"I'd also like to point out that I haven't destroyed the planet so far," Libby adds. "Nor do I intend to. I like this planet. But I can't really be sure of whether or not some teenager I've never met can handle that responsibility, and needless to say, I'm erring on the side of caution here."

"Under the circumstances, I wasn't going to leave you in the hands of an unknown magic user with no way to protect yourself. You're not exactly one of my people, but you're close enough to count, and I am very serious about taking care of my people."

Bella lets the irony of that one sit in silence all by itself.

"And yet, kidnapping," says Lazarus.

"...there was a certain amount of panic involved."

"I just find it hard to believe, under the circumstances, that my safety was your primary concern."

"Secondary," says Libby. "After securing the future of the planet."

Bella snorts. Aloud, not over brainphone.

"Well," he says. "You've warned me. I agree that it would be very bad if someone blew up the planet. Now what?"

"That," she says, "is what I'm trying to figure out."

[See if she'll give you a hexagon to use on defensive magic - maybe ask for one for Kolya too, I don't know how many she has but it should be a smaller number - so that I can't do anything too bad to you, har har, and assure her you don't want the world exploded, and ask if you can leave?] Bella suggests.

"You could hand me a stack of coins and let me go home," he suggests. "Then I wouldn't be defenceless anymore."

"I don't exactly have stacks of coins to play with," she says. "And, no offense, I'm not sure you have the experience to protect yourself if I gave you the magic. And even if I send you home protected against mind control, there's no guarantee she won't try a more primitive kind of coercion."

Lazarus supplies this to Bella with the added commentary, [You two should really talk sometime. She is seriously beginning to remind me of you.]

[I'm offended,] Bella says, not sounding all that offended. [You could make the case that you know plenty about magic - you know, being you - and can come up with sufficiently creative uses of the coins.]

"What exactly do I need experience for?" he asks, ignoring the part about coercion because he doesn't have a good answer for it and also no. "Of all people I'd think I'm the best equipped to figure out new magic."

"On the other hand, you clearly don't have my suspicious nature," Libby points out gently. "It's not your ability to use magic that I'm worried about, it's your ability to figure out when and how you should."

[Do you need a suspicious nature to judiciously use a limited amount of defensive power for self- and beloved-other preseveration?] Bella asks incredulously.

"Sure," she says. "I'll do that when I send you home. And I'll do that when I'm satisfied that you can take care of yourself. A few tips on things to watch out for are not going to be sufficient."

[How long does she plan to keep you in a warehouse until you can "take care of yourself"?] Bella asks. [Hours? Days? Weeks?] She bites her tongue before asking, "Until you completing your diploma and earning a gold star?".

"Here's a thought," he says. "I'm already protected against magic in general, or I will be with a slight change in permissions. So why don't you hand me a coin of the right size and I'll duplicate a very effective physical protection power that I'm betting you know about?"