Issue 1 Downtime

In Nailah's shrine, in the lighthouse, a small bowl that wasn't there before was there now. Inside was a small flame, flickering, eternal.

Next to the flame was a simple card with two words on it: "You win". Underneath that was....the symbol of the Phoenix!

Nailah raises her eyebrows as she steps inside and notices the bowl and the card. Picking up the later she looks around the room. "Does this mean you don't want to talk about it?"

Silence.

Oh, I'm sure Mira heard her, but at the moment, maybe she was hesitant to come out?

"I promise I won't brag..." she says softly.

"You deserve to," Mira's voice came from everywhere and nowhere.

"Well for what it's worth, I think Sam might have enjoyed it more than she cares to admit. We did bet whether she'd say she enjoyed it or not."

"No," Mira said. "She did not embrace it. I lost, fair and square."

"I still think your point came across. I'm not sure mine did, but that's okay." she smiles softly, sitting down in front of the little flame.

"About how limited our existence is compared to yours. I'd hoped it might make you understand the things we do a bit more."

"I understand, I'm afraid," she said, emerging from one of the walls. "All too well."

"Okay, bad wording maybe. You know so much more than we do, I thought spending some time on our level might help you understand that compared to you we're pretty stupid. Sometimes because of what I know is coming I take steps that seem strange to others. Most of the time we operate on very flawed information. I mean for hundreds of years people thought the sun revolved around the earth. They sentenced people to death for saying otherwise. I like to think we're a little more civilized than that now, but the flawed perspective is still the same."

"Have you been a saleswoman long, Ms. Weaver?" Mira said, sarcastically.

"You're not exactly going to bat there for your people."

"All I'm saying is that most peoples' scope is limited. We do the best we can with what we have to grow beyond that but compared to you we're still living in caves."

"And happy to do so," Mira sighs. "I thought I could come back to that level. Or bring you up to mine. Or meet in the middle. But it's impossible, isn't it?"

"I don't know. It's a lot to ask of you or of us, but I'm willing to try and help."

Mira shook her head. "No. No, I think it's just a fact that I must face. You're happier being ignorant, even if that leads to unhappiness. I don't UNDERSTAND it, but I have to accept it. You're so dedicated to the prospect that everyone's the same, you ignore differences. That doesn't leave much of a place for me."

"We do kind of assume everyone starts out roughly the same, but I don't think you can say we ignore the differences once they take shape."

Mira shook her head, and took a step closer. "It's like you said. Your scope is limited. And you can't step outside your scope. That makes sense--if you could, then your scope would be different. I just thought I could bring back pictures."

"I liked the ones you showed me, even if it took some convincing." she says, standing up.

"Maybe you're just special," she said, taking another step closer. "Or maybe it's because you spend so much time in here."

"I think I mostly spend so much time here because I can see a little bit past the scope of most people."

"Maybe Sam should move her office in here, too. Have the entire operation close to heart," she said, taking yet another step closer.

"I think you're underestimating how much Sam likes to cling to the mundane to balance things out."

Mira took yet another step forward, and was out of steps--any more, and she'd have knocked Nailah over. As it were, they were face-to-face.
"I've tried. I took Kevin's classes, and I stayed close to him, but it's like cutting off a limb. I can't do it."

Nailah puts her hands on Mira's shoulders. "I'm not saying you have to do the same thing. I just thought it might help and it didn't, that's okay."

Mira slipped her own arms under Nailah's, wrapping them around her back.

"You've tried so much to help me, and to help Sam. I don't want your failure with me to affect how you're helping her."

Nailah returns the hug, putting one hand on the back of Mira's head. "None of this means I've given up on helping either of you."

"I am beyond your powers now, Nailah. I am fire. And Life incarnate. Now and forever," she practically whispered.

"You are. And I think you needed a hug." she says softly.

Mira looked up into Nailah's eyes. "I'm not sure I should stay. Trying to help has just hurt others. Sam, Will, Sara, Kevin..."

"That happens sometimes. It doesn't mean we don't want you here."

"No," she said, quietly. "You want Mira here. Not me. Mira knows how to act. Not me."

"I'd be lieing if I said that wasn't true. You might not be able to be her anymore, but she's still part of you, no matter how small it might seem next to the flames."

"No, I don't want just what's buried inside of you any more than I want Sam to just be Samantha McManus, boring school administrator in a pants-suit. The Phoenix and the Morrigan don't really know how to walk among us mortals though, Altamira and Samantha do. The only reason why I don't want to lose Samantha or Altamira in all this is because I don't want to become severed from the two of you."

"Just like a cat, always wanting, even the impossible," she smiled, leaning into Nailah more.

"If that's what it takes..." she smiles, giving Mira a squeeze. "And I know I'll have to let you and Sam go one day, I just hope it'll be later rather than sooner."

"Don't be so sure about that," Mira whispered. "Even YOU can't see everything."

"So this is what it's like to be on the other end of these cryptic things..." she smiles weakly.