Third Point of View:

(Y/N) sat up, rising from her pillow. She stretched her arms. She hadn't slept much last night. She had been too busy pondering on her lingering to be with her father again. She wondered what he was doing right now. Most likely searching for her and Lyra. She prayed he was safe somehow. 

Aster purred in his snow leopard form, turning into a snow owl to settle on her knee under the blanket. "I miss him too (Y/N). But we'll be with him soon,"

"I hope so. I hope Iera is with him. Or Iorek. Or Serafina," 

"What else are you thinking about?" 

"I can't help but think...what if what happened that day in Texas to my grandmother was because of me?" 

"(Y/N). What happened that day wasn't your fault. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself," 

As they spoke, (Y/N) noticed that more of her hair was silver than ever. To make matters worse, her fingertips were turning silver too and silver markings like henna were spreading from her skin. "I'm a freak Aster,"

"Don't say that," he begged. "Just don't," 

Stepping out of bed, she went over to the sink and tried washing her hands hoping her hands would be normal again. Nothing changed. She felt like she was changing like she wasn't the same girl she was back in Trollesund. Her eyes watered and she cried into the sink. 

Footsteps approached behind her. In his owl form, perching on the mirror, Aster saw it was Lyra and Pan in his red panda form. Lyra pursed her lips, despondent seeing (Y/N) so upset. She went over to her. "Don't cry (Y/N). Everything's gonna be okay,"

"What I'll never be normal again, Lyra?" 

"Don't talk like that," Lyra turned her around so she could look at her. "You don't have to come with me to distract Latrum,"

"No. We're sticking together," 

"There's something I meant to give you," Lyra reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture of (Y/N) and her parents together. Tears fell from her eyes and fell onto their faces. "I'm sorry I didn't give this to you before. I meant to but then..."

(Y/N) threw her arms around Lyra. "Thank you, Lyra," Lyra hugged her back. 

Loud, creaking footsteps made them turn around to see (M/C) coming up to them. "Morning girls. I brought some eggs," he offered them plates. They sat down together. 

"How's Will?" asked (Y/N). 

"He's still asleep. I thought I might let him sleep a bit more,"

"How's his hand doing?" asked Lyra. 

"It should be all right for the time being. Just as long as he doesn't hurt it," 

"Your ointment did a wonderful job," complimented Lyra. 

(M/C) glanced worriedly at (Y/N). "You okay?" She nodded. 

"I hope you won't mind me asking but what's it like having parents?"

"It's the most wonderful thing in the world," she said. "When they love you, it's like nothing you've ever felt before. When they hold you in your arms, you feel safe and protected," 

As she spoke, Lyra pursed her lips and closed her eyes a bit. She thought of her parents, both horrible people who had done horrible things to her friends. 

"What about you Lyra?" (M/C) asked curiously. "What are your parents like?"

Lyra couldn't answer. He realised something was wrong. Before he could ask what was wrong, they heard a loud sharp slash from downstairs. Quickly (Y/N) dashed downstairs and she saw Will awake, the knife was in the wall. "Will!" she alerted. He didn't turn. "Are you all right?" 

"I'm all right," he panted. 

She came over and sat beside him. "You know you can talk to me,"

"I never wanted any of this," he lamented. "I never wanted to be the bearer of this knife or to leave my mum,"

"I never wanted any of this either," she consoled. "When I joined Lyra to save her friends, I never wanted to leave our world behind. But I still went with her because I couldn't leave her behind. And I never expected we'd meet you or (M/C). Or that we'd nearly get killed by a teen for some knife," Will chuckled and she copied him. "We don't get to choose who comes into our lives or everything that happens. I know it seems scary but as long as we all stick together. There's nothing we can't do,"

"I'm scared (Y/N),"

"Scared of what?"

"When Giacomo said that it was our duty to protect (M/C), he said it was because he was being hunted by a powerful force. What if that means I have to face him? What if we encounter terrible dangers? How am I supposed to keep us safe?"

"We keep each other safe Will. And I know your father. He's a shaman. He can use his powers to keep us safe. And with my dad's air balloon, we can outdistance anyone who tries to stop us. I bet your father will be very proud of you when he learns what you've been chosen to do. You're stronger than you know," 

Will didn't know how to believe that. Lyra and (M/C) entered the room. "Morning Will," Lyra greeted. "How's the hand?"

"A lot better than yesterday. Thank you (M/C)," 

"You're welcome," he said. "If we're gonna get the Alethiometer back, we should do it under the cover of night. So we need to make a plan," retreating downstairs, they sat at the table and he grabbed a chalk. He started drawing. "Judging from how it looked when I rescued Lyra, his house was set back from the street and it had a driveway like this," he made sure to do an exact drawing. 

"His house wasn't far from the window," Will took the chalk from him and draw a circle to represent the green space the window in his world was hidden in and drew an x shape. 

"That can't be a coincidence," said Lyra. "If he's from me and (Y/N)'s world it means that he's been travelling back and forth so he'd station himself near that doorway," 

"We can't use that as our way in and out," said (Y/N). "It's too risky. You'll have to cut a new window, Will. If the worlds match up, we can get even closer," 

"That means we need to do some scouting and tests in the city streets," (M/C) said. "I can make a map to help us find out which spot would be a perfect doorway for me and Will to get through to Latrum's house,"

"When we were in Latrum's house, we were in a giant underground room with glass cabinets. It's obvious that's where he's keeping the Alethiometer. That's our best chance," said (Y/N). 

"Then I'd better start trying," said Will, standing up. "Come on guys," they walked out of the cafe and to another part of the city. He held up the knife. 

"So how does this knife work?" asked Lyra. 

"Remember what Giacomo said. Become the tip of the knife," instructed (Y/N). "I believe in you, Will," 

With his friends closely watching him, Will raised the knife. Recounting Giacamo and (Y/N)'s words in his head, he found the invisible liens with the tip of the blade and sliced it down, cutting a hole in the air. They saw a green park. 

"Is this your Oxford?" asked (M/C). 

"Yes," he whispered. 

"Why are we whispering?" asked (Y/N). 

"I don't know," he chuckled. 

"I'll take a note of that," Pulling out a map, (M/C) leaned on a table and drew a circle around the street they were currently standing in and wrote down 'Oxford park'.  

"We should close it," said Lyra.

"Right," Will remembered the rule. He sheathed the knife and then touch the top of the hole with his fingertips mended the hole in the air and closed the doorway. They dashed over to another street. He opened another one, a smaller one. He peered through. "Wait. I know that street. It's near the window in the park," 

(M/C) made another note again. "Noted down," 

Will closed again and dashed off again to open another one. 

"He's getting good at this," Aster complimented in his owl form on (Y/N)'s shoulder. 

"He is," she smiled. 

They went over to the street that led to the tower and Will opened another one. "Look," he pointed through and they could all see the driveway to Latrum's house. "You were right (Y/N)," 

"Bingo," beamed Lyra. "If we get closer to the tower, we can get inside the house," 

"We'll wait till dark," said (M/C). "Time to discuss the next step," for the next few hours, they decided to take a walk around the city, deciding what to do. 

"Are you sure you should face Latrum?" asked Will worriedly to (Y/N). "I mean your..." 

"I don't care about what's happening to my hair and hands. Besides I can wear something to conceal them," spotting a nearby clothes store, she dashed over and grabbed some abandoned clothes and put them on. "There. Problem solved,"

"What about your hair?" 

"Her hair doesn't matter," said Lyra. "Besides I think the colour looks good on you,"

"I think it does too," said (M/C). He noticed (Y/N) was clutching her necklace worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"I've been thinking about my mother's necklace. I don't understand why it would have the same angel symbol as the ones on the tower," 

"We'll have our answers once we get what we need back," said Lyra. "Now...whilst we distract Latrum, you two can search the cabinets. You'll have to be quick though. And quiet," 

"Don't worry stealth is my speciality," said (M/C). "Let's just hope there's no one else in that house," 

Suddenly they heard a loud shriek from down the streets. "What's that?" wondered Lyra. 

"It doesn't sound good," said Will. 

"We should split up and find out what's going on," (Y/N) said. "Will land I will go this way. You two go that way," 

They went off in separate directions, the first two left and the other two right. Will land (Y/N) took a turn and to their shock saw the boy who had attacked them, stiff, silent, emotionless. The two girls including Angelica who they had talked to before were cradling his cheeks in tears. 

"No! No! Tulio!" they cried. 

Will and (Y/N) felt their hearts dropping into their stomachs. They became sick with shock. "The Spectres must have got him," 

(M/C) and Lyra emerged on the scene. "What happened?" Lyra asked. She didn't need to ask. Twisting her head at the same angle as their friends, she and (M/C) saw what had happened. 

"Oh my gosh," (M/C) became as pale as a ghost. Though this boy Tulio had been one of his bullies his entire life, he felt sick to the core seeing him like this. 

"Tulio! No! No!" cried Angelia with her sister. 

"I'm so sorry," said (Y/N) approaching them, wanting to comfort them. 

Angelia turned in a fury at her. "You're sorry? You did this," 

"I've lost people too. I know what it feels like..." she tried to reason. 

"Shut up!" she glared at Will with the knife. "Did you take the knife?"

"I never meant to hurt him," he tried to explain. 

 "It's not Will's fault!" (Y/N) defended. "He attacked us! He was going to kill us!"

"But you admit it! You both did this to Tulio!" she shouted. 

"Leave them alone!" Lyra stepped, pushing her away. "It's Tulio's fault for trying to kill them! Look what he did to Will! He tried to kill (Y/N) for the knife!" 

Angelica flew into a terrible tantrum and tried to strike back but (M/C) stepped forward, pulling his glove off his black hand and holding it up to her, making her stagger back in shock. 

"Keep away from them," he warned. "Now go. Before I attract a Spectre and it attacks you," 

Angelia glared at the nervous and guilt-struck Will and (Y/N), the latter's hand being held by the proactive Lyra. "They will get you," she warned. 

"Come on guys," (M/C) led them away to a nearby empty square where they sat on a bench. Will and (Y/N) were speechless. Though Tulio had attacked them, they felt deeply guilty. 

"It wasn't your fault guys," Lyra comforted. 

"He should have been the knife bearer, not me," Will wished. 

"The knife chose you," reminded (Y/N).

"But why..."

"Tulio stole the knife from Giacamo. He tied him up. He would have killed us all," said Aster sitting by (Y/N)'s feet in the form of an Arctic Fox. 

Will was shuddering with fear. "I never wanted to fight him,"

"You had to though," said Lyra. "You did it for a reason," 

"While he fought to have the knife for himself, you fought to protect us," (Y/N) pointed out. "It chose you because you were selfless. It sees something inside you that you don't see inside yourself," 

Will took out the sheathed knife and looked at it with intense fear. "You need to believe in yourself Will," said (M/C). 

The three observed him as he pulled the glove back of his bad hand. 

"Did the Spectres really do that to you?" asked Lyra. 

(M/C) pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah. It happened...the day Latrum came. Lia and I...were trying to stop him from reaching the tower. He nearly killed me...and when he killed her...a spectre came out of nowhere. I thought it will kill him because he was a grown-up. But it attacked me instead, giving him a chance to flee from the city. It didn't kill me but it wounded my hand so much. If it had happened any longer.." he drifted off. 

"You'll be safe as long as you're with us," promised Will. 

"We're all in this together," reminded (Y/N). "It'll be dark soon. And when it is, we'll put our plan into motion," 

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And that's another chapter done. Thank you all for your support and please let me know what you all thought. See you all soon.