4 Lyra's Wish

Chapter 4: Lyra's Wish

After the night had passed, the morning sun rises and brings light onto the village. The roosters in the village are crowing as the sound of birds chirping can be heard. Surrounding the village are prairie fields, and a remote forest that leads toward both a river and a lake. The cows are moving about and the sound of horses frolicking from the fields.

There, sitting on a hill in one the fields was a log and an angel oak tree. Underneath that tree was an old tattered book that had withstood the storm and a log that had the remnants of a person. Surrounding the log were various amount of lilies and roses budding around.

A child at the age of eight can be seen exiting his home. After closing the door, he dashes towards the hill in the fields.

'I hope grandma Lyra is here today.'

As he arrives on top of the hill, he looks towards the village.

The peaceful, quiet village had become lively. Smoke stemmed out from the chimney of different homes as the sound of hammers hitting metal resonate in the air.

'Seems like everyone's awake.'

The boy turns around and sees a book rested on top of the log.

'Hey, it's the book that grandma read to us last night.'

The boy walks toward the book and holds it in his right hand.

'The Watchers. This is what grandma was reading to us last night. I'd better take it with me.'

He takes the book with him and turns around to look towards the sky. The breeze passes by him as faint words can be heard.

'Thank You.'

'Huh?'

He turns around to look if there was something behind him. But there was no one there.

'I thought I heard someone…'

Keeping his thoughts to himself, he returns home.

He opens the door to his home and runs to his bedroom. He jumps onto his bed and opens the book. With every turn of the page, everything was blank.

'What's going on? All these pages are blank.'

As he gets closer towards the end of the book, a piece of paper falls out.

'What's this?'

He unfolds the paper and begins to read it.

"If you're reading this, then I may have already passed. There's so much I want to say and so much I want to do. But I'm afraid everyone might have forgotten about me now, but you will have not. This means that you will be next in line, or rather that you will continue to remember me. If you don't believe me, you can ask your friends and family later. But more importantly, I want you to go deep within the forest, near the river. There, you will find my home and in my home you will find everything you need. But make haste child, for time will not wait for you."

After reading the note that was left behind, he was confused as the usage of certain words were a bit advanced for his age. But he understood it's intentions and left his home in a hurry.

Running along the road that led to the forest, he passed by adults and kids his age wondering why he was in a rush. The adults, didn't mind as much, but kids began to follow him and keep a distance from him while he runs toward the forest.

'Deep into the forest and next to a river the note says, but how am I supposed to find it?'

The boy arrives at the entrance to the forest and sees a fork in the road. He turns around and notices that the boy named Ari and the girl that was asking Lyra a question from last night were following behind him. He turns back towards the fork in the road and proceeds to enter.

He takes a few steps forward and disappears within the forest.

The other children arrived, but there was no one, not even a footprint was present. However, a gentle breeze had passed by them.

The boy that had walked into the forest had disappeared from their sight. With each step he took, his footprints disappeared.

"Clarence!!! Where are you!?!"

He takes a look back and sees that his friends were searching for him.

'That's weird. I'm right here..'

"Do not worry, you're just invisible to them at the moment. When you return, they'll be able to see you."

'What? What's going on?'

A fragment of grandma Lyra appears and in a matter of seconds she becomes visible to him. She was in her mid twenties with a smile on her face. She had long silver hair with a flower on the right side and a few other ornaments that hangs off her hair. She wore earrings that had gems with the color of the sky and a beautiful sky blue dress.

"G-g-grandma?"

"It's me but not me at the same time. I'm just a fragment here to guide the person who will be venturing to my home. And the person seems to be you, Clarence."

"Okay."

Clarence walks with the fragment of grandma Lyra towards her home while the children are frantically search for him.

"How did he disappear?"

"You don't think that was a ghost… right Ari?"

"I don't think so Luna."

"What about that wind?"

"I don't know…. Leo, I thought you were going to hang out with Clarence."

"I was, but I saw him run out of his house really, really fast."

"Hey! You kids see where Clarence went?!"

One of the adults that was following the kids to check on them had arrived..

"Oh no, it's one of the adults. What do we do Ari?"

"It's okay Luna. I'm sure we're not going to get in trouble."

Ari turns back and sees an adult. The person was a male in his mid 30s with a frown on his face. He looked a bit frustrated at the kids who were rushing after Clarence.

"We haven't seen him. "

"Are ya lying to me?"

The man had his arms crossed with the mindset of not believing in the kids.

"No, really. He just disappeared."

"Yea! He just disappeared! All that was left was the wind that went through us."

"Thanks Leo."

The three kids were close to each other as the rest of the adults began to slowly arrive.

"You three get back to the village now. Don't go off too far by yourself next time."

The three nodded and returned.

"Where did this last kid go?"

Another male approaches from behind while the kids walked passed him.

"Yo, what happened to the fourth kid?"

"Not sure. Kids said he disappeared with the wind."

"Is that so? Weird. Well let's split up and search for him, he probably didn't go too far."

The two split up to search while two others soon followed after.

"Where did Clarence go?"

"Don't worry too much Ari, Clarence can handle himself."

Luna walks in front of Ari and makes a pouting face.

"That's right!! I bet he'll be back!!"

"True…"

"Don't worry too much. When he gets back, we can ask him!"

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Back in the forest, the adults were shouting out for Clarence while the fragment of grandma Lyra was walking with Clarence.

"Hey grandma. Do you think it will be okay?"

"It'll be fine. We're only going to my home so I could give you something. Besides, I bet you know by now that the real me is gone."

"Yes."

" And I bet you have a lot of questions."

"Yup."

"Once we get there, you'll know."

"Okay."

The two arrived at the home of grandma Lyra. It was a cottage near the river surrounded by trees and luscious amounts of flowers. The fragment of Lyra opens the door as they enter the home.

"Welcome to my home Clarence. I know that no one from the village knows that I lived here, so you'll be the first guest and the last one I had in a long time."

The home was still well maintained. There is a dining room, a doorway to the kitchen, stairs at the back that led to the upper floor as well as stairs that led to a basement. There are chairs lying around a table and a comfy sofa in the living room.

"This.. is grandma's home?"

"Big… isn't it?"

"It really is."

"Don't be shy, make yourself at home."

Clarence takes off his shoes and sits at the sofa. Lyra walk towards the kitchen to grab tea and water.

She walks out and notices that Clarence was staring at the lamp.

"Grandma… what is this?"

"That? That's a lamp made from metal that can light up the room through a light infused mana crystal."

Clarence looks at it with eyes wide, interested in how it worked and the existence of mana crystals.

"Go ahead, there's a button that you can press on the side."

Clarence looks at the side of the lamp and sees a button. The moment he pressed it, the lamp lit up. The light wraps around the room until Clarence decided to turn it off.

"Cool isn't it?'

"Yeah.."

"As you know, I passed away right?"

"Yes."

Lyra walks toward one of the chairs and places the cup of tea and water on the table.

"Ok. What you also don't know is that no one else remembers me but you."

Clarence, with a shocked look on his face.

"What? But grandma has always been here."

Lyra stands up and walks toward Clarence who was sitting on the sofa and hugs him.

"I know, but this was the wish that the real me made. This also means that after you leave, I will also disappear. But don't worry, I will always be here in your heart."

"B-but grandma, what about my friends?"

"They will know when you tell them, but the rest will not."

Afterwards, Lyra gets up from the sofa and goes towards the stairs to the second floor.

"Wait here, let me get some things."

Lyra walks up the stairs to the next floor and goes to one of the four rooms. She enters a room that looks like a study to retrieve a book, a letter, and a necklace with a stone. Afterwards, she leaves the room and walks back down the stairs.

"I'm back."

Clarence turns around and sees her walking back towards him.

"Because it's starting to get a little late and we don't want to worry the adults, I'll give you a parting present that the real me would want to give."

She was holding onto a book, a necklace, and a letter.

The book held the title 'Tale of a World,' the necklace had a glowing green gem with spots of blue, and then a letter that had been placed inside a paper envelope.

"When you're bored, read this book. It has a lot of stories in it to keep you entertained."

Clarence's face brightened as he held onto the book.

" This necklace, wear it at all times. As long as you are alive, it will keep you safe and return to you no matter where you are. Of course if you plan to sell it, it would just reappear around your neck. But if you were to discover a certain thing, using it with the necklace will return you here."

She grabs the necklace and places it around his neck. Then she picks up the letter and hands it off to him.

"And as for this letter. Open it up when you grow older…. Maybe when you're seventeen?"

Clarence nods.

"With this, the last of my wish is fulfilled. As long as someone remembers me, I will continue to live in your memories."

Clarence stands up with determination in his eyes as he looks at grandma Lyra once more. Holding back his tears, he hugs her.

"I'm going to always remember you. "

Grandma Lyra, with a smile on her face.

"I know you will, so go out and find your adventures."

Lyra opens the door while Clarence leaves. He turns back and sees that she was waving him goodbye. He waves back and sees that she had started to turn into particles of mana. A drop of tear flows down his right eye as he's returned to the fork in the road.

He could hear his voice being called in the distance from those who were searching for him.

"I'm right here!!!"

The adults who were searching for him hears his voice and rush towards him. They see that he was standing on the road holding a book and a letter.

"Hey… Clarence, are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere right?"

"I'm fine."

'They don't remember grandma Lyra.'

"Then let's get you back to the village."

Clarence and the adults head back to the village. It was late in the afternoon as they returned. While he went back to his home to place the book and letter in his room, his friends knocked at his door.

"Clarence!! You wanna come out and play before it gets dark? We can eat at my place since my parents are cooking for the village tonight!!!"

He hears Leo shouting about playing before it gets dark. He leaves his room and walk towards the door. He opens it and nods to go before it gets too late.

"Let's go."

The four of them leave.

----------------------

In Clarence's room, both books begin to resonate. The book 'Tale of a World' opens up as the other one was sucked into its pages. Slowly, words begin to form and the chapter called 'The Watchers' appeared.

Then, the note left behind in the previous book was enveloped into light when the envelope was sensed nearby.

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Night had arrived as the sound of people begin to die down. Families return to their homes as the light from candles lit up various rooms. Clarence had returned to his room and slept in his bed.

As morning arrived, the sound of horses drew close into the village. Several villagers had stepped out to investigate.

The second they looked out, there was a man and a carriage. It looked as if he and whomever was in the carriage were traveling for a long time. The horses were exhausted as the carriage, which looked once luxurious, was dirty and damaged.

The man steps down from where he was sitting and walks toward the door of the carriage. He had black hair with some strands of grey and a beard that reached his chest. His clothes were dusty and old with some tear in random areas. The clothing he wore had made him look like someone who had survived a prolonged battle as his facial expression gave away his exhaustion. He opens the door and a young child with steps out. The child has a bit of a feminine feature, but was wearing boyish clothing. As the child stepped out, the man whispered to the child's ear.

"It's okay now Serenity. We're in the clear, so you don't have to dress like that anymore"

"Un."

The people in the village walked towards the two.

A male villager had walked faster than the group approached them.

"Welcome.. I see that you had one hell of an adventure."

"Haha. Indeed I have."

"Might I ask why you have traveled this far."

"I have heard rumors that there was a village in a distant land in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it was this one that they had mentioned."

"Sounds closely like us; however, how can we trust your words?"

"Mind not, me and my family are here to reside in this village."

"Are you now? With so many villages around here… why us?"

"Because this one is the most friendliest one to exist."

"Hahaha."

The man goes toward the new family and patted him on the back.

"Welcome to the village."

"Thanks… a lot."

The villagers gather around to help the new family become accustomed to their new style of living. Together they planned the construction and the location of the family's new home.

In weeks, the house was raised and the family moved in. They had gotten along well with the other folks as well as the daughter opening up to the children.

"Serenity, after so long, we have finally found a place we can call home.."

"Yes father. I hope grandma can see us now."

"With you and your mother here with me, we're finally freed from the responsibilities of nobles."

"Yeah."

"So from now on. Live out the way you want to live. Both me and your mother wish only the best for your happiness."

Now in a pink dress, embroidered with flowers, she looks at her father while her mother held onto his arm. The family smiles as the weight of nobility had been lifted.