exploratory kidnapping

[alicornucopia]

In this room are two women, one gray and sixty years old, one just thirty and red-haired, both wearing elaborate outfits. The younger casts a spell.

In this room is now also a third person. (On whom the elder woman promptly also casts a spell, which she had at the ready.)

Comments

[alicornucopia]

Jensal seamlessly takes over writing down the addresses the councilmember speaks.

[missnicegirl]

And Matilda knocks on some dragon's door.

[alicornucopia]

And some dragon with bright green hair answers the door and asks in Vansalese, "What is it?"

[missnicegirl]

"Can I come in, please? I have a lot of magic and I found out how to prevent little baby dragons from dying and I want to fix yours if any of them have the problem that makes them die," she explains.

[alicornucopia]

...The dragon steps aside and calls for her wife, who comes bearing a single baby with platinum scales the same color as her ponytail.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda gives the little baby a magic transplant. "There, that one's fixed now. Are there any more?"

[alicornucopia]

"Not anymore," murmurs the green one.

[missnicegirl]

"I'm sorry," she says. "I have to go, then."

And she crosses off the first address in her column and teleports to the next.

[alicornucopia]

There are a considerable quantity of babies to take care of. Jensal duplicates the link paper until it's a larger network, delegates writing down addresses from the Council, and starts filling up her column; Ludei follows.

[missnicegirl]

When there are no more un-crossed-out addresses in anyone's column, and no more addresses coming in, Matilda teleports back to Jensal's house and finds somewhere to sit and flumphs there. She wishes very much that she had learned about all these terrible magic problems a month ago.

[alicornucopia]

A miracle notices her flomped in the library and brings her a hot cocoa.

[missnicegirl]

"Aww, thanks," she says. Hot cocoa is very improving.

[alicornucopia]

"You're welcome," smiles the miracle.

[missnicegirl]

And now it occurs to her that there are probably lots and lots of dragons who are old enough to spontaneously die, and she takes her hot cocoa and gets up to go find Jensal.

[alicornucopia]

Jensal's in her office talking to some people about house operations.

[missnicegirl]

"I want to give all the old dragons magic transplants so they won't die either," says Matilda.

[alicornucopia]

"We can take care of it," Jensal says. (One of the people she was talking to looks mildly affronted about being interrupted.)

[missnicegirl]

Matilda looks slightly doubtful, but Jensal has been an exemplary grown-up so far and is probably going to be appropriately serious about the matter.

"Okay," she says. "Sorry for interrupting." And she vanishes home with her hot cocoa.

She is still very tired by the time of her next witchcraft lesson. She sends a note explaining that she is not feeling well and needs to stay home.

[alicornucopia]

Terali does not attempt to summon her in defiance of this note.

[missnicegirl]

Two days later, at her next lesson with Annei and Sarsia, she shows up on time but looking uncharacteristically subdued.

[alicornucopia]

"Hello, Matilda," says Terali, who is sitting in.

"Is something wrong?" Annei asks.

[missnicegirl]

"Not exactly," says Matilda. "I figured out how to stop dragons from dying of old age or the thing they die of when they're little babies. That's a good thing. But I'm sad about all the ones who died before I found out about them."

[alicornucopia]

"Dragons get to live longer than anyone else," Sarsia points out. "I mean, if they make it past the first month they do."

[missnicegirl]

"That doesn't make it not sad when they die," says Matilda. "It might make it sadder when everyone else dies, and I haven't figured out how to make any of the rest of us immortal."

[alicornucopia]

"I mean, the dead still get to be watchful spirits and then go to Heaven," says Annei.