Gem looked in the mirror and her altered reflection stared back at her. “What did you do?” she asked the Origin Master. “Oh, I just added my own personal touch.” they replied casually. “What?!” Gem yelled, iregulous. “Hey, I’m in your head now, I may as well decorate.” “W-what?” “You said you needed help. So I figured the best way to help was to be with you all the time.” they said. Gem sighed and looked out the window. It was night. “I’m going to sleep now, and you’ll be gone by the morning, okay?” “No promises.” Gem sighed again. She had known the Origin Master for less than two days but she was already sick of them. She closed the book, slipped into bed and soon fell asleep. When Gem awoke in the morning, she was given a big fright. As her eyes sleepily adjusted to the light streaming in from the window she saw a face smiling back at her. “Oh good. You’re awake.” she said with a smile. Gem screamed and jumped out of bed. She backed away. “Who are you?!” she said. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Where are my manners?” She raised her hand in a greeting, “I am Vaishi of Rivendell, The Origin Master.” Gem’s mouth fell open. So many questions were swirling round in her head but one came to the surface first. “You’re a girl?” She immediately regretted saying it and blushed deeply. To her embarrassment, she had for some reason assumed The Origin Master was male. Vaishi raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Well, yes. But no. My species does not have genders per say. But yes, you may address me as ‘she’ if you wish.” “Oh. Right.” Gem said, feeling even more embarrassed. “I showed you my human form because I knew it would be most relatable to you. You didn’t seem to be able to relate to me in my true form much…” Vaishi said. “Oh… sorry about that.” Gem said regretfully as she remembered that she asked her to leave the day before. “But that’s all behind us now. I need your help Gem.” “I- I don’t know if I could be any help to you. I couldn’t even successfully protect my village…” “Please, Gem. Just let me explain. I have two brothers. Xornoth and Scott of Rivendell. My twin sister, Ruezya, died when we were 10 years old. She had a deadly illness that only I had the power to cure. But, because I hadn’t fully mastered my powers, I couldn’t perform the spell that could save her. I tried again and again and again but I could never do it. I watched her get sicker and sicker because I wasn’t powerful enough to cure her…” she stopped and tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped them away and continued. “When Scott defeated Xornoth by sacrificing himself on behalf of his friends, I too was flung into an alternate dimension. This dimension. Somehow, Ruezya from a dimension where she never died in the first place was also flung into this dimension because, as siblings, we are all connected in some way.” “So… that’s good, right?” Gem said, but she sensed it wasn’t good. Vaishi looked at her and sighed sadly. “Ruezya became corrupted. It was the only way she could have survived without my powers. When she came here, she started to wreak havoc on the world. She started corrupting the mortals. It was very painful, but I knew what I had to do. I uncorrupted all the humans by giving them origins that would change every time they died, effectively making them immortall for a time. The only problem was that, after ten lives, they would be gone for good. Without any corrupted humans to feed off of, she slowly grew less powerful until she was weak enough for me to trap her in a book.” she paused, and Gem spoke. “That must have been hard for you.” she said. “It was hard.” Vaishi said sadly, “She was my sister, and I loved her. But I had no choice. The spell only lasts one thousand years though. In just three days, she will be freed from her prison and find any means to hunt me down and trap me in that same book, just like I did to her one thousand years ago. That’s why I need you, Gem. Only you can stop Ruezya. You may not think it, but you were a powerful wizard in Scott and Xornoth’s dimension. You defeated Xornoth by trapping him in an amethyst crystal. I know you can help me defeat my sister. Please, Gem. Please.”
