Disclaimer: I don't own any of the His Dark Materials characters. The only characters that I do own are Aseku and Sharnep.

Author's Note: Just thought I might fill you all in on the current time. This is after the book ends. In other words, Pantalaimon has settled in his marten form, and Lyra's 14 (for all of you bright people who didn't catch that in the last chapter). Aseku is also 14, and it will be revealed to you later why her dæ mon can still change shape. Yes, Will will be showing up soon, don't think I'm going to leave him out of the fun! ;p Now then, this is an A/U where the knife was never broken, so you can guess what sort of trouble Will and Lyra are going to get into this time. ;)

Evil Rats, and Sharnep's Secret Revealed

Somehow, Lyra had managed to calm the fiery temper of Aseku, and lure her inside for some lunch. Now that Aseku had eaten, she was much more talkative, and for some reason, bouncing off the walls.

" WOW!!!! What was in that drink?! I liked it a whole lot! A whole WHOLE lot!!! Can I have some more?!?! Please?! Huh?! Can I ? Huh? Huh?! Can I? PLEEEEEEEASE?!?!" startled by the girl's energy, Mrs. Lonsdale was silenced for a few moments, ducking every so often as Sharnep, fly-formed now, went careening past her head. When she recovered, she quietly signaled to Lyra that they were out of the drink that Aseku was asking for.

"Uh… don't you think you've had enough to drink for now, Aseku?" said Lyra, "Why don't we… go… see the Master of Jordan College and see if you can stay here for a while." Instantly distracted, Aseku replied,

"Yeah SURE!!!" and bounded down the nearest hall with a now cheetah shaped Sharnep. A few minutes later, she returned, looking sheepish. "Uhhh… why don't I let you lead the way to the Master? I forgot, I don't have the slightest clue where I'm going, heheh." Sharnep was on her shoulder now, mouse-formed.

"Sure," she replied, amazed at the girl's speed, "Ummm… let's go." So she set off in the opposite direction from the one the girl had just come from, Aseku trailing behind her. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a large wooden door.

"Is this it?!" asked Aseku, sheepish no more, "COOL!! Let's go in!!!!!" Before Lyra could answer, both Aseku and a now-phoenix formed Sharnep bounded in. It took Lyra a few minutes to realize what had just happened. Quickly, she shook her head and ran in the room after Aseku. Inside, she found a very loud introduction going on. Namely, Aseku was shouting, "HI!!! I'M ASEKU!!! WHO ARE YOU?!?!" The Master was looking very confused and slightly taken aback by this intrusion.

"I- well- you…" he spluttered. Lyra saw her chance and took it. Running inside, she said,

"Sir, I beg your forgiveness for this intrusion. This is my friend Aseku. She doesn't know where she came from, and she needs a place to stay for a while, so I was thinking that she could stay here I mean if that's all right with you and all?" Lyra looked up into the stunned face of the Master, his crow dæ mon eyeing Aseku and Sharnep suspiciously. After a minute, he spoke,

"She doesn't know where she's from? I think you'd better tell me the whole story, Lyra." So Lyra sat down in a chair next to the Master's, and began telling him everything that had happened since that morning. "So you don't remember where you ate breakfast even?" asked the Master, staring at Aseku.

"Actually, sir, I didn't eat breakfast." said Aseku, grinning. Then, her expression faltered. "Or maybe I did… No, wait a minute, I think that was yesterday… Or was it today?" Her expression cleared, "Ah yes, I remember now! I did eat breakfast today. I had breakfast in some other place called Oxford with a boy named Will… Slice? No, that's not it… Thrust? No, that's not right either… AH! I've got it! It was Will Parry! I knew it was some sort of sword technique…" If nothing else Aseku had said had shocked Lyra, this did.

"Will?!?!" she half-shrieked, looking extremely excited.

"Yeah." said Aseku, thoughtfully, "And I just remembered, I was supposed to give you a message. Now what was it…"

*Flashback*

Will is opening a portal to Lyra's world with the knife, and shoving Aseku through. "Say hello to Lyra for me!!!" and he walked away.

*End Flashback*

"Oh yeah! Will said to say hello to Lyra for him! HI LYRA!!!" Lyra was feeling faint.

"Will… still… has… the knife? That jerk!! Why didn't he come and see me yet?!?!" Lyra was just about to go on one of her infamous yelling sprees when a rat ran across the room. Nobody but Aseku and Sharnep seemed to take much notice of it. However, in an instant, Aseku had gasped. and Sharnep had leapt off of Aseku's shoulder in cat form to kill the poor animal. He had it cornered, when the Master yelled,

"Stop! What are you doing?!" Everyone in the room froze, even the rat.

"Well," said Sharnep, speaking for the first time that Lyra had heard, "I was about to kill this rat. Do you have a problem with that?!" At once he changed into a smaller version of his dragon form and growled menacingly at the Master before turning back to the rat and sinking his fangs into it. The little beast squeaked like mad before falling limp in Sharnep's mouth. The dæ mon then dropped the rat, changed into an owl, and flew back to Aseku's shoulder.

"But you're too old to be able to change!!" yelled the Master, "You're fourteen!! Your dæ mon should have taken a fixed form by now!!"

"Well it hasn't!" yelled Aseku, just as loud, "And I would appreciate it if you didn't YELL SO MUCH!! WE JUST SAVED YOUR SOULS!!!" This got the Master's attention.

"What?" he asked, confused, "Saved our souls? What are you talking about?"

"Duh! The rat!! Are you honestly that dim?! You know, the Curse of the Rat! Rat runs by, steals your soul? Ringing any bells here genius?" The Master stared at Aseku with a mixture of surprise and respect on his face.

"So it's you." he murmured, "You're the long-awaited hero. Imagine, our champion in the form of a little girl…"

"HEY!" shouted Aseku, "I am NOT a little girl!! Bet I could kick the crap out of you in a fight!" Looking angry, Aseku pulled out a dagger that Lyra hadn't noticed earlier.

"So THAT'S it." said the Master, staring at the dagger, "That's the Eternal Blade. Tell me Aseku, how did you come across this blade?"

"Why do you care?!" shot back Aseku, her eyes blazing, "It's mine and you can't have it!"

"No no, you misunderstand me, child-"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!"

"Right, sorry. What I meant was that you are destined to do great things. Your dæ mon can still change shape because you are a long-awaited hero. A savior of sorts."

"What?" asked Aseku, lowering the knife.

"You are destined to overthrow the evils of the Universe with that dagger of yours, The Eternal Blade. It is also called Evil's Bane, and Doom Striker. It is a very-"

"Yeah yeah, name your point. I'm not getting any younger over here!" said Aseku, yawning widely. The Master looked taken aback at being talked to so rudely, but he held his tongue and said,

"You will be put through many trials, child, but I have great faith that you will master them all. I wish you good fortune. You may stay here as long as you wish, on one condition."

"That being…"

"That being that when you set out once more, you will be accompanied by Lyra here."

"Ok… why?"

"Because she also has a very important role to play in this. I believe that I am right in saying that the portal from another world that you came through was left open?" inquired the Master.

"Yes…" replied Aseku, slowly.

"Then it is as I thought. This will also require the use of the subtle knife. Therefore bringing it and it's bearer into this plan."

"Whatever. I'm going to go and mess around outside now." said Aseku, and she promptly walked off.

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