Warrior or Cherubim?

Angelina heard some footsteps. She thought, "Fly away!", but her body did not respond. Instead, she flew involuntarily, but slowly and safely, to dry ground near the fountain. She then thought, "Run!, but again her body did not respond. Her legs suddenly felt weary, and as a small child she would not be able to run very fast in any case. She sat down to see who was coming.

Angelina felt sick. She was helpless. She had started the quest as Lord Fred, proud knight. And then she had been transformed into a woman. And now she had lost her status as an adult. She was in over her head. She decided to sit, and accept what was going to come.

The form that came into the room was human-like. It seemed to be like a giant, but as part of her disorientated state, she had probelms with determining scale - she had shrunk to the size of a child after all. The figure may have been dressed in dark clothes or may have had unnaturally dark skin. There was one detail that she could see clearly. The eyes were the eyes of a normal, healthy man. The regularity and distinctness of the eyes unsettled her due to the contrast with the lack of detail of the rest of the body.

This was the same voice that forced him to choose an outfit from the wardrobe. "Lord Fred. Or Angelina. Do I have your attention?" The tone of the voice was like that of a parent patiently lecturing a wayward child.

Angelina said, "Yes."

The voice said, "Good. Do you want to take another drink from the fountain?"

She said, "No."

The voice said, "Why not?"

She answered, "I am afraid."

The voice said, "And you should be. Why did you come here?"

Angelina said, "As Lord Fred, I came to kill a dragon."

"Why did you want to do that?"

"The dragon was ravaging our kingdom. Kidnapping children, destroying crops. I needed to do something!"

The form grunted contemptuously, and Angelina saw its head shake. "That is what you say. I suspect that you are unsuitable for this task."

Angelina replied, "Yes, I am now. I am just a child, and not strong. You made me unsuitable."

"No, Fred. Child, man - the form does not matter."

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Sapien."

"Are you an angel? Or a demon?"

Sapien replied sardonically, "Do you want to see some identification? It really does not quite work that way. Your lore - your language - has limitations. You will have to decide what I am. I will offer you a choice. I can either transform you back into Lord Fred, or keep you in the form of a little girl cherubim. If, as you claim, your true motive for your quest was to help those who had been ravaged by the dragon, then choose to be Lord Fred. I assure you that you will succeed. If your true motive was vainglory, popularity, or riches, or something else - then I recommend that you accept this form of a cherubim. This is a humbler outward form. But it would be a better choice if you have doubts about your motive. Search your heart. Make your choice."

Angelina chose to

1. be transformed back to Lord Fred, and continue the original quest.
2. remain as Angelina the cherbubim, and accept a new quest from Sapien.

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