The Mirror of Virtues

"I don't think she should have done that. I was going to tell her about the other properties of the magic armour. Something she needs to know about."

"What else does it do?" Bob asked.

"It is a sort of prism that separates out one's dark side. As you know, a prism breaks up light into its separate colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and indigo."

"I think 'indigo' is reaching a bit. I usually only see six."

"Yeah, me too, but six is not a mystical number, so they had to work an extra one in there somewhere. Torques me off when they do that, but that is nothing new. Anyway, Bob, what the magic armour does is break up Astra's personality into seven incarnations, which match the seven cardinal sins."

Bob said, "It has been a while since I have been to Sunday school. What are they?"

"Greed, lust, envy, vanity, sloth, pride, and yours truly."

"Oh, oh, oh. Can you bring up 'lust'? I would like to see what she looks like."

"Sorry, no can do. Astra has to summon us, and right now, she is not in the mood to summon lust."

Namu ventured, "This can be very dangerous. If Astra's demons are all let loose, they could wreak havoc."

"We probably will. It is our job. But, to be honest, I don't want this to continue, either. I have a pretty cushy job. I don't work more than an hour a day, most days. I let the virtues run the show. When Astra needs me, I work for her. Now that I am out alone, I have to fend for myself. Cheeses me off, if you know what I mean."

Bob asked, "So how can we send you back? Should she just take off the armour?"

"It won't work. Now that I have been freed, I cannot go back, unless one finds the mirror of the virtues. It has a silly name, too, but I forgot it. From that, one should be able to summon Astra's patience. Theodore is his proper name, but I call him Teddy. He does not care for it, but I call him that anyway to see if I can wind him up. Good man, although a bit dull. He needs to lighten up. Once you find him, then I can go home."

"Where is the mirror of virtues?"

1. "Beats me. It looks like you have a quest."
2. "It is located in the enchanted lavoratory of the Duke of T------." "T------?" asked Bob. "Yeah," replied Hank.

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