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 is not in the house at the moment; someone is doing paperwork for her in her office.

[missnicegirl]

"Excuse me, do you know where Jensal is?" she inquires of the someone.

[alicornucopia]

"She's on Dragon Island," says the someone. "Uh, but you probably shouldn't go there."

[missnicegirl]

"I would like to talk to her. Do you know when she'll be back?"

[alicornucopia]

"She said in time to make her appointment with the house accountant at tenth and naught, but then of course she'll be meeting with him - he might let you bump him, though."

[missnicegirl]

"Well, I'll wait," she decides, "and if she's back before her appointment I'll talk to her then and otherwise I'll see."

She blinks home to pick up a book, and for lack of a chair she levitates comfortably just outside the office door, tucked against the wall so as not to get in anyone's way.

[alicornucopia]

Jensal is back at ninth-and-same. "Matilda, hello," she says, looking rather tired.

[missnicegirl]

"Hello. Are you all right?"

[alicornucopia]

"Fine. Short on sleep is all. It'll calm down. What's going on?"

[missnicegirl]

"I want to find out if any religions are right about the afterlife, and if so which ones," she says. "Because if there isn't anything like Heaven or anything then it's very sad that people die and I should figure out how to make them stop."

[alicornucopia]

Jensal blinks at her. "And you came here?"

[missnicegirl]

"I didn't have any good ideas right away for how to tell, and you're very sensible for a grownup," she says. "So I thought you might think of something. If you can't help me I'll try Miss Honey next."

[alicornucopia]

"Your mother hasn't already... ah, discussed... religion with you in any capacity?"

[missnicegirl]

"Well, not in this particular way, because I only just thought of why it's so important to find out. Why?"

[alicornucopia]

"That's where people usually get their theological opinions from," Jensal says.

[missnicegirl]

"Oh. Well, she hasn't given me any. We're both sort of agnostic."

[alicornucopia]

"Right. Well, the thing is dragons usually don't talk about our theological opinions," Jensal says. "This applied to shrens too back before you turned up with your miracles."

[missnicegirl]

"Why don't you?"

[alicornucopia]

"That would be part of the set of things we don't talk about. But you are the original miracle worker and I'm not sure you couldn't get somebody to talk if you tried very hard," muses Jensal.

[missnicegirl]

"And it's important," Matilda reminds her. "Unless the things you usually don't talk about aren't especially relevant to the question, but if they weren't I think you wouldn't be thinking so hard about it."

[alicornucopia]

"Well," says Jensal. "You might have noticed that no dragons have particularly objected to being made immortal."

[missnicegirl]

...Matilda waits, to see if more information is forthcoming.

[alicornucopia]

"And you are very clever and can make some deductions from that. I will tell you that the reason dragons don't discuss theology is because we are concerned it would start large conflicts up to and including wars."

[missnicegirl]

"I don't have to go around yelling at people about it," she says. "But it's important to know. Okay. I should figure out how to make lots more people immortal, then."

[alicornucopia]

"I do recommend making it voluntary," Jensal says. "Some people will probably remain convinced that they ought to die eventually no matter what you do."