*Warning: This blog contains bad language and a little bit of nudity (nothing explicit). If any of this upsets you, don't continue.* I have issues with the normal adult content warning, so I'm trying to sort that out. :)
Alison had poured herself another cup of tea, and the silver spoon clinked against the fine porcelain as she stirred the aromatic fluid, dissolving the little sugar crystals hidden within. Lyra wrapped her hands around her own mug of rich strong coffee, grateful for the thoughtful gesture. She’d definitely need the caffeine if she was to listen to old bedtime stories and accept them as truth.
Alison had poured herself another cup of tea, and the silver spoon clinked against the fine porcelain as she stirred the aromatic fluid, dissolving the little sugar crystals hidden within. Lyra wrapped her hands around her own mug of rich strong coffee, grateful for the thoughtful gesture. She’d definitely need the caffeine if she was to listen to old bedtime stories and accept them as truth.
“Before we begin,” Alison started mildly, her eyes focused on the swirling liquid inside her cup, “there are a couple of things that need to be established. The main thing: everything I am about to tell you, is the absolute truth. No matter how unlikely something sounds, or how unreal it seems, or how unlike it is from the stories you’ve heard, everything is true. You will get no twisting of facts from me, and I will not sugar-coat anything either. Everything you hear from me, is the absolute, unaltered truth. You are, of course, free to ask questions, but I would prefer it if you allow me to finish, before you do so.” She picked her cup up, and smiled invitingly at Lyra. “Now then, let’s start.
“The first thing you need to be aware of – and you probably already are – is that there are an infinite number of different worlds out there. What you might not know, is that all of these different worlds, every single one of them, are the same physical world.”
Lyra blinked in confusion. That didn’t make sense at all. Alison seemed to realise this, as she held up a hand to halt Lyra’s question before she even had the chance to ask it.
“Rather than call them different worlds, it is more accurate to call them different versions of the same world, or in more common terms, different dimensions. They all started out exactly the same, but due to different histories they evolved differently, thus presenting us with the worlds we have today. This collection of different worlds, different dimensions, I will refer to as the ‘multi-verse’.
“The next thing you need to be aware of is quite complex, and for that I will need to go back a step further. Tell me: have you ever heard the terms ‘Magic’ and ‘Energy’ before?”
Lyra frowned at the question, idly sipping at her coffee.
“Magic and energy?” she repeated hesitantly. “I’ve heard of both, obviously. But…I get the feeling you’re not referring to the conventional definition of the words.”
Alison smiled into her cup, as if the very idea that she was referring to a definition was greatly amusing her.
“Of course not,” she agreed. “I am referring to the forces. The Magical and Energetic forces which determines what kind of life a world sustains; the forces which makes out the very essence of the Balance.”
Mutely, Lyra shook her head. In all of the stories she had heard, there had never been any mention of forces.
“Hold up,” Lyra interrupted Alison’s explanation. “That can’t be true. My mom can touch ghosts, and my Aunt Mia developed a potion that can turn you into one for three hours. How is that not supernatural?”
The reply was not something Lyra had expected. “What do you mean?” she asked, confused.
“If you’ll let me continue…” Alison reprimanded lightly, slightly tilting her teacup to the side. Lyra waved the woman ahead, rebuked by the mild reprimand.
“What I just explained was the Energy force. The other force is, of course, Magic. It works on a similar principle: on a Magical world – that is, a world that’s mostly surrounded by the Magic force – all life are of the magical kind. Everyone and everything is capable of the supernatural or magic in some manner. It is also on Magical worlds where you will find creatures such as unicorns, or dragons, like the ones our dragoneers command.
Lyra frowned. Again, that was different from the stories she had grown up with.
Alison’s lips tugged into an easy smile. “That is true,” she agreed, “but it is not the whole truth. Ghosts – who at the very moment of their deaths, become magical – cannot cope with Energy, so if they linger on an Energetic world, they will start to Fall. On the other hand, if a ghost lingers on a Magical world, they will not Fall. They will be compatible with that world’s force, so they will be free to linger as long as they wish. Damnation most definitely is not something that is limited to ghosts. The proof of that, my dear child, lies in you.”
“Peace, child,” Alison deflected easily. “All will be explained. So, do you understand the link between Energy, Magic, and Damnation?”
At Lyra’s terse nod, she continued. “This link, this ratio, this delicate balance of forces surrounding a world and its creatures, is known as the Balance. Nothing more, nothing less. But since every single life in the multi-verse depends on these forces, you can understand why it is so vital that the ratio – the Balance – does not get disrupted. Are you still with me?”
“Good,” Alison praised, an enigmatic smile on her face, “because this is where it becomes complicated. When the Balance gets distorted, things go wrong. The Balance is auto-corrective, which means that if everything is as it should be, every world will deal with small changes to the Balance on its own, and no intervention is required to protect a world’s life.
Silence fell around them as Alison gave Lyra a chance to process her words. She felt numb, a little overwhelmed by the knowledge she had learned. The same words that had echoed through her mind the previous night reverberated now, repeating over and over.
Leneo had called her an Anomaly.
A Magical creature born to an Energetic world.
Lyra shook her head, desperately trying to deny it.
“That can’t be right,” she denied vehemently. “No. No way. Why would I be an Anomaly? What makes me so different from all the other people in my world? If someone was to be an Anomaly, wouldn’t that be my mother? She’s the one who’s always going on about magic.”
“That’s bullshit,” Lyra disagreed angrily. “How the hell would it be possible for me to be ‘born to Magic’? I wasn’t even born on Full Moon.”
“No, you weren’t,” Alison agreed, “but you are the result of a combination of factors. One,” she raised a finger, “your mother is Magic-touched. It means that from the very beginning, you were never going to be born completely Energetic. The same, of course, applies to your siblings.”
“Are you saying my siblings are Anomalies too?” she asked softly, her voice filled with dread. To her utmost relief, Alison shook her head.
“No, they’re not,” she confirmed. “They are Energetic – barely – but Energetic nevertheless. But your idea was right: they could’ve been Anomalies. The second factor,” she continued, raising a second finger, “lies in that very potion you mentioned earlier, the one your Aunt Mia created, and the fact that it was used on your father. That potion, dear child, was the very reason the Balance in Sunset Valley started to deteriorate.”
“How?” she whispered, forcing the words around the lump in her throat. How could something so innocent as a simple potion have an effect that was so big?
Alison sighed, the slight smile still on her face as she fiddled around with the fresh pot of tea Sionann, who had so far simply been listening patiently, placed on the table.
“So why would the fact that it was used on your father, have an influence on you being an Anomaly?” Alison asked. “Do you think you can answer this, considering what I’ve told you so far?”
“I suppose…if my mom is ‘Magic-touched’, and the potion caused Magic to be drawn to my dad, that would mean…” Her eyes widened as things started to fall into place, especially as she considered what Alison had said about her siblings, “…that we, as their children, would be affected by the Magic as well? Is that right?”
A satisfied smile played on Alison’s lips. “Yes. Exactly. The difference being, that while your mother got touched by the Magic at birth, you and your siblings were touched before birth. ‘Magical creatures born to an Energetic world’. Now the third factor,” Alison continued, raising a third finger, “and the thing that distinguishes you from your siblings, was the fact that you were born at home, and your siblings not. At the time of their births, they had not been exposed to any additional Magic, while you, being born in a house build right next to the Rift, was bathed in it. You, were born Magical.”
“The Rift?” she asked, a bit confused. “The one Charlotte apparently opened last night? That thing that brought us here? Why would that have an influence? Isn’t the Rift closed normally?”
Alison inclined her head. “Indeed,” she agreed. “But Charlotte has been opening that Rift for many, many Full Moons. Consider that with the fact that for a very long time, the house you lived in was inhabited by Magical creatures – ghosts – and then, by your family. Your family, which we have already established have a unique link with Magic. Magic has been drawn to that house for many, many years, and when your family moved in, it couldn’t escape the effects of the potion. It continued to build up and linger around the house. Have you never wondered by people tended to avoid your house?”
She wrapped her hands around the warm coffee mug in front of her, freshly replenished by Sionann. The things Alison had said…she desperately wanted to ignore it, deny it, but deep within herself, she knew she couldn’t. Everything Alison had told her, was the truth.
Anomaly. It felt utterly unreal. She finally understood though, why she had never felt like she belonged in Sunset Valley, and that no matter how far and how long she looked, she would never have found anywhere she felt at home. It was daunting, to think that if she hadn’t followed Charlotte last night, she would never have found out, and she would have been doomed to live a drifting life, never belonging anywhere. What a horrible thought.
A soft touch on her hands drew her out of her thoughts, and she stared at Alison with tears in her eyes.
“That doesn’t help me much,” she pointed out thickly, trying her best not to cry. She had lost everything. Her family, her home, her money, her photos, her camera, every single thing she had ever possessed. Everything. She had no way to get home, and she’d have to find a new way to get money to survive, as she was quite aware that her photography wasn’t going to cut it. The only reason she had been able to make do with it previously was because she had had the massive inheritance her dad had left her when he died. Now she was stuck in a strange land where there were dragons and fairies and fucking magic. How, exactly, was she supposed to be comforted by that?
She jerked her gaze away, breaking eye-contact and trying her best to blink away the hot tears pooling in her eyes.
Here was the wife Edwin should’ve had.
Completely oblivious to her thoughts, the perfect fairy continued talking.
“Right,” Lyra agreed flatly, already bored by the conversation. She was so over it. She wanted a shower. She wanted clean clothes. She wanted to get rid of the grime she could still feel on her hands and knees from where that arrogant ass had pushed her into the ground the previous night. She wanted to go home. She wanted clean teeth, but guess what? She couldn’t get any of it. She didn’t even have a goddamn toothbrush!
“Due to the very nature of this island, we have a lot of people coming and going,” Sionann continued. “Those of us who prefer to serve a greater good stay longer, and we try our best to provide those who are stranded with a safe haven. To that end, I would like to offer you a place in my home.”
“Well, you can’t very well stay here in the base, can you?” Sionann pointed out pragmatically. “The facilities are very limited, and I’m sure you’ll be far more comfortable in a normal house. You’re not here entirely by choice, and we have room in our house, so the least I could do is offer you that room. If not me, someone else would’ve offered you a place in their home. It is simply the way we do things here.”
“In that case, I will gladly accept,” she gratefully accepted Sionann’s offer.
The house Sionann took her to was a charming wood-and-stone cottage, nothing like what she’d been expecting. The grey light from the stormy sky above slightly dulled the golden stone, but the bright colours from inside were warm and very welcoming.
“A or B?” Lyra repeated sceptically. That could not be their real names.
“Of course not,” Lyra agreed mildly. It didn’t really matter how big the rooms were. It wasn’t like she was going to turn around and go ‘Fuck this. This room is way too small.’ She needed somewhere to stay. As long as she didn’t have to share a room, she didn’t really care about the size. It wasn’t like she had a ton of stuff to put somewhere. No, that was still in Sunset Valley.
“Good!” Sionann exclaimed happily. “So, directions. This is the communal space…”
“…this one.”
She opened the door, revealing an admittedly rather small room. It was smaller than the room Lyra had had back home, but it held all of the essentials, so it would have to do.
“This is your bathroom,” she explained. “You have to share it with Blaise, unfortunately, so you’ll have to discuss details with him. Other than that there’s not much to show.” She gave Lyra a satisfied little smile before clicking her fingers.
“Oh, right,” she suddenly remembered. “Clothes. Agneis left some behind, so you’re welcome to have them, if they fit you. Otherwise we’ll have to go back to the base so you can search through their collection. We don’t have a lot of access to shops around here, so someone from the island goes back to the mainland every now and again to get the necessities and just drops them at the base. We share pretty much everything here on the island.”
Sionann clapped her hands together.
“Well, that’s all good!” she exclaimed happily. “I’ll leave you to get settled in then. You’re probably dying for a hot shower, so feel free to have one! You’ll find fresh towels and toiletries on the dresser in your room.” She gave Lyra another bright smile before she excused herself and disappeared off into the room at the end of the corridor.
The clothes in the closet weren’t exactly her style, but they fit, and they were clean, so they’d have to do. She idly let her thoughts wander as she picked up the clothes, the towel and the toiletries, getting ready for that highly-anticipated shower.
“Are you going to stare at my chest the whole day, or are you gonna get out of my way?”
…that ass who had knocked her out?
He crossed his arms and glared at her, one eyebrow raised marginally.
“You’re the one who were staring,” he pointed out with a dangerous growl. “And you’re still standing in my way.”
“What are you even doing here?” she demanded, stepping away from him and trying to create as much distance between them as the narrow corridor would provide.
He shot her an incredulous look, as if he couldn’t believe she’d ask the question.
“I live here,” he confirmed, and fuck, there went all her hopes. He brushed past her close enough that she could smell the shampoo he’d used in his shower, and feel the heat radiating from his body. She hurriedly stepped even further away, almost stumbling over the clothes she had dropped on the floor.
Of fucking course. Her luck just never ended, did it? Of all the places she could’ve ended up on, she just had to end up in the same house as the one freak’n person she never wanted to see again. Why? Why was this her life?
Plumbob. The next five years were going to suck royally.
A/N: I know, I know, very cliché, but I couldn’t resist. XD
The sets I’ve been using so far is part of the world, except Sionann’s house. I built that one myself. I’m a little in love with it, but I will actively try to avoid shooting in that corridor again. It was horrible. Way too many walls with way too little space.
So, this chapter should have explained the main concepts that are important to understand Lyra’s story, but there are many other parts of the lore I have touched on before that I haven’t explained here. These parts are explained on the Lore Page. I will occasionally refer to these parts, so feel free to read through them. If, after that, anybody still wants a better explanation, drop me a comment and I will try to work it into the story. :)
Also: Plot-holes? What are those? XD Jokes aside, I’ve tried my best to cover all plot-holes, but I’m only human, so I’m bound to have missed a couple. If you notice any, just ignore them (or point them out, it’s entirely your call). ;)
