On the morning of July 10th, Rage heads off somewhere with Cannon Fodder.
Niko sighs, seeing that they're not going anywhere soon.
"I am concerned at Rage going off so soon after such an intense illness. I hope that she will be up to the exertions," Galil remarks upon learning that Rage has left.
Galil smiles, "Does anyone care to practice or perhaps ride with me?"
"I could use some blade work after five days of inactivity."
"Then we shall. This is also an opportunity to learn each other's strengths and weakness in battle. I believe I am not as experienced as some of you appear to be and it would be wise to fully know my limitations," Galil agrees, tucking into a modest breakfast before heading out to spar and practice.
"I promise to start off slow so that we can gauge your abilities. Maybe we should use wooden weapons to avoid injury."
Galil nods and smiles, "That might be best at first."
After eating, Galil retires to change her gloves and then joins Kadlian and anyone else that will be working out.
The morning passes.
Shortly before lunch time, Rage and Cannon Fodder return, meeting as you as you are heading into the dining room.
"You've returned," Galil remarks, "I hope your business went well."
Cannon Fodder looks at Galil.
"Better than you could ever imagine," says the simulacrum. His voice has an edge to it that was absent just yesterday.
"I'm glad for you. Does this concern your desire to have a soul? Did that come about for you?" Galil asks with a smile.
"Yes," says Cannon Fodder over his shoulder.
He turns to Rage.
"Remember our bargain," he says and heads off.
Rage shakes her head as Cannon Fodder walks off. "Please summon Occa, if he is here. We have much to talk about."
Occa is present.
Suddenly a strange look comes over Rage. The woman begins to dance and giggle and laugh.
"Ding dong the witch is gone. The bitch is gone. Oops, can we say that?" the woman says, her voice sounding like a child now. "Audrey's gonna be mad at us for using that baddddd word... but we're soo excited..." the woman says, giggling some more. "Weeee're backkkkk ."
Malvis groans quietly as Rage adopts another of her personalities.
Galil raises her brow in surprise. "Which witch is gone, Rage?" she asks, looking rather uncertain about her own question.
"Rage, the witch. She's gone," says the woman, "I'm Isabella. You look like a nice lady, why do you wear gloves all the time? Are they comfortable? Do you like to wear armor? How is Mouse? Is she ok? Can we feed her an apple later? She seems to be a nice horse."
Galil manages to raise both brows this time in sheer astonishment, but otherwise remains serene in the face of Rage's strange behavior. She pauses before speaking, her eyes quite thoughtful as she regards Rage.
"I'm sorry that Rage is gone though to me you look exactly like her," Galil says softly. "And yes, I do wear gloves all the time and they are quite comfortable. I wear armor because I am a Cavalier and it is a part of my uniform, I suppose."
Galil smiles as she tries to answer the barrage of questions.
"I know we look like her, but we aren't her," the woman says, "I'm Isabella, and I'm 7, I'm almost 8. I'm learning magics so I can be powerful like Audrey and Erica and well, Rage was pretty powerful, especially when she was angry. And Molly is almost as powerful, she can teleport and everything!"
Galil nods, but does not reply immediately.
"You don't believe us, do you Miss Galil? It's true, we would never tell a lie. Audrey says that's bad. And we don't want to be bad. We don't want to get in trouble. You're not mad at as, are you Miss Galil? We're sorry if we made you mad. Please don't be mad," the woman says, half pleading.
"I am not mad, nor am I even angry," Galil replies reassuringly. "I am only somewhat puzzled and quite curious."
"Okay. It's okay to be puzzled," says the woman. "We were confused for a long time, like forever, until we met Molly, and then we had a friend, and then we met Audrey and Ragina and Erica, and they were nice too, but we also met Rage, and she was mean, and not nice, so we tried to stay away so she wouldn't get mad at us."
"Discretion being the better part of valor," Galil smiles, then translates. "It is sometimes wiser to avoid conflict rather than provoke it for no good reason."
"What's a Cavalier? Do you like kids? Why do you wear gloves all the time, it seems that your hands would get all oogie?"
"Kids? You mean children as opposed to baby goats I assume?" Galil smiles. "I like children. And no, my hands don't get... 'oogie' as you say. In fact, the gloves keep them quite clean and protect my hands."
"Oh goodie, maybe we'll have to get some gloves too, if we can practice magic with them on."
"Gloves are quite nice," Galil agrees with a smile.
"OK. Maybe we can get some armor too. Do they make armor for kids? I'm only 7 you know."
Galil smiles. "Usually they do not make armor for children, but in your case, you do seem to have a grown up body so I assume it would not be a problem unless it were to interfere with your magical talents."
"However, I would have to insist that you do not feed Mouse any apples as they aren't very good for horses. It can make them gassy or worse, bring on a bout of colic. However, you can feed her a handful of sweet oats if you wish," Galil explains.
The woman looks crestfallen, "No apples? But...but...I thought...but...okay...no apples for Mouse. Will she bite me if I give her oats? Does she eat oatmeal?"
Galil nods. "No apples. She will not bite if you hold your hand very flat, as if it were a plate. She does eat oatmeal on occasion, though it is called mush for horses and that only when she has worked past her usual endurance."
"Will you teach us how to do that? Does she bite your gloves when you feed her?" the woman says, happy again .
"No, Mouse does not bite," Galil replies gently. "She's a well trained horse that I have raised since she was a foal."
"OK, Audrey never let us ride the horse, and we don't even know it's name, but we call her Puffalump... but Erica laughs at that name. But Mouse is a nice name, but we can't call Puffalump Mouse or we might get confused. Do horses talk to each other? Do you think Mouse and Puffalump are friends?"
"Horses do talk to each other, in their own language though I do not know if Mouse and Puffalump are friends. Horses that are friendly with one another will not bite or kick each other when in a pasture or adjoining stalls and sometimes even groom each other to some degree," Galil explains.
The woman's voice changes again.
"In the end, there can be only one," she says, laughing. She turns to face Occa, "Occa, Cannon Fodder is no more. His wish for a soul came true, but as the gods who grant these things are fickle, the soul of Rage is now within the body of Cannon Fodder. "
Kadlian's face registers shock and a little bit of fear. "Rage has no one with her to temper her anger? This is not going to be pretty."
"Agreed," replies the woman.
Malvis groans louder this time. "Oh, Rage, what have you done now?"
"We have done nothing," replies the woman coldly. "We accompanied Cannon Fodder to a place of anti-wishing. And there, he made his wish and brought about this divide by his action. Now the breach is complete."
"Breach? What breach? And to whom am I speaking?" Malvis asks, obviously confused.
Occa says, "Why would he wish for a soul? He had a imperfect faux mirror of mine. Very interesting. I guess I will have to make a couple more."
"He wanted to feel, to be real, and he figured a soul would allow him to do that, now with Rage inside of him, my, that should prove interesting!" Salaam says with a shake of his head.
"No, Cannon Fodder you knew no longer exists. He is gone," Rage says. "There is now only Rage who is in the body. One soul."
"Are you sure?" Salaam inquires.
"Yes," replies the mage. "Quite sure."
"May Thoth watch over Cannon Fodder's spirit!" Salaam intones.
"Cannon Fodder did not have a spirit, that is why he sought a soul. Much like the story of the wooden boy who longed to be real."
"He had an essence that made him who he was, regardless of whether you viewed him as 'real' or not, and that will be missed!" he replies with a shake of his head.
"How does one have an essence without a soul?" Galil asks.
"Oh my, that can not be good for the world," Salaam muses with a sigh. "All that power in her hands, beware."
"Especially men, and those who have offended her in the past," replies Rage, with a glance towards the cleric.
"I do not fear her," he replies, "Though it will be a detriment to many if she abuses her power."
"Salaam, you do not know Rage as Erica, Audrey and the others do. I know some of her background, but the Rage you know is different."
"Then you do not know what she is capable of," says the woman, "Nor the anger and hatred she feels, for all men."
"I know what she is capable of, but will she use her new power for good and to move forward, or will she let it cripple her and stay static?" he asks.
"She will use it for revenge, and to her that is good," replies Rage. "And I am sure that if she chooses, she will find a patron willing to use her unique anger."
Galil nods, "That is often the case though never the right solution. It can only end in tragedy if revenge is all one has to live for."
"I doubt that Rage would listen to you, Galil," replies the woman. "She is single minded and in a great deal of pain, and now has no one to help her control that pain."
"I know," Galil says softly. "But perhaps now she can take responsibility for her pain and overcome it."
"You must be an optimist," replies the woman. "How does one take responsibility for her pain. She has two choices to let it go: let go what has kept her and driven her and why she was part of us. Or she can succumb to it, and turn to the darkness that penetrates her soul."
Malvis wags his head slowly, and says, "I cannot imagine Rage turning truly evil. Revengeful, yes, but evil, no. I only hope she tires of revenge and hating before she does too much damage."
"I fail to follow your logic," Galil replies. "One takes responsibility for their own pain by putting it into perspective and either delivering justice or accepting that there is no justice to be done. Hurting others for no cause is unjust, immoral, and ultimately self-destructive."
"Hurting others to exact justice. Is that not part of many codes of law. If Rage feels and acts as judge, and executioner, in her mind she is doing right. Of course, she could just as easily seek out somone to help her, but I think not."
"Perhaps I can help her," says Malvis, jumping to his feet and heading out after CF. "After all, I was her assistant and friend. She trusted me, I believe."
"If Rage seeks to deliver justice to those that have harmed her, she is within her right and no moral dilemma exists," Galil replies. "From the context of the conversation it seemed that perhaps she would exact justice from men in particular for no other reason than that they were men. That is evil."
"Yes. That is," replies the woman. "But the anger at men is founded in the past and discrimination between a specific man and Men. Between actual harm and perceived harm."
"But Rage may not morally act on that confusion. She is responsible for her actions no matter her perceptions. To hold all men responsible for the act of one man is wrong. To confuse potential or perceived harm with actual harm is wrong. If Rage acts on these perceptions, she is wrong and will be subject to swift justice," Galil replies.
Galil frowns in puzzlement.
"Do you mean to say that Rage, or the woman we knew as Rage is now Canon Fodder? Who then are you? Some other soul who found a new body as well?"
"I am Erica, the one," the woman says, "Well, one of them, but in the end, there can be only one. And yes, Galil-Gadith Amadriewen, Cannon Fodder is no more. The soul inside the body of Cannon Fodder is a very angry woman known as Rage. She has all the abilities of myself and Audrey, with a temper to boot. What she will do now that there is no one to control her is anyone's guess."
Malvis, thoughtful for a moment, interrupts to ask, "Erica, were you always the one? Or was Rage the one first? I mean, was Rage already present when you arrived, or were you there first?"
"I am, I was," replies Erica. "I have always been. Since the dark times. Rage is our anger. When we could not fight back, when we were hurt, Rage took the anger and the pain. And that is what drives her now."
Galil glances at Lord Kadlian. "I was unaware that bodies for human souls were in such short supply that several are forced to reside in one body. Or perhaps this is more... "
She shakes her head slightly and does not finish her sentence.
"It is a rather... unique situation. I have known for a while, but kept quiet as requested."
"For which we thank you," says the mage.
"You are welcome. You are my friend. It is the least I could do."
"It is more complicated than that, Galil," says the woman, her voice different yet again. "Kadlian, I am not sure how this happened, and was surprised as the others at the turn of events. This may cause may problems down the road, and what we wish to do and how to deal with Rage is something we need to decide. If she is still here now, since she is equal to myself as a mage, she could have teleported away from here already."
"I thought she was not capable of teleportation, Erica. Or am I speaking to Audrey? And what will you call yourself now that Rage is no longer part of you?"
"This is Audrey. The bodies given name is Ragina. However, we will have to consider what to do about a new name," says the woman. "Rage has the same talents and training that Erica and I have, which means she can teleport, and cast up to 5th order spells."
"Hello, Audrey. That is not good news. But, I thought the last time we talked about what each of you could do, this was not true. Or am I confused again?"
"How did you all manage to fit in there?" asks Badd, cocking his head to one side.
Galil, who has been listening with great interest to the balance of the conversation replies, "This may not quite be several individual souls inhabiting one body, but one soul that has split into several partial entities that appear to the casual observer as individuals. It is not unknown among my people and is generally not considered a failing unless one of those parts does in fact do evil. Most fascinating."
"Who are you? Do I know you?" asks the woman.
"Oops," says Badd. "I expect you must be quite confused. I certainly am. No, I don't think you know me, but I liked you when you were Rage. You were funny."
Then he adds, almost as an afterthought. "I'm Baddenkohrlmspf Herr'Dei. Pleased to meet you."
Occa chuckles. "That doesn't matter. I can track her or him easily enough. I can always wish her or him before me, if need be."
Turning back to Occa, Erica says, "And looking like you, she can cause much havoc in your name."
"Well, I will put a stop to that."
Occa follows Cannon Fodder out. Ahead of him is Malvis.
Confused but curious, Badd shrugs and wanders after all of the people who are wandering after Rage.
After a few minutes Badd and Malvis rejoin you.
Occa and Rage/Cannon Fodder did not come with them.
Logan and Salaam ask at the same time, "Well?"
"Occa is going to try some things with Cannon Fodder who is Rage. Let us hope their long friendship can break through to her."
Malvis seems a little despondent, and more than a little confused.
"That does not sound reassuring," Salaam replies, but does not leave, as he has learned, despite the backing of a great god, not to get in the middle of two mages.
The female mage, known as Rage, not to be confused with the male mage that currently has Rage inside him, speaks to Malvis. "That is very encouraging news. If there is anyone who might be able to help her it is Occa. Since the first man to show us kindness was our former Master and Teacher, also an Archmage, and if Occa acts the same way, I suspect things will be better."
Turning to Kadlian, she continues. "I know of the location of the flame of anti-wishing now, and can teleport members of our group there when we would like to go. However, the lesson of Cannon Fodder and Rage is one that should be taken to heart, for wishes can be dangerous things."
Badd has been somewhat downcast since he returned. Hearing this he looks up.
"What's anti-wishing?" he asks.
"It is like a backwards wish. So say you wanted to wish to be smarter. In the flame of anti-wish, you would say, 'I wish to not be smarter'. Get it?" says the mage.
"What's the catch or the limitations on this anti-wish flame?" Niko asks.
"Don't wish for a soul when there is someone with multiple souls around?" says the mage. "As for limitations, or catches, the Powers that Be are always fickle with wishes and will probably interpret your wish is unique ways. Keep it simple, straightforward and there should not be major problems."
"Sounds a bit random," says Badd. "Asking for the opposite of what you want doesn't sound like wanting the opposite of what you ask for."
He grins. "Fun though. Can I try?"
"I will not be returning there for at least a day, as I have used my teleportation spells for the day." replies the mage. "So it would have to wait till later."
"I would love to join you to there and back, as I can think of a good anti-wish for myself," Logan chuckles, knowing that it would improve his job as security chief greatly.
"I'm sure you would, Logan Obi-Wan. However, I will not be the one conveying you there," replies the mage.
"What did I do to you ? If anything, I have been friendly to those others inside of you, it was just Rage herself that I could not get along with," he replies.
The little girls voice speaks up in response, "You were very rude and mean to our friend Malvis. Meanie...meanie..."
She sticks her tongue out at Logan.
"Careful, it might fall off!" he grins and then leaves, tired of dealing with yet another crazy companion of Occa's.
"Salaam, I will be at the tavern if you want me," he says to the cleric as he leaves Occa's house.
Malvis smiles at the UnRage, and says, "I'm glad that you still consider me a friend. I hope we can continue to be friends once you have sorted out just who you are. At any rate, I will always be honored to be called 'friend' by you."
"I'm Isabella, silly. But Audrey says we're Trinity now. I'm not sure what that means, but no one liked our suggestions." The woman grabs Malvis' hand. "Come on, let's go feed Mouse with Miss Galil. I wanna learn how to do it, and then could we go get some snacks and maybe you could please, oh pretty please, please, do some more tricks for us????"
"Oh, Isabella; I've met you before, I believe. And, yes, I'll be most happy to show you some more tricks." Malvis grins widely.
"It might be good for us to teleport there together, but not use the place at this time. Then it might be good to make or buy some scrolls of teleport, so that in the event we need to get there, to use the wishes for recovery, then we have a means to do so," says the mage.
"Okay."
"Good," replies the mage.
Badd looks at UnRage curiously. "Why isn't it a good idea to use it now? Does it only have a limited number of uses before it burns out?"
"My reasoning is thus, Badd," says the UnRage. "If we only get one anti-wish each, and we each wish for something, that is great. However, there come times during adventuring that only a wish can restore, as if part of the group is killed. To cast a wish is very expensive to pay for, and this flame gives up some wishes for 'free', if we save them.
"And now we come to the important issue. Rage's essence is now not in this body, and it will be confusing to continue to call us Rage, nor do we wish to lay claim to the name, as it is her's and her temperament is more suited to that name. We must consider this."
"Ragina, then?"
"No, it is time for a dramatic change. The name must reflect the new us. And with Rage gone, we are no longer Ragina. Even though that does mean Queen," the woman says, smiling.
"As you wish."
"We wish." replies the woman, "You can now call us Trinity."
"Amuck... amuck.. amuck." says the mage, her voice that of a child again. "We're going to run amuck. And we're hungry. We want something sweet to eat... Ding dong, the witch is gone... and we're free to be us."
"Audrey, how hard is it going to be to restore balance inside your body?"
"Amuck... Amuck," says the woman before she shakes her head.
"Hard, Kadlian, very hard. The removal of Rage is causing the release of much a...
"muck... we're going to run amuck. Let's go feed Mouse," the woman says as she begins to skip towards the exit.
And then stops.
"Very, very hard. I will try," says the woman again.
"If you need help, let me know."
"Of course we will," replies Trinity.
"Trinity," says Malvis slowly, rolling the name off his tongue slowly, "A very expressive name."
Trinity smiles as she and Malvis exit, looking for Galil.
"Miss Galil, can we help feed Mouse? PLease????" calls the woman.
Galil smiles. "Of course you may. Mouse is always happy to have extra company and of course, extra treats."
Galil leads the way to the stables, stopping first at the kitchen for a handful of carrots. She thanks the cook and hands the bunch to Trinity. "Carrots are good for horses and a wonderful treat."
People scatter...