Chapter 8B: Bodhi’s Revenge

Chapter 8B: Bodhi’s Revenge
by Arelius

This is how the tale would end for a male PC, when Anomen, Silran's partner, is not taken by Bodhi. Arelius is now the hero.

**********

Bodhi could hear the battle raging above through the many connecting passages, and knew things weren’t going well for her troops. The godchildren were coming her way with one thing in mind, the retrieval of Imoen’s stolen soul. The lantern was just a bonus. This was it. Everything she was, everything she had become, was coming to an end. There was no longer any point in denying it. Things had gone sour in nearly every way since she gained the soul of Imoen. She had learned many things from the experience, though, and was ready for whatever would happen.

She relaxed within her inner sanctum, her thoughts returning to the many events of the past weeks. Irenicus had dismissed her, sent her to her lair with the lantern, while he was inside Suldenessalar seeking his godhood. Bodhi had agreed to it, even led Irenicus into suggesting it, knowing the elves would seek her out to retrieve it. Irenicus had taken so much from her, starting long before she ever met Yoshimo, and she could no longer find the desire to seek their revenge. She thought back on how Irenicus and the Drow tried to convert her back to her evil ways. She could do nothing but laugh at them. Their petty attempts at torturing her were only pleasurable stimulation to her undead body, while her inner soul cried out for joy at knowing they couldn’t harm it. She had screamed for them, and cried out in agony to please them, but the fools didn’t have a single tool that could make her feel agony. She was so far beyond that.

She had played her part well, and had made Irenicus think that the Drow had indeed reverted her back to her true self. The only betraying moment was when the elven leaders were brought before them, who recognized them as the exiles they were. As Irenicus killed them in cold blood, she flinched, and he had seen it. He did not challenge her, but she knew he had been watching her, waiting for her to expose herself once more. It wasn’t enough that he had stolen everything from her.

Everyone had always blamed her for everything. They always assumed that it was her who caused Irenicus to do the things he did. He played his role so proper, the proud, eldest son who could do no wrong. All she wanted to do was gain the favor of her parents, and him, her big brother. He had commented on when he had last seen her cry. Ha! He forgot to mention that it was after he had raped her. He had betrayed her so cruelly, and her world crumbled around it. She, indeed, never cried again. How could she ever be hurt again by anyone as much as he had hurt her? Her heart had hardened beyond hope, and the evil took hold, much to Irenicus’s delight. She became the person she was, because of him, and she owed him more than anyone could ever reap on one person. And making sure the lantern was found was just the beginning.

“Master, the battle does not go well. What shall we do?” one of the nearby fledgling vampires inquired.

“Nothing. We shall wait for them to come to us. Then we shall fight. Your life depends on it.”

“As you wish, master.” Two other fledglings joined him, and the three circled around Bodhi.

Bodhi continued her retrospect. She had promised Yoshimo that she would give Imoen’s soul back to her. It was the last wish they had together, and she was honor bound to their love. She was not going down easily though. Yoshi would not hold that against her, as he had sought the same from the paladin. She only wished she would be around to see Irenicus’s face when he saw the godchildren come for him. The door to the sanctum opened, and the party of Arelius and Imoen stood before her.

“So, I see you have made it to my sanctum once again.”

“Your days are over, evil one! We have come for what is rightfully ours, the soul of Imoen,” Arelius bellowed with the fervor of the righteous.

“Oh, is big brother going to fight little sisters battles.”

“I’m here, monster!” Imoen spoke and stepped forward, the determined look betraying the emptiness of her physical form. “I want my soul back.”

“I’m sure you do, but I shall not relinquish it without a fight. If you want it, come and get it!” and she leapt at Imoen, surprising her at how easily she cleared the fountain in the central chamber. Imoen reacted by backing up as Arelius stepped in between them and caught Bodhi with a heavy blow to the side with his sword. Bodhi reeled at it, falling to the side, but quickly regaining her feet. The other fledging vampires were all casting charm spells at Jaheira, Valygar, Mazzy, and Aerie. Jaheira was the only one to fall under their spells, and she quickly turned to the first opponent she found, Arelius. She joined Bodhi in attacking him.

Bodhi could see the terror in Arelius’s eyes, as he found himself battling his worst enemy, and most cherished love. Bodhi was tearing at him with a fervor that did not reflect her inner desires. Imoen was casting a hold spell to get Jaheira safely off of Arelius, and Arelius was parrying each blow from his adversaries skillfully with the large blade of Avenger. Bodhi could hear the battle her fledglings were taking to the remaining party members.

Bodhi and Jaheira continued their assault, and Arelius was constantly in motion, trying desperately to keep both in front of him, and not get flanked. Jaheira made a devastating overhead blow with Bloodclaw that knocked Arelius back into the wall. Bodhi lunged at the hilt of his sword and locked up on it, holding it from parrying any more blows that would come from Jaheira. Jaheira raised her club once more to strike a weakened Arelius, but suddenly froze as Imoen’s hold spell finally took form and embraced her. Bodhi, looked at Jaheira, and back to Arelius, and gave a slight smile to him. “It appears it’s just you and I, now, paladin.” Arelius leered back at her.

“Think again, Bodhi!” Both Arelius and Bodhi turned to face the multiple images of a mirror imaged Imoen, whose eyes were nearly glowing red with anger. “You have my soul, and I want it back!” and she released a magic missile spell. The seven orbs slammed into Bodhi and she recoiled at each one. Bodhi left Arelius and lunged at Imoen and started swiping at the many images but could not find the real one. Spell after spell struck her, and she felt her body getting weaker as the acid arrows bit, the missiles struck, and the flame arrows burned her skin, each one taking a little more of her. As the final volley of missiles hit her, she thought to herself, ‘you may be deserving of this soul after all, little one’, and her body’s essence turned to mist, only to reform a short time later in her sarcophagus.

Bodhi lay for what seemed an exquisitely long time before she heard the doors to her lair open. She felt the tip of the spike at her chest, but could not lift a finger to stop them, nor did she want to. She heard the voices of the godchildren as the spike plunged into her, and she felt Imoen’s soul leaving. But something was different. She was not hovering over her body as she had done in past deaths, nor did everything turn to black. No, she was headed somewhere else.

“How do you plead?” a voice echoed from all around her. Bodhi found herself in a brilliantly lit place, with no walls for boundaries. There were two clear crystals before her, one glowing with green and red hues, the other an opaque white. She was perplexed and unsure of how to answer.

“How do you plead?” the voice repeated.

“I… I don’t understand.”

“Bodhi of Suldenessalar, you are held in a moment between life and death. Your judgment is at hand. You were exiled from elfkind for your sins. We are the gods of your former people, those who exacted the sentence. It was hoped you would have learned from your punishment. Again, how do you plead?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“You see before you two soul crystals. In one, is your former soul, the one that was taken from you. See as it glows with the red and green of your anger and jealousy. The other is the soul of Imoen. Observe as it glows with the whiteness of her purity, only colored from the dreadful deeds she suffered in Irenicus’s care. You have had the unique experience to possess them both. Once more, how do you plead?”

Bodhi looked at the souls before her, and understood. She reached out for her soul crystal, and felt the anger and jealousy it radiated, and was sickened by it. She remembered the teachings of her mentors as a child, who stressed that the events of our lives were granted to us to teach us lessons, and make us stronger. She fought the unclean feelings of the crystal the only way she could, with forgiveness. One by one, she thought back on each person who had wronged her, and forgave them. With each one, the crystal’s color changed. When she had finished her ritual, the crystal glowed a brilliant yellow.

“Very good, child. Your thoughts were known to us before you arrived, and we felt your desire for reconciliation. You have learned, and earned your soul back. You still have far to go, but are well along the path.” The glow of the crystal moved up the arms of Bodhi, and the light of it engulfed her. She was once again whole, and felt more complete than at any time before.

“What… what of Imoen?” Bodhi asked.

“We will deliver her soul back to her. She will be complete again. Now go, and be at peace.” A portal opened up before her displaying the most beautiful forest she had ever seen. Off in the distance, she could see her ancestors engaged in discussion and merriment. She stepped through with all the confidence of a person who had just earned her soul, looking back only to show her thanks.

**********

The steak plunged straight through the chest, and Imoen looked on with suspense. She thought she saw a slight smile on Bodhi’s face as the act was completed.

“How do you feel, child?” Jaheira asked apprehensively. Everyone knew they had only been hoping Imoen’s soul would return when Bodhi was killed. They didn’t have the lab equipment, or knowledge, that Irenicus had had when he took it. It just had to come back to her. They didn’t have an alternate plan if it didn’t.

“I feel, strange. I do feel complete again,” she stated as the knowledge that she was whole again slowly emerged. “It worked!” and she and Jaheira embraced. Arelius stepped up and put his arms around them both, and they stood in silence and joy as they realized they had won, and that there was hope for him as well.

Imoen was ecstatic at her completeness. But there was something else she was becoming aware of, love. Her eyes glazed over, and she broke the embrace, turning to look at the lifeless form of her former soul’s caregiver. Had Bodhi left something behind with it? This love was different than the love she felt for her brother and fellow party members. It was romantic love, and she had never known that before. Even beyond that, it was a love that was lost. She searched further, and found that the fear she had learned from Irenicus, was no longer as dark as it had been. Had Bodhi’s innate knowledge of death somehow weakened it? She instinctively bent down to the underside of Bodhi’s sarcophagus and opened a small compartment on its side. In it was the lantern.

“How… How did you know that?” Arelius quizzed.

“I… I don’t know. I just knew.” She handed the lantern to Arelius. “Here, you take it. This place gives me the creeps. Let’s just get going.”

“I think that’s a pretty good idea just about now,” Arelius resolved.