Sofia and her friends and family were visiting the kingdom of Orillia. King Roland and Queen Miranda had enlisted King Robert and Queen Patricia's help in making something for the elves following the resolution of the Elf Situation, and Amber, James, Sofia, Lucinda, Dorrie, and Candice were in the kitchen with their friend Sandra, who had volunteered to make treats for the elves. They watched as Sandra got out more ingredients and started mixing what looked like custard pie filling.
"It's nice of you to make an extra pie," Dorrie said as she put the pie tins on baking pans like Sandra had instructed.
"That's why I'm making four of these," Sandra grinned. "Two for the elves, one for family and friends…" her grin faded a little. "And I'm even making one for Zeke."
"But are you sure this is all right?" Sofia asked as she helped her get out some more ingredients. "We all know how mean Ezekiel was, what he did, and where he is now."
"It should be, Sof," Sandra replied. "I asked Mom and Dad if I could do this, and they said they got the okay from the guards in Azkaban for me to do it."
"If you're sure," Candice agreed, "I know how mean he was to me when we first met, but you stood up for me. And we all know what happened to him later!"
"Even though he brought that on himself, I still want do something nice for him, since he does have a birthday coming up," Sandra said as she started mixing the ingredients together. "He said once, before he became evil, that this is one of his favorite pies. I looked up the recipe and made it for his birthday one other time, and for this birthday, I thought I'd make it again. I even bought a few dachshund statues to brighten up his cell."
"You've always been nice to everyone, just like Sof," James smirked as he helped her scrape the pie ingredients into the crust.
"Oh, sure, I was so nice to Wendell when we first met, dueling him when he stole Phoenix, flipping him upside down later, and then holding him at wandpoint when we met again at Hexley Hall," Sandra smirked, recalling how she'd first met Wendell after he stole her horse. They got off to a rocky start in their friendship, but now everyone in the group was friends with the young wizard.
"Sofia's a good influence on everyone she meets," Dorrie agreed.
As she put the pies in the oven, Sandra noticed that her amulet was glowing under her blouse. She pulled the purple-jewel encrusted cross out to examine it, but she looked worried. "Okay, Sof…you told me about this once, but I just want to be sure. There are no other princesses here except you, Lucinda, and Amber…"
"What about Zoe?" Lucinda asked.
"Zoe said she'd be in here later since she wanted to see Queen Arielf and Queen Elfabelle do some dish wishing first," Sandra explained. "But to get back to this, Sofia also said an amulet blesses or curses the person wearing it based on the deeds they do."
"That's right," Sofia smiled. "With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse."
"But, am I being cursed for wanting to be nice to someone in Azkaban?" Sandra asked.
"I shouldn't think so," Sofia assured her, "If you were cursed, you'd know it right away."
"Sofia's right. Don't worry about it, Sandra," Candice agreed. "For now, why don't you remind us of the abilities you received so far?"
"I guess that's true, Sof, and you're right, Candice," Sandra admitted, "Now let's see…Lucinda first enchanted this with the power to talk to animals, Sofia said I have a copy of her ability to turn into a mermaid and her shrinking power, it gave me the power of invisibility, but what else am I going to be able to do now?"
"There's only one way to find out," Lucinda smiled. "Why don't we go to your room and do some tests?"
"Okay," Sandra nodded. She turned to one of the maids, who had just come in and missed the conversation. "Alyssa, I have to take care of something. It shouldn't take long, but can you watch the pies while I'm gone?"
"Of course, Princess," Alyssa smiled.
Once they were in Sandra's room, Sofia told her that since she had freed Princess Elena from her own amulet, she could give herself any sort of powers.
"Really? Could you show us something, Sof?" Sandra asked.
"Sure," Sofia smiled. She looked around, her eyes falling on Sandra's cat Ambre, who had come in to see what was going on. "I wish to be a cat!"
Everyone watched as Sofia turned into a cat. "I unlocked this power when I was playing with Clover one day," Sofia explained, giving Ambre a friendly nuzzle as he came over to her to see what was going on. "It's nice to see you too, Ambre, but…I wish to be myself again!"
When Sofia had returned to normal, Dorrie suggested, "Maybe you got that power too, Sandra!"
"Maybe," Sandra agreed. She looked over at the perch where her barn owl Marcella was sleeping. "I wish to be an owl!" However, nothing happened. "Okay, then…I wish to be a cat!" she said as she looked at Ambre. When nothing happened again, she said, "Okay, so no animal transformation. What else could I have gotten?"
"Maybe you got the ability to borrow someone else's powers," Candice suggested, "That happened once when Sofia turned into my White Maleficent form."
"That's right," Sofia agreed, "Maybe you got something like that, Sandra."
"Okay," Sandra agreed. She looked around at her friends, but nothing happened when she looked at Sofia, Lucinda, or Candice. However, when she looked at Dorrie, Sandra was surrounded by a bright light. When it faded, everyone saw a werewolf in front of them.
"Well, now we know what your new power is," Dorrie grinned. "And you know I can transform into a werewolf as well."
"You told me about that. Do you want to turn into a werewolf too? We can howl at the moon tonight!" Sandra gave a wolfish grin.
"As tempting an offer as that is, I'm going to have to say no," Dorrie smirked as Sandra returned to normal.
"You still gained the ability to borrow someone else's powers," Candice suggested. "Maybe you can try again later with mine or Lucinda's."
"Didn't Lucinda say once that she had the ability to float islands?" Sandra asked.
"My birth mother did that, but my ability's not as strong as hers," Lucinda explained.
"That's okay, but who knows, Sandra? You might unlock the power to turn into animals, or something else later," Sofia agreed.
"Well, good things do come to those who wait," Sandra said as she led the way back to the kitchen.
"I was just about to come get you, Princess," Alyssa greeted them as they entered the kitchen, "Your pies are just about finished." She pointed to some boxes on a counter. "Your dachshund statues are also wrapped, and the box for the pie you're sending Ezekiel is on the table."
"Thanks, Alyssa," Sandra smiled. She noticed her sister Zoe come up to them with her own box. "What's that? And how did you like the dish wishing?"
"I wanted to get Zeke something too!" Zoe smiled. "And the dish wishing was so neat! Queen Arielf and Queen Elfabelle were so nice!"
"That's really interesting to watch, but what did you get Ezekiel?" Amber asked.
"I made a copy of Eldora," Zoe started, referring to the stuffed Jaquin she'd gotten following her adventure at Hexley Hall, "I put her on a separate chair, then I asked Aleena to help me change the color of the new Jaquin's fur to black and tan, and we put the name Spike on the collar!"
"That's a good idea," Sandra commented, "Even though Zeke doesn't like anything cute, he always liked Spike, or anything dachshund related. And he used to love his old stuffed raccoon Rick, which I also wrapped up for him. And I know you mentioned in the family's weekly letter to him that you made a dachshund as your Patronus."
"Both of you are so nice to your brother," Alyssa smiled. "And you were always so helpful when he had to work around here."
"We try," Sandra shrugged, but her smile returned. "Okay, Zoe; what do you say we get these gifts delivered? Lani might need some help, but that's what Marcella's for."
"Okay!" Zoe grinned. She knew some of the boxes might be too big for her Scops Owl Lani to handle by herself, but she knew Sandra's barn owl Marcella would help her.
"You know you're both welcome to have Dougal help them too," King Robert said as he came in to see how everything was going.
"You're right; this might be a three-owl job," Sandra agreed, recalling that Robert also had his own owl. The day she and Zoe had brought Marcella and Lani home, Robert's Screech Owl Dougal had taken them both under his wing. She and Zoe blew the whistles Miss Lovegood gave them to summon their owls while Robert blew the whistle he had to summon his owl.
Marcella, Lani, and Dougal flew into the room. Zoe and Sandra packed a bag with the things for Ezekiel, and watched as the three owls flew off with it.
"Do you think they'll be okay, Dad? This is the first time Marcy's flown so far away," Sandra commented. "And are you sure Lani can handle a heavy load like this?"
"They'll be fine," Robert assured her, "I've sent Dougal to farther places than Azkaban. And he and Marcella will be helping Lani carry the package, so she should be all right as well."
A few hours later, in the prison of Azkaban, Ezekiel, the former Prince of Orillia, was in his cell reading one of the books he'd gotten from the family for Wassalia. He looked up when the head guard stopped in front of him.
"Package for you from Orillia," the guard said as he handed the bag over.
"Thank you," Ezekiel nodded. He scanned the letter the family sent, looking interested in the fact that his sisters now had owls of their own. Unfortunately, he was allergic to feathers, in addition to cats, so he couldn't be around birds (not that he minded; Sandra always offered to take care of Dougal when he was working around the castle, so that was one less thing for him to worry about). He took out Zoe's package and smiled a little when he saw the stuffed Jaquin with Spike's coloring and name. "Spike-a!" He also smiled when he opened Sandra's package and found the dachshund statues and his raccoon. However, when he took out the next package, it drew several people's attention.
"Something smells rather good," Baron von Rocha, the former sorcerer of Zumaria, commented.
"It must be from his sister Sandra," Greylock, the former sorcerer of Rudistan, commented. "When Hat-trick was still the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia, he'd sometimes see her in the kitchen making something for the royal family alongside the chefs when she came to visit. She always let him sample what she made, and she let me try one of her treats when I came to visit once. I know it was probably to stop me from teasing old Redbrick, but she's quite good at baking."
Suddenly, they heard a new voice. "Well, since there are so many people here, and you've been given presents, how about we make this a real party for you?"
Everyone looked up at the new voice. They saw a woman in front of them. "Who are you?" Ezekiel asked.
"I am Neila," the woman introduced herself.
"We've heard of you," Baron von Rocha said as everyone nodded. "Don't expect much, but what can we do for you?"
"I'm sure you're familiar with a little group called The Order of the Wand," Neila smirked.
"Yes, and look where that got us for being involved," Morgana grumbled, motioning around her prison cell.
"The Order of the Wand?" Ezekiel asked.
"An organization Grimtrix Truesdale, the former headmaster of Hexley Hall, formed, comprised of sorcerers from different kingdoms," Greylock explained. "He wanted us to overthrow the royal families and take over."
"That's right," Ezekiel mused, "In one of Dad's letters, he said Aleena was a member of the Order of the Wand, but she couldn't go through with taking over the kingdom…not that I blame her for any of that either, she's so sweet, sensitive, and wouldn't hurt a fly, unless the fly started it!"
Even Greylock, Morgana, and Baron von Rocha had to chuckle, smile and nod in agreement. They remembered how terrified Aleena had been at the idea of taking over her kingdom, and how she had left the meeting first when she had received her Medusa stone, but they learned from Grimtrix that she couldn't go through with it.
"I know all about her, but if she doesn't want to take over her kingdom, it's her loss," Neila shrugged. "But I heard that you tried to do that yourself, Ezekiel, and I'm very impressed. How would you feel about joining us?"
"It's a tempting offer, but there's a problem," Ezekiel shrugged. "Even though I had a wand I'd use sometimes, I'm not magical, and I can't turn into Eze Gray anymore."
"No need to worry," Neila smiled as she aimed her wand at the medallion Aleena had given him when he had left Orillia Castle. "Not only are there a few non-magic people in the Order of the Wand, but I can help with your transformation."
Ezekiel's medallion glowed for a few moments, then returned to normal. He followed Neila's instruction to clutch it and concentrate. He was instantly surrounded by a dark light. When it faded, he was back in the form of Eze Gray: Tall, muscular, pale skin, long fingers, and red eyes. "Eze Gray's back, baby!" he smirked. "But I can still talk to animals, right?"
"Yes, and you can now become Eze Gray and turn back at will," Neila explained, handing everyone their wands. "All of you might need these as well. I took the liberty of swiping them from the storage area when I first came inside."
"Thank you, dear lady," Baron von Rocha smiled, kissing her hand.
"Now, now, Baron, you can thank me later when I tell you my plan," Neila smirked. "First, let's have a moment of silence for Grimtrix Truesdale, the founder of the Order of the Wand. I'm sure he'd be pleased to know that I'm here to continue what he started."
After explaining to Ezekiel about Grimtrix being turned to stone, the group bowed their heads in respect for a few moments, then Neila spoke up again.
"My sources tell me that students from Royal Prep will be attending Hexley Hall for the next few days while last-minute renovations are taking place," Neila began. "They also tell me that we can infiltrate Hexley Hall through the school's old vanishing cabinet."
"Where is it?" Ezekiel asked. "I remember I went to Hexley Hall once for a Student Swap Day a few years ago, but I never saw anything like that anywhere." He smiled to himself, recalling one of the family's letters, saying that like him, Zoe had been sorted into Stryker House.
"That's because it was hidden, to keep students from accidentally stumbling into it," Neila explained, "and before you ask, it's in the same area that Grimtrix is in, but though my magic is powerful, I don't have the power to restore him, and all of our combined magic won't work either. And unfortunately, the area is heavily protected and under constant surveillance."
"Maybe we can hypnotize some of the more powerful magical students to help us free him," Ezekiel suggested. "It's just a thought."
"And a very interesting thought at that," Neila smirked. "We'll certainly consider that option, Ezekiel. And may I just say that you will be a welcome addition to our little group."
"I'll do my best to live up to your expectations, Neila," Ezekiel smirked as he kissed her hand.
"I don't doubt that," Neila smiled. "Now, let's continue our plans over this celebration…"
Author's Notes
I only own Sandra, Zoe, King Robert, Queen Patricia, Dougal, Marcella, Lani, Ambre, Eldora, Ezekiel, Spike, Aleena, and Alyssa.
Dorrie and Candice Cooper, and Neila, are characters of Niagara14301 and are used in the story with permission.
Queen Elfabelle and Queen Arielf are both from The Elf Situation.
To learn about Candice's history with Ezekiel, see chapter 1 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Gray.
Azkaban is from Harry Potter.
Sandra's first memories of Wendell are from my story A Puzzling Mystery Weekend.
Sofia and her friends all received owls and plush jaquins in my story The Hexley Hall Game Day Challenge.
Lucinda gave Sandra the power to talk to animals in chapter 3 of my story The Secret Love Song.
Sandra received the power of invisibility in chapter 1 of The Rise and Fall of Eze Gray. She received a copy of Sofia's shrinking power and the ability to turn into a mermaid in my story Royal Blood.
Sofia's ability to get copies of other people's powers was mentioned in chapter 12 of Niagara14301's Once Upon a Time in Enchancia. Her ability to turn into animals just by looking at them was first seen in the episode Hexley Hall.
Lucinda and Marla's ability to float islands was seen in Mom's the Word.
Baron von Rocha, Morgana, and Greylock were all participants in the Order of the Wand, and are now serving time in Azkaban. (In case you're wondering where Cedric is, in Niagara14301's The Return of Cedric, he escaped and is now living in a far-away kingdom so he can have a second chance.) Aleena, the Royal Sorceress of Orillia, was also a brief member of the Order of the Wand, but she was too scared of the ideas Grimtrix had, so she didn't take over Orillia.)