Some Dark Experimentation

Ricard studied the dark tome often, very often. He actually did it far more frequently than even Barnabas, the aspiring mage of the group. Barnabas was content with studying simple spells and practicing his little party tricks but didn't have the spine to really and truly try, not like Ricard did. He had tasted the power of dark magic, seeing first hand what it could do for him, and now he wanted more.

It wasn't just enough to puppet Rosalind everyone once in a while, he needed to become her permanently, or at least, until her body stopped being of use to him. However to do that he'd need to perfectly be able to impersonate her, which was tricky. There was only so much he could do with the current time he had available.

According to the book there was a way to impersonate her long term, he could assimilate and absorb her memories into himself but that required he stay in Rosalind for more than just a day. That was troublesome for two reasons, one was that his own body needed someone to take care of it, and two...his two lackeys would potentially squeal about the situation if they thought he was being unfair. Killing them was out of the question, as he was sure someone would notice and he didn't want to risk threatening them lest they eventually squirm and betray him later.

So now he was busy scrolling through the dark texts looking for answers, and wouldn't you know it, he had actually found a few potential ones. The first one he found helped him with his body, it was called the dark puppeteer spell. Essentially, that one would create a sort of artificial soul that could be placed in a vessel. The soul would then be able to perform tasks for the caster, using a sort of hive mind way of acting.

This was perfect, as it gave him a way of keeping his body safe. Normally when the boys took turns possessing Rosalind they'd normally take a turn each day, before leaving her to rest a day or two after. However if he could put a puppet in his own body he could potentially stay in her for a little longer while his body worked on auto pilot.

Of course this wasn't the only purpose he had for the puppet, which brought him to where he was now, in his own private little hide away. He was currently inhabiting Rosalind's body once more however he wasn't just here for fun and games. Accompanying him was his own **** body that Rosalind had carried with her.

"Alright then," Rosalind muttered as she lowered Ricard down. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the tome and began flipping through the pages. "Now let's see what we can do here." She mused upon finding the puppeteer spell.

She followed the instructions of the spell, placing a hand on the forehead of her former body and repeated the words, "Fictus Anima Pupa!" She felt a strange sensation flood into her body as something flowed from her and into Ricard's empty body.

"Gods, that stings!" She cursed under her breath as she recalled in pain. She looked over the puppet curiously wondering if it worked or not. "Hello?" She muttered. "Is anyone home?"

Ricard's eyes snapped open, startling Rosalind who recoiled in shock. She watched as the body of Ricard sat up before turning to face her. "Greetings Master." Ricard's body spoke in a lifeless voice. "How may I, your servant, serve you?" It questioned.

"My servant." Rosalind said unsure, before she caught herself. "I mean, yes my servant." The knight said more proudly. Letting the words play on her tongue. Servant definitely had a nice ring to it, she mused, before turning her attention back to the faux puppet. "Alright then let's see what you can do."

"What should I do first though?" She wondered. "Maybe I should make him jump?" She thought. Without warning the puppet soon began to jump. "Uh," She said in surprise. "What are you doing?" She questioned.

"You wanted me to jump, so I jumped." The puppet answered.

"Wait, but I didn't even say anything?" Rosalind questioned.

"If you think it, then I will do it, as your servant I need only your desire, there is no need for words." It responded.

"Is that so?" Rosalind thought as she glanced over the book. Upon looking over the spell further, it turns out that yes, apparently it did work like that. There was even a note attached about how to restrict this. "Okay, so I command you to restrict what commands you follow. Unless I am actively giving you the order, don't just assume every thought is to be followed." Rosalind commanded.

"Understood." It answered.

"Now let's see just how well this works." She mused as she began to mentally order or to an extent, imagine the puppet acting for her. She wanted it to hold out its arm, and the puppet did so moving it directly where she envisioned it. She desired it to show certain expressions on its face, and it mimicked them exactly as she imagined.

"Hehe....this is perfect." Ricard thought as he made Rosalind grin evilly. This had opened up so many possibilities to him. Now what else could he do?