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It has been a couple of months now since the wedding, since the revelation about Jovah. Isabella has been busy. She is not as overt as some of her counterparts. It is not now impossible on Samaria to commit crimes of violence, for example - although anyone who gets going with one will tend to feel a sensation of being watched, and this is enough to noticeably ding reports of such misbehavior.
She's been noticed.
Linus has been calling all of the changes, collectively - because once one or two got overt attention the others were plain as day - "Jovah's hand moving among us".
Isabella is all right with the ship getting credit for her handiwork. It will be more accepted that way. No one riots over the god choosing to peer closely at them if they raise their hands to strike; no one theorizes about the appropriateness of meddling in the natural processes of things like childbirth when they believe Jovah is the active party.
Meanwhile she shadows Delilah. She makes routine visits to Monteverde to talk with Linus about this or that. (She can bring Micaiah, now that they're married.)
She gets steadily more pregnant. The heaviness is no burden to an angel, but it is somewhat physically awkward to be so bulky. She works around it. She's going to have a baby, and she just glows with it.
And, one day, for the first time since before the wedding, she finds Milliways in her and Micaiah's guest room in Monteverde.
"Oh, here it is, I was wondering when it would come by again," Isabella says.
jovahs_heiress
sicaria
So does Sherlock.
She shifts a locus of her perception power directly to Voice.
After a moment spent studying their physical structure, she nods.
She shifts a locus of her perception power directly to Voice.
After a moment spent studying their physical structure, she nods.
jovahs_heiress
Angela spends a moment studying the apartment the door opens into - she'd like to have a shot at forcing the door in case she ever needs it - and then she turns around. "Now what do I do with Nathaniel, though?" she murmurs. "Templates are usually well-matched instance to instance - but Nathaniel's a child, he hasn't hurt anyone -"
arenaria
"It could just be Downside. Downside can change people," murmurs Shell Bell, letting the door close.
jovahs_heiress
"I suppose as long as Nathaniel's seen Milliways and you, now, I can explain to him - in age-appropriate terms - what happened. Warn him."
jovahs_heiress
"For the same reason I'm planning to ask Juliet just what happened to her in her vaguely described misadventure, when I meet her. It's important to know the pitfalls. Nathaniel's happen to be particularly dire."
jovahs_heiress
"When we can get in and out without having to wait for Milliways, then yes, absolutely."
jovahs_heiress
Angela leaves them be to check in with the Belltower. There's nothing substantial since her last visit except Shell Bell's report of her failure at using nine-pointed coins to secure interdimensional travel.
Angela casts her vote for storming Downside as soon as four or more minted Bells are all in Milliways at the same time.
And then she leaves the bar.
Angela casts her vote for storming Downside as soon as four or more minted Bells are all in Milliways at the same time.
And then she leaves the bar.
jovahs_heiress
"Hello, Nathaniel," Isabella sighs. "I found out why Shell Bell and Sherlock reacted like that."
jovahs_heiress
"There are several of me - Shell Bell's just one of them. We're all a lot alike. We look the same - though I'm the only one with wings - we have a lot of the same quirks. The same basic personality formed in different places and times. And it turns out that Shell Bell has met someone who is a version of you. She didn't realize it at first. He was older, and she never saw his face. But she recognized your voice."
jovahs_heiress
Isabella squats so her face is level with Nathaniel's. "You're not the same person as that other one. Just like I'm not Shell Bell, only myself and the things I choose to do. But you should be warned, because you might have some of the same tendencies as your alts. And Shell Bell was so, so badly hurt, when she met that one, that when she heard you speak she was afraid."