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

[alicornucopia]

None of the shades know where to find harpies on purpose.

[truthwright]

So Kas does the obvious thing.

"They're around, but they move," he says. "If we stay here long enough, we'll run into some."

[dark_light]

"Let's split up, talk to more people, congregate wherever the first person to find harpies is," says Amariah. She lifts into the air - provoking breathless surprise from the shades - and says, "I'll go that way."

[lifes_sake]

Cam picks another direction.

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell goes a third way.

[truthwright]

Kas starts walking in yet another direction.

[endragoned]

Aianon takes wing in a fifth.

[pythbox]

Who knows what happens to Ghosty.

[alicornucopia]

Kas is the first to find a harpy.

She lands. She looks at him.

She takes off and flies away.

All of the nearby shades cluster close and cold around him, murmuring about how he sent her away.

[truthwright]

He shivers, thinks about going after the harpy, and then reports this event through the link instead.

[dark_light]

It turns out that the others can't teleport to where he is.

[lifes_sake]

Cam asks the alethiometer he has with him: "Can we not teleport to destinations in the afterlife, or from starting points in the afterlife, or both?"

[truthwright]

The alethiometer tells him, "You can leave at will, but not so easily return."

[lifes_sake]

Cam bounces this result to everyone else, along with a proposal that they all try to converge on Kas's position manually.

[truthwright]

Kas points out that the harpy is long gone by now.

[lifes_sake]

If none of them runs into her on the way, they can continue their search in a group so as to better corner the next one to appear. If they can't teleport to each other, splitting up isn't as valuable as expected.

[truthwright]

True enough.

[endragoned]

Aianon circles back toward where he last saw Kas.

[pythbox]

Ghosty flickers parts of her attention between all of them; she is not any more restricted in her movements than usual.

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell is the next to meet a harpy! She reports this information.

That is the last thing the link hears from her.

[pythbox]

...Sue is alarmed! Bells aren't chatty on link, but this is important, he'd expect her to be talking about it.

[arenaria]

Sherlock probably notices the smew tensing and shaking in her arms before he says anything.

[sicaria]

She gathers him up and kisses the top of his head.

[arenaria]

"We're sorry," he whimpers. "We're sorry, we're sorry, we're sorry -"

[sicaria]

"It's all right," she says. "Whatever it is, it's all right. I love you."