Somewhere in the land of Reager....
Peter stepped into the house and glanced around the little cottage.
The interior of the house was decorated with unfamiliar tapestries and furniture — which made Peter picture a world without technology and industry.
Assisting Lyra and her mother to set the table — he also stared at the unfamiliar dishes on the table.
A yellowish dish — looking very much like broth — was displayed in a large and polished wooden bowl.
Also two extra bowls containing what looked like fish stew were placed on the table.
Peter watched as Lyra and her mother took their seat at the table — while gesturing at him to do so himself.
"Lyra why don't you say the grace?" Her mother asked.
"Okay" Lyra replied as they both clasped their hands together and shut their eyes.
"Gods of fire, Gods of earth, Gods of water, Gods of air — bless my food, bless my body, so that I may eat and surely stay healthy"
"Amen"
"Amen"
After they both chorused their 'amen' they began to eat.
Peter also noticed that the utensils for eating were totally different from that which he was accustomed to.
Polished wooden bowls and spoons were displayed at the table — which made him to begin to consider the fact that his earlier speculations were correct.
'Have I truly gone back to a different time in the past?'
Deciding to test out his theory, he threw forth a question;
"Please what year is this?"
Lyra and her mother stopped eating and stared at him with raised eyebrows.
"Huh?" Was Lyra's reply.
"It's the year of the forty eight millennia" her mother generously replied.
"Forty eight millennia?" Peter was not sure if he actually liked what those words implied.
"You know — forty eight thousand years after the great war — wait, don't you know this?"
Lyra gaze at him with searching eyes — but at this point, Peter was too shocked to feel embarrassed or awkward.
"What?!" He blurted out in shock and stood up from his seat simultaneously.
At that moment, the door to the house opened — as a man walked in while exclaiming;
"Am home!"
"Dad!" Lyra jumped from her seat and ran towards the man whom received her in a bear hug.
"Welcome home honey" Lyra's mother also stood up from her seat and walked towards the man — whom also received her in a warm hug and kisses.
"Mom! Dad! — seriously?!" Lyra exclaimed with an embarrassed look on her face as she glanced at the gaping Peter awkwardly.
"What?" Her father gave her a puzzled stare while holding her mother romantically.
"You've seen me kiss your mother before — so what gives?"
But as soon as he finished speaking, his eyes shifted and rested on a strange looking boy at the dinning table.
"Heok!" He gasped in surprise — as he stared at Peter with wide eyes.
"Who are you?!"
****************
At a private mansion in Kentucky.....North America...
Mocheda studied the documents in her hands — while her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed in seriousness — which Larry found quite intoxicating.
He was munching on the fruit cakes and cookies that were set before him — while his eyes were busy taking secret glances at Mocheda's alluring figure.
He would have been more bolder with his glances, if it hadn't been for Carla — who stood beside Mocheda and gave him cold stares.
Few moments after, Mocheda raised up her head and stared at Larry — after which she spoke;
"What I find peculiar is that two police officers steps into the secret base of an armed vanguard of criminals and singlehandedly wipes out their entire operation"
She paused — as the incredulity was evident in her eyes.
"Something is off about this report"
"Yes" Larry nodded — while gulping down a fruit cake.
"This was one of the base of operations — belonging to the death-row gang
"And funny enough, when one of the criminals were interrogated — they kept repeating the bizarre tale of being attacked by a glowing ball of light"
Mocheda kept quiet — as she held her chin thoughtfully — raising her eyes to stare at Larry, she spoke;
"You mentioned earlier that you've found the kid"
"Oh yes" Larry brought forward an iPad and passed it to Mocheda.
"I managed to get this from a reporter friend of mine"
Mocheda received the iPad and played the video footage on it.
"Ah" she gasped in shock as her gaze caught the image of a boy with blond hair among a group of children in the video.
"Carla bring me the painting now"
On receiving the painting from Carla — Mocheda spread it on the glass table and compared the image in the painting, with the image in the video.
"It's him!" Larry — who was gazing at the images beside her exclaimed.
"Hmm" Mocheda narrowed her eyes as she stared at the image in the video — while thinking....
'He's even younger than I thought'
"Do you know him?" Larry asked.
"Not yet — but I will soon"
Mocheda stood up erect and spoke to Larry;
"I would need to speak to the two police officers whom were involved in the arrest and invasion of the criminal base"
**************
"So your name is Peter?" Lyra's father — whom had taken his seat at the dinning table — asked as his gaze remained on Peter.
"Yes sir"
"What a strange name" Lyra's father said with a frown.
"I told him the same thing father" Lyra opined excitedly.
"And guess what — I saw him falling from the sky!"
"From the sky?!" Her father and mother blurted out — as their shocked eyes rested on Peter.
"T-that was just a cheap trick I learnt from a friend of mine"
At this point, Peter was not yet sure what he and his abilities actually was — so it would be quite stupid to spook the family.
"Oh well — we've seen stranger things — so I guess falling from the sky can be called a sideshow"
Lyra's mother said with a smile;
"We've yet to properly introduce ourselves — am Mrs Ruby Dreyson and this is my husband — Mr Doyle Dreyson
"And of course you've met our daughter — Lyra Dreyson"
"Nice to meet you all" Peter greeted with a nod.
"So Peter" Mr Dreyson spoke as they all continued to eat.
"Where are you from?"
"Well um..." Peter felt beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
He could feel the different mental energies from the three family members.
From Mrs Dreyson he could feel cordial regard — from Lyra he could feel curiosity and a certain mix of friendliness.
But from Mr Dreyson he could feel suspicion and an iota of hostility.
He was not sure why — but it seems his strange looks were a contributing factor.
Knowing no other lie to give, he decided to say the truth.
"Am from Kentucky"
"Kentucky?" Mrs Dreyson lifted an eyebrow in puzzlement.
"Kentucky?" Mr Dreyson deepened his frown.
"What sort of a place is that?" Lyra asked — with her curious eyes staring at Peter.
"Wait are you from the Midlands?" Mrs Dreyson suddenly asked.
"Yes" Peter caught a rope of escape — as he nodded in acquiescence.
"The Midlands? — I've never heard of anyone from the Midlands with such strange looks and name"
Mr Dreyson said — not letting go of his suspicion.
"That's because we've never met anyone from the Midlands before dear" Mrs Dreyson pointed out.
"Hmph" Mr Dreyson grunted as he continued his food while taking occasional glances at Peter.
"Once again it's quite nice to meet you Peter" Mrs Dreyson said with a smile.
"Thank you ma"
-------------------------
After they had finished eating and washing the dishes — Lyra cajoled Peter to assist her in milking the cows.
Meanwhile Mr Dreyson watched from a distance as Lyra and Peter worked hand in hand to milk the herd of cows on the farm.
"You should really cut him a slack dear" Mrs Dreyson approached her husband from behind.
"Moreover he is from the Midlands — it's not everyday we get to meet someone like that"
"That's if he's truly from the Midlands" Mr Dreyson said — while his gaze remained on Peter.
"What do you mean by that?" Mrs Dreyson asked.
"I don't trust that boy — there's something about him that's seems shrouded" Mr Dreyson said.
On hearing the sudden giggling of his wive — Mr Dreyson turned to stare at her in confusion.
"What's so funny?"
"Well I recall a year ago — you said something quite similar about the York family" Mrs Dreyson said.
"That was different" Mr Dreyson quickly spoke in his defense.
"How was that any different? — you literally hired spies to sneak into their home — just to make sure that they were not assassins or thieves"
Mrs Dreyson pursued relentlessly.
"Okay what's your point?" Mr Dreyson said in exasperation.
"My point is — don't judge that dear boy before you get to know him — for all we know, he could be of great help to us someday"