(Lee Scoresby P.O.V) 

After a long eventful day of asking questions, I finally managed to get a lead on Gruman. A waitress said that he had once worked at an observatory just in the hill slopes not too far away. I notified Iera where I would be going and assured her I would be back soon. 

When I made it to the top, I only saw a man on the staircase with a lemur daemon. Luckily I was allowed inside. 

"What brings you to the observatory Mr Scoresby?" the man asked.

"I've got a couple of questions if you don't mind," 

We entered the telescope room through a curtain. "Isn't that something?" I observed. 

"It works even better when the fog is lifted. So tell me what brings you here?"

"Dr Haley, have you ever heard of a Mr Stanislaus Grumman?"

The moment I asked that question, the astronomer seemed to stiffen. 

"An Englishman, despite the name. I understand that he worked her some years ago,"

"What do you want with Dr Gruman?" 

"I believe he was in contact with my wife...four years. I was hoping I could meet him, perhaps...I could get a lead on...where my wife disappeared. You don't know where he is now, do you?"

Dr Haley turned to me. His face seemed to send a shiver down my spine. He was making me nervous.

"Somewhere up the Yenisei river," he pulled off his glasses. 

"So he is alive?"

"Dr Gruman...is a heretic," 

"I...did not know that," I said quickly. "Well...you've been most helpful sir. I'll just be on my way,"

I wanted to turn around but the astronomer gave me a suspicious glance that continued to make me quiver.  

"By their fruits shall ye know them. By their questions shall ye see the serpent gnawing at the heart," his daemon growled. 

Hester looked a little scared. 

"Amen," was what I said. "You have a good day sir," And with that, I turned and went through the curtain, Hester right by my side. 

"That was weird," I said quietly. "Come on. Let's head up the..."

Suddenly I heard the shot of a gun. I fell to the wooden floor, pulling out my revolver. Without a voice, I fired. Then again. And again. The shooting behind the curtain stopped. I breathed heavily. I carefully stepped through. I saw Dr Haley slumped against the telescope, his military gun clattered on the floor, his wounded daemon in his arms. 

"You damm fool. Why did you do that?!" I shouted. I pulled off my coat, unable to let him die despite him trying to kill him. "Let me help you," I bent down. 

"Dr Gruman is an enemy of the Magisterium," he grabbed my throat. "And so are you,"

I stared at him. 

"If your wife knew that man, then she was an enemy too. A heretic whelp,"

I frowned. "Don't you ever speak of my wife like that again," 

"The Magisterium will bring justice for this," and with that, he died. HIs Darmon disappeared. 

I stammered. I was shocked. I had killed a guy. 

"He didn't give us a choice," Hester said with pity. "You didn't shoot to kill," I was close to tears for what I had done. We need to go,"

"Is there a place which the Magisterium hasn't infiltrated?!" I cursed, pulling on my coat. 

"We need to get out of here," I pulled the curtains back, but the moment I did, my heart jumped. Guns were cocked and pointed at me and my daemon from a squadron of soldiers. Their dog daemons parked. 

"That man tried to kill me. I had no choice!" I protested. 

"Lee Scoresby you are under arrest!" the nearest soldier said. 

"Did you not just hear what I said?"

"You are under arrest for heresy!"

"Look, sirs! I didn't know Dr Gruman was a heretic! I just thought he could give me clues on how to find my wife!" 

But the soldiers wouldn't listen. They tried to grab me but I punched one and then the other. But  I suddenly felt my neck flying into a state of pain. I saw Hester's neck being clutched by the jaws of a dog. I was overwhelmed and then punched in the eye. I could swear I was about to go half-blind. 

As I was restrained, the soldier walked up to me. "We've been looking all over for you Mr Scoresby. Take him away!" 

(Y/N P.O.V) 

I sat down at the table, rubbing my grandmother's ring. I was glad Will had been there to comfort me earlier. I needed that. He was such a kind boy. For some reason, I often wondered how proud John Parry would be of the person he is once we find him. 

Will approached me with some coffee. He offered it to me. 

"Thanks," I said, taking a sip. "Delicious. Not only are you good at cooking, but you're also so good at hot drinks,"

"You ever had hot chocolate before?" Will asked me. 

I looked at him. "No. What's that?"

"You know chocolate right?"

I nodded.

"Well you like to melt the chocolate then you pour hot water into it to make a hot drink. You can even add cream and marshmallows to it,"

"Sounds delicious," I said, before hitching my mind back into a train of thought. 

"What are you thinking about?" Will asked kindly. 

"About my dad. He's never been on his own before. I didn't want to leave my world...but I couldn't leave Lyra alone as her father did. And my dad was already too far away from us and mean people were trying to attack us. I didn't have much of a choice,"

"I'm sure your dad's alright," Will consulted. "Was it hard growing up with just one parent?"

"Yep. But we always travelled around so much so...I got used to it," I shrugged. I pulled out my necklace to rub it, thinking of my mother again. 

"That's a pretty necklace,"

"This was my mother's," I said. "I've never taken it off,"

"The winged figure... it looks like the statues around that tower in the courtyard," Will said. 

I looked at him again. "It does. Do you think someone's in there?" I wondered.

"Why don't we go and find out?"

Will and I took a walk and we found ourselves in front of the tower with the angels again. I kept staring at the angels, touching the engraving on my pendent, wondering why my mother would have such a necklace with those beings on.

"Let's get a better view of one of the buildings," Will suggested. We went inside one of the abandoned houses and found a better view of the window on the balcony. I fished out a telescope from my bag and peered through. 

"Look! There's a man in there!" 

"What?" Will blabbered. 

Quickly I handed him the telescope and he peered through. "You're right. There is a man," 

"See you two are spying up at the tower," a sudden voice said. 

Will and I flashed around and we saw Angelica, emotionless as always.

"What do you want Angelica?" I asked. 

"Since you two don't know about that tower, might as well tell you. It's the Torre de li Angeli. Belonged to a group of philosophers. Long gone by now they'll be,"

She turned around to leave but I spoke.

"Why are you and your friends so mean to (M/C)?"

She paused and turned around.

"We just don't get what fun you guys get out of bullying someone," Will stated next. "What's he done to get you all to be so mean to him?"

"To be fair. Nothing. But the truth is...you two and your other friend Lyra don't know much about him,"

I glared at her. 

"He claims you two and that girl Lyra are outsiders yet he's also one himself. You know he was abandoned as a baby in the city. No mum. No, dad. Not even a note or letter. Just a name. He was taken in by a couple, but the moment the spectres get him, he's all alone again,"

"And so you think it's right to bully him?" Will challenged. "You should be ashamed of yourself,"

"No, I think I do have a right. He's a freak that's what he is. That hand he keeps covered, it's black. Received that from the spectres. He's attracted to the path of the death so it's best if he weren't here and nobody was near him,"

"Nice try Angelica but you're not scaring us," I shook my head. "You're the one who should be scared,"

Before Angelica could even blink an eye, Aster burst out from my pocket turning into a honey badger. He roared, showing off his sharp teeth. She screamed and she ran.

"And don't come back and bully (M/C) again!" Will shouted after her. She disappeared. "Nice job Aster," my new friend complimented my daemon. 

"Thank you," Aster said turning back into a weasel. 

Will and I turned back to the tower, keeping a closer eye on the window. 

"How do you think one gets into the tower?" I wondered. "There's no door,"

"There must be a secret passageway,"

"What could be inside that tower do you suppose? You think (M/C) stayed here to guard it because it contains some sort of powerful object or treasure or something?"

"Probably. It's probably why that man he was after came here in the first place,"

Thinking about (M/C) made my mind bounce back to the thought of Lyra. "I hope and he and Lyra are alright. They should have been back by now,"

I noticed Will was becoming rather upset. "Are you okay Will?"

"I'm worried about my mum,"

"She'll be safe with that man. And when we find your father, she'll be happy again,"

"You don't need to worry about my mum (Y/N). It's my responsibility that you shouldn't have to burden yourself with,"

"It is. Your father saved my life, Will. And I'm gonna return that favour by helping him get back to you and your mum. Then you can all be a happy family again,"

I then noticed Will was holding a bit of a grudge. "Families make mistakes Will. Don't let that stop you from a man who I know has missed you your whole life," 

Will turned to me and I saw how touched he was. He felt comforted and I was proud that I could help him. Just then I noticed a strange look on his face. His eyes cast a feeling of fear into my eyes. "What?"

"Your hair...it's turning silver..."

"What?" I grabbed a lock over my shoulders. It was turning silver. 

"(Y/N). Your fingers," Aster said next. He was sacred. I looked at my fingers. The tips were turning silver too. 

"Oh my..." I was beginning to panic. 

"Just calm down (Y/N)..." Will soothed. "Everything's alright. We're gonna figure this out,"

I felt his warm hand clasp my shoulder and I saw how desperate he was to try and make me reassured. 

Another chapter is done. And only a day later. Haha! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Looks like something is happening to (Y/N). Was this the change that (M/C) had detected earlier in the book? We'll have to wait and find out. Please send out reviews and let me know what you all thought. It would be most helpful. 

See you all soon.