big sister – he looked up to her. She couldn't be like this, she just couldn't. And he was completely powerless; there was absolutely nothing he or anyone could do to ease her anguish.
Their situation was so distressing that even Caspian had to repress tears. He knew that breaking down wasn't an option, but it felt like he was being pierced through the chest and the pain was infinitely more than his actual stab-wound had been.
She sobbed his name over and over again, to the point where even Susan came to pity her. She may have truly loved Caspian, but when she last left Narnia she was strong enough to put her feelings aside and make the logical decision. Elise, clearly, was not. That was where they differed greatly: Susan was ruled by her brain, and Elise by her heart. Elise was extremely emotionally driven, almost to a fault; when she was happy she was ecstatic, and when she was sad she was distraught.
The other Pevensies could only stand and watch in a helpless silence, while the Red Sorcerer didn't seem to know what to make of the sight. It was disturbing to all parties.
Elise tried to compose herself, she genuinely did, but she just could not. What life? What life was she to have? Before this fateful turn of events, she'd known exactly what she wanted: a family, children, a home. It was simple. Her life would have been simple, but she would have been happy. She didn't need the adventure. She didn't need the excitement. She'd have been content to live a mundane life. Perhaps it would have been boring, but that was not an issue for her.
But now! How could she ever go back? How could she ever live normally? How could she ever be happy? She could never marry, she could never have children; all of her aspirations were lost! How could she ever even look at a man who wasn't Caspian? Her stomach churned at the idea of being with someone else. She had seen the meaning of life, but she could not have it – perfection had been dangled in front of her, only to be ripped away. Her existence had been forever spoiled by the knowledge of true happiness – of true love.
She couldn't face this reality.
"You have to be strong, Elise," Caspian begged, his voice cracking.
"I can't." Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was shaking her head vigorously. He held her head still and pressed their foreheads together; "You have to," he instructed weakly, "You have to."
At some point, Susan said to her siblings, "We should leave them alone. It's not right to be watching this – it's between them; it's not our business."
Lucy, who was in full agreement with her sister, tore her eyes away from the couple. "I wish," she said softly, "I wish I had my cordial back, fully filled." "It was running low," she explained discretely to the others.
"Very well," said the Red Sorcerer, only mildly flustered by the despair of the two young lovers. He held out his palm, and quickly the cordial materialized. He then handed it to Lucy. "Next?"
Peter stepped forward. "I wish for the age ban in Narnia to be lifted," he said resolutely.
The Sorcerer smiled broadly, and, for a second, something unbelievably sinister flashed in his eyes. He opened his mouth, presumably to grant the request, but just then there was a movement in the corner of the room; the smile dropped from his face immediately.
"What's that?" Susan asked.
However, her question was soon answered a physical response, as apposed to a verbal one.
It was a lion. An enormous lion.
"Aslan!" Lucy exclaimed with more zeal than anyone had heard from her in a while.
"Hello, my children," he greeted kindly.
A/N: So, sorry that wasn't the happiest of chapters... But hey, sometimes angst can be fun. I'm slowly reconciling myself with Susan haha - but I think the comparison between Susan and Elise is true... Susan is actually a much stronger character. I think Elise's emotions can get in the way of her judgment, or at least that's how I imagine her when I write this stuff.
P.S. Sorry this kind of seems like it's from the daytime soaps. I know Elise is being a bit dramatic, but hey, she's eighteen. Eighteen-year-old girls can be overly dramatic (trust me, I know…). :p
Anyway, please review and let me know your opinion! :)
