Prophecy Approved Companion

The Chosen One gestured for Qube to take the empty half-hourglass sitting on the table. Still filled with trepidation about how this might potentially affect the enraptured Mage, Qube dutifully helped birth a twin and handed it over to the Hero.

“Here,” the Chosen One said, handing the empty chamber to Definitely Bad Guy. “Do you want to do it? It’s not every day you get to give birth to yourself, or whatever it is we’re actually doing. Reviving you?”

The expression of keen interest only deepened on the Mage’s face as he carefully took the half-hourglass from the Chosen One. He stepped up to where Qube was hovering by the original empty hourglass on the table, and picked it up. He examined the identical twins, turning them this way and that as if trying to discern any visible difference.

Placing the original globe back on the table, he turned to the purple and red coffin and hesitated.

“This may change my sense of self,” he said, staring at the globe filled with black sand embedded in the coffin before him. Since he was facing away from everyone, it was impossible to read his facial expression, but his shoulders were slightly hunched. “Or it may have any number of unintended side effects, up to and including my demise. Such is the price we pay for new knowledge. It is one I am willing to pay.” He paused again, this time for so long that Qube wasn’t sure if he’d finished speaking.

“However, it would be…” he trailed off, and coughed. “It would be remiss of me if I did not mention, before such an occasion, that it has been… I do not regret being here, on this quest. The things I have learned and the experiences I have had are not ones I would— have been extremely informative.”

Without warning, he connected the empty globe to the one filled with black sand. There was an audible click as the two pieces snapped together, and the marble holding the bottom half in place tightened. Black sand started flowing upwards to fill the hourglass, in complete defiance of gravity itself.

Definitely Bad Guy grabbed at the rapidly-filling chamber, trying to separate the two.

“Stuck!” he exclaimed, tugging hard but unable to move the hourglass at all.

The whole thing was going to fill up with black sand! He was going to be unbalanced! There was no time to think. Qube grabbed the empty chamber that the Mage had put back on the table and quickly birthed another twin.

“Here!” the Chosen One said, grabbing it off her and pulling Definitely Bad Guy away from where he was fruitlessly still trying to separate the two chambers. The Hero thrust the chamber into the man’s hands, and pushed him towards the blue and silver coffin.

Instinctively, the Mage clutched at the glass and then stared stupidly at the white sand in front of him before lunging forward and connecting the two chambers. There was another loud click, and then white sand tumbled upwards to fill the empty chamber.

“Okay, now’s the part we back away,” the Chosen One said, pushing the whole party back from where they’d crowded between the two coffins. “Just in case it decides to do something weird.” As soon as he said that, the black sand filled the top of the hourglass and the entire thing started to glow black before sinking into the coffin itself. Seconds later the white one lit up, and also sank into its coffin.

“Yeah, something like that,” the Chosen One said, sounding very pleased with himself.

“[Lesser Shield],” Qube very quietly cast over Definitely Bad Guy as the two coffins themselves started to glow. The music in her head was going all out, trumpets and organ music blasting in equal measure, none of it harmonising with the other sounds going on. The music was too busy being very excited about what was happening to bother with sounding good.

Lights exploded out of the coffins, forcing the party to shield their eyes to avoid being blinded. As soon as the light display disappeared, the party all snapped to look at Definitely Bad Guy. The Mage, Qube’s shield still twinkling around him, looked down at himself.

Nothing had changed.

“I am glad to see that you did not give in to your inclinations towards weakness,” Definitely Bad Guy’s voice said from a short distance away.

“I am relieved that you have forgiven me for my transgressions,” he also said from the right.

The party looked up to behold…

Two more Definitely Bad Guys.

The Definitely Bad Guy who’d emerged from the red and purple coffin (which appeared to have melted away. Unless the new Mage was actually formed from the marble itself? But then why wasn’t he red and purple?) looked exactly like the Mage Advisor when they’d first met him in his Wizard’s Tower, shedding the blue tinge that the Mage had acquired at the academy. The same cold sneer and detached expression were in place, forming a mask of disdain.

Oddly enough, it was only when she was confronted with his old, rigid look of utter superiority that Qube realised just how much the Mage beside her had softened in their journey together.

The second Definitely Bad Guy, however, looked unnervingly kind. He was standing where the silver and blue coffin had been, and the bright blue that outlined and encroached on the party’s Mage’s tattoos, eyes, and hair had completely overtaken all signs of red. Even his clothes had turned a light, silvery blue.

The Chosen One covered his mouth.

“Oh no,” he muttered through his fingers. “Oh man. What the [fiddle]? Oh, I love it.”

Definitely Bad Guy looked at the two Definitely Bad Guys before him, and steepled his fingers together. The two new Definitely Bad Guys steepled their fingers back, their gazes firmly fixed on the Chosen One.

“Interesting,” the original said.

“Okay we got triple bad guy,” the Chosen One said gleefully, dropping his hand away from his face. “Okay, Definitely Bad Guy?”

“Yes?” all three Mages replied.

“Okay, no, that’s gonna get way too confusing. So we’ve got the original Definitely Bad Guy—” here the Hero indicated the man standing in the middle of the party. “Oh, but wait, that guy is actually your original look,” he interrupted himself, and pointed at the red-covered Mage. “Okay, okay. I can do this.”

He clicked his fingers and pointed at the red Mage. “Red Returned Guy.” Another finger pointed at the blue Mage. “Blue Reborn Guy. Yup. Reddi and Bluey. Nailed it.”

The newly named Reddi and Bluey followed the Hero’s pointed fingers, and stared in the general direction of each other, before simultaneously engaging a spell. Reddi’s eyes turned blood red, while Bluey’s eyes flooded with bright blue veins.

“I do not believe they can perceive each other,” Definitely Bad Guy said, watching his two selves scanning around them. “This is behaviour I would exhibit while attempting to discover whom you are addressing. The fact that they have not responded to either my appearance or voice indicates that they are not aware of my presence, either.”

The Mage watched his two selves intently, his own eyes flooded with red and blue. “This does, however, give us greater insight into the nature of the curse bestowed upon our Healer. Clearly it could not have been [Traitor’s Curse], but it may share some components in how it generates invisibility. I would be extremely interested to see if the general populace is capable of perceiving these two.”

There were three Definitely Bad Guys. Three of them. While the Mage Advisor seemed to be taking this calmly, Qube felt like she was about to lose her mind. While a large part of her wanted to start exclaiming and shouting about the fact that there were now three Definitely Bad Guys, it didn’t feel right to tell the Mage how he should feel about the fact that he was now a triplet with two fully-grown brothers.

Which, to be clear, was extremely excited and also very confused.

Oh wait, that was just what Qube was feeling.

“Should I [Heal] them?” she asked the Chosen One, trying to suppress her emotions. “That way they’ll be able to see us, and Definitely Bad Guy can talk to himself, if he wants!”

“They aren’t actually him,” Sencha Bard said, almost crossly. “They are just replications, similar to the ones in the memories we faced. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled by them.”

For some reason the Bard sounded very passionate and sure about this.

“Even if they’re not him, I still think it could be fun to have three of him running around,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar murmured. She shot a glance at Qube, who smiled. Not because she understood what the Hunter was talking about, but more in a desire to be polite.

“I have brought two gifts from the place I dwelt,” Reddi said, reaching out a hand. A small red pocket watch appeared in the palm of his hand, as well as a purple gem.

“I have brought two gifts from the place I dwelt,” Bluey said, also reaching out a hand. A small blue pocket watch appeared in the palm of his hand, as well as a silver gem.

“Oh!” Qube said, nodding at Sencha Bard. “You’re right. They’re just manifestations of the Temple guardians.”

The part of her that hadn’t been extremely excited by Definitely Bad Guy becoming the eldest triplet was relieved at the news that the two men in front of the party weren’t real. It had been hard enough dealing with abandoning the childhood memory versions of the others, having to leave behind two full Definitely Bad Guys would have been devastating.

It was odd that they’d chosen to appear in these modified forms of Definitely Bad Guy, but then this entire Temple had been odd. Perhaps they were trying to make up for him only having an urn, and so not getting to see a younger version of himself.

Aware that this was shaky logic, Qube was glad that the Chosen One, rather than questioning anything or, worse, asking her for her opinion, just took the offered gifts. As soon as he did, a new sparkly teleportation spell appeared behind the two coffins.

“This pocket watch will allow you to turn back time once,” both Reddi and Bluey said together.

“I trust you will at least attempt to use it with what little wisdom you possess,” Reddit sneered.

“I would be more than happy to help advise you on the correct time to use it, if you wish,” Bluey said humbly.

Qube found the contrast between the three men to be quite off putting. Bluey was too servile, which just made her want to bolster his self esteem, while Reddi … well, Definitely Bad Guy was her friend, and had been so ever since they met. So it was with a slight start that Qube realised that she was annoyed by Reddi’s attitude, and probably wouldn’t have been quite so keen to be his friend if they’d met for the first time today.

“So, Sparky, whatcha want to do?” the Chosen One asked Definitely Bad Guy.

“This is a unique opportunity to study myself,” the Mage replied, eyeing his selves. “Although that usefulness is somewhat diminished if they are, in fact, mere Temple-based figments of myself.”

“I mean, I’m not sure what’s gonna happen to them when we leave,” the Fighter said. “I kinda got the idea that they were gonna come with us.”

“Very well then,” Definitely Bad Guy said, his slightly detached, still a tiny bit sneery, but ultimately polite voice in sharp contrast to the other two Mages’ attitudes. “Let us first see if they can follow us.”

“Sure thing,” the Hero said cheerfully, and stepped through the portal, the others close behind.

The familiar disorientation faded as the party was deposited at the gateway to the cemetery. The entire party. Including their brand new additions of Reddi, and Bluey.

“Yes!” the Chosen One cried, his fists pumping the air. “Triple Mage! Triple Mage! Now we’ve got a party!”