we are not truly immortal

[dark_light]

After Glass's party is over with, Amariah and Kas go home.

Amariah fetches down their alethiometers.

"It's about time I took care of Alethia's afterlife, whatever it may be," she says quietly. "What can the alethiometer tell you about what I'll find?"

Comments

[she_sells_seashells]

"Hi," says Shell Bell. "I wonder what I'd even have, if I had a daemon. I wonder if wishing could show me, like it can with coin colors..." She tries it, and an illusory bird appears on her lap. "Huh," she says, and dismisses the illusion. "I don't even know what that is."

[truthwright]

"It's cute, though," says Kas. And to Amariah, "Not that hard." He doesn't consult the alethiometer anew about that. "It didn't directly say, but just by the way it was talking about it, I'm guessing you could wish it and it'd only be a star or so."

[dark_light]

"Now Shell Bell's here can you ask if it's dangerous for her to go there? And we can extrapolate to the other Bells from that."

[truthwright]

"...okay, sure," says Kas.

He asks.

"You'll get a daemon," he says. "You have to have one, that hangs back on the other side, or you can't go in at all. But the place can't physically hurt you, emphasis on physically. Doesn't say if it can non-physically hurt you past what it'll feel like to separate when you go in, but I'm guessing yes."

[dark_light]

"...Well, that will seriously hamper my ability to get volunteers," mutters Amariah. "Can you get any more details about how it can non-physically hurt people...?"

[truthwright]

Kas asks. He gets one symbol.

"Not... exactly," he says. "It says what kind of hurt, but I couldn't begin to tell you what it means. It's one of those symbols that's hard to translate without context, and it's not giving me context."

[she_sells_seashells]

"I might take a daemon, if you need the help," muses Shell Bell. "I can always put him away, can't I?"

[dark_light]

"You can," agrees Amariah. "I'm not sure why you'd want to do it all the time, but that's just me being used to them; you could."

[truthwright]

"Anything else you wanna know?" says Kas.

[dark_light]

"Are the dead people conscious? Are they suffering, without their daemons?" asks Amariah softly.

[truthwright]

He asks.

"They're... sad," he says. "Sad and cold."

[dark_light]

Amariah shivers.

"But we can fix it," she says, "we'll be physically unharmed - can you convince it to give you context, about the non-physical harm...?"

[truthwright]

He tries it. Several different ways.

"It just says - there's something there that might hurt you," he translates. "It's very specific about the kind of hurt, but it's not something there's directly a word for. Grief? Anguish? Hurt in your mind and your feelings, not your body or your soul."

[dark_light]

"It it recoverable?" tries Amariah.

[truthwright]

"Uh..."

He asks.

"...now it's getting all philosophical on me," he says. "I'd say - mostly. Or maybe."

[she_sells_seashells]

"I'd feel better about walking into danger if I knew more about it," Shell Bell murmurs. "I wonder if Cam can talk to these things."

[dark_light]

"Good question. Jane, can you invite Cam over specifically, please?"

[lifes_sake]

Cam shows up presently - by Jane, not by door - also anti-daemon-wished.

"Hey, alethiometer," he says.

[truthwright]

The alethiometer's hand spins. "I tell the truth," it says to Cam.

Kas watches it in fascination.

[lifes_sake]

"You sure do. Tell me about this world's afterlife."

[truthwright]

"The afterlife is where all the dead are," says the alethiometer. Kas snorts.

[lifes_sake]

Cam sighs. "Is there anything else there?" he asks.

[truthwright]

"What inhabits the afterlife other than the dead causes suffering," says the alethiometer.

"That's the same way of saying 'hurt' it's been using all this time," Kas contributes.

[lifes_sake]

"What are the things that cause suffering?" asks Cam.

[truthwright]

"What inhabits the afterlife and causes suffering is not dead," says the alethiometer.