The Adventures of Ozzie Astaroth

Chapter 5
Chapter 5

Chapter Description: Ozzie practices his magic and has an inner conversation with the demon Azrael.

Ozzie toddled over to the designated area to practice magic in the house. It was protected by a barrier in case anything went wrong. He decided to practice some gravity magic. Normally this would be impossible for anyone to use before becoming an adult, but he was able to lift himself off the ground a little. He kept trying, and soon he was hovering a good foot off the ground. His reserve of magic energy seemed to be endless. He always did like the more uncommon magics. Suddenly the objects around him started to levitate too, and he rose higher into the air. Everything began swirling around inside the barrier, but he wasn't doing it. At least, he wasn't trying to. His magic power was going out of control. He tried calming it down, but he wasn't used to this kind of magic inside him yet. He called out for Luna who came rushing in.

“What happened?” she said with concern, attempting to counter his magic.

“My magic is too stwong!” he yelled. “It hawd to stop!” He wiggled and squirmed around in the air helplessly.

“Okay, some of my magic is in you, so let me try.” Luna said. She concentrated and held out her hand. There was a glow from them both and she saw this very strong energy within him again. She tried to calm it as best she could, and eventually the baby wizard began to lower to the ground. After a bit of this, she had managed to help him stop. “Whew! That was something else.”

“Ugh, yah.” Ozzie said, rubbing his head. “Ish dat demon magic in me. Ish gotta be.”

“If only we could figure out how to control it properly.” Luna said. “Have you tried to commune with the demon inside you?”

Ozzie shook his head. “No, buh sometimes I heaw a voice when I asweep.” he lisped. “Dat couwd be him.”

“Then lets try it.” said Luna. “I just finished those enchantments so if we trigger the demon's power by accident, she won't be able to find us.” She put the little bracelet on Ozzie's wrist, then put one on her own. Hers was a gold color with a red stone set in it. Together they sat down and held hands. “Now close your eyes and look inward. Try to contact Azrael.”

Ozzie nodded and did so. It took a while, but eventually he could hear the familiar voice again. An image began to form. It was indeed the demon inside him, Azrael.

“Astaroth!” the demon shouted angrily. “You dare keep me traped in this infant body of yours?!”

Ozzie was able to appear as an adult in his mind when confronting Azrael. “You turned me into this.” he said. “You made your choice, so I made mine. Now we are stuck together. May as well get used to it.”

“No.” said the demon. He slowly appeared menacingly. His dark blue skin only visible due to the light coming from Ozzie. The demon was huge and muscular, and his black eyes were now red and glowing. “YOU may as well get used to being a baby, because I will never let you age a day until you set me free!”

“You can't do that!” Ozzie shouted. “This is MY body. I will learn to control your power, restore my age, then banish you back to where you came from.”

“The witch will find you first.” the demon snarled. “You will forget all of your adult memories and be her baby to sell to the highest bidder.”

Luna suddenly appeared next to Ozzie. “And she will put you back in your crystal!” She shouted. She had been listening to their conversation. “She will not keep her promise.”

Azrael raged and roared. “ARGH! And how do you know this?” he hissed.

“Because witches like her don't keep their words.” Ozzie responded. “I've known their kind. She's no different than the one who betrayed you before.”

“And you will?” the demon asked. “You think you are different? Are you somehow better than they are?”

“You have access to my memories.” Ozzie said. “You can see the choices I've made and the things I've done. You can decide for yourself.”

Azrael indeed took a deep look into Ozzie's memories and past. He saw that Ozzie was a good man in his life. Rarely did he lie, and if he did, it was only to protect another. “Very well.” said the demon. “What do you propose?”

“We work together.” Ozzie said. “You help me develop my powers and restore me to my adult prime, and we will work with you to find a way to set you free.”

“Hmm...” the demon pondered. “I will think on it! Your way does seem more likely to work, however...I will not restore your age until you find a way to free me.”

“Fine.” Ozzie said. “But I WILL keep my word.”

“See that you do.” said Azrael. “Now that I have been awakened within you, I can communicate with you in your mind. I will help train you to use my powers in tandem with your own. With the added help of your caregiver, we may be able to do this.”

Lunda nodded. “Then it is decided. Help us and we will help you.” she said. “I will make a show of good faith by finding any materials I can on demon summons.”

“The persuit of knowledge of our kind will benefit you greatly.” said Azrael. “Just be sure to follow through, or Ozzie will be a baby in both mind and body. I'll make sure of that.”

Ozzie frowned but nodded. “You'll see.” he said. “There are people in this world you can trust.”

“Yes.” said the demon. “We shall see indeed.” With that, he vanished and the two broke contact with each other.

“That was kind of intense.” said Luna. “I've never spoken to a demon before. I was a little scared.”

“Me too.” said Ozzie. “Buh now I fink we gonna be good.” Ozzie could hear Azrael in his head.

“Heh.” said the demon. “Now lets try that floating trick again.”

“We gonna twy da fwoat magic again.” Ozzie told Luna. “Stand back.” He concentrated, imagining the demon's power flowing into his own, and began to float. Then he felt the extra power kick in, but instead of losing control, he used it, and began flying around the room.

“Oh wow!” said Luna. “I didn't know you could do that.”

“I couwdn't befowe.” Ozzie said. He smiled as he flew around inside the house. “Dis ish so fun!” He then stopped in mid air and gently settled down onto the floor.

“Its just the beginning.” said Azrael. “You have much to learn.”

And so time passed. Ozzie learned from Azrael and with the help of Luna, he was able to control a good bit of his limitless magic power. He was eventually able to use spells even more powerful than ones he used as an adult. However, Ozzie wasn't getting any older. He remained the same age, and though he could use magic to a great degree, he still had to wear diapers. The demon refused to let him escape babyhood until he fulfilled his promise.

During this time, Luna began to bond more with Ozzie. She would still bathe, change, and feed him even though he had great magical power. He sometimes assisted her with these things using his magic, but there were times she insisted that she do things herself. He still had trouble with fine motor skills, which is something he also worked on, but since his body wasn't aging, it also wasn't building muscle. There were also still times when he seemed to mentally slip into more youthful behavior. This often coincided with Luna's babyish treatment of him. If she treated him more like a baby, his mind would start to behave that way. He would, at times, cry when needing a change or when hungry or frustrated. His words sometimes regressed into babble mid-sentence, and he found comfort in sucking his thumb and pacifier. Luna would sometimes tease him to make him blush and became more and more motherly toward him. Needless to say, whenever these events occurred, Azrael was unable to speak to Ozzie, nor did he want to. For whatever reason, he had no control over this behavior. In spite of all this, his skills with magic continued to grow, and the relationship with Azrael began to get better, though slowly.