InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "My name is Inigo Montoya!"

Theora (elunesgrace) wrote in nosuchplace,
@ 2009-08-20 21:09:00

Entry tags:

dione castel, theora

Tuesday: February 5, 2008
Who: Theora and Dione
When: Afternoon
Where: Town Hall / Conference Room
What: Questioning Dione about her presence at the temple during the showdown

If there was anything that the priestess had learned over her lifetime it was the fact that everything in the world had an antithesis. Every positive thought, emotion, or action had an equally negative aspect to it. Their haven, peaceful as it was, would experience some chaos eventually. It was this knowledge, this passive anticipation that allowed her to remain calm when she was told the news about Danté's rampage through Helicharis. It was tragic as violence often was, but it did not trouble her as much as it troubled others. This wasn't to say that she didn't care because Theora cared very much, she just didn't let any potential confusion or sadness over the event cloud her judgment.

Reading over the witness accounts of the event Theora found it very odd that a blind woman was present during the altercation in the Market Place, and at the temple. She wondered what the girl's connection to the entire situation could be, and as a result she sent a guard to Dione Castel's water bungalow to summon the girl. Theora did not suspect anything of the medium, and she had every intention of questioning the other witnesses in due time; but she couldn't escape the tugging feeling in her that there might have been more to this one's story. It was intuition on Theora's part, and it was hard to find any given moment when Theora's intuition had been incorrect.

The priestess waited patiently in one of the conference rooms for Dione's arrival. She had instructed the guard to show the woman the utmost respect, and to give her all the time she needed to ready herself for the questions. The guard had taken a covered buggy to pick up the girl since the walk from the bungalows was quite a distance, and the weather was not exactly pristine. It would keep the girl safe on the road, and make her feel more like a guest rather than someone suspected of a crime. Dione had not committed a crime from what she read, and apart from the cane swinging incident involving Nicolas Vega-Fernandez and James Ross the woman was a quiet bystander during the entire ordeal. So why then was she there at all? That was the question Theora hoped to answer.

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audiomorbid
2009-08-22 01:30 pm UTC (link)

What injuries she had taken were minor, unremarkable, and thus she avoided going anywhere near the Medical Pavilion in the aftermath. Dione hated anything that seemed remotely like a hospital, having developed an aversion following her accident that simply had not gone away. It most likely never would so long as she avoided hospital like settings and doctors as much as she possibly could. Fears unfaced only tend to grow after all.

Retiring back to her bungalow, she had found herself a seat in the front room, not far from the blood soaked into the floor, and stared in the general direction of the window. She didn't move much, body unmoving while her mind raced around a trapped circle of thinking. Dexter stayed close, but he said nothing. Not as night moved on into a new day or even when the sun grew high on that new day. No, he simply kept watch and waited. When she finally did move, it was to grab something to eat and go to bed. Nothing was said between them. There was nothing to say.

Dexter hated Dante. Absolutely hated him with every ounce of his undead being. That creature had stolen his sister from him. She swept past him and he reached out to touch the edges of her hair. She didn't seem to notice him. The urge to scream, rant, and rave welled up in his throat and died there, unvoiced, no one could hear him but her. No one would know his pain but her and she was deaf to him on this matter. Completely deaf to the idea that there was something unnatural about her love for a man who was far closer to an animal than human and if he understood what was to happen, the man who had turned his sister into a monster.

Tuesday came and he still watched her in her silence as she went about their life. Then there was a knock at the door, not aggressive but insistent. Who was it and what did they want?

Dione behaved as if she hadn't heard for a little while, simply content to continue staring at the walls and saying nothing. Then she got up, crossed the room to her front door and opened it.

"Miss Castel," the voice outside the door addressed her and she nodded numbly that she was the correct person. "Priestess Theora of the Heliacharis Council requests your presence at the Town Hall at your earliest convenience. I am here to escort you when you're ready."

Dione and Dexter both knew of the Priestess despite never having actually spoken with her. Both were well aware of her place on the council. Both of them felt a sense of absolute bone chilling fear at the request. Only Dione could be seen to go pale though. Yet she steeled herself, forcing that fear away. It was only a test. One more test. Dexter fought back down the urge to scream again. Dione was going to be locked away. They were going to find out what was going on and they would lock her up.

Dione, when she turned to look at him, empty eyes fixing on his position, the words wouldn't come out. He settled for: I can't lose you.

"It's just an audience request, Dexter. Everything will be fine." Her expression was still pale around the edges and for those who knew her, the slight twitch in her fingertips was a dead giveaway she was not as sure of herself as she sounded. Which was why she did not say anything to the guard in English because she would have stuttered and stumbled over it horribly. Instead, she left him standing in the doorway and went to retrieve her cane before slipping her feet into her shoes. "R-ready."

There was plenty of time to think on the ride up, but it was spent in silence. Dexter could only see how this would go wrong, occasionally playing with the bloody cuffs of his shirt. Dione was simply resigned. All relationships faced trials, didn't they? In the end, things would be fine. They were meant to be.

She curled that thought around herself as much as she could, pushing away the memory of Adrienne and whatever it was the other woman meant to Dante. At Town Hall, the guard assisted her into the building and politely took his leave at the conference room.

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audiomorbid
2009-08-22 01:30 pm UTC (link)

"P-p-pri-priestess," that word, well all words, were difficult when she was dealing with new people. She could only really speak English to few people without stuttering. Sheldon, Dante, Sascha, they were friends or more and she could talk to them. Sascha even indulged her in French since he spoke the language.

Dione stayed in the doorway for the moment, not quite sure where she should be or what she was doing there. Dexter actually entered the room and took a stance behind a chair, the one she would take once she grew strong enough to enter and sit down. She always needed encouragement though.

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elunesgrace
2009-08-25 02:15 am UTC (link)

There was an air of calm around Theora as she waited patiently for Dione's arrival. From what she knew of the girl, at least what was there for her to read in the small file that Town Hall had on each citizen, was that Dione had lost a twin in an accident, and that she was a medium. Beyond that the priestess did not know anything. She would have to trust that the girl would answer her questions once she arrived.

It was near an hour before the guard returned with the medium, and from the start Theora could sense the nervousness that the girl irradiated. The priestess had a naturally calm and soothing aura about her, and hopefully that would help Dione to relax some in her presence. This was the girl's first visit to Town Hall, and she imagined that it made her more anxious than usual.

Theora rose from her seat, and took a step toward the girl. She extended a hand to her, and lightly touched the girl's arm. "Ms. Dione Castel," Theora said in a kind voice. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." She removed her hand from the girl's arm, and then turned her palm upward in front of the girl in invitation. "If you would take my hand I shall guide you to your seat." Theora wanted the girl to feel as comfortable with her as was possible, and sometimes the best way to do that was to connect through tactile actions.

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audiomorbid
2009-08-25 02:34 am UTC (link)

There was a constant state of nervousness around Dione. Such was simply her state of being. Dione was always nervous. Even with her brother there to help her feel more at ease, she was just the kind of person who counted steps and tried to stay out from being constantly underfoot. Those things were what kept her in one piece. Dexter had always been the one to step out on a limb and see if it cracked.

Now he watched Theora with an air of expectation. More expectation than Dione felt even as she reached out to touch the woman's hand. Slipping her fingers along the other woman's skin and then tightened her grip enough to make it understood she was actually holding on.

"H-h-how ca-can I h-he-help yo-oo-you?" That was the question on her mind at the moment, what exactly did this woman want from her? There was good reason for her to be apprehensive if this woman knew anything at all about her interactions with Dante. No one but Dexter knew that Dante had bitten her that night in her living room. Nor was Dione going to tell anyone about it. That was an intimate moment between them which no one needed to share. So long as she said nothing, then things would be fine.

Her free hand made contact with the back of her chair before she settled to her seat, the ghost of her brother standing just off to the side. Theora walked through him, but did the priestess feel his presence at all? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, he moved to stand directly behind Dione once she was seated, waiting for this interview to truly start.

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elunesgrace
2009-08-29 02:12 am UTC (link)

Theora remained calm despite the nervousness that Dione exuded. It wasn't hard considering the hundreds upon hundreds of years of practice she had under her belt. She held onto the girl's hand firmly, and guided her toward the chair in a calm manner. Theora had stepped through Dexter, and though the priestess could not see him she clearly felt his energy in the room. She knew not what was with them only that it was there, and she knew when it had moved to stand behind Dione's chair.

She took a seat in a chair near the medium, and folded her hands in her lap. "You need not be so nervous around me," Theora said, a smile crossing her lips. "You are not in any sort of trouble if that is what you are thinking. I simply have a few questions for you regarding the incident in the Market Place, and the temple." Even though Dione could not see it Theora was looking the girl straight on, and every so often she would look at the space behind the chair. Theora could feel someone watching her, but it did not bother her in the slightest.

"You were present at both the market place, and the temple despite the fact that both situations were very dangerous. Could you tell me why after the incident at the market place did you follow the crowd to the temple? Do you happen to know the people involved?"

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audiomorbid
2009-08-29 03:58 am UTC (link)

It was an easy enough question, extremely straight forward: did she know someone involved in the incident? However, the answer was more complicated than she was actually prepared to discuss. Of course, she knew Dante and actually she had met Zach and Adrienne months ago at Dr. Wyatt's dinner party, though that only came to her after the fact. Not that she recalled much of that entire dinner other than the fact that she had found another French speaker in the Haven who had subsequently dropped off her radar. What had his name been? It didn't come immediately to mind for her. Yet that was a tangent in her thinking, unimportant in the light of the current circumstances.

The nervousness had almost nothing to do with the priestess herself, it simply was. Like the act of breathing, there it was. Constant, though continued association did help her to become more comfortable. It was nearly impossible to make her stop stuttering in one session though.

Her facial expression betrayed the momentary loss of self in a thought that had nothing to do with the present. Then she blinked and seemed to return to the now.

Dexter's apprehension showed but only barely in a slight twist at the edges of Dione's hair near her face. He was never strong enough to effect anything much, but occasionally he could make her hair move as if it were caught in some unseen breeze.

It was more obvious because Dione tilted her head back as if to look up at someone, an ancient habit from back when she could actually see and Dexter would stand over her chair looking down at her.

Please tell her, he urged. Please. For my sake. Lying would only get her into trouble and the priestess didn't seem intent on hurting them in anyway. The two together were nearly a mirror each other face to face as they were. He was male, her female, yet they were obviously cut from the same mold, facial features strikingly similar.

"Dante is my heart," she hadn't made any attempt to look back down. "He needed me." The slip into French came partially from speaking to her brother and partially because she simply had an impossible time with certain things in English. However, that always came with the assumption that the listener could understand her. Dione didn't know if the Priestess spoke French, but she had answered the question put to her, in her own way.

Dexter uses no quotation marks as he can't be heard by most characters. Italics = French.

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elunesgrace
2009-09-02 01:02 am UTC (link)

Every movement was not lost upon the elf, and she noticed the girl looking up as if someone were there. Theora had sensed an energy present in the room with them, and now with Dione's actions she was certain that they were not alone. With what she knew of the girl's powers Theora guessed that there was a spirit with them. One that obviously followed the girl around, and was probably very close to her in life. The priestess did not know anything beyond that, and she did not make mention to Dione that she was very aware of the spirit's energy.

There were many things that Theora had learned in her near eight-hundred years of life, and language was one of them. The priestess understood the French that Dione spoke, and the words were interesting to say the least. It was very obvious why Dione had been present at both scenes; she knew Danté. Theora found it curious how such a timid, and gentle girl could be associated with someone so violent. It was an oddity that she had witnessed many times in the past, and each time the answer was always 'love'. Theora knew that love was a very powerful thing, but she was not sure if it was enough to erase such a violent history. Perhaps Danté shared a side with the girl that he had not shown to anyone else, but that was unlikely. The priestess had a feeling that Danté was a brilliant actor, and that the werewolf had probably tricked this girl into trusting him somehow.

"Danté is your heart? You mean you love him, is that right?" Theora spoke in French now since it seemed that Dione was much more comfortable with that language. The priestess would do whatever it took to garner some answers from the girl, and if speaking another language would facilitate that then it wasn't a problem in the slightest.

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audiomorbid
2009-09-02 02:37 am UTC (link)

At her question, Dexter just gritted his teeth and wished he could talk to the Priestess himself. He wanted to make all the points of this sordid little tale known. The things Dante had said to Dione, what he'd done. Jealous brother or not, he wanted nothing more than to see his sister live a long and healthy life. If that meant he had to tell her secrets, then he would do that. She would forgive him eventually, he could at least hpe. Unfortunately, that simply was not within his abilities. He was trapped by the fact that he was dead. There was nothing he could hope to do in this situation but continue to urge Dione to tell the truth, even if he knew she wouldn't. She would go all the way to the edge and stop, just like always. Dear timid Dione, no wonder she was easy prey.

Again he ran his fingers through the edges of his sister's hair, pulling strands out of place. Do you love him? He didn't want to believe Dione truly loved Dante, that she might choose him over the bond of family. Yet that was a very real possibility.

If she was surprised by the Priestess switching to her language of choice, it didn't show in her behavior. She brought her head back down, her eyes looking somewhere off to the side. Did she want to answer the questions posed to her? Was she prepared to defend her decision? No, she wasn't really. Yet she had to say something. A direct question required some kind of a direct answer. "Yes." That was as direct an answer as one could get; however, now she pulled inward a bit, less open about answering any questions.

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elunesgrace
2009-09-02 03:30 am UTC (link)

Theora would have probably gotten more answers out of Dexter than Dione, but there was no way for the priestess to talk to the spirit without a medium or a necromancer to play translator. But the elven female did feel the change in the spirit's energy, and she could tell that something had made the spirit very anxious.

The priestess watched Dione carefully, and she caught the slight manipulation of hair by the spirit. She could tell that it was very protective of Dione, and Theora was curious as to who exactly it was. Those questions could wait until later if Dione would be so inclined to answer them. However, their current topic was much more important, and the priestess really did have a point in bringing Dione to Town Hall.

"I see," Theora said as she continued to speak French. She did not answer in an accusatory tone, merely a tone that relayed her understanding. "You were there because you love him. You wanted to make sure that he was all right." Though Dione could not see the action Theora leaned forward, and smiled at her. "That is a very noble thing," Theora said. "You should not be ashamed of it."

Dione's loyalty was noble though Danté did not deserve an ounce of it. It was obvious now that Dione and Danté were involved in some sort of relationship, and if that was the case Theora wondered if the girl knew that the man she loved was a sociopathic lycanthrope.

"Dione, are you aware of what Danté is exactly? Has he told you that he is a lycanthrope?"

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audiomorbid
2009-09-02 07:20 pm UTC (link)

"I don't know what that word means," the word Lycanthrope was a word she simply had never heard. Werewolf she could put together some thought of, but even that was informed solely by movies seen or heard ages ago. Not that it truly mattered, she didn't care what Dante was; he was a wonderful person in her opinion.

Dexter knew that word, knew exactly what it meant, and leaned down to kiss his sister's hair.

Werewolf. Dione looked up again and blinked at her brother who was offering his thoughts on the matter. It means werewolf, that thing he turned into to bite you. What he was out there in the marketplace when he was trying to kill everyone. It was obvious what he thought about this whole thing. He hated Dante and wished the bastard would keel over and die.

A long time ago, when faced with the reality of vampires, Dione had fainted dead away in a public place. Dr. Wyatt had been nice enough to catch her. This whole thing brought that back to mind. There was no urge to faint at this point.

"We didn't discuss it." They had no reason to. They hadn't discussed that Dione was a medium either or being followed around by a ghost. "Our differences weren't important."

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elunesgrace
2009-09-03 02:28 am UTC (link)

It hadn't even occurred to Theora that the girl wasn't familiar with the word lycanthrope, and she let out a small "Aah" when Dione stated as much. She nodded her head slowly. "Forgive me. A lycanthrope is a man who can turn into a creature that is half-man, half-wolf. They can be very dangerous." The priestess was not aware that Dione's brother had already given her the translation, but she did catch the slight movement of the girl's hair.

The spirit, she thought, though she had no idea what it was doing or saying to Dione.

The girl's response caused Theora's brow to furrow slightly. The medium loved a man who had kept important details of his life from her. She loved someone who had lied to her, and had no doubt manipulated her emotions for his own gain. "It is not about your differences, Dione, but Danté is someone who has used his lycanthropy to bring others much pain. I worry that he has done the same to you." Theora leaned forward on the table, and rested her interlaced hands on the wood.

"I sense that you and Danté have spent much time together, and during those times has he ever bitten you? Please Dione it is very important that you tell me the truth." Theora thought it was a possibility considering what she knew about Danté. The priestess had just learned that he was responsible for Adrienne's transformation, and it would not surprise her if he did the same to Dione. Though the girl did not have any visible injury Theora was wise enough to know that werewolf bites did not always have to be deadly in order to transmit the virus.

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audiomorbid
2009-09-03 03:13 am UTC (link)

Dione didn't think of Dante as dangerous, even now when thinking of what he had done to others. He had beaten a young man in public. She knew about it of course, but it didn't matter. None of it did. So what he had turned into some horrendous monster in the eyes of others, she didn't and wouldn't see him that way.

"Dante has not, nor would he, hurt me." The words of someone utterly deluded. She was not convinced that Dante saw her as important, but he did recognize her placement near him, how much she cared about him. Those things meant enough that he would let her prove herself to him. Goodness knew she had tried to. Yet she said those words with the same quiet surety she spoke most things when she said in French.

Dexter dropped his head to directly beside his sister's ear. He wanted to kill you. How could she not remember how close Dante had gotten to killing her? How could she overlook the fact that the bastard had threatened her life as if it was nothing? He had bitten her. If Dexter was right about the monster's intentions, he was going to do much more than just a single bite.

"No, he hasn't hurt me." That was not the question the Priestess had asked, it was just an answer to satisfy the fact that a question was being asked of her.

Tell her the truth. Tell her the truth. Tell her the truth. It came out in an angry rush that culminating in a scream only Dione could hear and she didn't even flinch.

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elunesgrace
2009-09-03 03:50 am UTC (link)

Theora's brow furrowed at both of Dione's answers. The priestess caught that they did not answer her questions, and she let out a sad sigh. The more she was in Dione's company the more she realized just how deluded the girl truly was. The priestess closed her eyes, and sat back in her chair just as the angry energy came from the unseen spirit in the room. Theora did not need to hear the words in order to feel the emotion that radiated in an fervent burst.

"That was not my question," Theora said very calmly. "I asked whether or not he had bitten you, not whether or not he had hurt you." The elven maiden folded her hands in her lap, and looked directly at Dione though the medium could not see her doing so. Theora felt sorry for the girl, and she hoped that the entire situation with Danté would not scar her for life.

"You must tell me because a single bite from a lycanthrope can make you a lycanthrope as well. If that is the case then we must take precautions during the full moon for if you change in the open you could hurt a lot of citizens. That is the reason I ask. I hope you understand now why your answer is of import." Theora paused for a moment. "I think the spirit here in the room with us also realizes that the importance of truth in this moment."

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audiomorbid
2009-09-05 02:30 am UTC (link)

All he wanted was for her to tell the truth. This woman would help him. The Priestess was a friend to them, even if they had never truly met her. Someone who had their best interest at mind. But Dione couldn't see that, didn't want to see that, was too busy holding onto her thing with Dante to let herself believe in anything else. Please tell the truth. Or I will find a way to tell her for you. It was rare for him to threaten her, but Dexter said it anyway. Maybe Irei would help him or that other medium, the young man he'd only heard of. It didn't make any difference who helped him as long as someone did.

While others might not have seen this meeting as pressure, Dione only saw it as others pressing down on her. They wanted to take things away from her. Dione was not about to let that happen. She was not going to allow them to intimidate her into a confession that would get Dante into more trouble. In truth, she was essentially picking herself and Dante over everyone else in the Haven. To her it was necessary. If no one else would stand by him, she would stand by him and earn her reward that way. She wasn't strong enough to be a true aid, so she did what she could. She would not make his situation worse by her admission.

Physically, Dione seemed to pull in on herself and said nothing. She did not wish to lie to the Priestess, but she refused to make him guilty of one more thing others had erroneously deemed a crime.

Dione tell her, he was begging her to be truthful. Dione had always been truthful before. Now she was stonewalling, refusing to say anything because she wouldn't lie. Please. He looked from Dione to Theora, all too well aware that if she didn't say something, there was a possibility that she could have some horrific consequences.

Then he had a thought. Maybe the mark itself would still show. Maybe she didn't have to say anything, he just had to get her to turn her head. Moving around the chair, he tugged at the edge of Dione's collar so that she turned his direction and it slipped to show part of her shoulder. And three little scars left behind.

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elunesgrace
2009-09-08 10:31 pm UTC (link)

The girl was a brick wall, but Theora was nothing but patient. She could do this all day if she needed to, and she could tell that the girl was blatantly hiding the truth from her. Her silence was admission enough for Theora, and the priestess had already decided that once the full moon came around Dione would be taken into custody to spend a night in a silver lined jail cell. If she changed then they would know that she had become a werewolf, and that she would join the others in the enclosure on the next full moon. If she didn't then she, and the rest of the town, was safe. Theora only wished to save the girl some trouble if she really had not been bitten at all.

Adding another negative mark on Danté's record was not even in the priestess's mind. Granted the act of one werewolf infecting another was serious Danté was already in above his head with his actions from the previous day. His sentence would stay the same with or without the details from Dione that much was certain. Though Dione might have thought her silence was helping Danté it really was not.

There was little else Theora could do to get the female to speak though she could sense that the spirit's energy was becoming more and more urgent. Just as Theora was about to inform Dione of her decision the girl moved her head, and a part of her shoulder was exposed. Theora caught sight of the scars. It was obviously caused by a bite, but by the looks of it it was not a very severe one. Theora wondered why a lycanthrope would be so gentle with Dione when it was obvious that he had a penchant for violence.

"I see traces of a bite mark on your shoulder," Theora said calmly. "It would seem that we must keep you in a silver-lined dungeon on the night of the full moon just to be on the safe side. We cannot risk you shifting in your home without proper supervision. I am sorry." Theora reached over, and placed a loving hand on the girl's knee. "I hope you understand the precautions we need to take, and for your safe I truly hope that you have not been infected with the lycanthropy virus."

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audiomorbid
2009-09-16 12:56 pm UTC (link)

Had he still been alive, Dexter would have jumped out of his skin. To see Dione locked away had not been his intention. Even if he understood the reasoning, of course he understood it, it still terrified him that she was going to be locked up like some beast. And it was now his fault.

Dee-dee, it's going to be okay. If he was saying that to reassure her it helped nothing. They were both sharing in the consequences of caring for someone and what consequences they were piling up to be.

Dione's reaction to the touch was to shift away. There was no violence in the motion, but the sense of aversion was obvious. "If it is the only thing he leaves me then it is what I have." The comment made little sense to the rational mind, but Dione had slipped away from rational quite a while ago and nothing was liable to bring it back any time soon. "Until then, I am free to go?"

Her sentence could begin now, it mattered nothing at all to her. She was already beyond caring about anything other than what was going to happen to Dante, what would she do with him gone?

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