"Oh, Pan. D'you think Will misses me yet? Just the thought of it…! It 'ent even been a week since he closed the window. I can't imagine being apart forever! Pan,"
Pantalaimon danced across her shoulders, the Pine Marten's red-gold fur shimmering through the candle light -- and, as usual, knew the perfect words to calm Lyra out of despair.
"Why, it's not forever, is it? Will Parry promised he would wait through death and all else, to meet you once more, Lyra Silvertongue. And you two shall meet again—Because he's Will."
Lyra supposed Pan was right. After all, Will was Will, and she knew better than anyone that when he said it, it was true. It had to be. Because…. Well! Just because…. it was… Will!
But even after her dear Pan's reassurance… Lyra's heart gave a small ache at the thought of the boy, who was not such a boy anymore, and the fact that she may never see her travelling-companion for another hundred years—even if Will did find her, in the end, and they were together, forever….
"Pan, I never knew reading the Alethiometer was so hard! The Master says I should continue studying tonight… But a little break 'ent going to hurt anything, right?"
Pan leapt silently onto her shoulder; for he knew Lyra had not wanted a truthful answer. If she had, she would have been looking at Pantalaimon and he the same, and (hopefully) not preoccupying her mind with thoughts of Will Parry—but she hadn't. And that's why Lyra gathered her Alethiometer into the rucksack with care…
They were going to explore.
"Well, just think about it, Pan," She whispered, "We found all kinds of things since we last left Oxford. All kinds of things! What if there was something out there—even smaller than dust? Oh, it excites me just to talk about it, Pantalaimon!"
She smiled in the moonlight—it hardly took any effort to sneak outside the college's doors. Their figures could be faintly recognized, if one of the scholars had been looking very closely. But they weren't, and both Pan and Lyra knew they weren't. Not at this time a night….
"Lyra! Haven't you had enough adventure for a lifetime? We should go back….!!"
But Pantalaimon wasn't pressing, because he was Lyra's dæmon, and knew her better than anyone else, perhaps even Will, or Roger. Pan would follow her adventure (for now, that is) in exchange for her happiness…... If it would make her forget him, just for a small while… it wouldn't be so bad.
And so Lyra Silvertongue led the way to a place unknown, past the college and all its dark-lit houses… As Pantalaimon followed suit. They called it 'exploring', Lyra did, but really it was all just silly play.
"O Alethiometer! O teller of truth,"
She laughed at Pan—who would've most definitely dropped dead of embarrassment if someone were to see them.
"Which way shall we go, O teller of truth?"
And then she gasped at that familiar feeling, the needles turning to each picture—the feeling of understanding. The Alethiometer…. She had understood the Alethiometer!
"PAN! PANTALAIMON!"
The Alethiometer! It worked once again…. And yet another puzzle to be solved: How had it worked…?
"Lyra! How did you….? How! The Alethiometer—it can do so much good for this world. No more studying, either! Now come, Silvertongue, and show me properly!"
Lyra closed her eyes-- and tried and hoped and wished with all her mite that the Alethiometer would begin to spur once more, that she could make sure to use it for good, and not evil, that she were an amazement again—not some ordinary Jordan scholar. In her mind she had already known at least a little—her power was gone as quick as it had come.
But she didn't want to believe that. She wasn't satisfied with that. So she lied and lied, just for the sake of pretend. Truthfully, the Alethiometer had become a part of her. A part Lyra was very reluctant to let go—
"But Lyra," Pantalaimon said fiercely, "You aren't ordinary. You are an amazement. Don't you remember all those fans of yours—the ones that came from miles and miles on feet, just so they could see Lyra Silvertongue? Just to hear a single word pour from her mouth? You are the amazement of the century, Lyra, with or without the Alethiometer."
Her eyes were glazed with tears, but, being Lyra, managed to keep them at bay. Pan- her one and only life-long companion… Talking about her in that fashion…..
"Come, Pantalaimon. We have somewhere to be now, don't we?"
"We do? Where must we go, Lyra?"
Pantalaimon was anxious—he didn't want to go through all that pain and agony again... For being parted with Lyra was the worst feeling anyone could have possibly ever felt….
But Lyra ignored Pan completely—which wouldn't seem so nice if she hadn't something important on her mind…….And it was just that.
"Pan," Lyra said, looking almost as if she were saying it to herself, "When I talked to the Alethiometer, I asked where we should go…. But really I had thousands of questions to ask….! So it answered, "Go to the Southern Forest, and you shall find it." And really I was just all too excited— I didn't know what it meant! But, Pan, now that I think about it…."
The Southern Forest! Pantalaimon thought. Why, there isn't a Forest for thousands of miles, past Oxford…. And a southern one….That's a bit too vague…!
"I was asking about dust and…. Beyond dust! Maybe… There's worlds out there that we 'ent allowed to touch… But maybe…."
A confused pine marten sat close to its owner's feet—or, no… Owner would be a far too possessive word, for Pan was Lyra's closest and most dearest friend, and never in a billion years would she have thought him as a mere pet.
"Where are we going, Lyra, if we haven't the slightest clue where this 'forest' could be?"
But Lyra could not be deterred, now. She was determined. Just as determined as she had been when she voyaged across the Land of the Dead. Because Lyra Silvertongue knew something Pan hadn't…
"We're going South."
And it was true, of course… Because it was Lyra.