"This way," says Sherlock.

Tony bounces along after her.

"I think Bell said something about the other one doing the decorating, Sherry what's her official nickname—"

"Amariah," says Sherlock. "And I am Sherlock, and this is Tony."

"Sherlock? That's a girl's name where you're from?" blinks Bella. "Oh, a guestbook." She picks it up, reads it through lightning-quick, and then picks up the nearby pen and fills it out equally lightning-quick.

"Not traditionally. Would you be at all interested in helping Bell take over our world?"

"Is she having trouble with it?" Bella asks.

"Considerably."

"I can fix that," says Bella confidently. "I am extremely magic."

"Excellent," says Sherlock. "She will be along in her own time. Would you like me to catch you up on the situation meanwhile? She summarized our troubles in her Bellbook entry, I believe, but I expect you will have questions."

"Yes, please do," says Bella, taking a seat and clasping her hands over her knees.

"Where would you prefer I start? I don't know how much detail her summary gave you."

"You haven't read it? It says your government is lousy and she doesn't have any of her own magic, basically, but I don't know what in particular you're going to need. I can just visit and handle stuff magically myself once I scope it out, but I think she'd probably rather have her own supply. There is a slight complication to magic the way I do it, though," she adds, glancing at Alice.

Shell Bell chooses this moment to walk in. "Hi Sherl- oh wow! Hi! I'm Shell Bell!" she exclaims when she spots the other her.

"Hi!" replies Bella. "I've nicknamed myself Stella in your little book. I was about to ask - do you happen to know a cooperative masochist?"

"...That's a weird question," says Shell Bell. "I don't think so..."

"Ah," says Sherlock.

"...Ah?" says Stella-Bella inquisitively. "I ask because my magic system, inconveniently enough, involves turning pain into wishes. I can be the sorceress-empress of the stars with a moon palace and all that good stuff because I have him." She gestures at Alice; the gesture turns into a grab and she kisses his cheek. "Unfortunately, one of the very short list of things that I cannot wish for effectually involves changing the rules about where wishes come from."

Alice beams and hugs her.

"I expect I could manage," says Sherlock.

Stella peers at her. "I'm not ruling it out, but you aren't one of Alice, and I'm still frankly astounded that he occurs in nature," she says after a pause. "Wishes come in sizes. I think Shell Bell can probably manage without stars - I was planning to for a while - but she'll want at least some hexes, and those are serious business. I have only ever made one, and it was when I was hit by a van and broke most of the bones in my body. If Alice hadn't fixed me up, it's possible I never would have woken up and dubious if I could have walked again or regained the full use of both hands, even so. Does that sound like the sort of thing you could manage - regularly?"

"Not with delight, perhaps," she says after a moment. "But if necessary."

"There is another possibility, especially if Shell Bell objects to you being not-delighted, which is the distasteful subject of mental editing. Your entry says you don't have the mental opacity thing," Stella says to Shell Bell. "So I could - but even if you don't have the power you probably have the dislike of things fussing with your brain, I imagine that's the first thing you'll wish for. If you want and Sherlock doesn't mind I can just boost whatever Sherlock has to start with."

"I'm... not mentally opaque," agrees Shell Bell. "There was this holiday here, once, and it involved... nonconsensual mind-altering drugs - run if you see red and pink and lace and this shape everywhere -" she gestures. "And they mind-altered me and I did not like it, but Sherlock, you didn't like it either..."