Everybody had recognized Dr. Dark-Sparda as the counselor that had handled them earlier, at the hospital, but now they saw more. They saw a woman that was ageless, rather than young, appearing to have both the beauty of youth and the dignity of age at the same time. Which was a small thing compared to the black skin and pointed ears she sported.
"A drow," Heather said cautiously, trying to decide whether that was "cool" or not.
"That's fine," Mary said, looking about the office with a new persepctive. "How old are you?"
The drow did not answer, but turned toward Susan.
"Miss Black," Patricia said quickly, recognizing the shaky demeanor of the woman. She crossed quickly to her and gently put a guiding arm around her shoulders to lead her to the couch. The former senshi flinched slightly at the touch. "You should rest over here. Just lay down for the moment."
Setsuna allowed herself to be set down and lie quietly on the couch, and Patricia turned about to face the others.
"You recognize what I am?" Patricia asked Heather finally, surprised.
"Yeah," Heather said. "I play D&D...well I sort of do." Heather gathered herself up for the important question. "So, do you worship Eilistraee or...um...Lloth?"
Patricia walked back behind her desk and sat down, gesturing for her guests to do so. John and Heather's eyes latched onto the sabres on the walls for a moment, but turned away.
"Catholic," Patricia said, arcing an eyebrow. "I'm afraid you'll find that I know little about that particular game, or most others, for that matter. Nor do I have a clue as to how accurate they are. My memories start on the day I arrived here, which is the case of most arrivals, from my tiefling husband to that dragon that runs Microsoft."
"Wait, Bill Gates is a dragon?" Melody asked.
"Yes," Patricia said, tapping her fingers.
"It would explain some things," Harley noted, probably recalling some buggy piece of Microsoft programming.
"Some things, perhaps," Patricia said. "But not others. You, for instance." She pointed generally out into the crowd.
"Me?" Crystal asked innocently. "What about me?"
"You in general," Patricia said dryly, gesturing broadlly. "But, I'd say it is better to give you answers before asking them of you, so I will explain the nature of our world."
She stood up and looked around her office, gathering her words together.
"The world is changing," she ventured finally. "That is what I believe. For a long age now, magic has been fairly weak in this world, but now, it is returning, and magical creatures, such as myself, are returning with it. Most people do not recognize magic or magical creatures when they see them, instead filling in the appearance of some other thing."
"Like dogs instead of giant spiders?" Heather asked.
"You were there last night?" Patricia asked with a lot of quiet affirmatives in response. "Yes, that sort of thing. We call it the Shadow. It keeps the situation mostly under control here, prevents a panic that might cause incalculable damage. I assume, as the magic grows stronger, that the Shadow will grow weaker, and there will be problems developing as a result. For now, however, we have an uneasy peace with the humans of this world. I make it my task to keep things that way."
"Hence your unprecedented success with 'delusional' patients," Mary pointed out drolly.
"Exactly," Patricia said. "They weren't delusional to begin with. I merely find them places where their own race have congregated, or where they would be otherwise comfortable."
"I am not a highly accomplished magician," Patricia said. "I focus my talents more firmly on other fields of expertise." The military photos spoke largely of what she meant. She was photo-ed multiple times with small infilitration type teams and, occasionally, irregulars, as far back as the civil war. "However, I do have my own belief of what happens. We are pulled from other worlds, to here, where we arrive bereft of our memories and wandering in blank confusion among the mundanes."
"But, we have our memories," Myra said doubtfully. "Both sets."
"Which is very troubling," Patricia said. "Very troubling indeed. Perhaps you can tell me something of your past lives? What happened before you came here?"
"The universe was destroyed," Susan said quietly. "There was a disruption in the normal flow of time and I was attempting to fix it. Instead, I made things worse."
Patricia almost paled at the power that would take. It was of a magnitude that made the greatest magician she knew of look like a meer apprentice. Her balance turned unsteady for a moment, but she recovered quickly.
"And now?" Patricia asked.
"All of our powers are gone," Susan said. "We're useless against whatever followed us."
"I..doubt that," Patricia said. "I suppose it is fair to say that magic works differently here, both in magnitude and in manipulation. Perhaps, your old learnings are simply...ineffective for this world?"
Susan stood up at that and considered it for a moment. Why hadn't she considered that before, but still...by the time they learned how to deal with this world's magic, they'd probably be dead.
"Hey, wait a minute?" Harley declared. "If there's magic around, that means that this can be fixed." She gestured at herself.
"I don't see anything needing to be fixed," Patricia said, looking over the cop in a cool, professional manner.
"Harley was a woman in her other life," Myra explained. "My girlfriend."
"And you were male?" Patricia asked, understanding.
"No," Myra said.
"Ahh," Patricia responded, looking to Harley. "I've heard tales of spells able to change gender. But such magic is beyond me. That would be something you would have to search for a long time, I suppose. And I cannot guarantee that it exists."
"Of course, it can't be easy," Harley muttered.
"Now, you were at this spider attack," Patricia said, sitting down. "Can you tell me anything about it?"
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(Posted Sat, 19 Jun 2004 10:44)
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