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Witch's Bane - Chapter 3 (Commission)
🕑 Added 2020-07-02 18:00:04 +0000 UTCVivian didn’t know whether to be grateful or furious.
The Wizard had at least dressed her up in modest clothing. Her sundress came down to her knees, more than enough to cover her diaper, and the socks and shoes were plain and comfortable for long, cross-country walks. The dress wasn’t even all that humiliating - it was light purple and far more pretty than she’d have preferred, but it wasn’t terrible.
On the other hand, he’d done all this without offering her a diaper change, and though the bulge of her diaper wasn’t noticeable, the smell wafting around her was. When she’d asked about using a charm to hide the stink, the Wizard had simply laughed at her.
So, she was trudging down a dirt path behind the wizard, feet growing sore from the sheer amount of walking.
“Tell me, do you know which town is closest to your home by foot?” the Wizard asked, as they walked.
“I… I think Halleck?” Vivian said. She usually flew, and she hadn’t been to the nearest towns in a long time. Their terror was reinforced whenever they saw her storm clouds ripple overhead, and she didn’t need to do anything else to keep them obedient.
He nodded. “That’s right. Do you remember what you did at Halleck?”
She couldn’t. There were too many towns, too many identical little villages for her to keep track of each and every one. Still, admitting that would highlight just how much destruction she’d caused. “I… burned their crops, yes?”
“You destroyed their mill,” the Wizard said. “And…”
He stopped, glancing up the path. A couple were walking the other way, leading a horse laden down with saddlebags.
Please, don’t notice the smell, Vivian though, forming the idea into a silent prayer.
As they got close, though, the Wizard dashed her hopes against the rocks. “Please excuse the smell, I haven’t changed her diaper in a while,” he explained, the passing explanation making the couple both smirk and Vivian turn pink.
“Y-you didn’t have to tell them that!” she squeaked, struggling to keep up with the Wizard’s long strides.
“That is true,” the Wizard replied, glancing back at her. “I didn’t have to.”
She stopped for a moment, sputtering and falling behind. “B-but-”
“Rule number five!” The Wizard called over his shoulder. “Do catch up.”
Realizing she’d grown more than ten feet from him, Vivian scrambled to catch up, diaper squelching between her thighs. “A-are you going to tell everyone we pass on the road that I… um…”
“That they’re smelling your stinky diaper?” He scratched at his chin, considering for a moment. “Yes, I believe I am. The road to fixing what you’ve done begins by losing your grip of fear over these people, and it’s difficult to be afraid of a little girl who poops her pants.
“But...” Vivian stammered, flushing brightly. “But I- But you-”
He eyed her, more sternly than he’d been a second before. “You’re verging extremely close to back talk territory. I would advise you to choose your words carefully.”
“I…” she started. “I have a question, then.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Alright. Ask it.”
“Something I was wondering about. How come I can speak normally right now, but sometimes your magic makes me lisp?” It was an off topic question, something to distract from her incredible blush, but it was also a practical one. If she learned more about how his magic worked, she might learn how to dispel it.
“You want me to teach you how I wield my power?” the Wizard asked. “The very power I’m using to keep you from destroying me?”
Vivian made a choking noise, realizing she might have just walked face first into punishment. “I… it was just a question.”
“And a good question, at that,” the Wizard agreed, nodding agreeably. “And, of course, I’ll answer. My intent is never to deprive you of knowledge or understanding.”
She blinked at him. “Wait, really? So, if I asked you how you defeated me, you’d tell me?”
He laughed, showing genuine mirth. “That sort of magic takes a lifetime to learn, and I don’t believe you’re in the right mindset to even begin, child.”
“That wasn’t a no.” She glanced up the road and saw a tradesman pulling a cart their way. Lowing her face, she moved so that she was behind the wizard, so she wouldn’t stand out quite as much.
“Let’s start with Hadrian’s Babble, shall we? It’s a devilishly simple bit of counter magic.” He stepped to the side of the road to give the cart more room to pass, commenting to the tradesman, “Apologies for the smell, Vivian hasn’t had a diaper change in some time.”
Turning pink, she kept her face down and tried to focus on the conversation, rather than the tradesman’s condescending chuckle. “I… Hadrian’s Babble, you said? Is that what it’s called?”
“That’s right. It’s activated by the target’s own reserve of power. When you call up energy, a little bit is siphoned off to fuel the spell. It creates a perfect trap, where you can’t use magic to break the spell, because simply conjuring power to counterspell the Babble will make you unable to attempt the spell.” He stopped, frowning at the road for a minute.
“I thought that sort of thing was impossible,” Vivian said. “Stealing enough power to shut down someone’s magic is a contradiction.”
“But, that’s the trick. Robbing your fine speech control takes only a whisper of power,” the Wizard explained, stepping back and raising Vivian’s dress without warning. “It’s a matter of subtlety. There’s no need to shut down your magic, only to shut down your speech.”
Vivian didn’t really hear the last sentence of his explanation. She was too distracted by having her diaper exposed, and by the Wizard squeezing the seat and testing its weight. A few moments went by, and he lowered her dress, nodding.
Coming to a decision, the Wizard declared, “I think it’s time you had a diaper change. Take off your dress and lie down, I’ll get you clean.”
“B-but,” Vivian said, looking up and down the road. They were totally exposed, so that anyone who walked by would have a great view of her dirty diaper being changed. “Please, s-sir, can we find somewhere more private for this?”
He scratched his chin, nodding. “Alright, I suppose.”
She let out a sigh of relief, walked after him as they started trudging once more towards the ridge up ahead.
As they crested it and saw the road wind down to the base of the hill, though, her heart sank. The town they were heading to, Halleck, was only a few hundred yards away at the end of the road.
The Wizard cleared his throat, pointing. “I’m sure we can find somewhere private in town.”
“I-” Vivian started. “I changed my mind. We can do it here. Please, don’t-”
“You’ve already made enough of a fuss,” the Wizard warned. “You didn’t trust my judgement before. I’ve had enough out of you, do you understand?”
Vivian gaped, but there was no arguing. He’d just make things worse for her. Hanging her head, she followed him down the hill and into town.
Any hope of finding a quiet corner to change in was dashed when the Wizard walked up to the first house, knocked on the door, and waited patiently for an answer.
The door latch turned, and an older, matronly woman stepped onto the stoop. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, please,” the Wizard said, nodding agreeably. “Vivian here has just made an awful mess in her diaper, and asked me if we could find somewhere private to change her. I don’t suppose you have a bathroom, or somewhere else out of the way we could deal with her?”
The woman frowned, pulling grey hair away from her eyes. “Eh… Vivian is this girl?”
“That’s right. Say hello, Vivian.” He stepped aside, gesturing at her, and Vivian made a little squeaking sound at the back of her throat.
“Erm… hello.” Her face burned, and she avoided looking the woman in the face.
The woman had no such shyness, and after a long stare, her eyes narrowed. “I know you. You’re the Witch.”
Finally, Vivian looked at her, trying to remember. She… who is she? I know her face, but…
“That’s right,” the Wizard said. “But her days of wickedness are done. She’s made a pledge to change her ways, and I’m ensuring she doesn’t backslide.”
“She destroyed our temple,” the woman said, doing nothing to hide her anger. “Brick by brick.”
Oh. It’s HER. The woman didn’t just have a matronly appearance, she was the town’s actual matron - or, at least, she had been until Vivian had destroyed their places of gathering.
“I’m sorry,” Vivian said, quietly. It was mostly a plea for mercy, rather than a true apology. Whatever her intent, though, the woman was having none of it.
“You are in a diaper,” she said, looking Vivian up and down. “Is it uncomfortable?”
No point in lying. “Yes, uh… ma’am.”
“Good.” Stepping back, she slammed her door in Vivian’s face, leaving them standing on the stoop.
“Well, you can’t blame her,” the Wizard shrugged. “We’ll try another house.”
Vivian didn’t have any way of hiding her face, but she hoped that keeping quiet and as still as possible would turn her invisible. Walking another door down, the Wizard knocked.
The man who answered was Vivian’s age, and had the rugged, athletic build of someone who worked in the field every day. “Can I…” he paused, wrinkling his nose. “Erm… help you?”
The Wizard opened his mouth, then closed it, stepping to the side. “Vivian, why don’t you explain it to him? You’re the one this is for, after all.”
She wasn’t sure if it was possible to turn any more red, but if it was, she did. “I… em… I would like somewhere private, please.”
“Uh…” he looked between her and the Wizard, clearly puzzled. “Do I know you? You look familiar, but… wait, do you work at the tavern next town over, in Marston?”
“No.” Vivian rubbed at her neck, trying to decide if there was any good way to explain things. Before she could, she felt the Wizard’s hand on her shoulder.
“Explain things to him better, Vivian. Be thorough.” His tone was gentle, but she understood the implicit threat. If she didn’t humiliate herself, he would find a way to humiliate her that would be infinitely worse.
“I… I don’t live in town, and I don’t think we’ve ever met, but… I…” Oh gods. Just kill me, please, don’t make me say this. “I… pooped in my diaper, and I would like somewhere private to change. Please.”
He still seemed puzzled, but his expression also showed sympathy. He might not have understood why Vivian was on his doorstep in a smelly diaper, but the basic human empathy for a stranger in peril was enough for him to smile and step back.
“Okay, come on in. The town has enchanted plumbing, the bathroom is near the back.” He smiled, trying to put Vivian at ease.
She started to walk inside, prepared to thank him, but the Wizard cleared his throat. “Vivian, tell him who you are.”
That made alarm bells go off in the man’s head, and he blocked the doorway again. “Hmm?”
There was no getting around it, except to do as she was told. “I… I’m the Witch.”
“The…” he stepped back, fear tinging the confusion on his face. “Oh gods. What are you going to do to us?”
“It’s alright,” the Wizard promised him. “Vivian has none of her power. I’m ensuring that she’ll be reformed, and in the meantime, she’s forbidden the use of the potty.”
He had to consider it for a moment. “You burned our crops. We had to use everything we’d saved just to keep from starving through the winter. When I stood and asked for mercy, you laughed in my face.”
She tried to look guilty. “Is… is that a no?”
The fear was gone. Anger, and a little bit of smugness at the reversal of power, were all that Vivian could see. “You want a favor from me, and you didn’t even think to apologize first?”
“That’s not it at all!” Vivian said, putting up her hands. “I honestly didn’t remember who you were.”
He looked away from her, addressing the Wizard. “She is not welcome in my home. If you ask me, she should have to wallow in her own filth until she’s personally apologized to everyone she’s ever wronged.”
“That’d, unfortunately, be too much to ask,” the Wizard said. Vivian let out a sigh of relief, until he added, “But, the whole town… that would certainly be possible. Would that satisfy you?”
“But-” Vivian started, but a single ‘shhh’ from the Wizard was enough to quell her.
“It would certainly make me feel a little better,” the man said, nodding, a smile spreading across his face.
“Wait,” Vivian said. “Please, just hear me out. I can make it up to you - I’ve got riches. I’ll pay you, just let me change, please. I don’t think my diaper can even last that long!”
The Wizard paused. “Well… The concern of leaking is a fair point. Vivian, wait here while I discuss things with this gentleman. We may be able to come to an agreement that benefits us all.”
“Yes, sir,” Vivian said, nodding her head obediently.
Please. Just let me change, and I’ll be the most obedient model of perfection you’ve ever seen… until I figure out a way to get back at you for all this.
The Wizard stepped inside, and Vivian could hear nothing except a collection of hushed tones and quiet comments. Thirty seconds went by before the door opened again. When it did, the man was smirking broadly and the Wizard seemed satisfied.
“Vivian, he’s given permission for us to use his bathroom to put a clean diaper on you. Please tell him thank you for being so generous, given the circumstances.”
“Thank you,” Vivian said, nodding. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Of course,” he snickered, nodding. “It’s just in the back, on the left.”
As they shuffled towards the bathroom, Vivian asked in a quiet voice, “What did you give him?”
“I didn’t give him anything,” the Wizard said, plainly. “We came to an agreement, but he didn’t want a bribe, he wanted proof of your sincerity.”
“I… okay. How did you prove it?”
“I’ll explain in a moment.” The Wizard pulled the bathroom handle, opening it and reaching into his pack in one motion. Out came a flexible, water-resistant purple mat, which he unrolled and gestured to. “Lay down, Vivian.”
“Yes, sir!” She was more than happy to obey these orders if it meant getting into a clean diaper.
Vivian tried not to let it bother her that she was excited, not even to be given underwear, but just a clean diaper. That was something to worry about once they were back in her home.
The Wizard pulled a diaper from his bag as she laid down, and Vivian sighed in relief. Soon she’d be clean, and no matter what the Wizard had her do, she’d at least not stink like a dirty diaper while she-
“What are you doing?”
“Ensuring that you don’t leak,” the Wizard explained, as he slid the new diaper beneath her old one. “I promised that man that you’d be cleaned up only once you’d apologized and made things right with the whole village, but he conceded that having you leak everywhere we went would be counterproductive. As such, I’ll still be giving you a fresh diaper whenever your old one is full.”
“I… but…” Vivian squeaked. “You… how big is the town?”
“A few hundred, I believe,” the Wizard said. Pulling the new diaper snugly around her old one, she felt the sodden old padding squelch against her. The Wizard had to pull the tapes very snug, then press his hand against the seat and then the crotch of her diaper to make sure that it would stay in place.
He pulled down Vivian’s dress and stood, moving to go wash his hands. “That should be fine, for now. I’ve employed a little cantrip to make sure the layers will soak into each other, so there are no worries of leaking unless you manage to completely flood both of these diapers without me noticing.”
“B-but…” Vivian mumbled. “You… are you serious?”
“Completely. Now, I want you to stand, and go apologize to that man for burning his fields.” The Wizard gestured to the door, and Vivian knew that she had no choice but to obey.
Getting to her feet, she took a few tentative steps. The increase in bulk was noticeable, but it wouldn’t affect her ability to walk much. Glancing in the mirror, she wasn’t sure if she could make out any bulge beneath her dress - it was possible she was just imagining it.
Either way, she had to go apologize. Pulling open the door handle, she stepped out of the bathroom, looking around.
He was waiting for her, malicious glee plain in his expression. “Do you have something to say to me, Vivian?”
“I…” she looked down at her feet. “I’m sorry for burning your crops. That was wrong of me. I won’t do it again.”
“Sure. And you’re not just saying that so you can have your messy bottom cleaned up?” he asked.
Vivian didn’t know how to answer that. She was just playing along so she could get a change, but if she said that aloud, she’d get into more trouble. If the Wizard caught her lying, though… “I…”
The Wizard stepped in on her behalf. “Don’t worry, sir. Her sincerity might be in question right now, but until she feels genuine remorse, she won’t be out of my care. For now, be content to know that she’s paying for her crimes.”
“Fine.” He made a show of wrinkling his nose, and gestured to the door. “Get out of my house, before the whole place stinks as badly as you do.”
Vivian didn’t know if it was a reprieve or a prelude to more humiliation, but she was happy to get out of the man’s house before he had any more ‘bright ideas’. At least outside, there was a gentle breeze and nobody was staring at her.
“So… are you going to call a town meeting?” she asked, hopefully. “So I can apologize to everyone?”
“Of course not. You’re going to go door to door. I want each apology to be personal.”
Vivian stared at him. “You mean-”
“And, if they aren’t happy with a simple ‘I’m sorry’, you will find a way to make it up to them,” the Wizard said, leading her directly to the next house.
“I- but that’s going to take all day!” Vivian complained.
The Wizard nodded, agreeing. “In truth, the sun’s setting in a few hours, and your bedtime is the same as it was last night. I fully expect this to take until tomorrow if you don’t pick up the pace.”
That was encouragement enough for Vivian to pick up her speed, butt wiggling as she waddled as fast as possible to the next home.
Knocking, she waited impatiently as she waited for someone to answer. Half a minute passed, before the Wizard said, “We can come back later, if nobody’s home.”
She waited stubbornly for another minute before finally giving up. “Fine. What if nobody lives here?”
“This home has a presence to it,” the Wizard said. “Someone lives here. You can tell by the threshold.”
That gave Vivian pause, but only for a moment. She didn’t have time to waste asking about magical theory, she had apologies to make so she wouldn’t spend the evening stuck in double-thick diapers.
The next home was, fortunately, occupied. A tired woman answered the door, very little charity in her expression. “What do you want? I just got the kids out of the house for an hour or so, and I’ve got a million things to do before they get-” She recoiled upon recognizing Vivian. “What- What are you doing h-”
“I’m here to apologize,” Vivian said quickly. “For attacking your village, and… anything I might have done to you specifically. I want to make amends.”
To give the woman credit, she was quick on the uptick. Her eyes tracked from the Wizard, to Vivian’s stance and clothing, and her nose wrinkled as she recognized the smell. “What kind of amends?”
“I…” Vivian wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I’m not allowed to… that is, I’m not using magic, but is there anything I can… do?”
The villager’s eyes narrowed, and her smile was razor sharp. “Come on in.”
As it turned out, there were lots of things she could do. The woman had three children all under five, and their diaper pail was full and in need of washing. When that was done, Vivian found herself on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor by hand, and then doing the dishes, and then sweeping out the attic, while the woman drank tea and chatted with the Wizard.
Vivian could only overhear bits and pieces of what was being said, but every bit made her blush more red. “So you’re keeping her in diapers? And she can’t help but use them?”, then, “Oh, I can imagine the fussing. She’s probably worse than my little ones.”, then, “Well, if you need to make the spanking a little worse, you might try making her pick out her own paddle - no, no, I don’t do that with my children, but when my husband acts up…”
It was most of an hour before Vivian was done, and the Wizard finally decided that she’d apologized thoroughly enough. They thanked the woman for her time, and moved to the next home.
And so, the day went on. Most townsfolk didn’t have quite such an extensive list of chores, and a few preferred that Vivian didn’t so much as approach their home, but it was still a long, humiliating exercise.
Not a single person listened to her apology, and the explanation of why she smelled, without at least cracking a smirk. Fear quickly turned to amusement, and the awful power that she held over them was lost as people cracked jokes behind her back, and sometimes to her face.
The innkeeper was especially vindictive, and once Vivian was reminded that she’d burned down his last establishment, she couldn’t blame him. He had her buss tables for over an hour - after the Wizard cast a spell so that Vivian’s diaper wouldn’t bother the customers - and whenever she had even a second to spare, he insisted on ‘treating his help right’, pouring her a fresh glass of lemonade.
At first, Vivian had thought it a gesture of goodwill. By the time the third glass was foisted on her, though, she began to suspect that it was a ploy of some kind. After half an hour of exhausting work, waddling from table to table, and six tall drinks pushed into her hand with an encouraging, “Drink up!” and a slap on the back, she knew it was a trick.
Still, there wasn’t much she could do to stop it, except to flood her diapers again and again, feeling the padding grow more sodden and heavy.
The Wizard stepped in after an hour. “She’s got other people to apologize to,” he explained. “She’ll send reparations for the cost of building a new bar. Thank you for the hospitality, sir.”
Vivian expected to be led towards the front door, but instead, he walked her to the back, towards the tavern’s bathroom.
Oh no. “Sir, please-”
“You’re nearing leaking,” he said, his voice loud enough that most of the bar could hear. “And we’ve much work still to do. You need another diaper, Vivian.”
“B-but-”
“Do you need a spanking to go with it?”
That broke her. “No sir.”
Another layer was added to her increasingly puffy diaper, and as she toddled out of the bar, she wondered how many more layers she could take before she’d be unable to walk.
More apologies, more wrinkled noses, more snickering and smug looks. More sweat, and more blushing. At first, the Wizard made her speak up when she ‘forgot’ to mention that she would do favors or chores for the villagers, but before long, he didn’t have to.
Word was spreading fast, and as the sun started to dip below the horizon, she was showing up to find people with a list of chores prepared for her. Most were practical, but some seemed designed to humiliate more than anything. The most tenuous of excuses were invented so that she’d have to crawl on her hands and knees, either to clean tile, or reach under a piece of furniture, or look for a lost toy.
And, throughout all of it, as she got dirtier, and her diaper grew heavier, the Wizard just stood back. He sometimes made small talk with the people, but if they weren’t interested, he’d simply keep an eye on her, ensuring she did her chores properly.
While she was in the middle of cleaning someone’s toilet, she felt a tug in her bowels, and her heart sank. There was no point in holding it. As much progress as she’d made, there were dozens of homes still to visit, dozens of apologies still to make. Even if the Wizard wouldn’t punish her for trying to hold it, she couldn’t last that long. Besides - her diaper was already messy, it wasn’t like she could make it worse.
So, kneeling just a foot away from a perfectly good potty, she screwed up her face and pushed, adding to the muck that was already squelching around beneath three layers of padding.
“Vivian,” the Wizard said, making her jump.
“Y-yes sir!” she spun, standing to face him. “What is it?”
He was standing next to the homeowner, an elderly woman with crescent moon glasses. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Did you just have an accident?”
No point in lying. “Yes sir.”
He nodded, clarifying, “You filled your diapers, without trying to hold it?”
Why do you have to ask all this in front of her? Vivian thought. The question answered itself, really. “Yes, sir.”
“Very good, Vivian. I’m proud of you. I think you’re done working for the evening. Follow me, we’ll go make camp, have a little supper, and get you to bed.” His smile appeared to be genuinely proud of her, though Vivian knew there had to be malice and smug amusement beneath the facade.
“Sir…” she said. “Please, just let me keep going. I can finish tonight, I-”
“If you keep going, you’ll be waking people up, or interrupting them as they relax from a hard day’s work,” the Wizard said. “Come with me, Vivian.”
Disobeying was a pointless exercise. Acutely aware of all the extra mass weighing down her increasingly thick padding, she waddled after him.
To her relief, she didn’t have to help set up camp. It would have been counterproductive, anyways, as most of ‘setup’ involved preparing wards and spells that would keep Vivian’s magic contained. Her tent was a portable witch trap, not quite as sophisticated as her crib, but it’d work well enough. She might be able to overpower it, but not quickly, and not quietly, and certainly not if the Wizard was there to wake up and stop her.
So, she sat on a log, trying not to put all her weight into her mess. The Wizard had stew boiling over a campfire, and a pot of water next to it.
“You don’t need to humiliate me like this,” she complained, as he checked on the water.
“I do,” he said, picking up the water pot.
“There are other ways to punish me. I’d rather be flogged, or tortured, or just- What are you doing?” She leaned back as he took a rag from inside his robes, dipping it in the water.
“You’re filthy,” the Wizard said. She looked down at the heavy diaper that was creating a bulge beneath her dress. “We won’t address that, but I can still clean you up. Hold still.”
She was skeptical, but she obeyed, letting him wash the dirt and sweat away from her face.
Vivian wouldn’t say as much out loud, but it felt good to be cleaned up, the state of her diaper notwithstanding.
“And I have to humiliate you, for their sake,” the Wizard explained. “You were subjugating these people with fear. The simplest way to remove that fear is to replace it with amusement. Arms up.”
She paused for a moment, then complied, lifting her arms over her head.
The wizard pulled off her dress, much to her surprise, leaving her in only the diaper and her shoes. Folding it over one arm, he began washing down her arms with the rag as though nothing was the matter.
“Hey!” Vivian squeaked, trying to cover herself. “Someone- someone might see!”
“We’re on the edge of town, and there’s not a part of you that you didn’t show off to these people when you were strutting your power around,” the Wizard pointed out, wringing out the rag. “Besides, you’re not sleeping in your good dress. I’ll get you your pajamas once you’re clean.”
Her blush was visible even in the dim firelight, but she couldn’t argue with those points. “Okay…”
The rag paused, halfway up her other arm. “Okay, what?”
“Okay, sir.”
“Good baby,” the Wizard smiled, and did something else Vivian didn’t expect. Leaning over her, he kissed her forehead, in a totally parental fashion. “You did very good today. You used your diapers, you did as you were told, and you only fussed a little bit. If you keep up this behavior, we might be able to begin your potty training as soon as the next season.”
“I… the next season? That’s still months-” Vivian started, before catching the other half of his sentence. “Potty training?”
