The Cure - His Dark Materials

CHAPTER ONE

"Saint Raphael the Archangel stays with us, O Archangel Raphael, called the Medicine of God! Keep away from us the diseases of body, soul and spirit and bring us health and all the fullness of life promised by Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

| ELLA'S WORLD

Everything around was completely silent, the trees covered most of the sky, letting only small rays of sunlight penetrate to the ground. Everything smelled pleasantly of earth, plants and flowers, and the girl's lungs expand with pleasure with each breath. Lying on the great roots of the trees, she feels the entire length of the place without even having to open her eyes.

"Ella..."

She hears a voice calling her name, but she remains motionless.

"Ella, wake up..."

The girl grumbles a complaint feeling her mind being pulled from that world.

"Ella!"

With a sinking heart, she is whisked away from that paradise. She opens her eyes to find Makario leaning on her nose, in the shape of a mouse with its snow"white fur.

"Why did you wake me up?" she asks, still sleepy, a little resentful at being awakened from such a peaceful dream.

Someone knocks on the door, and Makario looks at the girl as if this is her answer.

"Your mother has been calling for a long time. says the daemon.

"Jeez! We're not getting up here anytime soon." Katára, her other daemon, says sullenly. At the moment he had the form of a black squirrel, and he stretches, making all his fur tremble.

"Ella, are you up yet?" asks the voice of the girl's mother from behind the door.

"Mom, I'm getting up now."

Katára frowns at the girl and gets up too. Changing into a little black bird, he lands on her shoulder. Makario imitates him, standing on her other shoulder in the form of a white bird.

Each on one side, the two were a contrasting image, like the two sides of a coin.

Ella opens the door to find her mother, who today wore a light white dress. Her hair was tied in a high bun, her daemon, a white salamander, was on her arm facing the girl.

"Finally, what a heavy sleeper you are.'' says the mother in a tone of false exasperation.

Ella sighs, rubbing her eyes to try to stave off sleep.

"I was having a very good dream, so I didn't want to wake up." explains the girl.

The mother smiles, interested.

"And what did you dream about?"

Ella tries to say something, but stops. She couldn't remember the dream.

"I don't remember..." she says making a face in confusion "How is that possible?"

Her mother just laughs, finding her daughter's confusion amusing. She places a hand on the girl's cheek, stroking.

"Forgetting dreams is normal, I myself sometimes believe that I don't dream, beause I never remember them." says the woman, walking in.

Her mother goes to the closet, choosing from the assortment of white dresses arranged there on the hangers. She chooses one from the back of the closet, and when she sees the outfit, Ella flounders on the bed, grumbling. Out of all the white clothes, her mother had to get the one gray outfit. And that only meant one thing.

"Do we have to go to the SCI again?" the girl asks, already regretting it.

"Don't start, Ella. You know damn well you have to go." the girl's mother scolds, putting a hand on her waist.