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Prime brings Aya to Tayane, when he has enough mana for the trip and she's reviewed her old notes about the things she'll need to know. They split up once in town - she speaks a few sentences of Esevi so he'll be able to communicate, and she heads to the market office alone so it doesn't look like he's trying to steal her.
She goes barefoot, blank-heeled.
No time has passed. The fellow behind the counter recognizes her. "What are you doing back here?"
"I claim Aelare's blessing," says Aya firmly. "I want my papers updated."
"Your cart fell into a magic?" surmises the clerk.
"Yes, and I'm -" She lifts her foot to show off her clean heel.
This makes it much easier for the security guard manning the door to knock her over and get her hands and feet in shackles.
They pat her down; they take her necklace, they take the mirror Prime gave her in case she ran into any trouble, they take her holy water and hit her when she tries to speak to Prime or Perinixu for help and she doesn't get any words out. They haul her into a side room.
"AELARE'S BLESSING," exclaims Aya. "Look at my -"
"Wrong province, as of last week," says the clerk. "In Tharlo the gods aren't allowed to steal any recoverable property anymore. Were there any other survivors from the accident?"
Aya stares at him.
He slaps her hard across the face and repeats his question.
Aya murmurs, "No, sir."
-------
She doesn't look like she's pushing a century of age.
No time has passed.
She has - she still has? - her grace, when she's made to shuffle into a different holding pen. But the magic could have done that.
Magics can do anything.
No time has passed.
Magics can do anything. A magic could give her minor augmented abilities. It would be trivially easy to find a new outfit and a necklace and little bottles of water inside one.
Magics have been known to alter memory. They won't give her her belongings back to check to see if the water and the mirror really connect to people on the other ends.
And no time has passed.
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namesthesky
darkest_evening
He laughs, softly, and offers a hand.
"Thank you. I'll try to be more responsible in the future. I think the lightning was a little much."
"Thank you. I'll try to be more responsible in the future. I think the lightning was a little much."
namesthesky
She takes his hand. The headache goes away. "Please don't hurt yourself."
darkest_evening
He does! Prime explains the situation, Cypress agrees to go find Revelation and get him to make money, and eventually:
Care package.
"I have the urge to cackle and say, 'minions.'"
Care package.
"I have the urge to cackle and say, 'minions.'"
namesthesky
"I don't think they'd especially appreciate it." Nuzzle. She motions the ex-slaves over to distribute their little bags of coins.
namesthesky
"I'm so glad," she sighs, when all of the slaves have received their cash and given Aya their names and lists of people they want looked up and sent to find them and dispersed, "that you're real."
namesthesky
"Well," she says, "there's not really a known limit to what magics can do. They took my holy water and my mirror so I couldn't call anyone, and - and I don't look as old as I am, and - it wouldn't be impossible for someone to fall into a magic and walk out with some supernatural powers and new clothes and an unmarked heel and a love side effect and decades of coherent memories to explain it all."
darkest_evening
"That - makes sense. Also."
He scoops her up into a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner."
He scoops her up into a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner."
darkest_evening
He smiles, a little. "I'm glad you're okay. Well." He touches her bruised face. "... Mostly okay."
namesthesky
"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. The anaesthesia thing only works when I'm touching someone, but I always count as touching myself." She leans on him.
darkest_evening
"It doesn't mean you're not injured to not feel hurt," points out Prime. "But - I suppose practically it doesn't really matter. I'll just be upset on your behalf."
darkest_evening
"... Down with slavery, liberty for all, I exercise supreme self control if we ever visit that province again and don't punch anyone that touched you...?"
namesthesky
"I mean in the shorter term. We don't have an emergency that warrants calling in a Zev for a portal, so we have a while to kill in Tayane."
namesthesky
"I didn't hand out all the coins. This is probably enough to get a hotel room while you recover mana."
darkest_evening
"Yes, but ah - is it going to be a problem that you're technically an escaped slave? Should we go to another country where you're not that?"
namesthesky
"We could go to Tsopix, but we'd have to change the currency and I have no sense whatever of how far it will go."
darkest_evening
"... I'll leave it up to you to decide, you know the place better than I do. I can hide your tattoo, certainly. If that'll work for a few nights without issue, that'll be easier, I think."