peryton

[shesepankh]

Summer vacation elapses, and sees their storefront doing one heck of a business in the Avalon with the help of their griffin employee. There is a suggestion box for new spells they should invent, some of which have to be long-term projects but others of which are converted into new product fairly promptly.

School starts up again. Darren and Bella are both skipping straight into twelfth grade. (Bella looked into just starting college early, but while she does technically have the sort of resume that can lead to that kind of thing, she can't exactly write an essay about how she saved the life of another person and this caused her to have Moral Character, let alone about how she started a small business - so skipping one grade it is.)

They apply to colleges. They both get into University of Washington and get sufficient scholarships to accommodate both going there.

Summer ensues again.

One afternoon, Bella is over at Darren's, and has fallen asleep - in purring fullform - across his lap on the couch.

Comments

[shesepankh]

"Uh, sure," says Guy With Instrument.

Guy Without Instrument kicks the sphinx again and then follows his co-worker out of the section.

[morethanimaginary]

"Hey. This is a jailbreak. Do me a favor," says Savannah, in an undertone, "and start pretending to freak out for me, okay? Dare, got anything for the chains?"

[castmyown]

"Maybe," murmurs Darren, all worry and concern and barely contained anger - he touches a part of Bella that is not injured, gently, lovingly. "It's us, Bella."

He starts trying to see if he has any scrolls for breaking chains, one hand buried in Bella's fur trying to offer some measure of - of comfort.

(Fuck they hurt her so bad, he wants to cry. He wants to burn down the warehouse and then cry.)

[shesepankh]

Bella inhales sharply when spoken to, eyes going wide, and - freaking out, right, okay, she doesn't have to reach hard for that, she bursts into loud miserable tears.

[castmyown]

Darren leaves the hand in her fur where it is, and then finds a spell that can be aimed to get rid of the chains. He murmurs the chant, and then -

Nothing?

"... Vana, I think there's something here preventing magic."

[morethanimaginary]

"Mmm. Makes sense. Lemme look, I'll find something."

Savannah starts investigating the area for key-like things, or, conversely, something that will cut through chains.

[shesepankh]

There's a key on the little tray of grotesque instruments.

Bella sobs, either unable to explain or not willing to break up the audible freakout for it.

[morethanimaginary]

Savannah takes the key. She also pockets some of the more useful grotesque instruments - she's still plotting murder. Also torture, now, because they need to know who was responsible for orchestrating this.

She starts unlocking chains.

[castmyown]

"It's okay," soothes Darren, softly, because he can't just leave his girlfriend to freak out like this. "We're here, we're getting you out."

[shesepankh]

I know, Bella mouths silently, and then she produces a credible wail to keep the torturers from wondering what's up.

[castmyown]

He smiles, just a little - she can't see it, because he's still invisible. He murmurs, "I love you."

[morethanimaginary]

And - click, there goes the last of Bella's chains.

"My vote - kill all but one, keep that one for interrogation, figure out who's in charge of this shit and then make sure this never happens again."

[castmyown]

"We get Bella out first," hisses Darren. "So she can heal herself, and then we work from there."

[shesepankh]

Bella makes an attempt to stand up.

It doesn't work especially well.

"Ink monster's in the building," she warns hastily before screaming again.

[castmyown]

Darren shifts to fullform, and then he's there beside her, invisibly trying to support her while not hurting her. As much as possible.

"I've brought lots of spells. I think I can kill it, that was the plan if you were -" He stops, because he can't choke out the words 'If you were dead.'

[morethanimaginary]

"They're going to find the corpse soon, it's a matter of time 'til they do. Dare, you do your thing, stick with Bella, I'm going to start killing people."

[castmyown]

"Okay. Want an invisibility scroll?"

[morethanimaginary]

"Couldn't hurt. If I find ink monster, and it comes after me, I'll scream like a banshee. Come blow it up, if that happens."

[shesepankh]

"It's fast," hisses Bella, "I almost escaped once but it got me again - AAAAAAAAAAH," she adds as a helpful afterthought, "but I don't think it flies."

[castmyown]

Darren passes the invisible invisibility scroll towards Savannah, and after ten seconds away from him, it turns visible.

[morethanimaginary]

Savannah takes the scroll, reads over what its chant is, and then pockets it. "Okay, minute they find the corpse I use invisibility and start flying around being death from above, got it. Dare, don't be here with Bella when that happens."

She straightens up, drops back into an eerily accurate body language of the fellow whose heart she ate, and then she (he?) turns and leaves.

Off to go kill people.

[shesepankh]

Bella's still struggling to stand up so she can get out of the antimagic field.

[castmyown]

Her boyfriend is - trying to help her do that. Gently.

"You can lean on me, it'll - probably hurt, though, because - well," he murmurs. "I'll help you move, though."

[shesepankh]

Bella leans, and this scream is a little less unfeigned than the last one.

Heavily favoring her most recently declawed paw, she drags herself out of the room.

And then collapses, healed.

[castmyown]

Darren glances around, then retrieves another invisibility scroll - his last one, in fact - and uses it on Bella.

He shifts to midform, drapes an invisible wing over her while still keeping thumbs, and he waits. For either the corpse to be found, his sister to be caught, or Bella to wake up.