Lyra Belacqua has vanished, and her memory with her. The Magisterium rules with an iron first over Brytain. The young inhabitants of Cambridge must take matters into their own hands before it is too late
(oc x oc)
(Open!)
(Everyone welcome, includin...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜
It was September the 8th, and today would come the day where Regulus would be welcomed to the Grantham household once and for all. You could call it a household, but it was her and Truett, her adoptive father. The four of them made a feast, as was the Gyptian saying.
About four days ago Regulus had settled. The change had been coming for some time, which they could both feel. Then finally Regulus took form as a ferret and the two felt their souls align. This was the moment all children lean in anticipation for, and it made her feel warm inside.
When Avalon told Truett, he lifted her into hug and burst out of their narrow boat, shouting along the canalside to the settlement that his 'girl has settled', with Arya the parson's terrier running beside him, barking into the air with a high tale.
The Settling Ceremony was to be arranged as soon as possible, according to Gyptian custom. Farder Mulder decreed that they must wait until after the autumn trading day in September, so it would take place that Thursday. Families gathered their lights, and lit the docks for the celebration. Ale was rolled in barrels and crowds gathered. Faces beaming, wrapped in old family clothes, the evening erupted into singing and dancing by the water. When Avalon emerged with Regulus on her shoulder, the crowds quietened, and began their old song for the settling. It was eerie but beautiful, each onlookers bright eyes looking on with pride and excitement at the beautiful young woman who made her way to the front. Slowly, the crowds parted, and through them Avalon walked with the iron pot out to collect coins. The grubby faces of children and old lost uncles dropped a coin into her pot, and when she reached the steps she watched in wonder as the pot was heated to a celestial hot glow, pouring the coppery sheen into a mould. As the metal cooled, Truett jumped to the steps and began his speech.
"Today we give thanks to our blood, to our knowledge and wish health to all Gyptians! I am proud to call Avalon my daughter, for she is all our daughters when she shares our blood. Her dæmon has settled, in her seventeenth year, as a ferret."
Cheers erupted from the crowd of shining faces, whooping up at those on the stage grinning ahead.
"Regulus, companion, protector and soul of my girl, we welcome you in your settled form to this family. To all our families. You are a true Gyptian now!"
Avalon looked into the crowd as her friends made faces, one even flipping the middle finger to make her break. She was about to stick out her tongue right back when the old hand of Farder Mulder clapped her shoulder. In his other arm he had a pair of metal prongs clasping a ring that had been moulded in the fire, and Avalon reached out to take the ring, shinning a coppery gold. It was warm to the touch, brimming with lifeblood. Old Farder Mulder spoke to her, barely raising his voice.
"This ring confirms the settling of your dæmon and your transition for child to woman. Wear it and your bond shall be strong, and may the souls of your Ancestors carry you across the waters. With this ring we ask that you may uphold the Gyptian ways and fight for the freedoms of all with love and family in your hearts."
