With an alethiometer and a reader at her disposal, Isabella is never still. She barely sleeps, catching brief naps only when Path falls into a doze and she's pulled after him. The rest of her time is spent placating Metis with enough apprenticey tasks that she doesn't get kicked out, working on plans to take over the world, and working off the resultant uncontrollable excitement with Kas (in the nude, and Petaal dividing her time between Path and the non-daemons).

Metis goes on a long trip, and apprenticey tasks are no longer called for. Isabella blesses a cranberry bog in exchange for a large stack of cheap notebooks, and she writes trees of questions in them - if this is true, she needs to know that, in which case this could also be relevant. She passes them to Kas as fast as he'll take them; Path supervises and clarifies what Isabella meant where needed.

The alethiometer can make suggestions about spells. It doesn't communicate in words, and Kas doesn't know enough about ritual magic to interpret it very specifically, but it can point Isabella in the right direction. When she fails six times in a row to figure out what it means about a certain powerful defensive blessing that it thinks she'll want soon, though, she needs something that was better optimized for her use. The alethiometer describes the location of a witch from a non-Olympic but friendly clan based in Texas, an expert in such defenses. Isabella is busy: she sends Path to go talk to her about the spell, and stays in Metis's house herself, catching up on sleep now that Path is too far away to be stubbornly shaken awake, contemplating the unification of the clans as a preceding step to the attempt on human society, and eating mostly what the cornucopia can make for her.

After Path has been gone for just shy of a day, Isabella, collapsed sleeping on top of Kas, jolts awake with a strangled scream.

Author: dark_light	With an alethiometer and a reader at her disposal, Isabella is never still. She barely sleeps, catching brief naps only when Path falls into a doze and she's pulled after him. The rest of her time is spent placating Metis with enough apprenticey tasks that she doesn't get kicked out, working on plans to take over the world, and working off the resultant uncontrollable excitement with Kas (in the nude, and Petaal dividing her time between Path and the non-daemons). Metis goes on a long trip, and apprenticey tasks are no longer called for. Isabella blesses a cranberry bog in exchange for a large stack of cheap notebooks, and she writes trees of questions in them - if this is true, she needs to know that, in which case this could also be relevant. She passes them to Kas as fast as he'll take them; Path supervises and clarifies what Isabella meant where needed. The alethiometer can make suggestions about spells. It doesn't communicate in words, and Kas doesn't know enough about ritual magic to interpret it very specifically, but it can point Isabella in the right direction. When she fails six times in a row to figure out what it means about a certain powerful defensive blessing that it thinks she'll want soon, though, she needs something that was better optimized for her use. The alethiometer describes the location of a witch from a non-Olympic but friendly clan based in Texas, an expert in such defenses. Isabella is busy: she sends Path to go talk to her about the spell, and stays in Metis's house herself, catching up on sleep now that Path is too far away to be stubbornly shaken awake, contemplating the unification of the clans as a preceding step to the attempt on human society, and eating mostly what the cornucopia can make for her. After Path has been gone for just shy of a day, Isabella, collapsed sleeping on top of Kas, jolts awake with a strangled scream.
Author: truthwright	It startles him awake, and for a second all he knows is that something is very very wrong; he hugs her instinctively. "What—?"
Author: dark_light	"P-p-path," she gasps, and convulses.
Author: truthwright	"Fuck," he says, and hugs her again. Petaal shifts golden retriever and darts across the room to fetch him the alethiometer. If someone is touching Path and hasn't stopped, Isabella is going to be in no condition to answer questions about how and where and who even if she has any idea.
Author: dark_light	Isabella makes another noise and slowly curls up into a ball. "Hurts," she sobs. "Hurts - hurts - make it stop -"
Author: truthwright	"I know," he says, "honey, I know." He hugs her one more time and kisses her forehead. "I will, I promise." Then he needs both hands to work the alethiometer. What happened to Path? Captured—killer—danger—torture. Can I fix it? How? Daemon—lonely/alone—send—find—change(form)—small—sneak—kill—rescue—safe. Kas bites his lip. Petaal turns linsang and flows up to sit on his shoulder and read the next answer along with him. Where is he, exactly? A forest in Pennsylvania, apparently. There's more detail, enough that Petaal nods along: she can find this place. Okay. Last question. (He doesn't ask it if it was sure about daemon—lonely/alone. He knows exactly how sure it was.) How do we separate? Send—journey—pain—stay. Simple enough. And with Isabella right there continuing to hurt, they're not inclined to argue about it. Petaal shifts cheetah and bolts for her cloud-pine, and Kas wraps his arms around Isabella and cries.
Author: dark_light	Isabella's shivering; if she notices Kas's embrace she doesn't react to it. He's certainly noticed by now that she talks in her sleep, and while her eyes are open and her words are more focused, this is closer to that than anything else. "Path - Path - hurts - I'm scared -"
Author: truthwright	"My sweetie's gonna fix it," he says, cuddling up and pressing his face into her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay." It does not feel okay. It feels like his heart is being ripped out of his chest, continually, tearing and pulling but never breaking free. But since he knows from experience that what Isabella's feeling is even worse, he stays right where he is. Going along would fuck the whole thing up, that much was clear. He does not want to fuck this up.
Author: dark_light	"Nnnnnnnnnnnng," whimpers Isabella, and then her eyes roll back in her head and she passes out. Whether from pain or fear or some mechanism of unconsciousness applied directly to Path is not immediately clear. Her unconsciousness is not peaceful, and it's not sleep, either: she stops talking, but she twitches.
Author: truthwright	Kas holds her. For her comfort or his, he's not even sure which.
Author: dark_light	Isabella doesn't stay passed-out for long, although she doesn't stay conscious for long, either, she keeps drifting in and out, waking up long enough to repeat her daemon's name or 'hurts' or wordless sounds of misery.
Author: truthwright	Kas isn't even sure when the heart-ripping feeling stops. You'd think it would be the kind of thing you'd notice, but there are plenty of other things to be miserable about, and it's not like he suddenly stops missing her. He desperately wants her to be soft and fluffy and in his lap where he can hug her for approximately the rest of ever. But he wants Path to be safe even more than that.
Author: dark_light	Either Path is being hurt somewhat less right now, or Isabella is, impossibly, becoming accustomed to the situation, because she opens her eyes more lucidly, and manages to choke out half a question: "Where's...?"
Author: truthwright	"She's going to find who has your Path and kill him," says Kas, cuddling her.
Author: dark_light	"She's - but you're - aaaah," says Isabella, losing whatever grip on the situation she had and squirming in his arms. "Path Path Path -"
Author: truthwright	"Yeah," he sighs. "I know. Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."
Author: dark_light	Isabella sobs and grabs blindly for his hand and squeezes when she finds it. "I'm scared. Path, Path."
Author: truthwright	"Me too," Kas murmurs, curling up around her to get as much snuggle going as he possibly can.
Author: dark_light	Isabella passes out again. She's breathing oddly, like there's not enough air in the room - or in Path's room.
Author: truthwright	Fuck.
Author: dark_light	She lets out an almighty gasp and wakes up again. Whoever's got Path is obviously not going for the quick kill. Or the direct one. Or the one that doesn't last hours-at-least. Unfortunate. In one respect. Fortunate in another. (It'll take Petaal nearly half a day to get there at top cloud-pine speed assuming no crashes and no interruptions.)
Author: truthwright	Kas just hugs her. Right now there is nothing else he can do.
Author: dark_light	Suddenly Isabella's entire body relaxes, limp and quiet, and all her breath goes out in a sigh.
Author: truthwright	Kas holds his own breath and listens.
Author: dark_light	Isabella doesn't move. Or speak. Or breathe. If Path were there, it would be easy to check to see if he disappeared. The entire problem, though, is that he isn't.
Author: truthwright	He closes his eyes, and holds her, and keeps still.
Author: dark_light	She gasps in a breath. "Oh," murmurs Isabella softly, after recovering a semblance of normal breathing rhythm. "Oh. He let go. We hurt but I think he let go."
Author: truthwright	Kas sniffles. "I'm sorry you hurt," he says. "I'm sorry you ever had to feel that."
Author: dark_light	"If I can - do a spell - ahhhh - something - revise the one that - bring him back - kill the - nnnf - bastard - ow fuck ow -" says Isabella. (Whether Path is currently in contact with a human or not, she's obviously not in good enough shape to get out the snow-circle, let alone something as complicated as the spell that brought her the alethiometer or the death curse.)
Author: truthwright	"My sweetie's gonna get him," Kas says softly. "I asked the alethiometer, it said that's how."
Author: dark_light	"You don't have to send - fuck - you don't want that - Metis could - no she's gone - doesn't have a - aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh - focus - to do it," pants Isabella. "If I could sit up -" It's not clear if she knows that Petaal has already left or not. She seizes up, full of tension, again. "Path, Path," she moans. The respite is apparently over for the time being.
Author: truthwright	Kas just hugs her.
Author: dark_light	There's another break - if removing a single component of what is obviously multifaceted torture can be called that - an hour later. "You already sent her," pants Isabella. "Didn't you. She's gone already."
Author: truthwright	"Yep," he says. "I don't know how long it's gonna be."
Author: dark_light	"Took Path - my Path, my Path - all day," whispers Isabella. She twitches. "Nnnnnnng fuck fuck fuck she'll kill him right when she gets there right she'll kill him?"
Author: truthwright	"She will," Kas promises. "And she'll get Path out and bring him home and he'll be safe."
Author: dark_light	Isabella twists, trying to get away from a pain that isn't even there, and descends into gibbering misery again. It's a little under an hour before she can talk again. "How - fucking - much - can - fuck - one - tiny - owl - take - before-we-just-fucking-die-already," she shrieks.
Author: truthwright	"Oh, honey," he says, and starts very quietly crying again.
Author: dark_light	"Tell me again," Isabella whispers. (That it'll be all right. That Petaal will kill the bastard. That Path will come home. Anything. She can't specify, there's sharpness and heat and twisting all over her.)
Author: truthwright	"It's gonna be okay," he sniffles. "My sweetie's gonna fix it."
Author: dark_light	She squeezes his hand. And convulses again.
Author: truthwright	Petaal, meanwhile, has been going maximum speed on her cloud-pine for hours. But she knows all the landmarks; when she gets close, she drops until she's skimming just above the trees, and when she spots the log cabin with the crooked roof like a broken tooth, she dives to get out of sight and shifts squirrel to bolt across the remaining distance. Then cockroach, to wriggle her way in through the walls.
Author: dark_light	There's an easily audible mixture of panicked screams and exhausted, hopeless pleas in Path's voice echoing through the cabin. And a deeper voice snarling mocking versions of the same words, with additions. "Oh don't hurt meeee, I'm only a poor wittle witch-owl, I'm too aloof and powerful to be hurt like anybody else - not so much now, little fucker, huh? Shut up!" There's a squeak and then more screams.
Author: truthwright	Cockroaches are good at getting into places where no one wants them, but their eyesight is for shit. Petaal shifts housefly. Houseflies get a great view.
Author: dark_light	She may not want her great view once she sees hundreds of facets across her vision of what's going on. The man and the scorpion daemon accompanying him have Path rigged up in something that is obviously specially designed for holding birds. With less than zero regard for the comfort of those birds. Path is pierced in a few places through both wings, held spread open. Many of his feathers are no longer attached to him and the ones that are have been crushed by miscellaneous abuse. There are spots of blood dotting the table beneath him; his beak has been cut clear through like a battery cage chicken's and his talons are all severed at the quick. Assorted ominous implements stand in neat rows nearby. In the torturer's hand is, currently, a small serrated knife. It looks like he's going for an eye, but he's taking his time about it, feinting and laughing and never taking his other hand off Path's weakly struggling foot.
Author: truthwright	She wants that view, oh yes she does, because with a good view comes good aim. What's the fastest kill from here? Jaguar. She shifts and launches herself into the man from the side, tackling him away from Path; on the way down, she gets her jaws around the back of his neck and crushes his spine in one bite. She knows she's done it when touching him stops feeling like some integral part of her is being shredded.
Author: dark_light	The scorpion vanishes. Path can talk even with his beak mangled. Daemon speech isn't much about how they're physically made. "P-petaal?"
Author: truthwright	"Sweetie," she says, shifting witch and getting to her feet, reaching for him hesitantly. "I wanna fix it—I don't know how to fix it."
Author: dark_light	"J-just - Isabella - can - she can, my Isabella, she can," Path moans, feet twitching. "There's clips - on the frame - holding the - things -"
Author: truthwright	"I see it, I see it," she breathes, and she carefully carefully carefully disentangles him from his prison.
Author: dark_light	Path whimpers, but it's nothing like the screams from earlier. He doesn't even try to fold his wings; he lets them hang limp from his shoulders.
Author: truthwright	"I got you, baby," she murmurs. "We're going home." She carries him carefully, gently out the door, and walks barefoot back to her abandoned cloud-pine.
Author: dark_light	"Wh-where is he?" stutters Path, huddling close to her chest.
Author: truthwright	"My sweetie's home with yours," she says.
Author: dark_light	"Y-you -? But that's... miles, hours away," he shivers. "You didn't want that..."
Author: truthwright	"We wanted you safe," she says. "We wanted that more than anything." It takes some doing, to get them in the air without hurting him much worse. But she manages it, and she points them homeward and gets plenty of altitude to discourage any ground-level interference.
Author: dark_light	Path tries to fall asleep. Eventually, he succeeds. At home, murmuring half-words and settling into a calmer slump in Kas's arms, Isabella sleeps too.
Author: truthwright	Kas does not sleep. Neither, naturally, does Petaal. Eventually, she lands in front of the house. "Hey, wake up," Kas says softly, kissing Isabella's forehead. "They're here."
Author: dark_light	Isabella sits up, slowly. "Path? My Path is here?" "Isabella," calls Path from the door, desperately relieved. "Please - I can't fly - give me to her -"
Author: truthwright	"I am, I am," says Petaal, hurrying inside. "Oh, honey. We love you so much."
Author: dark_light	Isabella takes Path with as much care and eagerness as can coexist in the same motion and cradles him, murmuring. "My Path my Path my Path - oh you're safe - my Path -" while he murmurs back to her in much the same way. "Where's my cornucopia?" she asks, not taking her eyes away from her daemon. "I need to - he's so - I have to fix him."
Author: truthwright	"Right here," says Kas, grabbing it and handing it to her. And then throwing himself into Petaal's arms. "Sweetie, my sweetie, I love you, I love you I love you love you love you love love love..." Petaal says similar things back to him, and they both pretty quickly dissolve into incoherent sobbing.
Author: dark_light	Isabella glances at them quickly, but she has other priorities at the moment. "Dill - cilantro - mint - shredded ginger - parsley," she tells it, pausing between each one with distraction or to pant with lingering pain. "Bottle of pine sap?" she tries. It won't give her that; she eyes the door and the twenty feet to Metis's stock of such things dubiously, and says "Bottle of maple syrup" instead. That she can get. She drizzles it one-handed into shaky runes in a square on the floor, her other hand clutching Path gently to her chest.
Author: truthwright	They end up on the floor, as wrapped around each other as they can possibly get, Petaal as a jaguar again and Kas with his hands buried in her fur.
Author: dark_light	Isabella finishes her diagram and gently, gently puts Path in its center. She never takes her hand away from him, though, fingers buried in the feathers he has left. She sprinkles him with herbs and sprinkles the syrup with other herbs and murmurs verses. She's too wrung out to compose; these are simple, almost nursery rhymes, that she's known for first aid forever. When she can think straight, when she hurts less, she'll come up with something to fix the rest of the damage. Right now she needs to apply painkilling poetry, close wounds with disappearing syrup and herbs. She can't do anything about his feathers but those will grow back.
Author: truthwright	Kas looks away from Petaal long enough to ask, "You guys okay?"
Author: dark_light	"Better," says Path, as Isabella scoops him up again out of the disappeared diagram. "We'll be sore for - a while," says Isabella. "And I don't think he'll be able to fly until his feathers grow in again and that could easily take weeks even if I pour coconut milk and lavender over him every morning. But better."
Author: truthwright	He lets out a relieved breath. "Good. Better is good."
Author: dark_light	"Are you okay? I don't even know how - how you did that. Witches have to go to a wasteland that daemons can't go into and drag ourselves across a mile of it and it usually takes hours and some people have to try four or five times - I don't understand how Petaal just flew away like that."
Author: truthwright	"I had to," says Petaal. "You were hurting."
Author: dark_light	Isabella's sitting on the floor; she scoots closer to them. "Thank you," she whispers. Path can't fly. But he can walk. He edges his way to the end of Isabella's arm. He presses his face - with his healed beak - into Petaal's side. And then, timidly, into Kas's. Isabella closes her eyes and gasps but she doesn't pull away.
Author: truthwright	"Sweetie," Kas murmurs, and he uncurls from Petaal far enough to lean down and kiss the top of Path's head.
Author: dark_light	"Thank you," Path whispers.
Author: truthwright	"We love you," says Kas. He strokes Path's remaining feathers with his fingertips. "We love you and we're sorry you hurt and we're glad you're okay."
Author: dark_light	"We love you too," whispers Path, leaning into the touch. Isabella is still breathing strangely, gasping and exhaling unsmoothly. Still not pulling away. She opens her eyes slowly. Path closes his.
Author: truthwright	Petaal reaches out a paw and rests it near Isabella. Not close enough to touch accidentally, but close enough that she could, if she wanted to. Kas kisses Path's head again.
Author: dark_light	Isabella looks at Petaal's paw. She reaches out and completes the circuit. And then she has to close her eyes again and make a tiny noise in the back of her throat.
Author: truthwright	"Love you," breathes Kas. "I just want to hug you and hug you and never let go," says Petaal.
Author: dark_light	"That sounds pretty good right now," breathes Isabella. "Forever-hugs. Yeah."
Author: truthwright	Petaal shifts to some large constricting snake with iridescent black scales, and she coils around Kas and Isabella, careful not to squish anyone.
Author: dark_light	Isabella sighs tiredly, and makes sure Path is situated in a gap between her and Kas with plenty of breathing room, and leans her head on one of the coils and closes her eyes again.
Author: truthwright	Kas likewise snuggles up carefully and closes his eyes. The world is full of love and closeness. It's the most perfect thing he can think of right now.