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

[arenaria]

"No, no, it's not all right, we're sorry, we're sorry," he says desperately, like he expects the words to be a charm against some evil that just - isn't - working. "Sorry sorry sorry -"

[dark_light]

Amariah flies high, to see if she can spot Shell Bell - they weren't flying for that long - and -

The spatial layout of this place is like one of those impossible objects that you can draw but not actually have, she says, bouncing an image to the link.

[sicaria]

Sherlock pushes her love for Shell Bell to Sue, trusting that he will know what to do with it.

[pythbox]

He bounces Sherlock's message to the intended recipient.

[truthwright]

So what the fuck do we do? says Kas, heading back the way he came.

[arenaria]

The smew presses himself against Sherlock harder, still apologizing desperately.

There's no response from Shell Bell herself.

[lifes_sake]

Tell Shell Bell to bail out, tell her to teleport to Amariah's house, or the dock, anywhere that's not here, we can start over from scratch if we have to. Scream it at her, get her attention.

[sicaria]

Leave the harpy, says Sherlock, through Sue. Teleport away. Teleport to me. I love you. I need you. Come here.

[arenaria]

"Sorry," wails the smew, "sorry, sorry, we wish we wish we wish - sorry -"

Shell Bell is still unresponsive.

[dark_light]

Try wishing her out directly?

[pythbox]

Sue goes up through every available level of coin.

Nope.

[sicaria]

Sherlock cuddles the smew.

"I love you. It's all right. I love you. It's all right. I love you..."

[arenaria]

"You shouldn't," whispers the smew.

[sicaria]

"I should. I do. I will continue," she says.

[arenaria]

"We're sorry we're sorry -"

And the smew is now beyond words, and appears to be trying, if ineffectively and with mixed feelings, to get away from Sherlock.

[lifes_sake]

"What is the harpy doing to Shell Bell?" Cam demands of the alethiometer.

[sicaria]

Sherlock cuddles the smew, but doesn't hold him prisoner.

[truthwright]

The alethiometer says to Cam, "The harpy is causing suffering in her."

[lifes_sake]

"How?" Cam snaps.

[arenaria]

"Shouldn't - shouldn't," the smew is murmuring under his breath, and eventually he manages to flop out of Sherlock's hold and fall gracelessly to the dock, where he huddles and whines to himself.

[pythbox]

Ghosty is spread out a little too thin to get clear details, but there is a harpy by Shell Bell, and it is shrieking. She forwards this information to the link.

[truthwright]

"It is in their nature," says the alethiometer.

[arenaria]

The smew is not doing too well without Sherlock's comfort to mitigate whatever the harpy's doing, and he's wailing his lungs out where he's flopped on the dock but refuses to make a move towards his person's girlfriend. Occasionally he looks at her, but then clumsily hides his face under his wing.

[lifes_sake]

Kas, can you get any better answers out of your alethiometer than I can out of this one about what's going on with Shell Bell?

[truthwright]

Kas tries.

Harpies have a kind of magic that makes you listen to what they say, and they use it to make people feel horrible.