Memories || The Chronicles of Narnia

14: For Edmund

Peter swallowed hard and stared at the flower which he held tightly in his hands, quickly going over everything he could remember, and it seemed at the moment that he hadn't forgotten anything... yet.

"So?" Philip asked. "Who are you?

Peter turned his head to face the horse and swallowed hard. "Peter." He said slowly. "I'm Peter, High King of Narnia. I have three siblings, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, all younger. I remember it all, Aslan, my family, Narnia."

Philip breathed a sigh of relief.

"But now that I've picked this." Peter said, glancing down at the flower. "It's only a matter of time before I start to forget."

"I know." Philip mumbled sadly. "But I promise you I will get you back to the castle, no matter what."

"Thank you." Peter breathed, standing and slipping the flower and the map into his bag.

"We should start heading back." Philip sighed, glancing around.

Peter frowned, rubbing his forehead slightly. "Back where?" He mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut. "Ugh my head hurts."

Philip looked rather worried at this, and quickly gave Peter a nudge so that he began walking. "Back to the castle." He said. "Back to your siblings, remember?"

"They're at a castle?" Peter mumbled, looking like he was trying his hardest to remember something but failing.

"Yes, Cair Paravel." Philip said quickly.

Peter frowned for a moment before nodding. "The name rings a bell." He mumbled.

"Good." Philip muttered. "Remember it... where are we going?"

"Cair - Cair paravel." Peter said slowly, as if he wasn't sure.

"Exactly." Philip said with a firm nod. "And why?"

This Peter knew. "To save Edmund." He said firmly.

"Yeah, to save Edmund." Peter mumbled.

"Climb on my back." Philip said after a short while.

Peter just blinked at him. "Um, no thanks." He mumbled. "I - I dont know how to ride."

Philip almost stopped walking in shock, but he pressed on, knowing that if Peter wasn't going to ride him, then they had to walk home as quickly as they could.

"Alright." Philip said. "But we have to walk fast, you can do that right?"

Peter took a deep breath. "Yeah, course I can." He choked. "For Edmund."

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"I felt I should tell you that Peter has probably reached the flowers by now." Aslan said slowly, standing by the bed where Susan, Edmund and Lucy sat, Edmund wrapped in Susan's arms and now trembling... hard.

"You reckon he'll still go ahead with it?" Susan whispered, but even she already knew the answer to that.

"I have no doubt about it." Aslan sighed sadly, and even he had tears in his eyes. "Your brother loves Edmund very much, and after everything Edmund's done for him, he feels the need to repay it."

"I - I never wanted him to "repay" me." Edmund choked out, voice still hoarse from the screaming the previous night.

"I know you didn't Edmund." Aslan said gently. "But this was Peter's decision."

"I - I'm gonna miss him." Lucy whispered after a long while of silence, her voice quiet and choked.

Susan swallowed hard. "So will I." She whispered.

Before they knew it, Edmund was sobbing into Susan's shoulder, his arms wrapping weakly around her waist as he cried. "I want Peter." He choked. "I want him here, I want him to remember everything, remember me."

"I know Ed, I know." Susan soothed. "We all do, trust me we do. But as Aslan said, this was Peter's decision, and none of us could've stopped him, we all know that."

Edmund let out another loud sob. "Why did you let him do this?!" He cried, suddenly pulling away from Susan. "You all knew what he was planning on doing, and you didn't even try and stop him!"

"Ed please calm down." Susan murmered. "We wanted to stop him, but you know Peter, once he puts his mind to something, there's no stopping him, he's like you Ed."

Edmund shook his head and squeezed his eye shut. "You shouldn't of let him go!" He cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. "But it's too late now, he's picked the flower, he's gone, forever."

Susan swallowed hard, but panicked a little when Edmund tried to climb out the bed. "Edmund what an earth are you doing?" She said quickly, grabbing his arms gently.

"I need some fresh air." Edmund choked. "I can't breathe!"

"Ed you're too weak." Lucy mumbled.

"No." Edmund choked, shaking his head. "I need fresh air, please, I - I can't-" He stopped, taking a deep breath.

"Lean on me Edmund." Aslan said gently, giving him a small nod.

Susan sighed but helped Edmund out the bed, leaning him against Aslan and following the two out onto the balcony, her arm around Edmund's waist.

Edmund leaned heavily against Aslan once they were outside, and took deserval deep breaths, before burying his face against Aslan's mane.

"All hope is not lost Edmund." Aslan said gently.

"How can you say that?" Edmund whispered, starting to feel slightly better now that he was outside, although he was beginning to feel rather dizzy. "He won't remember anything."

"While that may be true," Aslan murmered. "You never know, Peter is strong, he could fight against the magic."

"No one has ever been able to do that before." Edmund choked. "The healer said no one can not even you!"

"Peter loves you all very much." Aslan said gently. "I'm sure that  is reason enough to try and remember you all again. He will forget everything, that I have no doubt about, but he may be able to get his memories back again, for you three, because he loves you, more than anything."

Edmund choked on his tears, and was now feeling extremely dizzy, his grip on Aslan weakening, and before he knew it, he'd hit the floor.

He heard Susan and Lucy's cry of his name, and saw Aslan's worried eyes staring down at him, before everything went black.

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