Chapter 1
The camera had been extremely hard to find and Deborah had acquired it just in time. Even though she looked no more than 30, at 92 years old, even the most potent magic in the world could no longer extend her life for more than a few more days.
The camera, however was not of this world but instead had come from hell itself. The stories said that it had been created by Lucifer over a hundred years ago as photography had become common place. It was part of a deal he had made for the soul of a powerful warlock. The camera captured the soul of whoever's photo was taken and granted them immortality.
Of course like all objects touched by the devil, there was always a tradeoff to be had. In this case, there were two. First the person in the photo could never look at the photo, it would undo the magic and they would rapidly progress to their real chronological age.
The second catch with the camera was that when it captured the person's image, it distorted it. It was different for each person the camera was used on, but in the case of the first warlock, the distorted photo had shown him as a crippled man in a wheel chair. As long as the subject remained healthy and uninjured, there was no other effect. However each time the subject was critically hurt, or fell deathly ill, they would trade some part of themselves of that which was in the photo.
Deborah had known this since she started to look for the camera almost 60 years ago. She was no fool and knew that no matter how powerful of a witch she would become, death would eventually claim her.
And she was a very powerful witch, perhaps the most powerful in the world. She had gained a fortune through her powers and had used both to track down the camera. The last owner, a withered old man named Adam, had been very stubborn about selling it even though he had never used it himself.
He had finally relented when one of his grandchildren had become ill and there was no cure available. He had come to her to use her power to heal the child and she of course had made the deal for the camera. However if he had known she had been the source of the illness, she was sure there would have been a much different result.
No matter, she now possessed the camera and was ready to use it. It was large and made of wood, sitting on top of its own tripod it stood at least 5 feet tall and had a long set of bellows to focus with. On the back was an empty space where a film cartridge was to be place. Calling them film did not do them justice. They were large plates, 4 inches by 6 inches, and each one was contained in its own wooden case. No developing was required as the magic imbued in the cartridges revealed the image directly on the film.
Setting up a makeshift studio in her mansion, Deborah had dressed herself in her finest attire for the occasion. A professional looking business suit jacket and a simple white blouse with pants. She wore her hair short and had kept her natural dark black hair color. She wore no jewelry except a simple set of stud ear rings and a jeweled watch on her wrist.
The camera would normally have been operated by someone else, however she knew she would have to undo the spells maintaining her youthful appearance and health and refused to allow anyone see her as she really was. She was vain, but with power vanity often followed even for the best of intentioned people and she had never been that.
Triggering the camera remotely would normally not have presented a problem, a simple enough spell would depress the shutter button and it would be done. She knew that as she un-cast the spells keeping her alive there was a risk that she would not be able to weave even this simple of spell. Instead she had enchanted the stone she now held in her hand, all she had to do was drop the stone and as soon as it hit the floor the camera would take the photo.
With everything prepared, she sat on a simple armchair in front of the camera and began undoing decades of spells. First the cosmetic ones, each revealing a flaw she had concealed. The discoloration of her skin, then the wrinkles, the grey in her hair and finally the sagging.
Next the longevity spells. The aches and pains started small, the arthritis hit hard but the deterioration of her eyesight followed closely behind. Then as the last spell was removed, she felt her chest tighten and her vision start to fade completely. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was the sound of the stone hitting the floor.
* * *
Deborah woke up moments later, slumped in the chair and her chest on fire but she was alive!
The camera sat silently in front of her and she knew it had worked, she felt invigorated even without the spells in place. She also knew there was a lot of work ahead of her, while she was now immortal, she was still in the body of a 92 year old woman.
Rising from the chair her body screamed in pain as she shuffled over to the camera. When she had slid the cartridge in to the camera just a few short minutes ago, she had had no problem reaching it on its tripod, but now, hunched over and no longer near her previous 5 foot 10 stature she struggled to straighten herself upright and remove it.
Careful not to look at the photo as she removed it from the camera, she replaced the wooden case over it to ensure its safe keeping. She did not know what the distorted image looked like and did not want anyone else to see it either.
Deborah had not known what to expect from the camera and had prepared a few potions as precautions depending upon what effect the camera would have on her age. She had placed them on a small table beside the camera in open glasses in case she was unable to open the bottles that usually contained them. She picked up the last one in the line and managed to drink it down through the pain in her joints.
A temporary youth potion, it quickly turned back the clock until she stood erect once more appearing to be her normal 30 year old self.
Chapter 2
Deborah had spent weeks preparing for the marathon series of spells to undo the aging process and permanently return her youth to her. She had cast all these spells before but that had been over decades and many could be deadly if she made a mistake.
Her newly acquired immortality however gave her even more ego than before and so she had planned on doing them all over the next eight to ten hours.
The temporary youth potion was due to wear off shortly and she had cleared enough space in her casting room for all the books and reference material she would need.
The first spell would be to simply inhibit any pain during the process. Between the various physical ailments she would have once her body returned to its natural age and some of the spells that would be physically unpleasant.
Next would be to restore her eyesight, casting powerful spells like these was a tricky business and unlike simple day to day spells these could not simply be memorized. The books were an integral part of the magic and the last thing she needed was to miss cast one because she couldn't see the words and symbols she needed to cast.
The next series of spells would cure various other ailments, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, alzheimers and others. Then finally she would cast the youth and beauty spells.
Dressed in her casting robe she sat in the middle of her casting circle waiting for the youth potion to wear off, when she saw the skin on the back of her hands start to wrinkle, she knew it had begun.
Bracing herself for the onslaught of pain that would quickly follow, she focused on the pain spell in the book in front of her. She needed to wait until the temporary youth spell had completely expired to ensure nothing would interfere with the precise series of castings she had prepared.
After what seemed like an eternity she felt the last of the youth potion drain from her and the full weight of her 92 year old body return.
The pain caused her to miscast the pain relief spell three times before finally getting it right and each time the pained worsened. Finally on the fourth attempt she managed to complete the spell successfully and the pain passed quickly.
The eyesight spell was not so forgiving and she knew this would be the trickiest part of the night. She carefully studied the text in front of her, focusing on each word to ensure she was confident of it. Then she began to cast, speaking the rights out loud and drawing the symbols in the air in front of her.
Everything proceeded well at first, her eye sight started to rapidly improve, which is when she saw her mistake. A simple enough error, she had drawn all the required symbols but had missed a single dot above one of them.
Her eye sight suddenly became even sharper, more defined. So much so that every little detail in the room became evident to her. Her mind racing to process so much information began to hurt even through the pain spell. Looking down she noticed a single bright red drop on her robe, which was promptly followed by another.
Grabbing her nose to stop the bleeding she realized it was instead coming from her eyes and then everything went dark. The pain intensified and she could now feel rivers of blood flowing down her face. As she tried to stop the bleeding she realized it was too late, she was starting to feel light headed and knew she had only a few more seconds before it would be over.
Then an even deeper darkness came as she died once more.
* * *
Deborah woke up this time in a pool of her own blood. She could again, though only as well as before she had started casting the spell. Drawing herself upright she found a strange weight on her head. Her previously short black hair was now at least 3 feet long and very, very blonde. It hung down over her robe in what looked like a waterfall of golden color.
While it did concern her she knew there would be consequences from the camera's magic and now was not the time to deal with them. She was once again focused on the spell to restore her eyesight. A second casting worked and she could see the mess the failed attempt had left. Blood had sprayed everywhere including over some of the spell books she needed to complete her tasks for the night.
Retrieving another spell book from her library to help with the cleanup she spent the next four hours removing the blood from the room and books. Once completed, she again set to the task of returning her youth and beauty to herself.
