Del was panicking. No, that was perhaps the biggest understatement of the past five minutes. He—or better, she—was freaking the fuck out. The ritual was not a switch you could turn off at a will if things didn't go right. In the plainest terms possible, there was no way back. That, of course, was unless she underwent another ritual, but messing around with magic and chromosomes was not exactly the smartest idea. Not for her anyway. She was a puny, talentless Adept-Tier Magician. The fact that she managed to come out of that ritual in one piece was more out of sheer, dumb luck than actual skill.
Green eyes stared back at her from that cursed mirror. It was not the right color. Not the right eye shape. Everything was different. In a certain way better, but different. Del was a female for starters. And she was not okay with that, no matter how good-looking she was.
She ran a hand over the delicate curves of her face. High cheekbones, a small nose, bright eyes, and kissable lips. 'Perfection' was the best word she could come up with to describe what she was seeing. It was flawless, if any human being could ever be. Perhaps she was not a human anymore.
One of her fingers curled around a lock of silky, charcoal black hair.
This was not her—him.
Del had a bit over a week to get over the fact that she was now a woman. She still didn't accept it, and was secretly looking into a way to reverse the changes. But at least she had stopped shattering mirrors every morning.
But a single message. One string of concatenated words popping up on her phone made her heart nearly leap out of her throat.
Jered was coming. Jered, as in, the guy she based the entire ritual off of. She was supposed to become him, not her. The ritual gave Del what she wanted. She had become Jered, but had also become not him. It was a mess.
What was she going to tell him anyway? He was going to find out. There was no way he wouldn't find out. And she'd be dead meat. A lump of beautiful meat, yes, but dead nevertheless.
Maybe he would spare her? Del had, after all, technically, or biologically speaking, become his twin sister. She was family now.
A hoarse chuckle forced itself out of her mouth.
It was a good thing she could see the irony of her situation. She had to delay the inevitable, though. Someway, somehow, she had to stall for more time, time she'd use to become strong enough to... to what? Kill Jered? Restrain him? Stop him? None of that was possible even if she had all the time in the world. Fear coursed through her bloodstream, a chilly shiver running down her back. She ran back to her room, yanked her closet open, and looked for the baggiest clothes she could find.
She thumbed through piles upon piles of modern clothing, anxiety bubbling up with each garment that she threw over her shoulders. That was until her eyes landed on a Magician's traditional robe. Nothing could ever be as baggy as that. Del immediately slipped inside it, buttoning up the front. It was black, and it was so big on her lithe form that the bottom hems pooled up on the floor. It looked comical on her. All Del needed was a plastic scythe and she'd look like a less scary and marginally cuter Grim Reaper.
"Ugh..."
Now, a mask. Or better yet, a hat. A mask would have made it too obvious that she was hiding something. A hat could be lowered until it covered her eyes.
She rummaged through her closet again, making an even bigger mess, but it didn't matter. Fortunately, she had a Wizard's Hat. She had bought it at the store during Halloween, more out of amusement than true interest; Magicians didn't wear outlandish hats like that. She bundled her hair up into a bun and carefully placed the hat on her head. It was pointed at the top, with flared brims. She could barely see anything, but it would have to do. A small price to pay for her survival.
With one last look at the mirror, she mentally readied herself for Jered's arrival.
The shadows in her room flickered, the lights dimming.
Del was startled by the sudden spike of power that encompassed the entire building, freezing her on the spot, and coiling into a single point in front of her. A swirl of smoke curled out of the floor, and out of it a familiar presence, a familiar face. Green eyes, same as hers but more intense, more powerful. A handsome face that was growing even more so as it aged, and black hair, fashionably styled and slicked towards one side, with a wayward lock curled over his left eye.
He was dressed in a grey overcoat, a black, turtle-neck shirt, khaki pants, and leather shoes.
She was so startled in fact that she instinctively took a step back. Except that her foot got entangled with the oversized bottom hem of her robe, and all of a sudden, she was staring at the ceiling, a dull ache on her backside, "Ugh!"
"Ah, Del, as clumsy as ever I see," Jered said, approaching her, "You seem differ—Del?"
The pitch of his voice changed, and Del's heart thrummed in fear. She brought a hand up to her hat, to lower it, but it wasn't there.
"Why am I looking in a mirror?"
Del scurried back, playing with her fingers as she hastily averted her gaze and grabbed the hat that had fallen off her head, clutching it to her chest as if it were her last bastion of hope, "T-There is a very logical and reasonable explanation behind all of this."
"Go on. Explain. I'm listening," Jered prompted with a wave of his hand, walking around her to sit on her bed.
There didn't seem to be any anger on his face, Del noticed. Not on the surface, at least. Was that a good or bad sign?
"C-Can I explain it to you once I come up with one?"
A sigh rushed out of Jered's lips, "You're as troublesome as the others."
Del deflated, feeling like a child in front of him. Maybe she was. The body she had traded for was younger than her previous one, which meant that she was around the same age as Jered.
"Is this the result of a ritual?"
"H-How do you know?" Del retreated even further, knowing the consequences of the truth being found out.
"I spent some time looking for a similar ritual. For a friend of mine, of course. But recent events put a stop to that," he said, nonchalantly, almost bored in fact, "Only a ritual can do something like that. Now, I don't really care whether you identify yourself as a man or a woman. That's your personal shit to deal with. No. I'm quite curious as to why you look like a gender-swapped version of me."
"It didn't go as I expected," Del fumbled for words.
"I can see that," he crossed his arms, eyes trained on her face, "Now, cut through your pathetic attempt at prevarication and tell me what you've been up to."
Jered's presence was vastly different than last time. He was a Royal now. Someone whose words held a lot of weight and sway, no matter where he went. Devastating power could come out of his fingertips, at will. With just a thought she'd probably become ashes, along with the building. And probably the entire block too. She could feel it in the air, like a static current that curled around her body. Goosebumps reared up all over her skin.
"I... I've always admired you," she easily admitted, not feeling any kind of embarrassment at expressing her adulation for him, but what she said next took a bit of effort to pull out of her mouth, "But also a bit of jealousy."
"Jealousy, huh?" Jered hummed.
"Yes, it was only a bit, at the start. You were, are, this amazing young man that came out of nowhere and suddenly you had everything someone could only dream of. I was no exception. I admired you, but I was also jealous... so..."
"So you tried becoming me?"
It didn't surprise Del that Jered was quick to come to that conclusion.
"Yes..." she nodded, voice weak, as weak as the smile she gave him, "The ritual... its purpose... was for me to become you. I wanted your talents, above everything else. Rituals are not always precise, and the result can still be what you wanted, but at the same time, not exactly. I wanted to be you... but there can't be two of someone. There can't be two Jereds; magic itself doesn't allow that. Imagine having two or three of the strongest beings in existence. So, the ritual gave me the next best thing. I lost all of my power. I have to start from the ground up all over again, and most importantly, I'm a... woman."
"You're me."
"Yes... in a way..." Del bit her bottom lip, "... I'm sorry."
Jered leaned back, staring at her in a calculative way, "So, where's that bottle I requested?"
She blinked, bottom lip still trapped between her teeth, "E-Excuse me?"
"I recall asking you to prepare a drink for me. Where is it?"
Del blinked off her bewilderment and slowly stood up, demurely, "I'll bring it to you immediately..." with each step she took, she threw a glance at him, as if to confirm he wasn't about to shatter her hopes and strike her right when she had her back turned. But Jered was not that kind of guy, or was he? He was hard to read, that was for sure. A tough nut to crack. Well, as long as she could live a couple of minutes more, maybe she could come up with a better excuse.
Jered stared at Del walking off to the kitchen, almost tripping a couple of times on the way out. Del was shorter now. A little thing, really. On the skinny side, but not too much. She was curvy, he could notice that even with the obtrusive garment she decided to wear. Her hair, once free of the ridiculous hat, fell down her back in smooth, shiny waves. She was breathtaking, which brought no little amount of pride to Jered. It was oddly nice to know that he'd be this beautiful, were he a woman.
Now, what to do with Del? It was a complicated question, one he didn't know the answer to. He wasn't mad at him, her, for the ritual. Becoming a female was probably enough of punishment already. And she'd probably be more useful this way. Del wasn't talented before, but if the ritual was truly successful, and he could see that it was, then she could become a valuable asset. Rainey would be happy, definitely not before having a good laugh about it. Jerry would... hmm, better not think about that.
As a matter of fact, it would be for the best if he didn't tell him.
Jered's musings were interrupted when Del padded back into the room, holding what looked like a bottle of... water. A plain bottle of water. Not even cold.
"T-That's all I have," she defended, averting her gaze.
"Why are you so useless..."
"I'm not useless..." Del retorted, in a small voice though.
Yeah. She didn't want to potentially provoke his divine wrath by raising her voice too much.
She tentatively sat down next to him, "Soo..." it was a weird question to ask, but she still had to, "Am I your sister now?"
He shot her a glare, "Don't go into that territory."
"Okay, okay..." she raised her hands, "... hmph, it's not like I wanted to be your sister anyway."
Jered rolled his eyes, uncapping the bottle of water and chugging half of it in one go.
He eyed the bottle with distaste. He definitely needed something heavier.