It was just 1 year after Lyra and Will, had been separated, and Will, had not forgotten Lyra's tear streamed face through the window into the alternate world that he had made. This was the last real and closest in time memory that he had of her, and the painful thought of not being able to go back to her made his sleep disturbed every night. It was a calm Oxford night looking out through Mary Malone's flat, looking over the city with all its spires and modernized buildings. Will strained his eyes looking past and through all the buildings to try and see where Jordan College would be in Lyra's world, since his sleep had deserted him every night Will had taken to doing this and even sometimes ventured outside. Even though he did not know it Mary knew that he went out, but she did not mind, seeing as he had been in a war with huge armored bears, witches, small hand sized people and ghosts she knew that the determined boy could take care of himself. " What if Mary is worried about us going around the city?" "Don't worry Kir she probably isn't even awake," replied, Will clearly not caring. Kirjava, Wills daemon, was muttering under his breath as they walked to the area of Oxford that Will had suspected to be Lyra's home, "Imagine actually being back with her after all this time Kir…"

"well thinking about her now isn't really going to help you move on in life is it?" Will did not answer, he knew that Kirjava was right but obviously did not want to admit it, the love for Lyra still burned deeply in his heart and when they had retreated to the botanical garden he felt as close to her as he would ever get, the last place that they kissed was here and the memories can swirling back to him like a whirlpool.

Will sat there for so many hours every night but he did not bother to think of the time, because every brain cell was concentrated on Lyra and any possible way how to get back into her world. Even though the angel Xaphania had said that a daemon could only live in a foreign world for approximately 10 years he did not care, he was ready to throw his life away, as long as he could be with Lyra, nothing mattered.

Lyra lay in her bed with Pantalaimon at her feet, his lustrous red-gold fur warmed her feet intensely, but not even the fire of millions of white-hot furnaces could disturb the coldness of fate and reality. Just like Will, she had not gotten to sleep, heartache was a most painful thing, and she was only going through the first stages, she longed to see him again, to fell the touch of his skin on hers. Their desperate love was never to be and considering she had actually killed the Authority, the still faithful angels didn't particularly look kindly down upon her.

After many hours of crying into her pillow Lyra finally gave into reality for the three hundred and sixty fifth time that year (so every day really) the sobs had made her pillow dry so sleeping would have been harder now anyway. Lyra got up and looked outside to see her own Oxford "What are you doing now?" asked Pantalaimon with a very inquisitive tone to his voice "the same as I do every night…. Longing once more for Will's love…" replied Lyra, Pantalaimon did not reply knowing that probably nothing could console her except a proper answer from the alethiometer, she had learned to kind-of read it by now but she could get answers for questions but whenever she asked if there was any-way to get to Will, nothing on it moved, she used the symbols that she thought would work: the anchor (for hope) the infant (for love) and the apple (for finish) but still nothing.

Will wandered all through the Botanic Garden back to his bench, he looked around from where he was sat and saw in the shadows the tiniest movement, thinking that it was Kirjava, he approached the bushes to where he saw it but not to find his daemon, since he realised now that she was still on the bench Will poked his head much farther into it until he blacked out...

Will woke up in a secluded part of the garden with Kirjava peering over his face, "i don't suppose you have any idea of where we are do you?"

"actually i don't Kir"

"hmmm..."

"well we are in the garden aren't we?"

"yeah i think you're right.."

Will looked up to see a blinding light as a shimmering figure came out of the darkness, "who are you?" questioned Will

"I am the high angel Xaphania"

At those last words, 'Xaphania', Will lunged up and struck the frail figure, as it was she who separated him and Lyra for ever, the angel toppled backwards and flew up high,

"I am not here to hurt you Will" the angel said.

"I don't care, if you're here to make my life worse then you can get lost!"

"actually it's quite the contrary, the torre degli angeliwas put back into use, right after Lord Asriels forces realised that him, Metatron and God were all dead, and have been studying the Subtle Knife with the few files that they have on it left behind from the previous experimental theoligans" she saw Will's face after she said this and then said "Experimental theoligans are scientists in this world"

"Oh right... carry on"

"Yes they have managed to find out that in the minute gap within the rip you make with the knife, actually has a tiny metal in it. So we found a new ore called Magnatenyll, which is an extremelly powerful natural magnet, and are planning to attach it to the Sublte kinfe so that when you cut a window the tiny gap in bewtween is pulled together with tremendous force, hence no spectres are made and no dust can escape".

She smiled at him and the realisation poured into Will, he leaped up into the air and threw the knife sheath with the pieces in it towards the angel Xaphania.

"I suppose I shall get the knife mended?"

"YEEEEESSSSSSSS!"

Xaphania left them. Will and Kirjava slowly absorbed the moment yet again.

Lyra tried the alethiometer one last time; she turned the little gold wheels to the positions that she had tried already and then went into the trance... the small hand, to her shock and delight, started to swing smoothly around the face and it read: The Knife is being repaired and then in the way it always did, it added extra: Nothing will be created from the Knife now, no Dust will escape... Lyra then read it aloud to Pantalaimon while containing her excitement, all along she had thought that she just couldn't read it but now, it turns out the truth had just been undefinable.

The location that the knife was to be mended was at Lord Asriels fortress. After he fell into the abyss his men had gone back to where they came from and the builders had started to take all the valuable parts away from it in huge transporters and zeppelins, Xaphania took the pieces of the knife to the furnaces where a team of dwarves were waiting for it, it took about two hours to heat the furnace up and she was aware that only Wills concentration could make the knife to be it's sharpest so she asked all the workers there to think of absoloutely nothing, apart from the knife, the angel had also gone to the fortress' monastery to get some monks to come and meditate for them.

The whole process took around 4-5 hours and then they locked it in a little brass case with a strange jewel on it. The Magnatenyll had been positioned onto the tip of it and its dull colour made it look flimsy and poor.

Xaphania set of back to Wills world to deliver him the greatest happiness he will have ever felt...