This is a work of fiction intended for mature readers. 18 and over please.

All rights reserved by author.


Time Bomb by Nomdreserv

Part 9

“No kidding!” Bob shot back impatiently. “So change ‘em back.”

“No,” Gregor shook his head firmly. “Not yet. Not until we get a handle on the cause.
Mixing magic is too dangerous. Look what’s happened so far.”

Bob’s shoulders slumped.

“So what do we do now?”

“Well,” the sorcerer considered. “I believe the first step is . . . breakfast. Traveled all
night. Terrible flight. Any chance of toast and tea?”

“Toast?” Bob repeated incredulously.

“And tea,” Gregor reminded him. “I always think better with tea. Spent some time in
England, you know. Pleasant habit. Tea that is. Though spending time in England is
too. Loose or bags.” He propelled Bob into the kitchen. “Just show me where things are.
I’ll take care of rest. Bet you haven’t eaten. Dangerous. Very. Most important meal of
the day. Once knew a wizard who never ate breakfast. Turned into a hedgehog. Tragic.”

Bob’s head spun.

“He turned into a hedgehog because he didn’t eat breakfast?”

“What? Preposterous!” Gregor snorted. “He changed into a hedgehog because he lost a
wizards’ duel. What ever made you think it was for not eating breakfast?”

“You said . . .”

“Never mind, never mind.” He suddenly got a faraway look as he filled the kettle. “I
wonder what hedgehogs eat for breakfast?” Lost in reverie, the water began spilling over
the top of the kettle, refocusing his attention. He slammed the kettle on the stove and
turned on the heat. Turning back upon Bob with an intense expression, he maneuvered
them both into seats.

“Now,” he began. “Tell me everything.”

Over a haphazard breakfast, Bob recounted as much as he could, waiting patiently as
Gregor shot off on tangents every other sentence. After several cups of tea and multiple
slices of buttered toast, Gregor leaned back.

“Very nice,” he said in satisfaction. “Hardly expected Twinings.”

Bob lost his patience and hit the table.

“Forget the tea! What about Karen and Lisa?”

Gregor looked shocked.

“Forget about tea? Inconceivable! But calm yourself, Bob. Already working on it.
Mists clearing. Sun also rising, and all that. By the way, aren’t you supposed to be
going to work about now?”

“Ohmigosh,” he exclaimed. “I completely forgot.” Truth was, he had, and the idea of his
job seemed strangely foreign to him now. “I guess I’d better ...”

“Call in,” Gregor finished. “And for Karen. I think we have at least a couple of days’
work ahead of us.”

Bob nodded, relieved he wouldn’t have to face his suddenly unfamiliar job. In fact, the
whole idea of the office and his duties was so nebulous, he doubted he could have
managed anyway.

Except for a secretary’s curiosity at his voice, the calls to work proceeded uneventfully.
He returned to find Gregor talking to the girls. A couple of wooden and crystalline
objects lay on the table, near Gregor’s open cloth bag.

“Very pretty,” he complimented Karen, while tickling Lisa’s foot, and producing smiles
in each of them. “You have a lot of talent - apparently in many things,” he added, seeing
Bob. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a seamless, natural spell from a newcomer.
Remarkable work.”

“So what’s causing it?” Bob asked, as Karen returned to her drawing.

“Well,” Gregor said, picking up Lisa and pretending to address her. “The first part’s
easy. Obvious case of imprinting.”

“Imprinting?”

“Yes. Exactly what I think,” Gregor concurred.

“No, I mean ...”

“You still have the medallion?” Gregor interrupted.

“Um ...” It took a second to switch gears. “Yeah it’s upstairs.”

“Would you mind getting it? I think I need a little more information before piecing the
whole story together.”

Bob returned quickly with it and handed it to the sorcerer.

“Does it still work?” Gregor asked.

“I think so. Lisa used it yesterday.”

Gregor seemed surprised. “Then why haven’t you changed them back?”

“I don’t know how to use it!” Bob shot back in exasperation.

Gregor looked sternly at the infant on his knee.

“Lisa!” he scolded. “You know better. Everyone involved in the use of a magic artifact
needs to be trained. Basic safety.”

“I thought you had to have magic power to use it?” Bob defended her.

“And what makes you assume you don’t?” Gregor asked, eyebrows arched. “Never
mind. Probably right. No aura. Doesn’t matter. You need magic for advanced spells,
such as changing multiple people without their noticing - a trick your young wife here
seems to have mastered - but anyone can use it for basic operations. Advantage of an
artifact: built-in magic and basic controls. Let’s anybody work magic. Did I ever tell you
about the ‘Altered Fates’ medallion? Wonderful at parties. Once ... no, wait, never mind.
Business at hand. Where were we?” He looked at the baby as though expecting an
answer. “Oh yes. I need some information from Lisa. A normal Lisa.”

He started to finger the medallion. The action caught Karen’s eye.

“No!” she complained. “No make her big!”

The medallion actually glowed in Gregor’s hand, and he shot back into the couch as
though hit. Karen glared.

“My word,” he exclaimed, a bit dazed.

Bob leaned down.

“Are you OK?”

“What? Oh yes.” His eyes refocused. “Fine. Able to deflect most of the energy into the
medallion. Fortunate. Almost ended up like little Lisa here.” He bounced her
reassuringly. “Your wife packs quite a wallop. Lisa never stood a chance.” He shook
his hand as though numb. “Lucky I’m a bit more advanced in my defenses.”

He studied Karen’s set face for several seconds, then leaned forward.

“Now, Karen,” he began soothingly. “I need to ask a favor. Would you be willing to
help me?”

She softened at being asked and finally nodded uncertainly.

“I need to ask Lisa a few questions, and she can’t answer while she’s a baby, can she?”

Glum head shake, anticipating where this was heading.

“So I need to make her big - only for a little while,” he hastened to add as her chin came
up. “Then we can make her little again. I promise.”

“You do?” Bob asked in surprise.

“I do,” Gregor returned solemnly. “And I always keep my promises. How about it,
Karen?”

“’Kay,” she reluctantly agreed.

“Thank you,” he finished sincerely, then reactivated the medallion.

Almost immediately, the infant on his knee grew into a little girl with long black hair,
then a not-so-little girl, her legs reaching closer and closer to the floor as limbs and torso
lengthened dramatically. A look of confusion came over her face as she reached to steady
her body on the increasingly small surface of his leg, her mouth dropping open in surprise
as her diaper tabs popped free from her expanding pelvis. She continued to age swiftly
before their attentive eyes, her nipples enlarging over very small breast swellings and her
hips widening as she hit her adolescent growth spurt. About this time, reason returned to
her eyes, and a naked, teenage Lisa jumped off Gregor’s knee in shock.

“Couldn’t resist,” Gregor winked knowingly to Bob. “Don’t often get naked women on
my lap. Pity.”

“Gregor?” Lisa asked in astonishment. “What happened?” Her hands flew to chest and
groin as she realized her nakedness. “Where are my clothes?”

“Right there,” Gregor chuckled, pointing at the diaper.

“Oh, God!” Lisa groaned in embarrassed remembrance, bits and pieces of her morning
coming back. Then she blushed at Bob’s unabashed stare. “EXCUSE me!” She tried to
sound haughty as she ran off, vainly trying to cover both breasts, her pubic region, and
firm buttocks at once. Karen watched her run, with what seemed to be some envy in her
eyes, and then noticed Bob’s continued stare with a frown.

Bob didn’t notice as he started to shrink.

“Well, that was invigorating,” Gregor turned to him with a smile, then gasped. The
medallion suddenly glowed again in his hand as he tried to intercept the spell.

“What is it?” Bob asked, his voice cracking.

Gregor had turned away to face Karen.

“No, no,” he admonished, wagging a finger. “I need Bob, too.”

“You mean?” Bob asked, his voice now settling in a higher pitch. He patted at suddenly
baggy clothes.

“I think you showed, ahem, too much interest in the young lady,” Gregor warned. “Do
be careful. I’ll see what I can do.” He decided his best bet was to distract Karen. He
reached into his bag and pulled out a small crystal ball. Catching her eye with it, he
passed his hand over it, gave it a twist and tossed it into the air. It hung, suspended in
space, slowly turning and shining.

“Ooohhh,” she cooed, reaching out towards it. As her hand drew near, it dropped
suddenly to the floor. She pulled her hand back guiltily.

“Quite right - it should have done that as your magic field interacted,” he reassured her.
She looked at him blankly. “It’s a game,” he continued, more to her understanding. “See
if you can make it float like I did.”

With a cry of delight, she grabbed the sphere and started tossing it into the air, its
successive falls not discouraging her in the least. While she concentrated, Gregor
restored Bob to his previous age.

“Now then,” Lisa’s voice sounded behind them. They turned to see her back in her skirt
and top. “Just what do you think ...”

“Shhh!” Gregor warned. “I think she might do it.”

They waited a minute as Karen tried another few tosses. Sure enough, the ball seemed to
hold a second in the air on the last try before falling once more to the floor. She laughed
in triumph and pounced to try again.

“Very good!” Gregor complimented her. “Try seeing the spin as it floats - that helps you
concentrate.” She happily returned to her lesson, as Gregor turned with astounded eyes to
the others. “No training and regressed to this age, and she’s already picking up on simple
levitation. Watch out for her, Lisa, she’s going to be a quite a sorceress.”

“Hmmph,” Lisa sniffed. “Anyone can float one of your crystal spheres - they’ve got so
magic, they almost fly themselves.”

“Took HER a whole afternoon to learn,” Gregor confided quietly to Bob. “Now, Lisa,”
he turned back to her. “Oh, wait a moment.” He lifted the medallion, and Lisa aged from
teen to twenty-something.

“Hey,” Bob complained. “You’re making her too old. She’s younger than me.”

“Oh?” Gregor asked with a smile. “And how old are you?”

“I’m ...” He stopped abruptly, struck as he recognized the same question he had been
asking with such startling results recently. “I’m not, am I?”

Gregor shook his head consolingly.

“I doubt it. Don’t know how old you really are, but I bet you’re supposed to be out of
high school. Still, never know - you might be legal for marriage as you are. Stranger
things have happened. Believe me, I know. My friend, Jennifer, has told me some
remarkable stories about younger husbands. Never mind. Fix it all in the end.” He
paused. “Maybe.” He signaled an adjournment to the kitchen.

“All right, Lisa.” He fixed her with a stern gaze as they settled themselves. “Let’s have
your version of the story.”

Lisa told, adding a few details Bob hadn’t heard before. Gregor shook his head
repeatedly during the account, sometimes surprised, but often in apparent confirmation of
his own thoughts. At the end, he looked very serious and reproving.

“So, you mixed potion and artifact magic? Out of control artifact magic?”

“Um, yeah,” she admitted uncomfortably.

“And then threw in a mind control spell?”

Silent, abashed nod.

“And MIND CONTROL magic with a LOVE potion?”

Her eyes glanced guiltily at Bob, then she hung her head and nodded silently.

“Lisa!” he said in disbelief.

“What?” Bob asked, feeling left out.

“The antipotion didn’t work, did it?” He looked at them questioningly. They exchanged
shy glances. “Never mind. Of course it wouldn’t. The mind control magic would have
crystallized the matrix of the love spell. Or did you already know that, Lisa?”

Another guilty glance from downcast eyes.

“I, uh ...”

“I don’t even know why you had the stuff around. Whatever are you doing making mind
control potions?”

“Dr. Scarabus taught me. He thinks they’re important to keep in stock, and said I have a
real gift, and ...”

“Scarabus?” Gregor almost hissed. “That reprobate? He may be a full member of the
Council, but not by my approval. He has no scruples against using any kind of magic.
Thinks everyone needs mind control to practice magic freely - never mind the
consequences. Balderdash! All you need is a bit of discretion. Mind control is dangerous
stuff. Mark my words, Lisa. He shows every sign of being influenced by the dark side.
I’d advise you to give him a wide berth.”

She nodded, stung, but still managed to protest. “But you’ve used ...”

“Party tricks!” he snorted. “Level one or two stuff. Temporary, and never enough to
override the subconscious. Purely for fun.” He snapped a quick aside to Bob. “And it’s a
lot of fun.” Then he turned accusing eyes back on Lisa. “None of Scarabus’ wizardry.
Permanent and dangerous. What were you thinking?”

She blushed deeply. “I ... I was eight years old, for Pete’s sake. I was mad, and jealous,
and not thinking straight.”

“No? I wonder. And just what did you do to Karen while she was bespelled?” Piercing
eyes held her pitilessly.

She squirmed.

“What do you mean? Nothing. I ...”

"Nonsense, something's driving her. Obvious case of imprinting gone berserk - sure sign
of mental turmoil."

"Imprinting?" Bob asked again.

"See? Even Bob knows about it. Clearly covered in chapter six of my handbook. Why
didn't you recognize it?"

"What handbook?" Lisa asked, surprised.

"The one I'm going to write." He waved vaguely. "Someday."

"But how was I supposed to ...?"

"Excuses, excuses," Gregor dismissed her objection. “If you had any initiative ...”

"Wait a minute," Bob interjected. "What are you talking about? What's imprinting?"

"When an untrained magic user is exposed to very powerful magic," Gregor explained.
"The nature of that magic tends to imprint upon them. Like a piece of iron becomes a
magnet if exposed to a very powerful magnetic field. In a sense, Karen is now
magnetized to age control magic. And very strongly, too. Must have been that accident
with the medallion. I would guess her power's roughly on a par with it now." His eyes
took on a faraway look. "Remarkable process. Once knew a sorceress - early exposure to
the Reverse Rings - could switch people's minds into other bodies. One time, she got
drunk at this party. Ha! You wouldn't believe ..." The eyes refocused to find them
staring at him. "Oh, sorry. Probably not interested. Problem at hand. Quite."

"How long will this last?" Bob asked plaintively.

"Most likely permanent."

"Permanent?! Oh, no." His head sank to the table.

"Not to worry." Gregor patted him on the shoulder. "A little training. Everything fine.
Control - she must learn control, that's all. She's already showing tremendous potential,
and the way she picked up on that levitation - amazing. Very promising. You should be
proud. And built in age control magic? Whew. Very complex stuff. Enviable. Very."
He rubbed his jaw. "Still, shouldn't have manifested so strongly yet. Only under stress.
And that brings us back to ... Lisa!"

She jumped as he whirled back to face her.

"I didn't do anything," she protested weakly.

"Must have. Res ipsa loquitor. Karen's uncontrolled age changes show great
subconscious conflict driving the magic, and her repeated tendency to regress must be
rooted in the same conflict. What did you tell her to do while she was under the spell?"

"I can't remember," Lisa admitted defeatedly and truthfully. "Something ... I think I said
something to make her accept her regression and leave us alone."

"Ah!" His eyes lit up in triumph. "What exactly?"

"I don't remember. Everything's too cloudy. I WAS only eight, not to mention under the
influence of at least two spells," she protested defensively.

"Understandable," Gregor admitted.

"Sorry," she said, somewhat relieved.

"Well then," he added thoughtfully. "We'll just have to make you eight again to help you
remember."

"What?" Her eyes glistened in panic. "Wait! I ... NO!"

She was already shrinking, her voice rising in pitch with each syllable. Her curves
retreated rapidly into her teen body, then disappeared as she passed adolescence. Her feet
lifted off the floor and dangled from the chair, as her baggy shirt slipped low on her
shoulders. Her very adult expression of anger ruined the otherwise innocent, childlike
face framed angelically by familiar black hair.

"No fair!" the suddenly small girl cried.

"Neither was what you did to Karen," Gregor returned loftily. "Can you remember what
that was now?"

A stubborn and defiant look melded with the anger.

"Uh huh." She crossed her arms, the flatness of her chest beneath fueling her anger and
helping to strengthen her new resolve. She pressed her lips together tightly.

"And?"

She shook her head, refusing to answer.

Gregor sighed, as Bob fidgeted nervously.

"Look, Lisa. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." He fingered the medallion.
"But the sooner you tell us, the sooner everyone, including Bob, gets back to normal."

The girl looked at Bob nervously. Was he mad at her too? She didn’t want that.

Bob simply looked tired. "Please?" he asked Lisa.

She deflated.

"OK. I ... I told her she was really three years old, not an adult."

Both Gregor and Bob widened eyes in shock.

"And ... and, um, I told her she had, you know, accidents, and she only liked little kid
stuff." She looked up with moist eyes. "And that's all."

"That was enough," Gregor answered, shaken. He glanced into the family room to see
the tiny redhead still playing with the crystal ball, unconcerned by their conversation.
"No wonder she was confused."

"I don't understand," Bob interrupted. "She was OK afterwards."

"Seemed OK," Gregor corrected. "But the suggestions under that spell are permanent,
though possibly buried. Most dangerous." He withered Lisa with another look. "So
much for Scarabus’ magic. Deep down, her adult body was dysmorphic to her. She
needed to be three to resolve her inner conflict. Must have been a terrible strain. Id
versus ego. Conscious against subconscious. Surprised she held out as long as she did.
Could have exploded at any time, and with far graver results. Walking time bomb.
Literally.”

"Why didn't she change earlier?"

Gregor pondered a minute.

"Well, she had reason enough NOT to want to be so young, so that may have held her
back. Hmmm. Something else, perhaps. Hmmm." His eyes lit up. "Who wore the
medallion most of the time?"

"Karen," Lisa piped up, then shrank back down under scrutiny.

"There you are," Gregor decided. "The medallion undoubtedly interacts with her own
magic, probably stabilizes it, maybe even protects whoever holds it. As soon as she was
physically separated from it for a while, her own magic started to spin out of control." He
rubbed his chin. "Now that's she's three, her conflict should resolve, and it will probably
stabilize again - fewer surprises. That's good."

"Good?" Bob sputtered. "You can't leave her like this! Change her back!"

"No good. Same problems all over again. We need to address the cause, not the effect."
More chin rubbing.

"So?" Bob countered. "Hypnotize her, or potion her, or whatever. Make her think
normal again."

"Ah, also a problem," Gregor objected. "These things are planted deep. Unlike SOME,"
knowing glance at Lisa, "I avoid such mind tampering. The magic is very dangerous,
especially if used frequently. Can lead to permanent damage to the will or mind. Very
bad. No, I think the solution is ... to let Karen be three years old, just as she was so
forcefully told."

"What?" Bob and Lisa chorused, he despairingly, she in apparent disbelief (but not quite
so unhappily).

"Yes," he nodded decisively. "The very thing.”


END PART 9

Copyright 1998 by Nomdreserv

All rights reserved by author


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