The Sanctity of Knowledge

Chapter 7
Chapter 7

Alexa slowly opened her eyes.  As conscious thought slowly returned, she noticed the muted, rhythmically consistent background noise of rolling tires and wind.  As her vision came into focus, she looked down and realized she was buckled into something.  She also noticed that she was still in diapers.  She held her restraints in her hands, then looked around her new environment.  She was in a car.  More specifically, she was in a car seat.  Confused, Alexa craned her neck to try and identify the person who was driving her. 

“Miss Kewy?” she inquired sleepily.  A pair of light green eyes greeted hers through the car’s rearview mirror.

“Someone’s still waking up from her nap” the strong, yet feminine voice replied.  “You aren’t in daycare anymore, Alexa.  Mommy’s here now…….”

A sense of relief mixed with confusion washed over Alexa upon hearing this news.  On one hand, she was glad her mommy had finally come to pick her up from daycare.  On the other hand……….why was she completely unfamiliar with the woman claiming to be her mother?

As she attempted to reconcile this discrepancy, she looked out the window and noticed that they were pulling into the driveway of a home that somehow felt familiar to her.

Alexa looked around the vehicle as the engine was stopped and the woman unbuckled herself and opened the driver’s side door.  After a few moments, the door beside her opened and a pair of fair-skinned hands began to unbuckle her from her car seat.  Alexa craned her neck to see the face of the woman who was unfastening her restraints, but the car seat blocked her from observing her new caregiver.  The sun shone brightly in her eyes as she was removed from the seat, causing her to squint and once again foiling her attempts to see the face of the woman claiming to be her mother.  Alexa was carried towards the house, still squinting and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she felt a rush of cool air that told her she was now inside the house.

Alexa felt herself being lowered to the ground, her bare feet making contact with the carpeted surface of the floor.  Her vision focused just in time to see the backside of the woman who had carried her into the house as she walked away from her.  Long, red hair flowed down to the middle of her back appeared to glow in the sunlight as she walked down the hallway.

“Come along, Alexa” she commanded, her voice echoing in the church-like silence of the home.  The diaper-clad little girl obeyed, slowly walking behind her and then pausing as the red-haired woman entered the bedroom at the far end of the hall.

A few seconds later, the woman’s voice rang out once more through the house.  “Alexa?  Mommy’s waiting for you!”  Afraid of being left alone in the hallway, Alexa entered the room that she had seen the woman disappear into.

It was then that Alexa caught her first full glimpse of the person that had brought her to this place.  A young woman, completely nude, legs crossed, sat in a rocking chair in the middle of a room that was otherwise empty.  The late-afternoon sunlight poured in through the windows that flanked either side of her, her hair basking in its rays.  She smiled and lightly teased her hair, which caused it to flow down to her naked breasts, partially covering them with slightly curled ends which seemed to glow like embers in a dying fire.

Alexa stood before the woman, stunned by her beauty and yet fearful of the strange power that seemed to radiate from her.  The woman rested her arms on the sides of the rocking chair, then turned her right palm upwards and beckoned to Alexa with her finger. 

“Come to me, child….” she commanded, a faint smile upon her lips as Alexa slowly walked towards her, as if hypnotized.

The woman reached down, picking up Alexa and cradling her in her lap, stroking her hair and running her thumb slowly down her cheek.  Alexa stared up at the woman in awe.  The woman looked down at her, smiling and cooing at the little girl she held in her arms.  Alexa felt the subtle, gentle sensation of back-and-forth motion as the woman began to slowly rock the chair.

“It is time.  Time for you to see………” she said, waving her hand over Alexa’s head.  Alexa suddenly had the sensation of thousands of thoughts pouring into her head at once.  She stared up at the ceiling as memories came flooding in as she heard a sound akin to the rushing of water all around her.  She opened her mouth to scream, feeling as if she was about to drown in her own thoughts.

Then, she remembered.

She remembered everything.  She remembered who she was.  She was Alexa Donovan.  She was a teacher at Dalian Academy.  She was a beautiful, developed woman of 26 years of age.  The house she was in was her own, as was the car that she had been driven in.  As Alexa’s awareness of her former self and surroundings returned to her, she realized that words she had forgotten were suddenly back in her mind, ready to express the confusion and horror that she was feeling. 

“Who are you?  What did you do to me?!  What happened to my body?!” she shouted in her four-year-old voice as she stared up at the woman who held her in her arms.

“My goodness!  Such a demanding tone for such a little girl!” she replied, holding Alexa in her arms as the little girl struggled to break free.

“you!  I’m not a little girl, you creepy bitch!  Let me go!” Alexa retorted, using her best efforts to escape the woman’s vise-like grip.

“Ugh, such unimaginative, crude language!  And you’re an English teacher?” the woman said mockingly.  “I’d better not hear one more foul word leave that little mouth of yours, Alexa!  After all, you don’t want a spanking, do you?”

Alexa’s face burned red with anger.  “What the fuck are you talking about, you fucking CUNT?  Let me go, NOW!”

Without saying a word, the woman began to remove the tapes of Alexa’s diaper.

“No!  What are you doing?  What the fuck are you doing?!” she screamed as her diaper was removed and she was placed over the woman’s knee.  Alexa turned her head to look behind her but before she could do so she felt several hard, sharp smacks on her exposed rear-end.  Stunned, she tried to cover her buttocks with her hands but they were swatted away and several more blows soon connected with her bottom.  Alexa choked in pain, kicking her legs in the air as her bottom was assaulted once more.  When it was over, Alexa cried hysterically as the combination of raw pain and the indignity of being spanked overwhelmed her.  She continued to sob as her diaper was taped back onto her and she was once again in the arms of the woman who had met her foul language with corporal punishment. 

The woman began to rock Alexa again, making gentle “shush” noises while wiping her tears away with her thumb.  When her sobs had subsided, she addressed Alexa once more. 

“Now, I believe you had questions for me before you began to curse and swear?” she asked.  Alexa felt completely and utterly broken.  This woman, whoever she was, clearly had complete control.  Anger and outrage still burned within her, but the thought of getting another spanking was just too much for her to bear.

“Wh…….who are you?  What…….what are you?” she asked, sniffling and shifting uncomfortably as her bottom burned from the abuse it had just taken.

“Ah, that’s much better!” she replied, smiling.  “And fair questions, at that!  I’ve been called many things by many people, but the name I prefer is Athena.  My name, however, is of no consequence.  What I am is much more important than what I am called.  Accordingly, your second question is much more pertinent.  I am the guardian of wisdom, of knowledge.  It is a responsibility that was delegated to me and one that I do not take lightly.” she explained with conviction and sincerity, causing Alexa to shrink into her arms in fear.

Athena’s voice seemed to boom throughout the room as she continued to speak.  “It is for that reason that you find yourself in my arms and under my sway.  You have committed sins against my temple and for that you must be punished!”

Alexa looked up at Athena, eyes wide with fear.  “But I…….what sins?  What did I do to deserve this?” she asked in a whiny tone, carefully measuring her words as to not invite another spanking.

Athena raised her eyebrow, staring at Alexa with a look of disgust and astonishment.  “Oh, surely you don’t think that I’m unaware of your little scheme that you employed to live a life of shallow materialism?”

Alexa turned her head away in shame, but Athena lightly grabbed her by the chin, turning her face back towards hers.  Her eyes were now afire with the anger of a goddess determined to issue divine retribution. 

“Do you not know how many of my plans you altered with your flagrant disregard for intellectual merit?  How many great minds failed to reach their potential because of your materialistic greed?  Their minds were gifts which I graciously bestowed upon humanity!  They were not pawns for you to use to enrich yourself!  They were blessings that my temple bestowed upon the world and you RUINED them with your greed!”

Alexa shrieked as the sunlight in the room suddenly vanished and was replaced with an inky darkness.  Alexa flailed about, suddenly feeling as if she was floating in an endless void.  As she looked about in the darkness, the faint shimmering of stars began to form in front of her.  Faint beams of light began to run between the stars, first slowly and then more quickly, finally solidifying and forming the outline of Athena’s face.

“There is a way, however, to restore my blessings upon the world,” she explained as Alexa floated before Athena’s cosmic visage.  “The Horai have granted me the power to erase your life and mold it anew, as I see fit!”

“Erase me?!  What are you talking about?!  What are you going to do to me?!” Alexa shouted back.

“Alexa Donovan, your sins against my temple are numerous and unforgiveable.  You have shown disregard for the sanctity of knowledge and prostituted your position as an educator, a position which you attained through deceit and treachery.  Too many of my plans were altered because of your wickedness and therefore I decree that you are to be removed from their past at the expense of rewriting yours!”

Alexa continued to kick and flail as Athena dictated her punishment, her words seeming to resonate throughout Alexa’s body.

“Henceforth, you will begin your life anew as a little girl of barely three years old.  Instead of holding a position of prestige and power at the institution you exploited, you will attend its daycare where you’ll be subservient to those whom you once considered beneath you.  Instead of wearing expensive clothing, you will wear the simple garments of a little girl.  No longer will you enjoy the privileges and dignities of adulthood.  You will wear diapers, which you will wet and soil and have changed at your caregiver’s discretion.  Nobody will have any regard for your modesty or dignity and you will be spoken to and treated like the child that you are.  You will no longer enjoy the distractions and amusements of modern technology but will instead derive your intellectual stimulation from playing with simple, infantile toys.  Finally, I will adopt you as my daughter and once I deem your punishment complete, you will serve my temple to atone for your sins against it!”

Alexa repeatedly shook her head ‘no’ as Athena dictated Alexa’s punishment to her.  “But why?!  Why turn me back into a baby?!  Can’t you punish me in some other way?” she pleaded.

“By restarting your life as a child, you will learn to appreciate and respect my gifts.  I will take every morsel of knowledge you’ve accumulated in your first life and dispose of it, forcing you to learn it all anew!”

“No!  Please!  I’ll do anything!  Anything!  I’ll worship you every day!  I’ll be good from now on!  I’ll respect your gifts!  Please, Goddess Athena!  Please don’t take my mind away again!” Alexa begged.

“Oh, fear not, child. I will not take all of your memories from you.  I will allow you to keep the memories of your past life, so that you’ll be fully aware of why you’re being disciplined.  After all, what good is a divine punishment if you don’t know you’re being punished?”

Alexa began to furiously kick and fight the air around her as Athena refused her pleas for mercy.  “N-no…….NO!  Change me back!  Change me back!  I’m sorry!  I’m SORRY!” she screamed as she kicked and fought in the darkness of space.  Alexa then began to feel herself falling.  She screamed as she fell for what seemed like forever.  She closed her eyes, convinced that she was about to hit solid ground at any moment.  Then, it all came to a stop.