Lisa suddenly stopped, stuttered. She turned to Aaron, staring at the pendant around his neck. "Aaron," she said, "Aaron, it's glowing."
Indeed it was. The pendant had taken on a sky-blue hue and was slowly lifting its way off of Aaron's chest. It hovered for a second, slowly tilting, then quickly turning to a rapid vibrate before losing the glow and falling back to Aaron's chest.
Lisa smirked. "Okay, 'cynic,' how did you do that?"
Aaron shook his head. "I didn't do that! That wasn't me!"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, drop the attitude. We both know that was you. Shit like that doesn't just happen."
He shook his head. "I swear, it wasn't me!"
"Don't lie to me!"
"I'm not lying!"
"Tell me how you did that!"
"I didn't! The pendant did! I—" Suddenly, Aaron doubled over, breathing heavily.
"Aaron? Aaron, stop faking it—look, you're freaking me out—"
He lifted his head up and looked at her. His eyes were different, and they pierced into her soul. They looked through her—as if his eyes could see every sin and every mistake she had ever made. Aaron had never looked that way before. Then he closed his eyes.
Lisa took a few steps backward, just in case it got weird.
It got weird. He could hear it speaking in his mind. "Come," it said. "Come to me." He pictured a stairway, a long stairway, leading into the clouds, made of beautiful marble, with an intricate ornate railing along the side. Looking behind him, he saw the end of the stairway a ways down—it lead to a mountain top. A light came from the top of the stairway, a light brighter than the sun in the sky. The voice of the amulet spoke all around him, soothed him. "Walk with me. Walk to salvation. Walk to the light."
Waves of energy poured across Aaron's body, spreading from the amulet. Lisa watched as waves of muscle poured across Aaron's body. He heaved, a low, deep breath, as pectorals began rapidly forming where before, there was only a few layers of fat. His shoulders expanded, moving into large biceps and forearms, into large hands. Lisa watched as the dirty nails Aaron once had cleaned themselves, cut themselves, and were painted a striking shade of sky blue. The fat that once sat in a flab on Aaron's stomach was gone, and his shirt was becoming tight enough to make out a 6 pack which only became more defined with every wave of muscle. His legs were thick, and with one more wave of muscle, his tight jeans fell apart all together, revealing smooth, shaved skin. Then, his face began to change.
It occurred to Aaron as he was walking with the voice of the amulet that he could not remember much about who he was. He was a boy—that much was clear. He was...17? 17 sounded right. He knew he was Aaron. But he could not for the life of him remember where he had come from, or how he had ended up on this staircase with the voice. He simply was on this staircase, with the voice, and the light was at the top. It seemed to him to make sense to walk towards the light, instead of away. Yes. That was it. He would walk towards the light with this voice to guide him. He did not know who he was, or where he was, or even what he was. He simply knew the staircase and the voice. And that was all he needed to know.
Lisa saw it first in his skin. His skin, once a pale, acne-infested mess of years of forgetting to wash and general bad skin care, smoothed over. Again, in waves, the acne seemed to just disappear. Then the blotches disappeared. Then the freckles disappeared. One more wave of energy from the amulet and as it passed over Aaron's body, it tanned his skin to a beautiful, rich, olive color. With another wave, his cheeks took upon a different shape. Instead of the flabby baby fat of before, his cheekbones stood prominent, jutting out ever so slightly from under his eyes. His skin was tighter, and in another wave, his jaw became defined and square—so sharp, Lisa wondered if it could cut rocks. Another wave, and his lips filled. His nose smoothed, and his ears became a bit smaller. His eyes seemed bigger, for a second Lisa wondered if Aaron's face was wearing eyeliner. Another wave. His brown hair changed color, all of it—his eyebrows, eyelashes, even the hair on his arms and legs turned golden-blonde. With another wave, his eyelashes lengthened, his eyebrows thickened, and his head hair seemed to dance. After the flurry, Lisa saw an immaculately styled golden blonde quiff, off to her left side. The sides of his hair, once long and curly, were short to the point of almost seeing the scalp. At the front, it swooped up so naturally Lisa wondered if the wind had decided to keep it in place. It wafted from side to side with Aaron's slowing heavy breathing, just barely retaining its shape but also never losing it. Lisa had never seen such perfect hair.
Jason. What was that? The voice. The voice had said Jason. Jason—was that his name? Jason was approaching the top of the gates and his memories were reappearing in his head. He was 18, but also not 18. He was over 500 years old, a child of the Renaissance. He remembered the days of growing up in Italia, remembered being poor, and remembered helping to let his mother survive. He remembered playing with a sister. What was her name? He could not remember her name. He remembered her—Violetta! That was it!—Violetta falling from the tree branch with Jason next to her. He tried to grab her. She was too big to grab, too small to hold on for herself. As she fell onto the cobblestones, Jason remembered the sound of horse hooves quickly galloping down the road. He remembered his mother screaming and crying—and feeling it was his fault. He remembered the day at 18, when his mother was on her deathbed with illness. He had died a week later. He remembered all this and more in the moments before he reached the great light. He was so close.
Lisa watched Aaron stand up. He was much taller, over 6 foot. His shirt was too short, confirming her earlier suspicions—rock hard 6 pack abs. He was wearing briefs, but even through them, she could see the size of the monster underneath the cotton. She knew him. He had not previously had a monster like that—she would have known.
Then the weirdest happened.
First, it was the shirt getting tighter. Lisa thought perhaps more muscle was being packed on, but the waves had stopped coming out of the amulet. The amulet! It had disappeared off of Aaron's body. That was the cause of all of this?
Jason was so close. A few more steps, and with every single one, a new flurry of memories, almost too much to take in. He remembered 500 years of watching the mortal world, watching it come to life, to light, to dark. He remembered the days up in heaven. Jason smiled.
Lisa heard the ripping sound from the back of the shirt. Quickly, two sprouts of skin-colored muscle emerged like thick, bending tree trunks. At this point, the boy's shirt had ripped off. They curved away from each other, turning white as they grew in opposite directions. They had to be 7 or 8 feet long, each one, and they then released a thin flap of skin—it was hideous—that was some 20 feet squared on each side.
Two more steps. Jason's hand's moved off the railing.
Lisa watched with a strange mix of fascination and horror as the huge flaps of skin produced a series of smooth, white feathers, like a dove's. They were beautiful, arcing wings, white as the snow, smooth as whipped cream, and the most stunning sight Lisa had ever seen. She couldn't breathe from how magnificent they they were.
Jason one step away. He reached up his hand—
Lisa watched the angel raise his right hand.
—Jason touched the light.
The angel opened his eyes. Aaron's eyes had been muddy brown. The angel's eyes were electric blue, full of a sparkle that danced and shimmered.
Lisa couldn't speak, couldn't breathe at the epitome of beauty that stood in front of her. He almost seemed to glow in the sunlight. She managed to croak out "who are you?"
The boy smiled, a pure white smile, full of joy and happiness. "I am Jason," he said, in a low, melodious baritone.
Lisa could not speak. She could only stare, stare at the godly angel that had once been her nerdy friend. She must have been dreaming. She had to be. This was just the craziest dream of her life, right?
Jason did not need her to speak. He slowly reached his hands behind her hair, onto the back of her neck and very slowly touched his lips to hers.
"I have waited 500 years to kiss a face as beautiful as yours."
Their lips met, and for a moment Lisa thought the world might just fall away at their feet. She felt no floor. She felt no ceiling. All she felt was his warm, careful embrace, and she knew in that moment this was the greatest love she would never experience.
Jason pulled back.
Lisa tried to pull forward, but he put his hands on his lips. She felt as though she could not move. She obeyed his every command. He was her God.
Then, he turned the corner of the aisle in the magic store, and when she turned to follow him, he was not there. Only the amulet, sitting on the ground, patiently waiting.