liber scriptus proferetur

[jovahs_heiress]

When Ariel is six, Isabella judges that she is ready to hear about Things, and sits her down.

She starts the same way she did with the elder girls:

"Have you noticed that your daddy and I seem to be able to do some things that other people can't?"

Comments

[carillons]

Ariel looks thoughtful for a moment, then returns her attention to her mother.

[jovahs_heiress]

"But then Jane got better, and we all celebrated, and we found some more people and added them to the group - several of me are a peal of Bells, several of Daddy are a deck of Jokers. And during this time your older sisters both got to meet everyone, and there are others of them, although their parents only have two children so there was not one of you, then. There might be now, I don't know."

[carillons]

That is an interesting notion. Ariel blinks.

"Would the other of me have my name, or a different name?" she wonders.

[jovahs_heiress]

"A different name, at least if she were from that family. Because Rose - that's that Bell's nickname - already knows what you are called, and wouldn't want to make it difficult to keep track of you. She named her Damaris 'Dominique', but she prefers her middle name 'Yseult', and she named her Keziah 'Céleste'. I don't know what she would name a third child but it wouldn't be Ariel and might not be a Samarian name at all."

[carillons]

"That's good," says Ariel. "I wouldn't want us to get mixed up."

[jovahs_heiress]

"It can be very confusing. Luckily no two of the Jokers use the same name and Bells don't have a hard time choosing nicknames, but it became difficult with a few other repeating people."

[carillons]

Ariel nods again.

"What happened after Damaris and Keziah got to meet the others of them?"

[jovahs_heiress]

"All kinds of things, but the next part of the story I'm telling you is that Jane broke again. A little over a year ago. We don't know when she'll be back."

[carillons]

She nods thoughtfully.

[jovahs_heiress]

"That's why your uncle Nathaniel left. He was visiting another Joker, in a world called Aurum, when it happened, so now he can't come home until she's better. He's safe, though."

[carillons]

Ariel thinks this through, then says, "He wasn't visiting the other of him?"

[jovahs_heiress]

"Most Jokers don't have others of Nathaniel, though there are a few," says Isabella. "And... your uncle is the only one of the few who is nice."

[carillons]

"What are the other ones like?"

[jovahs_heiress]

"They are bad people. They hurt some alts of Daddy and of me very badly. I was very worried about Nathaniel, when I found out who his alts were, but - he seems to be fine."

[carillons]

"Worried he would be not nice?" inquires Ariel.

[jovahs_heiress]

"Yes. But I think I got him away from his parents early enough."

[carillons]

"Were they making him not nice?"

[jovahs_heiress]

"Yes. They are not themselves very nice, and Nathaniels don't react to that the same way that Jokers do."

[carillons]

Ariel contemplates this, then says, "It's good you got him away, then."

[jovahs_heiress]

"Yes. So, those are the broad strokes of the story."

[carillons]

"And it's secret from people who don't know it," says Ariel. "And you and Daddy and Alleya and Keziah and Damaris know it. And Nathaniel but he's not here."

[jovahs_heiress]

"And Serah, and Caleb, and Daniel, and Elisha, and Alleya's children, and Delilah but Delilah only found out recently so she is still adjusting and hasn't decided how to tell her husband yet."

[carillons]

Ariel nods.

"Okay," she says. "I won't tell anyone who's not one of those."

[jovahs_heiress]

"Thank you, treasure." Forehead-kiss.

[carillons]

She smiles.