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In contrast to the older and more mature girl that I had met in the hospital, she was much cuter like this. Darius turned to me with a curious look on his face as I stroked her hair.
"So, the reason that we came here?" Darius asked with a slight grin, and I nodded, but the interaction with Sofia had given me a good idea.
"Yeah, and since you know so much about this, can you show me rather than explain it to me?" I asked, and Sofia looked at me with shock, pointing at herself, and I nodded.
"You want me to do it?! But I have never even tried, Papi!" Sofia said in a cute panic.
"Me neither, but first, do you want to wait outside for a moment. I want to have a word with Darius, okay?" I asked, and Sofia nodded with a smile, heading back out of the room.
Once the door was completely closed, I looked at Darius. He had just turned fifty-one this year, so this would be a significant change for him, but I wondered what Anya was going to think.
"So, how are you feeling? Your chest healed?" I asked, and Darius nodded as he felt at his shirt where he had been stabbed.
"Feels like a dream, all of this, really. Just between you and me, I think it is all a dream come true; the world needs something like this, but maybe not quite this extreme!" Darius said with a chuckle and then looked down at his old hands, saying, "Wish I was younger so I could really see how far you will go with things! Still, I am glad to be here and to know you. Sorry about that."
I walked over to Darius and extended my hand to him, but I was already scanning his body. I wanted him to be the world's most outstanding librarian while also being able to do anything that he wanted.
Anya's old man had always been good to me, but his old book shop downtown had always been broken into. I bought this one down here, and we had just finished getting everything moved when this had all happened.
"I bet if you were young again, you would have all the ladies falling all over you, right?" I asked with a laugh.
Darius laughed and shook my hand, and that was the moment that I activated the change. Suddenly, his laughter stopped, and his eyes widened as his body started to shrink and tighten to the perfect form.
"What is this?! What have you done to me?! I feel like I am back in my prime! NO! This is so much more!" Darius yelled with excitement, fire in his eyes.
"This is my gift to you. Do you want to see this world change? Then help me by becoming the best librarian that this world has ever seen! Don't forget to have fun as well! You should be able to handle any situation that you run into, but there is one condition," I said, getting serious.
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"Oh? Anything you say!" Darius said, slapping my shoulder with a great deal of force.
[Total damage: 3%, Repair activated!]
"Good. There are people in the world now called Villains. The one that attacked the city today was one of them. They are normal humans like us, but they have different Systems that give them unique abilities they can power up. Your job when one attacks will be to make sure the girls are safe. I can't protect everyone unless I know that they are safe," I explained, and Darius nodded at me with a smile.
"You can count on me! Now, go see that beautiful girl that is waiting for you out in the hall!" Darius said with a laugh, and I nodded.
I was glad that things were starting to go smoothly now, but I kept my good thoughts to myself. I didn't want to jinx myself.
"We will get strawberries and nuts growing in the room, and now you can change things how you like. Just place your hand on the wood and let it know what you want," I explained and turned to leave after he nodded.
"Thanks for everything, son. You always try to hide your generosity, but you are a really good person under the tough exterior," Darius chuckled, and I turned on him with a scowl.
"Don't you go telling people that!" I growled, but then we both laughed, and I left the room.
"What was that all about?" Sofia asked as the doorway spun closed behind me.
"I just did the same thing for him as I did for you and returned him to about thirty. He will make sure that you girls stay safe when I am fighting now, along with Kitsune. Now, legs go to this empty room over here," I said, and the grass moved us to the next doorway.
"Don't worry, I will also make sure that the younger ones don't try to follow you. I get that it would be hard to fight if you are worried about us getting hurt," Sofia replied with a nod.
As the door spun open, we saw the exact room we had just left with Darius. Two of us entered the room, and then I walked over to the couch and sat down.
Sofia came over and sat down on my lap, and I wrapped my arm around her. She placed one hand on my arm and then the other on the wooden armrest of the couch.
I placed my hand over the top of hers and then kissed Sofia's cheek, whispering, "Are you ready?"
"If you make me wait any longer, I will tear your clothes off and take my frustrations out on that big thing that is poking me right now! Or maybe after we can have some fun, Papi?" Sofia asked as she wiggled her bottom into my growing bulge.
"Mmm, I like the sound of that, but first, close your eyes," I whispered, nipping her ear, making Sofia moan softly.