You, every one of you, suddenly feel different. Every descendant, every adjuvant, every ancestor, every Elysian, every Mountain Sun soldier and every miner feels it. Hope. Light. Like everything is going right. Focus. You can feel the flow of battle around you and your friends. You can hear her singing. A single, small ship flies among the rest. It's painted black with bold streaks of purple. A young girl stands on the top deck, singing. Her braid hangs over her shoulder and her arms are spread, grinning as she belts out her song. A taller person stands beside her, arms crossed, glaring daggers. Their hair is black and their eyes glint purple. On Lyra's other side is an old woman. She smiles proudly, watching the battle before her. Lyra raises her arms. In a flash, Jacamar vanishes. Rays of light, shaped like dragons and angels, holy warriors, race from behind Lyra and push through the lines of enemies. Lyra's eyes, too far away for you to see, glow the symbol of a crystal. She still grins happily, watching the war be won. Painon has never fought harder in his life. So, SGUIDE. What are you doing?

STARING IG??

Lyra turns and spots Hale. She swings her hand above her head wildly, waving.

YOU SEEING THIS SHIT, WATCHER BUDDY??

The old woman beside her sets a hand on her shoulder and she slowly lowers her hand, but continues starting at you.

I fly down to Hale. “hey someone wants your attention

Sorry asshalefinn. With the fighters gone and no immediate threat, I see Lyra and IMMEDIATELY make a beeline for the strange ship. I almost crash into the deck, but I'm able to right myself before I'm flattened into a paste, and skid to a stop in front of Lyra. I open my mouth to speak, and then close it, suddenly at a loss. What the fuck am I supposed to do now that I've gotten this far? Finally, I shake my head and pull her into a tight hug that lifts her a foot or two off the ground.

i glance at finn and gesture toward hale, so as to ask if we follow or what.

I stare at Hale for a bit, then hover up to Silas. “nah i think this is something he needs to do on his own” I point at the older woman. “she on the other hand is fair game”

Lyra wraps her arms around you in return, and you feel all the energy that she's funneling through her course into you. "I can't believe you're here!!"

I float over, but wait for Silas to join before talking to the older woman.

i fly up to the ship alongside finn.

I take a deep, long breath, allowing myself just a few seconds of relief, before setting her down and taking a step back. "Are you alright," I say seriously. "Did Keith do anything to you. Are you okay."

I wave to the older woman. “hi nice to meet you im finn ladom and this is silas langit”

"I'm perfectly fine!! Actually, I've never felt BETTER!!" Lyra still grins, bouncing on her heels. "They're so mean, but they did teach me a lot. And I think I got through to them!!" You can't stop staring at her eyes. The crystal symbol pulses in them, like it's breathing. Expanding and shrinking slowly, relaxed.

“so what was all of that” I gesture all over with my arms.

"Hello Silas, hello Finn!" The woman grins. "No need to introduce yourself, I already know who you are. I'd wink at you if I didn't have an eye patch."

I reach out, and then stop. "What happened to your eyes," I say softly.

"I'm using my power, so they look weird!" She giggles, reaching up and wrapping her hand around yours. "Don't worry about me."

i perk up slightly and turn to finn. "she made our centers! mine and painon's. with chalk!"

I tilt my head in curiosity and one ear drops down a bit. “what dyou mean by center”

I let her, and almost instinctually squeeze back just a bit. "Alright." I don't know what to do. "What... happened? How are you doing this?"

"the little platform thingies we all died on and then came back to life with weird outfits and powers?"

“oh thats very cool” “so uh whats her name then”

"It's just... happening! I don't quite know." Lyra smiles. "Jackie and Ella showed me how. It's so fun!"

"ella!" i say with a slight grin in her direction.

"Jackie?"

"That's the name!" Elanor, or Ella, nods. "Keeping Lyra safe is the most important part of this entire battle. I trust you three can handle it?" Lyra nods enthusiastically. "Keith! Her real name is Jacamar, but I call her Jackie. It's easier."

"I'll protect her with my life," I swear, making direct eye contact with Ella.

i look between hale and finn, only wincing internally at the notion of protecting a kid with this group. externally i nod. "of course!"

"Good." Elanor nods at Hale. "I trust that you will. I'll be staying here too, for all the good that will do."

I turn back to Lyra. "So what do your new... powers do."

Not to interrupt, I silently nod to Elanor and listen to what Lyra has to say.

"I can do lots of things... like... uh." She spots the wounds on your side and lights up. "Oh! Hold still."

I do exactly that.

Lyra presses her hands against them gently. It hurts to put put pressure on them, of course, but the pain soon subsides as her hands begin to glow. You feel your wounds burn as they stitch themselves back together, healing over entirely. She pulls her hands away, and for once, there isn't even a scar. "Ta-da!" She exclaims, looking up at you hopefully. Elanor nods approvingly. "Good job, Lyra! It looks excellent."

I look down. "Oh," I say. I don't know how to respond. "Thanks," I finally say, a little in awe.

i approach and watch from a curious proximity that is only arguably respectful of boundaries. "you're a healer too???"

"Yeah!!" She turns to you. "It's cool, right?"

i nod, smiling. "yeah, definitely!" i tilt my head, "does it not, uhh.. drain your energy when you do it?"

"No! Not at all!" Lyra nods, affirming her own statement. "It feels nice, in fact. Rejuvenating."

"oh!" i say, with the subtlest note of 'god, i wish that were me.' "that's cool!!"

I pat Silas’ back in a “there there” kinda way.

I stare at them for a long moment before turning my back and looking back out to the battlefield. No time to rest. Gotta keep a careful eye out.

Elanor places a hand on Lyra's shoulder gently. "Try sitting to aid your battle meditation. It helps to conserve energy. The battle is almost over, but what comes after is always more exhausting. Lyra nods and lowers herself, crossing her legs and propping her arms on on them.

I open my mouth to talk to Lyra, then close it when I see her meditating. I then nudge Silas and motion to go over to Hale. “so uh how do you know lyra”

i position myself the exact way lyra is sitting and just kind of remain that way.

I don't make eye contact. "Remember back in the hall of arches? After we all died. I told you I met a girl, and she died." I shoot her a backwards glance, and keep my voice low. "She didn't. I saw her again on the island. A vision or something." I rub my arms self consciously. "She told me I was strong," I whisper.

i close my eyes and breathe slowly. like in the ship with cashel, i try to tune everything out, but not so much that i don't get to keep up on this conversation at least a little.

Lyra's head jerks, tipping to the side. She stares down at the city. Elanor follows her gaze, but frowns, not seeming to see anything. "What are you looking at, Lyra?" "Painon!" She giggles, extending a hand, pointing.

I peer down to where she is pointing. “huh guess it is” “how dyou know painon hes a good buddy of mine” It then hits me what Hale had said. “one sec lyra” I head right over to Hale and give him a big ol hug.

i crack open an eye, "aww" softly, and resume what is vaguely meditating.

At this point, it doesn't even surprise me. I just shut my mouth and hug him back, because I understand how to do that now.

I float up so I’m slightly taller and pull Hale’s head in my shoulder. I tap tap tap and just Hale feel...not alone in all this.

Lyra springs to her feet and claps her hands together gleefully, completely ignorant to the touching moment happening somewhere behind her. "Look, look!!!" Elanor places a hand on her shoulder, shushing her gently.

I jolt away instantly, whatever feelings of peace and comfort immediately forgotten. "What. Where."

Elanor pats Lyra's shoulder with a soft sigh. Someone is racing up into the air, quickly. A vibrant, candy-red trail falls behind him. Painon is carrying his staff with intent, and flying faster than he's ever tried to before. He's beelining straight for one of the two largest Baroness ships remaining since Cashel destroyed one. The ships nobody has gone for just yet.

I give a little laugh and then release from the hug.

It's hard to see quite what he's doing from here. He stops somewhere in front of the ship. Painon raises a hand high above his head. There's a large cut on the palm of his hand, earned at some point earlier during battle. His blood is an unnaturally bright red. It always has been. Lyra raises a hand to him, in turn. Red lines spiral out from his palm. They coil and snake outwards, punching through the Baroness' ship with ease. They break it apart, demolishing the front of the ship. He thrusts his hand forward and they move in that direction, cracks splitting the ship down the middle. Painon wraps both hands around his staff and pulls it back, flying towards the ship and hitting the front with all his might. The ship splinters into pieces. Smaller ships take off from the top, quickly evacuating. Some people even just jump off, leaving themselves to space. Lyra claps delightedly. The red lines fade and Painon swerves backwards dizzily, eventually lighting down on a random ship. Elanor laughs lightly, but it feels strained. "I hope he's okay." "Hey, we should go down there!" Lyra turns suddenly and points down at the city. "It feels important." "I can set the ship down close to it." Elanor nods. "You can all stay here, if you want."

I nod. I'm starting to get a little antsy without anyone to actually fight.

Elanor leaves to the interior of the ship. It jolts slightly and Lyra falls into you as you begin to move down towards the gardens. Lyra decides to wrap her arms around you and not let go. Now that you think about it, she either has very bad balance or she did that on purpose.

The corners of my lips twitch slightly. I don't try to move her. Pat her on the head, even

She grins into your shirt, closing her eyes contentedly.

i chuckle and smile in their direction, standing up with a brief stretch after deciding to put the whole meditation thing on hiatus.

It doesn't seem to have done anything anyway.

god dammit.

Yeah alright fine I hug her back it'll just make it worse when inevitable terrible things happen is that what you want huh is that what you want from me.

I go join Elanor in the cockpit. “so what do you think is waiting down there for us”

"I'm not sure." She smiles at you gently. "I hope Lyra stays safe. That's all." The cloud over the gardens begins to vanish just as you get there. You set down in the gardens, near the now much clearer clearing that everyone else is in.

I go back into the cargo hold. I look to Silas and Hale and smile at Lyra. “into the unknown then”

I gently pat Lyra's back and extricate myself from her grip. "Looks like it's time to go. C'mon."

She holds your hand and allows you to lead her, looking around wide-eyed.

GARDENS