Power Struggle
Summary: As part of her latest Protector mission, Sofia recruits Cedric, Merlin, and Greylock to help her unearth a corrupt member on the renowned Conjurors' Board.
Disclaimer: I own only the Conjurors' Board and its members.
A/N: All right, guys! This is probably my shortest chapter story in a long time. Four chapters. Le gasp. :p After this, there will be a Calista-centric story, and story focusing on a mysterious SOMETHING going on, a few undisclosed stories for now, and a big one that will take place at the end of this year (yes, you have to wait till December till it's released, lol). I want to thank everyone who's helped me either with cover photos (MarionetteJ2X), story ideas, encouragement in any form, etc. You've been a big help! In any case, hope you enjoy this story. If nothing else, it'll be good to see Cedric and Greylock working together again (at least from my own stories' perspective). 😊 Also, chapter/story updates won't be as frequent as they have been, most likely. We're getting into the second semester and closer to testing and such, so it may take a few days/weeks for the next thing to come out. Just letting you know ahead of time.
Note: Malango the Magnanimous first appeared in my story "On Thin Ice," whereby he was sent to determine Cedric's fate as a sorcerer. He's back!
Chapter 1: Calling All Conjurors
"So, let me get this straight," Cedric drawled as he sat on a sofa in Chrysta's home, his elbow resting on the armrest and his cheek leaning against his fist. "You mean to tell me that someone on the Conjurors' Board—the board that decides to promote or revoke magic—is a corrupt evildoer?" He rolled his eyes. "This is the biggest dramatic event I've been involved in since…" He cleared his throat, straightening up and adjusting his bowtie. "Never mind."
Chrysta smirked as she shrugged. "What can I say? Sometimes, power gets to people, and they act on their impulses. From what I hear, this person has been harboring extra magic, stolen forbidden spells, destroyed other spells, and the list goes on."
"How do they know it was a board member?" Sofia asked as she pushed Cedric's arm aside and sat on the armrest next to him.
"There is a whole other side of this sofa, you know," he remarked, brushing her ponytail away from his face.
She smiled sweetly toward her friend. "Yeah, I know." She glanced back toward the other Protector, awaiting her response.
Chrysta shrugged. "Something about only the Top Ten—apparently that's their nickname, or something—know about the private sectors of the headquarters. Only they would have passcodes or spells to access the forbidden spells, which have been locked up in a high-security vault." She tossed Sofia a portfolio, sighing as her former trainee caught it and opened it up, withdrawing its contents. "Malango the Magnanimous—" She blinked as Cedric groaned in dismay. "I take it you know him?"
"Long story," the sorcerer admitted as Sofia handed him some of the documents. "Let's just say, he and I don't exactly see eye to eye."
"That's an understatement," Sofia murmured as she shuffled through the files. "Chrysta, these are the people on the board, huh?"
"Yeah." She grabbed another list from her table and read out the names: "Malango the Magnanimous, Ilse the Effervescent, His Excellency Sir Clement, Gerard the Generous, Madame Zenile, Esme the Enchantress, Colonel Vincenzo the Vigilant, Oniquela the Observant, Sir Ignacio, and Lady Erzabet Léa." She shook her head. "Some interesting names a few of these people have…"
"I've found that the more magically-influenced their background is, the more interesting their names get," Cedric told her as he shuffled through his set of files. "Meanwhile, all I see from these documents is a name and a face, and very minimal information. None of this is going to lead to any revelation about motive, innocence, or guiltiness."
"Right," the older Protector agreed. "That's where you guys come in."
"We're not going undercover again, are we?" Sofia asked, laughing as she handed Cedric the rest of the documents and the portfolio cover. "Because as fun as it was, I'd rather just be myself this time."
"No kidding." Cedric slid the documents into the portfolio and tied it shut. "No more pirates, if you please. I had to take two baths just to wash the disgusting sea filth off. And somehow, a starfish stowed away in my boot."
Chrysta snickered. "Aww. You could have had a new pet, Cedric."
"It wasn't exactly alive when I found it…"
She frowned, shaking her finger accusingly at him. "Bad pet parent."
Sofia giggled and put her hand on Cedric's shoulder after he made a sound of annoyance. "Calm down, Mr. Cedric." She turned to Chrysta. "Okay, I guess we'll just need to get to the Conjurors' Board, speak with Mr. Malango, and do some research ourselves."
"Right, but honestly, I wouldn't go by yourselves, if I were you." She stood up and stretched. "I think it's common knowledge how dangerous evildoer wizards and warlocks are—even, or perhaps I should say especially, the higher-ups. They have a lot to lose if word gets out that they're committing unspeakable crimes."
"But who else could we take?" Cedric wondered, glancing toward his partner, who gave him a knowing smirk. He frowned. "No."
"Oh, come on, Mr. Cedric. He could be very useful—"
"Right, or he could get the both of us locked up." He passed her the documentation as he stood up. "I was formally pardoned. He was not."
"I'm sorry," Chrysta interrupted, standing up and folding her arms. "Who are you two talking about again?"
"Mr. Greylock," Sofia answered, smiling sheepishly as Cedric sighed. "You've met him before, Chrysta. Back when our castle was under siege by Princess Imaldrina and Galiviano, he came to help us out. He's Mr. Cedric's friend."
"Arch-nemesis," Cedric corrected, frowning. "And while our sort-of friendship is far better than it used to be, and while I'm happy that he's got a new life away from public eye, the fact remains that taking him anywhere could be problematic."
"Wait, Greylock the Grand?" The crystal fairy gaped at them. "One of the ones caught uprising against his kingdom several years ago?" She slapped her forehead in realization. "I didn't realize that was who was helping you guys. I'd heard he'd escaped and was never caught…" She narrowed her eyes toward the princess, who looked rather guilty at that point. "What did you do?"
"More like, 'What did we do?'" She gestured between herself and Cedric. "It's a really long story, but… When you'd sent me to Rudistan on that Protector mission that one time, I got captured. Mr. Cedric came to save me, and Mr. Greylock happened to be there too, because he'd been roped in as some sort of fall-guy for the real villain. Anyway, because he saved me, and because he showed some form of loyalty, and because he wasn't being treated right in the dungeon…" She still felt her blood boil when she recalled how awful he'd looked when they found him: thin, pale, and clearly close to his demise. "We let him go. And the last time we saw him, he'd changed a lot. He has his own family now, Chrysta, and he's been making amends for his misdeeds ever since. Everyone deserves a second chance, and he's made a lot of progress. Don't take that away from him…"
Chrysta stared at her friend for several moments before sighing heavily. "Well, I suppose…it's been a long enough time now."
"According to the Conjurors' Board," Sofia began calmly, "conjurors who commit bad deeds can be pardoned by a royal member. If it comes down to it, I'll pardon him."
"Not sure that's quite how it works…" The crystal fairy shook her head before shrugging. "But, if you think he'll be an asset to your mission, I guess it's up to you."
"Good." Sofia smiled. "And I think it would be great if we could get Mr. Merlin to help us too."
"Now you're talking," Cedric enthused, grinning at last. "Merlin should have been on the board himself, but I'm sure he has far better things to do—magically speaking—than moderating how others use their own magic. It seems like he would find it a mind-numbingly boring job."
"There's no doubt in my mind," Chrysta chuckled. "All right. You have the information you need. Cedric, do you know how to get to the Conjurors' Board?"
"My father has a map that I can use. We'll figure it out." He glanced toward Sofia. "I suppose we could stop and chat with Merlin on the way home, and I can pen a letter to Greylock. We should be ready to go by the end of the week."
Sofia nodded in agreement before glancing at Chrysta. "Looks like we have a plan."
The other Protector smiled and nodded. "Looks like it."
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Boardroom Breakdown