barring emergencies

[the_very_best]

Bella's not sure where she has wandered. She thought she was about to walk into a shop, but this appears to be an unattended bar. With none of the windows associated with the shop she thought she was entering. It could be an elaborate psychic assault of some kind, but it doesn't feel very... assault-y... and she was in the middle of a town and doesn't think any humans want to sic their 'mon on her. It's strange. She approaches the bar, looking around warily, hand hovering near her belt.

with Max (Benedict)

with Earth and Lightning (kappa)

with Ann and Sabrina (kuuskytkolme)

Comments

[just_a_shadow]

"A summary, I guess. Where should we wait? I think I heard something about the bar place pausing time, so I guess not there...?"

[from_scratch]

"Well, we could go there and do things that involved at least ten minutes' worth of holding the door, but here is fine. Note explains the alternate universe selves thing, has a quick rundown of me and Promise's features including a warning about her name, repeats the explanation I got about the bar's mechanisms, and says me and a Shadow will be along to pick her up and answer more detailed questions soon, does she want to consult on slash contribute to our exciting projects."

[just_a_shadow]

"Okay. I hope she doesn't try to capture me," says Shadow. "Did the note say anything about all the free elementals...?"

[from_scratch]

"I didn't give her enough to go on about that unless it's the sort of thing she could predict from the 'alternate versions of you' thing, which, if it is, you have nothing to worry about."

[just_a_shadow]

Shadow takes a moment to think this through, and then murmurs, "I guess so..."

[from_scratch]

"She'll just think you're mine, right? If she couldn't guess otherwise?"

[just_a_shadow]

"Probably yes. It's the obvious thing to assume. That I'm yours or that you're borrowing me from someone or somewhere."

[from_scratch]

"So on no account is she liable to try to capture you."

[just_a_shadow]

"I guess not."

[from_scratch]

"And if she does I'll steal the amulet and... you know what we should have is walkie-talkies - anyway I'll steal the amulet and figure out how to get back to the door and I will drop it in my black hole, if anything can destroy it that should."

[just_a_shadow]

"You could just give it to Kisonde again," he murmurs. "What's a black hole?"

[from_scratch]

"Kisonde would probably have occurred to me once I was done being generally outraged or when I walked past her, whichever. A black hole is - well, I'm not sure how similar our laws of physics are, actually. Is this planet spherical?"

[just_a_shadow]

"Yes."

[from_scratch]

"Okay, the reason you are pulled down towards the planet instead of floating away, and in fact the reason why planets are spherical, is a force called gravity. Black holes have so much stuff in such a small place that they have stupidly large amounts of gravity and they squish anything they catch. Even light."

[just_a_shadow]

"I wonder if that means they're very bright inside."

[from_scratch]

"I... don't think it means that, but I couldn't tell you from personal experience, if I fell into my black hole I couldn't get to the inside of it, I can't squish so it's just like a solid dense thing which happens to be extremely gravitational."

[just_a_shadow]

"I could try dark scrying it. Then I'd know."

[from_scratch]

"Sure, go for it. It's under my house."

[just_a_shadow]

Out of curiosity, he tries it right then.

"That's weird. I can find the inside of Milliways from here, which I guess is useful because it means I don't have to keep going in and out of the door, but I can't find any of the parts of your world."

[from_scratch]

"Well, you can check it out some other time, then, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that you can't get all the way to my world with your magic."

[just_a_shadow]

"Do you think she read the note yet? Should I check?"

[from_scratch]

"Go ahead and check."

[make_opportunity]

Well, she seems to be looking at the note, but only intermittently. She has set her book aside and is peering around the room from her bed.

[just_a_shadow]

"She's looking at the note and then around and then at the note again," says Shadow. "Should we go there?"

[from_scratch]

"Yep."