Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh, sure, no problem...It's just not everyday I find someone who actually wants to know about this stuff..." She said, then cocked her head to the side. "When do you want to start?" She asked, thinking of the basics she'd learned so many years ago.

"Huh ... a dark fairy ... that would be cool. You I've seen elemental fairys, light fairys and even Moon fairys but I have yet to meet a fairy that is interested in dark magic. well until now." He stared at Maggie momentarily before looking at Danni "Looks like you got an admirer." His voice contained hints of being impressed.

"Oh, sure." Turning, Danni called, "Athena, if you're bored, we're having a black magic lesson over here. Feel free to come over if you want." Considering her duty done, she settled Indian style on the ground, looking at Maggie. "Ok, first off, if we're going to have you working with dark magic, you have to know what it feeds off of." She began, getting into lecture mode.

"A black magic user's spells come from the soul, the mind, the deepest recesses of the heart. They feed off anger, bitterness, resentment, destruction, fury, betrayal, anguish...Anything that makes us cry or hurt inside can be used to its fullest potential to draw out the power of a spell. So in order to fully understand the magic, you have to draw up all those bad feelings, let them take you over until it and your power, strength, are the only things left. And then you release it in the form of a spell, a carefully controlled spell at that. Following me so far?" She asked, remembering quite clearly how she'd had to learn all this on her own. Not recommended whatsoever.

"Whenever you'd like, I suppose, provided I'm not teaching already or with my... family." There was a small pause right before the end of the statement. Ophiuchus looked at Lin. "But fair is fair. I'd like for you to tell me what you think of everyone you've met, and everything you've experienced in the West so far." Of course, Ophiuchus would keep everything confidential.

Maggie obediently sat down, the grass automatically turning greener and fuller in a wide circle around her. She stared intently at Danni, taking in every word, nodding. It was actually fairly creepy.

"The hard part, ladies and shadow guardian guy, is learning to harness and control these emotions, to stop them from controlling you instead of the other way around. We've all seen it, where some random human lets their emotions lead their actions. This is how we end up in world wars and such. Now have a dark magic user let their emotions control them, and you've got some serious trouble." She said, speaking from experience.

"There are different kinds of black magic, or dark arts, whichever you prefer to call it. Those with the dark mark can summon and use demons at their disposal, summoning creatures from your worst nightmares into this world from the depths of hell. Some become guardians, using their powers as shields. Others specialize in battle tactic magic, such as summoning poison bladed swords out of midair, or turning a squirt gun into a fully working pistol."

"The only limits to a person's magic is their own personal limitations or their mind, their body, their spirit. Many can't take the physical exertion that dark magic takes on their bodies with a lot of spells. Many get it into their heads that black magic means evil, that they have a right to hurt others based on their mark...They're a mockery of what we stand for, if you ask me." She added, a personal sore spot with her. "And some...some people just lose their minds. The things they see, the things they do, it gets to be too much, and they snap. Many are specially trained in how to take care of those who lose touch with reality...It's not pleasant." She said, shaking her head.

Athena bit her lip. Was that why the yokai had left Hell? They had been demons of the kinder sort--which, of course, didn't make them all kind, but that was of no matter. They were also, quite generally, the more intelligent demons, and the ones who had better control. Did they leave to escape the dark magic and its users? Her mind was teeming with possibilities.

((Sorry, gotta go to bed. Night!))

"What we stand for is not destruction, it is not killing those beneath us. It's about turning weaknesses such as those emotions into strengths. It's about using what's inside us, what we have to work with, and molding it into a weapon all our own. For every happy feeling, there are eight bad ones. They dominate our bodies, and therefore have a stronger affect than those who call on emotions to make white magic. Those who commit sins, those put on this world to cast fear into hearts, those are our allies. Their primary emotions are what we thrive on, what we use to become stronger. But the difference between us and them is that we harness and control our powers, while their's, for the most part, go untamed, and force them to do unforgivable crimes. That is why they are sent to hell, and become our slaves. Minions, I believe you call them." She said, remembering a passage she'd translated from the Book of the Ancients.