This
story is intended to be wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*It
contains themes of transgender transformation and genie
transformation.
*Several LGBTQ characters are in this story,
including a transgender main character.
*There are mentions of
abuse and mortality.
The Golden Edict (Part 1)
Eris was pleased with her purchase. A small, glimmering statuette of colored glass rested in paper wrapping. A sleeping dragon, deep blue with ridges of purple, she couldn't help but fawn over the adorable, fragile little thing. She had so much in life, but she always made room for such artistic creations.
What else was she going to spend money on. Food? Utilities? Such things didn't matter to her...
After all, she was a free genie. She could materialize anything she wanted. Her only limit was her imagination. Which is exactly why she bought unique artworks wherever she traveled, to reward other's imaginations.
She glanced around, making sure no one was watching her. She quickly climbed to the top of the building. She always preferred to let her magic loose here. Other genies she knew of hid their acts of magic in dark, dingy alleys. Not her. All the grime and trash, never mind a passer-by grabbing her vessel while she was inside... Not that she was obligated to heed any calls. Sure, a passing satellite could see something, but even if it had, would they even think a genie was dematerializing, or just chalk it up to a computer glitch?
Eris pulled a tube of lipstick out of her pocket. Even if someone snatched this from her, they would have thought it was just that. It even came with real scarlet lip color. But in truth, it was her home, her vessel of over 500 years.
Placing the nondescript tube on the ground, it began to shift under her power. The concealment spells lifted, and the tube transmuted and warped. Plastics and paper turned into glass and metal. Her lamp took shape - or rather, the vessel she called a lamp. Once it was bronze, that oh so stereotypical oil lamp of legend. But once she was free to use her power as she wished, she could transform the outside of it. It still resembled the old lamp, but it was now beautiful ornate purple glass, with diamond shapes studding the surface, and bands of silver around the middle, lid opening, and base. A vessel as unique as she.
Eris let her form shift, clothes and skin becoming as gas, the same shade of purple as her lamp. She swirled herself inside.
Home sweet home.
Rematerializing inside, she looked around. Roomy, but not gaudy or lined with gold and exotic pillows. She shuddered at the thought, some bad memories of her initial transformation from mortal to magic. No, it was more like a home you might walk into today, with modern cabinets and appliances. White walls made it all look bright and open, with purple accents because why not? It was her place to shape as she chose, and she was fond of purple. The place even has "real" windows - she could see the outside world through the glass of her vessel (although this is technically a trick of magic, as this is a dimensional pocket outside of reality).
But looking closer, centuries of the life she lived seep into the details. Callbacks to a lost late-Medieval empire hidden away in the modern details. Small gargoyle statues snuck into corners, crosses and arches like those of grand cathedrals, muted to blend into the background.
She pulled her new prize from her pocket. How would a genie pay for something, you ask? No, she didn't conjure money. She found performing various odd jobs could net her some income to use as she pleased. She didn't need that much. Everything she needed was at her fingertips... Well, except for social interaction. Those decades enslaved to the lamp at the start were the hardest. Trapped within for years, with no one to talk to but the walls of her prison until a new master summoned her.
And art. Sure, she could mimic anything, shape anything into anything. But she wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing a young artist's face glow with joy, memories she could carry for time eternal. And each piece gave off a distinct aura she could sense, a part of the artist carried by their creations for all time. That she could not replicate with her magic.
She peered around, looking for a spot among the vast shelves lined with all sorts of handcrafted works, centuries' worth. As she cleared a spot and gently put the fragile dragon down, she heard the dinging of a bell... A magical noise originating from nowhere in particular. She had received a message.
She watched as a ball of light fluttered into her domain. It glowed with a pure while light.
"Wait, white light? Who could..." Most genies use some other color, a wide array of hues to differentiate each other. Eris watched as the ball flew into her hands and materialized into a tablet of pure gold.
A Golden Edict. A message from the highest powers. Someone was to receive the gift of angelic genie powers - and Eris was to deliver the news personally! It was the greatest honor a genie like herself could receive, to be trusted with such a task.
Angelic Genies were rare. Extremely rare. They were more powerful than even she was as a free genie.
She gazed upon the Edict. A name was inscribed: Ariel Hope. She thought the name was a bit unusual, but she had a message to deliver. She wasn't going to sit and ponder. Once more she dematerialized herself into smoke and energy and left through the portal to her vessel. Upon rematerializing on the world of mortals, she spun her finger in the air, quickly applying the concealment spells once more and launching the tube into her jacket's upper pocket.
She felt guidance from the golden tablet's magic. She felt the directions she needed to go. She spun a sheet of paper into existence to cover up the tablet. Its powers were still communicating with her, but she didn't want a greedy thief trying to snatch it from her. Not that any normal human could feasibly hold it. A foot wide, a foot and a half tall, and an inch thick, it was pure gold - and very heavy. No problem for a being of pure magical might for whom the laws of physics are mild suggestions. Less so for a scrawny opportunist looking to make a quick prize.
The tablet relayed directions and locations through magic. Only a genie could make out the instructions - even magic sensitive mortals couldn't tell what the embedded magic was telling them.
Eris followed the directions of the Edict, not knowing where exactly they were taking her. She walked confidently, knowing this sacred object wouldn't lead her astray. Truthfully, she was excited to meet this Ariel to see the kind of mortal that deserved such a divine blessing.
As she was walking, she started feeling sensations unfamiliar to her, and she started having something akin to dreams forming within her. No, not dreams - memories. Ariel's. She heard about this from a couple of others who had delivered Edicts; the Edict gives the deliverer memories to help them understand the one who was to receive it, as well as what they are feeling at the time of the blessing. However, it does take some time for everything to kick in, they say.
Some of Ariel's first memories started to take shape. Finicky things, Eris could only grasp a couple at a time, a slide show happening at speeds incomprehensible to humans and barely to even her. But she was able to gleam a memory, an image of a young boy clutching a dress, looking into a mirror. She instinctively knew then Ariel was the boy in the memory.
Transgender, eh? Sounds like we have something in common... she thought.
She had once been a man. A king, a conqueror - all in an effort to be as masculine as possible. All it took to break it was to be tricked into becoming a genie by another genie... A piece of work trying to make her suffer, but instead woke her up to her true self. He was a far cry from the new genie that may be created today.
As she trekked deeper into the city, surrounded by high rises and skyscrapers, more of Ariel's life flashed by in her mind... As she felt increasingly uncomfortable. She didn't know if it was the memories - which was swiftly becoming a parade of human suffering - or something else. She was clearly being affected, though. She was stifling back tears.
Ariel was a kindhearted, sensitive child who just wanted to have friends. But it was hard for her to make them. She was "too girly" as a boy and was routinely abused by her peers. Even when she began to hide that part of herself more, she couldn't just turn off her feelings, and her tormentors always used that against her. Teachers didn't help her. Her parents were both oblivious and uncaring. She was being failed left and right.
Discomfort became pain. Eris stopped for a moment. "Why am I feeling pain? None of the other genies that talked about delivering Edicts mentioned pain..."
Stopping her motion caused a sudden surge of memories from Ariel's life. Propelling her through years of Ariel's life, Eris was fast approaching the present.
Ariel's coming out as transgender... A memory that dropped itself like a boulder into Eris's mind. A heartfelt plea... looks of rejection... thrown into the streets with nothing but the clothes on her back.
And then the pain sharpened to a spear point. If Eris didn't know any better, it was as if her own organs were failing... Which was impossible, as her organs were more or less magical constructs at this point. They didn't need to exist.
But then she realized that she wasn't feeling her own pain.
She dropped the golden tablet, which slammed into the concrete, cracking the sidewalk in a few places. She clutched her chest in pain and fear...
She was feeling Ariel's pain. Eris understood what was going on now, why it seemed like the Edict was rushing memories to her...
She hastily scooped up the Edict and began to run. The Edict's instructions kept pace with her. She so badly wanted to teleport straight to Ariel. It wasn't a violation of magic law per say, but it was often frowned upon in this age to perform magic so brazenly in public. (Granted, Eris was starting to run faster than the average human at that point, but that's less noticeable than the flash of a teleport.)
She was getting close, she could feel it. She approached an alley and began to feel an aura from it, a weak one. She had found Ariel.
Eris peered around the corner into the dark alley. "Hello? Is there anyone here?" She heard a rustling come from the other side of a dumpster, and a boot that was sticking out moved with its owner.
Eris stepped closer to the being cautiously. She didn't want to scare them. Rounding the dumpster, she saw a sight that broke her heart: Ariel.
END OF PART 1
By Erica Chrisman (CrystalSeaDragon44)
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