The Way, The War, And The End – Chapter 12

I will make it clear that this story has not died, I have merely lost my inspiration and momentum and now that I've found it, I'll be writing (typing) again since, it's actually the summer holidays on my side of the world which is Australia. Because I have not worked on this story for quite a while, even my memory of the actual plot is somewhat fuzzy, since I'm sorta writing (typing) on the spot with what suits the situation best and what ideas come to mind. Anyways, I don't own any of the characters made by Philip Pullman in HDM. I own pretty much everything else.

On the edge of a balcony in the avian city, Avalon, stood Godfrey in deep thought. Only one thought ran through his mind over and over again, 'Why did Tristan shoot Will and Lyra… with that bullet.' Godfrey gave a heavy sigh, over the many hours that passed; he had almost convinced himself that he may be on the wrong side of this war. Godfrey then thought hard, 'I will only know the truth if I ask…' and so Godfrey made a decision.

The next day he bade farewell to the avians and disappeared to the angel heaven, where he would bring the news of his task and find the truth. The other angels recognised him and let him through to the angels' temple. Godfrey walked along the hallway, and found Hathrow looking at a map, planning for another battle like a general would. Without turning back, Hathrow said, 'Yes, Godfrey?' His voice was rough, and as he turned to look upon Godfrey, you could see through his eyes, the many things Hathrow had witnessed.

'Hathrow,' Godfrey began, 'I bring news of Tristan's death and also I have come to ask you a question…'

Hathrow noted the tone of his voice as he said a question. 'The news of Tristan's death saddens me, but I'm afraid there is no time to mourn for him, the enemy is constantly moving…' Hathrow began, 'what is the question you wish to ask me…'

'I actually have a few,' Godfrey said, 'firstly remind me why we are fighting?'

'I've said this before,' Hathrow began, 'we are fighting for Will and Lyra's sake…'

'You've told me who we are fighting for,' Godfrey began, 'but why?'

'We have to help build a world for them to be together, a world where angels like Xaphania can not separate them,' Hathrow said, 'have I answered your question?'

'Yes you have,' Godfrey, 'but they have found a way to each other, why are we fighting to give them a world when they simply cannot live in there for the rest of their lives.'

Hathrow drew his sword and pointed towards Godfrey in a flash, 'I think you've asked too many questions.'

Most people would be almost too shocked to think. Although, this turn of events was surprising to Godfrey, he kept his cool and disappeared before the blade even touched him.

Godfrey found himself in the avian city again, realising what had happened and knowing for certain what Hathrow's intentions were. His next move? Godfrey had one thing on mind…

On a Hrat ship with a course set for France, two pair of eyes flickered in the dim light, with their daemons following suit. They both looked at each other and held each other as tight as they could. In this fragile silence, Will whispered, 'I thought I lost you…'

'You never will,' replied Lyra. They then heard a knock on their door, both said, 'Come in.'

A relieved Mary along with Alex came hugging the both of them, followed by Xaphania, with Jennifer and Janurius standing by the door smiling. Both Will and Lyra recounted the other Will and Lyra that they saw when they were knocked out. The story sounded unbelievable, but Mary and Xaphania listened nonetheless. Jennifer half-listened to their story, but at the end she said, 'I am sorry for not warning you of this coming event, but it was necessary.'

'Necessary?' Will said, 'we could have died there, we…'

'I already saw how it ended,' Jennifer said, 'but I did not quite understand myself what it all meant. Lyra I was wondering if you could use the alethiometer to tell us what the two of you actually saw.'

'Okay, I'll try…' Lyra said and pulled out the alethiometer and pointed the symbols at the baby which she thought stood for the people they saw, then turned the second dial to the globe literally meaning where their meeting took place, and then to the candle for learning and asked the question, 'Who were the people we meet, where did we meet, and why did we meet them?'

The dials only pointed to one symbol, the bird, and Lyra saw the symbol before but could not interpret it before. Now the alethiometer let her glimpse deeper and she saw something quite different... After staring at it for a few minutes, she raised her head up and said, 'The two replicas of ourselves that me and Will saw were really us…'

Will tilted his head at an angle and said, 'Huh? What do you mean?'

'I mean they were a part of us,' Lyra said, 'the part we don't usually pay attention to, but it's the part we are scared of.'

'I noticed it did sound like me but creepier in a way,' Will said. Will felt a chill down his spine. The other Will is a part of him. It scared him, knowing there was something with so much hate and anger in him. Will knew he wasn't evil at heart; he just had a lot of stored anger that needed to be opened.

Lyra felt the same as well, the adventure they both shared when they were young was both memorable but painful, no matter how far back in their mind those memories lay, those memories would somehow find its way out.

All of a sudden the dials on the alethiometer span by itself. The whole room fell into silence as they watched Lyra instinctively read the symbols that showed. All dials pointed to one symbol, the helmet symbolising war or battles and with all three dials pointed at one; it only meant one thing, 'There's gonna be one heck of a fight,' said Lyra.

All eyes turned upon the angel Godfrey. Before anyone was going to attack, Godfrey raised up his hand and said, 'Please, I don't mean any harm at all...'

'Why are you here then Godfrey,' Xaphania asked.

'Wait you know this angel?' Will and Lyra asked almost in perfect sync.

'Yes,' Xaphania said, 'he was responsible for you two back when your journey started more than 5 years ago.'

'I'll get straight to the point then,' Godfrey said, 'I have made a grave error, and I plan to redeem myself by aiding the both of you.'

'Why should we trust you,' Will said, still keeping his guard up just in case.

'You don't have any reason to trust me,' Godfrey said, 'all I can say is Hathrow tricked me into believing we were helping you, but after what I saw my friend, Tristan, did to you two, and after nearly being killed by Hathrow himself, I was definitely convinced I was on the wrong side, and so I've made my decision to aid you. Secondly, I know where Hathrow will go to now that he knows I have probably sided with you. His base of operations is situated in what is known in Will's world as the Bermuda Triangle or the Cursed Triangle as Lyra knows it. It hovers over the sea as a giant cloud, and the only way in is up an invisible pillar which is guarded by ocean dragons and all kinds of creatures of the sea.'

'You expect us to believe this!' Will said, getting slightly agitated, but Xaphania but her hand to stop him.

'Wait Will,' Xaphania said, 'he is telling the truth.'

'Wait, how did you know Hathrow had a fortress up in the Triangle?' Godfrey asked. He was pretty certain only Hathrow's followers would know.

'Do you think I've done nothing all this time except watch,' Xaphania said, 'I've been watching Hathrow from a distance trying to find out what was going on behind my back. I knew he was building a fortress, but I wanted to know where and why. I've seen Hathrow make a few journeys to the Triangle and this confirms it. I also suspected something like an attack but not at this scale. Lastly, that isn't the only way up, Godfrey. The Door of Mirrors is the other option.'

'The Door of Mirrors,' Godfrey mouthed to Xaphania acting a little surprised. 'You would risk their lives in there!'

'I am not risking anything Godfrey,' Xaphania said, 'I am confident that the both of them can get through this…'

Feeling left out of the conversation, Will said, 'Umm, not to be rude but what is the Door of Mirrors?'

Godfrey turned to Will and said, 'Will, let me make this clear, many people have gone through those doors, and have never been seen or heard again, and just for the record, the glowing bullet my friend Tristain shot you two was from the Door of Mirrors. It's too dangerous to go through those doors. I would say going through the entrance of Hathrow's dominion would be much safer than through the Door of Mirrors.'

'And at the cost of how many lives?' Xaphania asked, 'you know a direct assault is going to kill many people.

'One thing,' Lyra butted in, 'where exactly does the door lead?'

'Many stories, myths, legends tell completely different tales…' Godfrey said.

'No!' Xaphania said, 'they all have one thing in common and that is that the door leads to wherever the being or beings want or need to be so long as their path is clear or so it says…'

'And where is the Door of Memories?' Mary asked.

Godfrey with a puzzled look said, 'I am actually not sure…'

'I know where it is and it's right where it should be,' Xaphania said, 'Jordan College…'

I'm not really sure if my writing has changed, I have briefly skimmed through the other chapters that I made earlier, so if any of you more eager followers of the story notice anything out of place in context with how I've set the characters and plot etc etc etc please notify me immediately so I can sort it out, after all, I'm doing this wide awake in the middle of the night. Until next chapter, Love Triumphs All!