Colors of Amulette (Act 1 Complete!)

[Wannatripbaby]

So sorta like your chosen race in an RPG gives you a slight skill bonus? I.e. Green Witches have a +2 to Illusion Magic, but the scale goes to 100 so it isn't too significant in the long run?

[CDfm]

I did finally manage to get to this story. I am really enjoying this. What a night and day type story. We have one total witch, well we actually have two witches. One being a complete bitch witch and the other a loving witch. You can’t help but feel bad for poor Paige. And at the same time feel good for Linny. Honestly I know very little about all these rules and stuff you all keep referring to but that hasn’t stopped me one bit from loving it. I went and gave my hole days worth of likes to make sure I could give you both one. I am also going to do my very best to stay on top of these stories again. I still have a long way to go to be caught all the way up but I am working on it. Good thing last night was really slow at work. I was able to read all of this. 

[Sophie ♥]

Chapter 7: The Mighty Sword

"I know," Jade groaned to the crystal, still laying in bed.  "I know!  You think I don't know that?"

"Then undo it!" Ivy snapped.  Her cousin outranked her - she was Second Scepter where Jade was only Third Sword.  Jade was actively planning to sabotage her and take her place in the next year, but for now, Ivy had the clout.  She had to comply.

"I will," Jade agreed.  "Today will be her only day Demoted.  I just need to put some fear into her, she's the most stubborn- "

"She can't possibly be more stubborn than you, Jade Mazzi," Ivy cut her off harshly.  "Restore her before Madam Alani catches word.  If she finds out what you did and her precious niece is still toddling around in a diaper, it'll be your mother breathing down your neck, not me."

And nobody wanted that.

When the High Manticore was unhappy, all of Amulette was unhappy.  Her moods literally affected the entire world; the Head of the Order could affect the luck and fortune of everyone under her... which was everyone.  Only those of even-temper, cool mind, ultimate calm were suited for the position.  Giada Mazzi had inherited the seat and generally qualified... unless Jade was involved.  Jade had a tendency to irritate her mother, which had once led to a disaster among the lesser peoples and ultimately resulted in a famine.

So no, nobody wanted Jade Mazzi to perturb her mother, and Alani of the First Circle declaring a personal vendetta would do just that... especially if it was justified.

Jade sighed as the crystal desynched and rose, dressing with a wave of her hand in a gross display of raw transfiguration power, changing her nightclothes into a violet gown, smelling of lilac and lavender.

She had a brat to deal with.

Grabbing one of the thick nighttime diapers, she strode down to the dorms.  Luckily, she grabbed one of Paige's little friends on the way, Quinn or Queeny or whatever her name was.  The girl was nervous, edgy - not that Jade cared.  She directed Quinby into Paige's room and thrust the fresh diaper into her hands.

"You change her, Apprentice," she instructed. "I have no interest in the task."

"Um, but Miss--" Jade had already walked past Quest, holding the diaper in her hands.  A burning blush came over Quest's cheeks as she ducked into Paige's room.

It was early in the morning and no one had been in to see Paige since last night.  The lights in the nursery - for that's basically what it was now - were off.  Quest inched her way toward the crib to find her short friend asleep and sucking on the pacifier.  The state of her diaper was obvious: soaked through.

"Jeeze," Quest muttered, looking down at the diaper in her hands.  She had never done this before… "Paige?  Um... Paige?  Please wake up."

Paige's cheek was covered in drool when she sat up with sleepy eyes.  She peered at her friend through the tall crib bars and tried to remember what had happened.  But the moment she did, she wished she hadn't.

"I'm really sorry," Quest whispered as she lowered the bars of the crib.  Paige's eyes widened as she saw the diaper, and Miss Jade standing just beyond her, looking extremely annoyed.  Both the Apprentices had a sinking feeling that it was going to be a very bad day for poor Paige.  "I have to... "

"Hurry up," Jade snapped.  "I have to get food in her before our talk, so unless you want to be the one feeding her, I suggest you get her changed quickly."

Nodding, Quest leaned down and tore open the tapes, shocked to find the inside of the diaper yellowed and swollen.  Her friend had been reduced to a familiar, peeing on herself helplessly.  Paige mumbled behind the enchanted pacifier, blushing deeply and wishing it all away... but when she opened her eyes, Quest - her best friend - was still wiping her intimate parts clean and unfolding another ridiculously thick diaper.

Nearly as mortified as Paige, Quest fumbled with the diaper, drawing it closed over her friend and tucking the sides around her hips before taping it securely.

"There you go, Miss Jade," she squeaked, taking the used diaper and throwing it in the bin that had once been Paige's trash can.  Jade's transfiguration magic was incredible... and as much as she loved Paige, Quest was very glad that Jade wasn't her Mentor.

"You little brat," Jade snarled.  Quest's eyes shot wide - at first, she thought the vengeful witch was referring to her!  Jade reached out and grabbed Paige's green-stained hands.  "You tried to magic your way out of your punishment, you rotten little...  OOOHH!  Well.  Time for breakfast, sweet child.  I hope you're hungry."

She grabbed Paige around the waist and lifted her with disturbing ease, settling the girl on her hip and supporting her diaper with one hand.

Sorry, Quest mouthed to her friend's terrified face.

"Thank you for your assistance, Quinn," Jade said curtly before exiting the nursery... even after the Demotion was reversed, Jade intended to leave the furniture and clothes the way they were.  She might not be able to keep the girl enchanted for long, but the childish dresses and crib would remind her of her place even after she was no longer technically Demoted.

Paige wanted to fight.  She wanted to kick and thrash and hurt Jade for what she had done!  But the moment she was pulled into the hall of the Apprentice floor, her self-preservation kicked in.  She didn't want to make a scene.  She didn't want to be noticed.

Paige pushed her face into Jade's neck and tried to make herself as small as possible.  Already, the Apprentices would be talking.  The human that had been Demoted.  A witch in a diaper.  This was so much worse than a collar.  This would ruin her reputation...

Already, she had wet her dress.  She had wet her diapers.  Already, Marigold had seen her that way.  Her rival.  Already, her best friend had changed her soiled underwear.  All the hope and drive in Paige had dwindled.  She just wanted to be a good Apprentice…

Finally, finally her brat of an Apprentice was learning her place.  Quiet, meek, subservient.  This was the way of true magic.  Surrender to the energies - to try to force them was to invite doom... or so the lesson went.  It wasn't one that Jade was particularly good at herself, but she was bound and determined to teach little Paige the same way she had been taught.

Well, not quite the same way, obviously.

But close enough - she would break the girl down, break her down to nothing and build her back up.  It had taken her fifty years before she had learned that lesson, her stubborn pride had refused to allow her to bend, not as the Manticore's Daughter, not as wielder of such raw potential.  She had even more raw magic than her mother, she knew it.  She could channel more power than nearly anyone in the Order of the Manticore - she shouldn't have to bother with finesse.

And that was her plan as she threw untempered transfiguration energy at a chair in the larder - access to the raw vegetables was important.  The chair twisted and grew, changing into a high chair the likes of which an infant would sit in, but sized for her own overgrown toddler.  She set Paige in the chair and fastened the tray around her.  Another gesture transformed the girl's bra into a bib - her breasts were hardly big enough to need one anyway, in Jade's opinion.

And finally, she began truly drawing on her power, gathering green magics into her fingers and drawing a sigil in the air.  It was ragged and cracked, poorly shaped and haggard, but she had enough pure power to force reality to her will.  And so she did.

Spoons and bowls sprung to life, mashing raw vegetables - peas, carrots, corn, all three at once - into a paste.  Jade plucked the pacifier from Paige's mouth just as the first spoonful arrived.

"Enjoy your breakfast," she sneered.  "The spell will feed you until you have done your business.  I have to go make my own coffee, seeing as how my supposed Apprentice is indisposed.  I'll return to check on you when I am sated."

"Miss Jade!  Ple--" A spoonful of mashed carrots pushed its way into Paige's mouth, silencing her as her Mentor left the pantry room.  Paige swallowed as fast as she could, shivering at the taste, and called out again.

"JADE!"

But another spoon flew into her mouth.  Peas.  The spoon dumped the mush on her tongue and Paige sent it down her throat.  Two spoonfuls and she already felt queasy.

"JA--" A third spoonful - mushed corn - filled her mouth and she struggled to swallow it fast enough.  But a fourth spoonful came before she could get another sound out.  Spoon after spoon, enchanted and floating around her, endless.

Paige fought with the chair to release her.  She tried casting spells, but her magic was weak and useless.  The tray table pinned her arms at her sides and no matter how much she kicked and thrashed, she couldn't topple the huge high chair to the ground.

She started to fight the spoons.  Turning her head or keeping her mouth closed.  But the spoons always persisted, finding a way to push against her teeth until they hurt.  Until she was forced to open her mouth and allow the intruders to fill her up.

Ten minutes later, talking was a distant memory.  No matter how quickly Paige tried to swallow, there was always more peas, more carrots, more corn, pushing its way into her mouth.  The mash poured out of her lips, down her chin, onto the bib.

After eighteen agonizing minutes, Paige freely wet her diaper.  She had been trying for sixteen of those minutes, but it just wouldn't happen.  Finally, her body allowed her some agency.  The warm, wetness filled between her legs, spreading over her bottom, as she let out a passionate sigh of relief.  Finally.  Finally it was over.

But it wasn't.  The spoons kept coming.  They kept feeding her.  She didn't understand.  She had done it, hadn't she?  She'd done her business.  But then her stomach gurgled and Paige realized she hadn't done her business at all.

A pair of eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth grinned at her from atop a barrel of apples - how long had the Lavulite been there!?  It hissed a laugh at her, reaching into the barrel and tossing the apple into the bowl where the mashing spoons worked, adding applesauce to the arsenal that assaulted Paige's mouth.  The purple-skinned demon laughed as the spoons delivered the first bite of the pulped fruit, her shining silver eyes alight with mirth.

"Diapered human," the Lavulite laughed, patting her own padding.  "Sad day for you."  She sniffed the air around Paige, leaning closer, unafraid of the flying spoons.  "Paige.  Oh Mistress Jett will want to know this!  Diapered human, already peed herself.  Paige no worry," the Lavulite patted her on the shoulder in mock consolation, "she will get used to it."

Snagging another apple for herself, the Lavulite hopped down, smoothing her tiny black dress - one that did nothing at all to hide the thick diaper, like most familiars wore.  She waved and blew a kiss at Paige before disappearing through the door.

Finally, Paige lost it.  Someone saw her like this.  A demon no less!  And more people would know... everyone would know.  Tears dripped down her cheeks and Paige started to wail.  She sobbed and kicked and threw every ounce of frustration and anger and humiliation into the tantrum.  She knocked the spoons out of the air with her feet.  She overturned bowls that got too close.  She snapped a part of the high chair, but it mended itself with Jade's magic.  Mashed baby food covered her naked body.  It got in her hair.  It covered her cheeks.  And she wailed and cried so loudly that there was no way the entire floor couldn't hear her.  But no one came to her rescue.

After three very, very, very long minutes, she settled into exhaustion.  And another spoonful of carrots filled her mouth.  She was so full.  She felt so sick.  Any more food and she would throw it up.  But the spoons didn't relent.  No matter how much mush Paige spit up, the spoons would scoop it back into her mouth.  Inevitably, with each bite, half wound up down her throat and half on her bib, only to be brought back up for another bite.

There was only one way out, and Paige was willing to take it.  This experience had broken her pride.  She didn't care anymore.  She had to stop it... she had to.  So she pushed.  She strained.  She tried so hard to mess her diaper.  She wanted it.  She needed it.  But though her tummy continued to gurgle, she couldn't fill the diaper.  Quiet tears dripped down her cheeks.

Forty-four minutes and fifteen seconds.  Another push, like so many others.  So many hopeless, purposeless, pathetic acts.  None would bring her comfort.  None would save her.  But this one did.  Finally, she felt it.

She took spoonful after spoonful with an exhausted smile on her face as she messed herself.  The sensation of warm, thick, mush dripping down her throat as she pushed warm, thick, mush into the seat of her diaper.  It squished into her skin, filling the space between her legs, and filling the entire room with an awful smell.

The spoons stopped.  They drifted quietly to the ground.  And Paige sat there giggling to herself amidst her shame and humiliation.  She had won.  She won... it was over.  It was finally over…

Jade's ringing, high-pitched laughter could be heard from down the hall as she approached the larder.  Something had her deeply amused.  It dropped when she stepped into the room and smelled Paige's mess.

"Oh my," she blanched, staring at the giggling, broken girl.  She walked closer, regarding her.  "You're far too smelly for me to carry, Paige."

She focused and drew another ragged sigil, pulsing with green sparks and flung it at the high chair, which began walking, following her, parading Paige in her infantile glory, smeared and smudged with food and smelling of her own mess.  Demons, fae, apprentices, and witches gaped as the two walked toward the Apprentice Quarters.  Quest saw them coming and dove into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Marigold demanded, realizing what too late, as she turned around to find herself face to face with the scowling Jade Mazzi.  "Miss Jade?" she asked weakly.  "I was just..."

"You're going to clean up your friend," Jade declared, ushering Marigold and the highchair-bound Paige into the room.  "Just clean her, no diaper.  Understand?"

"Yes Miss Jade," Marigold agreed.

Paige was a sobbing mess.  This was too much for even Marigold.  She hated Paige, she wanted the girl to suffer, but Jade Mazzi was a monster.  The woman didn't even stay to help, she just took the chair and left, warning that she'd be back soon.

"Oh goddess," Marigold gasped as she helped Paige to the ground.  The girl winced terribly as she was laid flat.  "Oh Paige... I'm so sorry.  I'm so sorry she did this to you.  I'm going to tell your aunt Alani... she can't do this to you.  You're not a demon, you're a human.  No human deserves this!"

Paige said nothing, however, she only sobbed softly as Marigold opened the awful diaper, pulling it away from her skin and using a cantrip to spray fresh, clean water on Paige's nethers as she wiped her down.  Marigold's face was beet red, horrified and she disposed of the fouled diaper quickly, tossing it with the other into the bin and slamming the lid shut.

"This never happened," Marigold swore, cleaning the food from Paige's chest and mouth.  "This never happened.  I didn't see this, nobody saw this.  This never happened.  I will never speak a word of it to another soul, I swear to you Paige."

But it did happen.  And many, many people saw her shame.

Paige stood quiet and naked in the center of her room, looking down at her feet.  She had been cleaned head to toe by her rival, but that wasn't even the worst of it.  Jade had walked her through the entire Apprentice floor, to her quarters.  Everyone saw.  It wasn't a secret anymore.  It wasn't hushed whispers.  It was common knowledge.  A spectacle.

When Jade came into Paige's room, she didn't look up from her feet.  She didn't try to cover her naked form.  She did her best not to cry.  Even now, Paige knew she had no bladder control.  What if she peed on the carpet?  What would Jade do then?  Her blood ran cold...

"Paige," Jade announced herself, something akin to a greeting.  Paige stiffened.

"Y-yes, Miss Jade...?"

"You are dismissed, Marie," Jade waved at Marigold, who fled as quickly as she could.

The witch grabbed the broken, twitchy girl and forced her into the crib, laying her down on the mattress.  Paiged didn't even resist, she didn't have it in her.  Jade had won, she had stolen every shred of dignity, she had ruined Paige's life.

And so it didn't make sense when she felt the Demotion curse lift, when she felt herself return to her full size.  When she felt herself regain full control over her body, a feeling she hadn't even been able to notice before, but now there it was, plain as day.

"I think you've suffered enough," Jade said with what she surely assumed was grace, but only came off as callous derision.  "You are no longer Demoted.  This was a taste of what could be, what your every waking moment would be for the next five years.  Do not try my patience again, Paige.  Do what I say, when I say it.  Obey me and I will give you the blessing, but only when you show me that you are ready to surrender to the magic.  Do you understand?"  She didn't wait for an answer, she simply pulled Paige to a sitting position and smiled that cruel, mirthless smile.  "Good.  Get dressed.  Meet me in my sanctum.  I will see you in thirty minutes."

Paige stared at the door where Jade had walked out.  She had resigned herself to that fate for much longer than one stupid day.  And yet, that one day had changed everything about her.  She looked nervously at her hands - free of the green color on the tips of her fingers - and dispelled the bonds on the crib.  Now it was no more than a piece of furniture.

Her magic was back.  But Paige certainly wasn't.

She shuffled to her feet as quickly as she could to dress for her Mentor's instruction.  But when she opened her closet to get her robes - or at the very least, one of her dresses - she was met with an unexpected sight.  All the dresses she once had were different.  Very different.

Paige picked one out and held it up to see.  It was a baby blue color with frilly lace along the bottom.  The sleeves were puffy and it had a big white collar.  It... it wasn't an adult's dress.  It was a dress a five year old might wear.  It was a dress Paige had only seen on familiars!  Had Jade forgotten to change these back?

Paige stated a spell to change the dress's appearance, but hesitated at the notion.  Her yellow glow faded from her hands.  If she misbehaved again...

Paige stepped out of her room wearing the blue dress and ankle socks.  Still, she had no shoes.  Everyone turned to watch her, muttering between themselves as she passed.  She didn't look up from her socks as she hurried down the hall and up to Jade's sanctum.  By the time she arrived, her cheeks were wet with tears.

[WBDaddy]

Love the way Jade played this.  OK, so she has to let her out of the Demotion, but nothing says she has to let her wear normal clothes.  Keep the Demotion in the back of Paige's mind all the time as a potential threat, even if there's zero chance of it happening again.

[bbykimmy]

39 minutes ago, WBDaddy said:

Love the way Jade played this.  OK, so she has to let her out of the Demotion, but nothing says she has to let her wear normal clothes.  Keep the Demotion in the back of Paige's mind all the time as a potential threat, even if there's zero chance of it happening again.

And Paige doesn't know that Jade is coerced into letting her out... so make it really, really horrible so she never acts up again...

 Maybe.  I, of course, won't say if that's the real logic or not!

I'm so glad you're reading this one!  <3

[Wannatripbaby]

6 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

When the High Manticore was unhappy, all of Amulette was unhappy.  Her moods literally affected the entire world; the Head of the Order could affect the luck and fortune of everyone under her... which was everyone.  Only those of even-temper, cool mind, ultimate calm were suited for the position.  Giada Mazzi had inherited the seat and generally qualified... unless Jade was involved.  Jade had a tendency to irritate her mother, which had once led to a disaster among the lesser peoples and ultimately resulted in a famine

Now that is very interesting. A world where authority and dominion have real and immediate effects on the universe around you.

6 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

Oh goddess," Marigold gasped as she helped Paige to the ground.  The girl winced terribly as she was laid flat.  "Oh Paige... I'm so sorry.  I'm so sorry she did this to you.  I'm going to tell your aunt Alani... she can't do this to you.  You're not a demon, you're a human.  No human deserves this!

Uh-oh, I think Jade is about to receive some sweet justice! ?

[bbykimmy]

Chapter 8: Amongst Friends

Amber sipped her coffee with a smile.  Linnea was suspended from the ceiling, her head tilted sideways onto her arm, fast asleep.  It had been a long twenty-four hours for her charge.  But the little dark drops on the carpet made one thing very clear.  This round was over and Amber had won.

She let her mug hover in the air as she bent down, running her fingers over the small dark stains.  Her fingertips tingled - very common for a demon fluid.  Then she stood up and ran her hand along the seat of the sleeping girl's diaper.  Sodden.  Filled to capacity.  And she smelled awful.  Little droplets clung to the legbands, eager to fall to the floor.  Poor thing.

Amber ran her fingers along the plastic between her charge's legs, which caused her to stir.  She squished the soft padding and a stream of liquid splashed onto the carpet.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty."

"Good morning, Miss Amber.  You win," Linnea smiled weakly.  Normally, Linny could sleep anywhere but drifting off while held by the ribbons had not been easy - she had only fallen asleep due to exhaustion.  "I'm very, very sorry I leaked on the carpet.  I will clean it up, good as new."  She felt no shame at the small flood of her urine that splashed to the ground - she was a familiar, she couldn't control herself.  It was one of the reasons she was lesser: subhuman.  She had lost the game because she wasn't an Apprentice... but she had gained a precious experience:  Amber had bottlefed her with the same love that she had felt from Dove’s shared memory -  that pure caring, that gentle attention.

She had lost - she hadn't been able to defeat Amber's ribbons, but that was unsurprising.  She was weaker than an Apprentice and Amber was the most powerful witch ever.  But for the barest moment, she thought she had felt real magic, for a single instant she believed she could do it… but Linny had always been one for wishful thinking.

"That's alright, darling." Amber ran her finger along Linny's thigh, over her transfiguration seal, and broke the bond.  She could have turned into a child or a cat or anything else and broken out of the ribbons right then, but she didn't.  She knew the outcome: her diapers were very full and shrinking them would do her no good.

Amber cancelled her spell and the blue demon was lowered to the floor, her bare feet on the large wet patch of carpet.  Linny started to wobble in the unfathomable thickness of three saturated diapers, but Amber caught her hand and held her upright.

"You did very well for a first try," Amber lied to Linny, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "How about tonight, when I get home, we play another Apprentice game?  Would you like that?"

"I would," she lied cheerfully.  Amber wanted to play, and so she would play.  But it was obvious that the Apprentice game wasn't winnable.  It was just Amber enjoying her position as the witch - but it was Linnea's duty to absorb that, to make her owner feel good and right and powerful.  The kiss still felt as wonderful as ever, the echo of Amber's lips would keep Linny going for hours to come.  She would feel that kiss, that intimate touch, throughout the entire day and she would cherish it just as she cherished every touch Amber gifted to her.  "Would you like me to make you breakfast, Miss Amber?  I can do that before I change... oh, and I need to clean the carpet."

Linnea was sad that she would have to take off the Apprentice robes.  Even though the game was a sham, she felt... human in them.  Or at least what she assumed humans felt like.  Important.  Possible.  That was it.  She felt like it were possible for Amber to love her just as much as she loved the witch, and that would go away without the robes…

"Sadly, I have to be going." Amber wasn't really in the mood to work today.  She wanted to bathe her demon.  She wanted to show her a wonderful day for all the effort Linny had put in.  But duty called...  "Clean yourself up.  You can skip your chores today.  Just head down to the Keep and pick up some ingredients for me.  The list is on the counter." 

The Siren Keep was just down the road from Amber's house, to the north and toward the center of the city.  It had fewer towers and sanctums than the Manticore’s, but a much better potions lab.  These priorities aligned with Amber, who preferred her own residence anyway.

Linnea wasn't interested in resources or housing or architecture, but the Siren Keep aligned with her needs as well.  After all, it was the home of her very best friends: Dove and Patch.

Linnea waved to Miss Amber as she left, wishing as she did every day that she could go with her witch.  But Amber's work was important, and Linny would only get in the way.  She knew that.  It wasn't like the old days, when she was a cat and could just ride on Amber's shoulder or in her bag.  Sometimes she wished for that closeness, like they used to have... but what she had now was better in almost every way.

She had to admit, she missed the litterbox though.  Especially on days like today.

Linny waddled bow-legged to the supply closet and fetched a new diaper and the powder.  She knew that Patch would have ditched the diaper first, tossing it in the trash before getting a new one, but Amber was quite clear - Linnea was never, ever to be without a diaper unless she was bathing.  And so, with the supplies collected, Linny went to her room and changed, removing the ridiculous triple diaper and balling it up as best she could before wiping herself down and laying on the fresh diaper.  Linny didn't mind diapers so much - not like Patch, her fae friend was constantly trying to get out of them... but fae were often captured and geased.  They had lived lives in Arcadia before they were claimed.

Patch told stories of the fae realm, of being alone and independent.  But they were, for lack of a better term, fairy tales to Linny.  Amber was all she had ever known and she liked it that way.  A fresh diaper was like a hug from Amber that she wore all day - it wasn't worth having experienced freedom if it came with any kind of resentment for her place.  Linnea was a familiar, a demon.  It's all she was good for, it was her highest aspiration in life, and she didn't want to be plagued with dreams or memories otherwise.

She pitied Patch in that way.

After selecting a soft red dress - she always wore red when she left the house so everyone would know at a glance who she belonged to - she cleaned up the used diaper and disposed of it, scrubbed out the stain from her accident in the carpet diligently, and grabbed the list from the counter.  She stared at the strange markings and sighed.

"I need to go find Patch so she can read this to me," she said to herself, heading for the door.  Generally, she could give the merchants the list and get the goods, but she needed to know which merchants to go to, and one time in recent history a shopkeep's son had lied to her about what it said.  Miss Amber had been quite cross and while the boy had been scolded for his mischief, Linny had been punished and she had no interest in repeating that experience.

Patch would help.  Maybe Dove would be with her, they hung out a lot... and Linny had a new experience to share with them.

*           *           *

"Ugh, it was toooooootally Dove's fault!"  Patch was tall for a fae - just over three feet - and older than Dove and Linny combined!  Her hair was a vibrant green, just down to her shoulders, and curling wildly at the tips.  Though the most amazing thing about her was her wings: translucent, small, and shimmering gold.  Patch couldn't quite fly - not at this size - but she could jump higher, skip further, and balance better than any witch or demon in all of Amulette.  But today, one of her wings was stained a dark blue, filled with creeping veins of magical energy.  A witch's curse.

Dove gave Patch a harsh look and crossed her arms over her chest.  Her skin was a vivid grey, like the color had been drained out of her.  Small, filed horns poked out of her forehead, amidst the hectic mess of sandy brown hair.  Stereotypical Ashite.

Patch was everything Dove wasn't.  Confident, independent, and the speaker of their little trio.  She held onto her bathroom training and hid her diapers under baggy shorts, always paired with tight latex tops.  She refused to conform in any way she could - her personal rebellion.

"Yeah?" Dove remarked cynically - Patch was one of the only people in the entire world the meek Ashite could stand up to. "How do you figure?"

"Well," Patch started, sitting forward in her storytelling pose, "it started last night.  Dove snuck out of her room--"

"I did not!" Dove objected hotly.

"Shh!"  Patch pushed her finger to Dove's lips to silence her, with both metaphor and magic.  Dove lost her voice and Patch went on with her story.  Patch had always been good at charms, better even than the average fae.  "Like I was saying..."

Linny frowned at Patch's casual use of magic on their best friend, the list still clutched in her hand - this dress didn't have pockets, she didn't own a purse or a bag, and she wasn't about to stuff the note in her diaper.  She held it tightly while she listened to Patch's story.  She was a good storyteller, after all; it wasn't as good as sharing the feelings, but she was a fae - she couldn't do that.  Only an Azurite could share experiences - Linny was lucky to be a familiar, the Azurite talent made them excellent slaves.  One Azurite slave could share instructions and lessons with all the others.  If Amber had not saved her, Linny would almost certainly be in some seamstress' shop, sewing things endlessly and tediously.

It hurt to look at her infected wing, she must have done something truly naughty.  Linny was very rarely punished, which didn't help her "spoiled" reputation among the other familiars, but Patch was trouble enough for both of them so her reputation wasn't completely tarnished.  Still, while she admired Patch's ability to use real magic, not just transformations like a demon, she didn't appreciate her using it on Dove.

Dove appreciated Patch's magic even less.  She waved her arms and flapped her mouth but no sound came out.  Finally she stomped on Patch's foot and grabbed her by the infected wing, drawing a wince.

"Hey!" Linny cried at the Dangerous Duo, "Dove, let go of her wing!  Patch, lift your charm!  I want to hear your story, but I've got something to share with you too!"

Patch hadn't even made it to the good part of the story - when they were caught sneaking into the library - when Linny had taken charge of the situation.  Of the three of them, almost paradoxically, Linny was the most level-headed.  Patch rolled her eyes and lifted the charm and Dove let go of her wings.

"Don't charm me!" Dove shouted with her newfound voice, but Patch ignored her entirely.

"Whatcha got there?  A shopping list?  Does Miss Amber have you running errands again?  You need me to read this one?  I swear, demons are sooooo helpless.  Back in Arcadia--" 

Linny and Dove both groaned.  Patch always went on and on and on about her homeworld.  Before she had been captured and put into servitude, she lived a long, happy life in Arcadia.  Unlike demons, who grew up in Amulette more often than not, fae were hard to capture at a young age.  It made them much more stubborn, and Patch was proof of that.

"We know, we know!" Dove and Linny groused in unison.

"Patch, help me read it!" Linny said quickly.  "And I'll share the feelings of the Human Potion," she offered the tidbit.  It would be too good to pass up.

"Human potion!?" Dove squealed.  It was her fondest fantasy, her wildest dream.  She was madly in love with her witch - Miss Morgan - and everyone knew it.  Even Linny thought she was sappy.  She was eternally trying to kiss the witch, to prove that she was worthy of such affection, and it was a constant source of trouble for the grey-skinned demon girl.  Linny still carried the memory that Dove had offered, that she had accepted... she had waited in her small form under Miss Morgan’s pillow one night instead of sleeping in her cage like she was supposed to... and kissed her witch right on the lips when she had laid down.

Linny could never, ever be that bold.  It was funny: Dove was such a coward normally, so shy and quiet... except with her two friends.  Once they were out in public, Dove would be hiding behind Patch the entire time.  Patch, on the other hand, would probably kill her witch, Miss Alizon, in her sleep... if it wasn't for the geas.  Patch loved Alizon, but only because she was enchanted to love her.  The rotten fae tried her best to resist, but a familiar always bent.  Linny couldn't imagine loving Amber and hating her at the same time, the idea was sad.  She didn't think she could ever have any negative feelings for her beloved Witch.  Amber was just so perfect in every way.

"I'll share the Human Potion," Linnea promised.  "After Patch reads me the note!"

"I don't think there's any such thing as a human potion," Patch said cynically, taking the list out of her friend's hands and reading it over. "You can get most of this stuff from the potions floor.  But they don't carry briar thorns anymore, so you'll have to go to the greenhouse.  Dove and I will go with you." 

Dove was easy to boss around; she would do just about anything if her friends wanted her to.  She was a follower, through and through.  Obedience was her lifestyle, exemplified by the short humiliating skirts and bright pink diapers.  Miss Morgan didn't have the time to constantly care for her charge, and she didn't go out of her way like Miss Amber.
"There is so!" Linnea said indignantly, glaring down at the shorter familiar.  "Miss Amber gave me a potion that turned me red and she said I was her daughter for the night and I was a human!  For one night!  Ugh, you're making me ruin the whole story.  Let's go to the Spot and I'll share it with you."  She grabbed Patch by the wrist and headed for their secret spot - Dove had found a loose stone one night while cleaning the hallway near the gardens, which led to a small tunnel - too small for humans.  The familiars could shift to smaller forms - Linny always chose that of a cat and Dove that of a rabbit, though Patch did nothing but shrink size - and on the other side of that tunnel waited a small alcove in the back corner of the Keep's herb garden.

And it was their Spot.  Their secret place, where they could go to talk, to share feelings.  To comfort one another when times were hard or celebrate each others' victories.  Linny had wished more than once that they had discovered the Spot long ago, before Miss Alizon had captured Patch in Arcadia.  The poor fae had been so muddled with the geas when she first came into their lives... she needed a secret place to talk then.  Dove and Linny had been friends for years; Dove was shunned by the other familiars for being a coward and Linny was similarly ostracized for being spoiled, but the two had each other.  Patch came into their lives about five years ago, but they only found the Spot two years ago... and a few months.

Quietly, Linny looked one way while Dove looked the other and Patch opened the stone... and they crawled together into their secret place.

"Fine," Patch whispered sharply.  "We're here.  Show us already, though I still don't believe you."

"I do," Dove squeaked eagerly.  The idea of such a potion was dangling a steak in front of a hungry lion.  She wanted it more than anything.  A way that Miss Morgan would really love her!  "Show us, please!  Show us!"

"Okay, okay," Linny whispered, taking each of the other girls by the hand and closing her eyes.

She recalled the room, Amber's homecoming, the potion... and she shared her experience, her feelings, her memories of that night with her two closest friends.

And she waited while they absorbed them, lived them.  She waited to find out how they felt.

The small alcove didn't offer a lot of room, and was only barely lit by light trickling between the surrounding greenery, but Linny could read the surprise on both her friends' faces.

"Wow," Dove sighed dreamily, exhausted by the experience.  Her eyes shined in awe.

"Whatever," Patch dismissed, and let go of both girls' hands.  She tucked her knees up to her chest and the crests of her wings fell.  Whatever she was feeling, she hated it.  Maybe because it reminded her of a better time... 

"I want one!  I want a human potion!" Dove's excitement grew a little too loud and Patch put another silence spell on her to keep her quiet.  Linny didn’t object or chastise her friend this time - if their voices carried into the main garden, someone might find them, and if Dove ruined their secret spot it would be a tragedy.  She’d get over being charmed.

"It wasn't a human potion - it just changed her skin color," Patch whispered. "It was just another one of Miss Amber's games."

"It wasn't," Linny whispered defensively.  "She... she did play a game with me yesterday, but for one glorious night, I was her daughter, Patch.  She loves me.  Miss Alizon loves you too, you're just too stubborn to see it sometimes."

Dove squirmed, her wordless, soundless joy exploding in wild hand-gestures and wide eyes.  The Ashite was overjoyed and couldn't contain herself.

"Come on," Linny said softly, leading them back out to the hall and hoping she hadn't stung Patch too badly there.  Freedom and humans were sore spots for her.  "Help me get the ingredients and I'll give you the candy that Miss Rowan always gives me on errand days."

Miss Rowan, like many of the witches in the Keep, adored Linnea - she was always Linnea to them, never Linny - and the Azurite frequently found herself retrieving tiny morsels of sweet things.  Crumbs, never enough to be a gift, just something they chose not to throw away.

It didn't help her reputation as a spoiled familiar.

[Wannatripbaby]

Another wonderful chapter. I just love Linny! She's so sweet and wholesome!

Also is there some reason she can't read? She's been with Amber for a good many years and is obviously intelligent enough to cook and clean. Reading shouldn't be a problem for her, right?

[bbykimmy]

On 1/3/2019 at 10:17 AM, Wannatripbaby said:

Another wonderful chapter. I just love Linny! She's so sweet and wholesome!

Also is there some reason she can't read? She's been with Amber for a good many years and is obviously intelligent enough to cook and clean. Reading shouldn't be a problem for her, right?

I also love Linny <3 <3  She's probably my favorite character in the story, though I'm also partial to Quest.

Linny isn't terribly bright, but she's smart enough to read - that's not really the problem, though.  Who's going to teach her?  It's not something she has the will to figure out on her own - if Amber wanted her to read, she would.  She knows her place in life and she has no reason to reach above it or rebel in any way.  She's happy.

She could totally learn to read... if Amber wanted her to.

16 hours ago, Hopsalot said:

I hope Linny won’t eventually get into trouble if her friends dove and patch tell their owners, who ask amber what the heck because telling a demon they can be human is wrong. So I’m crossing my fingers, but I don’t think much trouble will result.  I’m very curious to see which way this is going and I can’t wait to watch these two stories combine. And! I just had a thought of like a parent trap switch, but unfortunately I quickly realized how that wouldn’t work. Linny loves amber too much and It would be immediately obvious due to no tail and a large amount of other things

Oh, that would be just awful, wouldn't it?  If poor Linny got in trouble... Gosh, I do so hate it when bad things happen to good characters.  Good thing I never write like that.

I think Linny would be okay in Paige's place, but I really don't think Paige would be able to handle Linny's at all.  Maybe if they did a body swap...

:O

[CDfm]

I loved these latest updates. I hope that although it seems Paige was broken, I hope she retains some of the rebellion inside her. I don’t want to see her acting out because I don’t want to see her punished anymore. I do still want her to keep her fight up. I think that will make her a bett stronger witch. 

Linny is just so sweet. I think she is my favorite character as well. Always willing to do anything to please her witch, and at the same time do for her friends as well. In many ways I would love to see her win one of these games. But then I am afraid that if she does, Amber will get scared and stop treating her this way. 

I only had one like to give today so bbykimmy got it today and next time Sophie will get it. I am looking forward to reading more. 

[Sophie ♥]

Chapter 9: An Order from on High

"It doesn't matter that you lifted the enchantment," the voice boomed. Billowing green flames erupted from the feet of the imposing figure.  The High Manticore towered over everything in the sanctum, fire and fury and presence.  Her aura was tangible and terrifying, and Jade called upon every ounce of willpower in her to keep from  trembling before her mother.  "You have insulted a member of the First Circle and it is only because you are my flesh and blood that you are not being taken to task publicly for your poor judgement."

"Mother, I- "

The High Manticore was a pillar of green.  Her gown was floor-length and a deep juniper, her sleeves draped gracefully over hands.  Her emerald hair fell to her waist, moving with an unfelt breeze, strangely threatening.  Her entire form had a soft green glow, save her eyes which were bright balefire.

"You will address me as Your Eminence or as High Manticore, Jade Mazzi," her mother roared.  The spell she was using to project herself into Jade's sanctum caused her to appear larger than life, and despite the fact that Jade knew her mother's true appearance intimately, knew every crease in her face, every expression, even though she knew exactly how the spell worked... she was intimidated.

"Yes, Your Eminence," Jade bowed her head.

"I'm giving you an assignment," the High Manticore declared, the glow in her eyes subsiding.  She tapped a curved fingernail to her lips before continuing - a calculated gesture.  The leader of the Order of the Manticore did nothing thoughtlessly, everything was planned.  "You're going to represent the Order and Manticore Keep at the Grand Archive."  It was a rotten assignment, potion mixing and scholarly discussion - nowhere near Jade's strength.

"Your Eminence," Jade tried to hide the panic in her voice - her greatest asset was her raw power, and being stuck among the bookworms and formula-makers was the exact opposite.  The scholars studied the laws of magic and devised spells for the powerful to use.  She was the powerful, not a stodgy scholar!  "If I may- "

"You.  May.  Not," the High Manticore snapped.  "Prepare for your trip.  You'll be away from the Keep, long enough to undo whatever you have done to your Apprentice."

And with that, the form vanished in a puff of pungent smoke.

"Miss...?" Paige's voice was quiet.  She only caught the last few words of the conversation.  The High Manticore was angry.  Nothing good ever happened when the High Manticore was angry.  Paige shook the thought from her head and stepped into the sanctum, unable to look up at her mentor.  Shame colored her cheeks.

"Um... are we... are we going somewhere?" The difference in her demeanor was remarkable.  No longer the arrogant prodigy, but a humble child.  Everyone knew now... no matter what happened, everyone knew.  She could never escape this humiliation as long as she lived.

Paige wanted to disappear.  She wanted to run away.  But if she left the service of her Mentor, she would never get Promoted.  She'd be a half-rate, half-educated witch forever.  That fear was a better motivator than even the humiliations of that morning.

"I was wondering if maybe you forgot to..." Paige looked down at the dress.  Surely it was a mistake that Jade hadn't transfigured these back to their appropriate appearance.  But as the words came out of her mouth, Paige hesitated.  She shook her head. "N-nevermind..."

"So close, and yet so far," Jade clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.  "You almost managed to keep your mouth shut.  But it's progress, I suppose."  She waved a hand, flinging a raw green rune of energy at her Apprentice, transforming her childish dress back to her favored, loose robes.  It bothered Jade to do so - Paige was her charge, it was her responsibility to train her correctly, to make sure the stupid girl was ready to walk the ways of true magic and not the pathetic cantrips she knew... and the first step of that had to be teaching her humility and surrender.

But her ability to discipline her Apprentice was being undermined, just because the girl had a high-ranking relative - it was beyond unfair!  Paige had earned that punishment... but soon they would be at the Grand Archive, shared among all the Keeps and Houses of Amulette - and few Manticores would be there to tattle, and even fewer would care.  Paige would be a valuable asset on this ridiculous assignment, one way or another.

"Pack your bags.  Yes, I mean the dresses in your wardrobe - I will transform them as needed.  Your feeble magic should be back but such transmogrification is beyond you.”  Jade paused a moment to ponder, “If you do well on our assignment, I will reward you."

Paige's hands balled at her sides in frustration.  She hated this!  She hated that this one-trick witch could boss her around!  But the memory of the Demotion, the high chair, the awful things Jade had done to her... fear quickly replaced her frustration.  Paige never looked up from her feet.

"Yes Miss Jade," Paige muttered.

Paige stepped out of the sanctum before Jade could threaten her again.  Finally, she had gotten her robes back.  She wrapped her arms around herself and held the cloth tight to her skin, reveling in the normalcy.  Weeks ago, when she had lost the privilege of her apprentice robes, she thought nothing could be worse.  But now, she had a new perspective.

Clothing in Amulette was intimately tied to status.  Dark blue robes with green trim marked her as Manticore Apprentice.  Loose sleeves for spellcasting, pockets for components.  It felt like home.  But the frilly, childish dresses in her armoire, those had an entirely different meaning.  As long as Jade controlled Paige's clothes, she controlled everything.  Neither of them were oblivious to this.

As Paige walked back to her room, she thought about what Jade had said. The Grand Archive?  Why are we going there?  What does the High Manticore have in mind?  

She was dragged roughly out of her thoughts as she approached apprentice housing.  Outside the door, her feet froze.  She couldn't move.  But it wasn't a spell that had bound her; it was fear itself.  One day ago, she was the most revered of all the Apprentices, the woman who stood tallest in this hall.  Now, she was a joke... Paige felt tears fill her eyes.

"Paige?" Quest's voice floated down the hall and Paige jumped slightly as she felt a light touch on her shoulder.  "Are you okay?  I said, you got your robes back."  The younger girl pulled her friend aside and into a tight embrace.  "Oh Paige.  I have to go pack soon, Miss Harkin says we're going to the Grand Archive and I won't be around to- "

"You're going to the Grand Archive too?"  Marigold stepped up close to them, her orange eyes shining and a grin on her face.  "Me too!  Miss Midori says we're doing some kind of competition.  We're totally gonna win and... "  She trailed off a bit when she noticed Paige.  "Oh - hey, uh... you got your robes back, that's good.  There was no way she could keep treating you like that, not with who your aunt is.  You look... are you okay?"

Marigold may have disliked Paige, but after seeing the aftermath of Jade's rage, Paige's utter humiliation... she didn't have it in her any more to torment her rival.  It was almost like Paige wasn't her rival at all any more... Marigold just felt sorry for her.  There was no competition between them; Paige seemed more like a child than an adult now, and Marigold wasn't going to pick on a child.

"I'm fine," Paige muttered, holding her arms tightly over her stomach.  Her heart raced.  Her chest ached.  She was anything but fine, but that wasn't important right now...

"So all of us are going to the Archive?  This has to be for the conference, right?" But they quickly discovered that each of them was as lost as the others.

Paige sighed and looked down at her feet.  She had to get back to her room.  She had to pack all those awful dresses.  With Quest and Marigold beside her, she mustered up the strength to finish the trek to the Apprentice quarters.  It wasn't so much the power of friendship that helped her along, but the drive to appear strong.  Nonetheless, women stared and snickered, and Paige felt fresh tears on her cheeks by the time she made it back to her room.

"So wait," Marigold began as they crossed the threshold to their own hallway, "if all three of us and our Mentors are in this competition thingy, what the heck is it about?  Miss Midori said I'd be writing a lot, that I'm supposed to bring my very best quills.  I hate writing work.  Magical proofs are so boring."

"Miss Harkin said to make sure I pack my notes on catalysts and results," Quest added, "so whatever we're doing is alchemy related, for sure."

"Ugh," Marigold groaned... and stopped cold just outside their rooms, grabbing Paige's sleeve and whispering hotly.  "Wait.  Alchemy.  Proofs.  Miss Jade is terrible at all of this... what the hell are we walking into?"

Paige shrugged her shoulders and tried to muster her signature confidence… but though her intelligence was working, her willpower had bottomed out.  When she spoke, it was quiet and meek, even moreso than Quest.

"Um... well the Archives are for spells and potions... so we are probably doing something with that.  AHL is this week; the Alchemy and Higher Learning conference."

Quest wasn't wrong about Jade.  Miss Midori was a professional Spellscribe.  Miss Harkin was a potions master.  But Jade... Jade had no talent for finesse.  What was this all about?  Why did the High Manticore assign Jade this job?

"I have a bad feeling about this," Quest whispered as they stepped into Paige's room out of sheer habit.  The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as the three of them stared at the crib and the closet full of infantile dresses.  "Miss Jade... tends to blame other people when she fails."

Paige nodded mutely, wanting to agree but not daring to actually give voice to the words that gripped her heart, that stung the backs of her eyes.  She would often commiserate with Quest on Jade's failings, her bad habits... but never with Marigold around.  Just the presence of the girl who was so threatened by her would have normally been a deterrent, but she felt shattered, a walking mass of glass taped hastily back together and shambling through the day without any sense of direction or purpose.

She felt broken, and the giggles in the hallway hadn't helped.

"I'll loan you some of my robes," Marigold offered quietly.  Quest gaped at her, blinking, before a wide smile split her face.

"Maybe this will be good for us," Quest beamed.  "Let's look on the bright side - that's the nicest thing Marigold has ever said to you!"

"Shut up, it is not... "

Paige packed seven little girl dresses, with the hope that Jade's promise to turn them back into robes was a legitimate one.  Either way, she stayed fixated on the task at hand.  Her eyes looked past the dresses, past the crib, past the painful memories, so that the world blurred around her.  The constant reminders of her demotion haunted her like ghosts.

The other Apprentices packed as well, gathering the supplies requested by their Mentors, and a little something extra to help Paige - Marigold did indeed pack extra robes while Quest included a set of Witching cards to help pass the time between tasks at the Grand Archive.  She felt bad about it, but she was sure her extra inclusion would be used even if Jade decided to return poor Paige to the state she had been in the previous night.

In fact, both of her friends were dwelling on that same mental image.  Paige, top of the class, the Silver Spoon... diapered and crying in a crib.  The Grand Archive was far away from the safety of friendly eyes in the Manticore Keep... if Jade decided to punish Paige at the Archive, it was much less likely that her aunt Alani could use her clout to spare her the humiliation, and they had both seen the childish, frilly, short dresses being packed into Paige's bag.

No one was quite sure what the trip to the Grand Archive would hold, but they collectively decided that it couldn't be worse than Paige's degradation from that morning.

[Wannatripbaby]

Well it's about time! Not just for the delayed chapter but for Jade's righteous retribution!

6 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

No one was quite sure what the trip to the Grand Archive would hold, but they collectively decided that it couldn't be worse than Paige's degradation from that morning.

Why does that feel like foreshadowing?

Grammar Patrol:

6 hours ago, Sophie ♥ said:

"Are you okay?  I said, you got your robes back." 

Perhaps I see?

[bbykimmy]

3 hours ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Well it's about time! Not just for the delayed chapter but for Jade's righteous retribution!

Why does that feel like foreshadowing?

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

I will neither confirm nor deny.

3 hours ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Grammar Patrol:

Perhaps I see?

Nope.  It's third person following Paige, Quest was talking but Paige didn't register it.  The reader thus experiences Paige being startled and Quest repeating herself.

[bbykimmy]

Chapter 10: Red and Pink

Little Linny wore a shrunken pair of apprentice robes in Siren colors: a deep red with yellow trim, adorned by a pin that Amber had earned in her apprenticeship for the highest mark in potion making.  It was deeply personal, and yet Amber dressed her familiar so candidly, going so far as to magically alter the size.

"Look at you - you're so cute!" Amber praised, flattening out the creases in Linny's clothes. "Maybe I'll take a picture later.  Oh, but if another witch saw, they might think you did this without permission..." And then they'd probably kill Linny on the spot.  Amber shuddered at the thought.

Today marked the fourth day of Linny's apprentice training.  She had lost every single time, and she would continue to lose until Amber was bored of the game.  But that day was not today.

Linnea was surprised that Amber wanted to continue the apprentice games - usually when "theme" games like this arose, they were over after three tries... so when Amber had dressed her in the Apprentice robes for the fourth day in a row, her heart had soared.  But nothing prepared the little Azurite for the feeling of that potions pin being stuck to the human garb.  Linny had never felt more loved in her entire life - the pin was special, it was Amber's from her very own apprenticeship.

Which meant Amber wasn't just toying with her this time - she was really an Apprentice!

Linny decided then and there that whatever the challenge was today, she was going to win.  So far each challenge had been some predicament she was supposed to use magic to escape from, but she never came close to overwhelming Amber's spells.  But today would be the day, for sure.  Today would be the day she reached deeper, tried harder, and proved to her owner that she deserved the honor of being her Apprentice, for real.

This was how Linny became the official cook of Amber's household, after all - it had started as a game.  Linny couldn't read, so recipes were beyond her, and she couldn't use magic so many of the kitchen tools were useless to her.  Amber had set the rules of the game - she had to prepare something that the witch liked to eat, that she enjoyed - but she would give no hints, no clues, and no help.

And Patch had come to the rescue.

Patch had helped her by drawing little pictures next to the recipes to give her a visual guide of what ingredients went in what and by this point, Linny had them all memorized.

She would never forget the look of surprise on Amber's face when she took that first bite of her second and final attempt at cooking - if Linny had failed that night, the game would have been done.  But she hadn't.  Linny had succeeded and the demon became Amber's personal chef.  Not every dish was a success, especially if Linny was trying something new, but Amber really seemed to enjoy her cooking, and it made the Azurite feel... important.

Useful.

And so, Linny stared up at her adoring witch, beaming with pride at being seen as cute, with a hidden resolve stronger than any she ever felt before.

Linny was ready.

Amber reached into Linny's robes and stuck a finger in the leg band of her diaper.  When Linny was this small, the diapers were much thicker.  They would hold.  But Amber wanted to make sure Linny had every opportunity to win.  That made losing so much sweeter.

"Only a little damp," Amber said proudly. "Are you ready, Little Linny?"

The tiny blue demon nodded her head... and that was all the consent Amber needed.  Reaching out with her hands,  she drew a sigil with her magic in the air.  A red arc, crossing itself, with flourishes Linny had never seen before.  Thick red ribbons swirled on the ground around Linny's feet and rose into the air.  The space around Linny became less space and more ribbon, until finally, there was no space at all.

The spell took no more than five seconds and, in the end, it left Linny trapped in a transparent red bubble.  It formed beneath her feet and only an inch above her head.  With her arms out, she could touch the elastic surface, but Amber knew there was no hope of the girl breaking through.  It was as powerful as Amber's magic itself.

Linnea braced herself to be hoisted by the ribbons again, though she was a little surprised.  It wasn't like Amber to do the same thing twice and that had been the very first apprentice challenge.  As the ribbons wrapped around her, more tightly than ever, as the world slowly blackened by the threads of magic.

Before the panic flooded her, just as the fear was beginning to trickle into her heart, the world became visible again and she was once more looking at Amber's smiling face - through a thin, red barrier.  Once again, she was floating above the ground, suspended and helpless... but this time she could move.  She had just enough room in the bubble to stand, and it appeared to be a perfect sphere.  Linny reached out and pressed her hand to the solid magical energies - it had give, it was soft, she could push it outward but it did not break.

She was trapped in a bubble.

"You know the rules," Amber reminded her now-purple-skinned demon through the red tint of the bubble.  Her voice came through muffled and quiet. "Dispel my magic and you win.  If your diaper leaks, I win."

Linny looked around, above and below - it was completely encircling her, making the usual surroundings of Amber's home a faint red everywhere she looked, unexpectedly unfamiliar and slightly foreboding.

Her diaper was a timer - there was no holding her bladder for Linny, there never had been.  She reached down and squeezed the padding herself, confirming what Amber had said.  She smiled proudly at her witch, trying her best to hide the uncertainty she felt.

"I'll do my best, Miss Amber!" she announced, her voice squeaky and echoing on the walls of the bubble.  She pushed again and wondered absently if she could use the potions pin to pop the translucent elastic prison... but that was against the rules.

She had to use magic.

So Linny knelt - as best she could - in the center of the bubble, her thighs spread wide by the absurdly thick diaper that Amber had taped her in, and tried to assume the meditation pose she had seen her cherished witch channel magic in for countless hours.  She closed her eyes and focused... but the bubble was everywhere, pressing in on her thoughts just as it separated her from the safety and comfort of her home.

Linnea didn't know how many tries she had left to prove herself, and her resolve that had seemed so strong just moments before felt far distant, like she had accidentally dropped it on the wrong side of the bubble.

I can do this! she focused, taking a deep breath the way Amber would…

Her familiar was trying so hard; Amber couldn't help but smile.  The witch put her hand on the front of the bubble and pushed it, rattling the demon contained inside from her meditation as she tumbled and rolled down the hall like a marble in a pinball machine.  Amber mused quietly, wondering how many points she had gotten as she watched Linny bounce off the kitchen cupboards.  When she was a child, Amber loved arcades - to her, this was something similar to nostalgia.

Just as she began to center, the world was tumbling - the bubble was no longer levitating and instead she was rolling around like a peppercorn through the kitchen.  Linny winced as she bumped into walls and rolled down the hall, helpless and bracing herself against the soft membrane of the bubble as the world rolled around her.  One moment she was looking at the polished floor she had worked so hard on, the next moment she was looking at the ceiling, the light fixtures that obviously needed to be dusted.  As she bounced off a wall, she stared at the furniture going by helplessly.  Each blink of her eyes showed Amber's home at a new angle and she pressed her arms and legs against the bubble, riding out the momentum as she slowed to a stop.

A sharp knock at the door broke Amber’s fun.  She puffed out her cheeks in frustration and let out a sigh.  Whenever she started to have fun, work would get in the way.

"Linny, darling.  Please answer the door," Amber called wryly, knowing her dizzy new hamster had no way of turning the knob.  It's like having a pet familiar again, Amber thought brightly.

When the world ceased being a series of disconnected flashes - ceiling, floor, ceiling, floor, walls, lights, furniture... Linny registered the command.

"Yes Miss Amber," she called, settling her stomach and pushing on the edge of the ball to roll toward the front door.  She had no idea how she was going to open it, but ignoring a direct order was not an option.  She stared up at the doorknob, gulping.

Amber watched as her familiar reached for the knob, but failed to grip it through the bubble.  The witch crossed her arms and took on a serious demeanor, as fake as it was. 

"Linnea, someone is at the door, now open it."

Another knock echoed through the house.  Louder.  Urgent.  Amber wondered who it would be this late at night.  Obviously work.  But who?  And why?  What couldn't wait until tomorrow?  Suddenly her game was less important.  She sighed in disappointment.

"Move aside." With nothing but a hand on the top of the bubble, she rolled Linnea away from the front door.  Linny's feet tripped out from under her, dropping her hard on her padded behind.  From her seat on the floor, she watched Amber open the door to reveal a face she knew quite well.  Miss Alizon - Patch's witch.  But as far as Linny could tell, Patch wasn't with her.

Amber didn’t really consider Alizon a real friend - they were coworkers.  They worked in the same department and they both served as Third Swords in The Order, but Amber was remarkably more talented than Alizon, and much younger too.  That was the kind of thing that might breed resentment if Alizon wasn't happy in her role.  Luckily for the both of them, she was.

Miss Alizon's eyes were Linny’s favorite thing about her, shimmering sapphires, and her lips and hair matched.  Dark, dark blue that reminded Linnea of her own skin, of her own people - but there was no relation, no connection.  But Linny couldn't help but think her beautiful.

"Good evening, Amber," Miss Alizon's matter-of-fact voice came from the other side of the door.  Linny had always liked Miss Alizon and once she got to her feet, she rolled her bubble back toward the kitchen. She stopped a moment to watch the two witches, though she knew she probably shouldn’t; the clock was ticking and she would have a better opportunity to focus with Miss Amber busy.  She hadn't realized that the game would involve her witch actively distracting her, as if channeling magic wasn't a difficult enough task.

Linny pushed down her disappointment that Patch hadn’t come along and rolled away quickly, hoping she wouldn't be called upon to serve drinks.

"I apologize for disturbing you," Alizon stole a glance down the hall as the bubbled familiar rolled away, but ignored Spoiled Linnea.  "I have been tasked with delivering a message to you... and planning our trip."

"A message?" Amber opened her door fully, inviting Alizon inside; there was a sitting room to the left just past the entryway for occasions like this.  As Alizon passed the coatrack, she didn't take off her cloak.  So it wouldn't be a long visit.

Once the two were seated, Alizon passed a note to Amber, folded over and emblazoned with the Siren sigil, a magical seal.  Amber pushed her index finger against it and her hand glowed red.  The seal broke.

For Amber Rheylin...

Her eyes drifted from the right side of the page to the left, and flicked back to the start.  Words sank in.  The red witch's expression was confused, then curious, and then, finally, disbelief.

"Jade Mazzi?  Why would she be at the Grand Archive?"

"Some are saying the High Manticore gave the order," Alizon said quietly.

For years, Jade had been a favorite of the Manticores.  She was unfairly elevated into her position alongside Amber, because she was the High Manticore's daughter.  But now Gaida herself had sent her to the Archive, only days before the Alchemy and Higher Learning conference.  It was a test... a test Jade couldn't pass.

A smile broke out across Amber's face.  Finally, she had an advantage on Jade Mazzi.

"I assume your message says the same as mine.  Why, Amber?" Alizon asked bluntly, her face expressionless but her eyes puzzled.  "I cannot figure it out.  Why would the High Manticore send Jade Mazzi of all people on this task?  She has nothing to gain and everything to lose - everyone knows that Jade is an imbecile when it comes to alchemy... so what is her game?  What could she possibly be up to?"  She hesitated, her worry finally showing through.  "What am I not seeing?"

Alizon sighed, standing and pacing the floor in the sitting room.  It was rude, but the two were peers - for now - and Alizon was obviously troubled.

"This was my task; it's frankly beneath you.  I was going to anchor the team against the Manticores, we were going to gain some small ground... no real advancements have been made in this field in decades, the competition is almost entirely for show."  She stopped cold and looked Amber in the eyes, her fear plain.  "If they're bringing you in, it means that the Manticores know something and... I'm not good enough to figure out what.  What do they know, Amber?  What trick does Jade Mazzi have up her sleeve?"

"I'm not sure," Amber answered honestly, but she wasn't half as worried as Alizon.  No, she was brimming with excitement!  A chance to go at Jade head on and in potions no less!  This was exactly what Amber wanted.  This was exactly what she needed to take the Second Scepter spot and leave Jade in the dust.

"Don't worry, Allie.  Whatever is going on, we'll figure it out."

The truth was, Jade wasn't that bright.  If there really was a master plan, it wasn't hers.  No, there was only ever one person pulling the strings in the Manticore Keep, and it wasn't the prodigal child.

"I'll pack tonight," Amber assured Alizon. "We'll leave for the Archive in the morning.  Get Patch ready to go and see if Morgan is available." Morgan wasn't any good at potions or spellscribes, but what was a vacation without your best friend?

Alizon bristled - she hated being called Allie and Amber had a familiar to do her errands.  Being sent to check on Amber’s “bubbly bestie” was demeaning.  But Alizon knew she wasn't going to be the leader of this expedition - House Manticore had something planned, some trick, some secret discovery that they were going to have Jade reveal and secure the Manticore's control over Amulette for an another generation.

It was the only explanation.

Giada herself could have made the discovery, but Jade would get the credit as she did for everything - the High Manticore had nothing to gain personally.  Alizon shuddered at the thought of Jade becoming High Manticore.

No, if there was any hope at all, it would be Amber who would be behind it.  She would be Second Scepter like Morgan soon, everyone knew it.  Alizon knew should be using this opportunity to cozy up to the woman, but she couldn't quite suppress her irritation.

"I'll be bringing my troublesome faerie, don't fret," Alizon she promised flatly.  She was constantly annoyed with Patch, but the fae-familiar was still preferable to any Azurite.  "She's much more clever than a demon, after all.  Shouldn't your familiar be the one running the errands, Amber?"

"I'm just teasing!  No need to make it personal." Amber smirked and Alizon sighed the way they always did.  Their relationship had been the same for many years.  But Amber always respected her coworker.

While showing Alizon out the door, Amber conceded: "I'll send Linny."  She had hoped to keep tonight's game going a little longer, but work was more important.  Especially this time.  She closed the door behind Alizon and went to the kitchen to find her tiny purple demon in the tiny red bubble.

"I have good news, Little Linny!  We're going on a trip to the Grand Archive.  Isn't that exciting."

"Mm.." Linny was obviously trying to concentrate.  But Amber had a task for her.  Their game was over for now.

"Linny, pay attention now." She opened her eyes and looked up at her Amber from her tiny confined prison.  Then again, Amber thought, a few more minutes of playing couldn't hurt. 

"For being such a good apprentice these past few days, I'm going to give you a reward.  One kiss on the lips."

Linny’s mind was spinning, still trying to figure out a way to win the game.

The spark just wouldn't come!

Miss Alizon had provided the perfect distraction and she had been trying so hard but she just couldn't...

The beautiful Witch's words finally registered in Linny's ears and her cheeks flushed a deep blue as she opened her eyes to see her waiting owner.  She had leaned down until she was eye-level with Linnea, the gorgeous red of her lips only enhanced by the bubble, those lips that were waiting, pursed, pressed to the other side of the thin barrier.  Would she still be able to feel their warmth?

A kiss.

A real kiss.  A voluntary kiss, not a stolen kiss like Dove shared.  A real... it was almost too much.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Linny leaned forward and pressed her lips to the bubble where Amber's rested, wishing with all she was that the bubble wasn't there, that she would be able to feel Amber's warmth, that she could taste those lips.

That the kiss could be even more real.  She wanted it more than she'd ever wanted anything in her entire life…

Amber pulled back with a sigh and put her finger to the surface of the bubble, where her lips had left a print on its surface.  Linny's eyes flickered open, looking up with sheer euphoria and sheer disappointment.  Her trembling finger touched the bubble.

"So close, Linnea... and still so far..."

A light flickered inside the bubble.  A glare from the overhead lights, Amber thought.  But the light returned, brighter.  A shimmering pink, flaring around Linnea's purple hand.  But it wasn't purple anymore; as the bubble dissolved, Amber saw Linny in her natural colors.  She saw the glowing magic on the demon's fingertips.  Pink magic.  There was no such thing as pink magic...

Amber broke the silence with a whisper. 

"What the hell did you just do...?"

"The spark," Linny whispered, sagging from her expended energy.  She felt so tired, so very sleepy - but it had worked.  "The spark, Miss Amber... I did it."  Her heart soared, she had managed to call the spark, Miss Amber had seen the spark... the red bubble had been dismantled by Linny’s magic and her diaper wasn't leaking.  "I did it."

[Wannatripbaby]

Pink Magic? Never seen before? That sounds vaguely reminiscent of Glitchtale (not that I'm accusing you of stealing.) This will certainly be interesting...

My guess as to what is going on is something along the lines of: because Amber treats Linny like a human with real, human love, part of her magic--her very soul--has bound itself to Linny. That's why her magic is pink. It's Red Magic that's been deluded or thinned out.

[bbykimmy]

8 minutes ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Pink Magic? Never seen before? That sounds vaguely reminiscent of Glitchtale (not that I'm accusing you of stealing.) This will certainly be interesting...

My guess as to what is going on is something along the lines of: because Amber treats Linny like a human with real, human love, part of her magic--her very soul--has bound itself to Linny. That's why her magic is pink. It's Red Magic that's been deluded or thinned out.

Grammar patrol:  You meant "diluted"

I've actually never heard of Glitchtale, I'll have to look that one up.

I like your theory!  I won't confirm or deny if it's true, of course.  But I love reader theories.

This was the end of Act 1, so we won't be posting again on this one for a while.  We're probably a quarter of the way through Act 2, but I've been really busy with work and Sophie has been busy with school so we haven't made a ton of progress lately.  I hope you and everyone else is enjoying the ride!

[Wannatripbaby]

55 minutes ago, bbykimmy said:

Grammar patrol:  You meant "diluted" 

*clutches chest* ARGH! She got me! This is the big one! *keels over* ?

*Raises back up as a Grammar Ghost to haunt the illiterate for all eternity*

59 minutes ago, bbykimmy said:

I've actually never heard of Glitchtale, I'll have to look that one up

It'san Undertale fan series and it is PHENOMENAL! Between the animation, storytelling, and augio design Camila is one of the most talented content creators I've ever seen! To put it into perspective, she only puts out a new episode overy 4-6 months and she managed to gain over half a MILLION subscribers on YouTube over the past few years!

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a pretty big fan. ?

1 hour ago, bbykimmy said:

I like your theory!  I won't confirm or deny if it's true, of course.  But I love reader theories.

This was the end of Act 1, so we won't be posting again on this one for a while.  We're probably a quarter of the way through Act 2, but I've been really busy with work and Sophie has been busy with school so we haven't made a ton of progress lately.  I hope you and everyone else is enjoying the ride

Plus with KH3 coming out in less than two weeks we probably won't be seeing much of Sophie for a while. ?

[Sophie ♥]

35 minutes ago, Wannatripbaby said:

Plus with KH3 coming out in less than two weeks we probably won't be seeing much of Sophie for a while. ?

DAMN RIGHT YOU WONT!  

(Also, I've never heard of Glitchtale either, though I like Undertale quite a lot.)

[Wannatripbaby]

1 hour ago, Sophie ♥ said:

DAMN RIGHT YOU WONT!  

(Also, I've never heard of Glitchtale either, though I like Undertale quite a lot.)

I'll link season 1. Go take 43ish minutes of your life and watch it RIGHT NOW!

It almost made ME cry!

 https://youtu.be/bRKnF2lV-5M 

[CDfm]

Oh my, that was so good! What is Amber going to do now? I am thrilled that Linny was able to bring out her pink magic. I have no idea how all this is supposed to work but it seems that love is a pretty strong magic. Act one brought us to an awesome cliffhanger with so many different possibilities I can’t wait to read more. I was thrilled I could give it one like but would really like to give it two.