The Joker Game: The Voice That Someone Calls Part Four

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Doctor Who/Persona 2 Crossover
Summary: The Doctor's reminded of something forgotten.
Word Count: 864
Rating: K
Author's Notes: Posting this because it's in my already written stuff and because I have no reason not to.  Two updates today, because, well.  You'll see.

 

The Doctor sat in the control room, lounging, one hand holding a book with a flower on the cover limply, the other simply dangling as he stared into space.  Something one of his companions had said had reminded him of something, but he couldn’t remember exactly what it had been.  That, of course, had led him to rummage around like a rabbit until he’d found what he sought.  His diary.

Which hadn’t been very helpful about the whole Nanjo Group fiasco (though he did seem to remember some experiments that had needed someone to step in), it had reminded him of the boy and the strange case of déjà vu.

Something on the console beeped, and he startled out of his daze, practically flinging himself out of his seat to stare at the console.

Which held the following words (in Gallifreyan, of course):

The Great Balance

Not much is known about this subject, since it occurred during the Dark Time when Time Lords were far more concerned about saving their own skins than keeping useful records (when, indeed, they were even intelligent inhabitants of the cosmos).  As such, only myth and legend, gathered from natives when the original inhabitants had long since disappeared, is available.

The Lapidions, some might say luckily, fought among themselves.  The most well known are the Crawling Chaos, a being that reflected and strengthened the dark sides of all living creatures reminiscent of the Great Old Ones, and the Butterfly, his equal and opposite.  However, a good many would argue that the battles between Lapidions was as unfortunate as those between the Osirians (for which a great deal more is known).  Their war would often cause much local disturbance (and even some cosmological upheaval at their most earnest of combat).  Some speculate that the Butterfly is merely one manifestation of the White Guardian, and the Crawling Chaos, the Black Guardian.  Others argue that the White Guardian and Black Guardian are merely reflections of these ancient and older-than-Gallifrey figures.  Even a little reading of the great Human novelist Lovecraft is enough to illustrate the great damage the Crawling Chaos, or Nyarlathotep, as he is called in the books, can cause.  (This author hopes that the Crawling Chaos is merely a follower in the footsteps of Nyarlathotep, or it is doubtful whether the universe can continue with his influence in the picture.)

Some connection between the Lapidions and Osirians is suspected.  It is believed the Pleiades (to borrow the Earthly term) were a great source of power for the Lapidions.  The Osirians, on the other hand, worshipped Orion, which according to myths from around the universe, either pursued or guarded the Pleiades.

Possibly more important, however, is the emphasis on the Great Balance.  The Osirians had the concept of Ma’at, while the Lapidions had the Great Balance.  Several Osirian texts, reread from this standpoint, seem to point to the possibility of several Osirians taking on the responsibility of maintaining this Great Balance (and perhaps by monitoring the Lapidions).  It is unknown how this is meant to play out, or how it affected the Lapidions, but archaeological explorations (soon ordered to be ceased by the Lady President after several of the members went insane) have found several carvings suggesting that the battle between the two is meant to continue for eternity, and that, should either begin winning, the Great Balance would be destroyed and that consequences too terrible to depict would occur.

It should be noted that this is a good illustration of the dangers of intervention.  The Butterfly did not interfere in events, preferring to step back and let matters continue as they will.  The Crawling Chaos, on the other hand, insidiously dug its tentacles in everywhere.  Those who meddle may be unknowingly serving the Crawling Chaos’ aims, and while good intentions may be involved, the final result may not necessarily reflect this.

The Doctor’s fist slammed into the console before he was aware of it.  He took several deep breaths to calm himself, then stroked his faithful TARDIS a little guiltily.  He wasn’t altogether certain what had roused his temper, although he had a sneaking suspicion that the slurs against ‘intervention’-in his terms, ‘helping out’-were partially to blame.  “Sorry, girl.  What are you trying to tell me?”  For some reason, some of it also seemed familiar.  Were all these clues tied together somehow?

He glanced up into the scanner, and there, in the slight reflection of the console room, his reflection suddenly changed.  A mask covered his face—a black patch oozing over his right eye, a painted blue eye, a patch of purple on the side…

He stumbled backward, tripping and clattering in a giant whirlwind of catastrophe.  He heard a concerned voice call from the corridor beyond, “Doctor, are you all right?”

‘No,’ he wanted to answer, the faintest echo of chanting voices coming from somewhere within the darkened confines of his mind, but instead, he answered, “Quite all right,” with the smallest of smiles.

His companions didn’t investigate further.  Well, whatever was going on, he’d need to investigate it fully at some point, since its importance was increasingly emphasized.  At least it promised to be an exciting adventure.