Reminisce of new worlds (His dark materials fanweek 2021)

Day 1: A mother's purpose | Ma Costa

Day 1: Favourite minor character(Ma Costa)

Summary: As Lyra and the gyptians set sail towards the North, she has a conversation with Ma Costa below deck over hot chocolatl about her missing son, Billy Costa.

Just below the deck on one of the many gyptian ships that were sailing down the stream, a kettle cried.

"I'm sorry it's not much," called a woman's voice from the kitchen. She lifted the kettle from the naphtha stove and poured the warm water into two separate porcelain mugs she had gotten from the wooden cabinets. The water turned into a mild brown. "or would you prefer some tea instead?"

The girl and her dæmon, shaped into his favourite ermine form, shared a glance with each other, before she turned back to face the woman and she shrugged. "This is alright,"

She placed the two mugs down on the table before pulling a chair back and sitting directly in front of the girl. Her dæmon, a northern goshawk, stayed behind to be perched on the kitchen counter.

Ma Costa's hands grabbed onto the handle of the warm mug and pulled it closer to her, though she did not take a sip just yet; it was still far too hot to drink. She did not want to feel the sensation of molten lava pouring onto her tongue despite the sweet flavouring the liquid carried.

Lyra didn't care about the temperature. She sipped briefly at the liquid albeit careful not to sip in too much or else, she too, will feel a stinging burn prodding at her tongue. Setting her mug down for a second, "the taste is familiar," Lyra begins to say between mouthfuls of her drink.

When she first got a taste of it, it tasted of a sweet mixture of powdered chocolatl and silky warm milk. Then, when she swallowed, it became a little bitter, it was the aftertaste of the powder. It clicked. "Could this be hot chocolatl?" She asks.

The woman smiled, "Yes, it is."

The girl , proud for being correct at the answer she had given. She invited herself to take another sip of the hot drink , a longer one this time and was content with the taste — not until her excitement soured when she felt her mouth burn in fire.

"I haven't had hot chocolatl in ages!" she beamed, the sole reason for her prolonged speech was to let air flood in her mouth and save her. "The master of Jordan college says it's only for special occasions like Christmas. I found something similar, but it's not like they'll allow me to have coffee anyways."

The gyptian woman laughed, listening to her rambling. "You are far too young to have coffee, Lyra." she tells the girl, just like how a mother would to their twelve year old children.

"I know, I know, you don't have to tell me twice." To anyone else, it may have sounded like an annoyed complaint. However, Ma Costa saw the slight twitch at her lips; and she soon understood that Lyra was suppressing a tiny laugh of what seemed to be her remembering a moment in her life. She could only think of possible scenarios where Lyra would beg the Master, the Librarian or any of the servants really, if she could sample the

"It's just one sip, though!" her protests would echo through the hallways. She did bothering to catch up to their and ask again after they had left her

"You know," the woman begins to say, "I used to make hot chocolatl for my boys during the holidays, they both love it so much." She couldn't help but chuckle softly at the time when Billy tried it for the first time, when he was only six years old, he was so excited to try it because his older brother Tony spoke great things about it. She gives a sharp sigh, pushing the memory away and instead focuses back to Lyra.

The girl was greedily lapping on the chocolatl. Pantalaimon had just climbed up to her shoulder and looked down at the liquid, expressing the same delight as she was.