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With an alethiometer and a reader at her disposal, Isabella is never still. She barely sleeps, catching brief naps only when Path falls into a doze and she's pulled after him. The rest of her time is spent placating Metis with enough apprenticey tasks that she doesn't get kicked out, working on plans to take over the world, and working off the resultant uncontrollable excitement with Kas (in the nude, and Petaal dividing her time between Path and the non-daemons).
Metis goes on a long trip, and apprenticey tasks are no longer called for. Isabella blesses a cranberry bog in exchange for a large stack of cheap notebooks, and she writes trees of questions in them - if this is true, she needs to know that, in which case this could also be relevant. She passes them to Kas as fast as he'll take them; Path supervises and clarifies what Isabella meant where needed.
The alethiometer can make suggestions about spells. It doesn't communicate in words, and Kas doesn't know enough about ritual magic to interpret it very specifically, but it can point Isabella in the right direction. When she fails six times in a row to figure out what it means about a certain powerful defensive blessing that it thinks she'll want soon, though, she needs something that was better optimized for her use. The alethiometer describes the location of a witch from a non-Olympic but friendly clan based in Texas, an expert in such defenses. Isabella is busy: she sends Path to go talk to her about the spell, and stays in Metis's house herself, catching up on sleep now that Path is too far away to be stubbornly shaken awake, contemplating the unification of the clans as a preceding step to the attempt on human society, and eating mostly what the cornucopia can make for her.
After Path has been gone for just shy of a day, Isabella, collapsed sleeping on top of Kas, jolts awake with a strangled scream.
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truthwright
It startles him awake, and for a second all he knows is that something is very very wrong; he hugs her instinctively.
"What—?"
"What—?"
truthwright
"Fuck," he says, and hugs her again. Petaal shifts golden retriever and darts across the room to fetch him the alethiometer. If someone is touching Path and hasn't stopped, Isabella is going to be in no condition to answer questions about how and where and who even if she has any idea.
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Isabella makes another noise and slowly curls up into a ball. "Hurts," she sobs. "Hurts - hurts - make it stop -"
truthwright
"I know," he says, "honey, I know." He hugs her one more time and kisses her forehead. "I will, I promise."
Then he needs both hands to work the alethiometer.
What happened to Path?
Captured—killer—danger—torture.
Can I fix it? How?
Daemon—lonely/alone—send—find—change(form)—small—sneak—kill—rescue—safe.
Kas bites his lip. Petaal turns linsang and flows up to sit on his shoulder and read the next answer along with him.
Where is he, exactly?
A forest in Pennsylvania, apparently. There's more detail, enough that Petaal nods along: she can find this place.
Okay. Last question. (He doesn't ask it if it was sure about daemon—lonely/alone. He knows exactly how sure it was.)
How do we separate?
Send—journey—pain—stay.
Simple enough. And with Isabella right there continuing to hurt, they're not inclined to argue about it. Petaal shifts cheetah and bolts for her cloud-pine, and Kas wraps his arms around Isabella and cries.
Then he needs both hands to work the alethiometer.
What happened to Path?
Captured—killer—danger—torture.
Can I fix it? How?
Daemon—lonely/alone—send—find—change(
Kas bites his lip. Petaal turns linsang and flows up to sit on his shoulder and read the next answer along with him.
Where is he, exactly?
A forest in Pennsylvania, apparently. There's more detail, enough that Petaal nods along: she can find this place.
Okay. Last question. (He doesn't ask it if it was sure about daemon—lonely/alone. He knows exactly how sure it was.)
How do we separate?
Send—journey—pain—stay.
Simple enough. And with Isabella right there continuing to hurt, they're not inclined to argue about it. Petaal shifts cheetah and bolts for her cloud-pine, and Kas wraps his arms around Isabella and cries.
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Isabella's shivering; if she notices Kas's embrace she doesn't react to it. He's certainly noticed by now that she talks in her sleep, and while her eyes are open and her words are more focused, this is closer to that than anything else. "Path - Path - hurts - I'm scared -"
truthwright
"My sweetie's gonna fix it," he says, cuddling up and pressing his face into her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."
It does not feel okay. It feels like his heart is being ripped out of his chest, continually, tearing and pulling but never breaking free. But since he knows from experience that what Isabella's feeling is even worse, he stays right where he is. Going along would fuck the whole thing up, that much was clear. He does not want to fuck this up.
It does not feel okay. It feels like his heart is being ripped out of his chest, continually, tearing and pulling but never breaking free. But since he knows from experience that what Isabella's feeling is even worse, he stays right where he is. Going along would fuck the whole thing up, that much was clear. He does not want to fuck this up.
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"Nnnnnnnnnnnng," whimpers Isabella, and then her eyes roll back in her head and she passes out. Whether from pain or fear or some mechanism of unconsciousness applied directly to Path is not immediately clear.
Her unconsciousness is not peaceful, and it's not sleep, either: she stops talking, but she twitches.
Her unconsciousness is not peaceful, and it's not sleep, either: she stops talking, but she twitches.
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Isabella doesn't stay passed-out for long, although she doesn't stay conscious for long, either, she keeps drifting in and out, waking up long enough to repeat her daemon's name or 'hurts' or wordless sounds of misery.
truthwright
Kas isn't even sure when the heart-ripping feeling stops. You'd think it would be the kind of thing you'd notice, but there are plenty of other things to be miserable about, and it's not like he suddenly stops missing her. He desperately wants her to be soft and fluffy and in his lap where he can hug her for approximately the rest of ever. But he wants Path to be safe even more than that.
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Either Path is being hurt somewhat less right now, or Isabella is, impossibly, becoming accustomed to the situation, because she opens her eyes more lucidly, and manages to choke out half a question: "Where's...?"
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"She's - but you're - aaaah," says Isabella, losing whatever grip on the situation she had and squirming in his arms. "Path Path Path -"
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Isabella sobs and grabs blindly for his hand and squeezes when she finds it. "I'm scared. Path, Path."
truthwright
"Me too," Kas murmurs, curling up around her to get as much snuggle going as he possibly can.
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Isabella passes out again. She's breathing oddly, like there's not enough air in the room - or in Path's room.
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She lets out an almighty gasp and wakes up again.
Whoever's got Path is obviously not going for the quick kill. Or the direct one. Or the one that doesn't last hours-at-least. Unfortunate. In one respect.
Fortunate in another.
(It'll take Petaal nearly half a day to get there at top cloud-pine speed assuming no crashes and no interruptions.)
Whoever's got Path is obviously not going for the quick kill. Or the direct one. Or the one that doesn't last hours-at-least. Unfortunate. In one respect.
Fortunate in another.
(It'll take Petaal nearly half a day to get there at top cloud-pine speed assuming no crashes and no interruptions.)
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Suddenly Isabella's entire body relaxes, limp and quiet, and all her breath goes out in a sigh.
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Isabella doesn't move. Or speak. Or breathe.
If Path were there, it would be easy to check to see if he disappeared.
The entire problem, though, is that he isn't.
If Path were there, it would be easy to check to see if he disappeared.
The entire problem, though, is that he isn't.