"Where am I?" those were the first words slipping out of Kaytiya Shinaria's, commonly known as Kay, mouth when she woke up and found herself somewhere, alone. Wait, she weren't supposed to be alone. Nobody was ever completely alone; everybody had their dæmon with them all time.
"Zero? Zero? ZEROOOOOOOOOO?" She screamed into the strange fog surrounding her. Scared she got to her feet; was she dead? Slowly the memories started coming back; they'd been out in the fields playing; her, Sarah Costa, and some other children from the school. Daringly she'd climbed higher up in a tree than any of the other girls, when suddenly a branch had broken, causing her to fall all the way to the ground. So must have died when hitting the ground. But she weren't scared; having read Lyra Silvertongue's book about her adventures she knew what was going to happen; her death would come and lead her to a lake where an ancient man would sail her over to the Land of the Dead. Once there she'd tell stories about her life to the harpies and they'd lead her to the opening Lyra Silvertongue and Will Parry had created; once she stepped outside she would dissolve into atoms and could go looking for her beloved dæmon Æirhatzero. No, that wasn't so bad.
"Alright death, where are you? I am ready."
"Ready to die? Why so soon? Your life is only just beginning."
Turning to see who the speaker had been Kay was surprised to find herself face to face with a thin-build woman with pale skin, light green eyes and long blond hair.
"You… you're the witch queen, you're Serafina Pekkala."
The woman, Serafina, stepped forwards and placed a hand on Kay's shoulder.
"That I am. And I am here guiding you, see, you aren't dead; only in a coma. Come; let me show you what you have to do."
With those words the witch queen placed her arms around Kay and led her along, after a while they stopped on the edge of a big forest.
"From here you must go on alone. You'll know what you're searching for once you find it." with those words she disappeared; leaving Kay alone, confused; she was supposed to look after something she didn't know what was but would find out as soon as she found the thing she didn't know what was. That was just headache forming; she could only know what it was she was looking after when she found it, and once she'd found it she wouldn't have to look after it anymore. Well, no need to linger at that; carefully she took a step forward and instantly found herself in complete darkness. After a while she discovered a faint light just ahead of her; realizing that whatever it was she was looking for was in that direction she decided to follow the light.
How she managed to go all the way without bumping into a single tree was a wonder; it was like her feet were carrying her without her having to control them. After having walked, not knowing how long or how far, she found herself standing by a small pond. There was something weird about it though; there was no doubt that the light she'd followed came from it. But; ponds didn't glow. Carefully kneeling she stuck her hand into the pond to confirm her suspicion. And she was right; when she took her hand up it wasn't wet, just glowing, it wasn't water in that pond.
"It's Dust." She whispered, mostly to herself considering the fact that there weren't others around. Or so she thought.
"Yes. It's Dust."
Looking up Kay was a little shocked to see a translucent being on the other side of the pond.
"You're an angel." She whispered in awe.
"Yes, I am. My name is Xaphania."
"So, this is what I'm searching for?"
But of course it couldn't be; Serafina Pekkala had told her she'd know when she found it. And considering the fact she had to ask she clearly didn't know.
"What do you think?"
"No. It's not. What do I do then?"
"You go on." With those words the angel was gone; once again leaving Kay alone. Go on. But where to? Which way? Then it came to her; there had to be a reason for her finding the Pond of Dust. Taking a step forwards she let the Dust engulf her and found herself falling, deeper and deeper.
She was flying. How was that possible? Mere seconds ago she'd been falling into a pond of Dust; now she was flying. This was without doubt the weirdest she'd ever experienced. And all that from falling from a tree. Finally picking up her courage to look down she was a little shocked to find nothing but huge waves beneath her. So, she'd woken up on some weird foggy plain, been lead to a forest by Serafina Pekkala, found a pond made of Dust, stepped into the pond only to find herself floating above the Peaceful Ocean. But why? No, there was no answer to that. It was all part of this weird quest she'd ended up in. closing her eyes she decided to let fate lead her wherever she was meant to go.
With a heartbeat she was transformed into a room where a couple was watching over someone in a bed; the woman sat in a chair, clearly sobbing while the man tried to comfort her. Going around the bed from her place behind the couple Kay, to her horror, realized who it was; her parents, watching over her.
Guilt hit her right in the face; when she'd thought she was dead she hadn't been thinking about her parents for one second. Why did she climb so high into that tree in the first place? She knew why; ever since she'd arrived at St. Sophia's and realized the school wasn't as bad as she'd thought she'd been more intent than ever to show her parents she was different than them. Show them that even though she was happy being at the school it wasn't because it was a rich school or anything; it was because of her friends. Friends her parents without doubt didn't approve of; when she'd written home the first time and told her parents about her new best friend she'd gotten an answer back in which her parents highly suggested she found some friends of her own class instead of mingling with a Gyptian girl. After that she had never written another letter.
But all that didn't matter now; no matter how estranged she was from her parents it didn't change the fact that she was their daughter and they loved her above anything. Closing her eyes she stepped forwards and let her spirit merge with her body. This was what she'd been looking for the entire time.
Gasping for air she opened her eyes, looking directly into her mother's
"Kaytiya." Her mother instantly pulled her into a tight embrace and after a while Kay felt her father's arms around her too.
"You really scared us this time young missy."
"I know dad. And I'm sorry. But… you have to accept I'm the one I am. And that Sarah Costa will always be my best friend."
"Yes. About that. Your mother and I have had time to think. The school year will be over soon and since you refused to come home for Christmas we were thinking that maybe you would like to invite you friend, Miss Costa, over for a couple of weeks."
"May I?"
"Of course. Fearing to lose you made us realize something; you might be different but you're still our daughter and we love you."
Smiling Kay turned and snuggled together with rabbit-shaped Zero. Her head still hurt a little, probably from where she'd hit it.
"Mum, will you still be there when I wake up?"
"Of course sweetie."
And so Kaytiya Shinaria drifted off to sleep. She might be the wild child of the family, the rebel, but she was still a Shinaria. And blood didn't lie.