--The initial setup of this was written by A in the alternate chapter "two twin boys" added 5-24-15. I was inspired by the twins and imagined a different mechanism for producing changes, this will also allow the readers to write for alternate changes to occur.
Two younger teenage boys were standing before the Game Master, relatively normal-looking apart from the somewhat sour looks on their faces. Also, the fact that they both looked exactly alike. So alike, in fact, that you wondered if they had been magically altered to appear that way.
"Are you sure this place is legit?" one of them asked grouchily, glancing in your direction, a bit too loud to be tactful. "What's with the dog-guy?"
"Shut up, stop being a pain," the other one retorted. "As long as it works, I don't care what we have to do."
"Now, now, boys," the Game Master responded cheerfully, and you got the distinct impression the wheels were turning upstairs. "What seems to be the problem?" The boy who had spoken second looked at the Game Master irritatedly and responded.
"If you couldn't tell, we're twins. I'm Leon, and he's Noel," Leon stated, gesturing to his scowling brother. "I've been stuck looking like this guy all my life, and I'm sick of it. Everyone mistakes us for each other, even our parents sometimes. That's why I always get blamed for the dumb stuff Noel pulls."
"You're just dumb enough to get caught," Noel snapped. You had the feeling the Game Master was grinning under his hood, and shuddered.
"Anyway, our parents are sick of us fighting. They found out that this place can change appearances, so they gave us permission to get changed for a month. I don't care what you do, just as long as this guy no longer looks like me," Leon growled.
"You do understand how this store works, correct? If you want my help, you'll have to play a little game, take a little risk. Is that acceptable?" The boys nodded impatiently. "I assume you have signed permission slips?" the Game Master asked. While children or those unable to give consent sometimes had spells cast on them by rogue wizards, most didn't want the hassles of dealing with the possible backlash. Although there had been some protests against wizards altering people against their will, the protests often lost steam when it was discovered many of the protestors themselves had turned to magic at one point or another for their own ends. Nevertheless, in order to minimize the uproar, magicians often requested consent from an authorized individual before casting spells on those under the age of 16 or those unable to give their own permission.
Leon and Noel each dug out a crumpled piece of paper, each paper having the signatures of both their mother and father upon them, and the terms authorizing the Game Master to change the boys for one month, so long as the forms remained human. The Game Master waved his hand and both papers floated up into the air and the signatures began to glow.
"Had to authenticate them, of course. You'd be surprised how many kids try to fool around and forge their parents signatures. Completely useless, of course," the Game Master pattered on while the boys stared on, unimpressed. "Now boys, you understand that whatever changes occur, they cannot be undone for a month, right?"
"Duh!" Noel replied, as Leon glared at him, then said, "Yeah, we get it."
The Game Master turned to you. "Go pick up two Authorization Bracelets from the back...oh, and bring out the OALR rings while you're at it." You are confused, but nod acquiesingly and head for the storage. Since you took inventory yesterday, you know where the requested items are, although you are not sure what they are for. The Authorization Bracelets look like nothing special, just a string with a small circular charm. Grabbing two, you proceed to the "O" shelf, where you locate a box labeled "OALR." You rifle through bracelets, necklaces, and earrings, and at the bottom of the box you locate a small container with three relatively simple-looking rings. One is pure white with black stones dotted across it, one is midnight black with white stones, and the final ring is a swirl of white and black with grey stones. Curious, you bring the rings and bracelets to the Game Master. The Game Master takes the bracelets from you, and in a flash, the permission slips turn to dust, the remains flowing into the bracelets' charms, which now glow. The Game Master then handed a bracelet to each of the boys.
"To proceed, each of you will have to wear one of these. Once on, you won't be able to remove it for a month. It basically shows that I haven't changed you against your will," the Game Master explained as the boys put the bracelets on. "Now then," the Game Master continued, "Am I to understand you boys simply want some parts of your lives changed so you are not so similar to one another?"
The boys nodded in unison. "Very well, In that case I only need to change one of you." The boys didn't anticipate only one of them changing, Leon stammered, "But we are doing this together..."
The Game Master smiled, "Of course you are, as I am sure you go to class together, eat together, share the same friends, interests, and hobbies together... but you are here for change. There is nothing wrong with your lives except that the other sibling is constantly trying to do the same thing. This will be the first step towards separating yourselves from one another, at least for a month."
"Let's see who gets to pick their ring first, Shall we?" A die appeared out of nowhere. Highest roll picks their ring. Noel grabbed the die first, rolling a three. Leon then picked up the die and rolled a 4.
The three rings were offered by the Game Master and Leon suspected the swirled ring would be the person effected by the changes so he selected it to spare his brother for the month. The Game Master then offered Noel his choice of the remaining rings, and he chose the midnight black ring with white stones. Leon liked that ring and would have selected it if he didn't suspect the swirled one to be the one effected by the changes.
"Very good, the remaining ring will go to someone else, when they put the ring on, Leon, you will begin changing to be the sibling that would make the three of you look like family. A merger of traits, though this won't change your parentage. The rest of the world will be completely unaware of the changes and will change to accommodate your new life, your parents will be aware that things are different between you two, its up to the two of you to make that a good or a bad thing, and the two of you will be aware of roughly a third of the changes that occur. This is, after all, to give you a taste of what it is like to not be twins... How can that happen if you still think of yourselves as such?"
Leon was feeling scared and realized he didn't much mind fighting with is twin... not realizing what would be happening to his body and loosing his mind in the process didn't sound quite like what he had walked in here expecting. Preparing to return the ring and leave, Leon realized it wasn't in his hands anymore, it was on his finger!
"I am not too sure I want to go through with this." Leon said while ineffectively trying to pull off the ring.
"You have already begun the spell, child, look at the ring."
The ring was midnight black with white stones. Leon immediately knew Noel had stolen the swirled ring of change from him, swapping it with the midnight ring. Leon immediately accused Noel of such and they began bickering.
The Game Master rolled his eyes and understood why their parents authorized this, these two couldn't go 10 minutes without fighting. "CHILDREN!" the game master boomed. "The changing of your ring indicates it is ready to merge your features, it has the Midnight starting point and is waiting for the White ring to be worn. Your brother didn't steal anything, his ring looks the same as ever."
Leon stared and saw it was true, turning bright red he sat there silently.
Now Leon, Noel, whoever touches the white ring will absentmindedly put it on the second they aren't 100% focused on it, just as you and your brother had. When that happens you will begin to change and over 3 days time, you will become the missing link so to speak and the three of you together will look like family. This won't change the third person to be family, nor your lineage. The world will change and all will seem normal even to the wearer of the white ring though the two of you will recognize some of the differences, there will be too many to catch them all. The question remains who will this final ring go to, and to determine that we must play a game to see who gets to decide.
The Game Master reached down and grabbed the cup of dice before him, which appeared out of nowhere. Leon and Noel noticed cups before them and a fourth cup on the table. The Game Master motioned to the butler to play as well. "The highest sum of dice wins the right to choose who gets the White ring. If there is a tie for winner, those who tied reroll."