And The Doors Of Perception Open

Lavinia stands in her customary way -- back to the door, and facing the large picture window, a spectacular view of the sisterhood's orchards laid out before her. The window is opened, allowing a gentle evening breeze to drift into the room, carrying the earthy sent of the trees into the chamber. It is evening, and a few pink-tinted clouds rest atop the hills in the distance -- the sky burning with a deep aquamarine.
Nadira steps in the door, smoothly closing it behind her. "Good evening, Mother Superior." she says softly, allowing the tilt of her head to be the sole betrayer of her curiousity.
Lavinia draws the evening air in through her bent nose, nodding silently in answer to Nadira's greeting, "A fine evening, is it not?" she asks, her old voice oddly pensive.
Nadira nods. "It is the stillness before a pebble is dropped into the center of the pond." she observes.
Lavinia turns at this, the curves of her ancient face catching the rose tint of the evening light. For a brief moment, you glimpse her in her youth. The same strong features, but with softer, more feminine lines. She offers a slight smile, "Indeed, it is. Or perhaps the eye of a storm." She returns her eyes to the orchards below, "You will, of course, pursue Prince Erich now." It is half-command, half-question.
Nadira considers. "Half the Landsraad is pursuing him." she says. "Perhaps the Sisterhood could enact a contract with him?"
Lavinia nods, and smiles, almost wryly, the wrinkles upon her cheeks drawing up into tight, thin lines. "Such is my intention, as you have well anticipated. I intend for us to succeed where the others will fail." She pauses, her words hanging in the air almost as though suspended. She turns at you and you read the next sentence in her deep blue eyes, as clearly as if she had spoken it aloud, "But first, we must proceed with the matter at hand."
Nadira nods. "I have fasted, and performed the assign meditations. I await your convenience, Mother Superior."
Lavinia smiles again. It is rare that you have seen her face so often in this humour. "Of course you have, Nadira. Were I to expect anything less, we would not be having this meeting. Little more needs be said before we proceed. But join me please -- here by the window. I enjoy watching the evening light draw long shadows across the orchards. When the sun has set we will commence."
Nadira steps forward accordingly, her feet soundless as she crosses the floor. She turns her gaze to the sunset, allowing herself to show silent appreciation for its quiet beauty.
Lavinia draws another long breath, savoring the aroma on the air, before expelling it as a gentle sigh. She seems older tonight than usual... but perhaps it is just your heightened awareness. "We are close, Nadira. The genetic lines are converging rapidly, and we must move very carefully." Her attention seems to focus upon you even as her eyes continue to take in the fading evening light. "You are very important to us."
Nadira remains silent, what can she say? "I will engender to do my part." Her lips turn up just slightly. "I exist but to serve."
Lavinia raises an eyebrow to you as the last shade of evening slips away, "And indeed you shall, child. Indeed you shall." The old Reverend Mother gestures with a gnarled hand to a small, spartan couch along one side of the small office.
Nadira walks over and sits on the couch, and then after closing her eyes for a moment, lays against the arm. Her expression is tranquil, centered within.
<<Nadira thinks: I shall not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death which brings total obliteration. I will face my fear...>>
Lavinia quietly pulls open a large drawer in her desk, and withdraws a spherical vessel, with a long, almost elegant spout attached to it. She carries it carefully in both hands until she stands beside Nadira and the couch. She asks simply, "Is it time, child?"
For a long moment, Nadira doesn't answer. And then, her speech slightly slurred, as if having to drag herself to such a level of consciousness that speaking is an effort, she whispers, "Yes." and lets her mouth fall open, chin tilted up.
Lavinia closes her eyes for a long moment, then nods, and tilts the spout towards your waiting mouth. The fluid enters!
Nadira swallows it, the muscles in her throat moving as she does so. For a moment, there is silence, stillness. And then she jerks, beginning to twist on the couch in the agony that comes when tasting the Water of Life for the first time.
Time is frozen. A stray drop hangs suspended in mid air, falling endlessly from the tip of the spout toward your mouth....
A door in Nadira's mind opens. And behind that door, another door. And behind that one, another. And another, and another, and another. The echoing bang of these doors in Nadira's mind, and with it, awareness of the Other Memory increases. She feels like she moves, even though time is suspended.
The old Reverend Mother before you is bathed in a new, and penetrating light. You see her young and old, simultaneously. Time is but another axis upon which your mind travels. The clarity is so powerful it becomes agonizing!
Nadira's fingers curl into claws, which dig into the upholstery. "So much..." she gasps, almost choking on the words. But even as she says this, something instinct, some urge reaches out, detatches itself and starts to seek out the poison, entering it, converting it.
The poison jostles within you. Mingling with your bloodstream, but you recognize it's form. It is so obvious!
Like a general marshalling troops, Nadira enacts her very cells to reject the poison, to convert it, drawing it and rendering its malevolent properties inert. She starts to gag with the need to regurgitate, it is controlled after a moment. But soon enough, she's ready to spit back the inert poison into the container, which will permit it to neutralize the poison within that, as well.
The memories begin to pour out at a blinding rate! Doors open. A lover. A death. A birth. Mother, daughter, mother, daughter! It seems endless! Each distinct, yet coming and going at a breathtaking pace!
Nadira's eyes snap open, riding the wave of lifetimes, beginning to feel the awareness of the Reverend Mothers still living. Occaisionally they widen in revelation - her father still unrevealed and unbeknownst, she recognizes her mother, and her mother's mother in the form of Yadir. As quickly as the knowledge is learned, it is dismissed unimportant in the grand tapestry of ages that widens her awareness.