We are Legion
Remember me, fair wizard?
We travelled together. It was you,
the songbird, the dreamer
and my master, my
Dark One.
I am the child, One
of Many. There are others
in here, like the brute
and the madwoman
- other children, too
but they don't matter. Voices
of the swarm. There was a god,
once, who pushed me down
among them. My Dark One
freed me, made me One again.
I owe my Dark One
my very existence,
this form my loyalty
spirits he fed me our love.
I was always there, laughing
you couldn't see me beside him,
closer
than his shadow
or you.
He used the songbird, left her
betrayed and broken in the grey
city. I devoured the dreamer, rich with tatters
of spirit, when he protested
the power my Dark One found there.
Not I. Not you. We gloried as he threatened
the grey god. You blazed
red with love. I watched him turn
to you, soaking in your light.
I have no colours.
Hate is silent.
Jealousy is silent.
Vengeance roars -
- you remember, I see. You see
me now. Do you know
it's too late? Be welcome
among the Many,
wizard, lover,
Safiya.
The brute clasps you tight, the madwoman screams
for you: the souls
of the Many bid you greeting.
You will disappear into us
as we disappear.
- Dark One! There is destruction
in his eyes, blazing red
with love. Plead with him, Safiya.
Let me make you One
with us. We can both have him
now.
My love, my love.
Kill me.
- For those who never saw this particularly dark ending, and because One of Many does not get enough love. Why a poem? I don't know, but I hope you liked it. Anyway, if you are male and evil, recruit One Of Many, romance Safiya, and take any ending except the ultimate spirit-eater one (in that approximate order) the ending credits reveal that One of Many killed Safiya and ran. You tracked it down, and it begged for mercy in Safiya's voice. You killed it, and never took another lover.
A few liberties taken here, of course – While 'Dark One' is a title One of Many may give you, and Kaelyn and Gann certainly may come to the endings depicted here, Safiya will also turn against you if you choose to become the ultimate spirit-eater. Also, it's not stated whether Safiya's voice is genuinely a remnant of her, or just a ploy on One of Many's part – I prefer to think it's a trick, normally, but I chose to do something quite different here.