Baal

The three-headed rat was a legend, so it was said.I had heard the tale many times. The three rat heads would descend upon you, each with its own personality and desires that clashed with one another. They would pull you into their madness, and you would never return.It was said that if you were to only listen to one head, your life would be a true adventure. If you could obey the orders of all three heads at once, then you'd be rewarded for your mastery over confusion. But if you tried to follow every order from all three rat heads and failed, well... insanity awaited you.I didn't believe that any creature could be such a tormenting master of chaos and madness, so I set out in search of the beast. It took me years of trekking through forgotten forest paths and scaling mountains as old as time itself until I found the beast's lair. See, everyone always told me that the three-headed rat was a legend—but I had to see for myself. So I crept through the dark and dank forest with only my wits and some cheese in my pocket.I finally found what I was looking for: a massive rat, with one head on top of the other, and then another on top of that. The creature seemed to be sleeping soundly, so I approached it and spoke softly."Wake up," I said gently. "I've come to meet you."A murmur passed among all three heads, and their eyes opened slowly. Soon they were all staring at me with their tiny red eyes. They seemed to be waiting for something—for me to speak again, maybe? Or maybe they were just sizing me up. Either way, I took a deep breath and went on: "I wish to follow your orders.""Oh?" asked the bottom head. "And what makes you think we'll let you join us?""Because," I replied confidently, "I am not afraid."The middle rat chuckled. "We'll see about that!" it hissed in my face. "Come! Follow me!" And with that, it scurried away, beckoning me to follow, wondering if I could pass the test.I followed down a dark path, twisting this way and that, eyes looking out for the ghost of the rat's tail. The forest opened up to a clearing, six eyes all set on me."We are going to eat you!" it cried. It lifted up one of its three heads and hissed at me, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth. I never should have trusted that rat."No!" I shouted, "Please don't eat me! I'm too young to die!""Well, then," it replied in a more friendly tone, "you might live to be eaten if you do me a favor.""Anything!" I replied enthusiastically. The rat took the cheese from my pocket and walked away without saying another word.

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