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Elspeth gets a door.
It's been so long she reels for a moment, and then she throws herself forward and almost lands in a peal of Bells. Yes, there's Shell Bell, there's Juliet and Aurora, there's Glass, there's some Matilda she hasn't seen before.
"Elspeth!" exclaims Glass.
"How long has it been?" Aurora asks.
"Seventeen years. Shell Bell - I need you to help me find Harley," says Elspeth.
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her_imperial_radiance
ending-of
[Of course.]
The requested party appears, fresh from the catacombs and entirely unclothed. That isn't usual; apparently he died naked. Well, he is a Joker.
The requested party appears, fresh from the catacombs and entirely unclothed. That isn't usual; apparently he died naked. Well, he is a Joker.
giftedandtalented
"He might not want to go back to my world - do I get to name it? Is that how we do it?"
cross_and_bow
"That is how we do it," says Juliet. "If he doesn't, we drop him off in the Home for Wayward Jokers, also known as Pattern's world Origin." And she wakes clothed Corona.
"...What the hell?" says Corona, blinking. "Shit, why am I not dead?"
cross_and_bow
"You are! So'm I. We're the queens of Hell," says Juliet, waving him into Milliways.
incanted
"Juliet," chides Aurora. "Elspeth, could you - I know you're trying to concentrate on Harley and explain to Tab, but -"
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth pets Harley's hair and nods.
(He died (there is an afterlife (it was once awful (torture and eternity and the uncaring infinite) but it has been fixed by these and their alts (alts are this thing; like him and Harley (she is Harley's Elspeth, if ever he mentioned her or Corona guessed)) and they can remove people from it at will; and they knew he took his own life (but the other Jokers, of whom there are many, whom he may meet, like to be alive, and Chelsa can never touch him again, and Elspeth can deprogram him as she is doing for Harley, if he likes, when she is done with her fosterling.))
(He died (there is an afterlife (it was once awful (torture and eternity and the uncaring infinite) but it has been fixed by these and their alts (alts are this thing; like him and Harley (she is Harley's Elspeth, if ever he mentioned her or Corona guessed)) and they can remove people from it at will; and they knew he took his own life (but the other Jokers, of whom there are many, whom he may meet, like to be alive, and Chelsa can never touch him again, and Elspeth can deprogram him as she is doing for Harley, if he likes, when she is done with her fosterling.))
Corona blinks.
And grins at Juliet, and says, "I'll be your queen of Hell any day."
And grins at Juliet, and says, "I'll be your queen of Hell any day."
cross_and_bow
"Some of me would be all over you. I'm not one of them," Juliet says. "After we've brought Tab up to speed we're headed for Origin. We can drop you off there with some other stray Jokers if you don't have anywhere else in mind."
"I don't really care where I go as long as it's not back and you scrub Chelsa off me first," he says. "And I get to hug Harley. I wanna hug Harley."
her_imperial_radiance
"Probably he will let you at some point," says Elspeth, looking down at Harley who she's holding so he doesn't have to support his weight, who doesn't currently appear to harbor any intention of ever letting her go.
giftedandtalented
Tab is now reading a copy of the Bellbook eagerly.
Harley clings to her some more.
Corona smiles fondly at them.
Corona smiles fondly at them.
incanted
"One of the things on Tab's checklist is acquiring an enchantress's aura. This requires a helper. The helper hurts," says Aurora. "I dunno where you are psychologically; if it's not good I can lean into my world and get Brilliance instead, but you're more convenient."
Corona shrugs. "I can do hurting."
incanted
"Okay. Depending on how much hurting, this is gonna take at least an hour. I maybe should get Brilliance anyway for the taking of breaks." She leans around him to get the door. [Hey Sunshine?]
incanted
[The repealing effort ran into Elspeth and we had to go rescue Harley from a nasty world. Had a local Bell and a Joker. Wanna come participate in the aura part of her checklist with him?]
cardistry
[Sure,] he says. [Wait, which him? How old is Harley now?]
He appears just the same, though.
He appears just the same, though.
incanted
[Nasty world one. Corona. Harley's in a state. He's seventeen - or, at least so, not clear how much time passed in Tab's world since he's been there - and we haven't asked him if he wants to help.] She greets Brilliance with a kiss.
cardistry
"Hi," says Brilliance. Just for the hell of it, he turns on his aura. Colourful flares of light glint from his skin and hair and clothes. "Lemme guess, Aurora put you in that?"
"You're pretty," Corona says admiringly. He touches the hem of his T-shirt. "I have no idea who put me in this, I just woke up like two minutes ago, I'm still kind of dealing with not being dead. What is that?" He reaches out a hand, and a pink glimmer tucked into a curl of Brilliance's hair brightens into a tiny sun.