"Before I pick, may I ask one more question?" you ask.
"Of course!" The man says brightly. "The pursuit of knowledge is always to be encouraged."
"Can I let other people use them?" The man begins to smile broadly, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth and his eyes light up, the yellow and green in them reminding you of a meadow in summer.
"First you help me collect up my tomes and then you ask if you can share your gift with others! You truly are a thoughtful young man. The short answer is yes, but there are some important considerations. So please, listen closely." He leans in toward you as if to punctuate the end of his sentence and you quickly follow suit.
"My trinkets are a gift to you, a symbol of esteem and friendship. They have been moulded and are powered by your very real desires and you have full power and control over them. For this reason, they are at their most potent and reliable when used upon yourself. Also for this reason, a little care should be exercised when sharing them with others." The magician closes his eyes and leans back, letting his words sink in until he is ready to continue with his PSA.
"The power that my baubles have will depend upon your connection to that person. For someone you do not know well or are indifferent about, the results will be negligible. A strong, healthy connection will yield the best results, so a person that you feel genuine kinship with or with whom you have nurtured a friendship would be ideal. Bear in mind however, my gifts were chosen because of your deep seated desires, and the effects are shaped the same way; whether you are aware of them or not. So say that you take both trinkets and your brother wishes for you to help him become more muscular so that he may excel in the wrestlng team. You may care for him deeply and want to make his wish come true, but if there is any sibling rivalry between the two of you and a deep, dark part of you wishes to sabotage him, he may start to fatten up to such an extent as to ruin his chances of even being on the team. You will need me to reverse such a change, but if you are unable to control your darker side, even I may find it impossible to revert somebody."
"For this reason, I do not advise using your new powers on family, or somebody that you are very attracted to as your feelings for them may be complicated and the results will be the same. If you use the powers on someone and they have very different results than the ones that you intended, then you may have some unresolved feelings for that person that you may have to confront before I am able to revert the changes." You nod slowly, realising that using these powers may not be quite as straightforward as you first thought.
"What if I use them on someone I hate?" The man blinks and for a moment you could swear that you see a third eyelid in the corner of one of his eyes.
"Hate is a very strong word..." he says in a quieter tone. "For such a destructive emotion, the results would be unpredictable but almost always extreme and devastating. It may also overwrite your connection to me with the object of your hate and any changes you force on them may become unpredictable and bounce back on you in unpredictable ways too. Similarly, someone who wishes harm on you should never be allowed to handle the trinkets. They will have control over the size of your body and the destructive will to push it to extremes and potentially warp it in very unpleasant ways. Guard them well." The wizard puts a strong emphasis on the final sentence and you mentally mull over the places that you can store things to keep them safe.
"So!" Your new friend says, clapping his hands together and pulling you out of your thoughts. "Are you ready to make a decision? I have some books to return. I hope that they don't mind a few of them being scuffed..."
What do you decide?
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