One day, Sofia was in her bedroom talking to Clover, like she usually did. But this time, her amulet glowed a strange color. It was always purple, except for this time. Now it was blue.
"Blue like the Earth!" Clover said. He always had a witty thing to say.
Suddenly, Clover's joke turned into reality. Sofia began to glow a bright white and it was clear she was transforming into the Earth.
"Oh no, Clover, something's happening!" Sofia said. Clover gave her a shocked look but he was helpless to do anything.
"If only I had magic, like Cedric or Miss Nettles. Then I could stop this!" Clover reasoned. He played with his ears, trying to think of a solution.
Meanwhile, James was dining in the dining room with his mother and father. He didn't agree that anything particularly interesting was on the table. The best part was the chicken sandwiches, but they didn't seem very royal. He wanted a prince's meal. And there were copious vegetables he had to eat, too.
The table began to shake. But only a little bit. Roland was the first to understand that Sofia was now the Earth.
"Goodness gracious!" Sofia shouted. Everyone on the planet heard her.
"Sofia?" Roland asked, tentatively.
"I'm talking to you! I'm still here!" Sofia said. The problem was that everyone heard it. The Earth itself was speaking and it was Sofia. No one was outside the range of the Earth's voice.
"We're going to have an earthquake every time you speak out loud, sweetie!" Miranda, Sofia's mother, insisted. But no such thing happened. Sofia was able to talk to everyone normally, if not loudly.
Time passed. Roland made everyone in the kingdom look for a solution. Many people could do nothing at all, except for read in books what magic might be able to revert the spell. Cedric made his cauldron bubble. Then he stirred it up and tried to look into the mixture to see what course of action would make Sofia a girl again. Miss Nettles was employed by Roland to try her magic but she admitted it was beyond her ability. Clover waited in Sofia's room for the day she would return to normal, because he couldn't talk to anyone except for Sofia.
"This is the biggest issue the kingdom has ever faced" Roland said.
"I agree" James said. He had a bright idea. Roland listened, and it was just crazy enough to work...
Roland (the Fourty Eighth) summoned up the spirits of his ancestors, who knew more about the Earth than later generations. It was James' idea. Roland the First was now speaking.
"My dear boy, I am happy to see you but this isn't the time for pleasantries. I understand that your daughter's amulet has changed color back to what it was originally. Over the generations, the amulet's color changes according to the girl who has it. Only girls can use magic, because only girls believe in it. And so, you must ask your wife to speak to Sofia. Let her repeat these words (and he gave her the magic words). Let me rest."
Sofia heard all this, just like she heard everything that anyone ever said since she became the Earth. It was information overload, that was for sure. It was tough being the Earth.
Miranda approached the front steps of the castle, where she understood that Sofia had the best chance to hear her, somewhere outdoors and in the open. She looked at Roland, who nodded once at her. Go on, he seemed to be saying. "Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas!"
The magic words (which no one knew the meaning of) made Sofia a normal girl, but her amulet was nowhere to be found. The next say, she talked to Clover; and she did it without her amulet.
THE END