Bonds
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Lyra?"
She didn't respond.
"Lyra."
Shaking her head, she pulled her knees in tighter to her chest, head tucked in. A moment later, a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Lyra! We've landed. You can… um, you can get out now if you'd like."
Slowly, hesitantly, she lifted her head, taking nervous glances at the golden carriage around her. Geo and Jasmine stood in front of her, worried expressions on their faces.
"You're sure it's stopped?" she said.
"Um, yeah," Geo glanced in the direction of the engine room. "Pretty sure. Can't you tell?"
Tell? The whole world was still roiling around her dizzily. Trying her hardest not to let her trembling show, she reached out, scrabbling frantically for a handhold as she pushed herself to her feet.
"Come on," Jasmine offered her a hand. "The sooner you're back on solid rock the better, right?"
"R- right," as she stumbled in the general direction of the door, she turned to Geo. "This… is this normally how you Celestrians travel?"
"Um, no," Geo shrugged. "We usually have wings, remember?"
At least with wings you can control how you go. Lyra thought. Behind them Erika whistled.
"At least now you can see the train, eh, Lyra? Better than before, when it was still invisible and it was like we were flying on thin air."
"Don't remind me," the mage muttered as she finally made it through the doorway, out into the open plaza of what Lyra assumed was supposed to be the Observatory. At first she had settled down on what had appeared to be an invisible chair and then the whole thing had started moving with a tremendous racket. The mere sight of seeing mountains and rivers shrink beneath her feet had churned her stomach, something which was only marginally helped as she noticed her surroundings becoming more and more opaque. And then the train had rocketed vertically and Lyra had forsaken all pretence of calm as she huddled into a ball and tried not to scream.
Well, that was over with, thank the Almighty. As she looked around the area, her gaze fell upon the edge of the platform they were standing on.
No railings.
Swallowing hard, Lyra turned away quickly, focusing all her attention on what looked to be a discolouration in the rock, and the noises that sounded a lot like people quickly approaching…
"Geo! Is that really you? Thank the Almighty! When you fell from the Observatory I thought we'd lost you for good…" the leader of what Lyra surmised to be the welcoming committee trailed off as he caught sight of Lyra and the others. "And who is this?"
Taking a deep breath, Geo stepped forward. "Greetings, Elder. May I present to you the three mortals who aided me in my return to the Observatory."
"I see," Apus Major nodded slowly, his wings rustling behind him. "So you enlisted the aid of these three in order to make your way back to the Observatory."
"That's correct, sir," Geo said respectfully. As always, he was slightly tongue-tied when speaking to the eldest and wisest of the Celestrians.
"And then you brought them with you?" one of the other elders flanking Apus Major demanded. "How could you be so foolish? For a mortal, let alone three, to set foot within the Observatory is a thing unheard of!"
"So is having a light from the earth sunder the very Observatory and having more than half of our brethren go missing in the Protectorate," Apus Major said heavily. "And the advent of Fyggbloom, for that matter. Perhaps this is indeed an era of unheard-of things coming to pass. At any rate, they helped return one of our own, so I suppose I can let a breach of protocol slide."
"Wait…" Geo paused. "More than half of the Celestrians are missing?"
Apus Major made a face as if he were sucking on ashes. "Yes. Aside from the Celestrians who fell like you and those we sent to search for them, we also assigned a few to retrieve the Fyggs that were scattered across the Protectorate," there was a pause. "Thus far, you are the only one to have returned."
"I… see," Geo said softly before another thought occurred to him. "Master Aquila! Is he-"
Apus Major was already shaking his head. "He was one of those who descended after the disaster. We haven't heard anything from him since then. Columba is worried sick, as you might well imagine."
Silently, Geo nodded. "I see," he repeated softly.
"Bored," Erika grumbled as she flopped backwards onto the bed. "What do the Celestrians do up here?"
"You were the one who suggested this trip, don't forget," Jasmine's chiding was gentle. "And to answer your question, from what I understand a large number of Celestrians are employed as the Guardians in our world. The others handle the administrative functions needed to keep such an organization going."
"It's a little surreal," Lyra admitted. "All those legends and stories about the Guardians, and suddenly here we are in their home," she paused. "Mom and dad would never believe me."
"Well, us being here is as strange for us as it is for them," Jasmine glanced over towards the doorway. It was true too. Most Celestrians had avoided from the three humans from the moment they'd arrived, treating their presence as something not worth paying attention to at best, as an active affront at worst.
"Buncha stuck-up pricks, if ya ask me," was Erika's opinion. "Anyway, wonder what Geo will do from here."
"I'm not sure," Jasmine cupped her chin thoughtfully. "Whatever calamity it was that sent Geo to earth also seriously upset this place's normal functions, that much is certain. Ordinarily he might be tasked to returning to his duties as Guardian of Angel Falls, but now, he might simply stay up here instead."
"I guess if we want a ride down we ask that fairy girl that's always fluttering around him?"
"I suppose," Jasmine cast an uneasy glance at Lyra, who had become paler at the mere mention of another ride in the Starflight Express. "But at the least, we should wait until Geo returns from his meeting with his leader."
"Right," Erika hopped off her bed. "And until that happens, I'm gonna have a look-see at what's in the rest of this place. Comin'?"
"Are you sure? They might not like-"
"What are they gonna do to us? As long as we don't make any trouble," and with that Erika, vanished out of the room.
"This is going to end badly," Lyra mumbled. Nevertheless, she stood as well, prepared to follow the impulsive thief. "Jasmine?"
"I'll pass," the priest smiled and settled herself back on her bed. "After all the excitement I feel like I could do with a nap."
"All right then. See you later," and with that, Lyra stepped out of the room, glancing down the corridors of the Observatory.
Thanks for reading.
