Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

---

---

 

---

 
The Legal Stuff: Emerald Princess © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 
Chapter 23: Magic Tests

“WOW, YOU SURE are light!” Trinity told me as she carried me across campus.

“So I’ve been told,” I told her.

“So, how do you like Bechtel so far?” Trinity asked.

I sighed, “I hate being without my parents,” I told her, “though I’m sure they feel the same way. I probably should have called them last night,” I said guiltily.

“You’re not the first student to forget to call their parents early on,” she laughed at me. “My parents practically yelled at me when I didn’t call them for a week!”

I giggled, “I’m pretty sure that’ll happen if I’m not careful. I guess I’ll call tonight… I’m sure Hannah would like to talk to hers too.”

“How about friends?”

“I seem to be making a few,” I admitted. “We’ll see how things go once we figure out what classes Hannah and I are taking.”

As we came up to the building, Trinity said, “Umm… Sofia, I think this may be a bit awkward?”

“What?” I asked, distracting myself from the fact I could clearly see a second entrance to the building other than the one the public would probably use. ‘It’s magic, right?’ I asked Caireen.

‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘pay attention.’

“Umm… I think you need a change,” Trinity said simply.

I looked down and felt a little bit of pee going down around my leg and sighed, “I never thought it would be my diapers leaking… she said I was just a little wet...”

“Do you want help?” Trinity asked.

I looked at her, “I don’t have any choice; I need help.”

“But aren’t you…?”

“The goddess I have lurking inside me isn’t allowing me to change myself for a while yet.”

“Okay…”

“So yes, please, if you don’t mind changing me?” I asked.

I expected her to walk to a bathroom but was surprised to see she had just walked into an empty room with a stone table instead. She sat me down on it while she dug out my changing pad, a clean diaper, and wipes. “Just lay down,” she told me with a smile.

She changed me like she well practiced at changing diapers every day. As she was taping the diaper shut, I asked, “You have a baby at home?”

Trinity grinned, “Yep, she’s just a little bigger than you. I keep hoping we’ll be able to potty-train her soon. I think we might do potty training boot camp over the Thanksgiving Break with her, as my sister calls it.”

“Good for her.”

“How about you? Any chances?”

I shook my head, “I think your people want to run a few more tests this evening on me, but everyone is guessing my EFP has locked me into being a baby with no control.”

“So, it’s a matter of learning to deal with it?” She asked as she dug into the diaper bag and found a new skirt to replace the one that had gotten wet.

“Something like that.”

“I guess I can understand your spirit’s insistence on depending on others for a while,” she said.

I just nodded.

“Okay, all set,” she said a few moments later after helping me fix my skirt and blouse. She straightened my hair before picking me back up and saying, “Let’s get this testing out of the way, shall we?”

She led me through the corridors of the building to an office with a lady I remembered from Mrs. Hensley’s visit to my house. “Hello, Ms. Raspin,” I said politely as Trinity sat me down on the ground.

“Good afternoon, Sofia,” she responded.

“I’ll leave your bag here,” Trinity said while placing my diaper bag on the chair.

“Thanks for all your help,” I said to her.

“Anytime,” she told me. “Ms. Raspin, if you’ll call me when you’re done, I’ll get her back with her friend.”

She left and closed the door on her way out. “Are you ready to start this testing?” Ms. Raspin asked me.

“Yes, ma’am,” I responded politely.

“Okay then, let’s go to one of our well-warded rooms for safety.”

Instead of picking me up or holding my hand, she opened her door and started down the hallway. I followed her, making several steps for each of hers, but I appreciated the freedom of movement there. Finally, she led me down to a large stone room with a circle of salt in the middle.

Caireen became nervous inside of me, and I knew why. Circles were dangerous, but we just had to trust the school here. “Would you please step into the circle?”

“I trust you will let me out of it?” I asked.

“I swear upon my true name that I will not keep you there against your wishes. It’s just a safety precaution as we test you.”

I nodded and stepped inside. Instantly I could feel the wards that were around the circle. Still, I also felt way better when we had a feeling that the power of this circle could be easily broken with our own strength. “Okay, Sofia, we’re going to do a few things once I clear out of the room.”

She left and went to an adjacent room with a glass observation window. “First, I want you to draw in as much manna as possible...” We spent the next three hours with her testing me in numerous ways. She tested my power level, knowledge of spells (limited then), spell strength (not so limited), and things I didn’t even have a name for.

When she finally finished giving me tasks, she asked, “Sofia, I could tell you became less nervous when you got in the circle. You can break through it, can’t you?” She asked.

Instead of answering her, I drew in the partial power I needed to do it and busted through the circle.

“Not another one…” she said with a sigh.

“Another one?”

“Yes, I’ve had about four students in the last six years who could do that. It makes it difficult to safely trust you when we start learning higher-order spells.”

I smiled, “Don’t worry, I can practice the really dangerous ones in Caireen’s castle.”

As we started walking back to her office, she seemed deep in her thoughts, and I realized for the first time that not only was my diaper leaking, but it was also sagging badly! It was almost falling off my waist as I awkwardly toddled, hoping it wouldn’t fall to the ground. Ms. Raspin didn’t notice it as she called Trinity to come to collect me, but Trinity saw it instantly.

“Umm… Ms. Raspin?” She asked.

“Yes, Trinity?”

“Did you ever check Sofia’s diaper?”

Her face fell as she realized she had dropped the ball and was embarrassed, “Umm…?”

“I thought so. Come along, Sofia. Let’s get you changed and back to Hannah before hitting your final tests tonight.”

Several minutes later, she was saying, “I can’t believe her…” as she undid the tapes of my diaper. I was soon in another diaper, but she said, “Sofia, you should see if you can get some uniform tops in as onesies.”

“Why?”

“I think they’ll help keep your diaper up when this happens again.”

“Oh,” I said. Trinity dug through the diaper bag and eventually came up with a pink romper for me to put on. “Won’t I get in trouble for not being in uniform?” I asked about wearing it.

“You’re going to have some exceptions noted in your file by tonight,” she told me, “And, as far as I’m concerned, you have no classes today.”

I was led back to Hannah at the other building. “How did she do?” Hannah asked like a worried mom.

“She did great!” Trinity said, “But you might want to see about getting her some onesies as tops instead of the regular blouses. It’ll help hold up any really wet diapers.”

Hannah blinked at me and said, “That’s a great idea! Thanks!”

We walked to Trident first, and I figured I knew why. “Full?” I asked her.

“I pumped five times today, and I’m even fuller now,” she complained.

In our room, she closed the door, pulled her shirt away, and we took care of her problem. “Do you mind doing this?” She asked me as she switched me to her other breast.

“No,” I sighed, “It really is very comforting,” I admitted before nursing that breast too. Hannah’s skin was far more comforting than the silicone nipple of a bottle.

‘See, there are good things about being a baby,’ Caireen told me.

‘I guess… On the whole, I would rather not be, though,’ I sadly told Caireen.

Once I had finished, Hannah cleaned up, and we went to dinner at the Friar Hall. It was already almost seven when we walked in, so we had to hurry to meet our final night appointment at 8pm.

Doctor Kestner met us at the receptionist area and asked, “If you’ll please follow me?”

I was a little surprised by the curtness but didn’t really care. It had been a long day, and I was looking forward to finishing these final tests. Hannah carried me and followed the doctor through an elevator door that took several minutes for us to go down to a low-level basement.

“How far are we below ground?” I asked her.

“About five-hundred feet,” she responded to me with a smile.

The door opened eventually, and we found ourselves in a concrete corridor. The walls reminded me of the pictures I’d seen of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Large pipes lined the wall, along with steel supports and the occasional solid door that was probably blastproof! She led us to another room with a young man waiting for us. “This is Doctor Wilks,” she introduced us, “Hannah and Sofia,” she said to us. “He’s going to run you through our latest device that we have to finish deciding your powers.”

“Okay…” Hannah said nervously.

In the end, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was almost an MRI, and I’d been through one of those in the hospital once. We had to change into form-fitting white suits before getting in the machine, which meant my diaper had to go. I felt awkward when he pulled me out of the device and had to spray down the table with disinfectant… But I laughed along with Hannah about it later!

When both of us had run through the machine, I asked, “So can we see our scores?”

He shook his head, “I have to let Doc Strauss or a faculty member go through them with you.”

“Oh…” I said.

“Don’t worry; they’ll meet with you early in the afternoon tomorrow.” Doctor Kestner said, “You only have to get through your physicals and Sofia’s martial arts placement first.”

“So, we’re done for the day?” Hannah asked as she pulled her skirt back up.

“Yes, we are. I’d recommend heading back to your dorm and getting some sleep.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Hannah said.

Back in our dorm, the other students waved at us, but we managed to make it back to our room without being interrupted. We both took the time to call home then.

“Hi, Mommy!” I said in a sweet voice.

“Sofia?” She asked, obviously a little weirded out.

I giggled, “Who else would it be?”

My dad got on the line, and even Lily was on the phone for a few minutes. I decided to go ahead and get the awkward conversation out of the way. I told them about Hannah’s condition and our ‘fix.’ Mom seemed to take it in stride, but you could tell Dad was uncomfortable hearing about my nursing. Just before we finished, Mom said, “We sent you a few boxes of things that should be there tomorrow. It sounds like Caireen mostly has you both set - but there are a few things from home to make…” she teared up a bit, “to make you feel more at home.”

“I love you, Mommy,” I told her. I could tell being apart was hard on her. But, especially as for a week, she’d literally gotten her baby back!

“I love you too, Princess,” she told me.

“Love you,” Dad said.

“Love you too, Daddy,” I said with a smile, “Good night.”

“Night, Princess,” he said to me. Then, as I hung up the phone, I saw Hannah was finishing up too.

Hannah picked me up, and we gave each other a well-needed hug. There was no doubt we would both be totally homesick without the other!

“So how about that bathtub and a bath? Hannah asked me.

I asked, ‘Caireen?’

‘Let’s go to the bathroom, and I’ll get it settled,’ she assured us.

Soon enough, we were in the restroom. Caireen created a beautiful clawfoot bathtub with a circular curtain that closed around it. Caireen matched most of the shower controls to make it easier to use. I noticed she placed a silence button there too, and I would have to ask Hannah about that later. Hannah didn’t even bother with the round curtain that could conceal the tub, though, as she placed me in the tub. I blushed as Hannah bathed me, and other girls could see her doing so. Most of the other girls seemed more interested in the tub than my naked body, “Oh my God, can I take a bath next?”

In the end, Caireen made two more tubs through me before Hannah diapered me for the night and placed me on her breast. When she lay me in my crib with my pacifier, I was exhausted and fell asleep instantly.

 
 

Thank you for reading! Please press the ‘Like’ Button if you’ve enjoyed it! I’ve gone a few posts without any comments, I would really appreciate it you would leave one! I do really appreciate the Kudos button, but please consider leaving a comment if you’re reading? Pretty please with a cherry on top? (Thank you to those of you who have left some!) I might be inclined to post an extra chapter tomorrow night if I see a couple!

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.