I'll keep you safe

I need you more

It took everything in Marisa to not just snatch her child and walk away when the Gyptian children approached Lyra.

"Maybe it's the world telling you Lyra isn't meant to be yours" said the golden monkey to his human. She glared back at him, raised her hand about to hit him out of frustration, then an idea came to her.

"I'm going to send Magisterium men to go search all their boats and get my Lyra back that way"

Once this idea came into Marisa's mind, there was no way she was backing out of it. Lyra was hers not theirs.

The Magisterium men were sent out the next morning, Marisa was advised to stay in her flat till they returned with her child. That wasn't sitting well with Marisa and she demanded to be part of this raid but stay on the boat to comfort Lyra.

The first boat was a no go. The Gyptians were demanding answers on why their ships were getting searched, the men didn't have to say anything their daemons did all the talking by barking or snapping at the Gyptians.

Five more boats were searched till they got to Maggie's boat where they found lyra sitting on her bed. The man that found Lyra snatched her up and returned her to the boat her mother was on. She didn't know the reason behind this search as Lyra grew up knowing the Magisterium was something not to mess with, so she didn't fight the man who took her.

Reunited with her daughter after a long excruciating twenty-four hours, Marisa was finally happy again.

Once back at the flat, Marisa had the servants make Lyra a bath so she could wash the smell of Gyptian off Lyra.

"Come Lyra, quick in the tub please"

Lyra fell into the tub, a big wave of water splashed her mother. The monkey could sense his human was going to have a fit of rage as this wasn't acceptable behaviour from a young lady. Instead, the woman just let out a big laugh, something she hasn't done since she was about Lyra's age. It was a sound unfamiliar to the women's ears.

Lyra liked the sound of her mother's laugh, so much she tried to laugh like her.

Late afternoon, Lyra settled back into her routine with her mother. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think about what happened. She wanted to ask why she let her go in the first place the day before when the children she grew up found her with someone like Marisa, then take her from a family she knows that won't hurt her.

Lyra was staring off into the distance of the living room, she could hear her mother talking, but wasn't taking any notice of what she was saying.

"Lyra? Are you listening to me?"

Lyra snaps out of her trance. "Oh, sorry I was just thinking....... She takes a deep breath in... why did you let me go with my friends, but then you raided their boats just to find me to bring me back home"

Marisa stares at her child, she found it weird that Maggie nor the other Gyptians didn't fight the Magisterium for Lyra.

Lyra snuggles into her mother waiting for her answer.

Marisa takes a deep breath "Your face lit up when you saw them running up to you. I felt it was right for you to go with them, but as soon as I got home, I realised I needed you more than they do"

Bringing Lyra in, the golden monkey grabs Pan and does the same. Pan changes into a pole cat and cuddles into the daemon like his human is doing with her mother.

Next thing she blurts out
"Can you tell me a story about him?"

"Now an Asriel story hmm. This one time I remember seeing him at one of these fancy parties, it would have been about six months since I had seen him, he was always going on exhibitions and collecting thing to show off at these parties. This time he brought back a human skull who had a hole in his temple, he wanted to prove that some cultures were still doing this. His goal was to get funding so he could do more research. We had bumped into each other outside, I was excited to see him as I had some big news to tell him. He encouraged me to write the one paper I had been wanting to write, and the other big news was to tell him I was pregnant with you. I wasn't expecting the reaction I got from him, I was waiting for him to walk away, to my surprise he cried. He was super excited but there was one problem"

"Edward?"

"Yes Edward"

Marisa started to get emotional, this story was getting hard to tell as this was the same story where Asriel asked Marisa to marry him and to leave Edward. It was something she knew she couldn't do.

"What happened after that?"

Lyra was so into this story, she loved hearing what her father did before she was born.

Marisa swallowed the lump in her throat "He got his funding and he left. I didn't see him till the night you were born"

"Lies" hissed the monkey

The dinner bell rings to notify them that dinner was ready

"Oh, look dinner is ready. Let's go eat"

Lyra knew there was more to that story, she didn't want to push as she didn't want to make her mother angry.

After dinner, Marisa had put Lyra to bed early. She had to make plans of getting rid of those children that approached her and Lyra taken so they don't have to deal with them again. Several hours later and a billion pieces of paper, Marisa was finally done and dragged herself to bed. Her head didn't hit the pillow before she passes out from pure exhaustion, running an organisation and raising a five-year-old is hard work.

Something startled the monkey from his slumber, Marisa shakes it off as possibly Lyra getting up to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen to get a drink. He shortly went back to sleep till tiny footsteps were heard again. This time the golden monkey was going to make it his mission to wake his human as he suspects something is wrong. Again, Marisa shakes it off and goes back to sleep. The monkey peaked under the door and couldn't see anything, so he just stayed there and went to sleep.

Something woke Marisa from her slumber. She was about to go off at her dæmon to find him asleep by her bedroom door. Marisa moves him with her foot so she can open the door. To her surprise was a small mound and a giant furry blanket on the other side. All those times the monkey knew something was on the other side and Marisa ignored him. She felt bad as if she knew it was Lyra he was sensing, she would have gotten up.

Marisa scoops Lyra up and brings her into her bed. Looking down at her angelic child she softly whispered while moving a strand of hair out of her face "You must of came after I went to bed. I'm sorry darling I wouldn't let you sleep on the cold hard floor" Marisa plants a kiss on her young child and goes back to sleep.