Colors of Amulette (Act 1 Complete!)

[HyperShark]

27 minutes ago, bbykimmy said:

Haha!  I'm away for the holidays and thus immune!

For now, but later... Maybe she can tie you up and make you listen to your least favorite Christmas song for two hours this time instead of the bus song!

[bbykimmy]

4 minutes ago, HyperShark said:

For now, but later... Maybe she can tie you up and make you listen to your least favorite Christmas song for two hours this time instead of the bus song!

You are EVIL.

Also, it's an entire house full of Littles, they won't remember this by the time I get back

[WBDaddy]

I'll cast my vote for Kimmy confined to a room with a stereo for two hours of annoying Christmas songs.  But only if we get to see it on YT.  And there's a paci gag and some foot restraints.   

[Guilend]

3 hours ago, bbykimmy said:

Haha!  I'm away for the holidays and thus immune!

Oh damn, I forgot lol. I guess I will have to try again later. Next time I will come up with something better. I now have time. ?

[bbykimmy]

10 hours ago, WBDaddy said:

I'll cast my vote for Kimmy confined to a room with a stereo for two hours of annoying Christmas songs.  But only if we get to see it on YT.  And there's a paci gag and some foot restraints.   

:O

O_O

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, WB!?!?!

My usual paci is practically a gag on its own!

[bbykimmy]

8 hours ago, Guilend said:

Oh damn, I forgot lol. I guess I will have to try again later. Next time I will come up with something better. I now have time. ?

[Sophie ♥]

17 hours ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Her mentor didn't just punish her, he/she pushed and abused her until she hated the very thing that made her unique. And they kept Jade as an apprentice for 52 years! That is obviously far longer than the norm because otherwise Paige wouldn't have expected to be advancing after a measly 2 years. Plus what could possibly take 52 years to learn? It only takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. Her mentor was obviously a vile, abusive, horrible master and now Jade is just perpetuating the cycle.

Anyway that's just my two cents.

Apprenticeship usually takes 10-20 years.  So Jade's 52 years is incredibly long.  Part of that is definitely Jade's less-than-stellar skills.  But even for an awful witch - which Jade isn't - 52 years is a long time.  Also, Demotion was abused pretty heavily back in the day.  Apprentices had fewer rights.  It's a little different now.

Paige has been Jade's apprentice for 3 years.  But also, since Paige is one of the most skilled apprentices, she probably expected to be done by 10 years.  But she's basically still in her first year of training.  Part of that is Jade's irritation and another part is Jade's inability.  Honestly, she shouldn't be a mentor.  But her family name is important.

As for Jade's mentor being abusive: that's a really cool idea!  I honestly don't know.  I tamper with Jade a little, but it's mostly Kimmy's territory.  

[Sophie ♥]

Chapter 5: A Familiar Fate

"Well well well," Marigold sneered, wrapping her fingers around the bars of the crib.  Her sinister grin was the first thing that Paige saw when she regained consciousness.  "How the mighty have fallen.  Look, Quest! Paige, niece of Alani of the First Circle, has been Demoted."  She laughed - a harsh, cruel, high-pitched sound as she drank in the delicious sight.  Her rival, the Silver Spoon herself, in nothing but a bra and a diaper, trapped inside an enchanted crib.  She had seen many familiars in this state, but never a human.  She had heard about Apprentices being Demoted... but no one was stupid enough to let it happen to them.

She strode over to Paige's closet and pulled out a sleeveless blue and white empire-waisted dress... that wouldn't do a thing to cover Paige's thick diaper.

"Guess there's going to be less competition to get Promoted now, huh Quest?" she held up the dress to show her friend... but her smile fell when she saw the look on the other girl's face.

"Come on, Marigold... you know how Jade is." Quest looked over at the girl in the crib.  Paige's hands were wrapped around the bars and her eyes were pleading, full of fear.  She tried to talk, but only muffled babble spewed past the pacifier.  It was.... certainly a sight.

"We're her friends, right?,” Quest prompted. “So let's not pick on her.  She's going to get enough of that." Though Marigold and Paige were never really friends.  They had competed in almost every undergraduate course before becoming Apprentices at the same Keep.  Quest felt that it wasn't fair to say they hated each other, but they certainly brought out the worst in one another.

But when Paige stood up in the crib, the size difference was clear.  The crib was six or so inches off the ground, and the girl inside was still shorter than both Quest and Marigold!

"Oh, wow..." Quest couldn't help but mutter.  Immediately Paige's cheeks went crimson and she tugged as hard as she could on the pacifier to try and explain herself.

The truth was, Marigold hated Paige.  With every fibre of her being she hated that entitled, spoiled, loud-mouthed know-it-all.  Marigold was always second-best when Paige was around.  Almost every.  Single.  Class.

Fundamentals of Magic?  Paige.
History of Magic?  Paige.
Ingredients and Catalysts?  Paige.

The only skill that she could best the Silver Spoon in regularly was defensive wards and charms.  They tended to require more physical activity and focus, and Paige the Magnificent just wasn't as athletic as Marigold.

It was scrumptious to see her brought so low.

"You're right," Marigold conceded with a sigh, returning the dress to the closet.

She ran a hand through her lilac-colored, shorn hair.  She was a taller girl to begin with, and she was going to enjoy towering over Paige immensely.  Her novice robes were plain, undecorated save for the Honor Cord that indicated that she was in the top ten students of her graduating class, the contrast to Paige’s own robes was stark - not that anyone had seen Paige’s robes in a week.  Marigold was lower caste, no family in the upper echelons, not like Paige whose aunt was First Circle, and certainly not like her Mentor Jade who was literally the daughter of the most powerful witch in the realm - the High Manticore herself.

Quest was like Marigold, a simple girl from a simple family who had worked hard to get where she was - it infuriated the taller Apprentice that her best friend couldn't see that Paige was their enemy - the establishment, the old guard, the oppressors.  The whole reason they were lower caste to begin with.  Their magic was just as strong, obviously... they just didn't have the resources or titles to leverage.  Not like Paige.

But the one time she and Quest had come close to ending their friendship had been over her being cruel to Paige, years ago... and she wasn't about to risk her only real friendship over this.

She'd get a chance to humiliate Paige now without being overtly cruel.

"Miss Jade said we're responsible for changing her diapers tonight - have you ever changed a familiar?" Marigold asked, trying to sound innocent.

Quest's eyes met Paige's.  They begged.  They ached with humiliation.  Quest had to look away.  Paige was her friend...

"I don't think we should call her a familiar, Marigold," she muttered under her breath.

"But that's practically what she is now, isn't she?" Marigold sneered.  

Paige fought back tears, trying again to kick the bars of the crib.  She raised her hands to cast another spell, but the magic around her fingers turned green.  Not yellow.  She'd been sealed with Jade's spell signature.

Quest hurried over to the crib with a bright, obviously fake smile on her face.

"Don't worry, Paige!  Jade's just angry.  She'll calm down and everything will be back to normal, alright?"

But it wasn't normal soon enough.  Without warning, without intervention, the front of Paige's diaper became hot.  The yellow discoloration started to pour through the padding.

It had been so quick.  Marigold mentioned changing her and Paige had moment of concern.   A feeling in her bladder.  A half a thought about never using her diapers - something in the background that hardly permeated Paige's internal monologue.  But the second she thought it, her body released.  The wetness filled the diaper between her legs and there was nothing she could do to stop it…

Marigold saw the look of distress on her rival's face, and looking down, she saw the cause.

"I can't believe it, she's wetting herself like a demon!" she rushed over to the crib and reached through the bars, squeezing the front of the discolored diaper... it was surprisingly squishy.  "Oh weird, it's warm.  Great Calypso, she really is a familiar!"

"Marigold," Quest warned in that tone that said she was going too far.  Marigold hated that tone, but it had saved her from trouble more than once during the course of their friendship.

"Well," the lilac-haired girl withdrew her hand from the humiliated Paige who was mumbling around the pacifier, tugging at it again.  "Do we like, change her right away?  That's a pretty thick diaper.  Maybe we should just... leave her in it?"  Paige gave a muffled screech behind the pacifier, and even Marigold looked a little uncomfortable.  "Well, I mean... if we do it wrong, Miss Jade will get mad at us."  She shivered.

"We have to do something," Quest countered.  "She's our friend."

"Yeah," Marigold agreed reluctantly, not believing the statement in the least.  "Neither of our families is rich enough to own a demon or a fae... how do you even go about this?  Who do we even know that has experience with demons?"

After a short pause, both girls turned to look at the helpless Paige, who was trying to sit up on her knees to keep the warm, soggy padding from touching her skin.  She looked to Quest, then to Marigold, then back.  They couldn't see her frown behind the pacifier.

"We'll just ask her," Quest suggested.  "I mean... who else do we know?"

"Oh... but let's make sure she tells the truth," Marigold offered, spinning a small truth spell.  It soaked into Paige with disturbing ease, like the girl had no magical defenses at all, the soft orange light moving from Marigold's fingertips into Paige's skin, spreading from the spot she was touched on the forehead until her pupils had tiny golden dots in the center of each one.

Marigold removed her pacifier.

It was all too much for Paige.  Tears ran down her cheeks as she kicked and flailed on the mattress, trying to keep her 'friends' at bay.  But when Marigold charmed her with the truth spell, it entered her like she was nothing more than a male.  No magical resistance.  No fight.  No struggle.  Panic rose in Paige's chest and she started to scream behind the pacifier.

But it was only a few seconds later that the warmth filled her chest.  Her fingertips tingled.  Her head was foggy.  When Marigold reached between the crib bars once more, she tried to fight her off, but the fight had faded.  She was struggling to think clearly...

The pacifier came out of Paige's mouth and she stumbled for some words.

"Please... let me out of here,” she pleaded, “let me talk to Jade.  I can fix this..."

"You're not even addressing her properly," Quest groaned.  "She's Miss Jade, she's your Mentor!  Paige, why do you always have to be so stubborn?"

"Because she's always had everything given to her," Marigold sneered.  Why can't Quest see that!?  "Paige, we're not bothering Miss Jade tonight, she's really mad.  I don't know what you did, but you pissed her off good."  Her eyes drifted to the yellowed diaper and she grinned at her pun.  "Well, you pissed her off but you pissed on yourself."

"Marigold!" Quest slapped her friend in the arm.  "Look, we want to help you, but I don't really know the rules of dealing with... y'know... diapers.  What would you do with a demon familiar at this point?"

"I'm not a--" Paige hesitated.  She pulled at the word.  Not.  A.  Familiar.  But deep down, she knew she was.  The Demotion legally made her temporarily a second-class citizen.  She was no better than a demon or a fae.  Her cheeks started to burn with embarrassment as she struggled with the truth charm.  But no matter what, she couldn't get the word out.

"Quest asked you something," Marigold said with a smile.  Paige glared up at her with foggy golden eyes.  She had so much emphasis right now.  Her words felt like cool water over wounds.  It was so hard to fight her...

"When familiars are... wet..." Paige spoke like she wasn't talking about herself.  She spoke like she hadn't just pissed her diaper... "Y-you... change them... into a dry... um..." She wouldn't say it.  She wouldn't!

"Wait," Quest realized.  "Do we even have another one?"

"Let's find out," Marigold could not suppress the grin on her face as she went back to the closet and began riffling through the dresses and shelves.  "We have mittens, booties, dresses... oh my goodness, look at these pajamas," she held up a pair of footed pajamas with no holes at the wrists... and it was designed to make Paige look like a bumble bee... complete with gauzy wings on the back.  Even Quest tittered at that.  "Nope, no diapers anywhere."

"What do we do now?" Quest asked, not realizing she was still mostly facing Paige.

Paige was faltering.  At every step of the process, she felt more and more helpless.  Like there was no point fighting it.  The Demotion had completely sapped her magic.  The crib kept her tightly confined.  She couldn't remove the diaper.  She couldn't help but wet herself.  And to top it all off, Marigold's spell had taken away what little control she still had: the ability to lie.

Exhaustion had won.  Jade had won.  So when Quest asked the question and Paige's mind thought it needed an answer, she spoke without thinking.

"Ask Mommy."

Quest and Marigold looked at Paige with wide eyes and Paige slapped her hands over her mouth.  It had been a mantra from when she was very young.  Paige had a fae housekeeper, but she was never to speak to her.  She was never to act like that creature was her equal, even when Paige was a child.  If the fae would ask her a question, there was only one response:  Ask Mommy.

"M-m-mommy?" Quest stammered, staring as her friend drifted off in the crib.

Marigold only grinned.  Paige's Demotion was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

"What would mommy say to do if she didn't have a spare diaper handy for a familiar?" Marigold prompted, stepping back to the crib and looking down at the defeated Paige.  This was better than anything she could have imagined.   All of those indignities she had suffered at Paige's hands, at Paige always winning suddenly seemed worth it.

Paige shook her head and kept her mouth covered with her hands.  She was done!  Tapping out!  It was over!  She wasn't letting Marigold push her around anymore!  But then Paige felt a tightness in her wrists and her hands were pulled away, up over her head, wrapped in orange glowing thread.

"Marigold!" Quest shouted at her friend, who had just cast a spell on the little girl in the crib.  But Marigold ignored her.

"What would mommy say?" she repeated.

Paige fought to keep her lips closed.  She tried, she really did!  But her body had given up on her long, long ago.  The words spilled out of her lips.  Her mother's words.

"Familiars can stay wet until morning.  No use wasting a..."

Marigold grinned. "A what?"

"...diaper," Paige muttered.

"Marigold," Quest said sadly, shaking her head, "you're taking this way too far.  This isn't her fault, Miss Jade is... temperamental.  She's going to undo it in the morning and Paige is going to remember all of this.  You promised me that we'd all be better friends after you magicked her shoes to leave black spots everywhere... Miss Jade took her shoes away, Marigold!  We can't leave her like this.  What if that were you, huh?  Wouldn't you want her to help you?"

It was a sobering thought.

"You're right," Marigold sighed, dropping the loop charm that was holding Paige's wrists.  She hated it, but Quest was right.  "What should we do?"

"We should go ask Miss Jade- "

"Forget it," Marigold cut her off.  "She was pissed when she left, she did all this," Marigold waved, "on raw power.  I'm not bothering her.  She said it was our job to take care of her."  She slipped the pacifier back between Paige's lips, watching the green energy dance across it as the magic took hold once more. "But I'm not getting in trouble with Miss Jade.  She'll tell Miss Midori and then I'll get punished too."

"We can't just leave her," Quest repeated, her voice a little weaker, unsure.

"We can't help her either," Marigold shrugged. "Unless you're hiding a diaper in your room."

Paige had given up.  She sucked on the magical pacifier and leaned over in the crib, curled up with dull, quiet eyes.  This whole day had been a disaster...

Quest watched her and looked down at her shoes. "Maybe a familiar on another floor has one..."

"And you want to change Paige's diaper?” Marigold asked. “Do you think that's what she wants?"

Quest couldn't win.  If she left Paige here overnight, she would have to sit in her own soiled diaper.  But if she changed her friend's underclothes, that was no different than cementing her status as a helpless little girl.  So Quest did something she didn't usually do.  She left it up to Marigold.

"What do you think is best?"

"We leave her," Marigold answered.  "I don't want to bother any witch at this hour.  Miss Jade will fix it tomorrow, she has to or Madam Alani will pitch a fit... we just have to hope she doesn't do... the other thing."

Quest and Marigold looked at each other and then at their friend, firmly locked in the magical crib in her wet diaper.  She sucked on the pacifier so contently.  So much had changed in so little time.  Was it really so unrealistic to expect that Paige might be in diapers for the foreseeable future?  Was it unrealistic to think she would use them for...

They both shuddered and shook their heads.  This was something best left to the witches.  It wasn't worth getting in trouble over.

[Guilend]

54 minutes ago, Sophie ♥ said:

We can't help her either," Marigold shrugged. "Unless you're hiding a diaper in your room."

Yup, Quest is totally hiding diapers in her room. No one can prove otherwise right now. ?

[Wannatripbaby]

19 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

 But when Marigold charmed her with the truth spell, it entered her like she was nothing more than a male.

...

*frustration over the past few months reaches boiling point.*

Am I the ONLY guy left that doesn't view masculinity as an inherently bad quality!? I swear, all the girls I know are gay and all the guys wish they could be girls!

*sigh*

I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't expect proper male representation in a Sophie and Kimmy story of all places. I just get... discouraged I guess. I should probably just delete that little outburst, but... I dunno. I just needed to get it out of my system and out in the open.

Grammar Patrol

19 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

 Her novice robes were plain, undecorated save for the Honor Cord

Isn't it spelled Chord? Or is that specifically for music?

[bbykimmy]

On 12/22/2018 at 9:49 PM, Guilend said:

Yup, Quest is totally hiding diapers in her room. No one can prove otherwise right now. ?

lol - maybe she is, maybe she isn't.  Quest might be my 2nd favorite character in the story  

5 hours ago, Wannatripbaby said:

...

*frustration over the past few months reaches boiling point.*

Am I the ONLY guy left that doesn't view masculinity as an inherently bad quality!? I swear, all the girls I know are gay and all the guys wish they could be girls!

*sigh*

I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't expect proper male representation in a Sophie and Kimmy story of all places. I just get... discouraged I guess. I should probably just delete that little outburst, but... I dunno. I just needed to get it out of my system and out in the open.

Grammar Patrol

Isn't it spelled Chord? Or is that specifically for music?

Aww, I'm sorry Trip - it's not because I believe that... witches are all female in this story, in this universe.  Males hold power on other islands/realms, but not in magical spheres because they can't cast magic.  Sorry you felt othered by this, I have nothing against men - I'm just not attracted to them and so they don't end up in my stories super often (Seth is the major notable exception).

It is actually "cord" as it's a piece of rope.  Chord is a musical term.

3 hours ago, Hopsalot said:

Yeah it bugged me too trip, you’re not the only one. 

I did enjoy the other parts of the story so far though. I think I might know of a witch that owns a few diapers...

Aww Hoppy, I'm sorry!  We really didn't mean to alienate anyone - you have my sincere apologies that we hurt your feelings.

[WBDaddy]

For what it's worth, I'm not particularly attracted to men either, hence they appear in my stories relatively rarely, save moments when I'm engaging in either: (a) satire, or (b) self-insertion.  

[bbykimmy]

10 minutes ago, WBDaddy said:

For what it's worth, I'm not particularly attracted to men either, hence they appear in my stories relatively rarely, save moments when I'm engaging in either: (a) satire, or (b) self-insertion.  

On the other hand, you don't represent them in a negative light either, which is what has hurt Hoppy and Trip's feelings.

It was intended to just be a bit of worldbuilding, an in-character oblique explanation for why EVERY character in the story so far is female.

I really am sorry that feelings were hurt

[Guilend]

Don't worry @bbykimmy I am fine with not having men in stories. I only put them in mine because it was just not realistic to not have men in my story as for yours, you did very well at having a reason for it, at least in my opinion.

[Wannatripbaby]

13 hours ago, bbykimmy said:

On the other hand, you don't represent them in a negative light either, which is what has hurt Hoppy and Trip's feelings.

It was intended to just be a bit of worldbuilding, an in-character oblique explanation for why EVERY character in the story so far is female.

I really am sorry that feelings were hurt

Don't worry. You didn't hurt my feelings. This is more something that's been building up for a while due to other more personal matters that I'd rather not discuss here. The only reason I brought it up is because I know your stories are always a safe place to vent. ?

[Sophie ♥]

On 12/23/2018 at 10:13 PM, bbykimmy said:

Aww, I'm sorry Trip - it's not because I believe that... witches are all female in this story, in this universe.  Males hold power on other islands/realms, but not in magical spheres because they can't cast magic. 

Yeah, this is pretty much the reason.  Again, we go into this a little more in the future.  There are guys in Amulette, but they don't have magic.  So "when Marigold charmed her with the truth spell, it entered her like she was nothing more than a male" is just another analogy for a non-magic-user.  Because her magic defenses were heavily diminished.

To be honest, I really prefer writing men as weaker or less powerful than women.  Not because I hate men, but because 1.) women need a medium in which to be shown as strong and I like providing that, and 2.) men need a medium in which to be shown as weak and that being okay, and I like providing that.  It's not fair that the history of media makes men out to be heroes and women to be damsels.  It diminishes women and sets unrealistic expectations for men.  So turning that trope around is always enjoyable to me.  That's why I usually write soft boys like Call and Kit.

[fyunch]

So many universes.  My head spins ...

[bbykimmy]

Chapter 6: The Apprentice Game

Linnea's skin was blue again, but most of it was covered by Apprentice robes.  The robes and the hat used to be Amber's, and it took quite a while to find them in her closet.  She cast a shrinking spell so they would fit Linny's adult form.  The demon girl was ecstatic; her tail waved side to side.  She wasn't supposed to act so brashly, but Amber let this one slide.

"This is called the Apprentice Game," Amber told her.  Everything was a game to Amber.  She loved stacking the odds in her favor and she almost never lost. "Once your familiar duties for the day are done, you can dress like this and you will be treated as a human apprentice.  Understand?"

In most living situations, this would cause a problem.  High ranking witches usually had towers in the Keep.  There was a whole floor for Apprentices.  Communal living was the best way to put it.  But Amber lived alone, in a large house at the edge of the district.  It was expensive, but she enjoyed her privacy.  Until Linnea, Amber had always been a loner.

Linny felt exhausted, but her heart was soaring.  She had worked herself to the bone that day, scrubbing every hidden corner and crevice, polishing every trinket in the study, and cooking not one but three different batches of sugary, fruit-filled pastries.  She had collapsed on the floor when the last one was done, laying on a very particular rubber mat so her sweat didn't corrode anything.  But the moment the door had opened and Amber returned, Linnea rushed to her side and greeted her witch, her owner, the center of her entire universe.

And now she stood in the robes, the most beautiful, glorious clothing she had ever worn, and she beamed.  She stared up at Amber, her eyes shining and full of hope, her tail thrashing behind her without her even realizing it.  She bounced slightly on the balls of her feet as she looked to the mirror, then back to Amber, back and forth and back and forth, hardly believing.  Human Apprentices are basically familiars, she thought, so this shouldn't be hard at all!

"How may I serve you now, Miss Amber?  How do we play this game?" she asked eagerly.

"You are appropriately attired, as I instructed?" Amber asked, and watched as her charge's cheeks burned in embarrassment.

She was wearing not only one diaper, but three.  The first two had been cut down the middle, from the hole where her tail poked through, between the legs, and up to the front waistband.  The third and final one barely fit over the others - a safe, protective outer layer.  Linny's shameful waddling was mostly hidden by the huge robes, but she was still vary aware of her situation.  She had never been in so many diapers before.

"I asked you a question, Linny.  Apprentices always respond to their witches in a timely and honest fashion."

"I'm so sorry, Miss Amber," Linny blushed, shifting uncomfortably.  Her feet needed to be wider than shoulder-width for her to stand, which made her seem a little shorter than usual.  Her bottom protruded slightly, even in the loose robes.  She knew that no one else would see her like this - familiars often teased one another based on the thickness of their diapers, and if Dove and Patch saw her like this, she'd no longer be the leader of their little group for sure... then again, she was wearing  Apprentice robes.  With permission.  She focused, wrapping her tail around her left leg even as the tip twitched furiously.

She reached back and slapped the thick padding of her diaper through the robes, eliciting a dull thud from the massive diaper, shifting her hips back and forth so they crinkled - the signal to her owner that she was well-padded.  It was how Amber had trained her, a smack and a crinkle... just the way she liked it.  Linny's her cheeks flushed blue.

"Three diapers, Miss Amber," she squeaked, really wanting to focus on the human part of the game rather than her diapers.  "Just as you instructed."

She desperately wanted to ask why she was in triple padding.  She knew that human Apprentices didn't wear diapers at all, let alone the soft, massive bulk she had taped on.  She could barely walk correctly from the thickness.  Apprentices always seemed so dignified, so cool and together, and Linny... really didn't feel cool or dignified at all.  But hers was not the place to ask, it was the place to obey.  Even Apprentices had to obey their Mentor unquestioningly.

"I'm going to teach you the basics of magic.  Put your hands out like this."

Amber rested her arms at full length, palms out, and the air around her hands began to glow a brilliant red.  It sparkled and swirled and was utterly magnificent.  But Amber knew that no matter how desperately the young demon tried, she wouldn't be able to do mimic the act. 

"By channeling your magic into your hands, you can begin casting spells.  See?" She swirled her index finger in the air and drew a sigil.  Amber was an excellent witch and she knew most of the sigils by memory.  But today, just to be sure, she looked up this particular one in her spellbook.  She wanted this done correctly. "Once you cast a spell, you can apply it."

Amber bent down and moved the folds of Linnea's robes, exposing her mass of thick diapers.  She ran her red fingertips along Linnea's thigh and pushed the sigil into her blue skin.  It would burn, but only for a moment.

Bracing herself for the pain, Linnea stood as instructed, her palms raised as the robes were brushed aside.  She felt the sigil sear her flesh, felt the magic enter her blood, binding her spirit.  The shapebind was itchy, like a rough sweater on the soul - constant, omnipresent.  She had worn the shapebind for years for Miss Amber.  She hoped this one wouldn't last nearly as long.  She never slept in her Big Linnea form, she always slept as Little Linny - if the seal was still there at bedtime...

It was the shapebind that kept her in the cat form all those years ago.  She shifted ever so slightly under its itch, jingling the bell on her collar, hidden under the robes.  She had thought that Amber would never lift the transfiguration seal, that she would live her entire life as her pet cat, a conduit for complicated spells, her eyes in remote places, and an occasional source of demon blood.  When the binding had been lifted, she had forgotten how to be Linnea... the collar was a remnant from those days of confusion, it was a constant comfort and being without it pitched her into the arms of an intense anxiety.

A tiny fear pricked the back of her mind that she wouldn't get to be Little Linny again... it wouldn't be worth being an Apprentice in that case.  Linny couldn't imagine anything that would be worth giving up the warm, cuddly arms of her owner, or the feeling of comfort as she slept at the feet of the most special person in the whole world.

And yet... some small part of her, some forbidden voice, wanted to succeed at being an Apprentice.  It was forbidden, taboo... but what if?  What if she could?  What if she could be Amber's daughter for real, what if she could learn some witch magic to transform herself into a human for real, for good.  Would Amber love her more?  It was a heady fantasy, and her mind swam in the possibility.

"Begin," Amber's soft voice jarred her, snapped her out of her blasphemous thoughts.

She held her palms aloft and found her magic, focused on the way it felt when she was a conduit, when Amber channeled power through her, when she was filled with witch-magic and not just her own demon blood.  She found that spark deep within her and coaxed it, trying fervently to bring it to the surface - not to use it to change her body, but to manifest it with light and energy the way a witch did.  She knew the difference between real witch magic and her own demon cantrips; their magic was true, pure, powerful.  Hers was limited, small... but if she could follow those same paths through herself, channel it as Amber did...

But it wouldn't come.  She tried until she was sweating, her tail loose from around her and hanging low, the tip dragging on the ground.

No matter how she focused, how she tried, she couldn't make the smallest light in her palm.  Not like Miss Amber.

Her owner would be disappointed.  And that broke Linnea's heart.

Already, beads of sweat were forming on Linny's forehead.  Amber walked around her with a bright smile; she was taking it so seriously!  But the laws of the universe were not bent by concentration.  Linnea was a demon - this was impossible for her.  But that didn't mean the game was over.  Amber could have her fun.

"When you can manifest your magic, it will react negatively with my own." Amber used red magic.  She wondered, if Linnea could properly cast a spell, what kind of magic would she have?  There were six colors of magic - and she couldn’t imagine Linny having any of them.  "When our magicks touch, they will dispel each other.  That's the basis of the simplest spell.  Do you understand?"

Linnea looked nervously up at Amber with those gorgeous blue eyes and nodded her head.  Bright like the sky.  Deep like the sea.  Amber could get lost in Linnea's eyes, get lost her in her radical show of emotion.  This was what made the games worth playing.

Red ribbons laced under Linny's arms, around her ankles, behind her knees, and pulled her up into the air, breaking her concentration.  Linny stared, dumbfounded and confused, as she was bound midair, suspended from the ceiling.  The apprentice robes flitted open, exposing the woman's bare breasts, her ever-present collar, and her very thick diapers.  No matter how much Linny struggled and kicked, she could do little more than rock back and forth.  And with the seal on her thigh, she couldn't shapeshift out of this one.

"Dispel my ribbons and you win.  But if your diapers leak on the carpet, you lose."

Linnea gaped at the challenge.

I can't manifest event the smallest sparkle, she lamented to herself.  How am I supposed to break the bonds of the most special, most powerful witch ever!?

She saw the glint in Amber's eyes; this was a human thing.  Humans needed to feel superior... they were superior in every way, but they still needed to feel it.  Amber was bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter - Linnea was her pet for a reason.  Which meant this game, like many in the past, was Miss Amber asserting her dominance.  Linny had it the easiest of all her friends - when Patch's witch Miss Alizon got this way, she'd make the poor fae transform to her smallest self and dance on the palms of whoever was around.  That form was private, special... demons didn't have an equivalent, but Patch did not like obeying that command.

It was going to take a long time to leak through the triple diaper and that eye-twinkle meant that Amber knew it.

"Since you are indisposed, I will be preparing us dinner," Amber declared.  Linny managed to hide her grimace - Amber was the best at everything ever... except cooking.  Linny did all the cooking, so Amber did not have the practice.  If she was lucky, her witch would magic up some food or order something, but her hopes were not high.

Once Miss Amber had left the room Linny sighed, dangling upside-down helplessly with her arms outstretched.  Demons had no heart, she had no risk of her blood "rushing" anywhere in her body the way humans did, each segment of her form was responsible for moving the blood to the next segment... so she could hang there indefinitely.  She wished she could control her bladder like a human so she could force herself to wet - but that was impossible for a demon.  That's why demons wore diapers in the first place.

After twenty minutes, the diaper felt warm and wet... but was nowhere even close to leaking.  She focused again, touching her spark-place again and trying to draw it forth.

Maybe if I... she pursed her lips tight as she focused, trying to transform just her fingertips, trying to push all her magical energy there....

"I did it, I did it!"  Linny sounded too happy, too excited.  It was impossible that the demon had escaped without cheating, she had no reason to sound so joyous.  She was ruining the game.

Amber stood in the doorway with annoyance.  She had left for only an hour, but she expected Linny to behave differently.  This false idea that she could perform real magic... Amber sighed and put down the tray on the edge of her desk before stepping over to her confined concubine. 

"You did, did you?  Then why are you still tied up?"

"I... well, it didn't do it all the way." Linny deflated.

"That's not how it works, Linny.  If you dispel the ribbons, they disappear.  So you did not dispel the ribbons." Amber plucked the ribbon to make her point.  "And I don't like when you lie to me."

All of the air left Linny at once as her heart broke in two.

"Lie?" she asked softly, her eyes struggling against tearing up.  She fought it back; she wasn't in the thrall of the human transformation potion now, she couldn't cry in front of her owner.  "Miss Amber," she squeaked, "I didn't lie... I made a spark.  It was shiny and it went through the ribbon... it moved so I don't know where the hole is, but it really did..."

"Why are you being such a bad girl?" Amber asked, clearly annoyed.  Demons couldn't wield magic, it was unimaginable - they had been slaves and pets for hundreds of years and no demon had managed even a spark.  The familiar hadn't even spun a credible lie.  She scanned the twisting, moving ribbons for a hole... but of course found none. "Perhaps this game was a bad idea."

Linny winced as though she had been struck.  She never heard those words.  She was a good girl, she was always a good girl.  Patch was a bad girl sometimes, Dove was a bad girl sometimes, but never Linny.  She had seen her friends scolded and punished for backtalk, misdeeds, and mischief... but this was the first time in years that Amber had looked at her and told her that she was bad.

"I'm sorry," Linnea said softly, defeated.  She had felt so sure that she had seen the spark… but it could have been wishful thinking.  She wanted it so badly... 

Amber gestured with one hand, commanding a chair to slide across the room to her before sitting and resting the food tray in her lap.  She grabbed Linny by the robes and pulled her closer to the ground, the ribbons still holding her aloft, and squeezed the front of her diaper.  It was barely wet.  She wasn't used to Linny trying her patience with a game.

Amber didn't want to stop playing, but she never thought Linny would make something up like this.  Hm.  Amber took a moment to think about and finally settled on one truth: if Amber got to play, why couldn't Linny play her own way?

"Well, Linny.  If you say you did, then you did.  But remember, the game is to dispel the ribbons, which you haven't done.  So you haven't won yet."

Amber took a spoonful of mushed peas and lifted it up to the helpless girl's mouth.  Linny grimaced.

"Oh, don't be so scared!  I seasoned them myself." That seemed to distress Linny further. "Now open wide.  Say ahhhh."

"Ahhh.... "

Peas.  It smelled like peas.

But they didn't even have any mashed peas in the pantry... which meant Miss Amber had mashed them on purpose.  Linny liked peas... but hated mashed peas.  The texture was all wrong, it was awful.  She hovered upside-down - held by the shimmering ribbons - and opened her mouth, accepting the awful bite of the hated food.  Two days in a row, green beans yesterday and now peas. 

"Thank you, Miss Amber," Linnea shuddered as she swallowed the bite, feeling the food move upward - toward her upside-down stomach.  The sensation was as strange as the mushy vegetable was awful.  But still, she thanked her owner like a good girl, just as she was trained, and opened her mouth for the next horrible bite.
The peas were followed by spoonfuls of sherbet: one of Linny's favorite treats.  A reward for acting like a good girl and eating her food.  Of course, all that food would wind up in her diaper sooner or later.  It would be a long night for poor Linny.

Amber put aside the clear plates and pulled out something else: something new.  A baby bottle.  Linny used sippy cups in her child form, but bottles were not the same.  Bottles were slow, tedious, agonizing things.  And the warm milk would only make Linny sleepy and pliable.

"Here you are, my darling.  Oh, but..." Amber paused, holding the bottle in front of her charge's face. "You can't hold it, can you?  Mm... I suppose I'll just have to feed you.  Didn't I seal you as an adult?  You sure don't act like it."

Linnea lit up at the bottle.  Dove loved hers, her witch Miss Morgan would spend upwards of an hour feeding her, holding her in her arms and cradling her small form.  She had shared the memory with Linny and Patch and they all cherished it together.  She knew she should be embarrassed at her teasing, but she had secretly been hoping for this very thing.  Anything to get closer to Miss Amber.  A second-hand memory was never as good as the real thing, and she opened her mouth eagerly for the nipple of the bottle.  She wished she could be in Amber's arms for this rather than bound by the ribbons, but she would take what she could get.

A good familiar never complained.

She suckled greedily at the nipple, the milk was warm and creamy and felt so strange traveling upward toward her insides.  It tasted better than Dove's memory and she focused, savoring this moment so she could share it with her best friends.  The taste of the milk, the rhythm of the bottle, the feeling of Amber's gentle love.

Linny relaxed, her diaper warming above her in the air, without a care as Amber doted on her in a way she would never deserve.

[Wannatripbaby]

Hmm, very interesting. Linny obviously wasn't lying. And to say it was a hallucination would be a very cheep answer. Which can only leave one possibility...

Also the bit about the six types/colors of magic was very interesting. They seem to function like magnetic polarity. Does this mean that, say, two Red Witches could cast offensive spells at each other all day and it wouldn't do anything? Because that would be very interesting. It would make the most powered Witch in the world nothing more than a normal human when dealing with a Witch of the same type.

[Sophie ♥]

1 hour ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Also the bit about the six types/colors of magic was very interesting. They seem to function like magnetic polarity. Does this mean that, say, two Red Witches could cast offensive spells at each other all day and it wouldn't do anything? Because that would be very interesting. It would make the most powered Witch in the world nothing more than a normal human when dealing with a Witch of the same type.

Uhhhhh, simply put, yes.  It doesn't make offensive spells wouldn't do anything.  But they are easily dismissed/dispelled/countered by magic of the same color.  Again, this comes up a little bit in the future!  But knowing a witch's color before getting involved with them is a huge advantage.  Usually magic manifests in eye color and hair color, but Jade hides hers in Purple, even though she's Green.

 

[Wannatripbaby]

2 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

Usually magic manifests in eye color and hair color, but Jade hides hers in Purple, even though she's Green.

That'll either come in handy or bite her in the butt later. I'm actually hoping for the former. :D

[Sophie ♥]

13 minutes ago, Wannatripbaby said:

That'll either come in handy or bite her in the butt later. I'm actually hoping for the former.

Yeah, it begs the question: "why doesn't everyone hide their color to get an advantage?" But colors are also symbols of pride and respect for your family and stuff.  So it's usually lower-class people that do it.  Jade's an exception because of her unique circumstances.

[Wannatripbaby]

17 minutes ago, Sophie ♥ said:

Yeah, it begs the question: "why doesn't everyone hide their color to get an advantage?" But colors are also symbols of pride and respect for your family and stuff.  So it's usually lower-class people that do it.  Jade's an exception because of her unique circumstances.

Yup. There's a lot of Dramatic Potential there.

Also, and you can ignore this question if it's going to be answered later, but is there any particular difference in the colors? Does each one have its own special trait? Is Red stronger against Blue than Green? Or vice versa? 

[Sophie ♥]

12 minutes ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Yup. There's a lot of Dramatic Potential there.

Also, and you can ignore this question if it's going to be answered later, but is there any particular difference in the colors? Does each one have its own special trait? Is Red stronger against Blue than Green? Or vice versa? 

Ummmmmm...........

Well, we haven't really decided. XD Originally the colors were just for flavor, and since then we've been developing them a little bit at a time.  I can say there are /very slight/ benefits to some colors, but they are only a step beyond vanity.  

[bbykimmy]

15 minutes ago, Sophie ♥ said:

Ummmmmm...........

Well, we haven't really decided. XD Originally the colors were just for flavor, and since then we've been developing them a little bit at a time.  I can say there are /very slight/ benefits to some colors, but they are only a step beyond vanity.  

It's true - it's more than the individual witch might have talents that lead more toward one area of magic or another, or that they might have a deeper well of power to tap, or a rare talent.  If there was an inherent counter to a magic, it would cause Keeps to naturally form alliances and in our world so far it's every Keep for themselves!

We'll see if anyone else decides to play in this world with us