falling ill

[keep_busy]

A few months after the business with the chalice, Annie (with a gold engagement stud in one earlobe, now receiving mail at Aldaras's apartment, and thoroughly comfortable with Being Necklaced, to the point where she's helping mold the thing towards more exacting standards for real-world-practical as well as theoretical compatibility) is in bed with some unidentified sort of head cold or flu. Aldaras doesn't have it so far, so she is snuggled under the covers while he makes her spicy soup to help clear her sinuses and because she's having a little trouble with non-liquids. He's worried, she's mostly just groggy. Zzzz.

Comments

[darkest_evening]

"... Of course it does," sighs Prime. "Why would it do anything else. Spring, is it the obvious?"

[namesthesky]

"Yeah."

[darkest_evening]

"Right then. I'm just going to guess that there is, of course, zero way to reverse the effects. Am I wrong?"

[keep_busy]

"Well, not here, that I know of, and I think a reversal artifact would've made the news, but you have... lots of magic? So maybe you can? I'm so sorry. I just wear it most of the time because you can - tweak how the items work if you're touching them and I kinda pull it off better than my fiancé does."

[namesthesky]

"Oh," says Spring.

She sits very, very still.

[darkest_evening]

Prime - looks at her, then sighs and sits down next to her.

"Well. I have exactly zero idea how to reverse it with my magic," he says. "And daeva magic would be exactly useless. Ice's magic might be able to manage it, or spellbinding or runecasting with enough time investment."

[namesthesky]

"Okay."

[keep_busy]

"I'm. Going to. Go get Aldaras," says Annie, and she climbs out of bed and goes into the kitchen.

[darkest_evening]

When Annie has left the room: "How are we planning on handling this?"

[namesthesky]

"It sounds like you want to see if somebody can undo it."

[keep_busy]

"Aldaras? Uh, first, I am all better."

[touchedinthehead]

Aldaras is almost finished making soup. He looks at Annie and blinks in surprise.

"I'm - glad, but that was. Kind of sudden? Not complaining, just -"

[darkest_evening]

"It seems like the easiest solution to the problem of 'your head just got hijacked by a very convenient and probably evil necklace.' But, I might be wrong."

[keep_busy]

"I will still totally eat the soup, I have been thinking about the soup all morning - um - magic people from another world one of whom claims to be an alternate universe version of me sent me a magic mirror, which worked without me touching it, to talk to them, and then appeared, and one of them healed me, but she touched my necklace and now I think she's in love with the other one."

[namesthesky]

Spring makes a small and non-linguistic squeaking noise.

[touchedinthehead]

"Okay," meeps Aldaras. "That's. That's a thing, um. We should. Go talk to them?"

[darkest_evening]

"... I think we should retrieve the mirror and we should both talk to ourselves."

[keep_busy]

Annie nods, and into the bedroom they go.

"Uh, this is my fiancé, Aldaras."

[touchedinthehead]

"Hello," says the fiancé, Aldaras.

[darkest_evening]

"Let me guess. Twin sibling, adopted father, endless desire to see the world neat and orderly and well functioning, and you do a numbers thing in your head."

[touchedinthehead]

"Wh- yes?"

[darkest_evening]

"Hi. I'm your alt. Nice to meet you, magical power, multiple worlds, seem to come in pairs with Bells romantically, something something, so on, so forth. How exactly would you describe the extent of the disturbing love necklace's disturbing results?"

[keep_busy]

"...Aldaras is a special case because he's twice-touched. So in addition to being magically in love with me he also is incapable of keeping secrets from me without stupid magic guilt trips. Um, it's... extensive. But not otherwise mind-altering. I did it on purpose when there was a mind-reader on the loose who could be expected to not have the usual range limit or telltale signs."

[darkest_evening]

Mind readers are present here. Fantastic. Maybe he can find one to decipher all of the screaming in his head. No? No luck? Oh well, he'll just have to put up with it.

"Okay. I'm going to call the others."

He retrieves the mirror, turns it on, and explains with, "It turns out that this world's got a disturbing magical permanent-love inducing necklace. Spring has accidentally touched it."

[dark_light]

"Uh, shit. Set up portal, turn her over to us, we will - do - something. Nothing's instantly coming to mind for me as a post-emptive measure but I could try general countercurses in case... Is it on you or something even more awkward?"