Apprentice (body expansion story)

[artificer-urza]

A story I wrote for http://axel-rosered.deviantart.com/ about his elf character Mariah. This story involves rapid pregnancy, as such qualifies as an body inflation story.

Apprentice
By
Philip Bourque A.K.A. Artificer Urza

?It was a dark and stormy night? No, no? Too corny and I think that one?s been copyrighted.? Xero said.

A tall, lanky young man with long spiky indigo coloured hair and long pointy ears, dressed in a more casual style of soldier?s uniform, he stood over a crystal ball. The words within it, the dictation it had kept vanished as he waved his hand over it. He was trying to formulate a proper message explaining the current situation his sister, Mariah, was in so that his superiors might help. He was in his private chambers of his master?s manor, using his crystal ball for see-mail.

?Will you stop joking around?? Mariah said from his bed.

She?d been so anxious that she had insisted on being there when Xero sent the message.

?Oh lighten up, sis.? Xero said turning to her.

She shrieked in rage and tossed a large and heavy book at him, which he narrowly dodged. It was amazing that a woman in her condition could casually throw something that heavy when she was pissed.

?Okay, maybe ?lighten up? wasn?t the best choice of words.? He laughed nervously.

?Just write the damn mail.? She grumped at him.

?But where do I start?? He mused. ?Better start at about when I got here I guess.?

************

Mariah, an indigo haired elf, was once again stuck sweeping the floors of her master?s manor. She was short and a tad plump for an elf, but since that plumpness was in more attractive areas, many guys were more than willing to pay attention to her. She wore one of her favourite dresses, emerald green with a low neckline and detached sleeves, very revealing and designed to emphasize her hourglass figure as well as to enhance her moderate bust line and very impractical for sweeping floors.

Why do I have to sweep floors at all? That has nothing to do with magic. She thought.

Magic was supposed to allow you to do things that no ordinary mortal, be they man or elf, could ever dream of. You would have great adventures, become advisor to kings, guider of adventurers and general spouter of wise sounding nonsense as well as being able to bend space, time and reality to her whim. At least that?s the sort of thing that happened in her grandmother?s stories. And yet here she was, apprenticed to this age?s greatest sorcerer and she was doing her least favourite thing: Manual labour and she had yet to move beyond the basics of spell casting and the simplest of spells. The cleaning and sweeping seemed never to end as she always found a room which was either covered in dust or had something that needed washing. Her mentor, the Dark Lord Kulok, who wasn?t evil or anything just really dark and mysterious, was rich so why didn?t he get a maid or something to do this or, better yet, just use magic to make everything clean. She?d ask him this once and he had simply said that magic was a tool, never a solution to all life?s problems and anyone who said otherwise was a blind fool, doing a disservice to the profession of sorcery, spreading such tall tales.

Mariah continued sweeping, growling in frustration. It wasn?t that she was impatient? actually that was only part of it. Becoming the apprentice of the greatest sorcerer of this age had seemed like the quickest and best way to learn magic, of course if she had known he was an eccentric old codger?

?I heard that.? Kulok said as he approached her from behind.

'I hate telepathy. It?s rude to spy on other people?s thoughts.' Mariah thought.

?I heard that too.? Kulok said.

He was a tall and imposing man in a black robe, with slick black hair. His face, a constant serious expression, always made Mariah nervous as though he were constantly judging her performance in everything she did.

?So ahhh? is it time for another magic lesson master?? She asked hopefully.

?I have an errand for you. Go into town and pick up these supplies.? He said handing her a list.

She glanced over the list, sighed and despaired; it was a shopping list for food and various other things. She?d been half hoping for something at least like exotic spell components or something. For this she?d have to go into town, she really didn?t like going into town.

?But maybe?? She began.

?You want to eat, yes? Then you go shopping.? He stated, with an air that said the conversation was over.

Mariah sighed, taking solace in the fact that at least she?d get to use the flying carpet to do the errands. Unfortunately, in her mind anyways, the carpet required no magic on her part. She took the bigger one, as she would need a bit of space for the groceries. It was a gaudy old thing, brown with golden bird patterns.

?Up!? She commanded the carpet.

The carpet rose and flew off the landing and above the forest in which the manor had been built. From great height she could easily see the city and it looked like traffic was light there so she wouldn?t have to worry about how she would be sitting waiting to get to a store. The carpet whizzed into the city quickly and she commanded it to slow once inside the walls, after all she didn?t want to get in trouble with the authorities. Parking in the city was also light that day so it was easy for her to find a spot. Since the carpet was locked for her and Kulok, she didn?t need to worry about anybody stealing it. She walked in the streets, again not so crowded as usual and it was a good thing too, she really didn?t like coming to the city?

?DEATH FROM ABOVE!? A child yelled.

Mariah quickly incanted the words of a spell and a tomato splattered on an invisible shield around her. It was a ?defence against blunt objects? spell; very useful against thrown rotten produce and a very basic spell, one of the few Kulok taught her. She then turned to face the children who had thrown the rotten vegetable and she raised her arms in an imitation of her master when he was going to turn someone into something unnatural.

?Run away! The witch is gonna turn us inna toads!? One little kid shrieked and the small group scattered.

She really wished she could turn them into toads, but the worst she could do was cast some small illusions. She really hated those brats and she solemnly swore she would never have children. It wasn?t that her master had a bad reputation, quite the contrary; Kulok would always help the city out, if only to keep them from pestering him too much. He was just so dark and mysterious that the ?Dark Lord? label seemed a natural fit.

Mariah was loaded down with groceries when a familiar voice called out to her.

?Hey, sis!? A male voice called out to her.

Mariah?s heart sunk. She hadn?t been expecting to see him for a long time to come. She put on her best smile and turned around.

?H-hey Xero, I wasn?t expecting to see you.? She said nervously.

?Well that?s kinda the point of a surprise visit. But of course a great apprentice sorceress like you shoulda been able to foresee me coming.? Xero smiled.

Mariah smiled nervously. Her, a great sorceress? They?d kept in touch through see-mail over the years and she?d been? deceiving him, to say the least, about her progress in her magic studies.

?S-so how long are you visiting?? She asked as they walked through the shopping area of the city.

?I?m not visiting, I?m here to apprentice myself to Lord Kulok.? He said nonchalantly.

Mariah stopped dead in her tracks; this was not what she wanted to hear. She loved her brother, really, but if, or rather when, he found out that she had been exaggerating about her progress she would never hear the end of it.

?Something wrong?? Xero asked turning around.

?A-ah no? We better get going. Honestly though, I don?t think Kulok will take you? I mean he?s so busy and he?s already got me and?? She started.

?Don?t worry about that. Got it covered.? He said grinning.

When they returned to the mansion Mariah introduced Xero to Kulok, who seemed less than pleased at the prospect of another apprentice. Xero handed a gem of some sort to him; Mariah recognized it as a message bearer. Whatever the message was it was for Kulok alone and whatever it contained he didn?t seem overly enthusiastic about it.

?I don?t care as long as you can pull your weight around here. She?s barely able to do that and I sincerely hope you don?t whine as much as she does either.? Kulok said bluntly.

Xero blinked confusedly as Kulok handed him a broom and told him to sweep the west wing of the mansion.

Xero did eventually find out about Mariah?s progress or lack thereof and teased her mercilessly about it. She tried to get Kulok to teach her more magic but he refused, saying she wasn?t ready yet, which did nothing but infuriate her more. Then came one night where Kulok went on his mysterious bi-monthly trip and Xero went into town for the night. Then and there she decided to learn more on her own.

She snuck into the library after both had left. The master had thousands of books on magic as well as other tomes. She was impatient, but not foolish enough to reach beyond her bounds so she brought out some of the novice volumes of magic such as ?Conjuring for dummies? and ?How to learn magic in 12 easy steps?. She mastered many spells easily enough, such as levitation and healing. It was so easy that she grew very confident very fast, so confident that she was going to skip intermediate spell casting altogether and try for something really difficult. She picked out a particularly old volume at random from the shelf and opened it to a random page. It was a summoning spell, a particularly long one. Mariah flipped the page to see what else was needed; there was a diagram she needed to draw and particular ingredients for the spell. She made preparations in the library; she knew her master wasn?t going to be back until morning and Xero wasn?t going to be back for a while so she had plenty of time to clean up.

The star-shaped diagram on the floor, large enough to surround her, candles lit at each point. All the preparations were complete. Mariah stood in the centre of the star diagram, the book in her hands and began to incant. She rattled off the first part of the spell turning to the next page to finish. The star glowed as she reached the end; energy crackled along its lines, rose from the star and began to converge before Mariah. She?d seen a summoning once before and she knew something wasn?t right.

?Uh? Oops.? She said a bit frightened.

The energy converged to form a face, which now loomed menacingly above her. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, bracing for whatever inevitable retribution the summoned creature would enact upon her. However nothing came. Mariah cautiously opened her eyes and looked around; the summoned creature was gone and the room was dark. She let out a sigh of relief thinking the spell had fizzled somehow. Thinking that was far too close for comfort, she began to clean up.

As she finished wiping away the star mark on the floor, however, a strange queasiness began to mount in her stomach. Attributing it to the failed spell she cast, she cast a healing spell in hopes of making herself feel better. Unfortunately it seemed only to aggravate the sickness as she rushed to the nearest bathroom, her hand on her mouth, trying to keep whatever was coming up from going out. She barely made it a promptly began throwing up. After several moments of emptying the contents of her stomach and she felt she had vomited up her stomach and lungs as well as a few other internal organs, she went back to finish cleaning up. After putting the last book on the shelf in its proper place and feeling a bit woozy still, she went to relax. Flopping on the couch in the living room she picked up the wand by her side and decided to veg out and watch something on the magic mirror.

?Seen it (switch), seen it (switch), ugh, reality show (switch)? Ooooh, All my Halflings.? She said as she found what she felt was something interesting.

After a while however, her stomach felt very empty; naturally, after all she?d just spent a lot of time vomiting. She got up and went to the fridge in the kitchen. Opening it she was greeted by the ice spirit that guarded it.

?Hullo m?lady. What can I do for ye this eve?? It asked, ever polite.

?I?m just hungry. I?ll raid the fridge, so you don?t have to worry about anything.? She said.

She did indeed raid the fridge, pretty much grabbing as much food as she could carry. She didn?t take it back to see the rest the show she?d been watching but devoured it ravenously in the kitchen. She didn?t seem to realize just how much she was eating. And once she was finished with that, she went back to the fridge to get some more. After a short while, when she felt sufficiently full, she felt somewhat uncomfortable in her dress as it felt suddenly tight around her waist. She reached to rub her stomach and met flesh a bit sooner than she felt she should have. She looked down to see that there was a slight bulge in her stomach, not surprising after the amount she ate, she felt. She rubbed it a bit and felt strange warmth in her stomach. The warmth spread throughout her body and she felt very uncomfortable, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting a bit. As she continued to rub her stomach, she felt more pressure beneath her hand; her stomach was growing bigger, but that wasn?t all as she nearly jumped as she felt some extreme discomfort as her panties were suddenly giving her a major wedgie. As she was relieving her posterior of her discomfort she noticed that it was a lot fleshier back there than usual. Not to mention squishier as she felt her butt to confirm that it had indeed grown and that it wasn?t her imagination. To her dismay it wasn?t her imagination. Another source of discomfort became apparent; her chest felt very confined and she reached up to give her bosom some room. She flinched as she touched her breasts, as they were very sore and as she felt them further, ignoring the soreness, she found that they were also full or filling with something, she could feel her breasts getting bigger and she could feel pressure building in her stomach again.

'What the hell is happening to me?' She thought, beginning to panic.

She felt her stomach once more. It was strange; her perception of time was becoming completely distorted in her panic and her growth. It could have been hours or minutes since this whole thing started. She looked at the clock on the wall and though her vision was going blurry it seemed an hour and a half had passed since she?d started growing. In desperation she tried to push her stomach back in, the skin felt tough and drawn tight and then she suddenly felt something else: something inside her kicked.

?Oh crap.? She said as she realized what was going and then fainted.

Xero came back a half-hour or so later and upon seeing Mariah with a very bloated stomach, his mind began to race, thinking what he could do, what he should do. He calmed down, breathing steadily, determined not to panic and activated a gem that was on a ring he wore. This gem immediately sent a signal to Kulok, for emergency purposes. He lifted Mariah up as best he could, for she had gotten heavy and was getting heavier and carried her to a bedchamber doing what he could to help her.

Mariah awoke to find a concerned Xero and miffed Kulok standing over her as she lay in bed. She felt queasy again, but it wasn?t anything to run about. Then she remembered why she had fainted and put her hand to her stomach. The skin was still drawn tight and her stomach had grown a great deal while she had rested; it now looked like she had an oversized basketball in her stomach and she nearly fainted again.

?Are you impatient or stupid?? Kulok said in an almost monotone voice. ?I told you that you weren?t ready.?

?What? what is? what happened to me?? She asked knowing the answer.

?You cast half of a summoning spell and a resurrection spell. The pages had stuck together.? Kulok said holding up the very book she had cast from. ?This is my home, I always know who?s touched my things. All things considered you are very lucky if your only pregnant.?

?This is lucky?? She asked.

?Considering that multitudes of my other apprentices got worse for messing with things they didn?t understand, yes. You don?t think its just dust you?ve been sweeping up do you??

Mariah blanched and looked like she was going to be sick.

?How? many students has he had pass?? She asked herself more than anyone else.

?Apparently only two successfully survived his tutelage, my swordsmaster at the academy was one of them, that?s what that message was about.? Xero said.

?And that?s the only reason you got to stay either. I?d have turned you away, ?cause I have enough trouble with this child.? Kulok said. ?In fact you should both leave, you?re not going to be able to learn anything in that state. You?ll just end up leaving anyways.?

?No I wont!? Mariah yelled. ?I?m gonna keep going, I?m not giving up.?

?Yeah, I?ll help her raise the kid too.? Xero piped in.

At the mention of children, Mariah sobbed, she was too young and too beautiful to have a kid and loose her figure. Mood swings had already started it seemed.

?I?m too young to have a kid!? She wailed.

?Well then that?s no problem, you?re not having one kid. Hrmph as if one kid wouldn?t have enough issues being raised by you.?

?Wha? what are you saying?? She asked.

?You?re not going to have one kid, you?re going to have twelve.? Kulok said.

Mariah and Xero just looked at him stunned and then Mariah fainted again.

********

Xero had sent his message to his swordsmaster, in hopes of getting maybe a cure for Mariah?s condition and Mariah was still learning her magic, settling in to her child bearing figure. Then Xero got a reply from his old teacher, bringing it to Mariah immediately.

?And? What do they say?? She asked excitedly.

Xero took a moment to read it and his face suddenly fell.

?Uh? sis, I guess? uh? congrats on having twelve kids, ?cause it looks like you?re keeping ?em.? He said sheepishly.

~FIN

HA HA HA HA HA! (applause) Nice story. This only gets me more hyped up for TonberryKing's "Heartstrings" Sequence that he's doing for me.