The Adventures of Ozzie Astaroth
By Ozzie Astaroth aka Ouroboros

Chapter 16

Ozzie appeared in Jenn's garden. He was still in adult form, clutching the moon-shapedgem, but his clothes were tattered. It was night time, and raining. Tears streamed from his face and he started forward. As he did, he began to shrink. He was regressing again, but he didn't care. He stepped out of his leather boots and began leaving smaller and smaller foot prints in the dirt. His formerly fitting diaper slipped down his legs and was left on the wet ground, but he kept moving forward. By the time he got to Jenn's door, he was a child again, soaked by the rain and tears. The shrinking little boy knocked on the door.

Jenn was inside having a cup of tea. Somewhere inside, she knew something bad had happened. It was just as she predicted, although she had hoped she was wrong. It was then that she heard the knocking. She wasn't used to visitors at this hour, so she readied her magic and approached the door. Upon opening it, however, all she saw was a crying little boy with snow white hair that faded to blue at the tips, and he was getting smaller.

“Oh my, Ozzie?!” asked Jenn. “What happened? Where is Luna?” Her mention of Luna just made the little boy cry out and collapse on the ground. “Oh no, you poor thing.” She picked him up and carried him inside. He looked to be about five years old, and was getting lighter in her arms. Carrying him over to the fire, she placed him there and removed his wet robes, replacing them with a dry blanket.

Ozzie just clutched the gem tightly and continued to cry and regress, smaller and younger. “She's gone!” he shouted finally in a high pitched voice. “Mommy is gone!”

“Gone?” asked Jenn. “Gone where? Please try to calm down.” She sat behind him and held him close as he shrank in the blanket. His cries sounded more and more like a baby every moment. “Please, stop shrinking! You're going to get too young! Oh, how do I stop this?” But she could do nothing but hold him.

Ozzie's sobbing cries turned to a baby's wail as he shrank down below two years old. All he could think about was his mommy and how much he wanted her. 

“Shhh, shhhh, it'll be okay.” said Jenn as she held him. The gray haired former dark witch did her best to soothe him. She looked at him and his inner light seemed to be dim now. He also looked to be only about a year old. “Come on sweety. Please, no younger. Azrael if you can hear me, please stop this.” But she could not hear a word from the demon inside Ozzie.

Ozzie just cried out at the world around him as he got even younger than before. He seemed to finally stop regressing, but looked no older than a six-month-old baby boy. 

“Oh, thank goodness.” said Jenn. She felt so helpless in this situation. “You poor baby boy. You've gotten so small. Smaller than I've ever seen you.”

Ozzie just cried more. He was a tiny infant now and lost in his own mind. Even on the inside, Ozzie was a crying, blubbering mess. His body just reacted on its own and he was for all intents and purposes an actual baby for the time being. As his limbs flailed, his tiny hands let go of the gem, and it fell to the floor.

“Shhh, shhhh... “ said Jenn, rocking the infant in her arms. “What's this?” She picked up the gem and recognized it as Luna's. “It seems it is my turn to care for you. Just as Luna found you as a babe, so have I found you in such a state.” She could feel a warm wetness through the blanket. “Maybe a nice warm bath will calm you a bit.” She carried the crying baby to her bathroom where she ran some warm water in the tub, and added some lavender scented bath soap to the water. Once she was sure it wasn't too hot or too high, she sat Ozzie in it.

The six-month-old baby cried as tears streamed down his chubby baby face. He felt the warm water around his lower half and it did feel nice. The smell of lavender had a calming effect and his cries turned to sniffles.

“There we go.” said Jenn, keeping a hand on him. He was now too young to sit up well on his own. “Let Auntie Jenn wash you. I'll wash away all those tears for you.” She bathed the baby boy gently and was able to calm him some more.

The little baby boy whimpered and sniffled. He was being soothed by the bath and the care. It felt familiar and brought back some warm fuzzy memories. However, Ozzie remained depressed and quiet in his own mind, just letting his body behave the way a real baby would. He let out a big yawn after a bit.

“I bet you're tired after the day you must have had.” said Jenn, plucking him from the bath and drying him off. “Plus all that crying really wore you out.” She carried him over to a changing table and laid him down on it. “Good thing I keep diapers in various sizes just in case.”

Baby Ozzie just cooed and stuffed his fingers in his mouth, unable to comprehend what she was saying. He laid there wiggling his little legs and looking up at Jenn as she powdered and diapered him.

Jenn picked him up and held him close. She went into the kitchen and got a baby bottle of warm milk for him, then carried him over to her rocking chair by the fire and sat down. “Here, drink up.” she said. “It'll help you sleep.” 

The infant latched onto the nipple of the bottle automatically and began to suckle as Jenn held it for him. The warm milk trickled down his throat and into his belly where it made him feel content. 

Jenn rocked the little baby as he drank from the bottle, and hummed a soft tune. She was used to getting babies to go to sleep, and knew that Ozzie certainly needed the rest. She just wondered what happened to Luna and when Ozzie would be able to tell her about it. For now, she just focused on caring for him.

The combination of the bath, the bottle, and the tune Jenn hummed made Ozzie's eyes droop lower and lower. Soon he was asleep and stopped sucking on the bottle.

“Aww, poor dear.” said Jenn, getting up and placing Ozzie in a crib which was next to her bed. “Don't worry, I'll take care of you. For as long as it takes.” She put a pacifier in his mouth and it blinked weakly. “All will be well in time.”

Ozzie slept peacefully through the night as Jenn slept in her bed next to him. In the morning, he woke up feeling cold and clammy. The baby boy was uncomfortable and began to cry.

Jenn came in, having woken up earlier, and picked up the crying infant. “Good morning.” she said, checking his diaper. “Lets get you out of that messy thing and some nice food in your belly.” She laid him on the changing table and unfastened his diaper, then began cleaning while she hummed.

The baby boy's crying soon stopped, and he cooed at the humming. He looked up at Jenn and smiled, recognizing her face as someone friendly. It felt better not having that cold, icky mess on his bottom.

After cleaning up the baby and rediapering him, Jenn carried Ozzie to the kitchen and sat him in a high chair and tied a bib onto him. “You're much too young for the food I gave you before.” she said. “I hope you like baby food.” She had used the veggies and fruits from her garden to make baby food by mashing it into a fine paste and putting it in glass jars. Getting out a jar of mashed peas, she sat by him and began feeding him small spoon-fulls of it.

The baby made a face. At first he didn't like it, but then the baby boy ate hungrily. The lack of flavor was just right for his regressed taste buds. 

Jenn tried feeding him mashed carrots next, which he seemed to like more. Then she brought out desert, which was apple sauce. “Most of my babies love this.” she said, spooning some into his mouth.

Ozzie ate the apple sauce and smiled. He really liked it, even though he dribbled a lot down his chin, and opened his mouth for more. 

“Oooh, I see you are no different.” said Jenn, smiling as she spoon fed him some more. After that, she cleaned his face and fed him a bottle of juice. It was good seeing him smile after all that crying.

The baby boy suckled happily on the bottle and kicked his little feet while in the high chair. Once he was done, he was picked up and patted on the back, which caused him to burp.

“Good boy.” said Jenn. She removed his bib and carried him to the living room where she sat him in a play pen. “I'll be right here if you need anything or decide to talk to me.”

The little baby just cooed and made babbling baby sounds as he played with some colored wooden balls. One of them looked like it would taste good, so he put it in his mouth. He laid on his back and kicked his chubby legs in the air while playing. Meanwhile, on the inside, Ozzie just didn't want to deal with the world right now, so he remained closed off. Outwardly, he was on auto pilot, as it were, and his baby body acted and reacted as any baby would.

Jenn sat in her rocking chair and closed her eyes. She tried reaching out with her mind to see if she could sense Luna, but she could not sense her anywhere. She peeked into Ozzie's mind, but only saw short scenes of Devzla, a struggle with Luna, and an explosion. She was unable to make much sense of it at the time, so she just continued to take care of Ozzie as if he were her child.

A few days passed, and it became apparent to Jenn that a great deal of the darkness in the world had been eliminated. She could no longer sense any malice or even the slightest presence of Devzla at all. It seemed that Ozzie and Luna were successful after all, but at what cost? The least she could do was care for the little wizard that saved the world. Using her connections, Jenn helped spread the rumor that the great wizard Ozzie had rid the world of darkness, but at the cost of his own life. Many gathered in support of the fallen heroic wizard, and a statue of him was erected within the kingdom. Many tales of his heroic exploits would spread around as legend and written down in books. Little did they know that the mighty wizard had simply turned into a little baby. 

Then one night, as Ozzie slept, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

To be continued...