we are invariably pleased to welcome tourism

[cross_and_bow]

Sherlock is usually very puncutal. He's only one minute late, but that's still not quite as punctual as usual. Bella peers out the window, not yet allowing herself outright concern.

Comments

[eversomuchfun]

There he is!

It seems he's brought a friend.

[cross_and_bow]

"Who's that?" Bella says, sticking her head out the window. "And you're a minute late, your blood's gone cold."

[dark_light]

"Well," says Amariah, "that answers the mental opacity question very handily. Hi! I'm an alternate version of you from another dimension! I'm Isabella Amariah and you can call me Amariah for non-redundancy. Sherlock's been calling you Juliet, can I do the same?"

[eversomuchfun]

"This is going to be an interesting conversation," says Sherlock.

[cross_and_bow]

"What's going on?"

[dark_light]

"Sherlock can't hear me," says Amariah. "I've got a spell on that prevents anyone from noticing me. You're immune! Congratulations. Can we all go back to Sherlock's crypt so I can take the spell off? He doesn't need the blood anyway, my boyfriend let him bite him not half an hour ago."

[cross_and_bow]

"...Sherlock, she says you're not hungry and we should all go back to your crypt?" says Bella.

[eversomuchfun]

"Both very true."

[cross_and_bow]

"Okay then."

Bella dumps the blood and exits the house, messenger bag in tow. "I guess you can call me Juliet if Bella won't do."

[dark_light]

"It won't," says Amariah. "Too many of us to keep straight in the interdimensional hub, so we're all picking nicknames. Me, Shell Bell, Stella, Angela, and Golden hasn't picked a nickname officially but Stella's met her and that's her guess, and Sherlock supplied Juliet for you but you could go with something different."

[cross_and_bow]

"Okay, that's a lot. How exactly did you find Amariah, Sherlock?"

[eversomuchfun]

"Stepped out of my crypt, and instead of the usual graveyard I found a bar," he says. "Amariah spotted me and said hello."

[dark_light]

"Shell Bell is dating a girl version of him," says Amariah chattily. "I've met that one, her Tony, and another pair where they're both boys. This one doesn't have a Tony anymore, which is terribly sad - At any rate, I recognized him and said hi before I realized there was something the matter with his soul. Oh, by the way, my owl is my soul. Don't touch him. His name's Pathalan."

[cross_and_bow]

"You can tell by looking that there's something wrong with his soul? That is so unfair, I am supposed to have vampire detection powers," grumbles Juliet.

[dark_light]

"I'm a witch - I can't teach you, we're a species, not an academic specialty - and therefore magically sensitive. I can tell by looking that you don't have a Pathalan of your own. Which is still weird to me, but I'm getting used to it. And I could tell by looking that Sherlock's soul is not only internal but also weird."

[cross_and_bow]

"Internal souls," mutters Juliet. "It never occurred to me to store mine any other way. Seems like a liability."

[eversomuchfun]

"It rather does, doesn't it?" agrees Sherlock.

[dark_light]

"It can be," says Amariah. "But I'm much less dependent on notebooks or whatever for self-sorting than the others are - well, Shell Bell does audio recording and some of them have perfect recall now, but I mean barring that - because I can talk to Path, and he knows me inside and out."

[cross_and_bow]

"Okay, that does sound useful," acknowledges Juliet.

And presently they arrive at the crypt.

[eversomuchfun]

Sherlock leads them both inside and waits for Amariah to become noticeable again.

[dark_light]

The easiest way to break this particular spell is by screaming at the top of one's lungs!

[cross_and_bow]

"Ahhhh why would you do that?" asks Juliet, clapping her hands over her ears. She of course notices no difference.

[eversomuchfun]

"Because now I can hear her again," says Sherlock. "Thank you."

[cross_and_bow]

"Oh. Okay then."

[dark_light]

"Should've warned you," says Amariah apologetically. "So! I can do magic. I'm not as nigh-omnipotent as Stella or Shell Bell now that Stella has shared with her, but I can do some stuff. And I can catch you up on all of us Bells, in case you don't make it to Milliways yourself any time soon, too!"