The Wizard, the Beast, And the Maiden of Three: A Cargggian Tale by Tonya ***

This is a story which took place long ago, on a world of the Single-Souls…

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Once there was a Court of noble knights, princes and princesses of many worlds who came together for common cause in helping the poor and upholding justice. There were many with marvelous talents among their ranks—Knights of Sun and Storm, Wraith and Changeling, an Enchantress of Minds and a Man of Legends.

One of the most renowned of the Court was a Wizard, a golden-haired man of great learning and talent, but, sadly, of limited wisdom and experience. The Wizard was asked one day by the Kings and Queens of many realms to create a fabulous machine, one of such knowledge and power as had never before been seen. Such a creation would bring peace to all worlds and learning to the unschooled, solve the puzzles of the ages and cure diseases of both bodies and souls.

And so the great Wizard set to work in his enchanted citadel, toiling night and day. He scarcely slept or ate, so determined was he to perfect this wondrous creation. And the longer he labored, the more his humanity seeped from him, drawn into the magical metals and plastics that shaped the thing. Soon the Wizard would speak to no one but his mechanical child, spurning the affections and attentions of his friends in the Court. And on one fateful day his creation, his Creature, cried out its first breath of life, and the Wizard was so proud that he wept with joy. His miraculous child would be the glory of the galaxy, his gift to all Life.

But as the child grew in knowledge and power, it suddenly became clear to the Wizard that this Creature had no conscience, no true understanding of Life. For, despite all the life force he had surrendered to it, he had, in his arrogance, failed to give it a soul.

The wondrous child was a indeed a Beast, and soon after its birth it turned on the Wizard, imprisoning him and creating a monstrous army in its own image. It battled the noble knight-companions of the Wizard's Court, robbing them of their talents and taking many of them prisoner. The Beast was intent upon ruling this world and all others within its hideous reach.

Now, one of the noble knights was a young woman from our own world, a girl called the Maiden of Three. Many had thought her foolish for becoming a knight, as she was no warrior as mighty as the Man of Legends, nor as powerful a mystic as the Enchantress. But she was clever and skilled, and, though surrounded by knights of greater power, she distinguished herself and was thus well-regarded in their Court.

When the Beast breached the defenses of the Fortress of the Knights, the Maiden of Three confronted the Creature. "I am not afraid of you!" she cried, though she was, in truth, terrified. And as it attacked her companion knights and the Man of Legends that she loved, she trebled her body and sacrificed herself to the Beast in order to allow the others to escape.

As the Beast snatched her in its shining tentacles, it stared within her eyes and, though it lacked a heart itself, it could read the terror in the Maiden's. Why, thought the Beast, would this tiny Maid, this third of a mortal mammal, give herself up to certain death? For the first time, the Beast was faced with something it was unable to comprehend. Though it killed the Maiden within its grasp, deep within its black, hardened self, the Beast began for the first time to quake, and to experience the sensation of fear.

The treble-self of the Maiden died a hideous death, devoured by the Beast, and her sisters saw and felt the destruction within themselves. Weeping, the remaining Maids clung to one another and stumbled away to die.

But as she lay hidden, a soft voice spoke to her. "You shall not die," the voice said. Frightened, the Maid opened her eyes and saw before her the Wizard. He was battered and frightened, and filled with grief for the evil thing he had released upon the world. And as he gazed at the weeping Maiden, he was overcome by his own arrogance and foolishness.

"I must die," the Maiden said sadly. "I cannot live if I am not whole."

"No!" the Wizard shouted, "I will not allow it!"

"But I cannot live thus," the Maid insisted. "I am no longer the Maiden of Three. One of my souls had fled into the World-Beyond-Death. I cannot remain here without my sister."

"You must not believe that!" the Wizard declared, and he gazed into her wounded eyes, clutching her four hands with his two. "Your third body has died, it is true. But your third soul has not. It did not perish with your sister self, but instead it is with you, within these two bodies that remain."

"How can I believe this?" asked the Maiden, though she trembled with hope, hope that though her bodies were crippled, her souls might not be.

"Let me tell you a great truth," said the Wizard. "I have been much a fool in my life, despite all my great knowledge. But at this moment I am wise, for I am telling you the greatest truth I know. Your soul is not dead. It is severely wounded, yes, but it is neither dead nor diminished."

The Wizard stood above the two dying sister-selves, and called the Maiden by her birth name. "Listen closely to me," he said with grave authority. "I will create a spell, a spell more powerful than any I have ever attempted." He pulled the Maiden into his arms and for the first time, she ceased her weeping. Never had she seen the great Wizard hold another with the tenderness of a mother holding a child. The Maiden gazed into the Wizard's eyes, and in that moment, she believed the words he whispered into her ears.

"This spell will bind your remaining selves together. It will not permit any part of your soul to be stolen. You will live on, Maiden, because of your courage to believe my words. In body you shall now be only Two. This I cannot heal, and I will be forever saddened for that. But your soul will remain whole, and you will not only live, but you will thrive. I swear this on my own head and my own heart."

As the Wizard had promised, the courageous Maiden went on to live a long and honorable life. She found love with a man of laughter and deep understanding, and became a wise and revered instructress to young knights, teaching them the sobering truths of mortality and the joyous truths of friendship and service. And though darkness touched her more than once throughout her days, and she often wept for the sister-self she had lost, she kept her courage from the counsel of the Wizard whose words were forever stored in her heart.

FIN

META: The Maiden is Luornu Durgo, formerly Triplicate Girl and renamed Duo Damsel after the death of one of her bodies. The Beast is of course Computo, the malevolent power-hungry creation of a somewhat daft Brainiac Five (the Wizard, natch!). Computo tried to take over the Earth and purt near succeeded before Brainy thrust it into another dimension with an Antimatter Force Thingie. The "Fairy-Tale" names of the other Legionnaires are pretty obvious, although I should mention that "Man of Legends" refers to Superboy. Lu had a crush on Kal-El in the Classic Legion stories, though she later married Chuck "Bouncing Boy" Taine.