Elizabeth
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 Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:27 am Post subject: 3: Kumorigachi: Interlude: The Butterfly's War, Volume I |
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“It's an honor, your highness.” The bounty hunter began to kneel, but Alizia waved her hand dismissively at the action. The bounty hunter paused for a moment out of respect anyway before rising with a nod, sitting down in the chair Alizia indicated. “I am deeply honored that the kingdom would ask for my help.”
“Well, you are the best, are you not?” Alizia asked with an almost cold smile.
Enzeru smiled back at her. “Of course.”
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Alexis rolled her eyes, tapping her foot against the cold stones that made up the ledge she was sitting on as her teacher babbled on about the history of some Great War or another. They all seemed to be called the Great War, though surely one of them had to be the greatest of all.
She didn't mind her schooling all that much, truth be told, but she could see the meadow outside of her castle from the window, and history was one of the more boring subjects. Her teacher didn't seem to notice her impatience; they never did, or at least never showed it. Then again, when one was the tutor of a princess, one had to be careful with how they handled her, even on the days she became restless for the world outside.
Alexis sighed sadly, turning her eyes back to her teacher. She was a nice old woman, really, if a little dull. Even if she was the most boring of them all, she was still Alexis's favorite teacher, since she often would bring candy for her, and occasionally let her out of lessons early.
Her attention was quickly drawn back to the window, though, when she saw a butterfly flitter towards it, landing between her and the older woman. Alexis giggled as she saw it, reaching out a slender finger. The butterfly gracefully perched itself there, allowing Alexis to lift it up to her face.
“Would you please allow my student to study?” Mrs. Martin asked, sounding annoyed. Alexis cringed as the butterfly flew away with a quick apology – it was one of those days when Mrs. Martin was in a rather foul mood instead of a candy-giving, letting-Alexis-leave-early mood.
“I'm sorry,” Alexis said, blushing and bowing her head, staring down at the folds in her dress. “I-I was just...”
“You were just supposed to be listening to your lessons, little princess. How do you expect to avoid the great pitfalls of your ancestors if you don't even know what they were?!” Mrs. Martin shook her head angrily, reaching out to slam the window shut. “Do you think your animal friends have the answers to that, hmm?”
Alexis looked up, a tear of fear in her eye, though her voice was steady as she said, “Do butterflies have wars?”
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“That's a dangerous prey you're hunting, your highness.” Enzeru shook her head. “What would the royal family need with a time god, if you don't mind me asking?”
“Not the royal family, Enzeru. Just me.”
“Well, what do you need with it, then?”
Alizia paused, licking her lips, a nervous habit. “And if I told you it was none of your concern?”
Enzeru shrugged. “In most cases, I would double the price.”
“Then consider it doubled.”
Enzeru nodded. Alizia looked relieved, though she hadn't allowed herself the sigh she had been holding in since the bounty hunter's question. “When do you need this job completed?” Enzeru asked.
“As soon as you can. Within the next month would be best, I think, but I can wait longer, if...”
“No, a month should be plenty of time.” Alizia seemed a bit indignant at being cut off like that, forced herself to remember that she needed this bounty hunter if she was planning on going through with her plan. “Good evening, princess.” Enzeru nodded her head in Alizia's direction before rising from her chair and leaving.
Alizia finally let out her sigh of relief. Maybe this would actually work, though it would be hard pressed to go off quite as badly as her first plan.
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Alexis's eyes turned back towards the castle, trying to spot her attendants. There seemed to be none, though she knew better than to think that she had gotten away completely unseen. Every time she had thought that, she had been caught before making it three steps out of the meadow.
After a moment, she noticed a form standing by the wall of the castle, and another a few feet away from it. She pretended not to notice as she knelt down amongst a growth of wildflowers, taking in their sweet scent as her finger drew a symbol in the dirt in front of her, a spell she had learned from her magic teacher's books when he hadn't been paying attention to her, as usual.
She stood up, slipping her feet out of her shoes and using one toe to sketch the final part of the design as she waved at her guards. She could hear them curse and start to run towards her before a mist suddenly rose out of the ground, obscuring their vision. And hers, but she knew where she was headed, and she took off like a rabbit, running through the meadow to the forest beyond.
Daylight poured through the branches of the trees, making patterns in the carpet of leaves under Alexis's bare feet. She giggled happily, lifting her face to the sky and twirling around, trying to take in all the beauty of nature. While she loved her life in the castle - all the balls and pretty dresses she wore to them, learning new and exciting (most of the time) things, pestering her older sister – this was where she truly felt most alive.
Her long, golden hair, an anomaly among elvenkind, flowed behind her as she spun, grey eyes twinkling with glee. Her older sister, Alizia, had the red hair typical of their kind, and she liked to keep it shorter than Alexis's. Alexis envied her this at times, but her father had often told her how much he liked her hair long, and so she kept it that way for him. Supposedly, hair of her color was a portent of great power, of a mighty warrior or leader. In this case, it seemed to have made a mistake, for Alexis was small even among elves of her own age, of which there were very few around her. Last she had tried, she had barely been able to lift the huge sword her father had carried in the last war.
“Greetings, little sister,” a low, smooth voice spoke from the trees. Alexis stopped her spinning as she glanced up into the branches of a tree.
“Colfax!” she called to the eagle as it flew down to a lower branch. “I haven't seen you in forever!”
“Which is not surprising, considering what I've heard about you being banned from this wood again the last time you visited.” If eagles could smile, he would have done so as he watched the little elf bashfully dig her toes into the carpet of leaves. She was still quite young, still most definitely a child in the eyes of her people, though old enough that she was beginning to believe herself to be nearly grown, like the older sister that she looked up to so very much.
“The woods is a dangerous place, little sister. You should listen to the advice of your family.” Alexis raised her head to protest, only to get interrupted by, “However, I am glad to see you again.”
“I'm glad to see you, too, Colfax,” Alexis grinned. “Have you seen Marcus lately?”
Colfax froze for a moment. “I think you had best be heading back home. I can smell danger of some sort on the air.”
“Colfax?” Alexis's voice was heavy with worry; she knew there was something wrong. “Marcus?”
“I am sorry, little sister, but I'm afraid Marcus is no longer in this wood.” Colfax watched as the elf's eyes turned in the direction of her castle, then back up at him questioningly, tears sparkling in the corners. “I'm afraid so.”
Alexis's fingers curled up, fingernails biting the flesh of her palms. She wished to hit something, but the thing that she wanted to harm was not in the forest. Colfax's eyes saw a few drops of blood fall from the child's hands, soaking into the leaves underneath her, along with the tears that were leaking with ever-greater frequency from her closed eyelids.
“It is not your fault, little sister. I understand that, as did Marcus. It was simply his time.” Colfax knew, as did all of the animals Alexis had become friends with, that the princess refused to eat meat of any kind, on account of them. Colfax admired her for it, though that alone wasn't enough to keep the animals of the forest from being hunted, as much as Alexis hated the thought, for hers was not the only mouth in the castle that needed to be fed.
“I should have stopped them,” Alexis murmured angrily.
“And how did you expect to do that?” Colfax shook his head. “Do you expect to stand up to your father's hunters?”
“I should have tried,” Alexis insisted.
“And you would have failed.”
“You don't know that!”
Alexis sounded insulted. Colfax wanted to soothe her wounded ego, but knew it was better not to put ideas into her head. The hunters were not fond of her, and while it was unlikely that they would harm the child of the king, it was better not to tempt them. “You look as though a sharp wind would blow you over; I hardly think a fully grown elf would have any trouble doing the same.”
“I'm stronger than I look,” Alexis pouted quietly.
“Well, it would be hard for you to be weaker than you appear to be.”
Alexis gasped, her tears suddenly from anger, not grief. “Bastard,” she growled. “I hope you get eaten by a tiger.”
“If only I could have such a glorious death.”
Alexis gasped, instantly forgetting how angry she was at the bird. “Colfax, don't talk like that! You know I didn't mean it!”
“I wish you had, then. It would not be a shameful thing, to die in such a way. But I don't expect you to understand such things, little sister. Death is not for the thoughts of the immortal.”
“My father is dying,” Alexis said quietly. And her mother was already gone, dead from the process of giving Alexis life.
“But if you take care of yourself, you will not. Don't let his sickness drag you into death with him, little one. He would not be happy with you if you did. Just as he would not be happy to receive the news that his youngest daughter was eaten by wolves in his forest. They're sure to pick up the scent of your blood eventually, and it would be best if you were gone by then.”
Alexis looked up at him, confused, before noticing the blood still dripping from the wounds she had made in her hands. “Oh.”
“Yes, well, fly free, little sister.” The eagle began to take his own advice.
“Will you come visit me in the meadow sometime?”
“We'll see.” Colfax smiled the smile of an eagle, and then he was gone in a flurry of feathers, up into the higher levels of the forest.
“Fly free,” Alexis whispered to him, confident he would hear her, even if she could no longer see him.
“Young lady, what exactly do you think you're doing out here?” Alizia asked, grabbing her little sister's arm as soon as she turned around to head back to the castle. “How many times have you been told to stay out of the bloody forest?!” Alizia began to drag her through the woods, shaking her head. “And look at yourself, you got your hands all torn up, and blood all over your dress. What are we going to do with you?”
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Enzeru hadn't needed the full month – half that time had been more than long enough. An old friend of hers, a sorcerer by trade, though he had turned mostly to selling books in the past few years, had just the thing she was looking for on hand.
“I'm sure you know summoning a time god is no easy task, but I'm going to remind you anyway,” he had told her as he searched his shelves for the volume. “If you need any help...”
“I won't,” Enzeru assured him. “From what I've heard, he's not even all that powerful. One of the newer ones.”
“They still have some pretty potent powers, if they catch you off guard.” The man pulled a large book off of a shelf, blowing some dust from the cover. “Ah, here we go... Ukokiji, you said?” Enzeru nodded, leading the man to flip through the book, finding the passage on that god. “Not a pleasant looking fellow, is he?”
The portrait showed a figure that seemed to be a cross between a suit of armor and an elf, with scythe blades come from his shoulders. Enzeru had seen worse, but still she was glad not to be trying to kill him. Not yet, anyway.
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“How was your day, Alizia?” Alexis asked cheerfully, despite the angry looks emanating from her sister.
“It was fine. I decided to go for a walk and found out that my sister had gone off to try and get eaten by wild beasts. It was the best day ever, really.”
“I was just going for a walk, too, you know.”
“Yes, to a place you have been forbidden to go into countless times. -And- you purposefully kept your guards from accompanying you so that you would have at least some semblance of safety.” Alizia tied the last bandage around Alexis's palm, tightening it perhaps a little too hard.
Alexis gave a little squeak of pain, but no more. “Only because they wouldn't have let me go if I hadn't,” she protested with a little giggle. “It was a rather nice fog spell, though, I thought.”
Alizia shook her head. “You just don't get it, do you?” Alexis copied the head shake with another giggle, not realizing how serious Alizia was trying to be. “If you want to get yourself killed, go ahead, you'll hear no objections from me, though I'm sure father would have a bit of a problem with it.”
Alexis giggled again as she got up. “I'll go see to that, then,” she said, skipping off down the halls of the castle.
Alizia shook her head again. “And to think they want to make you queen,” she muttered. Her hand tightened around the bandages she still held for a moment, and then she threw them against the wall of the room with all the strength she could muster.
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“Perfect,” Alizia said as she glanced over the pages of the book Enzeru had brought her. “You're sure this will work?”
“My source is very reliable.” Enzeru shrugged. “There's a good chance it will.”
“How long will the summoning take?”
“I've already begun. It can be done in another hour, or it can wait for another week or so. Wasn't sure when you needed it done by.”
“Oh, the sooner the better,” Alizia grinned. “An hour, you say?”
“Maybe less.”
“Good, good. Is it here?”
Enzeru nodded. “Out back.”
“I'll meet you there as soon as I can. I have to go pick up a few things.” Alizia began running over the list in her mind, hoping she could find everything in such a short amount of time. If she had known it would only take this long... Oh well. She should be able to do it, and if not, Enzeru would just have to keep the god... occupied... until she was ready for him.
“I'll be here.”
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“Hi, Daddy,” Alexis said shyly from the door of his room. His head arose from the pillow slowly, a thin smile curling at his lips as he raised a frail hand to beckon her inward. Alexis entered the room, closing the door behind her, trying to keep her hands behind her back.
“How was your day, little one?” he spoke up, his voice the only thing still strong in his body.
Alizia paused nervously, wondering how much he had been told so far, and how much she should tell him now. He always seemed to know everything, so she decided it would be best just to tell him the truth. “I went into the forest again. I scraped my hands.” She held them up so he could see the bandages – nobody knew what she had really done to them but her, and maybe Alizia, and she wasn't offering to tell them. Accidentally scraping them was as good an explanation as any.
“Ah. So you found it necessary to disobey me once more, and get yourself hurt in the process?” Alexis lowered her head, nodded. Her father sighed. “Whatever shall I do with you, Alexis?”
“I... I dunno...” Alexis could remember, though just barely, the spankings she had received when she was much younger; her father surely wasn't able to do such a thing now. Was he?
“I realize how difficult it must be, being away from your most beloved friends, and I wish I could allow you to visit all you like.”
Alexis sighed – she had heard this all a hundred times over, and a hundred times again. “But it's too dangerous, right?”
“Exactly. I can't have my heiress getting herself killed in her own backyard.” He reached out with his hand, as thin as Alexis's now, though at one time he could have easily engulfed her hand in his, and touched her arm gently. “I'll need you to run the kingdom for me soon.”
Alexis pulled away, the feeling of her father's emaciated flesh against hers too much for her. “Why?” she demanded. “Why can't Alizia do it?”
Her father smiled patiently. This, too, had been discussed many times. “You know she does not wield the power necessary in a leader of this country. You are the one gifted in the magical arts, Alexis.”
“I'm not that much better than her,” Alexis blushed at the compliment.
“But you will be, very soon. Very soon you will be more powerful than even I could have ever imagined.” He took her hand, gently, lifting it up to kiss it. Alexis wavered, then flung herself at her father, hugging him as tightly as she dared. He wrapped his arms around her, and they stayed like that for a while.
Alexis pulled away finally, wiping tears from her eyes. “I'll do the best I can,” she promised.
“I know.” He did, too. She may be defiant now, but her spirit was strong, and as long as he gave her enough time to fully prepare herself for her role as queen, she would be one of, if not the, best ruler the country – nay, the entire world – had ever seen. He was sure of it.
Alexis still looked nervous, however, and after a few moments, she said, “You're... You're not going to spank me for going out into the forest by myself, are you?”
The old man couldn't help but smile. “No, I'm not.” He gestured towards the guard by his door, and the large elf stepped forward imposingly. “He is.”
Alexis's jaw dropped open as she stared at the approaching figure, but she quickly snapped it shut, trying to appear as brave as she could, though fear ran rampant in the depths of her eyes.
Finally, the king couldn't take it anymore. “Don't look so frightened. It was just an old man's joke.” Alexis glared angrily at him as he and the guard shared a good chuckle. “Not this time, little one, though maybe next.”
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“I don't recall this as being part of the agreement.” Enzeru wasn't angry, just stating a fact. It didn't bother her to be asked to do this, but she liked her clients to be completely up front with what they expected of her, or most times she would pull out.
“I wasn't sure I could find a working Orb of Thesulah,” Alizia said apologetically. “Look, I can pay you extra, if that's what you're after.”
Enzeru smiled. “Well, it'll do. Shall we begin?” She didn't wait for an answer as she poured the last bit of sand onto the design. Smoke began to pour from the symbol she had drawn on the ground, and out of it stepped Ukokiji, god of time. Enzeru was actually surprised – most gods tended to be more dramatic than that.
“Who dares to summon me?” Ukokiji demanded.
“Oh, that'd be me,” Enzeru spoke up with a smile from behind him, and then, as he was turning, she jabbed the blessed dagger into a groove in the armor melded to his skin. He roared in pain and anger, but with her other hand Enzeru threw a handful of powder over the summoning symbol, which was now glowing brightly, and pushed him back onto it, sealing him to that spot, though for how long she didn't know.
The handle of the dagger began to glow, and she pulled it out. Blood didn't come from the wound, but a puff of steam did, blowing straight into where Enzeru's face had been a moment before. Toxic, perhaps. The book hadn't mentioned that, so it was a safe bet nobody had harmed him before, or at least lived to tell the tale.
Enzeru shoved the dagger into the glass orb. It seemed like it would shatter for a second, then the cracks that had formed in it repaired themselves, sucking the glow from the dagger into itself. Enzeru picked the Orb of Thesulah up, offering it to Alizia, who accepted it gratefully.
“Now, Ukokiji,” Alizia sat down in front of the shocked god. “I want you to teach me everything you can about using your powers.”
“And if I do?” Ukokiji hissed.
“If you do,” Alizia mocked, “then my friend here won't be forced to kill you.” Enzeru considered drawing her sword from the sheath over her left shoulder, but instead settled for the long dagger hidden in the sheath underneath the arm of her tunic.
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Alexis rolled around in her bed restlessly, covers long since thrown off. There was something bothering her, but she wasn't sure what it could be. She certainly wished she would figure it out soon, though, so she could get some sleep.
Finally, bored of lying there, she stood, pulling a long robe over her sleeping gown, and slipped out into the hallway of the castle. Surely Alizia would still be awake – maybe she would be in the mood for some conversation.
The door to Alizia's room had a number of enchantments on it, not unlike Alexis's, but those didn't stop Alexis, and hadn't since she was five. Unlocking things came naturally to her – one of her Major Talents, her magic teacher had said. One of many.
Alizia's room was dark and empty, however, and Alexis turned dejectedly around, trying to decide where to go off to now. Perhaps the kitchens – the cooks there were always trying to get her to eat, and would almost certainly love an opportunity to get her to do just that.
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“Hmm... Fine.” Alizia rose to her feet, slipping the orb into one of her pockets. “It sounds as if you've been honest with me, Ukokiji. Good boy.”
The former god's rage was ignited anew at this insult, but the blade of the knife at his neck, even more lethal to him now that his powers had been drained, leaving him a mortal, stopped him from doing anything rash.
“Fine work, Enzeru. If I ever need your help again, I won't hesitate to ask.” Out of another pocket, she pulled a bag of coins, setting them down on the ground. “And now, for one last thing...” She brought out another, slightly smaller, bag, tossing it on top of the first. “Kill him.”
Enzeru glanced up at the princess, making sure she was serious about this. They had already taken his power – he would die anyway. Why speed up the process now? But the princess was as serious as ever, and Enzeru moved the blade towards the god's throat, when Alizia sat up quickly, as if from a shock.
“That little brat,” she shook her head. “Finish this,” she commanded Enzeru, and then teleported in a flurry of leaves, a secret ability said to only be possessed by adult elves of noble blood. Enzeru had none of that, though she often wished to have such a power. It would certainly be useful. Her attention was not held by this for long, and she returned it to Ukokiji in a flash.
“Well,” she said, “You heard her highness. It's time to finish this.”
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“What do you think you're doing in my room, young lady?” Alizia demanded angrily. Alexis jumped at the sudden appearance of her angry older sister, now standing outside her room.
“I was just looking for you.” She smiled sweetly up at her, a smile that would melt the hearts of most who saw it.
Her sister, of course, was immune to its effects. “You know you're supposed to be in bed,” she lectured as she dragged Alexis down the hallway. “How many times a day must you make me tell you that rules are there for a reason?”
“A few more, surely,” Alexis joked.
Alizia grabbed her other arm, lifting her and slamming her against the wall of the hall before Alexis could react. Alizia's mouth opened and closed a few times as angry words swam through her mind, but she could bring herself to say none of them. She let her sister down, brushing imaginary dust off of her robe, then shoved her into her room, closing the door securely behind her.
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It began slowly. So slowly, in fact, that it was nearly a month before anybody noticed anything. Alexis herself, though feeling a bit odd, couldn't quite place her finger on it until the day that came around every month, the day that she measured herself to see how much taller she had gotten. The results were mostly rather disappointing, but she never stopped trying.
This month was quite a lot more disappointing than normal. The mark she had made on her bedpost fell in between the last one she had made and the one before that. She quickly tried again, only to get the same results.
As time passed, the shrinking became more and more rapid, as if whoever was doing it somehow knew that Alexis had noticed, and they no longer needed to worry about trying to hide their deed. Nobody could find the cause, or a way to reverse it, or even slow its course. Nothing could be done for her.
Time also brought about the realization that it wasn't just shrinking that was happening – Alexis was regressing. It was hard to determine such a thing, as Alexis had yet to show any outward signs on becoming an adult, but her grasp on the workings of magic soon began to dwindle away, leaving her able only to do the most basic things. Her motor skills soon followed.
Would she vanish completely? Would it eventually reverse itself and allow her to age again? Nobody knew the answer. Alexis cried herself to sleep every night, wondering if she would wake up the next morning, or simply find that she had been winked out of existence.
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It did stop, finally. Alexis woke up one morning in her now enormous bed, glancing nervously at her fingers as she brought them above her covers. They seemed to be the same size as before... She threw the blanket aside, finding that her entire body hadn't changed at all, and finding the thick cloth diaper Alizia had insisted she wear to bed that night was still on.
Alizia herself walked through the door a few moments later, greeted by a pounce. Alexis hugged her tightly, and after a moment Alizia hugged her back. “Did it work?” she asked.
Alexis nodded. “I'm still the same size!” she announced proudly, wincing at the sound of her voice, still not used to it being even higher than it had been when she was her normal age.
“See, I told you,” Alizia said proudly. “I'm sure whoever was doing this just wanted to make sure you were incapable of taking over the throne. And what better way to convince him of that than these?” She patted Alexis's heavily padded bottom, smiling at her little sister's deep blush.
“So, does that mean it's over?” Alexis asked. Alizia grinned.
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“Oh, yes, she had us quite worried,” Alizia told the council, ruffling Alexis's hair playfully. “The doctors seemed to find the problem, and have fixed it.” A lie, of course, but a necessary one for her. The doctors had found nothing wrong with her. But something like that would make those responsible stop their evil and nefarious scheme. Alizia allowed herself a smile. “Those responsible shall be dealt with.”
Alexis got up from her seat, as planned, hands clutching at the hem of her dress, trying to pull it down over her diapers. “I-I want to thank the.. The doctors who... umm...” Alexis blushed furiously, trying to remember the speech that had been drilled into her head.
A few titters of laughter arose from around the table. Alexis tried harder to concentrate, but the laughing made it harder and harder, until finally she let go of her dress, balling her tiny hands into fists, and screaming, “Let me finish!”
The council was silent, and it was only then that Alexis realized that during her shouting, she had stretched herself up to her full height, bringing the edge of her dress up high enough for her diapers to be seen and recognized. She went back to blushing, and sat down, every word of the speech completely forgotten now.
“She's been... Having a few accidents lately,” Alizia had practiced sounding like she was making it up on the spot for a while, and did it perfectly. “You know how it is.” She ruffled Alexis's hair again, to the murmurs of the council. “If there is no more business, this meeting is adjourned.”
The council members filed out of the room, leaving the two princesses behind. Alexis's face was red, and not just from embarrassment anymore. “How could you tell them that?!” she demanded. “How could you let them think that?!”
Alizia sat down, gently taking Alexis into her lap and smoothing her hair. “It's all part of the plan, Alexis. We want them to think you're really helpless, remember? Or would you like to need those diapers for real?”
Alexis shook her head fearfully.
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Alexis was moved into Alizia's room at the older sister's request. She claimed to want to be able to watch over her sister more closely, to be sure nothing else happened to her. The first part of that was true, at any rate.
Alexis was delighted at this, as it meant that she could spend more time with Alizia, who seemed to have become much more tolerant of her little sister's existence now, to Alexis's joy. This joy was diminished, yet only a small bit, by Alizia's insistence that she sleep in a crib that she had set up in the room, instead of a bed. She claimed it was all part of the farce, for Alexis's own protection.
So Alexis slept in the crib, in her diapers, because her sister obviously knew what was best for her.
The king had not been told of this news. On the same night that his youngest daughter began to grow younger, his sickness had become more severe, leaving him asleep for most of the day. Affairs of the kingdom were turned over to Alexis, in the beginning, but she was soon much too young for such matters, and Alizia took over. She -was- the rightful heir now, after all.
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Alexis rolled over, bumping against something that wasn't the wall. Her eyes cracked open, finding bars enclosing her. At first she opened her mouth to scream, only to have her memories return in a rush.
Just a crib. Nothing to worry about.
The pain in her bladder, on the other hand, was. She stood up, her night diapers, which were even thicker than those she wore during the day, making it difficult for her to struggle to her feet. She hadn't understood why Alizia felt that this farce must continue even when they were alone in the room together – Alexis did not use either her night or day diapers, despite having come close once or twice, and did not plan to, so what was the point of her night time ones being extra thick? It just didn't make sense. But Alizia knew best.
“'lizia!” Alexis called frantically from her crib. Her older sister's eyes fluttered open for a second. Alexis was sure she was awake, until she closed them again and rolled over. “Alizia!” Alexis cried out, even louder. She couldn't see the smile on Alizia's face now, since she was facing towards the wall.
Tears started to leak down Alexis's face as she struggled to find a way to escape from the crib. The bars were as tall as she was while standing, however, and no matter what she did, she couldn't even get one foot anywhere near the top without falling over onto her bottom.
“Alizia!” she tried a final time, bawling as she felt her control slip away from. She gasped as her bladder emptied itself into the patiently waiting cloth of the diaper, starting to feel sick to her stomach as the warmth spread around her bottom, causing the garment around her waist to begin sagging. How could this be happening to her?
Alizia finally rolled over, stretching with a large yawn. “What's wrong, sweetie?” she asked innocently. She glanced over at her sister, but her diapers were so thick that her 'accident' wasn't immediately apparent. Was she too early?
Alexis bit her bottom lip, trying to calm her tears. “I... I...”
“What? What is it?” Alizia got up from her bed, moving over to her sister, moving to pick her up.
“I wet myself,” Alexis managed to get out finally.
Alizia tried not to appear too pleased as she changed her little sister, assuring her that it was most likely a fluke, something that would never happen again.
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It did.
Alexis was sitting at the table, picking half heartedly at her lunch, when she felt the next twinge. Nervously, she glanced at Alizia, who was busy eating. She wouldn't be pleased to be interrupted, Alexis knew, but she also knew that she couldn't wait too much longer.
“Alizia?”
The older girl set her fork down. “Yes?”
Alexis had been forced to ask for help for this for the past few weeks, yet it still humiliated her to no end. “I...”
“What -is- it, Alexis, I'm trying to eat!” Alizia shook her head, pretending to be much angrier than she really was. “If you can't bring yourself to say it, then it can wait until you finish your food. All of it.”
Alexis pouted. She was used to this ultimatum by now, but not used to the food she was being forced to finish being broccoli, perhaps the most foul thing she could ever imagine tasting. Eating it was still better than ending up with a wet diaper, so she began shoveling it into her mouth as quickly as she felt she could endure it.
Her bladder was still winning, however. “Umm... Alizia?” She asked tentatively, receiving only the nasty stare she had expected in return. She could do this – she was a big girl.
She opened her mouth to take another bite of broccoli, but by then the battle was already over, and she was once more sitting in a wet diaper.
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“I'm beginning to think you enjoy this,” Alizia accused. “Is that it?”
Alexis shook her head, her tear stained face catching in Alizia's mind. Maybe she was pushing this a little too far, she worried. But no, the kid deserved it.
“Then why does it keep happening, then? Are you going to blame it on me again? Is it my fault you can't keep your own pants dry?” Alexis blushed, wanting to say it was Alizia's fault, though by now she was convinced it was her own. “That's what I thought. Well, if that's the way you want it to be, then so be it.”
Alexis turned pale. “But...”
“No. None of that. I've made my decision, and that's final.”
Alexis sighed, and finally nodded. After all, Alizia always knows best.
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She hadn't anticipated just how far Alizia meant to go, however. At her next meal, she found herself sitting on Alizia's lap, as her own chair had vanished, and instead of a plate, a bowl of ground up green mush awaited her. When she tried to reach for the spoon, as unappealing as the idea of actually putting the food into her mouth was, Alizia slapped her hand away.
“Now, now, babies don't feed themselves,” she reminded Alexis, pulling out a bib and tying it around her sister's neck. “There, that's better.” She picked up the spoon, dipping it into the food, then brought it closer to Alexis's mouth. “Open up!” she giggled. Alexis rolled her eyes, following the command anyway.
She nearly choked on the contents of the spoon, sending bits of green flying everywhere. Alizia patiently wiped Alexis's face with her bib, as if she had been doing this for years. “What is this?” Alexis pouted.
“Why, it's your favorite, Lexi, peas!” Alexis wrinkled her nose. Perhaps she liked peas normally, though they were nowhere near her favorite food, but like this they were awful.
“I don't like them,” Alexis complained, only to have another spoonful shoved into her pouting mouth.
“Well, that's too bad, because it's all you're getting to eat until supper, and I wouldn't want to see you go hungry.” That's me, Alizia thought to herself, thought the thought was a little less sarcastic than she expected. Always looking out for baby sister.
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Enzeru stared at the ceiling of the inn, pondering. It was something she did often, though not usually on this subject. She tried never to think of old cases. They were over, done with, and as long as she got paid, whatever happened afterward was none of her business.
This time, there was still a profit to be made, though. Surely Alizia had done whatever it was she was planning on doing with that orb by now. In that case, why should she keep it? The powers of a god were sure to be worth something to somebody, if she could just find the right buyer.
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Alexis sat dejectedly in the meadow, watching the flowers slowly grow around her. The forest sat just out of reach, across the tall grass, but she knew there were several guards stationed around her. They didn't even bother to hide anymore. Without her magic, she stood almost no chance of getting away with escaping like she used to.
Alizia had long since stopped allowing Alexis to make any attempt at hiding her diapers. Not that she had ever been successful at it in the first place. She was growing used to being seen as nothing but a toddler by the people of the castle, and nearly growing used to seeing herself as nothing but a toddler. She still hadn't regained a single day that she had lost.
She had gotten to the point where the diapers didn't even bother her anymore. Wearing them, at least. Using them was still another story. She didn't mind being fed, though she wished Alizia would remember which foods she particularly hated. Being dressed wasn't too bad, either, and once she had gotten used to it, the crib was more comfortable than a real bed. All in all, her life was not horrible.
But she did miss her old one quite a bit. She smiled sadly at the butterfly that landed beside her, crawling onto her outstretched finger. “Do you have wars?” she asked, a silly, half-forgotten question.
“Only with my brothers and sisters,” the butterfly laughed.
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The easiest way to sneak into a place, Enzeru had often found, was through its front doors. She had left her best weapons at the inn, not wanting to risk losing them when she was searched. Of course, she made sure to have a few of least favorite ones on hand for the guards to relieve her of. They would surely be suspicious of a bounty hunter without them.
“I've come to pay my respects to the king,” she informed them. “I hear he is not well.”
The guards let her through, cautiously, untrusting. This might be a bit more difficult than she had planned. The king's room was easy to find – it was the one with the most guards around it. After telling them what her business was, she went through, noting the exceptionally large elf standing watch over the bed ridden king.
“Your highness,” Enzeru began, kneeling down at the king's bed side. “I come to offer you a service.”
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Alexis crawled away from the flower bed, having found that it was easier to travel short distances that way than to try and walk with the immense amount of cloth between her legs. Alizia had been gradually increasing the size of Alexis's diapers for a few weeks now. When Alexis had asked her about it, Alizia had seemed a bit embarrassed as she answered that it was cute. In all honesty, Alexis wasn't sure she wouldn't agree, except for the difficulty they gave her with traveling on two legs.
Her stomach groaned, a sign Alexis had grown to recognize, and fear. It didn't seem too bad this time, however, so she went along her way, moving on to see what other flowers were blooming, when all of the sudden she felt her bowels give way. Alexis was frozen with shock for a few moments; despite all the time she had spent in diapers, she had always had more warning than that before using them -that- way. She usually even had enough time to beg Alizia to let her out of her diapers, since she enjoyed the clean up almost as much as Alexis disliked the feeling. Every once in a while, Alizia didn't notice her in time, and she had some accidents, but not too often.
The damage was done now, though, Alexis thought bitterly. She felt her diaper grow warmer and wetter as she peed, something she had given up trying to control a long time ago. There was no way she was staying in this diaper any longer than she had to, even if it meant giving up the rest of her time in the meadow.
“There you are, little sister!” Colfax called. Alexis looked up in fear. She couldn't let her friend see her like this! She sat down quickly, wincing as the mess in her diaper pressed against her skin. She felt like crying. “Little sister? What is the matter?”
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“While the offer is generous, I fear I have no need for the head of the god of war,” the king chuckled, which quickly turned to a cough. “Now, why don't you tell me what you're really doing here?”
Enzeru didn't miss a beat. “I'm here to take back something of mine.” A half-truth, if that much. The powers had never been hers, even if she had been the one to give them to Alizia.
“Do you feel I have stolen something of yours?” the king asked.
“Not you. Your daughter.”
“Ah.” The king leaned back against his pillow. “Are you sure you are not merely a bandit of some kind?”
Enzeru smiled. “No, not really.” The guard at the door took another step towards her.
Her fingers worked quickly, drawing in the air. A bright light lit the room, blinding the guard for a split second, more than long enough for Enzeru to grab the halberd from his hands, kicking him sideways, away from the door. “Good evening, your highness!” she called as she kicked open the door, hitting two of the guards behind it. She formed the sign with her hands again, blinding the rest of them as she ripped part of the sleeve of her tunic, pulling a mark of invisibility from it. She pressed it to her skin, where it wriggled for a moment before disappearing into her flesh.
Royalty may be able to teleport, she told herself, but her family had tricks of its own.
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“Please, go away, Colfax!” Alexis begged.
“Little sister, what has happened to you?”
Alexis sniffled softly. “I'm not a little sister anymore,” she said sadly. “Baby sister is more like it.”
If only eagles could smile. “You think I had not already heard of this, little sister? I knew of it from the day you began to change. There is little that happens in that castle that I don't know about. And what is a baby sister but a little sister anyway?”
Alexis shrugged. “I didn't want you to see me like this.”
“I saw you when you were like this the first time. I see no reason why it would disturb me now.”
Alexis couldn't help but smile. “I had forgotten I'd known you that long.”
“I had forgotten how cute you were, baby sister.” Alexis blushed happily. Colfax was one of the few people she would let call her cute and get away with it. Or had been when she was older. Now, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. “You had best be getting back home now. You've been out here for a while.”
Alexis nodded. She was getting sleepy anyway, and she most certainly wanted a change. “Fly free, Colfax.”
“Fly free, little sister.”
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Her invisibility would not last for long, and once it was gone, the guards were sure not to be in a good mood with her, so Enzeru headed straight for the hallway that should lead her to Alizia's room, or where the princesses of the royal family traditionally slept at any rate.
She began to worry when she saw that the first door was open to an empty room. She kept going anyway, pleased to find Alizia's door suitably locked and enchanted. The guards already knew of her presence, and Alizia would know soon enough, so she ignored the enchantments completely, smashing the door with the halberd before kicking the shards of it in and immediately began rifling through Alizia's things.
Alizia was at her door in an instant. “Who's there?” she demanded, gasping in shock as the halberd landed at her feet. “Who's there, damn it?”
Alizia hadn't bothered hiding the orb too well – probably hadn't expected anyone to know what it was, if they could even make it this far. Enzeru's hand wrapped around it, pulling it out of the chest of drawers just as her invisibility spell wore off.
“You!” Alizia hissed, grabbing the weapon Enzeru had tossed at her feet.
“Good to see you again,” Enzeru smiled, twisting the dagger still stuck into the orb, recalling what Ukokiji had told Alizia about how to use his powers.
Alizia raised the halberd above her head, beginning to bring it down on where Enzeru should have been, only to have the blade of the weapon spark against her stone floors, sending a shockwave of pain up her arms.
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Alexis wasn't sure what happened for a few moments. All she knew was that her clothing had suddenly become very, very tight on her. Her shirt ripped, though the diaper somehow stayed intact around her waist.
Her face suddenly lit up, and she stood, the ground seeming much further away than it had earlier that day. She was back to normal! She leapt into the air, giving a yell of celebration, only to wrinkle her nose as she felt the contents of her diapers shifting. Well... Almost back to normal, anyway.
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“You're a hard person to track down,” Enzeru said, a compliment she gave to few.
Ukokiji turned to look at her. “What do you want, elf?”
“Now, now, is that any way to treat the person who spared your life?” Enzeru shook her head. “Maybe you'd like me to rectify that mistake.”
Ukokiji shrugged. “It makes no difference to me.”
Enzeru smiled. “Well, maybe it will now.” Her hand came up, holding the Orb of Thesulah, throwing it into the air where it glittered and spun before the metal-encased hand of Ukokiji caught it.
“What... Why did...?” Ukokiji sputtered.
“Let's just say you owe me one.” Enzeru turned and walked away. What better profit was there than to have a god indebted to you? You never knew when something like that could come in handy.
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Alizia glanced at her door, annoyed at the knocking sound from it. “Who is it?”
Alexis slipped through without answering. “Hi,” she said awkwardly.
“What do you want?” Alizia went back to her reading, dismissing her sister before she even had a chance to answer.
“Alizia? I... I want to thank you. For looking after me.” Alizia looked up in surprise. “I don't know what I would have done without you.”
“Can't sleep, huh?”
Alexis shook her head. “I keep falling out of bed.”
Alizia glanced at the spot where the crib had been set up next to her own bed. Alexis probably would still fit in it, she thought, but it would be a nuisance to bring it back here at this hour of the night. She sighed. “Fine, you can sleep in my bed tonight.” Alexis's eyes could have lit up the entire room if Alizia's lamp wasn't on. “But I'm not going to risk you making a mess all over everything.”
Alexis had the grace to blush, but couldn't hide her excitement as Alizia pulled out a few of the spare diapers she still had lying about her room, pinning them around Alexis's waist gently. The diapers were just big enough to still fit around Alexis, if she wasn't diapered quite as thickly as she had been as a toddler. Alizia blew out her lamp as Alexis climbed into her bed, and Alizia got in after her, pulling the blanket up over both of them.
Alexis giggled as she turned to look at her sister's face. “How did you know this was what I wanted?”
“Big sisters always know best, silly. Didn't you know that?”
“Of course,” Alexis answered with a yawn. Alizia smiled, gently stroking her baby sister's hair as she fell asleep.
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