many people move here to start families

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[My name is Bella, if that actually helps.]

[Look, what I really want to know right now is whether or not you're about to do something horrible to me,] he says. [...And how you know anything about my alter ego.]

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[I do not have any plans to do anything horrible to you. And I am very, very magical.]

He relaxes. Slightly.

[I'm not sure I can be much help,] he says. [I don't control Glory.]

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[I just need to know what it is she's up to, so I can see about handling her myself. Why do you turn into her?]

["Handling" her? Just how magical are you?]

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[Very, very.]

He looks worried.

[I still don't think she's somebody you should be messing with.]

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[Why not?] Bella asks. [What can she do? Besides kill or hospitalize a few hundred people. Which needs to stop.]

[She's a hell goddess who was kicked out of her home dimension for being too nasty,] he says. [At least, I think that's it. I've never heard the story straight out. They bound her to a mortal vessel - me - to limit her power.]

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[How attached are the two of you? How much do I have to worry about you when I'm addressing her?]

[...Uh... what?]

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[I mean, if she's that much of a package of bad news, are you in trouble if things turn violent, should I try to split you up first, tell me how this works, you appear to be an innocent bystander.]

[Split us up? Could you even do that? How?]

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[I don't know if I can 'till I try. And: magic.]

[Stop saying 'magic' like it's an explanation,] he says flatly. [It's not. As far as I can tell, the things you're talking about doing should be impossible no matter how powerful a witch you are. I'm not going to help you if you can't tell me where you're getting all this.]

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[I'm not a witch. I'm some other stuff,] says Bella cheerfully. [Glory's from far away? My magic's from farther away. It's a really, really long story.]

[There is nothing I want more than to get rid of her,] he says. [But it's just not possible.]

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[If there's nothing more you want than to get rid of her, you should be all over the possibilities I am offering via fancy offworld magic. Look, how much do you know about demons and so on besides the obsequious kind that do her shopping?]

[Not a lot. And you know, I would be all over it if I had any reason to believe you.]

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[Aw, darn, I was hoping you'd already know about the vampire quarantine and I could tell you that was me. What would constitute a reason to believe me? I can show off some if that'd make things run smoother.]

And:

[Hey, Giles, two things. One, can you please see what there is to see on the subject of a hell god named Glory or Glorificus, her relationship to her mortal vessel, and anything to do with the Key? Two, Soph did not exist until a couple of hours ago, I am the only person unaffected by the corresponding memory-alteration, and there is some interpersonal fallout as a result.]

[I don't know,] says Ben. [I'm not sure I'll believe you can split us until I see it. It doesn't exactly help that you still haven't told me how exactly you found me. As far as I can tell, you're just a mysterious voice who's probably spying on me, and it's kind of unnerving.]

[...I'll, er, I'll look that up,] says Giles.

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[I have a crystal ball. And yes, I can see you, although if you need to change clothes or something I can stop. My cheapest Impressive Magic Trick would, unfortunately, probably scare you.]

[Thank you, Giles.]

[What's your cheapest magic trick?] asks Ben, warily.

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