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Chapter Text

As Lyra hid in the bushes in the park, she worked on calming her breathing. As soon as she was calm enough, she focused on the feeling in her gut she always had when the water obeyed her. She had first noticed it when she was hiding from her stepfather. He had been drunk at the time, and she wanted him to stay away from her. Suddenly, there had been a tugging feeling in her gut and Smelly Gabe had tripped on what seemed to be a puddle of water, but she was sure it hadn't been there before. From then on, she had figured out that she could control the water. She had practiced much more on the run, and she was now able to control it as easily as she could breathe.

The monster she had been running away from had finally caught up to her, and she focused on that feeling in her gut. The water in the air obeyed, and a thin piece of ice formed. It was long and thin, and she focused on making it go where she wanted it to. It flew straight into the monsters heart. The monster disappeared, leaving behind gold dust.

She let out a sigh of relief. She had been focusing on learning that for three weeks, but this was the first time it had worked. Now she could rest easier knowing that she had a weapon on her at all times. She made sure no one was around before leaving the bushes behind and heading back to the alleyway that she currently slept in. She fell asleep quickly, but as always, was plagued by nightmares. A dark chasm, drinking fire, poison surrounding her, and a strange broken feeling, like shards of the ice she had created had replaced her heart. Little did she know, this was only the beginning.

Chapter Text

Lyra woke up the next morning aching, but this wasn't anything new. The consequences of sleeping on concrete, she supposed. She snuck around the back of the building to make her way to the river.

Lyra always felt calmer at the river. To her, it was as if the waves took away her aches and pains until there was nothing left. She sat down on a flat rock by the water, and began to meditate. She did this every day, and she found it helped her control her powers. After she lowered herself into a meditative state, she found herself in the same place as always.

She was walking by a river, following it to the source, a small pond with water the clearest she could imagine. Each of the stones in the pond represented a different memory. Each of the trees a different emotion. She focused on the water, and thought about the events of the day before. A new stone appeared in her hands, with the slight shimmer of monster dust. She flung the stone into the pond, and watched as the ripples spread from the point of impact. The memory was now stored, and she could access it if she needed to.

Lyra left her mind. She focused on the feeling from before, the tugging in her gut. Then, she pulled.

The plants around her shriveled up as the water was pulled towards her. The ground became dry and cracked as she forced it to come towards her. She focused her mind on what she wanted it to become.

The water condensed, and with a crackle, turned into a lyre made of ice. The strings were still mostly water, and when she played, the instrument made a sound not unlike a spoon tapping a glass, but with the feeling that it could break at any moment. After playing a song she had heard years ago, she let the lyre shatter like a glass. Lyra smiled.