This series remains a place to put those random ideas which may not fit into longer tales. This one was requested by a Patron commissioner, and I'll say "woman transforms to be sexy and powerful, and guy gets some benefits" is so directly up my alley he might as well have just told me to write whatever I felt like.
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His Essence
My wife and I stood before the little shop nervously. It was one of those places you sometimes hear about, little holes in the wall in a mall or shopping center or market that almost nobody seems to notice, but which call to you out of nowhere. We'd glanced inside the week before and confirmed it, a shop full of curios and a moderately sinister woman at the desk saying that we'd be sure to find our heart's desire there. I looked over... and down... at my wife. She was cute, always had been, but that suddenly wasn't enough. "You don't have to do this, you know. Five years together, I still love the way you look."
She looked up at me with her icy blue eyes. "I've seen how you look at those other girls. You like bigger women. Taller, bustier, muscular amazonesses. I'm not that and I can't ever be, and I'm tired of being so far behind. Yes, I have to do this."
There was no use arguing with her on this point, she probably wouldn't believe what I said. I was being honest, but then again so was she. I really did prefer a completely different physical type than her. One that usually couldn't happen in nature, and I'd long since come to accept it. But I could still look, and she'd noticed. Her self-esteem, never the greatest, took a dive that day and had not recovered in the intervening month. Now it was Valentine's Day, and she had one thing on her mind. One gift she wanted to give me. She stepped inside.
A chime rang over the doorway as we entered. The same woman was at the counter, in a fairly shapeless outfit that made it hard to make out much about her. She even had her hood pulled up, obscuring much of her face and hair. "Welcome back, you two. Have you decided what strikes your fancy?"
My wife marched right up to the counter the woman was standing at. "I want a spell. Some magic to make me into the kind of woman he lusts after. You can do that, can't you?" The last might have been phrased as a question. It wasn't, and nobody present took it as one.
The woman at the counter grinned, a tiny yet somehow frightening thing. "You know he desires your body already, correct?"
"Yes, but I want to be... more."
"Then more it shall be. This shop does not take money. I think you knew that." She looked at me, and with an undeniable force in her voice stated "
Close the door
."
I obeyed, instantly and without question, wondering why I did. By the time I turned around, the scene had changed. The windows were all closed and curtains drawn. Gone were the curios and shelves. Gone was the pale lighting, replaced by red. Gone, too, was the woman, and in her place stood a demoness. She was nude, her body still small but hard with muscle. Her skin was red, her horns and wings and claws black, and she had a hungry look on her face. Incongruously, the voice that emerged from her was the same as before. "So, you want to give the gift of your body to this man today? You will feed me in return."
My wife blanched. "With... my soul?"
The demoness cackled. "Not this time, I don't think. Not as long as you give me the power I need. There have been many names for it over the years. Lust, Orgone, Kundalini. Whatever you call it, I want it. I will set a siphon within you, and the lusty acts which will trigger my magic will feed me. Give enough, and my time is worthwhile. Don't, and your soul will be the price instead."
I wanted to speak up, but found that I couldn't. My voice would not sound, my lips would not open. Instead, my wife said the words. "I accept."
The demoness grinned. "From sundown tonight until the dawn breaks again, then, you must take his essence into and onto yourself. As much as you can. This will focus his power upon you to form you to his desires. You must not repeat the same act, doing so will end the spell for good or ill. Though I will continue to benefit from your lust going forward, tonight is the only time the penalty hangs upon you." She reached forward, across the desk, and touched my wife's chest with one of those claws. "Now go. The sun sets in four hours."
***
The rest of the date, by comparison, was uneventful. The sunlight in the park was nice, but she was distracted. Even dinner at her favorite restaurant, which required that I make reservations months in advance, could hardly hold her attention. Every few moments, she looked out the window at the slowly-setting sun. We eventually made it home, half-eaten food in to-go bags, and ended up in the bedroom. The sun outside was just touching the horizon. She took a few breaths, obviously getting mentally ready.