The Chronicles of Narnia: The Children of New

Chapter 24: Aethereal Madness and Venenatio Rubra

"You see, Zoran is her family. They are related by blood. You guys on the other hand are not. So I cannot allow you in the meeting due to patient confidentiality. It is a tradition here in Narnia that we abide by. Please respect that,"

"Fine. But if we leave, will you allow us to be the first people to see her after surgery? After Zoran of course. I ain't about to be trampled by him?"

"Yes. I'll make that deal. Why don't you go for a ride or go practice let off some steam?"

"Yeah sure. Whatever. Just come get me when we can go see her," said Patrick as he got up and headed toward the stables.

I turned to Edmund, "You know princess, you can't always control everything. Sometimes you have to let people do their own thing. But I understand why you did what you did this time. Just--" he sighed "Just remember that when you rule all over Narnia," he got up and walked away toward his tent.

I let out the breath I had been holding in. I felt someone come up next to me. "Do you think she will be alright and pull through this, Aslan?"

"I don't know, dear one. I have high hopes, but truth be told, I am worried."

"Yeah me too. I guess let the waiting game begin,"

It had been hours since Anna had been brought to the medical tent. It was now night and there was no sign of the doctors being finished. Everyone had pretty much gathered around the outside of the tent though. Zoran was sitting on a tree stump with Ray leaning against his legs, Patrick was pacing, the kings and queens of old were all in a group together talking, Aslan was lying down on the ground, Jackson came up to me, "Do you think she's going to be alright?"

"I'm not sure Jack. I want her to be ok and totally healthy but I know that might be unrealistic given the state she was in when she came in. I'm just glad she's back and got away from that horrible place,"

"Yeah me too. Are you alright though?"

"Me? Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ariana, ruling and leading is hard and I'm beginning to see the toll it is taking on you. You've lost a bit of the sparkle you once had. But you're doing a good job. I just want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me,"

"That's very kind of you. You're like my rock and I--" I stopped talking because Dr Wen walked out of the tent. Everyone else fell silent as well and looked at him, waiting for him to say something.

"She's alive. But that is all I will say in front of everyone. I would like to talk to Aslan and Princess Ariana privately,"

Everyone looked annoyed but nodded. Zoran looked at me, "Dr Wen, I would like Zoran to accompany us. As he is her blood and older brother he has a right to know what is going on,"

"Of course, Zoran you may come as well,"

Together we walked to my tent. Once inside, Dr Wen let out a breath he was holding. He looked grim. "Dr Wen, what happened? That surgery took forever,"

He sighed, "Anna is well, to put it lightly, incredibly injured. I can only speculate what happened to her. Her back is riddled with what appears to be whip marks, some fresh others weeks old. Her entire body was covered with contusions and other cuts. There is significant damage to her wrists as, I'm assuming where her chains were. There are what appear to be electrical shock marks all over her stomach, some burns as well. Her ankle also had these marks as well but those are all in one singular area. We had to open up her stomach to stop some internal bleeding that was happening,"

"Is she going to be ok though? Is my sister going to survive?"

"Yes, that is the main concern here Dr Wen"

"I believe she will be ok. But we won't know until she wakes up. Medic--"

"Wake up? What do you mean by 'wake up'? I want answers about my sis--" Dr Wen raised a hand, cutting him off.

"If you let me finish, I will explain," Zoran nodded for him to continue, "Yes wake up. Medically speaking, I have currently diagnosed Anna with Aethereal Madness and Venenatio Rubra. Aethereal Madness is exactly what it sounds like. It is her brian thinking that she can't trust anyone or that she is currently living in a dream and/or simulation. Ventenatio Rubra, better known as Scarlet Poisoning, is the poisoning of her blood via a drug or other poison. However, I have never seen what is in her blood. It is a jet black liquid but there's also hints of a green liquid. I'm going to run some tests on what is exactly in her blood. But it is mostly likely some sort of drug which is why she is going through withdrawal right now. I believe she went into a coma to stop her pain, but another theory is because of the Aethereal Madness, or just overwhelming of everything. I am really not sure, we will not know anything until she wakes up. I'm also guessing that during her time at the castle she was not only physically tortured, but also psychologically tortured as well. For the moment, she has an oxygen mask to keep her breathing just for precautions and an IV drip of Dorzocor and Epzirelin. It should help with the pain, fever, other withdrawal symptoms, and the Scarlet Poisoning. We also cleaned her up a bit since she came in covered in blood and dirt. I will warn you though, she will have scars for the rest of her life. How much pain she will be in after she recovers is a mystery though. I do hope that it is not, that poor girl has been through enough, "

We were all silent for a minute before Aslan spoke, "Thank you Dr Wen. You may go,"

He bowed to us and started to head out. I turned to him, "Gunzun, thank you. You might have just saved us from losing the war," he smiled and then left the tent.

Aslan turned to Zoran who had collapsed into a chair, "Zoran, you may go tell the others Anna's diagnosis. But don't explain it or go into any detail. I don't want them all crowding Dr Wen. He needs some rest. And no one goes in to see her yet. I would like to discuss some things with Ariana and Queen Lucy first. Please also send her in,"

Zoran got up and nodded, "Thank you for letting me hear what Dr Wen had to say. I'll go fetch Queen Lucy and let the others know. I'll also make sure that no one goes in to see her. Wish me luck holding Ed and Patrick back though," we nodded and watched him go.

A few moments later, Lucy appeared. "Well, you almost got Zoran killed by my brother and Patrick but they calmed down and are patiently waiting right outside the tent for you guys to allow them to go see her,"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course they are. Now, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?"

"With Anna's given condition, I fear we may be vulnerable. I do not want to rush waking her up but we have to be realistic. Adam by now knows that Anna escaped and is probably planning an attack. We also have no idea what Anna told Adam if she told him anything,"

"So what are you suggesting?"

"If after a week, Anna does not wake up on her own, we send in Edmund to her dream,"

"What? Why Edmund? Why not me? I mean I am the one who chose her,"

"Lucy, you and I both know that your brother and her share a special bond. He may be our only shot at getting her awake. Here, if Edmund fails, I'll have you try,"

"Ok. What about the others? When may they go see her? I'm not about to calm down another riot,"

Aslan laughed, "Well why don't we go out right now and let them see her? But Ariana, keep the true extent of her injuries a secret, Lucy I will fill you in later. But first, let's go visit Anna,"

We all walked out of the tent together. Everyone waiting looked over immediately and waited. Aslan nodded toward the medical tent signaling that they could all go see her. Edmund and Patrick were the first to head inside. When I reached the tent, I walked in and had to hold back tears. Anna was in the medical bed looking peaceful but you could tell she was in pain. Her arms and legs were covered in bandages. She did look a lot cleaner than she did when she arrived. She had on the oxygen mask and an IV was attached to her arm. You could still see the spots where a syringe went into her arm over and over again. Edmund was at her side, holding her hand, while Patrick was standing at the end of the bed looking in disbelief. Jackson turned to me and then looked back at Anna. He took my hand and I let out the breath I was holding in, "At least she is safe,"