Editing The Lioness (Warhammer High) (section)

==Part 4: The Date==

===Breaking the ice===
Lyra tensed up for a moment as she heard the manor’s bell ring, proclaiming a visitor had arrived. A second later, she heard the butler open the door as a conversation began at the front entrance. She knew who it was as she checked her watch. “Right on time” she muttered to herself, looking one last time in her mirror to see if she was ready. She had chosen her favorite dress for the date, a dark forest green evening gown with snow white gloves and belt. Appropriate earrings and makeup were also used for the finer details. Hopefully this would be enough so Felix’s eyes never left her tonight.

She heard a knock at her door and knew it was her butler outside come to tell her of her visitor waiting. “Lady Lyra, your guest has arrived” she heard him announce on the other side.

“I’ll be down in a moment.” One last look and she grabbed her purse, making her way out of her room and down the large mansion staircase at the front center of her house. She took her time as she walked down the stairs in her high heels, partly to give Felix a chance to see her coming but also because the alcohol was making her regret choosing these shoes for the night. She had to keep herself entirely focusing on every step so she didn’t trip, but still had a moment or two to glance at her date and see his reaction.

He stood by the front entrance, idling for a moment before noticing her arrival. He was wearing a fine tailor made black suit with a nice white shirt underneath. Very much the standard for formal Terran noble fashion. In his hand was a bouquet of red roses that she immediately knew was for her. Felix just stared at her and she could note a little jaw drop as he began to see her attire. He collected himself as she took the final steps towards him and bowed slightly towards her.

“Lyra, you look beautiful” he said, seeming a bit taken back from her attire. It was the first time she had seen him lose a bit of his charisma as he couldn’t help himself but stare at her. This made Lyra feel even better as she was now in control. Her confidence began to rise steadily as she reached over and placed her hand on his arm.

“Thank you. I like the suit, makes you look very professional.” Felix nodded as he looked down at her hand.

“Oh, these are for you” he said, handing her the bouquet he was holding gently in his left hand. She took the roses from him, bringing it up to her face to take a sniff of the fragrant smell.

“Felix, this is too much. It’s only our first date.”

“But you deserve the best Lyra. I would be ashamed to give you anything less for someone of your stature” he praised. She blushed slightly, enjoying the attention far too much for her own good. Placing the roses on a side table near the entrance, she turned to him and smiled, clearly in a good mood.

“Well, I won’t complain if you continue to do so.”

He nodded and put out his arm to her. “Shall we?” he asked and she nodded, putting her arm around his. They began to walk off together towards the door, but as they left Lyra had a strange feeling for a split second. She turned her head to get a look around her. Sure enough, her mother stood at the top of the stairs staring down at them silently. They made eye contact for a moment, but it was all it took to pass a message.

“Not. Too. Late.” she mouthed to her quickly. Lyra nodded as she kept up beside her date. Felix didn’t notice the exchange, which was for the best. The parent confrontation would need to be for another day.

The night was warm with a slight breeze brushing up against Lyra’s skin. A perfect night to go out she thought to herself. Yet, there was still a part of her that kept thinking of what her cousins had told her. As they approached Felix’s car, Lyra’s doubts began to resurface. For a moment, she thought to ignore them and carry on with the rest of the night. But her normal stubborn self decided it was time to put the rumors to rest.

“Felix, wait.” she said, stopping in place. It wouldn’t matter if he kept walking, as her incredible strength around his arm brought him to a grinding halt. He stared at her,unsure by the sudden change in behaviour. She stared at him coldly before she continued talking.

“Did you find anything about the pin yet?” she asked. For a moment, there was no reaction from him, but then he smiled.

“A bit impatient?” he said jokingly and she fake smiled at him to ease the sudden tension she had brought upon the duo.

“I felt that getting rid of business quickly would be best so I wouldn't need to think about it for the rest of the night” she responded. She also wanted to know if he had been lying to her the entire time or did he actually know about these things. These ideas she kept from him for now.

“Well, I wanted to surprise you later tonight, but I guess I shouldn’t wait. Yes, I did find information. I know who has it.”

Her eyes widened in anticipation. “Go on.”

“Do you know a fellow classmate Isaac Durn?” She shook her head, usually not keeping up with the majority of students that went to Imperator High. “Well, he is a Praetorian with a history of  gang membership back on his home planet. His parents sent him here to hopeful straighten him out, but I don’t think it made any difference. My sources tell me he has the ring. If you give me time, I will return it from him easily enough.”

She raised an eyebrow from that. “You are going to return it? Isn’t he dangerous?”

“Very. But I’ll manage. He seems pretty simple minded, you know?”

She shook her head at that, his over confidence with the issue might get him in more trouble than he could imagine. It would be best if she confronted him herself. With Freya as backup, of course.

“Leave him to me. It’s personal, alright?” He reluctantly nodded his head. She smiled at him, in a better mood already. She actually felt that things were finally turning around for her. “Lets get going alright?”

===Initial thoughts===
Several minutes later, the duo arrived to their destination: The Golden Grail. The restaurant was well known among the terran nobles for its exceptional cuisine and in house entertainment, including shows and music. One of the most famous of restaurants in the hive, particularly for it being regularly visited by some of the Primarchs.

“Have you ever been here?” Felix asked her as they approached the grand entrance from the parking lot.

She nodded at him. “Plenty of times. My father brought me as a child for dinner and the shows. Although I haven’t been here in a while.”

“It’s amazing, really. Great food and keeps the unwanted out.”

She looked at him strangely at that. “Unwanted?”

“The riff raff” he said casually, thinking that should be enough to explain what he meant but left Lyra with more questions. She was going to ask him further, but as they walked into the building someone had already recognized her.

“Lady Lyra!” a voice exclaimed. At first she thought it was the paparazzi and anger already began to boil through her. They did not want to ruin her evening tonight, not unless they wanted a to spend the night in a prison.

She turned to the voice, stone faced and ready for a picture flash when she suddenly noticed it was an middle aged man smiling at her. It took a second to recognize him, mainly because she hadn’t seen him in years, but a smile did appear on her face.

“Mr. Porteau, its been too long.” He was a short black haired man, balding near the back of his head. A thick moustache covered his entire upper lip and he had very small glasses on the ridge of his nose. Somewhat rotund around the stomach, he wore a white suit tailor made for him. “Felix, this is Mr. Porteau, owner of The Golden Grail.”

“You know the owner?” he said, a bit shocked by the whole event.

“I told you I came here as a kid. Mr. Porteau, this is Felix Severus, my date for the evening.”

“Pleased to meet you young man. Table for two?” the large man asked her. She nodded.

“Yes, in a private location I hope. Don’t want the buzzers to intrude.” Porteau gave her a face that made it seemed that she had almost insulted him by having to ask.

“Of course. I never have those vultures in my restaurant Madame. Although I take it you won’t be able to entertain us tonight with your elegant voice?”

“Not tonight. Maybe some other time, Mr. Porteau” she responded. He personally led them past the main entrance to the ground floor where most of the diners were and instead went to a side door with a large staircase upwards. He led them up to a enclosed balcony area that seemed mainly to be used by private parties. There was a glass wall that looked down to the main room, but it must have been one way as no one seemed to look up as the trio walked above. As always, Mr. Porteau delivered. A table for two was immediately set for the them and as they took their seats, the owner bowed and left the two to themselves.

“Amazing. You have quite the connections” Felix remarked to her.

“Mr. Porteau is more than that. He is a good family friend. My father helped him by funding this restaurant when I was born and since then he has never disappointed in his services or his friendship.”

“Nor should he forget to do so. He understand that without people like you, he is nothing.”

“I guess” she said, not thinking much of it. He was technically right, even if it was a bit simple minded.

“So what did he mean when he said ‘entertain us’?” Felix asked as he looked over the menu.

“Oh. As I said, he feels forever indebted to us. When I started to sing, he gave me the chance to do it in front of the crowd. Even if I wasn’t good at it, he still gave me a shot. Of course, most places would love to have the royal family singing for their customers, but Porteau did it because he wanted me to embrace my talent, not for personal gain on his part.”

“I can’t believe it” Felix said, a bit astonished.

“As I said, Porteau is a good friend.”

“Not that. I don’t get how you can be so generous to these people most of the time. You perform for them when all they do is take from you and your family. It must be tough being in your position, when the mass majority of people you know only want from you and never return the favor.”

“Uh, I...” Lyra stuttered, unsure of how to respond to him. It didn’t matter as he went back to the menu, deep in thought about the choices presented to him. However, Lyra seemed a bit shocked. Did Felix really believe that the majority of people she knew were out to use her? There were always the occasional bad cases that did, but for the most part people treated them fairly and never asked too much, already grateful for what her father, uncles and grandfather had done for the Imperium.

She began to feel the same doubt that had plagued her earlier reappear, reminding her how wrong she was initially about Felix. She must have been over thinking this as well.

“Would you want wine to start?” he asked her and she took a moment before answering. The doubts lingered and she would need something stronger to remove them from her mind.

“No, make it a glass of whiskey on the rocks for me.”

===Bad News===
Victoria seemed a bit distressed as she looked over the chat logs once more. Her contact seemed to be telling the truth and that was quite unfortunate for Lyra. As more information about the situation began to flow in, Victoria began to feel that the time for action was now. Still, she waited upon one more piece of information before she had enough to make a move. And she knew that it was mere moments before it came.

Planning ahead as always, she grabbed her vox went through her family contacts before she stopped at one in particular. The connection established, Victoria waited patiently for her to pick up. At the same moment, a new message appeared on her screen which she opened enthusiastically. Several pictures appeared and she knew the truth now.

“Victoria?” the voice on the other end of the line said, sounding a bit tired and groggy.

“Sleeping early Remilia?” she said jokingly and could hear a groan on the other side.

“I got a lot of work to do tomorrow morning. So did you only call me to ruin my sleep schedule and make fun of me at the same time?”

“Not entirely. You will unfortunately be glad to hear your hunch was correct. Felix is a scam.”

There was a pause as she heard some shuffling, Remilia clearly getting out of her bed. “What’s going on? Something happen to Lyra?”

“Not yet. But I don’t think she will take what I have to say in good humor. We need to get to her as quickly as possible. Do you know where she went for the date?”

“No idea.”

Victoria nearly cursed but stopped herself as perfection demanded it. “Too bad. We can catch her when she gets back home. I’m coming to pick you up in a couple minutes alright?”

Her cousin paused on the line before answering her. “Why are you coming to get me?”

“Because having some muscle around never hurts.”

===Heart break===
For Lyra, the rest of dinner went smoothly. Or so she thought. It made it difficult to remember the details after her third glass of whiskey. The alcohol began to clear her mind of doubts entirely by sealing them away in a box made of starship metal alloy. Soon, she could only smile, nod and laugh at his jokes as she sipped on her fourth glass by the end of dinner. She glanced at her watch briefly and sighed, noting how late it was into the night now.

“We probably should be going. I told my mother I wouldn't be late.”

“That’s too bad” Felix muttered as she stood up. The bill seemingly disappeared as Mr. Porteau smiled at them as they left.

“Good night Lady Lyra, Mr. Severus.”

“That’s Lord Severus, Mr. Porteau.” Felix said as he left. Neither of them noticed the stare he gave as he left, clearly feeling displeased with Lyra’s choice of consorts.

As they walked into a parking lot, another couple walked in beside them. Felix turned his head and watched them stroll by before shaking his head. “Riff raff.”

She looked at the couple walking in and could not tell what he was getting at. “What do you mean?” she asked him.

“They don’t belong in that restaurant. Clearly middle class in their behaviour. You can tell with how they walk.” They approached his car as Lyra kept rethinking on how the couple was moving. She didn’t notice what he was on about, but thought it was the alcohol getting to her making her miss key details.

They arrived back at her house ten minutes afterwards, the alcohol’s effect worsening. It didn’t help that she had a couple drinks before the date had started and had continued into the night. As he parked his car by the front entrance, they sat in silence for several seconds before Lyra began to talk.

“It was an amazing night Felix.”

“I hope so. Maybe we can do it again sometime soon?” he asked her and she nodded, turning to look at him. She hadn’t noticed how close he had gotten when he had parked and was only a few inches away from her. She looked into his brown eyes as he got closer to her face. Without any objection from her, he closed the gap and kissed her. It was short but sweet. He pulled away, looking at her for any signs of recognition for what he did.

“Did I go too far?” he asked her. She could only shake her head in disagreement, incapable of actually speaking at how surprised she was. He leaned in again and kissed her once more, this time more forcefully as he pushed her back against the car’s door. She offered no resistance as he continued, beginning to enjoy it herself. His hands pressed against her waist and massaged her upwards. She enjoyed his hands as they moved over her dress and behind her back, reaching for a zipper.

She would look back at this with disgust, thinking how horrible intoxicated she must have been to give in so easily to his advances. Yet at the moment, she could only enjoy the warm feeling of his embrace against her body.

His hand began to slide across to her shoulders, gently pulling the dress downwards and slipping it off her with every passing moment. Her mind began racing with what was happening, but a part of her wanted it to happen. She wanted to have Felix and nothing was going to stop that now.

Up until the car door opened behind him.

“Hey you! Get your damn hands off her!” With that, he was forcefully pulled away from her in a fell swoop. Lyra had no idea what was going on until a knock on the window by her door shifted her gaze upwards. There was Victoria, smiling.

Lyra was furious immediately. She sat up from her seat, fixing her dress before opening the door and walking out. Or attempting to anyway, as she stumbled out and had to use the car for support as she stared Victoria down. She glanced to the other side of the vehicle and noted Felix on the ground, pinned to the floor under Remilia’s sneakers. Her cousin had no trouble keeping him in place with a single foot. Try as he might, he could not struggle his way to freedom.

“Let go of me!” he yelled at her, but Remilia Dorn did not budge.

She looked at Lyra and nodded. “I got this under control.”

“Damn you both!” Lyra shouted, displeased with her family’s interference. “Your stupid game ruined this perfect evening! Let him go Remilia. Don’t make me come over there.”

“I wouldn’t be worried Remilia, she would probably fall over halfway there.” Lyra turned to Victoria, who was smiling smugly behind her back. Lyra’s fists clenched, and she wanted nothing more then to break her perfect nose, but she knew how well things went last time she got into a fight with one of her cousins.

“How dare you” she hissed, standing up tall to confront her. “How could you do this Victoria? You having fun destroying my life? Is this a hobby of yours I have to worry about now, every time I choose to have a fun night out? You said you would stay out of my business. You lied to me. You are nothing more than a snake.”

Victoria chuckled softly, making Lyra even angrier. “My dear Lyra, you know I wouldn’t do this without good reason. And I did come through on my investigations.”

Lyra pressed her palms unto her eyes, hoping this was just a bad dream, but didn’t wake up. “What are you on about! You’ve come to my home, physically assaulted my date and are telling me it was all according to plan?”

“Naturally. I told you I’d get to the bottom of this.”

“Bottom of what?!” Lyra shouted once more. All Victoria did to respond was wave a folder she was holding in front of her and press it into Lyra’s chest.

“Take a look.” Lyra paused before snatching the folder from her cousin. She opened it furiously and stopped as she looked over its contents. Pictures of the pin, with the date being today. “He doesn’t have the ring Lyra.”

“I know that. Isaac Durn, some praetorian has it. He already told me.”

“Oh, you are right. Isaac does have the pin. Because he stole it from Felix.”

Lyra didn’t understand at first, shaking her head as she tried to figure out what she was saying. “What are you talking about? “

“Felix had the pin a day or two after the accident. He found it probably while checking out the scene of the accident, trying to figure out himself what had really happened. You see, Felix has had a crush on you for quite some time. But since you kept away from him in the fear of embarrassing yourself, he kept thinking you weren’t interested. Stop me if I’m wrong Felix.”

He remained quiet under Remilia’s foot, no longer struggling. Victoria continued without pausing. “He probably found the pin near the blast point and picked it up. Recognizing it to be yours, he began to hatch a plan to bring this to you for your attention. But like all politicians, he took his time to find the best moment to confront you. Too long really, as he lost it soon enough. As you can figure, Isaac and him are not the best of friends. Isaac wanted to pull a prank on poor Felix here by going through his locker. Instead, he found a precious pin and took it for himself.”

She walked around the car and approached Felix on the ground, smiling at him the whole way. “But this actually helped Felix along. Thinking he could get rid of two problems at the same time, he would convict Isaac for having the ring and not bringing it to the proper authorities and have you as his girlfriend in one swift motion. No one would question his word against someone with gang history, and Isaac would be expelled soon after. Maybe even sent to prison for a couple years since they could convict him for endangering the Royal Family's reputation.”

Silence fell unto the parking lot as everyone took in what just happened. Victoria smiled triumphantly as she looked down at him. “Almost perfect. Almost.”

Lyra was silent, thinking over the current bombshell that had been dropped. She began to slowly walk over to Felix who was still pinned by her stronger cousin. She mostly leaned on the car on her approach and had to slow down with every step so she didn’t fall over. Stopping in front of Remilia, she eased her off, letting Felix the chance to get up.

“Lyra, you have to understand. I did this to be with you. I’ve always loved you” he told her.

“I know” she responded. Lyra’s voice was barely a whisper although the slurring still remained. “And truth be told, I am impressed with your way of dealing with the situation. Getting rid of a rival and acquiring a prize is an amazing feat to be sure.” Felix smiled, placing his hands on her shoulders to show he cared.

She pushed his arms away lazily. “But this evening has opened my eyes Felix” she continued. “As the evening went on with you, I began to notice some things. Things that I did not particularly enjoy. Things that really showed me who you are.” She took a step back from him, her eyes shining slightly in low light of Luna. “You’re a horrible person Felix. You don’t understand what a position of power is and I doubt you ever will. A position of power over others does not mean you are better, it only shows that they trust you with that power. Instead, you are selfish and egotistical.” She took another step back, stumbling slightly but catching herself as she did.

Felix made a move to stop her, but was immediately yanked back. Remilia had a tight grip on the back of his collar, making him fall backwards onto the pavement. Lyra shook her head. “Don’t talk to me ever again” she muttered.

With that Lyra turned around and walked towards her house. She said nothing else as she made her way to the door, not even pausing as the servitor opened it from the other side. She slipped in quickly before the door was halfway open and it closed immediately after. The trio suddenly felt cold in the night, which was a couple minutes ago plenty warm.

Victoria turned and smiled at Felix. “I would leave right now, before Remilia here makes you.”

Seconds later with his car started, Felix’s gravcar lifted off from the pavement and left in a hurry, leaving Remilia and Victoria in silence.

“You think Lyra is going to be okay?” asked Remilia a minute later.  Her cousin nodded.

“Yeah, just needs a bit of time. It’s too bad.” Victoria sorrowfully said.

“Yeah, she really liked him.”

“That and my plan went off perfectly. Yet I don’t feel I did anyone a favor. Let’s get going.”

===Tears===
Lyra threw her heels off and rushed to her room, speeding up the steps, somehow keeping her balance even in her intoxicated state. The alcohol’s effects began to disappear, leaving nothing more than a headache and the truth for her to think about. If her mother was anywhere nearby to see her, she did not notice her at all, nor did she care. She was too busy trying to control her inner emotions, wanting nothing more then to be in the safety of her room so no one would see her cry.

Felix had betrayed her. When she had sought him for some comfort, she found out she was actually in the company of an ork. She felt disgusted, nearly giving up her purity if not for the intervention of her cousins. As she closed the door to her room she felt progressively worse, her headache intensifying and feeling quite cold. Tears streamed down her cheeks, ruining the makeup she had put on hours before. She wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands but did little to stem the tide.

She collapsed on her bed, crying softly as she tried to suppress her tears. She slid up to her pillows where WD was left sleeping. Grabbing him, she pulled him close to her chest, gripping him tightly as if she expected him to leave.

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault... I should have...” she started whispering to him, but found it hard to speak. As more tears fell unto her pillows, she closed her eyes shut, hoping to wake up from this horrible night.

===Final Vision===
As she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the same grassy pasture where this entire mess had started only a week ago. This time she was in her dress and she could feel the wetness of her tears on her cheeks from moments ago. Most surprisingly, she was holding WD in her arms, still fast asleep. She clutched her head immediately, her headache seemingly transferred over into this dream of hers. She was no longer sure that this was just the alcohol. It was way too big of a coincidence that these headaches came too often with a dream.

Branches broke behind her, signalling the arrival of the lion. She didn’t bother looking, knowing how this would go. Instead she stared in front of her with WD in her arms.

Sure enough, the other watchers appeared around her. She stared at them, unsure of what to make of the aliens a second time around. All eyes rested on her as the lion finally made its way into the small clearing behind her. Feeling endangered, her grip around WD tightened.

“We mean you no harm” one said to her telepathically.

“And yet this dream seems to be at the center of all my problems,” she responded. One nodded at her.

“Our method of communication is unnatural to the human body. Its side effects could alter your mood dramatically, make you do things that you would not normally do. We apologize for the trouble we have caused you this past while.”

Her eyes narrowed as she eyed them all. “You’ve been watching me?” she said accusingly.

“No, we can feel the anger that burns in your heart. That is why we are here Lyra. You see, watching the threads of time are our ability.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe in fate,” she said decisively.

“And you are correct to do so. Fate is too finalistic of a term to describe the future. Time is much more open to interpretation. The only thing that will decide the future is the choices you make now. We see all of them before us, even though you haven’t decided what choice to make.”

The small creature paused as the lion circled around to her vision. It was as large as she remembered it. “Like the lion, you’re hands are as likely to destroy as they can create. Many times from now you will be presented with that choice, and we will watch in the darkness as we always have.”

She sighed as she looked over the giant beast looming in front of her. Maybe she was like it more than she knew.

“Why me?” she asked.

“There was once a time where forces outside of your understanding would target people, like yourself, of great power. They would try to influence them to forward their own plans. Although humanity has been spared of such a fate for now, the threat can grow once more. We wish to avoid this.”

For once in this entire dream sequence, she began to understand a bit of what was going on around her. Her vision began to blur slightly as she could feel the vision coming to an end.

“Wait, what about WD?” she yelled out, but it was too late.

===Waking Up From A Nightmare===
Sunlight fell unto her face as she suddenly thought she was back in the dream. But as she felt her soft bed underneath her, she could only sigh in relief that the dream was over. Hopefully, once and for all.

As her dreams memories began to rush at her, she suddenly realized what had happened. She laid in bed, thinking over what the watchers had told her. Raising her hands to her eyes, she thought of what he had told her. “The same hands that can create can equally destroy,” she wondered out loud.

Soft paper shuffling came from her desk alerted her of something amiss. Turning her head slowly, she could hardly believe to see the sight with her own eyes. There was WD, putting her desk in order like nothing had happened. She stared at him for several seconds, scarcely believing that he was once more awake. He paused and turned at her, taking a moment before he waved with one of his arms.

She shrieked as she rushed over, gripping him tightly in a bear hug. She felt him frantically struggle under her attack with little avail. She laughed joyfully as she held him back and stared at him.

“You have no idea how happy I am” she whispered to him, this time she was holding back tears of joy. He nodded at her, somehow understanding what had happened this entire week. She embraced him once more, spinning with him in his arms. “I’m serious. Don’t ever do that again!” she said.

Placing him on the table, she began talking to him, quickly recounting the weeks events since he had gone to sleep.  Even if he didn’t say a word, he sat on the edge of the table, listening to her every word. She changed out of her dress into some normal clothes to wear inside the house.

“Angela said you guys are different than normal psykers. She couldn’t really explain it all too well, but said it was really cool,” she told him and he nodded at her. A knock at her door paused the story telling.

“Mom!” she said expectantly, opening the door quickly as she had to show her WD. “He’s awake- oh.”

“Hello Lyra,” Lion said, towering over her and clearly a bit annoyed. “I think you and I need to have a chat.”

“I thought you were gone for another week!” Lyra spouted, still shocked to see her father at her door.

“The project ended quicker than expected and the tides were favorable on the way home. Lyra, what happened to the bike?”

Lyra could only stare, unsure of how to answer him. She shrugged, hoping that was good enough of an answer.

===The Talk===
“Lyra, this is strange of you to say the least.”

All eyes fell on the seventeen year old as she tried her best to remain calm. It was very difficult to do so with her father and mother giving her concerned looks throughout their entire conversation. She fidgeted under their stares, rarely feeling the heat as she did now. Only two things stopped her from breaking down in front of them.

One sat on her lap, being WD. She glanced at him and immediately felt better about the entire situation. Even though she might be in great amount of trouble, she knew she had done the right things to bring him back. She smiled at him briefly and she could feel him do the same.

The second was Cypher. While her parents were up and about throughout the study as they tried to make sense of the entire thing, he was the only one sitting down beside her. He had been a good friend since her childhood and cared about her as much as her parents did, although she never treated him as such. He was the closest idea she had of a big brother. He was looking at her as she glanced at him. He winked and grinned, calming her down even further to respond.

She looked at her father and shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell you.” He sighed as he began to pace around the study where the El’Jonson family had gathered.

“You must have a reason to get angry enough to start a fight with Freya?” he asked her. “And for the bike to explode and this entire crazy plan you came up with to wake your watcher. This doesn’t sound like my daughter.”

She knew the moment she told them about her dreams, they would think of her as being insane. Yet if she didn’t give them a reason for her actions, they would equally send her to a doctor. “I don’t know what to tell you without looking like a lunatic.”

Cypher’s arm reached around her and pulled her in. She looked at him in surprise and he smiled back at her. “You are not crazy. I’ve been around the galaxy doing some outrageous things, fighting monsters that defy the laws of creation. I have seen crazy. You aren’t it. Nothing you can say will change my opinion about your sanity levels.”

She stared at Cypher, her emotions breaking through her guise as she got teary eyed. She thought she had done enough crying this past week to dry herself out, but this was not the case. Cypher seemed to care enough for her to trust her word, so she might as well try.

“I... I’ve been having these dreams. Vision really. I’m on Caliban and things happen. I woke up stressed out and lost my temper on Freya, hence the fight.”

“Visions?” Lion asked. He seemed a bit shocked as he said the word, looking at her as if she was completely different from before. She stared back at him, feeling even worse as she tried to salvage the situation before she really did sound crazy.

“I guess? I don’t know. There was a Calibanite lion and watchers and-”

“The watchers contacted you?” he gasped, cutting her off in mid sentence.

Cypher chuckled beside her. “Told you. You ain’t crazy.”

“The watchers disappear right before the end of the crusade and now they contact you” Lion muttered, more to himself then to anyone in the room. Lyra looked on, a bit confused at her father.

“You believe me?” marvelled Lyra. Lion stopped mumbling and looked over at her. He nodded, now talking to her as he continued.

“The watchers disappeared a while ago, pretty much right before you were born. At the time they gave me your watcher before I knew you would even be a reality.” She glanced down at WD and suddenly wondered about that. She had never questioned where he came from before, always knowing he had been around and that he had grown attached to her like had. “I had only rarely ever spoken to them in the first place, yet every encounter I remember vividly,” he mused.

Lyra looked at him and knew what to say. “‘Your hands are as likely to destroy as they can create’,” she declared. Her mother and Cypher looked at her strangely.

However, Lion smiled at her and nodded once. “Yes, exactly. The exact words they told me the first time they had contacted me.”

“What’s going on?” her mother finally asked, breaking her silence she had held throughout the entire exchange.

“Our daughter has been given some solid advice from some ‘friends’ I thought had disappeared,” he told her. “Unfortunate circumstances involve a rage inducing headache. Cypher can attest to that.”

Cypher chuckled halfheartedly as he nodded at Lyra. “If you got as angry as he did, I can see how you knocked Freya out.”

As her stress dissipated around her, she eased back into the couch cushion. “My actions hurt her and nearly destroyed our friendship. Now she’s the one being punished while I sit here.”

Her father nodded and moved towards the entrance of the study. “I’ll talk to Russ immediately. He’ll understand.”

“Wouldn’t calling him be quicker?” Florence asked as she stood up and followed him to the door. She already knew why he wanted to go.

“Maybe. But I bet he would like a ‘physical’ conversation than one over a machine” Lion joked as he left with grin. Suddenly remembering the argument she had with Freya a week earlier, she could only look at her father differently as he left, realizing how wrong she had been. Her mother followed him out to see him off, leaving Lyra sitting beside Cypher.

“Feel better?” he asked and she nodded.

“Yeah. This past week has been shit.” She leaned into Cypher’s chest. “Thanks for that support. I need it.”

“Don’t worry about it.” They sat there in silence for a minute, each deep into their own thoughts, until Cypher spoke again. “So what color do you want the new bike?”