The Sorcerer's Cup: The BeginningBy BashfulSometime in the First Millennium...The Sorcerer moved slowly across the cold stone floor, his joints stiff and aching. He was glad the silversmith had finished the cup early, he felt that his time was growing to an end very soon. The Sorcerer wasn't ready to go yet, that was why he had ordered the fashioning of the cup setting on the table before him. His body was so old that even his own power and spells could not rejuvenate it again. All things must die, that was a law that could not be broken.In a time far distant from this day, The Sorcerer would be given a name. He would be connected with the rise and fall of kingdoms and his eventual passing would be seen as the end of magic in the land. In fact, it was the end of much of the magic on earth for there was a finite amount of that power to be had. The Sorcerer had used much of it himself. The metal from the piece of star and its inherent magical power was different, it had no limit. The cup was made of silver but it was silver from a star that had fallen from the sky. The Sorcerer had been in the forest gathering herbs and other ingredients for a potion when the fiery object crashed through the overhead tree limbs and fell near him. It was glowing white hot when he had first seen it, lying in the middle of a blackened patch of ground. The wet leaves and green undergrowth had kept the fire from spreading. The Sorcerer knew the stone had power in it, he could feel it. He had stayed by the stone all night, waiting for it to cool enough that he could pick it up. Then it had been so heavy that he had been forced to stop several times to rest before he got the stone back to his hidden cave.The Sorcerer wished for an apprentice but with so little magic left in the world, there was little to teach one and the last attempt to take on a student had proven disastrous. He still looked over his shoulder every once in awhile when he remembered that time.The Sorcerer had felt the energy pulsing through the stone like a heartbeat. His hands had trembled when he set it on the table in his cave. This stone had the potential to be a very powerful magical talisman. He would spend nearly a year before he chose the shape and power he would select for it. The shape would need to be something common; the power would be something most uncommon though. The Sorcerer slowly and carefully chipped away the slag and dirt that clung to the silver core of the meteorite. When he was done he was left with a silver nugget weighing over a pound, more than enough for his purpose. The Sorcerer chose the silversmith well; needing someone who he could trust and who would follow his instructions precisely. The Sorcerer offered the man the chance to be young again as incentive and then The Sorcerer promised him he would never be human again if he betrayed him. Hope and fear together could be extremely powerful motivations.The man had followed The Sorcerer's instructions to the letter, crafting the silver into an ordinary looking cup and also a ring. The Sorcerer took the cup and ring home and carefully examined them. Once he was sure all was as it should be, The Sorcerer began chanting in the ancient language that was old when the world was young. He held only the cup for this part of the ritual. The cup began to glow with a light from within; that light pulsed as did the energy it signaled. The Sorcerer was sure the cup was properly enchanted now but he didn't get to be several centuries old by taking foolish chances. He took the cup back to the silversmith to fulfill his promise. "Ah, you have returned, good. I was wondering if you would live long enough to make good on your promise to make me young again. Will you do so now?" The silversmith said."Yes, you did exactly as I said and I will reward your faithfulness. Is there a child about, we will need a child," The Sorcerer said."I have a neighbor who has a daughter who is seven years old, will she do? She is playing in the street outside my door.""Yes, a seven year old child should work nicely, bring her in here," The Sorcerer commanded. He sat down wearily, the trip into town had taken much out of him but he would be able to rest easy soon, very soon. The silversmith brought the child into his shop and stood her in front of The Sorcerer. "This is Miriam, she is the daughter of my neighbor, you will not harm her, will you? She is a good child and very bright, I would not wish to see her harmed," the silversmith said."No, nothing bad will befall her or you. I now need some water," The Sorcerer said.The silversmith brought a gourd with water in it and The Sorcerer filled the silver cup. He handed the cup to the little girl and told her to take a drink. She held the heavy cup in two hands and tilted it up, swallowing some of the water. She handed the cup back to The Sorcerer."Thank you, sir," she said with a sweet smile. The Sorcerer smiled back at her but for a different reason."You are most welcome my child, now, you drink as well, old friend." The Sorcerer handed the cup to the silversmith. His hand shook slightly as he raised the cup to his lips. He was nervous since he was aware of the power The Sorcerer commanded but he had done as he was told and now he would received his promised youth. The man drank deeply and then he felt the world spin around, he closed his eyes and waited for the spinning to end.  When the silversmith opened his eyes again he yelled in fright, his voice now small and high pitched. The Sorcerer was sitting in a chair in front of him and he had grown much larger."What is your name?" The Sorcerer said to him."I am James Jerkins, you have known me for over thirty years. What has happened to me? What is wrong with my voice?"Next to him, James heard a man sobbing, he turned his head and saw his own body standing there, crying. James looked down at himself and saw the body of Miriam wearing the brown dress that she had worn into his shop."What have you done? Why have you made me into this little girl, I wished to be young again, this is not what I wanted, I do not wish to be a little girl or a girl of any age," James protested. "You wished to be young, I have made you so, my debt is paid. Do you wish to be yourself again?" The Sorcerer said."Yes, please sire, I do not wish to stay this way, nor does Miriam wish to remain an old man, I am sure," James pleaded."Very well then you must each drink from the cup again and you will return to your bodies," The Sorcerer told them.Miriam raised the cup and drank from it and then handed it to James in her small body. James had to use both hands to hold the cup and then he drank and once again the world began spinning. When it stopped he was back in his own body once more. He looked down at Miriam who was still holding the cup."Sorcerer, why did you do that to me? I did as you asked I made the cup and the ring exactly as you wanted. I made sure that I used all of the silver and kept none for myself. I was promised that I would be made young again and you have tricked me. I could not leave that sweet child in this old body and you have forced me to give up my youth. Now you will tell me that you kept your word and I decided to forfeit my youth," James said."No James, you have been a good friend and have always done as I have asked. I will not cheat you. First I must calm the child, she is still fearful of the experience she has had, come here child," The Sorcerer said."What did you do to me, I'm afraid, I want my mommy, please Mr. Jerkins, let me go home," Miriam cried."Hush honey, I know you are frightened but it will be okay, let The Sorcerer speak to you for a moment longer," James said.The Sorcerer took the cup from Miriam's hands and then he touched her forehead with his fingertips. Miriam became very still for a second and then she smiled and giggled as any happy child would. "Mr. Jerkins, can I go back out and play, please," she said with a smile."Yes, Miriam, thank you for helping us," James told her."I do not remember helping you, bye sir, bye Mr. Jerkins," she said and ran out the door."What did you do to make her stop crying so quickly?" James asked The Sorcerer."I made her forget what had happened here today, she is just as happy as if it had never happened and now, as far as she is concerned, it didn't. James, I promised you youth and I shall give it to you, as a male. I will make you much younger, come here and let me touch you," The Sorcerer said.James stepped forward and felt the cool touch of The Sorcerer's fingers, he felt his body shift and change and he shrunk down and saw the world become much larger around him."What are you doing to me?" he said."I am making you young again, very, very young. When I am finished I will cause you to forget who you were. I will give you to the parents of Miriam to raise, they will think you are the orphaned child of a relative and they will tell everyone that they know, that is where you came form.""But I do not wish to be so young, I want only to be healthy and strong again.""And you will, but you must grow up first. I cannot take the chance that you will tell anyone of my cup. Its power must never fall into the wrong hands. The same is true of the ring you made.""Please sir, do not take my memories. It would be like losing my family and loved ones, I want to remember them always," James pleaded.The Sorcerer paused, he was not a cruel man and while he needed to protect the secret of the cup, he need not protect it forever. Several years would be more than adequate, by then he would be far away."Very well, I will make you an infant just a few months old so that it will be several years before you could possibly tell anyone about my cup and ring. Your memory will be intact and you will live an entire life again," The Sorcerer said. His hand gestured and James shrank even smaller. He had little control over his body and he felt cold and small, weak and helpless, he was now an infant.The Sorcerer carried the new infant to the parents of Miriam and with a touch of his fingers, they 'recalled' the death of a relative they never had and they welcomed the infant son they had wanted but fate had denied to them. The Sorcerer left them and returned to his cave. He was never seen again.The Sorcerer entered his cave and picked up the ring. He chanted over it and it too glowed and pulsed with power. He finished and set the ring down. His preparations were nearly complete. His test of the cup was a success and his debt to the silversmith paid; now he only needed the new body he was to inhabit. The Sorcerer sent out a summons to the mind of a young man in a nearby village. The man was barely twenty years old but he would not live much longer. His soul was dark and he did things that would shortly see him on the gallows. It was surprising that he had not been arrested and hung already. The Sorcerer would lure the man here and have him drink from his cup, they would switch places and then The Sorcerer's old body would die. The Sorcerer would live on and the world would be a better place without the evil young man. Quite possibly, this act would save the life of a young girl that the young man would have harmed.The Sorcerer made his final preparations. He poured two cups of wine and sat them on the table. The cups were identical, only a small mark on the bottom of one of them showed which was the enchanted cup. The Sorcerer drank from this cup and refilled it. He secreted the ring he had just enchanted and then waited for the young man to appear.The Sorcerer would need the ring to use magic after he was in the young man's body. With the ring, The Sorcerer would be the most powerful man on earth. Magic was nearly gone but the ring would allow him to use magic again. He would have all of his spells and knowledge plus a young and healthy body.Impatiently, The Sorcerer paced. He knew the man had to walk over two miles to reach his cave but he was anxious to complete his plan. He looked forward to the end of his pain. Another thing bothered him, the gray clouds that his scrying pool showed him whenever he sought to see his life beyond this day. He thought, he hoped, it was the result of taking on another form but he was not sure. He heard a step outside the cave entrance, only the young man could see the entrance due to the magical guards he had in place. He turned towards the sound and then found himself unable to move. The Sorcerer was encased in ice suddenly. He could not move, he tried to use magic to free him and found that was denied as well. A figure walked in front of his vision, a young woman, HER!"Hello Old One, I told you I would not allow you to treat my family the way you did and get away with it. I have learned much and now I have trapped you in a tomb that cannot be opened. You will be there forever but you will not die for a very, very long time. I will come visit you from time to time, to gloat and mock you. My revenge will be sweet and long lasting," the woman said."Now I will find your spell book, the one that you refused to even show me. I will leave you here for a time, maybe a month to get used to your new existence. Preserved in ice like this, you could easily live another hundred years," the woman said as she laughed loud and hard.'I'm trapped, I should have dealt with her when I had the chance. I was too soft and too sure of my own power, she is far more powerful than I ever suspected. She must have accumulated magic for some time to capture me so easily. I have only one hope now, if she will drink from the cup...' The Sorcerer concentrated, trying to place the desire in the woman's mind to drink from the enchanted cup.The woman was taking books off the shelves. She would flip through them and drop them on the floor. She opened cabinets and drawers and threw things about as she continued her search for the book of spells she knew The Sorcerer to possess. "Where is it? Damn you, you can't talk, I must have your book of spells."The woman sat on the stool next to the table and looked about. She saw the two cups of wine sitting on the table near her. She lifted one and drank from it, emptying it. The woman sat the cup down and looked at The Sorcerer. "You have good wine here, you had two cups poured, were you expecting someone? Not that it matters now. They won't find your cave, I've placed my own guard spells on the entrance. I'm tempted to relax the spell that holds you just enough to let you speak so you can tell me where the book is, in exchange I'll kill you now. That's much better than spending a hundred yeas waiting to die. Of course, if you could speak, you could attack me. No. I'll just have to find the book myself. I know it's here, you never left it anywhere I could find it."The sorceress searched the cave for another hour before giving up."I didn't find it now, but I'll find it someday, I have a very long time to look. Before I leave you to your solitude, I'll have another drink of your wine, a toast to what you used to be, the most powerful sorcerer in the world." She picked up the other cup of wine and drank it down. Her head began spinning, she realized what was happening and began a spell to counteract the spell trying to switch her into the body of The Sorcerer but the magic of the cup was too powerful. In a blink, The Sorcerer found himself freed from his prison of ice but now in the body of the woman."Thank you my dear, I would have never attempted to trick you into trading bodies with me. You are, or were, too smart for such a plan to have worked. Now you have literally walked into a trap I laid for another. I must admit that becoming a woman was not something I would have considered, now that I have this fine, young, healthy body, I may keep it a while. I can assure you, you shall never have it again. I choose to leave you where you would leave me. Enjoy the next hundred years or so, I intend to." The Sorcerer laughed aloud at the turn of events. He noticed the new softer quality of HER voice. She then located the silver ring that the silversmith had made for The Sorcerer and slipped it on her finger.Entombed in the ice trap of her own design, the former woman wept tears that would never leave his eyes. "I shall have to get used to thinking of myself as a female if I choose to keep this body for my own. It has several advantages, it possesses more magical ability than the young man who I had chosen does, I already have possession of it and I may find being a female interesting, for a while at least. I think I shall remain here for the time being. With the cup, I can change anytime I chose and with this fine form as a lure, I could become any male I wish. You would have never found my book of spells, I never left anything of any importance on paper for very long. Too many people could cause too much harm if they were to find the book. Thank you again for helping me with my plans, I shall never forget you for this. I suspect that you will never forget me either though." The Sorceress turned and in a swirl of her dress, she left the cave, walking daintily along the rocky path to the bottom of the small mountain that cave was hidden in. Near the foot of the mountain, she encountered the young man that had been summoned. The man attacked her but she used a spell to change him into a small mouse. She was surprised at the ease with which she able to accomplish the task. The silver ring multiplied her powers beyond measure.For many yeas, The Sorceress lived as the young woman. She came to realize that there was a reason for the magic being exhausted. The world no longer required it. It was gone and it was right that it was. She found that many things were now possible that she could not have accomplished as the old man she had been. She also discovered that she enjoyed being female. She never changed bodies again with a man but she did swap with several females. She would find a life that would have been wasted, such as the man who had attacked her, and take that body.Well over two hundred years after she first became a female, the cup was stolen from her home by an unknown thief. She had neglected to place a guard spell on it for some reason. She suspected it had something to do with her falling in love with a man, she wanted an excuse to stay where she was. She married the man and bore him fine children. She allowed her body to age naturally and when her days ended, she was buried with the silver ring on her hand. She never sought out the cup but she did write a set of memoirs that remained in the family, unpublished, for many years. When someone finally read them, he thought the old woman had taken leave of her senses and did not mention it to any one. They told of The Sorcerer and how he became the matriarch of the family. Many years past until a used bookshop purchased the contents of the family library and the memoirs found their way to the New World.********************Early in the Third Millennium..."Hello?" Clint said, answering the phone."Clint is that you, I mean, is it really you?" the female voice asked."Is that you Gina, who else would be answering my phone? I'm sorry, Trisha isn't home," Clint said."I wanted to talk to you, Clint, I HAVE to talk to you, it's very important. Can I come over?""Uh, sure...I suppose, are you sure you don't want to talk to Trisha?" "NO! I mean, no, I really have to talk to you. It's more important than you would possibly believe. I'll be there in ten minutes, Please Clint, if Trisha calls, don't mention this to her, she won't be home for some time, will she?" Gina asked, her voice trembling."Are you okay? Is something wrong, Gina has Eddie done something to you?" Clint asked."Yes and no, he hasn't hurt me, not really and I guess I'm okay but I need to see you face to face to explain. I'll be right there." Gina hung up.Clint and Trisha had been the best friends of Eddie and Gina since the two couples had met two years before.  The couples were of similar age and backgrounds. Lately they had not gotten together as a group though.Gina arrived less than ten minutes later. Clint opened the door when she rang the bell. She was wearing a loose fitting dress that nearly reached her ankles. She was constantly licking her lips and looking around, she had her arms crossed beneath her firm 'C' cup breasts. Clint stepped back from the door and let Gina walk in. She walked quickly across the floor and sat down on the couch. She continued to hug herself as she slowly rocked back and forth."Gina, you look very upset, please tell me what's wrong, what did Eddie do to you?" Clint asked."Clint, I AM Eddie. I know you probably don't believe me but it's true. I discovered a magical object that will allow two people to swap bodies and Gina and I used it. Now I'm in Gina's body and she's in mine. Theobject is a cup, it looks like a simple silver cup but if two people drink from it, they instantly switch bodies."Clint kept silent, his face betraying nothing of what he felt, as Ginacontinued to rock and fiddle nervously with her hands. She was upset and nervous but she also lucid and sincere sounding. She was looking him in the eyes in a way that Gina never had. She was friendlywith Trisha but she never had been this forward with Clint before."Uh, Eddie...Gina, what should I call you?  I don't know what to say. I mean, this sounds so fantastic. Where did this cup come from, how do you know it caused this 'body swap'?" Clint avoided looking at Gina, unsure he could keep up the pretence. "It's simpler to call me Gina, that's what Eddie and I are doing. I first heard about  this cup and the magical property it has from an ancient book I found in an old bookstore. The cup was formed in Europe in the first millennium. A sorcerer had it made from a silver meteorite that he found and gave it the power to switch people and even animals. If you were to drink from the cup and then a dog was to drink from it, you would find yourself in that dog's body. Your body would be inhabited by the dog's persona. You would be able to still think as if you were Clint. The dog would be helpless, probably acting as if he were mentally retarded since his intellect is so much lower.""I seem to have all my memories and Gina's muscle memory but I don't really know how to be a female. At least I didn't, I'm learning, slowly, with Eddie's help. I walk like a woman and I find myself crossing my legs like one but I still like sports and wearing a dress feels strange. I have to though since I'm going to work in Gina's place and she always wears dresses to work." Gina seemed to have relaxed, talking was calming her down.  "Gina, how did you manage to find this thing, where did it come from, if you knew about it's properties, why did you allow yourself to be affected by it?" "The cup was in an antique store in Massachusetts. I found it when I was there several months ago. It has a symbol etched into its bottom that identifies it as the true enchanted cup. I bought it and took it home. I had to see if it worked. I explained it to Gina and we agreed that it would be fun to try it out. We cleaned the cup and filled it with water. It worked just as the book said it would, we changed places instantly.""It was so strange looking up into my own face and stranger still looking at my wife's face stare back at me from the mirror, mocking my every move. We stayed that way for a few minutes then we got nervous and changed back. After we were back in our own bodies, we nearly tore each other's clothes off, it was a very powerful aphrodisiac. We made love three time that night," Gina said. Clint seemed uncomfortable at hearing these intimate details but he didn't say anything."In the next few weeks we used the cup again and again. We would change and go out to eat, playing at being each other. I learned to walk in dresses and heels and Gina found she liked being the man on our dates but we always switched back before we made love. Then we had our anniversary dinner. We've only been married four years but it was still a special occasion to us. We didn't switch before we went out and when we got home, I carried Gina over the threshold like our wedding night. We made love and then afterwards Gina went into the bathroom as she usually does. When she came back she had the Sorcerer's Cup. I knew what she wanted to do, I had thought about it as well. We drank from the cup and spent the rest of the night as each other, it was incredible."Gina blushed with this announcement. She stood up and walked around the room."We experimented with the cup, we found that if one person drank from the cup the other person must drink from it within forty-eight hours or it didn't make the switch. In other words, if I was to drink from the cup Monday morning at 8 AM and Gina drank from the cup before Wednesday morning at the same time, we would switch. If she didn't drink until after 8 AM, we wouldn't switch unless I drank from the cup again. Also, there seems to be no limit on the distance between people. One day I drank from the cup, as I was about to leave on a flight to another city. I was going to be gone just one day on business. When I was ready to leave for the airport from the hotel the next day, I called Gina and she drank from the cup, I found myself in our kitchen, wearing Gina's body and her dress. She made the flight home in my body.""Then, last month, Gina said she wanted to try being each other for an entire week. It sounded like fun so I agreed. We had to work with each other to make sure we could do each other's job but other than having to wear dresses more often, it was fun. It broke up the monotony of every day life. I found out that going shopping with the girls was even fun. We began calling each other by the names that fit the body we were in, full time, even when we made love.""I noticed that when Gina became Eddie fulltime, she changed, more than I would have suspected. She really seemed to enjoy being the man."Clint shifted awkwardly, starting to look uneasy for the first time andavoided her gaze as Gina's revelations continued."The week ended and neither of us said anything about changing back. I had a period and Eddie helped me through it. He was very considerate and didn't make jokes about it at my expense. I didn't complain about it even though I hated it but it seemed hypocritical to ask to change back just because of that. Then after it was over, I did ask about changing back. Eddie wanted to put off changing back another week. He said that he had a project he wanted to finish at work and it would cause too many problems to change back and try to get me up to speed on the project. It made sense so I agreed," Gina said."That set the pattern, Eddie kept having good reasons to put off changing back. We were having fun as each other, Eddie became a fantastic lover so it wasn't a big problem. But by now my period was due again, Eddie promised I wouldn't have to endure another period though, so I relaxed. We've never lied to each other and he didn't lie to me now, I found out yesterday that I'm pregnant. We've tried so hard to have children and I'm very happy about that but I don't want to be the mother. I don't want to be a woman any longer."Clint was shocked by the announcement of Gina's pregnancy. He believed her story though, he had good reason to. "Why are you here Gina, what do you want me to do?" Clint asked."I told Eddie last night that I was pregnant and I wanted to change back. He told me he had given you the Sorcerer's Cup some time back. Eddie told me he would get with you soon to get the cup back but I want it back now. I have to have it back; I can't be Gina any longer. It's not natural, it's not right for me. I know there are some people would welcome this situation but not me. I have to have the cup back, I have to become a man again," Gina said."Wouldn't changing now hurt the baby, you don't want to hurt the child, do you?" Clint asked, hoping he could dissuade her from wanting to change back and make this whole thing easier on him. "It won't, I read the memoirs carefully. The Sorcerer made sure the spell would only change the persona, the inner person, the soul if you wish, the body doesn't change."Clint gave up his act, he couldn't keep it up any longer. "I'm sorry Gina, I have a confession to make. I don't know how to say this but Eddie did offer me the cup and he even demonstrated it for me by trading bodies with him. I thought he was really Eddie, I had no idea that it was Gina. He gave me the cup and said I could use it if I wanted to. I'm sorry, it was stolen from my car. Trisha and I never had a chance to use it. I was hoping the police would turn it up but they haven't yet," Clint said. Even that wasn't the whole truth but he couldn't tell her the whole truth, could he?"It's gone...the cup is gone? It can't be, that means I'm trapped, I'm stuck, I'll be a woman the rest of my life. No, Oh God please tell me this a joke Clint, please?" Gina said, tears running down her face. "I wish I could but it's no joke. I'm very sorry Gina, really." Clint hung his head, he didn't trust himself to look her in the eyes again. He had seen the soul of his friend Eddie trapped in them. The vision of that would haunt him for some time to come.Gina stood up. "I need to be going, thank you for talking to me Clint, I appreciate your time. Please don't mention this to Eddie, my being here that is. You'll have to tell him the cup is gone but he won't care. He's told me he enjoys being the man, I guess that I'll just have to get use to being the wife...and mother," Gina said, her voice broke and she began sobbing. Clint held her while she cried, he felt her breasts pressed up against his chest as her shoulders shook and she wept. He noticed that his body was responding to the contact, he hoped she didn't notice the bulge of his erect penis. When her tears eased up, she wiped her eyes and went into the bathroom with her purse. She came out a few minutes later with her makeup repaired and Clint walked her to the door. She climbed into her car without looking back or saying another word and drove off. Clint called Trisha at work. Still erect and even more guilty about it than before."Hello darling, how are you?" she said, just her voice set his heart racing. The knowledge of who resided behind that voice eased some of the pain he was feeling. "I'm much better now that I've heard your voice. Gina just left here," Clint said with a sigh."Yes...how did it go?" she asked."I told her what we all agreed on, you didn't tell me Gina was pregnant though," Clint said. Trisha sighed with relief. "I know that was hard for you dear, but it'll be for the best, you'll see. As far as her being pregnant, I just found out myself. Gina will get used to it in time, just like the old Sorcerer did. If we didn't think Gina could handle the change on a permanent basis, we wouldn't have suggested it. It really works out best for everyone dear.""I hope you're right.  You know, I wasn't aware that you and Eddie were making love again after he first brought home the cup." Clint said."He was my husband, I couldn't see you as often as I wanted and when he did want to make love, I wanted to as well. In fact, those last few times I was with Eddie made me see clearly how much I loved you and how badly I wanted to become your wife. This really is the best solution for us Clint, don't you believe that?""Yes I do or I wouldn't have gone along with it, it's just that I'm going to feel guilty for a while," Clint said. "Darling, when I get home, I'll make you feel better in a way only I can," Trisha said, her voice low and husky in a way that she knew excited him. They exchanged 'I love you's' and each hung up."Eddie, this is Clint," he said after dialing Eddie's office number."I was married to you for nearly five years, I think I'd know your voice Clint," Eddie said with a chuckle."Gina just left, you could have told me she was pregnant, I don't like getting blindsided like that," Clint said."No congratulations? You've just heard that your former wife is