Author: dark_light | On the ninth day after his capture and rescue, the first day when Path is willing to step away from Isabella for even a moment, Isabella says to Kas:
"What can the alethiometer tell you about making humans as immortal as witches are?" |
Author: truthwright | "Hmmm," he says; Petaal shifts tiger and lies on the floor, and he sits nestled up against her with the alethiometer in his lap.
The alethiometer talks to him for a while about this one.
"There's a spell for it," he says, watching the needle. "Or there... could be? It's never been done but it's possible. It'll take... everything. Everyone. Sacrifice, herbs, runes, verse, every goddess, and... you said that part already," he tells the alethiometer in fond exasperation, "nobody's ever done this before, I get it—oh. And something nobody's ever done before. A new kind of spell. A way of doing magic that's new. On top of all that other shit."
He looks up at Isabella and smiles crookedly.
"Have fun with that." |
Author: dark_light | "Uh," she says. "Does it say what the fifth component is?" |
Author: truthwright | "I think it didn't like my sass," he says. "Just a sec, I'll ask."
He fiddles with the dials. |
Author: dark_light | "I don't know why you'd choose to sass an omniscient artifact that deigns to talk to you, but it's very cute," smirks Isabella. |
Author: truthwright | "It knows I love it," he says cheerfully, and reads.
"Okay... movement," he says. "Like dance, but not dance. Structured movement. Your daemon does some too." |
Author: dark_light | "Can you get any tips out of it on what, exactly, we do, or will I get to do lots of painstaking research?" laughs Isabella. |
Author: truthwright | Kas inquires further.
"Compass directions," he reports. "'Act as you feel'—that means either you're going to naturally tend to do the right thing, or there's enough leeway that you mostly won't fuck things up anyway." |
Author: dark_light | "Okay. And otherwise lots of painstaking research. I'd probably better start with something smaller than immortality. Don't you die anytime in the next - well, ever, but especially not before I figure this out at least as well as I know how to do verse and herbs and runes and sacrifice." |
Author: truthwright | "You're a sweetie," he says. "I'll try not to. Maybe." |
Author: dark_light | "Maybe?" |
Author: truthwright | "Yeah, maybe. Why, would it make you sad?" |
Author: dark_light | "If you died? Um, yes?" |
Author: truthwright | "Awwwww," he says. Petaal turns viscacha again and scurries around into his lap, where he snuggles her extreme fluffiness. "I'd be sad if you died too," he adds. "It'd fuck me right up. I love you." |
Author: dark_light | "I love you too, and I think you ought to live forever, so please don't thwart my plans," says Isabella. |
Author: truthwright | "I think living forever would be pretty cool, but I don't think I'm gonna get there because way too many of the things I like doing are things that'll probably get me killed someday." |
Author: dark_light | "...Like what? Because even without knowing how to incorporate killer dance moves, I can protect you some," says Isabella. |
Author: truthwright | "Bouncing around the world fucking strangers and pissing off violent people?" |
Author: dark_light | "Well. That could require some slightly heavier duty protections than if what you had in mind was the possibility of being hit by a cement truck while jaywalking," muses Isabella. "I think the gold standard for witches who want to protect mortals who are, say, soldiers, involves a tattoo. Of a bayleaf, with bayleaf-infused ink, ideally one on you and one on Petaal, with a verse said over it. And when I say a tattoo I don't mean one with needles, I mean the relevant verse makes the ink sink in all by itself after it's painted on. It does still hurt about like getting a regular tattoo, though. And that'll let you last through serious injuries longer before you get medical attention, although not forever, and I can't think of anything that would help if someone's priority were to make you dead and they actually checked. The tattoo would be obviously a witch tattoo to anyone who saw it and was the least bit magically sensitive, though, they'd know they'd piss me off if you died and it was their fault." |
Author: truthwright | "Well, that sounds like fun," says Kas. |
Author: dark_light | "Shall I mix up some ink, then?" |
Author: truthwright | "Yes please," says Petaal, nuzzling Kas's chest. |
Author: dark_light | "Okay. Shouldn't take long."
The ink contains many dubious ingredients - the cornucopia doesn't care about processing time and is able to save her awhile by producing powdered bayleaf and the other requisite herbs, and the rest of the ink is vinegar, ash retrieved from the firepit, and one of Isabella's tears (she produces this with the expedient of Path biting her ear).
She fetches a paintbrush, and murmurs her animal-summon to get ahold of a seagull, which she holds in her left hand, ready to snap its neck, while brandishing the brush with her right. "Where do you want it?" she asks. |
Author: truthwright | Kas hmms indecisively.
Petaal turns witch-shaped and drags her finger along his left hipbone. "Right there," she says. |
Author: dark_light | "Nice," says Isabella, peering at him speculatively. "You'll have to lie down, then. Do you want yours to match, Petaal? It'll be easiest to paint yours if you're in this or human shape, although it'll persist however you change, it's adapted to work on children just fine." |
Author: truthwright | "You can do mine here," she says, touching her right hip in the same spot. Well, more or less. She and Kas are differently shaped in that area, at the moment.
"Should I lie down somewhere in particular?" asks Kas. |
Author: dark_light | "Anywhere comfy where I can reach you," shrugs Isabella. Her seagull squawks unhappily and voids on the kitchen floor. "There's no call to be rude, it won't save you," she tells it. |
Author: truthwright | "Okay," laughs Kas. He finds a spot of floor to lie down on that does not intersect with the seagull's vote of disapproval.
"Me too, or me later?" asks Petaal. |
Author: dark_light | "I paint you both, then I say the words and kill the bird," says Isabella. |
Author: truthwright | There is a convenient space for Petaal beside Kas - on his right, even. Petaal takes it. |
Author: dark_light | Isabella kneels down, sets her ink in a reachable place, and paints matching bayleaves on the chosen hipbones. (This tickles.)
After she critically examines her work, she says, "Ready?" |
Author: truthwright | Human and daemon hold hands.
"Yeah," says Petaal. |
Author: dark_light | The verse is also not one that Isabella composed.
"Bayleaf, bayleaf. Safe and sound,
Keep my precious pair with me,
Live and whole and lucid, leaf,
That is how I need them both,
Bayleaf, bayleaf, guard them well.
Bayleaf, bayleaf, hear my verse
I protect and mind with you,
Hide inside them, safe and sound.
Burning down into their skin.
Bayleaf, bayleaf, guard them well.
Bayleaf, bayleaf, I am one
I remain at home, they go
I am safe and they in peril
Danger you will chase away
Bayleaf, bayleaf, close their wounds
Bayleaf, bayleaf, help them breathe
Bayleaf, bayleaf, they are mine
Bayleaf, bayleaf, do as asked
Bayleaf, bayleaf, guard them well,
Bayleaf, bayleaf, safe and sound."
On the last syllable, the seagull dies in her hand, and the ink sears itself into matching tattoos. |
Author: truthwright | And Kas and Petaal curl into each other and kiss happily. |
Author: dark_light | "There. Please don't be reckless about testing its limits," says Isabella, going to toss the gull in the firepit. "I can point you to scholarly papers on the subject if you're that curious." |
Author: truthwright | "Mmhm," Kas says agreeably. He'd use more words, but kissing. |
Author: dark_light | But kissing indeed.
"Should I get a book of tattoo-spells for you?" asks Isabella dryly. |
Author: truthwright | "Mmmmmmm," says Petaal. |
Author: dark_light | "You know, I got an inkling of this when you didn't want the no-pokey-talons blessing way back when, but how far does it go? I don't think most people would get tattoos recreationally," Isabella remarks. |
Author: truthwright | Kas pulls away from the kiss long enough to say, "Goes far enough that we haven't found where it stops." |
Author: dark_light | "...Huh."
Pause. Headtilt.
"...Do you want me to look up interestingly unpleasant curses? They don't all have side effects." |
Author: truthwright | They give a collective wriggle of delight.
"Ooh, yes please," breathes Petaal. |
Author: dark_light | "Ooookay," laughs Isabella. "That'll keep Metis off my back for a while if she starts pestering me about curses even after I've killed a guy." Pause. "By the way, killer-dance-moves magic - I think should generally be a secret. I'm already occasionally theatrical when I do other spells, I'll start throwing in random movements where they aren't needed and then if she sees me doing it to different effect she won't know it's special." |
Author: truthwright | "Okay," says Kas.
"We're gonna go fuck in the attic now," adds Petaal, dragging Kas to his feet.
"Love you," Kas says as he follows her.
"You can come with if you want!" Petaal calls over her shoulder. |
Author: dark_light | Isabella thinks.
She concludes want.
She sets the seagull on fire and chases them up. |