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.

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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 49: Approaching Storms

AFTER THE DEBRIEFING and brutally honest criticism, we all traveled back to Trident together. Hannah stripped me of the heavily soiled diaper I wore and carried me into the shower with her for a quick wash before lunch. We barely had enough time for me to nurse from her and make it to the cafeteria. Her lunch, and my real solid food, were finished in a record ten minutes before we headed to our afternoon classes.

At the end of Power Fundamentals, she told me, “Don’t forget to hurry back to Trident after your next class. We only have about a half-hour after that before they pick us up.”

I nodded, “Good thing we already packed!”

“And that they’re going to help us move in!” She smiled back at me.

I nodded and went to Powers Exploration, walking beside Lizi. When we were sitting down and waiting for class to begin, she said, “I can’t believe how much power you used!” softly.

I smiled, “It helps that Bechtel is right over the top of a huuuuge artery of power.”

“I can feel there’s power, but not like you’ve described. Can you really feel the ley line? And you can control it?”

“Mostly at this point,” I told her with a nod. “The first time I ever did something like that was scary. It was only because the building was warded to protect from that spell that it didn’t continue on forever.”

She nodded, and soon the teacher started off with class. With the upcoming finals, the review that started was handy for catching me up with anything that wasn’t in the textbook. The following week would be the final week of classes and then a week of study sessions. The next week was finals; the last week after that was supposed to be the Cube Finals. I hoped we would complete our assignment to be back for the Cube Finals. I was curious to see how our team would do against others!

After class, I lazily hitched a ride in Lizi’s arms back to Trident. She seemed to enjoy having a living doll to hold, tossed me around, and played with me on the way back. She used some sort of weird magical tickling spell somehow that took me too long to figure out to put my shield up to stop it. I was hurt when she just laughed at me after I made it stop!

Hannah, meanwhile, had switched her clothes out for the new ones provided to her. They seemed several years out of fashion and worn like she couldn’t afford new things. As soon as I was handed off to Hannah, she quickly dressed me in a long-sleeved onesie and leggings that also seemed second-hand. Hannah wasted no time before strapping me inside the infant carrier and latched it into the stroller. “Are you changing our appearances here?” She asked me.

I shook my head, “We should do it where they brief us. I’m actually not sure we should be dressed right now in these clothes…?”

She shook her head, “They said to go ahead and be dressed in these, so we don’t have anything out of the ordinary on us. The van they’re picking us up won’t allow people to see in as we drive.”

I stood on the floor and watched her gather a suitcase that held everything in it, including the baby food device, and hooked it on carefully to the stroller Camille had made. I made a couple of alterations in color and design to keep it from being recognized. However, otherwise, it was essentially still the same stroller that my carrier latched into. She carefully placed a blanket around my body to keep me warm before rapidly pushing her way out of our dorm. At the main administration building Hannah and I signed out. Then we opened a door into a black Bureau SUV that Agent Sanders waited in.

“How are you doing, Agent Emped, Agent Emerald?” He asked from the shotgun seat as Hannah latched my car seat in.

“Good,” I told him. “How far are we going tonight?”

“About three hours from here, we’ll get you into the safe house, where we’ll brief you tonight before you drive yourselves the rest of the way tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I said with a sigh. I was hungry right then…

Hannah must have sensed that because she showed me a pouch of baby food and a bottle, “Which one?”

I blushed as Agent Sanders sounded kind of shocked. “I didn’t realize that she…?”

I laughed, unable to see him with the rear-facing seat. “I don’t normally, but we figured if I’m going to be just barely a year old, it might make me seem like a safer target if I’m not even eating solid foods on time. So one of our friends created a device that enhances baby food to add more calories and make it taste okay.”

Hannah piped in, “I don’t think you’ve had the opportunity to see her appetite, but it doesn’t look normal for a baby.”

I stuck my tongue out at her and pointed at the baby food. “What about you?” I asked.

“I figure we’ll stop for burgers on the way. I know you won’t be able to wait that long.”

“Who says?”

My stomach growled loudly, “Your tummy?”

I sighed, “Fine!”

She warmed up the chicken and rice meal with her power and began squeezing little bits on a spoon that she then put in my mouth. I blushed as she occasionally conversed with Agent Sanders and the driver while shoveling a spoon into my mouth. Soon the pouch was empty, and my stomach was genuinely full. “Good?” She asked.

“Thanks to the adjustments… other than the texture, yes. I tried to just think of it as a weird thick soup.”

A warm bottle of her milk was placed in my hands, and with the long day and soothing car motion, I fell asleep for a short while nursing it.

 
 

I NAPPED APPARENTLY in the real world long enough to attend a briefing with General Slane and Caireen about Camulus’ army. They were getting nearer to us and were probably only a day or so ride from their scouts reaching the valley wall. Plans were made that the next day, both gates would be sealed with the large granite stones I had designed to seal them off. We would be completely cut off and on our own then!

When I woke up in our world, I was dangling from the end of Hannah’s arm. She was quickly carrying me inside the carrier into a house, so I didn’t get much chance to see.

Agent Sanders told her, “You can get Emerald’s diaper changed, and we’ll meet in the living room to brief you both.”

“Sounds good,” she said. Then, she looked down at me and said, “Oh, Miss Sleepy Agent decided to wake up?”

I tried to stick my tongue out, but the pacifier I was sucking on was in the way. So I ignored her as she carried me to a bedroom where I could see a playpen had been set up. I looked at it and asked, “I have to sleep in that…?”

She laughed, “I’ll let you sleep on the bed with me. Camille said you managed last weekend.”

I smiled as she picked me up from the carrier and placed me on a changing mat. This wasn’t the normal one I noticed, and it looked pretty worn with cracking spots in the material. It reminded me of one we had thrown out from Lily last year… When she went to put a new diaper on me, I noticed she didn’t put me in my regular brand. “What’s this?” I said, poking at it a moment later before she pulled my leggings up.

“Mommy’s cover is that she’s not made of money, sweetie; you get store-brand diapers while we’re on this mission.”

“Not even Luvs?” I complained.

“The legend for our covers says I’m basically broke and trying everything to keep your butt alive. Five cents per diaper adds at least another pouch of baby food a week!”

“That’s really sad,” I frowned.

“It’s what a lot of people go through, Olivia.”

“Are we already…?”

“Yep, I’m Mommy, and you’re my wittle year old baby girl, Olivia!” She tickled me before picking me up. “Let’s finish getting our briefing so we can get some sleep. It sounds like it will be all stress from here until we’re done.”

I nodded and leaned into her as she carried me to the living room. Agent Sanders went through more information on our legends, quizzed us on all of the facts Hannah had to have memorized, and prepared us for departing in the morning. We’d be taking off with Hannah driving an old, beat-up-looking four-door Honda. It was older than us and had rust spots in multiple places. There was already an old rear-facing car seat inside that looked like it had a full year of baby stains on it. I tried not to get grossed out, but it wasn’t easy!

The inside looked like a poorly kept vehicle, but he informed us that under the hood was a powerful engine. The car itself was also actually armored against small caliber bullets. When we got back inside, I changed Hannah’s hairstyle, color, and appearance to fit her legend better.

Caireen taught me how to sculpt flesh with magic in the past couple of weeks. She also showed me how to include a magical ‘reset’ button to return us to normal. Hannah griped, “I’m fat now!” While she was looking at her new self in the mirror. When I was done, she looked to have gained thirty pounds and had bigger hips and boobs to make her look like she had undergone childbirth. Instead of magic for her eyes, she just put in contacts that made her eyes look a duller, standard human blue color. Her hair was now a light blonde instead of our usual matching red.

I was a little limited due to my EFP, but I was able to adjust my teeth as one big thing. I now only had the average six teeth that a baby my covers age should have. I shortened my hair from long for a two-year-old to a wispy covering that just managed to cover my head. It came down barely into the length it could be put into a bowl cut and the shortest my hair had been since I was in elementary! There was probably barely enough to put little hair bands and fake ponytails, but not enough to style.

We had debated about contacts too for my eyes, but I was so small I didn’t trust them. I used the same spell I’d used before to make them a realistic grey-blue color, which, combined with my now blonde hair, meant I fit the ring’s primary victim type. I looked at pictures of twelve-month-old babies and added fat around my cheeks and body. My legs, in particular, had a chubbiness about them that ‘Haley’ declared ‘adorable!’

By the time we went to bed, nothing about us had looked like ourselves. Agent Sanders had actually seemed somewhat surprised and pleased by our efforts!

The bed in the room was placed right against the wall already. “I’ll let you sleep beside me next to the wall,” Hannah told me.

“You know I won’t fall out of bed!”

She laughed, “Do you know how much you move in your sleep?”

I nervously shook my head, “No…?”

“You’re a wiggle worm! I watch you roll against your crib bars all the time.”

I blushed, “Oh… really?”

“Really!” she smiled.

“So, won’t I keep you up tonight? Maybe it would be better to put me in the playpen?”

She hugged me, “For the next however long you are pretending to be my genuine baby. I guarantee you if I was really Haley, I would be co-sleeping with you most of the time.”

“Why?”

“Because Haley struggles for everything just so she can do the best for the baby she loves. I guarantee she would happily sleep with her baby until she was in elementary school if she needed to.”

“That’s weird,” I said.

She shrugged, “Not really; I slept in my parent’s bed off and on until I was in fourth grade.” I looked at her in shock, and she smiled, “I think I turned out pretty normal?”

I shook my head, “I think we’re going to have a difference of opinion there!”

She began tickling me mercilessly until I took it back. Then, finally, she kissed me on the forehead and placed me on her breasts to nurse me to sleep.

 
 

I WOKE UP, held in Caireen’s arms, and bounced as she looked out the windows of one of the turrets. “Decided to wake up?” She asked me with a smile.

I looked at her, “I guess… Why are we up here?”

She nodded her head off to the distance, where the sun was just bathing the land in light. Maybe a few miles down from the southern wall I had built, campfires were clearly evident, with smoke filling the valley in a gray fog.

“They’re here…?” I breathed nervously.

“Yes, they are… or will be today. I have no doubts that we’ll begin to hear swearing as they get within eyesight of the magnificent wall you built.”

“Certainly, when they start hitting the traps,” I said aloud. Right then, thunderous shouts and almost explosive sounds were heard rolling across the valley in the distance. “What’s that?”

She squeezed me, “Probably some of the efforts of the men you sent behind their lines. Just before we dropped the granite blocks, one of the groups sent word of their successes on the last day. Camulus has had about a quarter of his men desert him in the last few days, and they’ve managed to decimate the officer ranks. Some of his divisions don’t have anyone leading who was above the rank of a corporal four days ago.”

“That’s awesome!” I said with a smile.

“It’s definitely helpful! I’ve spent some time warding the wall, so I know even Camulus won’t easily penetrate it with magic.”

“So, we’re just planning on holding tight right now?”

“Yes, and no… I have set up several scrying mirrors down in the throne room that will display the view from the wall like your televisions. I thought we would go watch later?”

I nodded, “Okay,” I said and stayed silent as we both watched some more sudden plumes of smoke, and then a large forest fire started up in the distance. I thought that might be the straw to break the camel’s back! But instead, it was just an effortless exercise of King Camulus to pull down massive rain from the otherwise blue sky to put it out. I figured his men had to have been miserable, though, and armor, like they wore, would start to rust if they didn’t take care of it afterward. ‘We can only hope!’ I thought, knowing that we wouldn’t be that lucky.

Caireen nursed me and then changed my diaper into the thinnest cloth diaper I had ever worn – it felt barely thicker than regular underwear! “What’s this?” I asked.

“Something I hope you can move better in… I enchanted them to deal with soaking up your pee and poo just fine, but they’re thinner - and they don’t need a cover.”

I smiled at that as she then proceeded to dress me in the same costume I had made for back home, adding a short sword like I had been practicing with being strapped on my side. In complete contrast to that sword, she handed me my doll Emie, and we went downstairs to wait and watch.

She had placed many huge mirrors on the room’s largest wall that she had enchanted. They showed the views beyond the barriers, the citadels, and the castle. My initial excitement at seeing them faded to boredom as we waited for hours until the first traps were sprung. Finally, I watched as about eighty men, with locked shields at the front, advanced towards the wall on the road. One of Caireen’s mirrors zoomed in on their shocked faces at the sight before them. She’d managed to use magic to prevent anyone from seeing the wall until they were within a very close distance. When they closed within a hundred feet of the wall, the ground disappeared from underneath their feet, and they found themselves skewered in a punji pit. All of them died within minutes of the pierced wounds they experienced.

I felt sad about it and kind of sick to my stomach, but there was no getting around that people were going to die since King Camulus was being a greedy ass bastard! He sadly was perfectly fine with his losses and ordered the next group forward. Reinforcements arrived and began looking on the sides of the road for trees to make a bridge over the fifty-foot-deep pit that extended one-hundred feet across. As they did so, they ran into other traps. About three hundred men died before we could see Camulus in golden armor approaching the wall himself.

His anger was evident even without audio! I watched in horror as he angrily ran one of his attending soldiers through with his sword. Right then, the trees around him erupted in a volley of crossbow bolts fired from some hidden positions in the rocks above. The trebuchets in the citadels opened up simultaneously, and explosions from their ceramic oil bombs rocked the ground around him. I smiled as a bolt stuck into his armor but frowned when it quickly fell harmlessly to the ground. Unfortunately, the men around him weren’t so lucky, and we watched him retreat back to his camp about a mile down the road.

“Well, I’m guessing he’s not happy now?” I giggled.

Caireen squeezed me, “Probably not. He’ll take a day or two to develop a new plan. Even if he’d made it to the wall, it wouldn’t have been as easy as he thought…

The fires of the camping soldiers were visible in the distance as Caireen nursed me to sleep, looking out the tower windows that night. ‘I hope we can hold them off?’ I thought worriedly. ‘He’s not going to give up that easily!

 
 

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