Fifth Testing
It was still dark outside when I awoke inside the crib in Elyssa's room. My diaper was damp, and grew wetter as my bladder emptied moments after I woke. Unable to speak, I did what any baby would to get attention; I began crying.
Elyssa mumbled sleepily as she arose, and came to my crib. She reached down, and lifted me to her shoulder to carry me to the changing table. Once again, I had begun to really enjoy the regular ritual of my diaper changes. Each step in its predictable sequence still made the whole process immensely relaxing.
First came the cleansing. Next, the lifting of my lower body from the changing table, both of my tiny ankles gripped easily by Elyssa's huge hand, to slide the dry diaper or diapers under me. Then, there was the caress of Elyssa's soft hands all over my diaper area with soothing, sweetly scented baby lotion. Next came the drawing of the bulky diapers between my legs, tucking the folds of the soft cotton to fit neatly between my plump thighs. Then, Elyssa secured my diapers with plastic-capped diaper pins. Finally, the changing was finished when Elyssa put a pair of plastic panties over my diapers, and carefully adjusted the fit.
My adult mind - or what remained of it in my baby skull - tried to resist the easy slide back into infancy again. But, when you are physically nine months old again, it's very hard NOT to act infantile. The diaper ritual was my favorite, but there were a dozen more routines that reinforced the fact that I had little choice in the matter.
I was again Elyssa's baby girl, and beginning to feel it was likely I would remain one permanently. When such thoughts filled my little head, I had to fight to hold onto the remnants of my adult mind. I told myself that there had to be a way out of this nightmare. Surely, one of the testings would give me a chance to become a man again.
After breakfast, and my morning bath, Elyssa began dressing me in warm clothing, and into the infant seat / carrier once again. As she placed me in the carrier, Elyssa spoke softly, "I've arranged to have the remaining members of the coven meet us at Sally Anne Timmons' place. It's a huge old farmhouse, with plenty of rooms. There's no sense dragging this out any longer than necessary. You'll be taking the remaining nine testings today."
I blinked once for "yes" to show her I understood what she'd said. Elyssa carried me to the car, and fastened my infant seat into the safety harness in the back seat. I watched the tops of the bleak Maine forest as Elyssa drove us deep into the country south of her mother's house.
The house sat alone in the middle of the farmland, perched atop a long ridge. Elyssa parked the car, and came around to remove my carrier. The wind seemed to cut through all my layers of clothing, and I whimpered at the way it chilled my damp diaper.
We entered the kitchen, and heat enveloped us as soon as we closed the door. Elyssa placed my carrier on a kitchen counter, and released the harness to remove my outer clothes.
As she placed me on my feet, I clutched her hand for support as I grew dizzyingly. I was noticeably smaller than the last time I was restored to my "adult" size. Elyssa was at least a foot taller than I was. I could stand only with Elyssa's help, and she eased me onto the seat of a kitchen chair.
I could see myself reflected in the kitchen windows. With my plump limbs, blonde curls, and big blue eyes, I certainly didn't appear to be any sort of adult. I appeared to be a girl of ten or twelve years, at most. In truth, I looked like the oversized baby that I was. The sudden emptying of my bladder reminded me that an oversized baby was exactly what I remained.
Sally Anne Timmons was a mature, ash blond woman in her mid-thirties. She smiled as she entered her kitchen, "Elyssa, I'm sorry his testings have gone so poorly. I'd really hoped you were right about his having some potential."
"I appreciate that Sally, really," Elyssa replied, smiling back, "And, I really appreciate your hosting the rest of his testings today. At least, we can get it completed by sundown, and be done with it."
"It's my pleasure, Elyssa," Sally said. Turning to me, she smiled again, "So, little one, do you have a nice smile for me?"
This request I didn't need words to answer, I thought smugly. I kept my lips closed tightly, and refused to show my teeth at all. I stared back silently.
"Wrong Choice."
For the fifth time, the swirling tornado of sensations sucked me into its vortex, and I quivered with the new transformation imposed by her spell.
"You've been warned that any question, no matter how minor it seems, can be a testing," Sally Anne spoke sharply. In spite of that, you continue to act as if the minor pleasantries and courtesies we show each other do not matter to you. Smiling pleasantly, even when you do not feel like smiling, is an important social grace, little one.
"Your penance for this failed testing is to regain the infantile dentition you had as a nine-month-old. I believe you had just two front teeth, top and bottom. Yes, I was right. I'm afraid it's back to strained baby foods for you, little one."
My tongue seemed larger as it felt the smoothness of my gums on either side of the baby teeth in the front. Feeling enraged because I'd been fooled again by an "innocent" question, I tried to say something to Elyssa that this was unfair, "Daboo babee wawa."
My baby voice sounded sweet even to me, as it failed to be able to express even the idea of rage. I wanted to cry, and quickly found myself shuddering with deep sobs.
Elyssa touched my leg with the carrier, and I felt that amazing sensation of telescoping into myself, as I rapidly shrank back to baby size. She carefully guided me into the carrier, and fastened the harness again. Glaring down at me, Elyssa scolded me angrily, "No one's given you the brain of an infant, Dennis. Know why? You already have the brain of an infant. It'd be redundant.
She turned to Sally Anne, "Thank you so much for trying to give Dennis an easy one, Sally Anne. Too bad it was a wasted effort. I'm afraid my formerly strong, virile man actually likes being a baby girl. He just seems determined to be made to stay that way permanently. I thought it was just bad luck, but when he blows the easiest testing so badly, what else can I think. Baby Denise just loves being a baby girl, I guess."
I was blinking twice rapidly at Elyssa to show her my strongest denial of her suggestion. I liked being a baby girl? That was ridiculous. OK, I had adjusted as well as I could to a condition I couldn't change. And, yes, there were some parts of the infantile experience that I had come to actually enjoy. That didn't mean I liked it, did it?
Oh God, I realized, staring at my reflection in the window. Yes. It did mean exactly that, didn't it?
Elyssa carried me out of the kitchen, along the central hallway, "I saw your blinking, Dennis. Deny it all you want, but if you want to prove me wrong you just have to pass a testing. Pass just one, and I might believe you don't really want to remain my baby girl."
She carried me into a small library. There were two ample armchairs placed to either side, facing a warming fire in the small fireplace. The woman seated in the right side chair was as unlikely a witch as any of them were. Barely five feet tall, with mousy brown hair drawn into a tight bun, she looked more like a librarian than a witch. She could have been forty, but probably wasn't yet fifty, I guessed.
"Dennis, this is Claire Van Reems. She's our coven's historian, and guardian of the Wisdom Written. Claire will be giving you your next testing. Is that plain enough warning to you, sweetie?"
The 6th Testing
"Remove him from the carrier, please, Elyssa," Claire directed, and smiled at me, "I have a story to tell your young man, and mayhap he'll do better in the next testing if he divines its meaning."
Lifted easily from the harness of the carrier, I carefully returned the slender woman's smile as soon as I was standing (with Elyssa's help, of course).
Even as Elyssa eased me into a seated position on the second armchair, I could not help realizing I'd lost several more inches in my "adult" size. How many more testings until there was no longer a difference?
Elyssa took a position behind my chair. I would get no clues from her when it came time to answer. A few moments later, I felt her hands slide something under my chin, and the tightening as it was tied behind my neck.
Looking down, I realized that drool was running from the corner of my mouth, and onto a bib Elyssa had just placed there. With my infantile teeth and tongue, I couldn't seem to control the drooling anymore than any other baby could.
"Maybe you'd be more comfortable with a pacifier?" Claire asked me, smiling as she suggested it.
"Yef" I managed to say, praying that this might be a correct response. There was no Voice, no pronouncement of my latest failure. I relaxed, realizing that hadn't been my testing.
I was indeed more comfortable with the pacifier Elyssa inserted between my lips. Suckling was a reflex for me now, and it stopped my drooling. It also provided me with a tiny measure of infantile reassurance. I needed that, as I realized, I still had not been tested by this woman.
"Be calm, child. You will know this test when it comes. However, that will not help you with your answer," Claire nodded, and sat back in her chair. She took a small book from the table beside her chair, and opened it carefully, "This is the story of Serena the Brave, and the first witch burning."
"In medieval Italy, when it was still a collection of city-states, and principalities, there was a young woman who was unusually talented in her training in the Wisdom and the Mysteries. She lived in a small village ruled by the rich men who controlled the city of Venice.
"In all of her training in the Way of Wisdom, Serena had listened respectfully to the oldest voices in her coven, and rarely spoke, other than to ask another concise, and useful question. The elder members spoke warmly to each other about Serena's emerging talents, and careful completion of each stage of her training. This girl would be an elder herself one day in the future, they agreed.
"Serena would not move on to another mentor in the Ways, until the elder told the girl she had no more to learn there. Patient and persistent, she had exhausted each of them in turn. Each, secretly thrilled at how completely the young woman mastered her specialty, was sure the girl meant to follow in their footsteps. She would be a Mistress of Herbs. She would become the most adept of Seers. Surely, she meant to become the most talented of conjurers? No, Serena would move on to the next fount of Wisdom.
"No other woman in memory had completed training in all of the Ways, much less at such a young age. The coven was proud of their youngest sister, and certain she would add much new Wisdom in her time.
"When she had completed all the training the elder sisters could give her in the Ways, Serena decided the time had come for her to meet a husband, and start her own family. This task she pursued as diligently and wisely as she had each of the Ways.
"Serena carefully evaluated the possibilities among the unattached males in her village, but soon realized none had the requisite qualities she desired in a husband. Deciding she needed to cast a wider net, she imposed on a sister to have her husband take Serena to Venice for Market Day. She would help the kind farmer with his vegetable stand, and be able to weigh the merits of many more candidates.
"Serena was very adept at the reading of auras, and their reflection of their owner's qualities. No man whose aura did not contain the soft golden glow of kindness, and the bright blue flashes of intellect rated a second glance from Serena's roving eyes. Naturally, these qualities and other aspects she demanded to find in a man soon winnowed the hundreds of possible candidates to just two.
"Serena studied each of them carefully from a distance, being sure neither of them noticed her attention. One was a young farmer from a village nearer to Venice than hers. His aura fairly shown with its golden glow, and shifted into warmer red-brown shafts that revealed his passion for the good earth he tilled. The blue flashes showed he had more intellect than most suspected. Being truly intelligent, he spoke little, and listened much.
"The second was a somewhat older man, a silversmith who owned his own small shop. His aura also glowed golden, and flashed with blues. But, a deep violet shade suffusing his aura also revealed the depth of his sadness. His wife had died giving birth to their second child. Now the smith must be strong and provide for both children, but his heart was heavy with the longing for the love he had lost.
"The younger farmer was a handsome, tall man. The smith already had a few gray hairs at his temples, and a bad scar on his cheek from a scalding splash of molten metal. For once, Serena listened to her heart, and not her wisdom. She chose to visit the young farmer's well-provisioned market stall.
"She didn't need even the mildest of love spells to enchant the young farmer. He was in love with her before she reached the counter between them. After a few moments discussing the obvious merits of his fertile fields, he found himself daring to invite her to the dance in the plaza that evening. He was astonished that she accepted, and more smitten than ever.
"Serena was mildly surprised to find she was also falling in love. Young Giovanni was the very soul of respect and kindness. The day after the dance, Giovanni appeared in her village, asking after her father to ask for Serena's hand in marriage. Serena's father was delighted in her choice, a solid young man with his own fields, and a large olive grove. Of course, he gave his consent to the match.
"Serena and Giovanni were very happy for many years. She bore him two sons, and then a daughter. Their fields and grove grew rich with Serena's careful use of the Ways to enhance their abundance. They were generous to their families, and neighbors with the bounty they had to share.
"Serafina, Serena's daughter, was just eleven when she had the misfortune to be tending the trees of the olive grove as a troop of knights passed the village. The knights dismounted, and had their servants set up camp in the grove. At the leader's command, Serafina was dragged before him at the entrance to his tent. Smiling wickedly, Don Victorio took her wrist, and took her into the tent. She screamed when she was penetrated the first time. This only made Victorio laugh more loudly, and thrust into the small girl even more fiercely.
"Her daughter's scream brought Serena running to the grove. Casting a minor spell of misdirection, none of the men could see her as she ran to the tent. If their eyes came close to perceiving her, they found themselves looking elsewhere. Serena burst into the tent as the large knight was wiping the remains of his discharge on Serafina's torn dress.
"She lost focus to maintain the misdirection spell. Almost every male eye in the camp was on Serena as she spoke the dire cold words of the strongest curse she knew. The knight began to yell loudly with pain as his male member writhed like a snake, and tied itself into a knot! His yelling grew louder, but shifted to higher and higher notes as his voice changed along with his knotted member. It shrank in painful spurts of contraction, and slowly assumed the exact same characteristics as the clitoris and vagina between Serafina's legs. Literally unmanned, the knight collapsed in soprano sobs.
"Serena was arrested for witchcraft immediately, and dragged before the priests of her own village church. The female genitalia of the cursed knight were shown to the priests in private, and they were unanimous in their sentence. The witch must be burned at the stake.
"None of the Wise could intervene to save Serena without revealing their own "taint" as witches, but they were still able to devise a plan. One sister maintained a spell of invisibility around Serena, while another placed a spell of seeming upon the evil knight. There was an uproar in the camp as 'the witch' was found again in their leader's tent. His shrieking soprano denials of this identification did the knight no good, of course. Enraged by the disappearance of their leader, and the materialization of the witch inside his tent, they decided to carry out the sentence immediately.
"In the uproar surrounding their building a pyre around the pole they'd planted for a stake, no one noticed the clouds of smoke screening the departure of Serena from her prison.
"Her sisters had saved Serena, and substituted the rapist for her at the stake, but they could not reclaim her old life. Serena was now dead to her beloved husband, and children. The sisters contacted another coven a few days later, and asked if they might find Serena a safe haven.
"When Serena arrived in Venice, her appearance was much changed, and none would be likely to recognize her. She was escorted in the night to the shop of a merchant whose wife had died many years before. She had also been a talented young woman in the Ways, Serena was told.
"When the man who had offered her sanctuary came back to the rear of his shop, Serena was stunned to find he was the silversmith she had rejected so many years before. Serena, and the members of this coven, were more stunned by what happened next.
"A radiant gold and green glow enveloped the room, and all within suddenly. Clearly, yet without any definable source, all heard the Voice of the Goddess.
"'A circle has been closed, and a moment on the wheel of time hangs above two different paths. When you made your choice of husbands so long ago, you might have chosen this good smith as well as your young farmer. If you choose again in this moment, you may walk that other path.
"'Choose the smith, and you may avoid the path that led to your daughter's defilement, and the first burning of a witch. Many more sisters will suffer in the flames if this dreadful punishment is inflicted on that evil man. The evil of this act will follow your sisters for ages.'
"'But, Mother,' Serena objected, 'the rape will not happen because I will have no daughter to be raped. My children's lives will vanish into non-existence, and they will live only in my memories. Mother, you ask a mother to doom her own children to non-being, a state worse than death. Their immortal souls will survive death, but nothing survives non-existence.'
"'Three lives against generations of pain and suffering to be visited on your sisters. Are you so selfish, my child, that you will sacrifice thousands for your three children?'
"'Yes, Mother, I am,' Serena replied fiercely, 'Their immortal souls weigh as much as any sister's, and their lives are all I can give to the future. I will not go back to choose the smith.'
"The glow of Her presence vanished, and all there felt a deep sadness at the Goddess' departure. The sisters of Serena's adopted coven stared at her with a mixture of disbelief, and anger. Imagine a sister who refused a Gift from the Goddess Herself, and valued her own flesh above the suffering She had forecast as their lot?
"Serena's welcome in Venice had suddenly vanished, and the only people who could protect her no longer would. She was forced to flee to the countryside again. She became a reclusive presence in the forests, and the wild marshes of the seaside. Rarely, she would sneak back to the farm and the grove to watch her children's lives from afar.
"Serafina never recovered from the trauma of the rape. She was always with her father or one of her brothers. Later, her sisters-in-law would keep her clean and occupied in their households. But, the sisters-in-law were as barren as Serafina seemed. Serena was an ancient, and bitter crone when she realized her sons would sire no grandchildren, nor would her daughter ever be able to be a mother. The lives that were 'all I can give to the future' would be the end of her gift. The Goddess had merely rewarded Serena in kind for her last choice."
As Claire finished her tale, she quietly watched me for several moments. I was amazed that I had managed to stay awake and absorbed for the entire time. Well, this time I would not be able to claim that I did not know it was coming. I waited nervously for her to ask the question for my next Testing.
She smiled warmly, and said, "This is the Choice with which I Test you, Little One. One tome in this room will restore you to the man you were. A spell in that tome will open a path across another Circle in Time, just as the Choice Serena was offered by our Goddess would have.
"It will take you back to a time before you met Elyssa, and put you one a different path. That path will lead you to another woman. She does not walk the Ways as Elyssa and we do. Will you give up your love for Elyssa, and the future you might have together, to be a man again?
I found my mouth suddenly able once again to pronounce words fairly clearly. I winced as I heard the piping sweet notes of my voice answering.
"Yes, I guess I have to if I understand your story. It'd be selfish of me to put our love ahead of what's best for all," I reply, softly to Claire, praying this time I might be right.
Then, looking at Elyssa, I added, "tole you I don't wanna stay a baby girl."
"Wrong Choice"
I was stunned as the spiral swirls of sensation swept around me again. This was a set-up. They were never going to let me be right. I was sure I had understood the point of the story.
As the swirling stopped slowly, and I gradually found I could see again, I stared up at the two huge adults. I was baby-size again.
"You DID understand the point, little one, and then you still made the wrong choice. What's selfish is for you to value the immediate return of your precious penis above the love you have (until recently) professed so strongly for our Elyssa. So, since you insist on seeing the world from a selfishly infantile perspective, that is how you will see the world until your penance is finished. Regardless of your size, you will see everything from the perspective of a six-month-old. That seems about right for your maturity level. And, of course, with an infant's perspective, I'm afraid you also lose the ability to comprehend written language or numbers, or symbols of any kind, I'm afraid."
Her huge head turned away from me. Claire spoke to Elyssa, "I'm very sorry it turned out this way, little sister. But, you can't be surprised after five straight failings. I've taken too much time for this result. Better hurry up to see Simone. She's waiting for you in the nursery. I suspect your little one needs a diaper change after this last failure."
The 7th Testing
Claire Van Reems was certainly correct about the state of my diaper following her testing. As Elyssa carried me up a long flight of stairs, I felt the mushy mass shifting in the rear of my diaper, and the weight of the diaper's soaked mass.
The nursery we entered was larger than I expected. It had been made from converting two of the farmhouse's bedrooms. It needed the size to contain the cribs, playpens, changing tables, and other furnishings to care for a dozen babies and toddlers. I stared around in wonder at the amazing walls. Each wall was a moving watercolor painting of a different Mother Goose story. As soon as a story ended, the colors swirled, and a new tale began to paint itself. The mobiles over the cribs had brightly colored shapes that danced to the music each played, or flying ponies that really flew in a magical carousel. I could barely see the amazing toys the babies in the playpens had, before Elyssa lowered me to a changing table.
She placed a hand on me, and carefully secured me with a strap around my plump tummy. As she removed my shoes, Jenny entered the room, and spoke to Elyssa, "Your mother and Claire want to ask you something about..."
"Sorry, Denise, no previews," Jenny said, making a brief motion with her left fingers. I could still hear them, but the words made no sense to me at all. Kind of like being a kid in the Peanuts cartoons, except I could hear the real sounds of the words. I just couldn't understand what any of them meant.
Another woman, an older plump grandmotherly type, came to talk with Elyssa and Jenny. Suddenly, they were gone, and I was left alone with the old woman.
I wanted to scream. Elyssa knew I had a wet, poopy diaper, and she had left me! I was furious with her. I was so upset, it took several words from the old lady before I realized I could understand what she was saying, "...had to go for just a little while. But, I've had lots and lots of practice at changing diapers, Sweetie. Would you like me to change those messy diapers for you? My name is Simone, but everyone just calls me Granny."
"Tan oo unnertan meef?" I spoke hesitantly, amazed that my baby mouth could speak at all.
"Oh, yes, Sweetie. That's part of Granny's magic. A good Granny can always understand what her babies need to tell her," she smiled warmly, and her hazel eyes actually twinkled. Her hand rested lightly on my diaper, "Of course, I only need my nose to tell me what you need. Now, do you want me to change you, little one? You'll feel much better in a clean, dry diaper, you know."
I didn't answer her immediately. What I really wanted was for Elyssa to come back, and take care of me like she should have in the first place. I was still angry at her, and about to refuse, when I finally realized this might be another Testing.
I could speak to this old woman, and the only time I'd been able to speak lately was to reply to a Testing. For the first time since arriving, I had a tiny ray of hope. Maybe I could finally pass one, and show Elyssa that I didn't really want to remain a baby girl.
"Yeff, pweathe. Tange meef pweathe," I managed to be polite, too, I thought happily.
"Right Choice"
I was right! Yes! I had finally passed a Testing! This would show Elyssa that I didn't want to be this baby girl her mother and the others had tricked me into becoming.
The swirling sensation flowed in the opposite direction from all the others that I'd ridden within before. When the dizzying sensations ebbed away, I wondered what I'd been given back for finally passing a Testing.
"Let's take care of the mundane first," Granny said, removing my tights, "You still need that nasty diaper changed, sweetie. When you're clean and dry, we'll tell you your Boon for passing the 7th Testing."
Granny was certainly speaking the truth about being very good at diaper changes. She performed the same basic steps in the ritual, of course. There is a logical progression to it, after all. But, the minor differences of how her hands touched my most sensitive areas were indeed magical. Her mere touch banished the itching irritation of a beginning diaper rash, and her cleansing was the most thorough I'd ever had. Granny was even better at the ritual than Elyssa I realized happily, as she finished tucking the fit of my clean plastic panties around the soft bulk of my dry diaper.
"If you had failed this Testing, Sweetie, you would have received the sensitive skin of the baby you are now as a reminder to be more sensitive to others.
"Elyssa made a request of all of us to grant you a specific Boon should you pass any of the Testings. If you pass others, of course, there will be more Boons granted. She merely wanted to ensure this would be the Boon you got, even if you win no others," Granny smiled down at me, as she released me from the changing table's strap.
"Your Boon is that you will always be able to remember who you are. Your basic identity as Dennis will stay intact," Granny said, lifting me into her arms, and cradling me in the crook of one arm.
"Some of us felt this might be more a Curse than a Boon to you, should you fail all the Testings but this one," Granny spoke softly, holding me to her ample bosom.
"You might be better not to recall being a man, if you are doomed to never be one again."
I refused to believe that Elyssa had requested this "boon" for me only to punish me more than the others had. I had to believe that she had a good reason, and it might help me pass the other Testings.
"Darling!" Elyssa's voice rang out only a few feet away. She took me from Granny's arms, and grinned down at me cradled in her own arms, "I'm so proud of you, Dennis. You finally managed to show something of what I saw in you in the first place."
Testing the Eighth
The next room we entered seemed more a museum set piece than any one's living quarters. A huge Victorian Era canopy bed took only a third of the large room. The other end of the room was a formal seating area in beautiful period furnishings. The layers of laces, and velvets in the room's draperies were reflected in the upholstery of the furniture. The arms of the sofa, and the chairs were all covered by elaborate lace doilies. The woman awaiting us in the seating area seemed almost to be part of this museum exhibit.
Cynthia Wyeth was dressed as elaborately and in the same period as the decor of the Victorian room. Through the gauzy fabric of her blouse, a lace and silk chemise, and a lace and cotton overslip, I could detect the lines of the whalebone stays of her severely laced corset. Oddly, she wasn't an old woman, who might recall such times. She was no more than thirty, I guessed.
"Ah, Elyssa, you're a bit early. Does that mean?" she paused, smiling at us expectantly.
"Yes, Cynthia, my little Sweetie managed to pass a Testing, and has been given the Boon I asked of you all," Elyssa replied, turning me to face Cynthia, "Dennis, this is Cynthia Wyeth."
"Welcome, little one," Cynthia said cheerfully, tenderly shaking my tiny hand between two of her slender fingers. She gestured to an armchair. "I was about to have tea. Would you like to join me?"
I nodded my agreement, and didn't expect that being polite was likely to be my Testing again. It wasn't. Elyssa sat in the chair beside Cynthia, after she had me seated in the small wooden highchair before them.
I was given a small bottle of apple juice, and a couple of teething biscuits on the tray on the highchair. With just four teeth, it wasn't easy eating the biscuits. I was so involved in the task, and holding the little bottle to drink juice that I lost track of Elyssa and Cynthia's conversation. Finishing, I realized that I had juice and biscuit mush all over my face, hands, and clothing.
"Looks like Sweetie needs a good cleaning, and a new outfit," Cynthia observed, smiling down at me. She rose from her chair, "If you'd like, Elyssa, I have a perfectly darling Christening dress and bonnet that should fit her. If she's going to be one of us for at least the next year, she ought to get used to dressing like a girl."
Elyssa lifted the tray away, and used several baby wipes to clean my face and hands. Taking me from the highchair, she nodded to Cynthia, "That's true, Cynthia. She needs to start learning how much work is involved in feminine dress, even for baby girls."
Elyssa stripped me to my diaper and plastic panties, placing me on the changing mat spread on the sofa. Checking my diaper to be sure I hadn't wet again (I hadn't.), she began dressing me in the Christening outfit.
First, was a gauzy cotton under vest, trimmed with delicate lace. Second, a silk underslip, with slightly more elaborate lace trimming. Third, a taffeta petticoat with dozens of sheer layers edged by scalloped lace. Fourth, a satin and lace overslip edged by somewhat larger scalloped lace. Fifth, a pair of panties covered across the rear with rows of delicate lace ruffles. Sixth, the satin and silk Christening dress itself, with its own double layer of lace overskirts. Seventh, the matching baby bonnet edged with the largest version of scalloped lace. Eighth, a pair of anklet stockings with lace ruffles revealed as Elyssa turned down their tops. Ninth, and finally, a pair of white Mary Jane shoes that fit my tiny feet perfectly completed my dressing.
Elyssa passed me to Cynthia, who carried me to stand before the mirror of her vanity table. In the glass, I saw myself, transformed into the perfect picture of a Victorian baby girl. In my cocoon of silk, satin, and lace, I was the epitome of feminine infancy.
Suddenly, the image before me swirled. For a moment, I was terrified that I failed a Testing again. What was the question? But, then I realized that I was unchanged. It was my mirror image that was changing.
I watched with a mix of fascination and dread as I saw my image aging and growing in the mirror. I became a toddler, and swiftly grew to kindergarten age. My pre-teen years rolled by, and I saw my body developing the curves, and attributes of a young woman. Finally, the aging ceased as I found myself looking in the eyes of a beautiful, and very feminine woman. At every age, I had seen myself wearing skirts and dresses. My clothing was always elaborately and obviously feminine, nothing "man-tailored" for this girl.
Lifting my gaze, I found Cynthia's face reflected above the shoulder of "my" reflection. She smiled, "If you fail the rest of your Testings, Denise, you will become the woman you see before you. After years as a girl, you will not want to return to being male, and will choose to remain female, and a very feminine female, at that. You will bury your male past by becoming as feminine as you can.
"I can save you the time, and the heartache you will know before you accept yourself as female. Just consent to become the woman you will probably become anyway, and you will be the Denise you see now. You will have the memories and knowledge of all those years, and will be happy as the woman you have become."
I shook my tiny, bonnet-covered head, "No. Don' want to gwow up ath Denithe. Wanna be Dennith agin."
"Right choice."
For the second time, the swirling sensation flowed in the opposite direction from all the others that I'd ridden within before. When the dizzying sensations ebbed away, I wondered what Boon I had gained in the passing.
*This is your Boon* Elyssa's voice seemed to be speaking inside my mind, and her mouth had not moved.
*Cynthia has created a telepathic link between us, my love. You may not use it to ask my help in the rest of the Testings, but we will always be able to understand each other's minds.*
*I think you were always pretty good at understanding my mind, darling. Maybe now I'll get the chance to understand yours a bit better.*
*After the rest of the tests. For now, I have to block the link. You will be able to feel my presence, but we will not be able to communicate through it until the tests are completed.*
I felt an odd sensation, similar to my ears being plugged with earplugs, but it was within my head, inside my mind. I could still hear physical sounds clearly, but the new sense of telepathic "hearing" was totally muffled.
Still dressed in the elaborately feminine baby outfit, I was carried by Elyssa along the hall to the next coven member's room.
The Ninth Testing
If Cynthia's room had been the epitome of lavishly feminine decor, this bedroom was the epitome of minimalist feminine style. It was obviously a woman's bedroom, but needed no elaborate lace or ruffles to prove that. The bed linens and window treatments were in light green and yellow pastels. A single landscape watercolor opposite the bed was the room's sole decorative element.
"Denise, this is Jessica," Elyssa said, holding me to face the slender brunette, who stood as we entered her bedroom.
Jessica's long dark tresses framed her attractive face simply. She smiled warmly at me, "Welcome, Denise. I bet you'd love to get out of that dolly costume, and into something a bit more comfortable. Here, let Auntie Jessica dress you in something practical."
She took me from Elyssa, and carried me to a changing table, which appeared suddenly in one corner of the room. Placing me on the table's padded top, Jessica began removing the multiple layers of my Victorian baby costume.
When I had once again been undressed to just my diaper and plastic panties, Jessica dressed me in a simple pink onesie, and a pair of denim overalls with snap fastenings along the legs and the crotch.
"There we go," Jessica said, patting me on the head and lifting me into her arms. The changing table vanished, to be replaced by a rocking chair, "I'll bet that's a lot more comfortable, and familiar. Hmm?"
I smiled up at her, and nodded. Though these clothes were certainly infants' apparel, a baby boy might wear the very same items. They were certainly more familiar and comfortable than the feminine finery I'd been wearing.
"I believe in the simple approach to most things, Denise, and that includes my Testing of you. I will present your test to you, and you will make your choice.
"We both know the relief you felt at escaping that frilly baby outfit, and how much better you feel dressed as a boy. I can grant you that relief permanently. If you consent, I can restore your male gender. You will remain bound to the rest of your penalties imposed by the prior failing of tests, but you will be a boy again, and will grow up as any normal boy might. So, want to be a boy baby?"
I looked over at Elyssa, and shook my head, "No. If me be a baby, me be too wittles for 'Lyssa."
"Right Choice."
"If you had failed my testing, you would have lost the ability to speak and understand language like an adult. Instead, my Boon to you is that you will retain the language abilities of an adult even when you are in your infant form. Of course, like any Boon you earn, this will not take effect until your testing is completed."
"Tank you, Auntie Jessica," I said sweetly in my tiny, piping baby girl's voice. Turning to Elyssa, I said, "Me weady now, 'Lyssa."
The Tenth Testing
Elyssa carried me cradled in one arm, and carried me back into the hall. She lowered her face to mine to kiss my forehead, "Three in a row! I'm so proud of my itty bitty sweetie."
We entered the next bedroom along the hall. This bedroom's decor was somewhere between the frilly Victorian femininity of Cynthia's room, and the elegant simplicity of Auntie Jessica's room. The drapes and the bed were floral prints of coordinated pinks, yellows, and greens. The furniture was a simple Shaker style in maple and cherry woods.
The room's occupant was another older member of the coven. Her hair was a salt-and-pepper mix of grays, and its formerly black color, worn in a short style. She wore no makeup, and was dressed in a simple floral dress.
"Denise, this is Anne Marie," Elyssa said, holding me to face the older woman.
As Elyssa held me forward, I felt a gusher spurting into my diaper, and squirmed uncomfortably. Anne Marie smiled down at me, and lifted me out of Elyssa's arms, "All this stress is very hard on a baby's body, isn't it, Denise? Looks like you need another diaper change."
"Yeth, pwease," I answered quickly. I couldn't control my baby body's reactions, and had realized finally that I had to surrender to its needs and demands.
Anne Marie removed my overalls before laying me onto the changing table in the corner of her room beside the white crib. Releasing the snaps of my onesie, she pushed it above my plump tummy, and drew off my plastic panties. Removing the diaper pins, she lifted me by my ankles to slide the diaper away, and dropped it into a diaper pail.
The air was cold on my damp skin, and I shivered as Anne Marie gently washed my diaper area with baby wipes. She put a small amount of lotion in her palm, warming it before she spread it tenderly over my bottom, between my legs, and over the front. I squirmed at the sensation of her huge fingers caressing the sensitive area between my legs. Though I found the ritual of diaper changes very comforting, this most direct reminder of my female gender could still make me squirm with unease. I reminded myself that I had just declined the chance to get back my boy bits, but it didn't help much.
Anne Marie completed my changing, and I felt the tension leaving my tiny body as she drew a fresh pair of plastic panties over my diaper, and fastened the plastic snaps of my onesie. Suddenly, I found myself yawning with exhaustion as the tension ebbed away.
Anne Marie lifted me from the changing table, "You're just worn to a frazzle, aren't you, Denise. Maybe you should have a nice little nap before you face any more tests. Would you like to have a nap, sweetie?"
I wanted to get the testing done, and very nearly refused Anne Marie's offer. But, I could feel Elyssa's presence though our link, and she seemed to radiate patience. Taking that as my clue, I looked up at Anne Marie, and said, "Yeth. Me tink a nap be good ting."
"Right Choice."
For the fourth time, the swirling, dizzying sensation came over me, and I waited to learn what my Boon would be for passing this testing.
"Very good, Denise," Anne Marie commented, as she placed me inside the crib on my back, "If you had failed my testing, you would have been cursed with the biorhythms of a small baby, needing two naps a day, and twelve hours sleep every night. Your Boon from me is that you will have an adult's biorhythm, needing only eight hours sleep at night. Of course, even adults can use an occasional nap."
"Tank you, Anne Marie, " I answered softly, and let my exhaustion engulf me. I put my thumb in my mouth, and quickly fell asleep nursing it.
When I awoke from my nap, I needed another diaper change before we could continue to the next testing. Elyssa soon had me cleaned, and into a dry diaper. Leaving me dressed in just the onesie over my diaper and panties, Elyssa carried me to the next bedroom along the hall.
The Eleventh Testing
This bedroom was warm, the air heated by a small fire burning low in the fireplace. I felt the chill that I'd had from my last changing fade quickly. I understood now why Elyssa had not dressed me more warmly.
The blonde woman by the bed was a few years older than Elyssa, and slightly less slender.
She smiled at Elyssa, ignoring me, "You can put her in the playpen with Marie Jean. I'm sure no one's thought to offer you much comforting this evening. Her testing can wait until you've had a cup of herb tea, and a little rest of your own."
"Umm, that sounds lovely, Carrie" Elyssa replied, taking me around the canopy bed to a playpen in the far corner of the room. It had been hidden from view by the bed's draperies.
A... another baby girl, larger than I was, was playing with a set of brightly colored rings in the playpen.
"Denise, this is Marie Jean." Elyssa said, lowering me into the old fashioned wooden playpen. Setting me on my padded bottom, she said, "Play nice while I have a cup of tea with her Mommy."
Elyssa vanished behind the drapes of the canopy bed, and I was left alone with another baby. A larger, and older baby, I guessed, trying to gauge how much older she might be. Marie Jean smiled over at me, revealing that she had more teeth than I, and dropped another ring over the conical post. She held a ring out to me, "Nugoo nana baboo"
With some effort, I managed to shift myself onto my hands and knees to crawl closer to Marie Jean. Getting myself seated again was another major effort, and I was gasping as I finally sat beside her. I was constantly surprised how weak my baby body was, and how much effort it took to do something as simple as crawling.
Getting my wind finally, I reached for the blue ring Marie Jean still held, and spoke my best baby babble, "Gaanee baboo ganoo?"
Marie Jean released the ring, letting it fall onto the playpen floor between us. I grinned at her, and leaned forward to grasp it with my pudgy digits. This was much more difficult than it should have been. Maybe that's why I didn't notice Marie Jean digging her fingers into a solid grip on my hair. She gave a sudden yank, dragging my head up, and generating a pained screech of glass-shattering volume from me.
I wanted to slap her as I saw Marie Jean's plump little face screwed into a wide smile of delight at my pain. It took all of my control to slowly slide my own fat little fingers between my scalp and her hand, and finally shove her hand away. Tears of pain and frustration poured down my cheeks as I rolled quickly away from her reach.
"Right Choice"
I looked up in confusion, feeling the now familiar reversed swirling of a Boon being conferred upon me for choosing correctly. I didn't understand, however. What had been the question?
"Not all questions are asked in words, sweetie," Elyssa said, appearing around the canopy bed, and lifting me out of the playpen.
The playpen, and Marie Jean vanished completely. I looked at Elyssa with added confusion.
"She was never there. We would never place a real child in the way of harm from a wrong choosing," Carrie said, smiling down as Elyssa held me close, "She existed only for you, and only to ask her question with her hands. Would you harm another baby to protect yourself? Fortunately, you answered the test maturely."
"If you'd failed, you would have been cursed with an infant's sense of time, and a contented acceptance of being unable to tell one day from the next," Carrie informed me, reaching out to touch my cheek tenderly, "For passing the testing, however, you have the Boon of always knowing the time of day, and the day of the week, month, and year exactly. You'll have your own internal clock, set to local time always. You will know when your time as an infant has run its course."
" 'Lyssa knows me wanned hit her," I told Carrie, puffing to speak as loudly as I could, "Me gwad not kinda baby hits back. Tank you, Carrie."
"You're welcome, little one," Carrie nodded her head, and winked, "I think I may see some of what our Elyssa finds lovable in you. May the Goddess bless you both."
The Twelfth Testing
We had nearly reached the other end of the long hallway. Only two doors remained, one on either side. Elyssa opened the door on our left, and carried me inside.
This bedroom reflected the personality of its mistress as clearly as all the other before it had. A mature, and large woman in her mid forties, Helena Giddings liked simple country styles. She wore a simple gingham housedress, and a plain cotton apron.
"Welcome, Denise. I'm Helena Giddings," she said, smiling down at me as she took me from Elysssa.
"Sit, my dear," Helena spoke to Elyssa, gesturing at two chairs before the room's window, "This won't take very long."
Helena sat in the other armchair, and placed me upon her lap, facing up at her. She winked at me, "You're nearly to the end, and no sense in delaying the process. I'll be asking you to make a choice in a moment, and you'll soon know if you've received Curse or Boon from me. Before I do, however, I had to feel the weight of your soul in my hand. It's an old soul, little one, let it guide you."
I had an "old soul"? What did that mean, I wondered. I decided that a nod of understanding was answer enough.
"Good. Now, your testing," Helena said, bluntly, "I can restore you to your full adult manhood immediately. You will retain the most of your memories of being transformed into a baby girl, and a false memory of having been freed by a renegade witch named Elyssa. You will retain no other memory of Elyssa. You will feel no heartbreak of a love lost, because there was never any relationship between you. You can return to the 'normal' world, and find a mortal woman more suited to you. Now, you must choose. You can be a man again now, or remain a baby for a year - or more. What will it be?"
"Me not give ups 'Lyssa," I said honestly, and without a doubt as I felt the warm connection to her, "Me stay baby if me gots to."
"Right Choice"
The swirling sensations spun through me as I sat on Helena's lap, gripped tightly by her strong hands. She grinned at me as the sensations faded away, "If you'd failed this test, you would have lost all recollection of being male, and what that felt like. You would have only the knowledge that you had been a man, but no direct memory of it. My Boon is that you will not only be able to remember your adult male past, but that your adult soul may travel to **ELSEWHERE** for an hour each day to meet with Elyssa's spirit. **ELSEWHERE** is a non-place, a non-location between realities, where spirits and live souls may exist without the need of bodies. May you young lovers grow ever closer through those hours."
Thirteen is My Lucky Number
Elyssa carried me across the hall, and into the last bedroom. Looking around, I saw only a simple double bed in light linens, and a rocking chair before the room's window. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the room.
Elyssa sat in the rocking chair, turning me to place me on her lap, facing her. Smiling at me, she unbuttoned her blouse, revealing the inner curves of her breasts. Pushing the blouse aside, Elyssa deftly released the fabric of the brassiere's cup, and lowered it.
Her breast was swollen with milk, drops of it were forming around her nipple, and running down the curve of her breast. I could smell the sweet aroma of the milk, and my mouth began to water for the wonderful taste of it.
"Want Mama's titty, sweetie?" Elyssa asked me, grinning as she squeezed more milk from the nipple.
Drool ran from the corner of my mouth, and I wanted that nipple more than anything I could recall wanting. Only the warm reminder of Elyssa's presence reminded me there was one more Test to pass.
Gulping with the effort of resisting, I said, "No. You not Momma. You 'Lyssa. Me wanna cup."
"Right Choice"
For the last time, I was swept into the swirling spiral of sensation, and left exactly where I was before. Elyssa drew me to her breast, and tenderly guided my mouth to her nipple.
*For choosing maturely, I am allowed to grant you this Boon, Sweetie. You may nurse from me for the time you must still remain a baby. You will need no other food, and it will keep you in perfect health for that time.*
A few days after my testing was done, I stood with Elyssa in the changing room of a women's clothing store. We were trying spring outfits for me to wear in my "adult" form.
My "adult" form was not very adult in appearance to anyone else, of course. I looked like a very plump girl of ten or eleven. I mostly wore dresses and skirts, since they were better at concealing the diapers I still needed to wear, and made changes easier, as well. Though I conceded the need to wear skirts, I insisted that they be as plain as possible.
Only eleven months and twenty-six days to go.