The reflection

part 7

The next morning Aria was woken up by Lyra tapping her on the shoulder. Come on, she said, Get dressed. We have a little surprise for you.

Once Aria was ready, Lyra led her out of the bedroom and down a huge hallway. There seemed to be hundreds, thousands of rooms in this place, but they just kept on walking until they got to a bright yellow door. Lyra pulled it open and a bucket fell down, covering her in a thick pastel pink liquid that appeared (and smelt) to be made of melted fairy floss. Well well well, Garth said, a smirk on his face as he stood in the doorway Ive been expecting you.

Garth, ordered Lyra Youre NOT coming with us. Now leave. Garth sidled out of the room, but not before he tasted a little bit of the pink liquid covering Lyra. Mmm he said, licking his lips Yummy! Lyra shut and locked the door as soon as Garth had left. Okay, she sighed Now that were finally alone, Ill tell you whats happening. GIRLS NIGHT OUT! squealed Sophia, bursting out of a cupboard Except that its more like a GIRLS 24 HOURS OUT! Oh my god, Its gonna be so fun! We can get makeovers, and Nah. Commented Cynthia, seeming to appear out of nowhere Thats not fun. We should get quenimas- I take it Owen told you about them Aria, given how excited you look- and zolodes, which are sour and spicy cantaloupe drinks, and then go mole riding! And then well go to the doown, and get throatburners. Doesnt that sound better than makeovers, Aria? Oh, dont put me under that pressure! Aria moaned They both sound fun Lyra nodded Okay, Its settled then. Well do both.

Hold my hand. advised Cynthia And prepare yourself. Aria closed her eyes, wondering what they were doing, but nothing could prepare her for the feeling that followed. It was as if she was being stretched out, like a burrito in a black hole. Her body was getting longer, thinner Arias surroundings swirled around like a whirlpool, and then she got sucked through, and landed on a beach. Cynthia, Sophia and Lyra were there too, looking concerned. Aria, are you okay? Lyra asked, looking worried You landed funny. On your leg. It was then that Aria noticed the agonising pain in her ankle. She scrunched up her face, to stop from crying, and nodded. Yep, Im fine. Okay. Sidled Lyra But then why is your face all scrunched up in pain? Ermmm The sand is getting in my eyes Lied Aria, then realised how pathetic that sounded. It was sunset there, and not windy at all. Well okkaayyy. Said a clearly disbelieving Lyra But tell us if your leg starts hurting, alright? Aria nodded, and got up to follow Cynthia and Sophia across the sand.

Makeovers! squealed Sophia, and Cynthia groaned. Theyre so different, Aria thought, even though theyre twins. Well, triplets. I dont seem to take sides with either of them, though. Im like the one in between that gets caught up in all their tomboy versus girly girl arguments. Anyways, commented Sophia I think we should all get different styles, so we can tell whos who. Cynthia, you can get the Im totally not wearing any makeup, this is just my natural beauty! look. Aria, youll be the cutesy wutesy! And Ill be the Dramatic eagle Actually no, Ill be the Stunning dramatic tiger that you definitely dont need to be afraid of! Yeah, thats much better. Oh, Aria- I forgot to ask you this earlier, but How did you tell Cynthia and me apart? Aria shrugged, and scratched her mozzie bite I dont know, I guess I mean you look exactly the same, but you both have different posture and, like, different resting faces. Cynthia and Sophia both immediately smiled and straightened their backs. Lyra burst out laughing, and everybody stared at her. You two usually want to look the opposite, she chuckled Why the sudden change of heart? Well, Cynthia started, a sheepish grin on her face If Aria is staying here for a couple of months, then shell probably get very bored just sitting around and doing nothing. So, how about We switch places! cut in Sophia. Every day, one of us will stay home, while the other two go to Llallima. Which, by the way Aria, is where our lessons are. And well rotate around, so we all have an even amount of school. If we are pretending to be each other, we need to look exactly the same. So how about it?

Lyra stared at the triplets for a second, then sighed. Come on, dont give me those puppy eyes, she told Sophia, who stuck out her bottom lip Alright, fine. But dont come crying to me when you have nothing to do and youre behind in humanities, ogreities and pixieties. And the only reason that Im letting you three do this is because NO ONE can know that Aria is, well, alive. Real.

Aria took another step, ignoring the pulsing ache in her ankle. Now, in the distance, she could make out a dark green building. There was a glowing yellow sign on the door, which read Llallimakeoverima. Cynthia and Sophia were around ten metres in front of her and Lyra, playing some game which involved clapping and chanting. Im just gonna go show Aria where the toilets are. Lyra called out to them Save us a spot. Then, to Aria, she whispered Just trust me. I need to talk to you about something. As soon as Cynthia and Sophia were out of sight, she led Aria off to a table under some trees nearby.

Aria, while you are pretending to be the girls at school, you will have certain classes in which you train yourself to control your gift. Or, in your case, their gifts. So I have to ask you this; have you ever had any strange, like, moments or something? Something that might hint towards what your gift is? Aria rifled through her memories, but found nothing. Apart from No. she told Lyra, refusing to think about that memory. Not that I remember, at least. Lyra snapped her fingers six times, and a little flying goat appeared. It was a sort of maroon- brown colour, with a white splodge on its head and white legs. What is that!? shrieked Aria, backing away. Sorry Aria, but I need to know this. Lyra said, a strange expression on her face. Several other flying goat things appeared, and pinned Aria down on the table. I can tell youre lying, Aria. Lyra continued So tell me this; what happened. What happened that youre not telling me? Aria took a deep breath in, then started. It was the beginning of year four. This guy called Gemuk and I were having a conversation- well, an argument- about whether or not the earth was round. To me, it was the most obvious thing ever that the earth was a sphere, and he was really dumb for thinking it was flat. But Gemuk insisted that it was flat, and he was really starting to get on my nerves. So I- I hurt him.

Hurt him in what way? quizzed Lyra, her almond shaped eyes now appearing sly and mysterious. Aria took a deep breath, and summoned up the courage to speak again. There was a flash, and Gemuk was on the ground. Melting.