LEO & LYRA – Part 3

“Oh no!?”, said Lyra, her tears splashing against the black crystal floor of Scorpio’s dungeon, “What am I going to do now?”.

“There are so many things that one can do”, said an old voice from behind her, “One can give up or one can fight; one can do wrong but one can also do right. The trouble is, I can never seem to make up my mind”.

Surprised but happy to hear the voice of another person in the dungeon with her, Lyra looked round and saw what looked like a pair of golden scales.

“You must be Libra”, she said, “Libra, the scales”.

“Yes! You are a very clever and knowledgeable girl indeed. That is exactly who I am”, said Libra, “Scorpio put me in this dungeon long ago because I am the star of thought and wisdom and Scorpio does not wish the people of Earth to be thoughtful or have wisdom”.

“Well”, said Lyra, smiling, “I was very sad when I discovered myself locked in this dark dungeon but atleast I know now that I am not here all alone”.

“Yes. Being alone sometimes is not always a bad thing but to be always alone and never have any friends, that is a terrible thing”, said the scales, “But you oughtn’t worry about being locked in this dungeon, you know. We could both easily escape right now, if only I could decide how best to do it. You see, I have lots of magical power, just like Scorpio, only unlike her, I’m terribly indecisive. I can escape this dungeon but I can never make up my mind which is the best way; through the roof or through the ceiling or should I go west or east or north or south. I’ve been in this dungeon for almost a hundred years because I just can’t make up my mind”.

“Well”, said Lyra, searching in her pocket and taking out a copper penny that her mean parents had once given her as a birthday treat, “Why don’t you flip a coin. That’s what I do whenever I can’t decide. Heads we go up and tails we go down”.

And she gave the old penny to Libra, placing it on one of his scale pan like hands.

“My word! Thankyou, Lyra”, said Libra, “That is a clever idea”.

And then Libra flipped the coin up in the air and it span round four times before clattering back down again, heads side up.

“Looks like we’re going up my dear”, said the scales, looking down at the coin and smiling.

And then Libra told Lyra to hold onto him tightly and, together, they whooshed upwards towards the ceiling of the black crystal dungeon and, at first, Lyra was afraid that they might crash into the ceiling but then, suddenly, a large hole started open above them and they flew straight through it and up into the throne room of Scorpio’s dark palace.

To be continued…