Emerald Princess - Revised Edition - Epilogue (5/18/2023)

[littlepinkdargon]

? ? ?

[BabySofia]

3 minutes ago, littlepinkdargon said:

? ? ?

? Thanks!

[LittleFenny]

The one good part about a busy work week is that I got to binge the whole week's posts. It's been long enough that I really mostly remember the final chapters and then only the major events. So even with the déjà vu it is still lots of fun reading these early chapters. I'll just have to try and be a good kit and wait patiently for more. Thank you for the posts!

[BabySofia]

18 hours ago, LittleFenny said:

The one good part about a busy work week is that I got to binge the whole week's posts. It's been long enough that I really mostly remember the final chapters and then only the major events. So even with the déjà vu it is still lots of fun reading these early chapters. I'll just have to try and be a good kit and wait patiently for more. Thank you for the posts!

Thanks for the comment! I don't know how I missed this one earlier! (I've been trying to write up a storm earlier here!) I'll have another post up tomorrow sometime! ?

[BabySofia]

Chapter 26: Results

WE WERE SENT into Mrs. Hensley’s office by her secretary shortly after arriving. “Come have a seat over here on my couch, ladies,” she told us.

Being in the principal’s office was at least slightly less scary. “Okay, I’m swamped this time of year, but I wanted to ensure I took care of getting your schedules done personally due to your… umm…?”

“Weird?” I suggested.

“Odd,” Hannah suggested with a smile.

“Unique,” Mrs. Hensley said with her own smile, “unique circumstances.”

“Thank you,” I said simply, and Hannah’s voice overlaid mine.

“You two must have been great friends before all of this?” She asked.

“Us and our friend Jacob… we were like the three musketeers,” I told her.

“We grew up with each other,” Hannah added.

“Well, it seems that’s been good for you two now.” She paused to shuffle some papers, “Okay, well, the first thing is to let you know what your powers testing showed.”

Hannah squeaked and started to shake just a little bit.

“Hannah, since you haven’t been told anything yet, let’s start with you.” She paused and pressed a few times on the tablet she held, “First, you’re a Paradigm Level 2. You’re at genius intellect levels mentally and about as strong as a normal human can get. Next, you can sense emotions from others and discern who is feeling what. We label that as an Empath Level 2 talent. Next, you seem to be Level 2 in Danger Cognition. Your main abilities seem related to the Pyrokinetic blasts you can make. They rated you a Level 5 in Pyrokinesis. Your blasts seem to reach around 1500 degrees Celsius, and you can pinpoint them to the accuracy of a dime at one-hundred feet. You also have a Telekinesis ability that we rate at Level 2. Tests show you can lift up to two hundred pounds from a distance of fifty feet. The power is fairly useful since you seem to have a very fine level of control as if you’re using your hand. The final thing they noted was that you seem to be a Regen Level 5. Meaning you should heal very well if you get hurt.”

I smiled at Hannah, “You’re a tough cookie!”

“Yes, you are,” Mrs. Hensley agreed. “Don’t get overconfident around here, though,” she advised.

Hannah nodded and squeezed me, “What about this one?”

“Sofia’s tests were interesting. We already had a foundation with hers from Los Alamos, of course,” she smiled at me, “but we can test here beyond theirs. The device you went through last night is one of a kind built by one of the technomages we have on staff that has helped our accuracy improve. So far, it seems to give about the same results as our established tests, but once in a while picks up on some powers that slip by us. We may ask Sofia to undergo additional tests in a few weeks to confirm the device.”

“What changed?” I asked.

“Well, obviously, your main talent is your Avatar talent. We agree with Level 5 from your previous testing there. Esens Level 3 also did not change,” I nodded. She took a deep breath and said, “We’re labeling you a Copyist Level 1 because you seem to be able to take on Hannah’s talent. We think this is likely due to your nursing from her?” She shook her head, “Not really sure. It lets you have the equivalent of a Level 1 Pyrokinesis with your blasts.”

“Cool,” I said off-handedly. It was kind of, in a way. I wondered if I stopped nursing if I would still have it, though?

“Next, your Paradigm Level stayed at Level 4, borderline Level 5. One of our technicians was leaning towards five in his assessment. But, the device went with four, so we’re sticking with that.”

Not much had changed so far; how she spoke before made me wonder about my Magic level.

“The last power that showed up obviously is your Magic power. Mrs. Raspin and the device seemed to think you’re a Level 7 here.”

I looked at her and said, “You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head, “I’m afraid not. It’s probably partially due to Caireen being involved. Still, you fit our definition simply by how you interact with Ley Lines. Mrs. Raspin noted that you also blew through her protection circle easier than anyone else she’s had before.” She sighed and seemed to age a decade in her posture. I watched her pull her glasses off her face as she looked at me, “Sofia, I have to implore you to be very careful with your use of magic. Level 7 Magic abilities are exceedingly rare. We’ve only had a couple dozen at Bechtel since the school was founded at that level or greater. Those levels of magic very often lead to self-destruction... On the other hand, you have more power at your fingertips than almost anyone else.”

I nodded, “The whole with great power thing…?”

Hannah squeezed me reassuringly again. “So, did the device come up with any other results?”

Mrs. Hensley nodded, “Age regression seems to be a common side-effect with high-level paradigms, so the device was designed to pinpoint the exact age of a student. Hannah, you’re showing up as being 16.”

“Wait, what?” Hannah asked. “I feel like I got older… not younger?!?!”

Mrs. Hensley shrugged, “I’ll be honest, the device hasn’t been wrong yet. But, I think you may be perceiving the changes brought about by your Paradigm trait?”

“And what about me?” I squirmed.

She looked at me and gave me a kind smile like she was about to pronounce a death sentence or something. “Well, this is where the device and our doctors really can’t make up their minds. So the Device is saying eighteen months.”

I nodded, “That’s what the doctor said earlier,” I sighed, “but...?”

“But the doctors think you could be more like right at twenty to twenty-two months based on your dentition, height, and skeletal structure.”

“So, are you changing my GEID data?” I asked.

She shrugged, “I’m going to leave that up to you. We probably should split the difference and change it to twenty months. However, I have seen enough out of the machine to believe it’s probably more accurate at eighteen months.”

Hannah squeezed me in a hug, and I just nodded, “Go ahead and change it to eighteen months, I guess… I definitely qualify for free everything at restaurants now, right?”

Hannah laughed behind me, “Somehow, I don’t think your appetite is what they have in mind for ‘kids eat free.’”

Mrs. Hensley cracked a small smile herself. “There’s one other thing that the Device did seem to confirm on you, Sofia... We can rerun the test in a few months, but the results indicate that you aren’t aging.”

“I kind of figured that. I guess I’ll spend a lifetime as a baby.” I felt a tear going down my cheek, which Hannah wiped away and kissed the top of my head.

“Hannah, I won’t be surprised to see you reach eighteen again with your body and then freeze at a certain age. The doctors have made notes that they’ll test you both again in three months.”

Hannah nodded.

“Well, here are your new GEIDs and your official student IDs,” she said, handing over two new cards to us. “Sofia, do you have your old GEID so I can destroy it?”

I nodded and reached into my storage place for my purse and to give it to her. She smiled at me and said, “You both have great pictures on these!”

“Okay, now that we have all your test results, I think we need to talk about your coursework. You were almost done with high school and taking very advanced courses.”

I sighed and nodded, “So it’s official, back to preschool for me?”

She laughed, “No, but I think it would do both of you good to consider this a chance to explore some of our more specialized coursework. Also, because of your abilities in your other subjects, I think you two could benefit from working on this for more than six months or even a year.”

Hannah nodded, “So sophomores...?” I couldn’t blame her for trying, even with the discussions on Sunday about us being freshmen.

Mrs. Hensley looked thoughtfully but shook her head. “Because you’re coming in so late this year and already rooming on the freshmen floor, I think it would be better for you both just to go ahead and be freshmen.”

“I’ll never make it to college!” Hannah groaned.

“We will be sure that you work on some coursework over the next couple of years that will make it to where you can enter college as at least a junior. So it’ll make up for that a little bit,” Hensley said.

“I guess,” I heard her grouse behind me. I leaned into her and turned around to give her a hug.

“Thanks, Sofia,” she told me.

We spent the next hour putting together our two schedules as best as possible. We both ended up with Costume Design I, Powers Fundamentals, Power Exploration, and Calculus II. Separately my schedule listed Magic I, Intro to Magic Theory, Mythical Fundamentals, and an Advanced Martial Arts class without her. Hannah would split off and had Esens I, World History, Intro to Psychic Arts, and a Firearms Basics class on her schedule. I wanted to take the Firearms class too, but there just wasn’t room in my schedule. As it was, we would both have a class after dinner each day. Mrs. Hensley tried tweaking the schedule as best as possible to allow us to meet up at least every other hour, even if we didn’t have classes together.

“Thank you for your help with this,” Hannah said politely as we wrapped up.

“It’s my pleasure,” she told us both. “Try and make it by the bookstore in the next couple of hours before they close so you can get your materials and supplies.”

“Okay,” Hannah said before we left her office and bundled up in our coats.

Ms. Hensley’s secretary gave us an odd look as we walked out the doors, past the reception area, and out of the building, where we could see snow flurries starting up. “Remind me to wear tights tomorrow!” I said to Hannah as I shivered.

Suddenly the air around me was warm, though. “What did you do?” I asked her.

She looked down at me and shrugged, “I guess I can warm up the air too?”

“That’s cool… I guess we don’t need coats when you do that?” I suggested.

Suddenly, it was cold again, and I glared at her. “Well, I haven’t quite got the knack for that yet. But, maybe you can learn a spell.” She said with a bashful smile.

Caireen said, ‘there is one, but I think tights would be good until spring comes anyway.’

I just sighed, “Where are we going now?”

“The bookstore, like she said?”

“Are you going to make it any longer than my diaper is?” I asked. For once, I noticed it was squishy without someone else telling me.

“Our room first?” She said with a grimace.

I nodded.

Unfortunately, Trident seemed to be the furthest building away from anything! Hannah walked quickly, though, and it wasn’t too long before Hannah carried me through the doors and sat me down on my feet in the lobby. Ms. Lang stopped us as we passed her room and said, “There were a bunch of boxes that came for you two today. I took the liberty of putting them by your door.”

“Thanks,” Hannah said and smiled at me. “Shall we go see what our mommies sent us?”

I smiled, “I’m hoping for cookies!”

She laughed and patiently waited while I walked beside her up the stairs to the second floor on my own two feet. It wasn’t that I moved that slowly; I just had a very wet diaper that seemed to have gravity trying to pull it off my body, even with the help of the onesie. I grimaced since my skirt seemed to be having issues too. ‘Caireen, do you think you could make some of these outfits with the skirt attached to a onesie?’

‘Sure,’ she seemed to smile at me, ‘I thought it was a good idea yesterday too, but I didn’t want to push you into that one.’

‘Thanks, but I think it’ll be easier to deal with for us.’

Walking down the hallway to our room, I noticed the dorm seemed almost eerily quiet, with all our friends and fellow students off at their classes. A large pile of boxes sat in front of the door to our room. “Wow, our moms went a bit overboard?” Hannah suggested.

I looked at the pile as she unlocked our door and shook my head. Hannah and I dragged the boxes in and began opening them up. We put the contents on the ground where I could help sort them. My mom had sent me several large packages of diapers, dozens of baby bottles, pacifiers, bibs, clothes, hair supplies, shampoo, and toothpaste. She had even included some stuffed animals - including the bear Hannah had given me in the hospital. I shrugged at most of it as boring necessities. Many of them had already been provided by Caireen and the school. The items I did treasure were framed photos she sent. There were the pictures we had taken Saturday, pictures of our family before my emergence, and even pictures of my grandparents and extended family. With Caireen’s help, I took a moment to magically hang all of them above my desk. I had a few tears going down my face with homesickness as I looked at a picture of Lily and myself from the other day.

In another box, I found a pink Disney Princess backpack with Belle, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. Mom had thoughtfully stocked the front pocket with pens and pencils, but I couldn’t help but notice the kids’ backpack was huge compared to my body! Even being one of the smaller kids’ backpacks, it was two-thirds my size! I looked at it thoughtfully and then instinctively used magic to make it shrink in its outward appearance. ‘Caireen, how do I make it larger inside like you’ve done with this room?’

I could feel her pride as she instructed me on how to do it. I then made the main compartment much more extensive than any regular backpack and divided it into several sections. So I could keep spare diapers, clothes, books, and maybe a bottle or two and still have some extra space. Hannah had stopped opening boxes to watch then, “That is so cool!”

I smiled, “And the backpack fits me and looks’ totes adorbs,’ right?”

She laughed at me, “Please don’t ever say ‘totes adorbs’ again?”

“Why, I am, according to Esmie!”

“I am never letting you talk to her again!”

I just laughed, “You want me to do this to your backpack too?” Her mom had sent her own well-used purple Jansport backpack out to her.

“Please?”

I just smiled and motioned for her to hand it to me. She grabbed a few things from the main compartment first, and then I began working to help her have the space for stuff for her and anything she might want to carry for me in there too. It was now the world’s best student backpack and diaper bag a young mom could need!

“Thank you, Sofia!” she said with a big smile, and she stocked it for herself. Next, we sorted the rest of the makeup, clothes, and other supplies her mom had sent her.

“They did send cookies!” Hannah said as she opened the final box. Inside was a package of microwave popcorn, homemade cookies, and even some dried red chile pods!

Nearly an hour later, she had changed my diaper, nursed me, and we were on our way to the bookstore with her backpack on her shoulders. I also wore mine and enjoyed the novelty of walking across campus on my own two legs. Mrs. Hensley had mentioned that our IDs held money that our parents had loaded into them and any money we might earn on-campus jobs to spend there. Following the directions we were given, we soon found the campus store.

“Whoa…” Hannah said when we entered the doors.

“I can’t really see anything,” I told her. She leaned over and picked me up so I could see. From a taller vantage point, I could see that we were in a store that would rival Walmart for supplies. It seemed to have electronics and components in one section of the store, making even an old Fry’s store seem pitiful. Hannah noticed traditional shopping carts were sitting next to the door. I waited in her arms while she grabbed one, put the seat down, and then set me down. Unlike a regular cart seat, this one seemed to sense a baby and automatically buckled a belt across my waist.

I frowned, “This isn’t fair!”

Hannah laughed, “You haven’t been in one of these since you emerged, have you?”

I shook my head, “Mom never made me go into Walmart or the grocery store. The closest we might have been would have been the stores on Saturday, but you all pushed us in the stroller or let us walk?”

She smiled reassuringly, “I promise I’ll let you out if you want to look at something.”

I huffed and spent the next ten minutes looking at her rather than the store from my fixed viewpoint. She would grab items from shelves, which would be my only real opportunity to see what was there. “Please let me out?” I asked.

She sighed, “Alright, but you have to stay with me!”

I nodded.

She poked at a button on the buckle and released me from the restraint before setting me down on the ground. I still couldn’t see past the aisle we were on, but at least I could look around it! As we followed the maze, I got the impression you would never have to leave the campus for anything. First, there were your basic necessities for hygiene and groceries. Then there were whole sections of clothing, movies, games, electronics, computers, and finally, the books and supplies we came for!

It took us a half hour to look at our course schedules and the required texts to find all of the books for us. Next, we found some needed supplies for the courses. For example, my magic courses required specific items, and Hannah needed a gi for her beginning martial arts class. Finally, we carefully split each other’s things into two separate piles at the cashier.

“Why aren’t you the cutest little girl?” The cashier asked of me.

I smiled, “So I hear.”

She looked blankly at me for a moment but processed our items, “Okay, that’ll be six hundred and ninety-four dollars,” she said with a smile at Hannah with my pile. Somehow, she seemed to be missing me handing her my student ID.

“Ma’am, that stuff is mine; here’s my ID.”

The lady looked at me suddenly like I’d grown two other heads. “Umm…”

“I’m a student,” I reassured her.

She looked like she was about to faint as she ran my card and passed me a receipt. I had only purchased my books and a few other supplies. I pulled my backpack off my shoulders, took the shopping bags she had placed the items in, and shoved it all quickly inside my backpack. I zipped it up and put it back on my shoulders. I couldn’t help but grin at the lady as she looked like she was about to faint.

She caught herself, though, and quickly rang up Hannah without saying another word. She’d picked up more items than I had. Still, she was also able to throw everything in her enlarged backpack. Hannah picked me up and placed me on her hip. At the same time, surreptitiously, she checked my diaper, “Come on, Sofia, let’s go find the restroom before we head back to our room.”

I watched the lady practically have her eyes pop out of her head as Hannah carried me into a nearby ladies’ room. We both giggled as she pulled down the changing table on the wall.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Thank you for reading! Please press the ‘Like’ Button if you’ve enjoyed it! Comments are always super appreciated as well!

If you're someone who must finish a good story 'now,' consider purchasing the full book on Amazon Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTBTTGX1  I will be posting a chapter about every other day until the complete 62 Chapters and the Epilogue are reposted.

[Baby Billy]

Hi, I just have a question, is the copy on amazon the revised version??

[BabySofia]

2 minutes ago, Baby Billy said:

Hi, I just have a question, is the copy on amazon the revised version??

Yes it is, let me know if you have any other questions! ?

[Baby Billy]

4 hours ago, BabySofia said:

Yes it is, let me know if you have any other questions! ?

Not really, I read Seems the other day on my Kindle book and it was edited well.  Just one mistake I fond in both versions ( in the chapter after the attack when Ivy and Holly were watching Lord of the rings you said that Ivy had to change one of Ivy's diaper instead of Holly's.  When you edit Between in court I would say Gina disappeared 7 years ago not 10 because 10 years ago before Christmas because Aubry did not even know Cameron yet.?   

[BabySofia]

4 minutes ago, Baby Billy said:

Not really, I read Seems the other day on my Kindle book and it was edited well.  Just one mistake I fond in both versions ( in the chapter after the attack when Ivy and Holly were watching Lord of the rings you said that Ivy had to change one of Ivy's diaper instead of Holly's.  When you edit Between in court I would say Gina disappeared 7 years ago not 10 because 10 years ago before Christmas because Aubry did not even know Cameron yet.?   

I'll try and go fix that at some point soon and post an updated file. 

I'm hoping to publish In-Between this summer. I have a big switch in my brain between 'writing brain' and 'editing brain' and the second I start editing I have a hard time writing for some reason. I'm hoping to get way ahead with LCW and then be able to edit In-Between for that summer release. It should be closer to being ready than most since DP has already been through it once. I'll check the timeline against what I have actually in my notes here when I get there. 

Emerald should have most of those kinds of errors gone at this point, but if you do find them let me know. One thing I do is occasionally upload a corrected file. I just put in an update for Emerald a little bit ago that'll be live at some point tonight or tomorrow I'd guess with some caught spots. 

Not to say I'm perfect, I write so much that there are bound to be mistakes no matter how many times we go through it!

24 minutes ago, Baby Billy said:

Just one mistake I fond in both versions ( in the chapter after the attack when Ivy and Holly were watching Lord of the rings you said that Ivy had to change one of Ivy's diaper instead of Holly's. 

If you clear the copy on your device and redownload that error is fixed. Thanks for your support! ?

[littlepinkdargon]

More smiley faces! Oh so loving this again.

[BabySofia]

13 hours ago, littlepinkdargon said:

More smiley faces! Oh so loving this again.

? Thanks!

[LittleFenny]

Yay, more! Mentioning Fry's Electronics is making me miss that place despite how aggravating they could be at times. I used to work just a short drive from one and would sometimes swing through over a lunch break. Now I'm hoping Microcenter will open up a store out here. (This little fox is a geek and happily getting geekier)

[BabySofia]

5 minutes ago, LittleFenny said:

Yay, more! Mentioning Fry's Electronics is making me miss that place despite how aggravating they could be at times. I used to work just a short drive from one and would sometimes swing through over a lunch break. Now I'm hoping Microcenter will open up a store out here. (This little fox is a geek and happily getting geekier)

Microcenter probably is the next best thing... I haven't lived near one of those in forever. Fry's closing broke my heart! I used to love shopping for toys there!

[LittleFenny]

6 hours ago, BabySofia said:

Microcenter probably is the next best thing... I haven't lived near one of those in forever. Fry's closing broke my heart! I used to love shopping for toys there!

From everything I've heard Microcenter is much better run than Fry's was. But half the charm of Fry's was the way they just picked up whatever struck their fancy and then left it on the shelf until it sold. The last time I visited the local one, which turned out to be after they'd had some sort of inventory liquidation outfit come through, was just depressing. They'd had a CD and DVD section bigger than some other stores, bigger than the old Suncoast or Sam Goody stores at the mall used to be back when the mall had music stores, and I always ended up spending at least a half hour just in that section. But that last time all the really old stock and even most of the current popular titles had been removed and the entire CD and DVD section was about seven feet of shelves along one wall. I left feeling terrible. Hearing that they'd actually closed not long after that almost felt like a mercy.

I'm going to just assume that in Hannah and Sofia's world some of the horrible stuff is balanced out by Fry's being way, way better than in our world. Maybe they even got into online sales right at the beginning and got the lion's share of the market for assorted electronics from appliances and laptops to baby monitors and breadboard supplies.

[BabySofia]

Chapter 27: Dark Creatures

 

THAT NIGHT AT dinner, Camille and our new friends all pumped us for information on her powers testing and our class schedules. “Now we just need to figure out who can go with Sofia to each class,” Hannah finished.

“Well, I have Magic Theory at the same time,” Camille told her, “and Knag and I both have Magical I at the same time too.”

Lizi nodded at the mention of her name. “We can just go straight from lunch over there,” she assured Hannah and me. “I have the same section of Powers Fundamentals, too,” she added.

“I have the Advanced Martial Arts class with her,” Volango piped in as I watched her munching on what had to be her fourth or fifth banana. Beth was obsessed with them, even if she tried to deny it!

“That only leaves Mythical Fundamentals,” Camille said. “Anyone taking that section?” She asked the friends sitting around the table. I watched as everyone shook their heads.

“Guess I get to be on my own for once,” I said, sort of happy and terrified simultaneously.

Hannah frowned, “How far is it from my history class to there?”

“It’s pretty much on the other side of the campus,” Hailey said.

“Look, it’ll be okay; I’m not ever really alone,” I reminded her.

She nodded, “I guess.”

“So, you both are starting tomorrow?” Esmie asked.

“Yeah,” I said before popping my bottle into my mouth.

Esmie smiled at me, “You are so cute!”

I just blushed and kept nursing the bottle until it was empty, and Hannah replaced it with my pacifier. I just took in the conversations around the table and tried to keep track of everything. Stories of student feuds like Streaked and me, others about villains’ actions in other towns, and horror stories of the EPC and Sanguis Primum continually were told. Something was always discussed that made everything feel completely unreal. When everyone finished eating, I jumped down from the table to return to the dorm. I thought I would get a chance to walk, but Beth picked me up and put me on her shoulders for a piggyback ride. “The view better up there?” She asked me.

I sighed, “I miss this being the view.” Or at least, I sort of said that through my pacifier.

“You’ll get used to it,” she assured me, “trust me.”

I didn’t say anything in response as we walked back to Trident. Once there, everyone ended up in our room for some last details. “Okay, so Sofia can’t change herself. It looks like I’ll be able to be there for a lot of her changes, but if she needs it, can you all change her?”

Camille smiled, “I’ll be happy to help!”

Beth looked a bit uncomfortable, “I’ve never changed a diaper before,” she admitted.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Hannah said and suddenly put me on the changing table.

“Do you…” I started to say and then felt the warning look from Hannah and the internal warning from Caireen.

‘This is what I’m talking about, Sofia,’ she said.

I sighed, “Get it over with, please…?” I looked at Hannah.

“Okay, Beth, you’ve at least got a good baby here to change. She doesn’t wriggle around like her sister!”

I smirked at that! Lily was a wriggle worm most of the time when she needed changed!

“Okay, the first thing you’re going to do if you’ve got a table is strapping her down so she can’t accidentally roll off,” Hannah instructed and had Beth do it. She was clearly uncomfortable with it but did it anyway. “Now she’s got this skirt on; just push it out of the way underneath her.”

Beth timidly pushed it up, “You’re not going to break me,” I told her.

“Sorry, I…”

“Didn’t grow up thinking you would have to be a mother?” Hannah smirked.

Beth shook her head, “No...” She looked almost a little upset, but she said, “Okay, I’m not going to break you, Sofia… Next is this onesie, I’m guessing?” After that, she gained confidence and made it to my diaper quickly.

“Go ahead and get another diaper ready to put underneath her,” Lizi suggested.

I turned red as I realized I had become the ultimate doll for all of the girls here. She exposed me with the pull of the two tapes on my diaper. “Wipe her really well front to back,” Hannah instructed. I was having difficulty keeping my composure as I had three friends and Hannah working together to change my wet diaper. “If it’s a dirty diaper, use the back of the diaper to wipe as much off her as you can,” she added.

After a seemingly interminable amount of time, I was in a dry diaper, and the onesie had been snapped shut. “Why don’t we leave the skirt off, Sofia,” Hannah suggested.

I just shrugged since Caireen hadn’t gotten around to attaching the skirt to the onesie. My friends had just seen me at my most vulnerable; what more embarrassment could come? Hannah grabbed my backpack and showed everyone where we would keep my diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers, and extra clothes. “It’s a good thing you can do magic,” Lizi noted, “I don’t know how you would have made it around without it.”

“Simple, a diaper bag,” Camille said, shaking her head while smiling. “Most mothers don’t have magical babies, and they get along just fine.”

Eventually, they left to do their homework, and Hannah closed the door to gain privacy. A nursing session was needed for her sake, and I finally logged onto the sweet computer I had on the desk. I discovered that unique games were only available to students here on a test basis and downloaded a couple. Before I could do more than make a character in one, Hannah said, “You want to call Jacob with me?”

I shrugged but walked over to join her at her desk. She used her computer to go ahead and set up a video chat with him. 

“Hey, Jacob!” She said.

“Hannah, Ni... Sofia!” He was somewhat excited. “Where are you two?” He started, “Your pictures were all over the news. They said you were wanted for a terrorist attack.”

I sighed, “We’re at a special school for Mergents. We were attacked at the mall and defended ourselves.”

“You’re okay then?” He asked.

“Yes,” Hannah said, “Just in a bit of shell shock.”

“Wait… Hannah, why are you there?”

“My parents didn’t call you?” she asked, a little annoyed.

“My parents grounded me from my phone. They may have called it? So I can’t get to my messages.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I might have decked a guy for making rude comments about you?” he answered sheepishly.

Hannah shook her head, “Well, Jacob, I’m here because I emerged too.”

“Wow!” Jacob said. I noticed him adjust something on his computer, and I was sure he was zooming in on Hannah. “You have the same eyes as Sofia now.”

“Yes,” Hannah said simply. We spoke together for an hour before his mom banged on his door, and he said goodbye quickly in a panic.

“Something tells me he wasn’t supposed to be on his computer,” I said.

“Nope!” Hannah sighed, “He’s going to be in so much trouble,” she shook her head, “typical Jacob!”

“Wow, it’s late, Sofia. We both have classes tomorrow.”

I sighed, “Bath time?”

She nodded. I followed her to the bathroom in just my onesie and drooping wet diaper. In the bathroom, I noticed that the other girls used two bathtubs, but the one I had used last night remained open. Hannah started a bubble bath for me with some of the soap mom had sent and plopped me inside the tub. While I played with the bubbles, she washed my body and hair. “Okay, Princess, we don’t need you wrinkling away!” She said as she picked me up and dried me with a towel. She wrapped me in it and carried me back to the room in her arms like an infant. The routine of diapering me, dressing me in a footed sleeper, and then nursing me to sleep while singing a lullaby was truly becoming… a routine.

 

IT WAS ALSO becoming routine to wake up in Caireen’s castle. Like yesterday she wasn’t in the room as I woke up. I had some dolls in my crib, so I began playing like I had been with Lily. I had to have been playing for a while when I felt a quick cramp and found myself squatting. ‘I can cry and get her attention… Or just keep playing…?’ I told myself. Right then, though, I found myself squatting a second time and went the crying route.

Caireen was in the room within a minute and picked me up, “Oh no, do we have a poopy diapee Princess?” She cooed at me, “Shhh… I’ll get you all cleaned up in a moment.”

She laid me on the changing table and worked to clean my bottom off. Routine was the action at this point, and I only squirmed a little as she worked to get me into a new diaper. After a quick nursing session, burping, she said, “I have to get some things done in court today. I want you to come with me.”

“Court?” I asked.

“It’s one of the things you have to do as Queen, sweetie, you’ll see,” She assured me.

One of the servants showed up at that time and bowed before saying, “All is ready for you, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you,” she said. “We’ll be ready in a moment.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said and exited the room.

“Let’s get you dressed properly!” Caireen said with a smile. She sat me on the ground, and I followed her to a wardrobe of fantastic dresses. One of them looked very much like the Sofia dress I had in the real world. She didn’t hesitate to pick that one and began dressing me in a petticoat and then the dress. My hair was piled onto my head quickly, and my tiara appeared in her hands.

“Well, Princess Sofia, I believe you’re ready to see what being a Queen is like today.”

I shrugged and said, “so, do they believe I’m your daughter in this kingdom?”

She nodded, “You are my daughter and my chosen successor here.”

“How can I…?”

“Someday… not anytime soon. Relax!” She smiled at me. “Behave and watch today.”

She picked me up and carried me down corridors and stairs until we came to a small receiving room with couches and a small fireplace. She sat me down and said, “You will wait here for a minute, and then my advisor Elizabeth will let you know when to enter.”

I felt nervous as she went through a door and down a hallway that I supposed must lead to a throne room? The door in my room shut with an ominous thud, and I heard one do so further down the hall. I felt my diaper grow wet from my nerves.

I paced a little bit and sillily practiced curtsying for no reason other than boredom. My dress was pretty, and I enjoyed twirling around in it for a moment too. I wondered how much longer it would be when I was surprised by a voice.

“Princess Sofia,” a lady had snuck up on me and curtseyed, “Your Highness, your mother is ready for you in the throne room.”

The lady was dressed in a simple but elegantly styled emerald green dress. “May I ask your name?”

“I’m Rosemerta,” she said.

Something inside me, for some reson, had an alarm bell ringing. I instantly wondered what had happened to Elizabeth. Caireen had very clearly said it would be Elizabeth coming for me. “What happened to Elizabeth?”

“She’s waiting in the throne room.”

“Mother told me Elizabeth was coming for me. Go get her and have her come.” I said. Something was not right here, and I began drawing in power to protect myself.

Suddenly the lady before me scowled, “Come along, you sniveling little baby!”

As she reached for me, I screamed and fired one of the energy blasts I had been taught to make at her. Rosemerta managed to jump away from most of the blast then, and only a bit of her arm was hit.

“You little bitch!” She cursed and lunged at me again. I dodged her and attempted to kick her in the head with a flying kick. I missed and hit her chest instead. She cursed again, got a hand on my foot, and dangled me from the air. “Little girls do not attack their elders!” She screamed at me and smacked me hard on my face. I felt her try to rip my tiara from my head, but all it did was make it feel like she was ripping my hair off!

I charged up another charge and managed to get her to drop me. Just as I rolled to a standing-up position Caireen and a dozen guards ran into the room. “Seize her!” Caireen commanded.

Rosemerta cackled and said, “Oh no, I don’t think so!” Somehow, I watched as she shapeshifted into a bat, of all things, and then flew out the open door. Caireen missed her with a spell, and we watched her fly away into the distance. “Secure the castle!” She said to her guards, and two of them left to carry out her orders. The others took up places at the two doors inside and out.

“Oh no, Sofia, are you okay?” Caireen asked me as she picked me up.

I could feel my face was bruising, and my leg hurt from how she had suspended me in the air. “I hurt,” I answered simply before I began bawling.

Caireen said, “I need a fresh diaper and a new dress for Princess Sofia.”

One of the guards bowed and said, “Right away, Your Majesty.”

I was still incoherently crying. I thought the castle would be safe from anything!

“Who was that?” I managed to sob.

Caireen shifted me in her lap to where I could see her face. Her own tear streaks and anger evident on her face. “One of many enemies I have…” she paused, “you remember my anger with the vampire comment you made?”

I nodded and felt my eyes open wide, shaking my head, “You’re kidding?”

She shook her head. “They’re not like your culture thinks of them. They don’t drink blood; they drink the manna within their victims for their own twisted magic.”

“And they can turn into bats?” I asked, “That’s real?”

“Some of them?” She shuddered in anger.

A woman in a servant’s uniform walked in and then to the room carrying a change for me. Caireen laid me on the floor and quickly changed my soaked diaper and dress. “Are you thirsty, baby?” She asked me when she was done.

I had mostly stopped sniffling by then and nodded. Then, without any sense of shame of the guards being present, she carried me to a chair and presented me with her breast. For once, I didn’t even feel embarrassed or need to resist; I just nursed for a long time until she burped me. While nursing, I could feel my manna refilling, and my face seemed to hurt less. She eventually stood up and said, “Court is canceled for today for security reasons, Princess, but I want to meet with my generals and you to come with me.”

With that, she carried me down the hallway she had disappeared to earlier. I nervously sucked on my thumb as another door to the throne room was opened by a guard and my mouth opened in shock. The room was gilded in gold accents with a patterned wooden floor that was extravagant enough on its own. The room was decorated with paintings like European castles often were. Still, this room somehow made the most luxurious castle I’d seen pictures of look like my parents’ house. On one end opposite us stood a set of doors fifteen feet in height and massive. I guessed that is the end visitors came through.

To my left, I saw a raised platform with six stairs leading to the top. There sat a large and a much smaller throne next to it. Both thrones were covered in green fabric and gilded legs and frames. I could see emeralds inlaid to the edges, and I couldn’t help but think, ‘mine?’

Caireen walked to the top of the dais and sat down with me in her lap. “Your Majesty, Your Highness, General Reginald is here with his staff,” a herald stated.

“Send them in!”

I watched as a giant of a man walked in with five other men behind him. They bowed before us and said, “Your Majesty, Your Highness, a million apologies for my failure to protect Princess Sofia. I will be stepping down...”

“No, you won’t,” I found myself saying. Yet, somehow, I knew this was a good guy, and it wouldn’t have mattered who it was; the vampire lady would have made it in any way.

“Your Highness, I failed you and the Queen. There is no other option.”

“My daughter is right, General Slane, even if a little out of turn here,” I blushed at her light rebuke. “I do not believe this attack could have been prevented. This creature managed to get through my wards, something I did not believe was possible. I’m at least as much at fault as you are.” I felt the sadness in her words.

“But…”

“Your oath was until death, or I release you from your service, correct?” I felt Caireen squeeze me slightly in a hug. “My daughter does not wish for you to be released, and neither do I. All I want is to find out who put this creature up to this and make them pay.”

“We think we know that,” he said and motioned an advisor forward.

“Your Majesty, we believe King Camulus and Queen Damara met with this Rosemerta this week.”

“How dare they!?!” Caireen snarled. “Fine, if they want to play this way. Do you know of any other movements by them yet?”

“No, but I would recommend...” After several hours of discussions of plans, we left the throne room to return to my nursery. Everyone was under the impression that they would force us into the marriage since Caireen turned down the marriage offer. If they could seize our kingdom, they would be a force to be reckoned with… and not a good one either!

“I was scared,” I told her as she changed my diaper.

“I can imagine. How did you know that lady was a fake anyway?”

“Well, I had an instinct that something wasn’t right… she didn’t come from your throne room hallway for one… and you told me your advisor’s name was Elizabeth,” I reminded her.

She nodded, “Simple, but you were able to figure out the deception. Luckily for us, they didn’t take that part further.”

“Am I safe now?” I asked.

She kissed my still, slightly sore cheek, “as safe as I can make you. But, truthfully, Sofia, I think this will mean war. I will make them pay as soon as I confirm they were behind all of this.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything more. Caireen nursed me to sleep, and I wondered which could possibly worry me more, a war with what amounts to gods and goddesses in my dreams or going to high school as a baby...

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thank you for reading! Please press the ‘Like’ Button if you’ve enjoyed it! Comments are always super appreciated as well!

If you're someone who must finish a good story 'now,' consider purchasing the full book on Amazon Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTBTTGX1  I will be posting a chapter about every other day until the complete 62 Chapters and the Epilogue are reposted.

[bje]

2 hours ago, BabySofia said:

Caireen shifted me in her lap to where she and I could see her face.

Somehow I doubt that Caireen could see her own face.

[BabySofia]

Corrected, thanks.

[kesselhaus]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:32 PM, BabySofia said:

We label that as an Empath Level 2 talent. Next, you seem to be Level 2 in Danger Cognition. ... They rated you a Level 5 in Pyrokinesis. Your blasts seem to reach around 1500 degrees Celsius, ..

Hmm .. I guess that Level 2 in "Danger Cognition" is the same power as the Sofias Esens Level 3?

Ahh,  1500°C .. the former volcano level?

 

On 3/14/2023 at 5:32 PM, BabySofia said:

“The last power that showed up obviously is your Magic power. Mrs. Raspin and the device seemed to think you’re a Level 7 here.”

I looked at her and said, “You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head, “I’m afraid not. It’s probably partially due to Caireen being involved. Still, you fit our definition simply by how you interact with Ley Lines. Mrs. Raspin noted that you also blew through her protection circle easier than anyone else she’s had before.” She sighed and seemed to age a decade in her posture. I watched her pull her glasses off her face as she looked at me, “Sofia, I have to implore you to be very careful with your use of magic. Level 7 Magic abilities are exceedingly rare. We’ve only had a couple dozen at Bechtel since the school was founded at that level or greater. Those levels of magic very often lead to self-destruction... On the other hand, you have more power at your fingertips than almost anyone else.”

I nodded, “The whole with great power thing…?”

If Sofia is already Level 7 and this is exceedingly rare, they had at Bechtel some with that level or greater? How much levels are there? Level 8, 9..?

BTW, when Sofia got tested, the testers eyes grow and grow, and they can't write fast enough (in Los Alamos and Bechtel) when they hear about Caireen, so, Caireen seems to be someone special even for "a minor goddess". Did they have the same reactions with Haileys or Camilles avatar spirit?

 

4 hours ago, BabySofia said:

THAT NIGHT AT dinner, Camille and our new friends all pumped us for information on her powers testing and our class schedules.

Shouldn't this be "pumped us for .. our powers testing"?

 

[BabySofia]

3 hours ago, kesselhaus said:

Shouldn't this be "pumped us for .. our powers testing"?

In this case they sort of knew Sofia already... I think they were really curious about the unknown ?

Thanks for the comments!

[BabySofia]

Chapter 28: First Day

 

THE NEXT MORNING, I woke up to a worried shriek from Hannah. “What happened to your face?!?”

I groaned, “I’m trying to sleep here.”

“Sofia, your face has a horrible bruise on it!”

I groaned and opened my eyes, looked around, and then it dawned on me what she said. “Wait, I have the bruise here?”

Hannah gave me a piercing look, “What happened to you?” Then, she looked at a clock, “Talk quickly while I get you dressed.”

I blinked again and sighed, “It’s a long story… Last night someone tried to kidnap me from the castle.”

“What?!?!” Hannah shrieked.

Caireen pushed to the front, “Hannah, please calm down. Sofia fought back against the lady and could hold her own until I got there with my guards.”

“What about this bruise?” Hannah asked exasperatedly; she looked like she was about in tears.

“I’m surprised by this, but apparently, Sofia carried an injury back to her corporeal body. Give me a moment, and we’ll have her healed up.”

I felt Caireen do something, and my face instantly felt better. “Is she safe now?” Hannah asked.

“I think so for now, but my world will become increasingly dangerous for a while… So I definitely won’t be bringing you in for some time.”

“What about Sofia?” she asked worriedly.

“Believe me, she’ll be as protected as anyone possibly can. She should be safe.”

“Should?” Hannah asked.

“Just change our diaper and get moving, Hannah. You can interrogate me later, but I don’t want you two to be late for your first day of classes.”

With that, I felt her move to the back, and I took over again. Hannah didn’t say anything as she quickly changed my diaper and sat in the rocking chair. She bared her breast for me to nurse, but other than patting my back, I could tell she was angry at me. After I had emptied her other breast, she burped me. “Hannah, I’m sorry; I didn’t choose to be in this life. This isn’t Caireen’s fault either,” I added.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, does it!?!” She asked.

Before I could reply, she popped my pacifier into my mouth, and I decided to leave her alone. She put her coat and backpack on, my jacket on me, then helped me with my bag before picking me up and settling me on her hip to go to breakfast. I decided it was in my best interest just to be a good baby and stay quiet while my ‘momma’ was mad. I never liked being around Hannah when she was this angry. Still, unfortunately, now I couldn’t exactly get away from her to let her cool off.

By the time we reached the dining hall, I was hoping she’d get over her anger that day! She sat me down to get food, and I held my tray through the line again. At our table, our friends were chatting about many things. Lizi finally asked, “Are you excited to start classes today, Sofia?”

I shrugged, “I’m glad to be doing something again… who likes to go to classes, though?” I asked with a smile.

“We could just take you to daycare instead,” Hannah said.

I sighed, “Please, Hannah!”

“Whoa… are you two fighting?” Camille asked.

“Yes,” I said to Hannah’s, “No.”

She glared at me, “This is not fighting!”

“It certainly is, Hannah. You’re mad at me for a bruise that wasn’t even my fault!”

“Huh?” Camille asked, “What bruise?” I could see she was looking us both over.

I took a moment to perform one of the privacy warding spells Caireen had been teaching me. She nodded in approval as Camille said, “Wow, that’s a perfect ward!”

I shrugged, “I had to keep this private… Each night when I go to sleep, I don’t really sleep…?” I explained how I went to her castle each night, and even though I could feel Caireen was a little annoyed at how much I was sharing, I knew I could trust my new friends. “Anyway, last night, Caireen was getting ready to introduce me to the court for a session, and while I waited for my summons to go in, I was nearly kidnapped.”

The others looked stunned as I explained everything more. Camille’s eyes flashed, and she said, “Your Highness, you should be careful; I can feel your future value to this world… if you die in Caireen’s world, you will likely also die here.”

Hannah whimpered next to me and picked me up to hold me tight. “You can’t keep taking her there, Caireen!”

I felt Caireen come back to the surface, “Hannah, as much as I like you would prefer to lock Sofia away in a safe bubble for the rest of her life, that’s not her future. She is meant to be a great leader in my world and will do much good in this world. She will be in danger sometimes, but I promise you I will do everything I can to protect her.”

I felt Caireen slide to the background again and just shook my head. “This is never going to feel normal!”

It took a few more minutes for everyone to reassure Hannah before I felt like she was at least no longer angry at me. It annoyed me that she had been in the first place! Especially given I was the one in danger! Eventually, it was time to go to our first class at our Mergent high school!

It would have sounded much cooler if that class hadn’t been Calculus!

We walked into the classroom and introduced ourselves to the teacher. He directed us to two seats that weren’t occupied and happened to be on the opposite side of the room from each other. Hannah looked pained about it, but I shrugged and said, “We can’t be together all the time,” as quietly as I could.

I ended up standing on my chair for much of the class so I could see the board and what the teacher was doing. I was just grateful that we had covered the same stuff at our school a week or so ago! The cool thing I noticed, though, was that as I went to copy my notes down, I didn’t have to worry about glancing up at the problem every other second. My new paradigm memory let me remember without doing that! I debated about not even taking notes then, but I was sure I would land myself into trouble that way!

Toward the end of the class, the teacher came to speak with me and looked over a couple of homework questions he had asked us to start. To my relief, he pronounced my answers correct and just shook his head. “I can’t believe a baby can do those equations that quickly,” he added with a smile.

I just smiled back.

Hannah and I visited the restroom before our next class so she could change my diaper before we went into the Costume Design. While we weren’t behind the students in Calculus, we both felt dismayed at how far behind we were in this class!

Mrs. Gaskin, the teacher, approached us at the table she had assigned us, “Ladies, do you have any ideas on your costumes? Remember as you’re making them that you need a costume and a mask for your time in the Cube.”

“The Cube?” Hannah and I asked.

“Oh, dear… I assume you’ve heard about the skill finals?”

“Someone mentioned it and said we might not have to do them since we came in late?” I said, remembering a couple of hints.

“Well, let’s not count on that just yet…” she began walking us through things the class had already done. She spoke of materials that were bulletproof, fireproof, magic proof… The sky was the limit if you had tons of money! I shook my head, “So we have like two weeks to do this?”

As I sat there panicking, Caireen mentally poked me, and I smiled. “Okay, we’ve got this.”

“What?” Hannah said, clearly afraid.

“Don’t worry. May I see some of these fabrics you mentioned?”

Mrs. Gaskin looked at me skeptically but led me over to cabinets with massive racks of bolts of fabric. Hannah held me up as I touched and felt everything she had there. Caireen and I got a good handle on the materials and how they worked. ‘Is that enough, do you think?’ I asked her.

She seemed to nod at me. “Before we start working on our costumes, Mrs. Gaskin, are there any rules we need to be aware of?”

“Well, copyright… you cannot have an identical costume to another established superhero or villain. It has to have at least color differences in the design so you can be identified as unique.”

“What about design?”

She and I had a ten-minute conversation before I looked at Hannah and said, “Okay, we can do this by the end of the week!”

Mrs. Gaskin looked skeptical, “Umm… you shouldn’t rush through this, sweetie.”

I grimaced but said, “There are no rules about using magic, correct?”

She looked taken aback by my asking that and said, “No…?”

“Okay, we’ve got this!”

“I do need sketches before you begin,” she told me.

“Okay… Hannah and I’ll have them for you tomorrow.”

With that, it was time to switch classes. I almost forgot that Hannah and I were separating when Camille met us at the door. Hannah handed me over to Camille and said, “Be good!”

I sighed, “Yes, Hannah.”

“She needs changed,” Hannah whispered to Camille.

Camille squealed, “I’ll take care of that.”

I groaned but just stayed in the good baby role as she walked down the corridors and eventually into a bathroom. She pulled down a changing table that looked rarely used and made quick work of what I was sure would just be a wet diaper but instead was a poopy one.

“There, I bet you feel all better now without that poopy diapee,” Camille said with a smile.

I just said, “Thank you,” while I was shocked that I hadn’t noticed and no one had said anything.

Camille hugged me after she sat me down and washed her hands, “It’s okay, Sofia, no one minds.”

“I do,” I said quietly.

“Come on, let’s get to class. Mrs. Cranther really doesn’t like late students!”

I groaned but accepted that. As Camille carried me into class, Mrs. Cranther looked at me wide-eyed, and I returned the favor. Mrs. Cranther was covered from head to toe in bark and leaves! I knew this to be a case of body morphism, and she was harmless, but I couldn’t help but take a breath in as it was shocking, to say the least. For her part, she seemed to be looking at me similarly.

“I’m Sofia Hammerstein,” I told her as Camille carefully stood me up on a desk at the front of the room.

“I’m Mrs. Cranther,” she said with a smile. “I see we both are shocking the other. You have so much power that I know you’re not a baby, and I look like some overgrown plant.”

I laughed, “Can’t judge a book by its cover, huh?” I said with a smile.

“We’re going to get along just fine. Why don’t you join Camille at her table since you seem to be friends with her.”

I thought maybe I would be just sitting on the table or something, but Mrs. Cranther suddenly performed a spell that made a highchair-like seat appear. It was made of something like living tree limbs woven in a beautiful pattern. As much as I disdained the idea of a highchair, at least it was a beautiful one. She looked at me expectantly, and I said, “Umm... thanks.”

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Thank you for reading! Please press the ‘Like’ Button if you’ve enjoyed it! Comments are always super appreciated as well!

If you're someone who must finish a good story 'now,' consider purchasing the full book on Amazon Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTBTTGX1  I will be posting a chapter about every other day until the complete 62 Chapters and the Epilogue are reposted.

[littlepinkdargon]

?

[LittleFenny]

Camulus, Damara, I see you have chosen lose everything you value and to serve as a warning to generations yet to come of the self-destructiveness of greed. You may have chosen... poorly.

If only my high school had included classes in costume design and danger rooms as a final exam.

[BabySofia]

5 hours ago, littlepinkdargon said:

?

?

5 hours ago, LittleFenny said:

If only my high school had included classes in costume design and danger rooms as a final exam.

As much as I would love the superpowers and some of her situation, I would think I could pass on the last of these!

 

Thanks for the comments!?

[inconkit]

So glad to have discovered you! I first went through Exchanged entirely and I'm now plowing through Emerald Princess! They're both a lot of fun to read. I do have one question for you related to both stories: 

I'm a bit of a martial art nerd and I can't help but notice that you have been using Japanese terminology (sensei, dojo, gi) when talking about a Korean martial art (Taekwondo). While my personal experience is with Japanese martial arts, I'm pretty sure it isn't considered appropriate to swap terminology like that, considering that Korean martial arts have their own terminology. Maybe that was intentional for some reason? Is it common to use Japanese words in American taekwondo classes? I feel like I'm nitpicking considering how awesome your writing generally is, but it is something I did notice and was wondering about. 

Otherwise I can't wait to read more of Emerald Princess! 

[BabySofia]

6 hours ago, inconkit said:

I'm a bit of a martial art nerd and I can't help but notice that you have been using Japanese terminology (sensei, dojo, gi) when talking about a Korean martial art (Taekwondo). While my personal experience is with Japanese martial arts, I'm pretty sure it isn't considered appropriate to swap terminology like that, considering that Korean martial arts have their own terminology. Maybe that was intentional for some reason? Is it common to use Japanese words in American taekwondo classes? I feel like I'm nitpicking considering how awesome your writing generally is, but it is something I did notice and was wondering about. 

In this case it sounds like an unintentional error in the early part of the book for her back home. (I studied very briefly for a small time as a kid in a rural area, so I probably misremember or there may have been something weird there.) Here later on in the book it's probably more appropriate to use the other as his training is far wider reaching. 

Which term would you have used? (And I'll be going back to figure that out some more myself too) Thanks for the insightful comment!

Chapter 29: Old Friends

I GRABBED THE textbook for the course from my bag before Camille placed me into the chair. I was actually pretty happy I could sit in relative comfort for this class. It was a good thing because as much as I liked her, she was definitely a voice that would make me sleep if I wasn’t awake! However, I seemed to become the object lesson as she discussed gathering manna.

“How do you do it...?” she paused, “Anyone?” Camille’s hand was up, but she called on me, “Sofia?”

I grimaced, “Well… I can sense the ley lines, and I just use them for the power.”

I heard a couple intakes of breath around the room. “You only mean minor ones, right?” A girl that looked a little bit catlike asked.

“Umm… Not really? I haven’t found one I can’t tap yet…?”

“What do you feel around here?” Mrs. Cranther asked inquisitively.

“Well, there’s an artery going through a big one right underneath Friar Hall. It passes close enough to here, I can easily tap it…?”

“Let’s not do that just yet…” she said hastily. “Hmm… If what you say is true, you will never suffer from a loss of manna you can’t recover from.”

“Camille, how were you going to say…?”

The topic shifted from me, and I quickly gathered that the most powerful would only grasp the smaller veins, not the main arteries. I kept getting stares through the rest of the class, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I had pooped my diaper again. Eventually, we were told to work in our groups on a set of questions at our table.

“Camille… Why was everyone staring at me?”

She looked around and then back at me, “Umm… Sofia… Most people can’t do what you say you do to collect manna. The ability to tap into minor ley lines isn’t unheard of, but very rarely has anyone been able to say they can tap into a mainline like you mentioned.”

“Oh…”

She smiled at me, “That just means you’re cooler and more powerful than others.”

“It means I’m more of a freak…?”

Caireen mentally spanked me, but I just shook it off.

“Sofia, you’re not a freak… Well, not any more than the rest of us!” She said with a smile. She reached over, grabbed me from the highchair-like seat, and sat me in her lap. “Okay, let’s get this done!”

Camille was a great person to work with; she was easily the most brilliant person in the class. However, towards the end of the lesson, her voice changed, “You are going to be an interesting little girl to be around.”

“Who are you?”

“You should know by now that names are dangerous,” she said.

“You are one of Queen Solana’s sisters, correct?” Caireen asked, taking over.

“Yes, I am, and I know who you are as well,” she said before Camille’s voice changed.

“Well, that went well…” she said in her normal voice.

“Yeah,” I said as well. “I guess we know each other…?”

She shook her head, “the great thing about having an avatar spirit attached is all of the information you get…” she paused, “the tough thing is all of the baggage!”

I smiled, “it’s even more awkward with mine… maybe we can talk more privately later,” I said as I looked around and saw Mrs. Cranther coming our way to check on us.

She smiled, “so I think that’s about it with this question?”

She surreptitiously checked my diaper at the end of the class and carried me down the hallway and off to our dorm. We met up with Hannah in our common room, “Hey, Hannah!”

“Sofia!!!” She said excitedly, and afterward, “Hi Camille!” I felt my eyes narrow and found myself quickly captured in her arms.

“I missed you so much,” she said as she squeezed me tight.

“Umm… I missed you too,” I told Hannah.

“Sorry… I don’t know what is wrong with me...?” She said, suddenly turning red with embarrassment.

“You’re a new mother with separation anxiety,” Camille and I said at the same time. Her tone was joking; mine was resigned.

I hugged her around her neck, and she said, “Thanks Camille for taking care of her.”

“No problem, I’ll meet up with you at lunch?”

“Sure, we’ve just got to take care of a few things first, and then we’ll be over at the Friar Hall.”

“Sounds good, bye Sofia,” she said and waved at me with a smile.

“See you in a bit,” I called after she tried to maintain some maturity.

Tough to do when you’re being carried back to your room to be breastfed…

 

‘LUNCH’ AND LUNCH progressed quickly and without incident, leading to my handoff to Camille again for Magic I. With each non-traditional class, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly behind all my classmates. The three months they had before we came had obviously been packed with valuable information. My worry, of course, bled through to Caireen.

‘Sofia, don’t worry about it,’ she reassured me.

‘How can you say that?’

‘What did Dr. Raspin say was the principle behind manna?’

I thought back and repeated, ‘Manna is free energy that flows through the universe and can be tapped for magical spells….

‘So, what are you worried about?’

‘What do you mean…?’

‘You have a perfect memory now, Sofia! Worst case scenario, you have to sit down with your books and your friends’ notes over Thanksgiving Break and read them. Then, you’ll have perfect responses on tests.’

‘As long as it’s just regurgitating! If I have to use it…?’

“Sofia, here’s Hannah; I’ll see you later, Princess,” Camille said with a hug as she passed me over.

“Huh?”

“In la-la land, huh?” Hannah asked.

I just nodded and looked over her shoulder at the passing students. She patted my back reassuringly before shifting me to her hip. From there, I could at least look forward. Many students waved at me and smiled; some obviously did not know yet that I wasn’t a regular baby. Before long, though, Hannah walked through the doorway to our Power Exploration class. I felt her check my diaper briefly as she sat me down with a smile and whispered, ‘it should be okay through this class.’

I was glad something was okay throughout the class… Right away, I realized that we were behind in the material and that the course was not the most interesting one I would have had. Once again, I found myself being the object lesson of the teacher, though, as they began talking about powers that day and how power and significant changes came into play. As far as the class was concerned, though, I had been a teenage girl a week ago…

At the end of the class, Knag met Hannah at the door, passing me off again. “That diaper’s a bit wet if you don’t mind changing her on your way?” Hannah asked.

“Sure!” she said with a smile. I could see her face, though, and could tell she was nervous about it.

I giggled, “It’ll be okay; I’ll help you if you get stuck - it’s just wet.”

She squeezed me slightly, and we found a bathroom on the way to class. I helped her by handing her a new diaper, wipes, and a changing pad from my bag. She picked me up nervously and set me on the table to change me. It took about four minutes longer than it should have, but she had me out of the wet diaper and into a new one without too many corrections!

As soon as we walked in the door for the class, I could see the word was definitely out from the teachers about me as there was a bland high chair sitting next to the seat that Knag took. Powers Fundamentals, in general, seemed like it could be interesting. Still, I could only groan in dismay at how far behind everyone I was. ‘I’m going to have to read every moment of the day over Thanksgiving Break!’ I complained mentally.

‘Yeah, but it’ll be okay,’ Caireen reassured me.

When she passed me off to Volango, I was aching to do something other than sit still. Apparently, babies don’t like to sit still all day? She helped me quickly change a slightly damp diaper before Caireen helped me into my gi she had created the day before. Instead of carrying me out of the locker room, she held her hand out to me that I reached up to take. She led me to where the other students lined a mat.

I took a similar stance and waited for Sensei Kwon to appear.

“Good afternoon, class. Before we begin today, I would like to introduce a new student who has joined us. Some of you met her briefly yesterday. Emerald, would you please come here?”

I stood and bowed to him respectfully, “Yes, Sensei Kwon.”

“Emerald may look like a baby, but she is like many of you, having changed significantly when she emerged. Therefore, I expect there to be no differences expected towards or from her than anyone else in the class.”

“Yes, Sensei,” the other students responded.

“Very well then, today…” he began our class much as I had back home in Los Alamos. Still, there were definitely differences in the way he taught stylistically. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the course as he took us through some techniques I knew slightly differently and had us practice. Volango partnered with me for many of the exercises before he started having us spar.

Much to my opponents’ surprise, I could give as good as I got with most of them. Only the speedsters like Celer seemed to be able to easily outmaneuver me. Sensei Kwon began stepping in then and instructed me how I could find other advantages there. It was the one class of the day that, when it ended, I was genuinely disappointed!

After changing out of my gi, I found Hannah waiting outside the locker room. She gave me a big hug, “I missed you!”

Seeing her tears, I said, “I missed you too, but see, everything is fine!” I smiled at her.

She didn’t dilly dally on returning to the room quickly, nursed me, changed me, and then headed to the Friar Hall for a quick dinner of solid food. “You two better get going,” Camille advised us shortly after we sat down. I sighed, threw another fry in my mouth, and then stood up.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Hannah asked worriedly as she zipped up the coat I had put on when we came to dinner.

“Yes, Mommy,” I told her quietly so no one else could hear.

I thought it would feel odd, but oddly it felt normal to call her that. Her eyes welled up, but I hugged her and said, “I’ll see you after class!”

In theory, I knew where this class was since it was near where I had my testing for magic powers. However, I wasn’t sure of the exact room location. So I kept walking around and jumped when I heard from behind me, “Sofia?”

I turned and saw Cate coming towards me. “Hi, Cate.”

“Where are you going? Why are you alone?” She asked somewhat worriedly.

“Mythical Fundamentals,” I told her, “you?”

“Same thing! Let’s see if we can’t find you a seat near mine!”

With that, she led me down one last corridor and held the door open. Caireen gasped a ‘really?!?’ as she saw the teacher. To her credit, the teacher seemed to do the same thing, and I let Caireen take over, “How are you doing Artemis?”

She hesitated a moment, “I’m doing well, Caireen. I never thought I’d see you bound to a human… but somehow it seems fitting you would find a baby to bond with; you always did show them way more affection than I ever understood.”

I actually felt Caireen blush at that, “It’s been a surprise to both of us. I’m going to let Sofia retake control. She has questions, but I’ll try to answer them later.”

“So, you’re my new student, Sofia?” Artemis asked me a moment later.

I sighed, “Yes, ma’am, it seems you and Caireen know each other.”

“Yes, we do, but it’s been a good relationship, so don’t fret.” She smiled at me. “I see you know Efferous; why don’t you sit next to her?”

I smiled, moved to the table, and just went ahead and duplicated another of the raised chairs that seemed more comfortable than the other chairs right next to Cate. “That’s got to be awkward,” she said quietly.

“You have no idea!” I responded.

The class itself was genuinely intriguing. I flipped through the textbook and frowned when I saw a page on vampires. I read things about them that I now knew from first-hand experience. I shuddered and stopped flipping through the book, and paid attention.

 

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