Imoen began to clear her throat and repeat herself when she noticed that David was seated in a lotus position. Must be meditating…probably for the best, too—we need to clean up the place. The rest of the group got to work, leaving an oblivious David to his thinking.
David knew that he needed to meditate. He had to review what had happened—he had to compare, contrast, match up, and analyze the events that had taken place, and he knew that he couldn't do that when even the tiniest part of his concentration was placed elsewhere. Tough decisions had to be made, and conclusions had to be drawn. He got to work as well.
He went deep into his memory to find thing relating to the Slayer. I first changed into it in the maze of Bodhi, when Irenicus stole my soul—he cut himself off after that. Irenicus…soul. He stored both of those to his immediate memory. The slayer is soul-related…Irenicus tampered with my soul…wasn't surprised when he heard about the Slayer…almost as if he had created it—he again stopped himself. Interesting possibility. He committed that to his immediate memory as well. He went on. All of Bhaal's essence was removed…Slayer can't be god-related…he stopped himself. No, it has to be god-related…it was Bhaal's avatar. Irenicus and I used it—he stopped himself yet again. Irenicus used it… He implanted that in his memory. He noticed he was breathing harder and thinking at a faster pace. He forced himself to calm down and think a little slower. Irenicus examined my soul…never knew the purpose…he said that he wanted to know what made me special… He frowned inwardly. Irenicus would never bother with anything unless it would be useful to him…I think he already knew how to use the Slayer before he tampered with my soul. He wanted to examine it…to use it… He stopped himself. Irenicus wasn't a Bhaalspawn—the slayer is the embodiment of evil, Bhaal's avatar… Things were starting to make sense to him. The slayer wasn't a Bhaalspawn; it was an evilspawn, just as Bhaal was. And just as Irenicus was. David didn't even bother trying to calm himself now. Irenicus used and tampered with the slayer…and my soul…used my soul…the embodiment of evil… David started piecing information together. Irenicus is the embodiment of evil, so he can use the Slayer. He unsuccessfully tried to force me to become evil by creating the Slayer within me. In effect, a part of me that was totally evil and Irenicus-created evaded the purge of the Bhaal-essence. David stopped short. Irenicus-created.
Oh, Gods.
Damn you, Irenicus! David screamed silently. You've thought of everything, haven't you!
He came out of his meditation with tears on his cheeks and 2 unbearable, and yet undeniable facts. Irenicus lived, and he lived in the vessel that had the least chance of being destroyed—his own soul.
***
Valygar was the first to see David come out of his meditation. "Gods, man! What's wrong?"
Imoen came rushing over. "You've been in a coma for the last 8 hours! We didn't know what to think!"
David smiled lightly and motioned downward with his hands. The rest of his party quieted down. He took a breath and said, "8 hours? I can hardly believe that myself. It seemed 20 minutes or less for me. I…found out some disturbing stuff while I meditated. This will be hard to swallow, but…well, I'll begin by saying that I just can't seem to escape the influence of the high and mighty. First a god of murder, and second the most powerful and demonic wizard ever to exist."
Sarevok raised an eyebrow. "Irenicus?"
David nodded. "Exactly. Imoen, I'm sure you remember when he stole my soul. He tampered with it…he created the Slayer in me. I'm not sure how to explain this, but the Slayer is not a Bhaal-power at all—it's an evil power. That's how Irenicus could use it, because he was definitely not a Bhaalspawn."
Keldorn laughed. "You're not exactly an Irenicus…how can you use it then?"
David smiled slightly. "As I said earlier, he created the Slayer within me. It's the only part of me that was artificially created." He paused for a moment. Hearing no more questions, he continued. "I guess—I say that because I'm too afraid to admit that I know—that Irenicus somehow put himself into the Slayer. In doing so, he put himself into my soul."
Imoen nodded. "That would make sense. When he pulled you into Hell, it was probably because a part of your soul was going, too. I guess the gods think that if any portion of your soul is evil, all of it should go, because you shouldn't have died with Irenicus."
Valygar piped up. "And think about it, David—when did you really regain your soul? Was it when you escaped Hell, or when you were first brought into it?"
David grinned. "For all of my vaunted wisdom, my friends can still come up with things that I could never have. Now it makes even more sense."
Keldorn grew somber. "My friend, if what you say is true, then we must do something about the wizard, but I am at a loss to what."
Sarevok gripped his sword. "I wish that I could be certain that if we killed him for the 3rd time, it would be the last."
David cupped his chin in his hands. "You see the problem, then, Sarevok. If Irenicus dies, we repeat the whole process again, and we have to hear him laugh in our faces even as the life drains out of him. He can never truly be killed, now."
Imoen's mouth turned thin. "That bastard knows it all, doesn't he?"
David closed his eyes. "We have to hope that he doesn't. Just as no one can live forever, no one can know everything. We will find his weakness. In the meantime, I think I need to check up on some old friends." Seeing as how my pocket-plane is related to my consciousness and not my god-powers, I can probably go re-enter it. He took Sarevok aside. "Sarevok, you were the one who first explained my pocket-plane to me…was it a god-power?"
Sarevok shook his head. "A great many things that I believed were god-powers turned out to be powers of the mind. I would think that this would be no different."
David nodded. He started to nervously think of his pocket-plane, trying to call it back into existence. He had been trying for about a minute when he realized it had never ceased to exist. He looked at his party, transported them to the pocket-plane, and then felt immense relief as its familiar feeling surrounded them all.