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Disclaimer: I don't own HDM.
Final Chapter. Entranced"Miss Silvertongue. You've made it I see." The old harpy hissed and Lyra smiled at her.
"Yes. I'm here, Gracious Wings, but it doesn't take a genius to see that he's not here yet. Is there any word from him at all?"
"No, not a single word darling, just the breezes coming in from the world you opened to us. He will come though, we can be sure of that. All pass through the world of the dead at some point or another."
"I know. I was hoping he wasn't here yet, because that would have meant he had a short life. I was only twenty-three when I died, I would have hated him to die young too." The harpy smiled down on her from the top of a tree she had perched on.
"Tell me it all, Lyra Silvertongue, Tell me your true story like the true story you told all those years ago. You have already paid your way out more than once over, but your stories are our joy and we would love to hear how you spent the rest of your life after the amazing story you were able to tell us last time round." Lyra looked up at the old withered face, and began.
"My life was nothing special, in it's own little way." she began, and the harpy hissed at her.
"Don't lie to me Lyra, for I and my kind can always sense a lie. Tell me of your life, I would like to hear everything there is to know about the destiny of the new Eve."
So Lyra began her story for a second time, and this time she spoke completely truthfully. She told of her love for Will and of the wind and the sun on her skin as she ran with him across the planes in the world of the Mulfea. She told of how she had felt when she lost Will, and how much she had cried. She told of the joy of finding Pantalaimon again, and the shock of finding that she was holding Will's daemon instead of her own. She told of the realisation about what makes a daemon keep it's final shape, and the love and joy she felt when Will touched Pan's fur and she realised this would be his final form what he would keep until they died. She told of how her heart had bled those first few days after leaving Will, and how the only thing that had kept her alive was the thought that at least she knew that Billy had survived the north. She told of how she had returned to her own world, told her story to the master of Jordan College and taken her place in Dame Hannah's new girls school. She told how shortly after that she had gone onto study as a scholar in Dame Hannah's college but had never felt comfortable there. She told the harpy that she had been travelling to find Will when she had died. She told of the promise made to her and Will by the angels and how she had never in her wildest dreams thought that they would lie to her, that she had trusted them. She spoke of the hatred of the Angels that had lied to her, and how it still burned her up inside like a fire that refused to go out. At the end of her story she looked up and saw the old harpy crying, two solitary tears slipping down her cheeks to wet the ground in the world of the dead. It was a feat that had never once been seen in any world before that date, and was likely never to be repeated.
Dawn heard a song coming from across the open plane of the world of the dead, she recognised the voice and son, and wished to meet the person it belonged to. As she came closer a young woman who's age it was impossible to tell looked up from under the tree she was sitting and waved to Dawn.
"Come sit down, you look dead tired on your feet." She shifted over and made space beside her so Dawn could sit. "What do you think of my song huh? Not too bad for someone who's only sung it once before, is it. Oh go on, you gotta be honest with me, I gotta know so I can improve."
"It was beautiful." Dawn sighed. "I almost feel like I've heard you sing before, that song too."
"Could be. The girl grinned cheekily. "I guess it's just something to do with how good my voice is." and Dawn found herself joining in with her happy and relaxed laughter.
"So you were the singer?" Dawn asked, and the woman smiled warmly at the fourteen year old girl who reminded her so much of herself at that age.
"Yes." She replied. "I was singing for my one and only darling who I found I would have a chance to meet. Why do you ask?"
"I wanted to thank you." Dawn replied, in awe and wonder that she had finally met the singer of the voice who had influenced the last few months of her life. "For helping me to realise how I felt for Myst, and finally making an effort instead of being to shy to act on my instincts." The young woman reached out and took her hand.
"I'm glad I was of assistance." She replied, and Dawn finally realised that this girl wasn't that much older than herself, maybe seventeen at the oldest. "I didn't realise what that song would do. Until I set out to find Will, the morning you would have heard me, I had never sung it properly before. Oh it feels such a long time, how long was it?"
"Only three months. It took me a full month to sort things out with Terry, and then the accident happened only a little while later. I think I wish I had longer to enjoy Myst's company." She squeezed the hand beside her; realising that this young woman was the only person she had trusted enough to tell the whole story to. She suddenly realised she didn't know the woman's name and turned to ask her, but was cut off before she had the chance.
"You want to know my name." The woman said. "Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything, you've just spilled the story of your last few months of life, it's only natural that you would want to know my name."
"Well."
"I have many names." She began. "My first is Lyra Belaqua, daughter of Lord Asriel and of Miss Coulter, as it was the name I was born with. My second is Lyra Silvertongue, given to me by Iorick Briorson, king of the Armoured Bears when I returned him to his rightful place as king of Svalbard. My third is Witch, because of my power to separate by my daemon. My fourth is sister, given to me by the witch queen Serifina Peccala when we travelled together between worlds when I was but thirteen. My final is Eve, for the name of my destiny as the new Eve on earth." Dawn frowned, she enjoyed talking to this person, but she has to admit that she was slightly confusing.
"So you're saying you're some type of God then?" She asked, and Lyra shook her head.
"Hardly. I've never been a God and I never want to be a God. It sounds mighty boring. And anyway, what's the point." Dawn noted the pain in her voice, but chanced one more question.
"Did you ever find you're long lost love, miss, erm, miss?" Dawn asked, her voice trebling.
"Call me Lyra." The woman replied, tears filling her eyes. "And no, I never met him again. Me and Will were promised a place where we could live together forever without getting sick, but I never found him before I died. I kind of feel I should have realised it wouldn't all feel simple now though. They couldn't just give it to us easily. The only place we can live in harmony is here, where our daemons can't come so can't grow sick and ill." Dawn understood, even though she didn't know what a daemon was.
"I know. You wanted to see Will again but you didn't count on dying first?"
"Exactly." Lyra smiled. "I can tell by your face that you know what I'm feeling. It must be tough for you too. The way you spoke about your love for Myst reflects everything I've been though since leaving Will so many years ago. It's hard Dawn, but it's only going to get easier. Trust me now, I know what I'm saying, and I'm not only saying it to make you feel better. We've a lot too look forward to, both of us." Dawn nodded, and then settled back to listen to Lyra's tale of her life, and the love she and Will had shared, and her daemons in her world, and her and Will's travels together.
"Mister Parry. You made it down then." The young William Parry nodded his head, and then looked up in shock, realising that he was no longer tired and sad, and no longer felt the painful loss of Kirjava.
"What the?" Then, "Gracious Wings?" he asked, as he caught sight of one of the faces he had kept dear to him throughout his old age.
"William Parry. After all these years, yes. You are the same person, but you have aged. Although the world of the dead changes us all back to a child I can tell that you still feel old in your heart. I can see things, you bleed for your lost love, do you not."
"Yes, I'm not able to deny it. My heart has bled these last years since I realised that Lyra was never coming to find me. I missed her so much Gracious Wings, I though she would at least have spoken to me on Mid Summers, even if she didn't want to see me again."
"Don't feel against her Will, for the we've listened to her moaning and watched her tears for not being able to go to you for a good long time now. Although she never grew old, and often lost the hope that you would ever make it down here, she would never go on. Your true story is all we ask, and then we will take you to her."
Will straightened his back, and looked up at Gracious Wings.
"Thank you." He whispered, and then began to tell his story, and a story of greater courage and wisdom had not been heard in the world of the dead for many years. And it was matched only by the tale of the child Lyra Silvertongue, who's destiny as the young Eve sent her to so many places. He told of many things in his life, of all the years he had spent dreaming of Lyra and all the work that he had put into building the republic of heaven. He smiled as he described his ex girlfriend Lydia, who had turned against him when she found the truth about Lyra, and of how he and Mary had travelled together until the time when he got the knife forged and Mary decided travelling wasn't for her. At the mention of Mary Malone the harpies around them smiled.
"She mentioned you," one particular Harpy said. "She stayed here for many weeks recounting the stories of you to Lyra, but in the end the call of her daemon forced her to go on out of our world and into the great beyond. She was sad to leave Lyra, but she said to promise you both that she would be waiting for you when you chose to go up."
Will fell silent at that for he didn't know that Mary Malone had passed away, but the harpies understood, and Gracious Wings flew above him and spoke gently.
"Come, William Parry. Your story has satisfied our needs, and I'm sure you want to see our daughter as much as she wants to see you." with that she flew of into the distance and Will followed her, struggling to keep up. The thoughts in his head were blinding him, and he wished with all his heart that he could hear the story of Mary's life, of how she had died in the short three months since she had left him. As he passed through the nothingness of the world of the dead he looked around him, and saw not the sadness and silence that he had once seen here, but joy and happiness unmatched by anything on earth. Gracious Wings was accompanying him and helping him to find the right direction so he asked her what had changed in the world of the dead to make it such a happy place. She smiled down at him, and replied softly.
"It was you. You and Lyra changed this place, and we thank you." Will smiled up at her. He was tempted to stop and talk to the people around him who seemed so relaxed and happy, but he felt the call of Lyra and his daemon and moved forwards, always forward. Until, finally, he came over a ridge and below him was the face of Lyra the woman he loved sitting with a young girl and talking earnestly to her, about what he could not tell. She looked up, saw him above her, and then got up and ran towards him, falling into his arms as she reached him and holding him tighter than she ever thought possible. She turned and waved to Dawn, pulling her up to introduce her to the man she loved.
"Dawn, this is Will." She explained. "The man I told you about." She looked up at his face lovingly and he took her hand.
"Will, this is Dawn." She told him. "We helped her to find her love." Will nodded, amazed that here was someone who was effected by the love he had for Lyra.
"Are we going to go up then?" Asked Will. "The angels said we could live in harmony in some world, but I never found that place." Lyra and Dawn shared a glance, and then Dawn spoke as they had arranged, shy around this person who she had heard so much about.
"Me and Lyra discussed it." She whispered. "And it makes sense if you think, that neither of you can grow sick here, than maybe this was the place the angels spoke of." She looked up and Will and saw a glint of understanding in his eyes.
"Yes." He whispered. "It all makes perfect sense now. This is the world we can live in harmony, because this is the world where everyone can live in Harmony." Then he turned, and took Lyra's hand in his, and she in turn took Dawns hand in hers, and they walked away across the world of the dead, the place where all life forms come together, to start their lives as one once again.
THE END
And finally: a summary of this story in my own words because it's the first long fic I've managed to finish.
Well I don't think this went too bad really. Okay so it was weird and I should possibly have put in more chapters but I think it was okay.
When I'm writing I always try to have a few main ideas in my head for a story. With this one it was the bit where Lyra sings the song and Will hears and when she meets with Dawn in the world of the dead. The character of Dawn was created knowing that she would die before the end of the story, though I went through several major ideas with how. I settled on the drowning because I thought it would me most likely. For those of you who hate me for killing all the characters at the end I'm sorry. I've spent years trying to work out how there could be a world where they could all live in Harmony and I finally realised how that place was the world of the dead where they couldn't become sick anymore because they were already past sickness and pain. I know it's sad that they never did meet up with their daemons again but that would have been too good to be true and in essence both Pan and Kirjava will always be with them in their memories and their hearts. Daemons are supposed to be part of your soul and I think that even if you do seem to loose them they're still there deep down. My own thoughts about it is that the daemons don't really disappear when you go to the world of the dead, they just go back inside you like where they are in our world and go to sleep.
There were loads of ideas with this and I though everyone would hate it because I don't think my writing is very good. I had a major problem with my confidence at the beginning of chapter four but thankfully I have loads of great people who asked me to continue. I've got to say a special thanks to Rae-Various who reviewed me every chapter and whose reviews were always long and creative and helpful. It's great to get long reviews because they're always so full of advice on how I could make this better. It makes me smile so much. Anyway, I'm going to go now because I'm probably boring you all sick with this. Please don't forget to review this chapter, and it would be much appreciated if you could send me a mail with all what you thought of the full story in it. My e-mail address is open to everyone on my profile page but if you don't want to e-mail then could you do a long review. Thanks for reading, keep inspired. Love and peace, Stargazing Maiden