The Observatory and the Tower:

After a long eventful day of asking questions, Lee finally managed to get a lead on Gruman. A waitress said that he had once worked at an observatory just in the hill slopes not too far away. He notified Iera where he would be going and assured her he would be back soon.

When he made it to the top, he only saw a man on the staircase with a lemur daemon. Luckily he was allowed inside.

"What brings you to the observatory Mr Scoresby?" the man asked.

"I've got a couple of questions if you don't mind,"

We entered the telescope room through a curtain. "Isn't that something?" he observed.

"It works even better when the fog is lifted. So tell me what brings you here?"

"Dr Haley, have you ever heard of a Mr Stanislaus Grumman?"

The moment Lee asked that question, the astronomer seemed to stiffen.

"An Englishman, despite the name. I understand that he worked her some years ago,"

"What do you want with Dr Gruman?"

"I believe he was in contact with my wife...four years. I was hoping I could meet him, perhaps...I could get a lead on...where my wife disappeared. You don't know where he is now, do you?"

Dr Haley turned to me. His face seemed to send a shiver down my spine. He was making me nervous.

"Somewhere up the Yenisei river," he pulled off his glasses.

"So he is alive?"

"Dr Gruman...is a heretic,"

"I... did not know that," Lee said quickly. "Well...you've been most helpful sir. I'll just be on my way,"

He wanted to turn around, but the astronomer gave him a suspicious glance that continued to make him quiver.

"By their fruits shall ye know them. By their questions shall ye see the serpent gnawing at the heart," his daemon growled.

Hester looked a little scared.

"Amen," was what Lee said. "You have a good day sir," And with that, he turned and went through the curtain, Hester right by his side.

"That was weird," He said quietly. "Come on. Let's head up the..."

Suddenly He heard the shot of a gun. He fell to the wooden floor, pulling out his revolver. Without a voice, he fired. Then again. And again. The shooting behind the curtain stopped. Lee breathed heavily. He carefully stepped through. He saw Dr Haley slumped against the telescope, his military gun clattered on the floor, his wounded daemon in his arms.

"You damm fool. Why did you do that?!" Lee shouted, pulling off his coat. He was unable to let him die despite him trying to kill him. "Let me help you," he bent down.

"Dr Gruman is an enemy of the Magisterium," the astronomer grabbed his throat. "And so are you,"

lee stared at him.

"If your wife knew that man, then she was an enemy too. A heretic whelp,"

lee frowned. "Don't you ever speak of my wife like that again,"

"The Magisterium will bring justice for this," and with that, he died. HIs Daemon disappeared.

Lee stammered. He was shocked. He had killed a guy.

"He didn't give us a choice," Hester said with pity. "You didn't shoot to kill," Lee was close to tears for what he had done. We need to go,"

"Is there a place which the Magisterium hasn't infiltrated?!" He cursed, pulling his coat back on.

"We need to get out of here," He pulled the curtains back, but the moment he did, his heart jumped. Guns were cocked and pointed at him and Hester from a squadron of soldiers. Their dog daemons parked.

"That man tried to kill me. I had no choice!" he protested.

"Lee Scoresby you are under arrest!" the nearest soldier said.

"Did you not just hear what I said?"

"You are under arrest for heresy!"

"Look, sirs! I didn't know Dr Gruman was a heretic! I just thought he could give me clues on how to find my wife!"

But the soldiers wouldn't listen. They tried to grab him but Lee punched one and then the other. But he suddenly felt his neck flying into a state of pain. He saw Hester's neck being clutched by the jaws of a dog. He was overwhelmed and then punched in the eye. He could swear he was about to go half-blind.

As he was restrained, the soldier in charge walked up to him. "We've been looking all over for you Mr Scoresby. Take him away!"

Mia sat down at the table, rubbing her grandmother's ring. She was glad Will had been there to comfort her earlier. She needed that. He was such a kind boy. For some reason, Mia often wondered how proud John Parry would be of the person he is once we find him. Will approached her with some coffee. He offered it to her.

"Thanks," she said, taking a sip. "Delicious. Not only are you good at cooking, but you're also so good at hot drinks,"

"You ever had hot chocolate before?" Will asked her.

Mia looked at him. "No. What's that?"

"You know chocolate right?"

Mia shook her head.

"Well you like to melt the chocolate then you pour hot water into it to make a hot drink. You can even add cream and marshmallows to it,"

"Sounds delicious," she said, before hitching my mind back into a train of thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Will asked kindly.

"About my dad. He's never been on his own before. I didn't want to leave my world...but I couldn't leave Lyra alone as her father did. And my dad was already too far away from us and mean people were trying to attack us. I didn't have much of a choice,"

"I'm sure your dad's alright," Will consulted. "Was it hard growing up with just one parent?"

"Yep. But we always travelled around so much so...I got used to it," I shrugged. I pulled out my necklace to rub it, thinking of my mother again.

"That's a pretty necklace,"

"This was my mother's," she said. "I've never taken it off,"

"The winged figure... it looks like the statues around that tower in the courtyard," Will said.

Mia looked at him again. "It does. Do you think someone's in there?" she wondered.

"Why don't we go and find out?"

The two took a walk and they found themselves in front of the tower with the angels again. Mia kept staring at the angels, touching the engraving on her pendent, wondering why her mother would have such a necklace with those beings on.

"Let's get a better view of one of the buildings," Will suggested. They went inside one of the abandoned houses and found a better view of the window on the balcony. Mia fished out a telescope from her bag and peered through.

"Look! There's a man in there!"

"What?" Will blabbered. Quickly Mia handed him the telescope and he peered through. "You're right. There is a man,"

"See you two are spying up at the tower," a sudden voice said.

They flashed around and saw Angelica, emotionless as always.

"What do you want Angelica?" Mia asked irritably.

"Since you two don't know about that tower, might as well tell you. It's the Torre de li Angeli. Belonged to a group of philosophers. Long gone by now they'll be,"

She turned around to leave but Mia spoke up. "Why are you and your friends so mean to Viktor?"

She paused and turned around.

"We just don't get what fun you guys get out of bullying someone," Will stated next. "What's he done to get you all to be so mean to him?"

"To be fair. Nothing. But the truth is...you two and your other friend Lyra don't know much about him,"

Mia glared at her.

"He claims you two and that girl Lyra are outsiders yet he's also one himself. You know he was abandoned as a baby in the city. No mum. No, dad. Not even a note or letter. Just a name. He was taken in by a couple, but the moment the spectres get him, he's all alone again,"

"And so you think it's right to bully him?" Will challenged. "You should be ashamed of yourself,"

"No, I think I do have a right. He's a freak that's what he is. That hand he keeps covered, it's black. Received that from the spectres. He's attracted to the path of the death so it's best if he weren't here and nobody was near him,"

"Nice try Angelica but you're not scaring us," Mia shook her head. "You're the one who should be scared,"

Before Angelica could even blink an eye, Aster burst out from Mia's pocket turning into a honey badger. He roared, showing off his sharp teeth. She screamed and she ran.

"And don't come back and bully Viktor again!" Will shouted after her. She disappeared. "Nice job Aster," my new friend complimented my daemon.

"Thank you," Aster said turning back into a weasel.

They turned back to the tower, keeping a closer eye on the window.

"How do you think one gets into the tower?" Mia pondered. "There's no door,"

"There must be a secret passageway,"

"What could be inside that tower do you suppose? You think Viktor stayed here to guard it because it contains some sort of powerful object or treasure or something?"

"Probably. It's probably why that man he was after came here in the first place,"

Thinking about Viktor made Mia's mind bounce back to the thought of Lyra. "I hope and he and Lyra are alright. They should have been back by now,"

She noticed Will was becoming rather upset. "Are you okay Will?"

"I'm worried about my mum,"

"She'll be safe with that man. And when we find your father, she'll be happy again,"

"You don't need to worry about my mum Mia. It's my responsibility that you shouldn't have to burden yourself with,"

"It is. Your father saved my life, Will. And I'm gonna return that favour by helping him get back to you and your mum. Then you can all be a happy family again," Mia then noticed Will was holding a bit of a grudge. "Families make mistakes Will. Don't let that stop you from a man whom I know has missed you your whole life,"

Will turned to her and she saw how touched he was as if her words had been carried onto him by his father. He felt comforted and Mia was proud that she could help him. She noticed a strange look on his face. His eyes cast a feeling of fear into her eyes. "What?"

"Your hair...it's turning silver..."

"What?" Mia grabbed a lock over my shoulders. It was turning silver.

"Mia!. Your fingers," Aster said next. He was scared. Mia looked at my fingers. The tips were turning silver too.

"Oh my..." she was beginning to panic.

"Just calm down Mia..." Will soothed. "Everything's alright. We're gonna figure this out," His warm hands clasped Mia's shoulders and she saw how desperate he was to try and reassure her.

Another chapter is done. So sorry this took long and it didn't come earlier. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Looks like something is happening to Mia. Was this the change that Viktor had detected earlier in the book? We'll have to wait and find out. Please send out reviews and let me know what you all thought. It would be most helpful. I really hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year for tomorrow at midnight!

See you all soon.