bewitched armor

[thaumobabble]

There are plenty of things to do. Bella orders a carpet to enchant so she can commute to and from Reformist Wizards efficiently and move house. She starts combing through the castle library to find background material on her Minor Technical Issue.

Sometimes she watches Sherlock cook.

Sometimes she watches Tony forge. (Nnnnf.)

Comments

[thaumobabble]

Bella goes up to her multiply-opening door.

She comes back to the kitchen with no visible wounds, but a few streaks of blood on her face. "My window exploded. Something happened."

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock closes her eyes for a few seconds.

[thaumobabble]

"An explosion rather than search failure narrows it down, but not in a good way," mutters Bella, starting to pace.

[calendarofcrime]

"In what way, then?"

[thaumobabble]

"If the spell just failed that could mean I made the window wrong or addressed the window wrong or that Tony had secretly been made of soap bubbles all along, or something. If it explodes, that means there's copious amounts of hostile magic between my window and her."

[calendarofcrime]

"I see," says Sherlock.

She looks at dinner. She looks at Bella.

She walks out of the kitchen door and across the palace clearing into the trees.

[thaumobabble]

"Off," Bella mutters to the stove, and she follows. "We should find her but we should prepare - your armor, my armor - we should tell your mother -"

[calendarofcrime]

"First I am going to find out where she is," says Sherlock, and she keeps walking.

[thaumobabble]

"There is a large amount of hostile magic in the way is where she is! If you walk into it right now it could - Sherlock, it could kill you, I don't know what it is but that's definitely on the list of things it could be -" Bella's hurrying after her as fast as her moccasins allow.

[calendarofcrime]

"I did not say I would go to where she is," says Sherlock. "I said I would find it."

[thaumobabble]

"What makes you think you can do that without running into the great big wall of hostile magic? I know you're insanely good at finding things but nothing says the magic in question is closer to where she disappeared from than to here."

[calendarofcrime]

"I am not doing what you assume I am doing," says Sherlock, closing her eyes and running her fingers along invisible filaments in the air, "and I do not have time to explain what I am doing until after I have done it. It would be extremely helpful if you would fetch our armour in case we have need of it when I am done."

[thaumobabble]

Bella swallows.

She turns around and goes inside for their armor. And keeps an eye out for Her Majesty.

[pythbox]

Her Majesty is not in evidence.

[thaumobabble]

Fine. Bella fetches all the requested armor, puts hers on and pours her loafing-around-the-house sleeves into her armor-sleeves, and dons her hat before sweeping out into the clearing after Sherlock again.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock is still doing whatever mysterious thing she is doing.

It's hard to tell how she feels about it.

[thaumobabble]

Bella stops a few steps away and puts her specs on for lack of anything helpful to offer.

[calendarofcrime]

She is surrounded by threads of royal magic, and there is some kind of communication going on between her and them. Nothing beyond that is clear.

[thaumobabble]

Bella flicks between lenses but gets no further detail. She puts her specs away. She waits.

[calendarofcrime]

Eventually, she drops her hands and reports.

"I traced her route from the castle to the edge of the forest. She encountered a small party of wizards at the fringe. They left together. No more detail is available, but one can assume she did not go willingly."

[thaumobabble]

Bella swallows.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock puts on her armour.

"Are you coming?"

[thaumobabble]

"We should tell your mother, or at least leave a note, I didn't see her anywhere when I was fetching the armor. But yes, I'm coming."

[calendarofcrime]

"I've told the forest," says Sherlock. "She'll know."

[thaumobabble]

"...Okay. Should I get the flying carpet?"