"She is fine," says Mrs. Adams. "There was a creature that took offense with her pedigree. She and Darren did the smart thing and fled to the ocean, and Darren created a spell and it is no longer a problem. I was made aware of what was going on due to my pedigree, and came to help, but it was already handled when I arrived. I would have called you, but I didn't have your phone number."

"A creature took offense to her pedigree? This one of those supposedly also extinct dragons she mentioned?"

"It was not a dragon. We're not sure what it was, but it is definitely not going to be troublesome anymore," says Mrs. Adams. She pokes at a piece of hardened lava with a foot. Yeah, that's pretty dead.

"Then why did it want to hurt her?"

"Right then. Give the phone back to Bella, please?"

To Bella goes the phone.

"Yes, Dad. I know, Dad. No, I agree, that would both be a terrible idea and not especially helpful in the known use case. We're maybe going to do pre-made spell scrolls. Are you sure? Okay - no, not me, I'm barely, I got a fleck of glass in my paw but it's not even worth a band-aid, I'm fine, but Darren's spell hit him too, he didn't have time to get out of the way. But it turns out I have magic healing powers so Darren is now completely one hundred percent okay and all I had to do was panic and then faint for a quarter-hour, which I assure you I'll be working on skipping those steps in case. Yeah, I'd just have rolled up paper with symbols and bits of Spanish on it. Yeah, Spanish, it's a thing, I'll explain it if you want when I get home. I did a lot of flying and my wings kind of hurt so I'm sort of hoping Mrs. Adams drove here and will be able to drive us back."

"She says she drove here and please don't give her a speeding ticket." Pause. "He says he didn't see anything, Mrs. Adams."

"Darren's dad is going to be here soon," Bella tells Charlie. "Mrs. Adams says so. Yeah, found out this morning when she was a substitute. Bugbear, they do - finding and stuff. More like a bear, as far as I can tell. I'll call you again when I'm back at Darren's, okay, Dad? And then you can come get me."

"Fine, dad," says Darren. "I'm fine, I was a bit banged up but Bella has healing. My wings are a bit sore, and I'm exhausted but I'm fine."

"I don't know how much credit I can take for - being a fairy princess critter - I don't know how I did it," mumbles Bella. Belatedly, an attempt at politeness: "But you're welcome." Pause. "Even though the monster was after me in the first place..."

"Not your fault if people are after you. Thanks for being in a position to heal him."

"You're welcome," says Bella, a little steadier.

"Would you like a hug, too?"

"No thanks."

Mrs. Adams eventually says gently, "Vernon, his sister is probably worried, too."

"Right," coughs Vernon, releasing Darren from the required Dad Hugs. "Bella, your dad's coming to pick you up at our house?"

"Yeah, I'm going to call him when we get there."