The Silver Clock
Author's Note: Wow. After a little over two months, chapter five is finally up. Yup, I'm just that quick of an updater. Oops. I am really, really, really (really!) sorry. This chapter turned out to be surprisingly hard to write. Couple that with an inordinate lack of time, and there you have it. I will try to make it faster in the future, I really will.
Many thanks go out to my wonderful reviewers, who have kept me going, and here they are: apricot. pie (formerly namine101), Hilz72, Ella Cinders, Claireyxox, away with the faeries, "JohnandSlation", "mistress haruka", SunflowerLynx, CHEESE PLEASE, Mostodtroll, KaiserMonkey, Peace Love And Ringo Starr, Latios151, SassyVenus, XIII Dragon, and "claire". Thank you so, so much, you guys! It means so much to me.
And since I always like to respond to my glorious reviewers, here's that.
apricot.pie: Thanks for reviewing! And I did know what you meant. But... sorry, it is awkward. Hope you like it anyway!
Hilz72: Thanks! And I did, actually, have a good time, and I hope you did too!
Ella Cinders: Glad you liked it! Here's your reunion... probably not how you expected it, though... Hope you like it anyway!
Claireyxox: Thanks! I'm really glad that you thought I got Will and Mary in character. Thanks especially for the constructive criticism- I love that stuff.
away with the faeries: Glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing!
"JohnandSlation": Thank you so much! I'm really glad that you thought it was good, and I'm really glad that you told me what you like about it, since that always helps. Thanks!
"mistress haruka": Yup! Don't you just love them? (grins) Thanks for reviewing!
SunflowerLynx: Yup, and here it is... hopefully, you will enjoy it! Thanks for taking time to review!
CHEESE PLEASE: Glad you thought it was good, and glad I made you happy! Thanks!
Mostodtroll: Thanks! I'm glad that you liked it. The dream ties in later on. Honestly, I never even thought about Harry Potter when I was writing it, but now that you point it out, it does have some similarites.
KaiserMonkey: Thank you so much! I'm really glad that you liked it and thought that it's better than the average HDM story, because that's kind of what I'm aiming for. Also, double thanks for the constructive criticism. Oops! I can't believe that I forgot to notice that. Thanks so much! Oh, wait a second- I have a question. Why did you delete your poem Aesahaettr? (I know that's not how you spell it, but I can't do the ae thing) It was really good! You should repost it. Please? Thanks for taking the time to review!
Peace Love And Ringo Starr: Glad you liked it. Wow, I seem to be saying that a lot. Oh well, it's true. And here is more. Thanks for reviewing!
Latios151: I don't want to kill you. But cliffhangers can do that to you sometimes... (grins) Thanks for reviewing!
SassyVenus: Yup, and here it is. Glad you enjoyed it.
XIII Dragon: Yeah, I know. Anyway, here's more. Thanks!
"claire": Ok, I updated. Maybe not terribly soon, but still... Thanks for reviewing!
Wow, that took a while. But you, my most excellent reviewers, deserve it.
One thing: I was a little confused when so many people said that I had put a lot of cliffhangers. I think that I only did one, which was the end of chapter four. I guess it can be interpreted differently, though.
On the subject of this chapter: I wouldn't near call this chapter my best. But it is an update, and after two months, I'm really not inclined to wait much longer and do some mega-editing. (But if you think I need it, let me know.) Anyway, like I said, it turned out to be really hard to write (and I guess I'm just making excuses, but it was, so bear with me) and I'm not sure how it turned out. Oh, and most likely some of you will be turned off by it, because it is most definitely not your typical LyraWill reunion story. Why, you ask, am I torturing innocent readers who just want a bit of fluff? Because I'm getting tired of fics that go, essentially, like this:
On Midummer's Day, Lyra fell asleep on the bench. When she woke up, she wasn't sure where she was. She inhaled traffic fumes. This must be Will's world! She had to find him very quickly; she had missed him so much!
Somehow, Lyra managed to find her way to Will's apartment. She rang the doorbell and he opened the door, recognizing her at once. They kissed passionately, making up for all the years they had spent apart...
Yeah. I don't know if I'm the only who sees pretty much the same thing over and over, but I personally am getting a little tired of it. (Note: This does NOT mean that if you have written a reunion fic, I think it's bad. I have read good ones- not too many, but they are definitely out there- and some people manage to pull it off. This does not mean that if I have not reviewed your story or anything, I think it's bad and/or think that it's a story resembling the one above. I do not hate happy endings or fluff. I do NOT want anyone to take offense at these comments.) All I'm saying is that a lot of the writing seems similar these days, which is partially why I wrote this chapter the way I did. I also felt that their story needed a little more depth- not just the "Lyra and Will have to save the worlds" kind of depth, but emotional as well. They're not sure who they are anymore; they're not sure about the other... Do you see what I mean? Anyway, if you still hate it after reading this, you can flame me all you want. But keep in mind, folks: This is only the beginning...
Disclaimer: Must I even bother with this anymore? Honestly. Here we go: I don't own characters, settings, etc. (I own the clock. I own the blends. I own my socks. That's about it.)
That has got to be the longest Author's Note I've ever written.
Enjoy!
Chapter Five: Reunion
Lyra stared at Will. Will stared back.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," she said.
Lyra mentally kicked herself. This was Will. Here he was at last, close enough to hold, and all she could say was "hi"? She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and kiss him. And yet, something held her back.
She realized that she was still lying on the ground. She moved to pull herself up but found that she was shaking uncontrollably. Will reached down and offered his hand. A smile tugging at the edge of her lips, Lyra took it, and a shiver ran up her spine that had nothing to do with the breeze in the Garden.
"How…" she managed to stutter.
Will shook his head. "I…" he trailed off, staring at her intensely. Lyra could easily tell that he was even more confused than she was. "There was this…" He paused and tried to recall exactly what had occurred. He looked down and scuffed his foot on the ground. She glanced at him inquiringly. He looked up, and for a moment their eyes met.
A blush creeping into her cheeks, Lyra looked away hurriedly. She, too, looked down at the ground, at the bench, at the tree, at anything that was not Will.
Eventually, though, she had to meet his eyes.
They were the same eyes, Lyra realized. They belonged to the same body by the same name. But they seemed so different that Lyra couldn't help but wonder if they were really the same ones she fell in love with a year ago. She felt herself drowning in their depths. In his eyes, she saw that he had learned things since they had left each other. Well, so had she. Things that the other would never know.
Disgusted with herself, Lyra tried to clear her head of such thoughts. What was wrong with her? She had dreamed and wished and hoped for this moment for a year. Here it was and she could only stand blushing like an idiot. No matter how much they had learned and grown, he was still Will, and she was still Lyra. He was the one she loved, the one she would always love.
Wasn't he?
Slowly, Lyra felt herself beginning to understand. The time had taken its toll on them. They had each expected their reunion to be a joyful, perfect thing. But they each had their own experiences, their own troubles, their own joys that they had dealt with without the other. They had forever immortalized their younger selves in their minds, forgetting about the difficulties and only remembering that perfect kiss by the stream. They had remembered the other as they wished to: Will, strong and loving, and Lyra, fiery and beautiful.
Will was himself as much as ever. Even with Lyra's idyllic memory, he was mostly how she remembered. But she had changed—no, they both had changed. Strife had brought them together, and strife, it seemed, had also torn them apart. Could they ever be the way they once were again?
Well, Lyra thought to herself, even if they had changed, perhaps Will could help her figure out what to do with the clock. She beckoned him over to their bench where it lay. It looked so harmless, sitting in the sun with the vibrant leaves rustling overhead. But Lyra had seen what it was capable of, and she knew better.
"Here," she said, thrusting the clock at him. "I dunno what it is, but I think it caused… well, whatever it was."
Will took the clock into his hands and studied it, gazing on the elegant roman numerals and the gold lining around the face and the curiously shaped dials with which to turn the hands.
"I've never seen anything like it," Will murmured, almost to himself. "Strange… It's got a bit of an eerie sensation about it." He turned the clock over and studied the flowing script on the back.
"Do you understand it?" came Lyra's voice, interrupting his thoughts.
"No," he replied, his eyes still fixed on the writing. "It's not like anything in my world. Not that I've seen, anyway."
He paused and looked up at Lyra. "How did you get this to work?"
She shook her head. "I didn't," she replied. "It just… happened. Maybe someone fixed it up before I found it, I dunno."
"Where did you find it?"
"In a crypt at St. Sophia's. My school," she added, noting his bemused expression. When it only increased, she held up her hand. "Don't ask me why it was there, I got no clue. All I know is that I found this crypt that I hadn't ever seen before, and inside there were all these dead people- I told you, Will, I don't know why- and some were plainly murdered, all bloody and such, but I couldn't tell what had killed the others. They just- and I know it sounds odd, Will, but it's true- they just had this look in their eyes. They were terrified, but… they weren't giving in. It gave me the creeps." Lyra stopped, shuddering.
"Anyway," she continued after a moment's pause, "at the end of the crypt, there was this scholar. He had one of those looks in his eyes, too, and he was hunched over something…" And Lyra proceeded to tell Will about the discovery of the clock, the realization that these people had probably died for it, the feeling of having stumbled upon an invisible war, the shock at seeing her dead parents, and finally the ticking in the middle of the night.
When she was finished, Will shook his head in amazement. "That's crazy," he muttered. "And your parents! I can't…" he grew fainter. "I can't get my head around it."
"I know," she replied. "Me neither. It seems so…" Lyra trailed off, the thought having struck her that she was actually talking to Will. She was talking to him like a casual, sane person.
…And like a friend, nothing more.
Where was the fire? Where was the passion? Where was the love that they had held so dear to their hearts for over a year? Surely they couldn't have changed that much.
Lyra wasn't sure about Will anymore. But more worrisome, she wasn't sure about herself.
"It seems so… what?" Will urged her on.
Lyra snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face him. "Just so odd," she said, tucking a strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear. "I mean, Dame Hannah—she's my alethiometer teacher—told me, and said she had learned it from the Master of Jordan. And even they weren't telling the truth—which I'm sure they were; I trust them—wouldn't I have seen them before now?" She paused. "I wonder if I'll ever know what happened to them…"
She looked back at Will, who was now once again examining the clock. "Can you figure anything out?"
He sighed, which she took to mean as a no. She watched him turn it over and back, studying the script and the numbers and the dials.
Will almost jumped in surprise. Holding the clock with the sun's light on it, he was almost certain that he had seen symbols around the edges of the numerals. He turned the clock another way; the symbols vanished. He positioned it so that the sun's light was once again reflected off the surface and the symbols reappeared. An hourglass, a crescent moon, a metal helmet, a sword…
He slowly turned the dials so that the hour hand was pointing to the sword, situated right above the twelve, and the minute hand was pointing to the hourglass, which was right next to it.
For a moment, the world was eerily silent. The breeze that had rustled the leaves stilled; the sparrows ceased their song; the entire Garden seemed to be holding its breath.
And then the ticking.
Will was up, eyes wide in confusion, and Lyra was beside him, pacing and shaking with worry. "Will, what did you-"
But her words were cut off by an abrupt gust of wind, and though Will watched her grow louder and louder until she was shouting, he couldn't make out a thing she was saying. He found himself losing balance and had to grab Lyra's shoulder to keep from falling. He almost pulled them both down, but miraculously they managed to stay on their feet. Everything around them was shifting and changing; the ground was heaving; yet, nothing else seemed to feel it. The changes, so hard to see and yet so plain, overwhelmed their senses, and to keep himself steady Will reached out and grabbed a gray, withering tree branch. It had not been there before. Nevertheless, Will clung to it for dear life, supporting Lyra around her waist, and the two willed the blend to stop.
Astonishingly, it did; the two collapsed on the ground, hearts beating wildly. Lyra rolled over and groaned, her breath coming fast and furious.
But they were no longer in the Garden. Instead, a bleak landscape took form in Lyra's vision. The tree that they had clung to was still next to them, and there were a few more like it scattered around, but most of what she could see what a desolate plain, without a living soul in sight.
Suddenly, panic welled in Lyra's breast. It couldn't be—no, it was impossible—but then where was—
"Pan," she mouthed desperately, too shaky to even produce the sound. No, she thought, this can't be it. It's— it's impossible; how could we have gotten here? No, there's no way…
But then she saw it: a steady stream of shadows that, when examined more closely, proved to be a mass of pale figures.
Lyra's heart rose into her throat. No. She'd thought that she wouldn't see this place again for a long, long time. Unless—no, her flesh was still solid, so it couldn't be that… Oh, no; oh, no; oh no.
Will wasn't looking at the landscape; in fact, he had taken hardly any notice of it at all. He was instead staring at Lyra, whose eyes now burned with terror as she looked all around.
Will wasn't sure what had happened to them in the year that they had been apart, or why he was so confused about his feelings, but he did know one thing: nothing that made Lyra that alarmed could be good news.
"Lyra?" His voice was faint; it took an incredible amount of effort just to get the words out. "What's wrong?"
She turned to face him, panic in every line of her body. "Will," she whispered shakily, "I think we've been here before…"
Author's Note: In case you're getting mad at me again, I don't really consider this a cliffhanger, seeing as you all can probably guess where they are. This chapter may be subject to change, if I decide that I need to tweak the plot a little.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!
TheSmartypants