Mirax, Nora and Minnow - the Caspian family - stand on a sand dune overlooking Principium. Mirax holds in her hand a drawing. Not a drawing of an imaginery place, but a drawing of the real life city which sprawls out in front of them. A picture of the place captured in blue ink. A picture of a city surrounded by sand and filled with people, with life, with pre-dawn light. Elenor soars overhead in both the picture and on the page, revelling in the cool morning air.
At their feet is a memorial to Sam Caspian. It is exactly two years since he died.
“I know we can't see him, but, you said, that day, the day the sun flooded into Terminus, that he would be here, getting to see this new world, as long as we kept his memory alive,” Mirax turns to her mum, “He taught me to never doubt that the new world was there, waiting, even if I could't see it. And now I can. Now I can see it. I hope he sees it too.”
Mirax smiles at the city before her, tears in her eyes. The three of them watch the sun of old break over the horizon, transforming the blanket of blues and greys covering the city into a cacophony of colour. Its rays illuminate the vibrant settlements, the sprawling farms, the bright fabrics, paints and people of a city waking up. A breeze blows from the East and there is just a touch of salt on the wind. The wind which Mirax knows is created by the sun of old, a sun that is always there, whether it can be seen or not.
Written by Annabel P.
Mirax sits in the Directors office. If it can even be recognised as such. The carpet’s changed for one, a bright sea blue with the occasional yellow flower replacing the dark blues and greys of Avgust’s time. Colourful additions, and comfortable chairs make the place more of a public meeting room than a private office space, available at any time for anyone. Even the War dog protector of Mirax has changed, gone are the weapons that adorned the machine, replaced instead by drawings and pictures of plants, animals, and the affectionate name Edwin. No longer are people scared of this War dog, instead it is seen as a loyal and friendly guardian, one that children approach and try to play with.
It has been a long day for Mirax. Subconsciously she reaches for the pillow stored in one of the desks draws which she knows only encourages her to stay in the office longer, trying to solve the never ending list of problems that seems to come up as the Underground’s expert tunnelling engineers try to agree on how to exactly build a road.
Edwins letter is on the wall in front of Mirax, telling her to be a creator. She hopes she’s succeeded, there’s always temptation to just keep going, to just do one more thing for the Underground. But she can’t be the director forever, even if she keeps getting voted in, that’s not the point of all of this, it’s someone else’s turn now.
Then there is the expected knock and Elias sticks his head around the door.
“Right that’s it, up you get. Time for someone to get some time off.”
He’s already got all the bags packed, there are no more excuses now.. well that’s not quite true, there are always excuses, but that’s just what they are excuses. Mirax nods, and smiles as she leaves the Directors office for the last time. She takes one last glance, at the Jars that people have brought or sent back to her, pieces of the sea, or more accurately pieces from many seas all across the world. Tied to one of them sent back by Ash B is a map which Mirax grabs on their way out. Time to finally see it for herself. They can hear it long before they arrive, the waves crashing against the coast, the calling of birds filling the slightly salty air. A cool breeze winding its way through the valley, through the trees, allowing Elynor to glide high into the sky. And then there it is.
The sea.
A perfect blue. An endless formless expanse. Rising into great waves, swirls, and ripples and then crashing onto the sandy beaches, breaking apart only to form new shapes, follow new patterns. Elynor soars over the waves, joining hundreds of other birds in their song, Blenny, long ago repaired, tries to join in with a playful beep-boop and Mirax and Elias hold each other looking out into that beautiful, perfect sea. No longer just a word.