Elliot rushed through the front door of his apartment with a bag. A paper bag.
“Whoah there, babe,” Julia said, “slow down. You’ll knock something over,”
“The vase can wait!” He said, shutting the front door. Julia took a look at the bag, it had a printed logo,
‘The Magic Shop’
“What’s that?” Julia asked, pointing to the bag,
“The perfect gift,” Elliot said, reaching into the bag. He presented a relatively hand-sized box. It had a little, yet dazzling blue gem in the top of it. The box was strange, almost ancient in design. From what Julia could figure, it had history.
“It’s pretty and all…” Julia said, trying to be somewhat positive. She approached her fiancé, placing her hand on the box, “but what about it is so exciting,”
“Everything!” Elliot said. He passed his fiancé, making her even more confused. He placed the box onto their bedside table before stepping back, just in front of Julia,
“Babe,” she said, he turned to face her, “please explain what makes this so special. It is… literally a box,”
“Alright,” Elliot said, wiping his forehead,
“Did you run here!?” She asked, astounded,
“This box isn’t just a box,” he said,
“No shit,” Julia added, sarcastically. She was tapping her foot impatiently,
“You’ve been feeling pretty down for the last couple months,” he stopped expecting a sarcastic comment, but she just waited, “well, this is going to make you feel waaay better!” He said, excitedly.
Julia couldn’t lie, she was starting to get excited. This wasn’t the first time Elliot had tried something like this, each time she seriously appreciated it, and it did make her feel better about herself.
Both Elliot and Julia were models. Well known models. Not quite a household name, but the average joe had seen them on the side of a billboard promoting some perfume, underwear, anything. Julia was only 24, while Elliot was a couple years ahead at 27. They’d met on a modelling job about 4 years previously. They made quick friends, and soon lovers.
Earlier in the year, Elliot had officially proposed to Julia. It resulted in an obvious yes.
Over the last few months, Julia had begun feeling pretty down about herself. She was always adored for her body… but she was lacking. She a small chest, a small butt, and generally pretty petite in size and height. Elliot was supportive of her, trying to get her to love her body for what it was. But Julia couldn’t see her boyfriend truly understand it, even if he did. He was tall, muscular, but not bulky. The perfect blend of build, not to mention she knew is body better than anyone.
“So what exactly does it do,” Julia asked, unable to hide the grin beginning to appear on her face,
“I bought it from this store at the mall. This guy inside told me it would be the perfect gift for you!”
“For me,” she asked, puzzled,
“Yeah,” Elliot said, shrugging his shoulders, “I guess he must’ve been a fan,”
“Weird…”
“But he said, ‘this box will improve your day, your night, your mood, your confidence, and your love.’”
“That’s…” Julia didn’t know how to react to such a strange thing. So instead, she said, “let’s see what this thing does,”
Elliot grabbed a small note from the bag. It seemed to have been torn right out of a notepad. Julia couldn’t see what was written on it,
“All I have to do is speak these three lines for it to work,” Elliot announced, clearing his throat. Julia stood, anticipating the strange yet exciting event about to unfold,
Elliot projected his voice,
“Rewop ruoy etavitca, dlo fo xob”
Suddenly, the blue gem on the top of box started glowing. Getting brighter and brighter before the light escaped the gem and started hitting the walls, the bed, the kitchen, the doors. Everything within their apartment was engulfed by a blue light, spreading like an ocean wave. It covered everything before returning back to the box. Everything but Elliot and Julia.
“The hell was that!?” Julia yelled, not as scared as she should’ve been, more excited than anything,
“Some kind of ancient magic,”
“Yeah no shit. That’s not any magic I’ve seen before,”
“Exactly. It’s an ancient magic!” Elliot looked excited, “the box was apparently the property of a Goddess named Rose. The man in the store said he was familiar with her. She was well respected in her time, but powerful. Dangerous,”
“So the box isn’t safe?” Julia asked, a little concerned,
“No. It’s safe,” Elliot assured her, “most of her artefacts are designed for the sake of trickery and mischief. This one is… basically that, but we have more control,”
“Control over what?” Julia asked,
“That’s the part I know you’ll love!” Elliot said. He cleared his throat again, grabbing Julia’s hand,
“Noitelpmoc nopu si ti sa dlrow siht htiw etinuer ot dna, egamad tnenamrep morf ytreporp ruo, mrah morf sevlesruo gnitcetorp, ecaps nevig ruo etalupinam ot rewop eht su tfig.”
The box glowed once more, this time glowing a bright purple. The light increased before finally escaping the box, instead travelling across the ground, splitting into two lights, hitting both Elliot and Julia at their feet.
They felt the light travel up their bodies, causing themselves to glow a purple hue as it covered their whole bodies. The power felt… warm. It felt like a strange electricity. Julia knew what the sensation of magic felt like, and this was very similar, but not the same.
Finally, the light dissipated, leaving the box’s gem glowing lightly. Julia and Elliot were in their apartment, appearing almost exactly the same.
Elliot placed the note back in the bag, “there’s the cancelling incantation on that note, as well as one more little surprise apparently,”
“Why don’t we use it?” Julia asked,
“The man said to wait until we know what we’re doing first.”
“So what now?” Julia asked,
“Now,” Elliot smiled. He walked over to the bed, sitting himself down in front of his wife, whole was still standing in their bedroom doorway,
“Change me.” He said to his fiancé.