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 follows solemnly.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock seems very sure of where she is going, despite a lack of obvious signs.

[thaumobabble]

Bella starts murmuring to her marble. Something about whatever she's doing makes her look tired.

[calendarofcrime]

"Hmm?" says Sherlock.

[thaumobabble]

"If we're going to encounter wizards it's safer to have more of my magical energy in the marble where they can't take it than sitting in my witchwell and so on."

[calendarofcrime]

"Reasonable."

[thaumobabble]

"Yeah, I just don't usually feed it much magic all at once. I won't overdo it, I'd be no use then."

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock nods, inspects a stone on the ground, and keeps walking.

[thaumobabble]

Bella eventually gets to the point where feeding her marble any more would be unwise, and stops.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock continues to follow a trail no one else can see. She's going slower now, though.

[thaumobabble]

"Do you know anything else yet? Besides where to go?"

[calendarofcrime]

"Very little. Nothing I could easily put into words."

[thaumobabble]

Bella nods, and continues following. "I could scout from the air but I doubt I'd be able to report the kinds of things you're looking at."

[calendarofcrime]

"You wouldn't," Sherlock agrees. "I am - ah. Here. One moment."

They've come to the edge of a small pond, with a stretch of gravel along the near side. Sherlock studies it from a distance. Then she points.

"You will find your spell residue just there."

[thaumobabble]

Bella approaches. Bella works her magic. Bella inspects the residue in minute detail.

"It went north, east, or some combination of the two," says Bella after she's sifted through all the available information, "more than one hundred miles but fewer than two hundred fifty, isn't designed to land within the Enchanted Forest's borders, and carried at least five hundred pounds worth of people, creatures, and objects, none of whom were inherently magical like dragons or unicorns are."

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock thinks about this.

Sherlock says, "The Cave of Unpleasant Surprises."

[thaumobabble]

"...That doesn't sound at all good."

[calendarofcrime]

"I agree. But we are going to find it anyway."

[thaumobabble]

Bella nods.

"Carpet?"

[calendarofcrime]

"Carpet."

[thaumobabble]

Bella unrolls it and sits. "You want to drive or should I?"

[calendarofcrime]

"It might be most efficient if you drove and I navigated."

[thaumobabble]

Bella nods and sits at the front bit of the carpet. When Sherlock joins her, she commands, "Up."

The carpet rises.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock points.

[thaumobabble]

Bella steers.