Gloria's hand shook as she held the golden tiara, its complex design and precious stones gleaming under the dim light. She had used its magical powers to become young again through body thievery, but now she faced the daunting task of destroying it. Eve, the woman whose body Gloria had stolen, was determined to reverse the magic and reclaim her youth. “I have to act fast,” the body thief cooed.
Once an elderly woman, Gloria had become a body thief by exploiting the tiara's magic to switch bodies with Eve. It allowed her mind to wander through space and time before slipping into her intended target. Upon entering her desired vessel, the tiara would pull her target’s soul back into her old body. The swap would leave both users disoriented, but because Gloria was used to its dark magic, she was able to physically walk over to her old body to take the tiara back. Deep down, she knew that Eve would stop at nothing to undo the tiara’s magic, so she made sure to keep it as far away from her as possible.
But Eve was extremely smart when she realized that Gloria, her next-door neighbor, had stolen her body. She also discovered that it was a tiara that had done all of this. In a desperate attempt to make the transfer permanent, Gloria turned to Stewart, Eve’s landlord. He was a kind-hearted man who knew nothing about the dark magic at play but could sense the urgency in Gloria's eyes. She couldn't destroy the tiara herself because of its natural protection magic, but an unaware party had the freedom to do it for her.
Stewart nervously accepted the tiara from Gloria's shaking hands. He could feel the weight of the object and the gravity of the situation. "Are you sure about this, Eve?" Stewart asked, his voice quivering with uncertainty. “This honesty looks really expensive. Didn’t you say it was your grandmother’s?” Gloria insisted again and again, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and determination, until he fully agreed. “Alright … if you say so.”
Swallowing his apprehension, Stewart placed the tiara on the counter, its metal gleaming ominously. He picked up a hammer, its head worn from years of use, and hesitated for a moment. “Is this a prank?” He glanced at Gloria as she shook her head. “No, seriously, Eve. This seems so random.”
“I’ll explain everything when you’ve done it,” she said softly. With a deep breath, Stewart lifted the hammer high above his head and, with all the strength he could muster, brought it crashing down onto the delicate tiara. The sound of metal and gemstones shattering echoed through the room, as ruby shards scattered across the floor. A dark, malevolent energy seeped from the broken tiara, swirling like a sinister mist before dissipating into the shadows.
The room fell silent, save for the heavy breathing of Gloria and Stewart. They looked at each other, their eyes wide with a mixture of relief and disbelief. The deed was done; the magical tiara, now a mere pile of twisted metal and shattered rubies, had been destroyed. “What the fuck was that? What flew out of this thing?”
Gloria rushed towards Stewart, her heart pounding in her chest. She wrapped her arms around the confused man and grinned maliciously, her body shaking with gratitude, triumph, and emotion. She couldn’t believe she had convinced him to do all of this so easily. The thought of seeing Eve’s concerned face was going to be priceless. “I’ll explain everything,” she lied. Truthfully, she didn’t know what lie she was going to tell, but it wasn’t like Eve had a way back to her old body. Now that the tiara’s defensive magic was no longer providing a potential bridge to swap back, Gloria could finally use one of her spell books to inflict dark magic on Eve while she was trapped in her old body, and she knew the perfect spell for this.