Chapter 3 - Why is it so fucking…

Childbirth went great. Psaï woke me up like half an hour before the launch, as they called it, and prepped me. Expulsion went like a charm, thanks to the modified pelvis, womb and vagina we granted my mother. Also, her new muscles helped a lot, and we kept contraction to a minimum, just enough for everything to go smoothly.

Yeah, it’s really like launching a spaceship when described like that. After all, the human body is a machine, if a biological one. I love tinkering with machines, magical and biological alike.

After birth? Meh. Not so great.

Expulsion of amniotic liquid, what was left in the nose, then first breathe, opening the lungs and alveoli.

It was HECKING PAINFUL. And I did not even suffer from childbirth itself since we took care of that.

No wonders babies cries when encountering the outside world for the first time. It’s as romantic and pleasant as encountering a brick wall with a Turbo.

Also.

Why the fuck is there so little mana? It was already like this in mommy’s belly but I only thought…

Yes. Note: mana concentration isn’t different inside and outside the womb.

Taking notes is good, but why is there so little mana for fucks sake?!

I’ll need the MIDAR and everything else to access that. Still 3 months to go before the Tower’s shields are up, I’m afraid.

Thanks for the hard work. AND COULD THE NURSE STOP HITTING MY BOTTOM?

I think she tries to make you cry.

I won’t cry. I don’t do tears.

I know, I know.

After some more light hit on the bottom cheeks, the nurse finally stopped.

“It’s a girl.” She said. I couldn’t see her. Only blurry mass of colours. Newborn’s vision sucks.

“S-shouldn’t she be crying?” The coarse voice of my father resounded, troubled and worried.

I turned my head toward him instinctively. It was difficult, as newborns neck muscles were as good as their eyesight.

“Yes but… Well, she reacted to your voice, no? Normally, children that don’t cry are apathetic, they don’t move and…” Suddenly, something entered my mouth.

Waaa? What’s that? It’s nice. Let’s go with the flow.

“...and they don’t suck properly, but the little girl here sure suck my finger like the tiny devil she is. I mean, besides her not crying, she’s perfectly healthy, good skin tone, good reaction, very active and energetic.”

“I-I want to... h-hold her, please.” Ha, that was mom’s voice. Sweet voice. Tired, too, but eh, I can understand. You don’t give birth everyday after all.

I turned my head toward her and tried to reach the mass of colours with my tiny arms.

“Wait a bit, I need to wash her. Just look at her. Maybe all the energy babies normally use to cry is going toward her awareness? I’ll need to ask other Wise Women to see if they’ve heard of that. Here, careful.”

Ah. I was put in a warm body of water, where the nurse quickly washed me before I was dried and bundled up in a warm cloth, then moved and put down.

“Thanks Meredith.” And now I was resting against a body I knew. I recognized her smell, her warm. Mom. My mouth moved by itself. I was hungry.

Strange how you can keep thinking as your body does its work in the background, right?

“Gah. gah?” Well, talking again will need more practice. At least I made a questioning sound?

“Oh my, you’re quite the hungry devil aren’t you.” I love her voice.

Finally. My mouth started being filled with creamy milk as I started sucking Mom’s nipple.

That’s the bliss.

Enjoy yourself. I’ve started aggregating all the data your sensory organs are feeding us. I’ll adjust your eyesight and earing on the fly based on the data I harvested from your mom. Don’t want to leave you in the dark too long. Or should I say let you in the blur too long?

Thanks Psaï.

You’re welcome, mother.

“Come, come dear, look at her, just look at her!”

“Oh, she’s so cute.” I felt lips putting a kiss on the back of my head as I was indulging myself in mom’s milk.

“She eats very well, right?”

Mom answered. “Yes, I was worried that she wouldn’t since she didn’t cry but it all seems to be baseless worries.” She was caressing my cheek.

I’m sure she’s smiling at me.

My dad joined her and, for a time, no sound resounded in the room. There was only the soft and loving touch of my parents.

Maybe… maybe this will be great. Yeah, that’s quite a good start. I’ve a good feeling with the whole 'being a child' thing.

Then let’s do it as long as you want, mother. The data are also interesting.

Good. And...

And if someone tries once more to take my parents, this time...

Yes. We’ll not let Entropy’s invasion repeat itself.

The things threatening my family…

I’ll crush them with all my power! Sometimes, when connected minds had exactly the same thought, the same will, the same goal, they could reach Unity without external supports.

Even if we had to bring out the biggest gun… yes, even Leviathan or Gyakusatsu.

***

This is true bliss. I was looking at my mom’s face. A redhead. I love redheads. She had red braided hair, pleasant green eyes and a plain but loving face. I liked her. And she had freckles. I love freckles.

My previous body was white like an ass, with dark hair. Well, of course, once I had mastered body modification spells I had changed that. A lot, actually. Changing skin become like changing clothes. That had its good side.

Also, my dad was the same, plus a beard. And Meredith too.

Am I in paradise?

Not paradise, but a village of redheads seems like the closest to that.

Yes!

The room mom and I were using had grey walls, and both the ground and the ceiling were made of a strange dark-green wood. A tiny window was giving some light during the day, but the glass’ quality was pretty low, lots of bubbles in the chunk and not much light going through.

During those few days I stayed with mom. She played a lot with me even if she was tired.

Well, to be fair, she’s not as much tired as she should have been since childbirth took literally 5 minutes and we dealt with hormonal imbalance. Not to diminish her feat to give birth to you, but we helped quite a lot too. Said Psaï, now properly nestled in my nervous system.

True true.

Since I tried very hard to talk, as I hated feeling powerless, I kept chirping all the time. Well, not all the time. Only when I was awake, of course, and only when mom was awake.

In fact, whatever it was that I needed to do, I tried very hard to respect mom’s sleep. I drank a lot of milk during the day, when she was up, in particular in the evening, so I could somewhat make my night without waking her up.

That was the same with my… other needs.

Urgh, I’ll be happy to go to the toilet alone, that’s for sure. The first two days I had difficulties controlling all my muscles but from the third day onward I could poop during the day and control myself during the night to not annoy her.

Of course I wasn’t always successful but, hey, I remember a friend of mine after childbirth, she was woken up by her little monster up to seven times a night. At worst, I annoyed my mom once or twice a night. That’s pretty good if you ask me.

During the fifth day I was veeeeeeeeeeery excited.

“Today you’ll meet your big brother and big sister! They’re twins so they look a lot alike but I’m sure you’ll have no problem with that.” She smiled at me like a setting sun and I nudged my head against her belly, as I was resting on her lap.

“Gah gah!” I made an exciting sound to drive home the fact that I was happy and excited.

Maybe you shouldn’t overdo it?

Nonsense. I want to enjoy this new life of mine, and that’s one of the ways I take pleasure from it.

Whatever, just don’t end up being burned on a stake because they’re afraid of you or something.

Don’t worry!

Now I’m really worried.

Stop teasing me, you meany!

Looks like your mentality went back to the baby stage too. Wait, you were already like that before. Does it mean that you were a baby in an adult body all along?

Stoooop iiiiit.

Okay okay.

***

I think I slept a bit more, there, on my mom. I often found myself dozing off when in her arms. It was so very reassuring, like a tiny nest of love, heat and fluff, with the addition of milk when I was hungry. Some could have said that it was eerily similar to an Entropic Incubator. Those people should try to be in one before comparing the two.

An Incubator is a vile machine create to make distorted creatures grow, or to corrupt peoples. They lack love and their warm is the familiar wetness of a rotting corpse.

Entropy.

I hate them. Bits and pieces of memories flashed in my mind.

The time just before the invasion.

I hate them.

The selector that saw that I had magical potential, its tentacles coiling around me.

I hate them.

The incubator, a mindless vessel of flesh whose only goal was to corrupt me, changing my mind and body alike.

I hate them. I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-I hate them-

ENOUGH!

Psaï’s voice snapped me out of my hateful trance.

“Shush, there there.” Then I realised that I was crying.

I pledged that I wouldn’t cry anymore.

In fact, I was crying at the top of my lungs.

Just like a newborn baby. Maybe you should reconsider what oath to keep and what oath to forsake, as this is a new life. I’m sure Radiance wouldn’t mind you crying now.

Maybe.

I couldn’t stop myself from crying for a long time. So long, in fact, that Meredith, the wise woman, showed up.

“Is everything alright Ela?”

“Come in, come in.” Meridith entered the room at the invitation of my mom, Ela.

“Well, at least we know that she can cry.”

“Yes but she has been crying for nearly an hour now, I’m starting to worry. Did I do something bad?”

One hour? Maybe I should try and control myself. I need to stop thinking about Entropy.

Easier said than done. I dunno, try focusing on your mom?

...That’s not a bad idea.

I forced myself to stop crying, which was quite hard I must say, and then turned my head toward my mom.

She had a tiny mouth with beige lips, freckles on her cheeks and gentle green eyes. I focused my gaze on her eyes, losing myself in the exploration of her irises, their depth, each little ray and bump that create one of the most beautiful works of art of the human body.

See? That works.

My mom was now looking me in the eyes, surprised that I stopped crying out of nowhere. I mean, if you think about it, it’s quite creepy.

“W-well, it seems that it’s settled?” Asked my mom.

“Seems so, girl.” I saw Meredith looking at me from the corner of my eyes, but I was still gazing deeply in my mom’s irises. I couldn’t care less about the Wise Woman. Then, following my instinct that screamed at me that I was hungry, I started moving my tiny limbs toward mom’s bosom.

“I really can’t understand your little girl.” Meredith was scratching her chin.

“Me neither.” Added my mom as she was taking her shirt off, exposing her breasts full of milk. I, of course, started eagerly drinking it once mom had put me against them.

“I’ll ask around, see if one or another of my acquaintance can come and check on her, to see if anything is out of the ordinary. S’not normal for a tiny child like that to cry out of nowhere when she hasn’t shed a tear in three days, not even when you gave birth to her.”

Ha, way to go, now I could see my mom’s face distorted with worry.

Seeing it too, Meredith quickly added. “Not that she’s not healthy. Haven’t see healthier baby in my whole life, and you know I’ve helped giving birth to a third of the whole city’s children. It’s just for my peace of mind, see if your little lass doesn't have some special body or power that make her like that.”

“Like… like Sara’s fire affinity?”

“Exactly! Remember when she was born?”

“Yeah, the blanket you used on her caught fire, t’was a mess. I remember helping you for two days straight ‘till we found that her mother could hold her without any problems.”

“Yes. Maybe your tiny lass is the same, in a way? Like, she has a peaceful body or something? Don’t really know, Shi isn’t my speciality, but you see the picture.”

“Sure.” Ela bit her cheek. ”Can I still show the kids their new little sister?”

“Don’t see why you couldn’t. After all, your baby only is strange about her crying. Go ahead, I’m sure they’ll love her. I mean, they were so eager about it.”

“Then I’ll do it today. Thanks Meredith.”

“That’s the least I can do for my cute helper. Take it easy, I’ve still a lot of stocks of your medicinal potions and ointments.”

“I’m…”

“No no, I can already picture you worrying about my stock and if you should start making more of them. You girl, won’t do the same thing as last time, okay? Two months of forced vacation, and if needed I’ll be sure to ask Hurbert to enforce it.”

“You wouldn’t.” My mom had a falsely outraged face.

They’re quite close.

Yes. It seems that your mom is some sort of pharmacist helping Meredith with childbirth.

Figured, even if her terms are quite outdated. Potion, ointment?

“Oh I would. And I’m sure that your husband would be pleased to use this excuse to be the one on top~~.”

“You old hag what are you talking about?!” And now she’s blushing.

The nurse doctor seems sharp at teasing your mom.

She’s plain when smiling, but blushing makes her beautiful.

“I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. After all, you’re already at your second pregnancy, right~?”

“Get out you pervert!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be on my way. Say hi to the twins for me, I’ll leave for a bit to talk with old friends about your child. Bye~.”

“Yes yes leave already, pervert.”

So mom is easily teasable? Another good point, those few days looks too good to be true hahaha!