Artistic Panic
Chapter Seven
A/N: Short chapter, sorry!
I stare at the sketch. I hadn't realized it at the time, but I knew that symbol on the woman, as did every fairy in Haven over thirty.
"Calypso's Catalyst," I whispered.
"What did you say?" I spin angrily, expecting Culpepper to yell at me. But it is Dr. Grissom looking at me curiously. I glare at him
"Lyra, just tell him," Foaly hisses. I mentally roll my eyes. Was it really a good idea? Oh, what the heck?
"Calypso's Catalyst is an old story my mother told me. Supposedly it served as a power magnifier, a symbol made of Death. The story also says that three thousand years after the first was laid, darkness shall try to overcome the world and humanity shall fall forever if it wins." My voice sounds dead, even to me. My hands shake uncontrollably, and are the color of ash. I force myself to continue.
"It also supposedly served as a doorway."
"To what?" Dr. Grissom's voice is curious, without a hint of mockery. I grin darkly.
"Between times, worlds, anything. Some legends say that the Black Death was created by a Catalyst gone wrong. This time, judging by trauma, it's supposed to bring something to our time. If you're wondering, Calypso from the Odyssey is based off the original." My voice is surprisingly steady, but I think I'm rambling.
"Original?" Dr. Grissom asks. I roll my eyes.
"Calypso, the original, that is, was nasty. She was one of the Fair Folk, or fairies, and went… astray. The gods grew pretty ticked as she tried to both wipe out humanity and raised the dead. She found out, and rather than let them punish her, she threw herself, magic and soul, into a spell, a Catalyst, and so the first was laid, three thousand years ago." I close my eyes and try to calm down. This is NOT good.
"How many deaths are needed?" Dr. Grissom asks.
"Thirty one." I looked at him curiously. "You believe me?"
"I believe that some believes in this." His eyes are inscrutable.
"This was number thirty-one." Culpepper's voice is quiet. I shiver. Where's Holly? I want to go HOME!
"Then there is no time left." Correction. NOW my voice sounds dead. I want to be safely in Haven, away from this death trap! I want to be away from what will happen! What will happen is that the barriers between fantasy and reality will be shattered, and the dark tales humans tell as ghost stories will roam the earth, destroying all in their path.
"Grissom, someone's here for Lyra Rivers," Sara says from the door.
"May I leave?" I ask coldly, to disguise the wave of nausea that threatens to over whelm me.
"Unless you have more to add?"
"In that case, bye!" I run for the door, and right into a girl my about my height.
A/N: Now things start moving, and the plot happens!