Diedra felt Madame Sombre's darkness suck out the life from the room, but her resolve was resolute; she would not fall. Not to this woman, not again, or ever again for as long as she still breathed. And as the darkness started to envelop the tent, Diedra thumbed her bright clothes, reminding herself that she still held onto the last scraps of life and they were touching her skin and giving her strength.

The pair were the complete opposites of each other; one stood for everything dark, souless and hopeless, whilst the other represented colour, life and hope.

[b]"Careful, you might be scaring my audience out there. They search for power, and this isn't the first time...why, I wouldn't be surprised if I know how this circus came to be, Monochrome. No consequences for this chat, though, hmmmn? I don't want to be snuffed out like those stage-hands, and I think you think I have a plan if that does happen, and I can assure you; like this new-found electricity that you incorporated into my acts, this circus will need -two- batteries to run."[/b] explained Diedra in a low and thrilling voice...it was moments like these that she lived for; the real risk of danger.

[b]"Long ago, back in Al-Andalus, the Christians tried to over-run my people with talk of their own belief, and naturally I faltered in my own long enough to listen. As you know, I was never good at...holding to promises."[/b] purred Diedra, leaning forward a little as her violet eyes bored into the endless black of Madame Sombre's.

[b]"The Christians spoke of those who sinned; those who reached too far and became dark, and how these people, enveloped in one of their seven sins, would have to pay the price. Before I became one of your little puppets, I was lustful, and wanted more; hence your appearance, your trickery, and my downfall."[/b] murmured Diedra. She placed her most heartfelt emotion into each and every syllable. One of the few ways to avoid losing hope is to remember what one happens to be fighting for, and Diedra only stumbled against the strain of Madame Sombre's power, continuing to push against it.

[b]"But we are all sinners here, are we not? I dare say you may have wanted something badly too, and it mightn't have been myself, but perhaps power - power that the stagehands were seeking. And you were given power, but forced into slavery by the forces of this circus. Don't you [i]dare[/i] think that I am as heartless as you; I can tell, I can see you're just as much of a slave as I am, and we're bound in the same irons. You did not ask me, remember, [i]how[/i] I think the circus to have arrived. Perhaps it was always there, long before man was even aware of it. You asked me why, and my theory is simple - we, the blessed with our magical gifts, or cursed with our destructive power, are too sinful and too strong to remain in view of the others."[/b] Diedra paused, pulling her features into a cat-like grin.

[b]"It's a holding-cell for the wretched, Monochrome. That's what I think. We are never allowed to leave but we must never be allowed to waste our gifts. Our power drives the circus, the circus drives us around the world a thousand times over. But it doesn't explain the missing stage-hands, and it doesn't explain why you, of all people, chose to finally meet me in person so urgently too."[/b]

Diedra leaned back once more. Perhaps it was a good thing she was forced to sit down, else she would've been moving about all over the place by now restlessly and passionately gesticulating with her words. [b]"So, let's try this again, then. If I got the answer wrong, then enlighten me, or don't, it wasn't what I asked you for anyway and it would be a nice little gift to know the origins of my 'hell'. But the stage-hands clearly did something that they should not have done, and clearly you wish to keep it quiet else you would have never bothered to see me at all. Think carefully about your answer, and include the fate of the men who died in a circus that does not allow death."[/b]