Daphne wasn't home. Bella lurked about the bushes surrounding the quaint cottage where she knew the Alchemist-in-training was staying, until she saw Daphne's grandparents eating lunch without their granddaughter. It was as good as confirmation that the most suspicious person in Bryony's disappearance was not in town. Or maybe out seeing to a patient... Wights knew, Alchemists weren't known for having a touch with medicine, but the girl already maintained her own gender transition from the comfort of her home laboratory, so anything was possible.
Bella realized now that she didn't actually know what career Daphne aspired to pursue once she passed her standard Witching exam and earned her professional license to practice. Bella had seen her sprinkling potions on childrens' scraped knees and in the coops of ornery chickens already, but such casual practice was quite standard among aspiring Witches. It also meant little when their schooling still included all three streams of Witchcraft at Daphne's age. It was unfair, perhaps, to expect a seventeen-year-old to know what she wanted to be when she grew up. But at this point, anything was a clue.
Extracting herself from the foliage, Bella allowed herself a quick preen before taking off to circle the town. Like her search in Solanum yesterday, this yielded no sign of Daphne, so Bella pushed further, into the forest in case the girl was out collecting supplies or burying a body.
Well, burying a body might be a bit extreme. Students didn't have a reputation for being cold-blooded murderers. A bid to get Bryony out of Hyacinth wasn't out of the question, but Bella wasn't entirely sure what Daphne would stand to gain from such activities. She wasn't licensed yet; she couldn't take over Bryony's clients for at least another two years. Fear was a potential motivation, but also a common one. Daphne was terrified of Bryony for reasons Bella hadn't pinned down yet, and went out of her way to avoid her. But many people were intimidated when they first met Bella's keeper, and another Witch would recognize Bryony's skills even better than most.
Bella clicked her beak in annoyance at her lack of leads. She returned to the town. People milled about its streets like ants in a nest, going about their Wightnight preparations with easy strides and smiling faces. How many of them would be upset if Bryony disappeared? Bella's wings trembled as she reckoned with the answer. Hyacinth's native population referred to themselves as "Borns," in contrast to the newcomers of the last ten years. Bella could not count the times she'd eavesdropped on disgruntled conversations between Borns about Bryony's effect on the town. Could any of those people be angry enough to want her gone again? It was certainly plausible.
That, though, opened up another hundred or more suspects, and Daphne still stood out among them. She herself was one of the "Bryonies," born to outsiders but staying with her grandparents and commuting to the nearby city of Nerium for—
Bella slumped down, feeling incredibly stupid. For school. She'd seen students all over the road between the towns she'd checked this morning. Today was the last day of classes before Witching schools let out for Wightnight, the most-anticipated holiday between summer solstice and yuletide. Daphne was in the city right now. She must have left only hours after Bella caught her snooping around Bryony's house. That didn't leave much time for nefarious activity.
A burst of song brought Bella's attention back below her. Her tree swayed gently in a midafternoon breeze, its lower branches strung with paper lanterns decorated with spiked or spiral motifs meant to represent Wights. Their inaccuracy did nothing to offset their popularity. Bella had seen Wights up close, both as a chick and several times since then. They were incorporeal, as much made of energy as humans were of water. It was the reason all Witching magics were potions-based, while Wights exercised their magic in forms of light and sound and motion. Liquids were simply more compatible with solid creatures.
It was the reason for the Law of Non-Interference that bound all Witching practice: certified Witches did not dabble in Wight magic, and consequences would come down from the highest Covens if they did. Wights still did what Wights were apt to do, trying to lead solid creatures into bogs and sinkholes where their energy could be extracted as they died. But that was just instinct. If Wights thought at all, their thoughts were not complex. If they felt, they had little means of expressing it. Wightnight was as much an excuse for a festival as it was a means of getting humans and familiars out of the forests where Wights gathered each autumn equinox, to minimize potential harm between the two.
Wights were simply spherical; no spikes or spirals. But Bella supposed that didn't look as good on a paper lantern.
Wightnight preparations were even more vibrant today than yesterday, as the night itself drew ever closer. Wight-colored bunting ran between eaves and trees, and lanterns bobbed in the wind on an ever-increasing number of tree branches. Children gathered dry grass and bracken for the Fire-Wight that would burn and glow at the peak of Wightnight's festivities. It was meant to show respect for the forest's magic creatures, but Bella had always wondered whether Wights were honored or insulted by seeing a giant representation of themselves set on fire. She hoped they simply didn't care.
Bella spent the rest of the afternoon scouring the town fruitlessly for clues, then flew home on heavy wings. Even the usual grumbling of the Borns had been muted today—from the disappearance of the Witch they resented, or simply in anticipation of the upcoming festival, Bella had been unable to tell. She pushed through her crow-door and wandered to the living room in search of food, to find Titus waiting for her.
"You're alive," said the cat dryly. He was sitting in the middle of the rug with his tail wrapped primly around him. He was small even for a cat of D'Czernobog ancestry; the lineage wasn't known for being heavyweights, but Titus was only a little taller than Bella herself. What he lacked in size, though, he made up for in imperiousness. Bella could already tell this was going to be one of those times.
"No thanks to you," she replied. "You didn't even leave the house today, did you."
"I didn't see a reason to. What's got your feathers in such a twist? Our young interloper this morning didn't even damage anything."
"Bryony's missing."
Titus yawned and licked one paw. "You didn't find her?"
Bella bristled. "I should have. I looked everywhere she could have been. The Solanum familiars confirmed that she never arrived. Do you know anything about this?"
"Less than you, I imagine. You didn't exactly deign to tell me where she'd got to, so I didn't make it my business to find out."
"Would it kill you to show a little more worry for the keeper who lets you sleep beneath her roof, despite your apparent uselessness?"
Titus's lazily flicking tail went still. After a moment, he opened both eyes again, yellow-gold and close to glowing in the evening gloom that had fallen over the house. He watched her, but said nothing.
"Would it?" snapped Bella.
"Would you care to fill me in on the aforementioned details, if you want me to care?"
"Bryony got called away to Solanum late last night, but she never arrived. It was supposed to be a four-day trip. Anyone else who knows won't miss her until it's too late."
Titus's whiskers pulled back in the barest hint of distaste. "If you trust her so much, have you considered simply waiting for her to carry through on her word and come back?"
"If she's gone missing, waiting is the absolute worst thing we can do."
"Then talk to the kid."
Bella nearly choked.
"And do at least attempt to conceal your disgust for that course of action," said Titus. "If you're concerned about Bryony's disappearance, there's no better person to ask than Daphne, is there not?"
"And if she's a suspect?"
"Then check her alibi. If she's innocent, she can help you search. Magic and all that."
"Help me search?" said Bella acidly.
"Well, I'm talking to her first thing tomorrow, then," said Titus, and sauntered off to the ivy pot again. "You can join or not. Your choice."
A/N: Today's ONC recommendation!
Parasite by pixelmum:
Heems is an energy vampire, a parasite, forced to feed by draining the energy of xeir hosts with a single touch. That is, until xe tries to make a host out of Shiro, a wily thief who happens to be the only man on the planet immune to Heems's vampirism. As Shiro sends Heems spiralling into obsession and criminality, they realise too late the true nature of Eris: that parasites can be hosts too.