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

[dark_light]

Yeah. We're on our way.

She flies down the mountain.

[lifes_sake]

These little creeps aren't within no-wishing range.

Cam wishes them quick clean ends, one at a time, square by square.

[truthwright]

Kas thinks of something to ask the alethiometer.

...Anybody care that angels don't have afterlives?

[lifes_sake]

I care some. Could Amariah retrieve them with evils if she wanted? I mean, that worked on Shell Bell and Nathan and it wasn't moving them from Downside. Cam pauses in picking off angels. In case they are swayed by the fact that he can do it; in case the answer to his question is "no".

[pythbox]

The rest of the angels take the opportunity to flee back into the mountain.

[truthwright]

Yep, Kas reports from the outside entrance to the Authority's cave. You can evil 'em back.

[dark_light]

So they're not irrecoverable then. Amariah is heartened by this notion. I'll see about enchanting them a box all the same, no sense wasting evils - you good for another spell, sweetie?

[truthwright]

Sure!

[dark_light]

Amariah has a spell composed inside thirty seconds.

The angels get the non-aquatic equivalent of a fishtank, wrapping around the mountain; it will suck in angels who approach too near - with "too near" responding to the recent absorption of angels, so it can swallow entire flocks even if they turn back after the first - but will not let them out, without the intervention of an enchanter.

[truthwright]

Well, that'll help, says Kas. He flies down to Amariah and hugs her.

[dark_light]

Hugs.

Amariah goes to watch angels slurped up into the angel tank.

[pythbox]

Since every single angel was inside the mountain by the time she finished her spell, there is an impressive amount of slurping going on.

[dark_light]

Amariah sits on top of the angel tank. Maybe one of them will talk to her now.

[pythbox]

Nope.

[dark_light]

Yeah, that's not too surprising, is it.

Are they going to - starve, or anything? Amariah asks. Do I need to fix this thing to provide them with angel food cake or something?

[truthwright]

They'll get uncomfortable after long enough without food, says Kas. The Authority's special somehow, maybe because he's so old. It doesn't much matter what food, though, and they don't need a lot or anything. You could totally give them a thingy that dispenses unlimited angel food cake and that'd keep 'em.

[dark_light]

You know what, that amuses me, I'm going for it if you're up for another enchantment.

[truthwright]

Yeah!

[dark_light]

Amariah designs a little enchanted bakery (enchantments cooperate more with their physical substrates than wishes tend to; the bakery part helps) which will produce angel food cake on demand. It too is editable; if she feels like supplying the angels with more variety later it will bake other things. Will that do? Do they need more water than what's in the cakes?

[truthwright]

Yeah. Magic fountain?

[dark_light]

Magic fountain!

[truthwright]

Magic fountain.

So... now what?

[dark_light]

Now I have a lot of angels in a fishtank; can they be obnoxious from there?

[truthwright]

...They might be able to fly the mountain around and make it slurp up enemy angels and kill them, says Kas. And they can still spy on anybody who goes near 'em. Uh.

He pauses briefly, then goes on,

Apparently angels can see a bunch of stuff, and it's impossible to make them not, and some of the stuff they can see is - people's essential natures.

[dark_light]

...Essential natures like how?