Hour earlier and miles away, a young man stares at a gold coin lying on his desk. On the upward face, a six pointed star twinkles in the light. He wiped his clammy palms against the pant legs of his jeans. "This is it..." The young man, Callan, stated quietly to himself, barely above a whisper. "If I did this right..." He knew he had, but Callan felt the urge to preface the statement, "We'll finally be able to meet face to face. I'll finally be able to meet my twin brother."
Callan lowered his head, shadows danced over his face. "But... it will only work if he wants to meet me as much as I want to meet him..." he whispered himself, the limitation of his plan. Wishes from these rare gold coins could be extremely powerful, granting nearly any true desire of a person. They were so powerful that they did not follow the same, traditional rules of magic. But, even they had limits. First, the coins did not just grant any wish but only true, soul-felt desires. Now, that first hurdle was of no problem for Callan. His chief desire was wanting to know his twin brother; from an early age, he had wished that they had never been separated. But the other limitations, distance and time, were harder to address.
A wish from the coin could alter reality itself to fit with the wisher's true desire, but it worked best where all components that need to be effected are close by. Callan had no idea where his twin was, but he was certain that he was a great distance away, too great for the coin's magic to work. Additionally, time was a major factor. The coins only effected events and situations during the wisher's personal history, or histories if the wish effected more than one person directly. But, he and his brother had been separated for 24 years, and at no point in their personal histories did their path's cross. At least, no point since their separation at that unnamed fire station. As that was their only common point being together, his wish would have to alter that moment or a time earlier in order to have any lasting effect.
Knowing this, Callan knew that he had to word his wish carefully, so that the brief period they were together continued on for years afterwards. That left distance being the final hurdle to overcome, which he was confident to have found a solution for. His twin also needed to make a similar wish with the same golden coin, that way the two wishes would piggy-back off of each other, combining their effects. Of course, that meant knowing where his twin was which was the crux of the problem to begin with. Callan had almost lost home until he stumbled upon a blood-spell that, when modified, could do what he hoped. After making his desire known to the coin, he could send the coin to his brother.
The plan involved using one of the unique properties of the gold coins. Most coins vanish after a wish had been granted by them, appearing in yet another seemingly random location. Callan devised a way to manipulate the vanishing, the teleportation of the coin, so that it appeared before his brother. By performing the blood transportation ritual, he could force the coin to find and appear before his brother.
Now, Callan had attempted this spell numerous times before to make contact or transport himself to his brother, but it never worked due to a curse placed upon them as infants. It was simple. Once separated, no magic or mundane method could reunite them. However, the gold coins fall outside the typical rules of the arcane. Callan was confident that this time his spell would work. He just hoped that his twin, wherever he may be, also wished to see him.
"Okay, enough worrying. Its now or never..." Callan spoke aloud, convincing himself to start the ritual. He drew a knife a cut the tip of his finger. He let three drops fall on the coin; each sizzled like grease on a hot pan. He then clasped his hands together and began to chant. Arcane symbols seemed to dance around the coin before finally landing upon it at the conclusion of Callan's spell. The coin glowed faintly for a moment. "Okay..." Hesitantly, he gripped the coin his the palm of his left hand. "My greatest desire... I wish that my twin brother and I had always been together... were always together.... that we were always side-by-side." The coin felt warm his in his palm. Taking that as a good sign, he flicked the coin into the air. After the third twirl, the coin vanished. Callan smiled broadly despite the sudden tiredness that was threatening to overtake him. He grabbed a band-aid for his right finger, and walked up to his bedroom. He was hopeful that tomorrow he would awaken with his twin brother near by.
******* The following morning *******
As Tristan slowly began to wake from a dreamless sleep, he felt the breathe of someone else as it brushed his left cheek. It was slow and steady, matching his own breathing. He slid his hand along the bed sheet noting that it was smooth, much smoother and softer than his bed sheets. 'Did I fall asleep at someone else's house?' he questioned himself. He open his eyes and was immediately perplexed by the ceiling. It was not the ceiling of his apartment. It was made of wood, like a cabin or old mansion from tv shows. To the right, large windows opened up to a small woodland area. It was no area he had been previously.
The breathing, now brushing the back of his neck and hair, caught his attention. He turned to see another man lying directly beside him under the covers. His jaw flew open. The other man looked just like him. The guy had his face and appeared to be asleep still, but only just so. In shock, Tristan yanked himself away, but the other man seemed to be dragged with him, as if they were tangled together in the bed sheets. The movement must have startled the other guy as his eyes flew open and drifted right at Tristan's face. His double's face mirrored his shocked expression before also trying to pull away in the opposite direction.
This time, Tristan felt himself being pulled with double, as if the muscles in his abs were trying to drag himself away. And just like before, they remained about the same distance away, with about an inch or so between them. Both he and his double seemed to be at a loss for words as they stared at each other; but Tristan knew this other guy was the twin he had been yearning to meet. Somehow his wish from last night had come true.
"Your my..." His double began, his lips turning into a grin.
"Twin... yeah." Tristan finished, his lips mirroring the expression. "Tristan..." he said, giving his name. He outstretched his right hand.
"Callan." His twin answered in kind. The covers shifted off of them as a left hand appeared next to Tristan's right. However neither brother was looking at their outstretched hands. Instead, Tristan and Callan were fixated on the single torso that both their arms, and their heads, were attached to. In tandem, both let out a shocked scream.
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