The Burgundy Coat

Chapter 1

Elias had always hated mirrors.

Not because he thought himself ugly. Ugly would at least have been something noticeable.

Elias was simply small.

At nineteen, he was tall enough, but there seemed to be scarcely anything attached to his bones. His wrists disappeared inside bracelets. His shoulders made shirts hang like curtains. Even his shadow looked thin.

He had spent years imagining another version of himself.

Bigger.

Stronger.

Powerful enough that when he entered a room, people noticed.

That was precisely what he was thinking about on the rainy evening when he discovered the shop.

It stood between two buildings Elias had walked past a hundred times before.

MORROW & SON
CLOTHIERS FOR THE PERSON YOU WISH TO BECOME

Golden light glowed behind its windows.

Elias stopped.

There were no mannequins. Instead, the display contained a single enormous burgundy coat.

He pushed open the door.

A bell chimed.

Inside were rows upon rows of clothing: velvet coats, silk shirts, trousers embroidered with golden thread, boots polished until they reflected the ceiling.

"Good evening."

Elias jumped.

An elderly shopkeeper stood behind him.

"I didn't see you."

"Few people see this place until they need it."

Elias laughed awkwardly.

The shopkeeper didn't.

His eyes traveled over Elias's narrow frame.

"You want to become larger."

Elias stiffened. "How did you-"

"And stronger."

Elias stared.

The old man smiled.

"We specialize in alterations."

He led Elias into a fitting room.

It was strangely large, almost like a private chamber. There was a chair, a three-sided mirror, and hooks bearing several garments.

The shopkeeper selected a black undershirt.

"Try this."

Elias pulled it over his head.

The fabric tightened immediately.

He sucked in a breath.

Heat spread across his chest.

Then pressure.

His ribs seemed to be pushing outward.

Elias grabbed the edge of the mirror.

"What-"

His chest expanded.

Not dramatically. Perhaps an inch.

Then another.

His shoulders broadened slightly.

His arms thickened.

Elias's eyes widened.

He flexed.

There was more there.

Not much, but undeniably more.

He laughed.

"It works."

"Of course."

The shopkeeper handed him a white shirt.

Elias practically snatched it from him.

He buttoned it.

The magic returned.

This time the sensation was deeper.

His entire torso began aching, as though invisible hands were kneading him from within.

Elias gritted his teeth.

"Is it supposed to hurt?"

"Growth usually does."

His shoulders expanded again.

His chest swelled.

His upper arms grew thicker.

Then his waist began filling out.

Elias glanced down.

He hesitated.

His stomach looked softer.

Only slightly.

He rubbed it.

"What's that?"

"You asked to become bigger."

"I meant-"

The sensation stopped.

Elias looked at himself.

He was unquestionably larger than before. The shirt fit tightly around his arms and chest.

The slight softness at his waist barely mattered.

He grinned.

"What's next?"

The shopkeeper handed him trousers.

Elias stepped into them.

The instant he fastened the button, his legs cramped.

He gasped and stumbled against the wall.

His thighs thickened rapidly.

"Yes," Elias whispered through clenched teeth.

This was it.

Power.

Mass.

He imagined himself walking home transformed, filling doorways, frightening every person who had ever shoved past him without noticing.

His thighs grew thicker.

And thicker.

Then softer.

Elias's smile faltered.

His hips spread.

His backside pushed against the trousers.

The waistband tightened.

"Wait."

The magic continued.

His stomach pushed outward.

Not far.

But definitely outward.

Elias pressed both hands against it.

The flesh yielded beneath his fingers.

"This isn't muscle."

The shopkeeper said nothing.

Elias looked at his reflection.

He had begun the evening almost skeletal.

Now he looked... average.

Perhaps slightly heavy.

But his shoulders were broader. His arms were bigger.

Maybe the process wasn't finished.

"Give me the coat."

The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.

"The burgundy one?"

"The one from the window."

"That is a very powerful garment."

"Good."

"Elias-"

"I said I wanted to be powerful."

The shopkeeper studied him.

Then he brought the coat.

It was beautiful.

Heavy burgundy wool. Golden buttons. Black velvet collar.

Elias slipped one arm inside.

Then the other.

The coat settled across his shoulders.

For three seconds, nothing happened.

Elias looked disappointed.

Then something inside his abdomen lurched.

He doubled over.

"Ah!"

The pain was not sharp.

It was pressure.

An impossible fullness spreading through him.

His stomach expanded beneath the shirt.

Elias stared.

An inch.

Two.

Three.

"No."

He grabbed the coat.

It wouldn't move.

The buttons fastened themselves.

His belly pushed outward.

"Take it off!"

"You must let the alteration finish."

"This isn't what I wanted!"

His waist widened.

His sides thickened.

Soft flesh accumulated around his middle in heavy layers, building gradually but relentlessly. Every few seconds another wave passed through him.

Pressure.

Ache.

Expansion.

Elias groaned.

His thighs swelled until they pressed together.

His backside grew heavy enough to alter his balance.

His chest enlarged too, but whatever muscular definition he'd gained vanished beneath softness.

He staggered toward the mirror.

The boy reflected there was no longer skinny.

He was fat.

And growing.

"No, no, no-"

Another wave.

His stomach surged outward.

Elias grabbed it instinctively.

There was so much of it now that his hands couldn't cover even half.

"How much bigger does this thing make me?!"

The shopkeeper watched calmly.

"The coat does not measure transformation in pounds."

"Then what does it measure?!"

"Ambition."

Elias stared at him.

Another pulse struck.

His belly grew heavier.

The coat expanded with him rather than tearing.

His hips widened.

His cheeks filled.

A second chin formed beneath the first.

Elias groaned as his entire body seemed to settle downward under its new weight.

"I wanted muscles!"

"No."

The shopkeeper's voice was quiet.

"You wanted size."

Elias froze.

"You wanted people to move when you entered a room. You wanted chairs to feel small beneath you. You wanted your presence to be impossible to ignore."

Another wave rolled through him.

His belly dropped heavily over his waistband.

"You wanted to take up space."

Elias's breathing became heavy.

The transformation continued.

Slowly.

Mercilessly.

His body kept accumulating mass until the enormous fitting room that had seemed absurd when he'd entered no longer seemed quite so large.

His shoulders nearly filled the mirror.

His belly projected massively before him.

His legs had become thick pillars.

Every movement required deliberate effort.

And still the coat remained perfectly fitted.

Finally-

the pressure stopped.

Silence.

Elias stood panting.

He looked at the mirror.

The reflection was almost incomprehensible.

Earlier that evening, he'd been a narrow line of a person.

Now he was enormous.

Not muscular.

Not heroic.

Not remotely what he'd imagined.

Massive.

His body dominated the mirror.

Elias slowly turned sideways.

His stomach seemed to continue outward forever.

His mouth fell open.

"How am I supposed to go outside like this?"

The shopkeeper approached.

"You wished to become larger."

"This is ridiculous!"

"You wished to become powerful."

"How is being this fat powerful?!"

The shopkeeper smiled.

"That depends upon what you do with it."

Elias blinked.

Then he noticed something.

The floorboards beneath his feet were trembling.

He looked down.

"What's happening?"

"You still think the clothes merely change appearances?"

The shopkeeper tapped the golden button over Elias's chest.

A deep vibration traveled through the room.

The mirrors rattled.

Elias stared.

The shopkeeper pointed toward a heavy wardrobe standing against the wall.

"Push it."

Elias laughed.

"That thing probably weighs five hundred pounds."

"Push it."

Elias planted both hands against it.

He shoved.

The wardrobe shot across the room and slammed into the opposite wall.

Elias stumbled backward.

His eyes widened.

The shopkeeper chuckled.

"Mass," he said, "is power."

Elias looked at his enormous hands.

Then his reflection.

He flexed experimentally.

There was strength beneath the softness.

A frightening amount.

Perhaps he'd misunderstood the magic.

Perhaps he'd misunderstood himself.

He'd dreamed of becoming larger so that nobody could overlook him.

Now?

Nobody possibly could.

Elias smiled.

Then one of the coat's golden buttons clicked.

His smile vanished.

"Why did that button just move?"

The shopkeeper looked down.

For the first time all evening, the old man's expression changed.

"Oh."

Elias swallowed.

"'Oh' what?"

Another button clicked.

The coat tightened.

Deep inside Elias's already enormous belly, warmth began spreading again.

His eyes widened.

"You said the alteration was finished."

The shopkeeper slowly backed toward the door.

"I said you had to let the alteration finish."

The fitting room suddenly seemed much smaller.

Elias looked at the mirror.

Then at the doorway.

Then down at himself.

The next wave began.

And this one was much stronger.