Chapter 25

Baby's POV

My panic lasted only for a few minutes until I realized that the maid was taking me to the barracks where Ken seemed to be waiting for us to arrive judging by his posture and the fact he was actually in plain sight.

"She's all yours" the maid said as she set me down on the grass in front of Ken and then left back the way we came.

I waited patiently for him to tell me what he wanted and even started counting the seconds just to see how long he would make me wait in suspense. I counted to 367 before he finally cleared his throat.

"As your power grows, your body will deteriorate unless you strengthen it to withstand the pressure it will endure. I owe you an apology...I had no idea that your aura had grown so much or I would have started your training before now. The problem is that the ceremony itself will also put an enormous strain on your body. There is a chance you will not survive the ceremony as you are now and there is little time to get you ready."

As always I knew I could count on Ken to be direct and honest. I admit I was also shocked at his apology. He just didn't strike me as the apology type of person.

I made signs to him to start now. I was going to at least give myself a fighting chance. 'Do your worst' I thought at that moment.

'And he did' I thought several hours later. Most of the training was cardio and strength training. The problem was that I was in an almost 2 year old body which had been pretty sedentary up until this point. I jogged until I had blisters on my feet, until each breath was wracked with pain, and until I literally passed out from exhaustion.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by Ken who gave me mash and fruit and water before starting me back on the track that had been set up for training. Again I ran until my body would no longer listen to me. I wasn't even sure how I was upright, but I knew that Ken would not lie to me and that my very existence hinged on my will to press on even when my body told me I couldn't go on anymore.

Each time I ran that track I was unable to make it as far and as long as the previous time which greatly discouraged me. 'Was everything I had gone through so far and all the effort I had put into my body all futile?'

After 3 days of this grueling grind, Ken stopped me before I passed out and brought me back to the barracks where my mash and fruit was ready. I was so tired that I didn't want to eat; 'I am not hungry' I signed to him.

"Eat it all anyway" Ken commanded. My arms shook as I moved the spoon slowly from the bowl in front of me to my mouth. It was a hard struggle and Ken didn't allow anyone to help me eat, but I proudly finished the bowl by myself before Ken helped me to bed.

There was no one waking me up after only 6 hours of sleep, so when I did wake up, it was with a mixed feeling of being refreshed from a full night's sleep and feeling gross for not having bathed in more than 3 days.

I discovered a maid standing outside the barrack's door to the room I had been residing in during my training. As I made my way outside I noticed that my body was not in pain. The maid quickly scooped me up and rushed me to my room where I was scrubbed several times.

A light airy feeling fabric was pulled over my head and tied around my waist and then I was once again rushed downstairs. I suddenly occurred to me that today must be the day of my ceremony which also meant that today was also my second birthday.

"Happy birthday, Baby girl!" My whole family said as I was brought into the dining room.

'Thank you' I signed with a smile on my face.

Most of the comments during breakfast were about the logistics of going to the Sanctuary for the ceremony and how everyone couldn't wait to eat something besides mash and fruit.