paradisa | Oh oh, after stormy weather/ Does the sun shine every day? | backdated to the 14th

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nita callahan

Oh oh, after stormy weather/ Does the sun shine every day? | backdated to the 14th | dictated/action

[Nita awoke in a room in that was completely unlike the undecorated castle room that she had gone to sleep in. It was...space themed was totally inadequate to describe it. It made it sound like a child’s room, but it most certainly was not.

The furniture was sleek and modern, but not in that intimidating, untouchable way. It was crisp and clean, but comfortable. Best of all, though, was the walls.

It wasn’t just that they were painted with stars. It was that they were painted with an extremely detailed view of the stars from Earth. Even the ceiling was covered in near photographic detail. It was a delightful impossibility.

It was a little thing, in the long run, but it was nice to see the castle doing something relatively harmless. With a little laugh, Nita uses magic to draw a bright growing line between a couple of stars- the first line of a familiar constellation. Then she flips open the journal.]

Hey Dair! You gotta come see this.

[And later in the day, when Nita has a moment of her own time, she opens the journal again and writes a quick filter.]

[The Doctor (the who had the Mara in him)]

Hey. You don’t know me well, but I think we’ve talked once or twice. My name’s Nita Callahan; I’m Dairine’s sister. Could we talk?

[...or, in other words, can she doublecheck that you’re really okay. Protective big sister mode has been activated.]

[ooc: The door will also be open for most of the day, so feel free to wander in. She thinks this is cool enough to share.]

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[In seeing a filter come up for his attention and with who it was from, the instant thought was that he was or should have been expecting this. No, he didn't know the girl well at all yet, but he certainly knew the girl was here from their little Christmas family excursion to Connecticut.]

Hello. Of course we may. What's on your mind?

What is it?

[Dairine's reply is a little grumpy after her own discovery. She can guess what it is. It better be better than what she got.]

Basically, I'd like to talk to you a bit more. You seem pretty important to Dari and I haven't really had a chance to get to know you. And, no offense, but after the whole Mara thing, I'd really like to know how you normally are.

[There are a couple of advantages to being blunt here. One: everything is always better when people are on the same page. Two: he now knows that he's under the scrutiny of wizard ~~and protective big sister.~~]

[There's a pause and a deep breath let out through the nose. Dairine is pretty important to him too. In normal circumstance he may be amused with the thought of being vetted by her older sister and certainly play up to it. After what the Mara did however, this isn't quite normal.]

None certainly taken. You're her sister. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Another pause.] I would never want any harm to come to Dairine. Or yourself, for that matter. In your sisters case, that's something I've been attempting to look out for... A very long time. [For him, longer than he's been at the castle. He first met Dairine years ago, now.]

A little room redecoration, that's all. [Oh, come on, Dair. Don't take everything so seriously.]

Yeah, but what kind of redecorating?

A good kind. Come and you'll see.

...Fine. [It can't be much worse than her own room. Maybe it'll take her mind off it for a while.]

[Taking the long way down (ie - the stairs), Dairine finally reaches the second floor where her big sister's room resides. She doesn't bother knocking — just walks right in.]

'Morning, Neets.

I know. [She says quietly. And really, she does. But there are somethings that you just have to double check on for yourself, especially when little sisters are involved. Even if said little sister is also a wizard.]

Can I ask what the Mara was? From what Dair said, it sounds like some sort of parasitic alien life form? Am I somewhere close?

Yes, but also no. Alien, certainly. What the Mara is - was - is far more complicated than that. It started as a thought.

[Bear with him Nita. This might be a long story.]

A thought? [This is new.] What do you mean?

'Morning!

[Neets paused mid-constellation drawing and hopped off her bed, grinning at her sister.]

Not bad, huh?

Exactly that, really. [A thoughtful sigh.] The Mara was born from all the negative thoughts that exist in the mind. Fear, greed, jealousy, hate, pride. Those things exist in all of us. Its homeworld, Manussa, was very advanced technologically. They developed matter realisation and through a terrible accident, the Mara was born from those thoughts of all the Manussans and came into existence.

[Dairine turns to look around the room, her mouth falling open at the detailed painted stars. Catching herself, she shuts it before turning to scowl in her sister's direction.]

No fair. What did you do to make the castle give you the nice room?

[She whistles] Sounds like they let loose their very own shade of the Lone One. I'm guessing that this didn't end well for them.

No, it didn't. Well, not for a long time, at least. The Manussan Empire fell under the thrall of the Mara and it brought about the Sumaran Empire instead for three-hundred years.

Shade of the Lone One? What is that?

How much has Dair told you about what we do? [It helps to have a place to begin.]

Heck if I know, squirt. [Oh, come on, Dair. Don't be like that.] You weren't so lucky?

[Sorry, Neets. The castle has put her in one of her moods.]

Nope. The castle likes to mess with me too much to give me a break. [Looking for something to distract her from the castle's latest prank, she glances over at the glowing lines that Nita made.] Playing around a bit?

Excuse me, 'we'? You can do the same things as Dairine?

[He gathers his thoughts a moment, thinking back.] Wizardry, space travel - interesting place, the Crossings - spells, her computer manual... [A copy of which she gave to him at Christmas.]

The Oath was more telling than any of that if I'm truly honest.

Well, we have different specialties, but for the most part, yeah. [And added on (with only a hint of irritation).] I was a wizard first, actually.

[It's not the Doctor's fault, of course. But Nita can't help but sometimes feel like she's scrambling to keep ahead of her little sister. Nita is smart, but Dairine is a whiz. Probably a genius. And although by now Nita is very glad her little sister is a wizard, there's still a part of her that worries about being outshone, even there.]

She read you the Oath? [Alright, then. That makes things easier.] You know how it says that we're supposed to protect and preserve Life?

A little. [She looks up at the ceiling thoughtfully] I wonder what's hanging around this galaxy. I thought about trying to just transport off planet, but it seems chancy with the way this place likes to mess us up- and how little we know.

[Dairine walks over to one of the walls to investigate it more closely.]

Don't bother. Transporting only works for places within the Live Zone on this planet. Believe me; I've tried. [Multiple times. And from her tone, Dairine doesn't like it one bit.] The spell just drops you off where you started if you attempt to go further.

[She lets out a huff.] Which really sucks on so many levels. You can't even visit the moon, let alone other planets without the castle's permission!

Oh. Well, with you being a little older...

Indeed, I do. Dairine and I have shared conversation on the subject. [Today likely isn't the day for it, but he's beginning to wonder if he'll be having that same 'conversation' (read: a butting of heads) over again with her suster one day.]

[Nita makes an irritated little noise.] I don't know how you haven't gone nuts yet.

Well, the Lone One is who we're protecting it from. He's the one who invented death and set entropy loose in the Universe. And everywhere that entropy exists- including in us- He's there.

So when the Manussans let loose all that hate- all those things which the Lone One thrives on- they were freeing the part of him inside them. Or at least that's what I'd guess.

Sometimes I wonder that myself. [She's not completely kidding either.]

The castle keeps us busy though, as I'm sure you've noticed by now. It gets a little easier to forget when you're trying to balance out its needs with the residents' safety.

[Nita makes a little face.] Yeah, I've noticed. How often does it do things like that?

The darkness and ill will in people is called many things the universe over, differing from one place to another. You're right that it does sound like a shade of the Lone One then, doesn't it? Or that it is a shade of the Mara.

The Manussans didn't do it consciously. Their technology was their undoing in the end. But what the Mara represents, it does live in all of us and one could say that the Mara - or your Lone One - is never truly gone.

Roughly once or twice a month. Sometimes it'll do more, but that's a bit rarer and usually after a slow month.

There aren't a lot of people who do do it on purpose, are there? At least with the Lone One, tricking people into doing his work is one of his favorite tricks.

Sounds like it does have to expend a lot of energy for these things, at least.

You'd be surprised at how many will do things like that on purpose - or perhaps not. The Mara had tricks as well. At first manipulating people into them agreeing to let the Mara control them, but every time it has come back, it gets stronger and just takes.

It does, but that's not always a good thing. These occurrences are made to be emotionally taxing on us in order to make up the difference. Some people have theorized that we also get influxes of newcomers soon before or after something big goes down, in order to help pick up more energy.

But every time you're there to meet it, right?

Maybe we should look into the overlays and see what we can suss out. Though there are so many different kinds of magic around here, it's bound to be really complicated.

[It's a long moment's silence before an answer.]

Yes. I have to be.

[Solemnly:]

Then you know why Dair and I do what we do.

[Another silence to begin. His duty to stop the Mara was far more personal than just his natural drive to do what is right. He blames himself for it possessing Tegan in the first place. It's his fault it came back.]

I understand the need to do what is right and to fight injustice. No one should have cause to live in fear and children should keep their childhood.

The overlays? [It takes her a minute but then it clicks.] Oh, you mean like in Ireland.

I guess it might be. Never really thought about it. [After all, she had only been in Ireland twice, and it wasn't really her specialty.]

I hope you're not trying to imply that Dair and I haven't kept our childhoods. Because then we might have to send your bed into orbit, just to prove you wrong. A prank war with wizards can be pretty intense, trust me on this.

It's something to check out, anyway.

[Dairine nods.]

We can do that. I'll bring up Spot's maps later -- we can make a new one showing overlays once we do the read on it.

[That throws him. Just for a moment. There's humour in his voice for a reply at least.]

Noted. I think I'd even offer my castle bed just for the privilege of seeing you do it.

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Oh oh, after stormy weather/ Does the sun shine every day? | backdated to the 14th | dictated/action

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