Cedric -really- liked that Wand Case that Princess Sofia gave him for Wassailia. But at the same time, at first he -really- didn't like looking at it. It was just... Too perfect! Too ridiculously perfect!
He'd never been given such a perfect gift before, and he'd been so caught off guard by it that he knew he had to give the clever Princess something fitting in return, even though he normally didn't go out of the way to get anyone anything special on Wassailia, just did the usual decorative magic that was required of him on holidays. Put on the spot like that, he'd managed to come up with something, but... Oh, it wasn't nearly good enough! Magical snow? It was already snowing outside, you dolt!
He beat himself up over it every time he saw that perfect, prettily painted wand case, lined with purple velvet inside. At first he didn't want to even use it because it reminded him of how much he owed her something grand in return, and he had no idea what to make that was just as perfect and grand as his last Wassailia gift had been.
Of course he kept losing his Family Wand so he eventually started putting it to use, grimly accepting the task that went with doing so. But what on Earth was he to get her for the next Wassailia? What on Earth could he give the princess who had everything? Her love for animals of course stood out, but he couldn't just outright give her a puppy, pony, bunny or some other pet, the King would surely think him insane for it and replace him with a less demented sorcerer.
So what to get her, that had to to with animals, but not an animal? A leash of any kind was no good, Sofia never used them. Treats or toys were wholly unoriginal and something she could always get easily herself. Perhaps a book about animals, then? Except she had so many, whatever he got her would most likely be a repeat copy...
The beginning of the next Autumn rolled around and he still hadn't thought of a good enough gift idea. He was beginning to become disheartened. Was there nothing he could give her to properly show her how grateful he was, not just for the perfect Wassailia gift of yesteryear, but every nice thing his most special friend had ever done for him in all the yesteryears past?
He was almost ready to throw in the towel and get her a stuffed animal when that Halloween arrived, and he was required to bewitch the jack-o-lantern's at the royal brat's Halloween Sleepover to talk and tell spooky jokes and puns. When he came in, the children were playing with a contraption in the middle of the darkened room, a spinning lantern which was projecting the image of bats flying around the room. Sofia also had one her father had given her from a few years prior that projected a merry-go-round of flying horses.
Suddenly, he was inspired, and as soon as he was done with the pumpkins, he hurried back to start working on her gift right away.
He worked tirelessly in his spare time until he had completed it, and even then he couldn't resist tinkering a bit until he deemed it truly Perfect. Then, he wrapped it in a purple box with a gold bow, and waited until Wassailia finally came.
And yet, when that day finally did come, he found himself terribly nervous to give it to her, wondering if it was truly good enough after all. But she of course skipped over to his room first thing that morning, cheeks pink and her hair tied up into a beautiful braid, which was twisted with silver ribbons that matched this year's special snow-white Wassailia gown, looking for all the world like a real life angel.
"Happy Wassailia, Mister Cedric!" She called to him as she knocked, pushing a green box with a silver bow into his hands as soon as he opened the door. "I got you something!" She explained needlessly.
Smiling gratefully, he opened the box and looked down at the contents - A soft, fuzzy pair of purple winter gloves, an ice lily flower, and a small green vial with a label that read 'Cardamon-Clary Sage-Lavender'. It was a mix of oils that were known to be potent in sleeping potions and spells, which she had thought might be a good suggestive gift after noticing the dark circles that had been gathering under his eyes lately, not realizing that it was due to spending half the night working on her gift.
Speaking of which, he knew he really had to give it to her now, but it still wouldn't do to give it to her just yet. So he thanked her and then explained, "I have a gift for you too... But, I have to set it up in your room. So I'll bring it by a little later tonight, after dinner. Is that alright?"
She burst into an anxious grin and clasped her hands together, agreeing immediately.
Later that day, just as he'd promised, Cedric brought the box containing his gift to Princess Sofia's room, and she opened the door for him, watching in excitement as he put the box on her tea-table and motioned for her to open it. She did so, lovingly removing the bow and putting it aside before taking off the top lid, and reaching for what was inside.
It looked like a normal wood-and-paper lantern, besides the festive pine green that the wood parts had been painted, but the paper screens were deceptively left blank for the moment. But then Cedric removed the box, and instructed her to place the lantern on the table. She did so, and then he took out his wand, and proceeded to put the finishing touch of magic into his gift.
A stream of golden-tinted yellow magic flowed out of the Family Wand, wrapping around Sofia's form a few times before being led into the lantern. Then, lights in colors of all kinds suddenly burst forth from the lantern, and formed magical images of kittens, bunnies, ponies, puppies, birdies, a fox kit, a bear cub, even a baby dragon and a mermaid girl. There was also a polliwog swimming behind a duckling, and behind that a mysterious egg. Bordering beneath and on top of their images was a line of cute little green caterpillars, which were constantly inching along.
Sofia stared in wonder at the colorfully lit images, and Cedric explained, "That magical flame will appear to light this lantern whenever you ask it to, and the images are specially connected to you. As you can see, all these animals are babies and children, basically, because you are still a child too. They're going to grow up with you, you see. As you continue to grow, that egg will soon hatch into a turtle, the polliwog will morph into a frog, and the caterpillars will one day seal themselves up into cocoons, and then they'll soon be beautiful butterflies. And so on and so forth for all the other animals..."
Her mouth was agape, but she was silent at first, staring at all the pretty sparkling lights that the animals came in, and how they moved so life-like, like shadows of real animals but in colorful, sparkling lights. The pink kitten batting playfully at the purple puppy's snout, and the baby blue bunny sniffing up at the snorting orange colt. "Mister Cedric..." She finally breathed, then turned around and rushed into his arms, knocking the skinny sorcerer down from the force of her hug.
"This is the BEST Wassailia gift EVER!" She exclaimed, and in her excitement, she thought nothing of turning her head and planting a big, playful smooch on his cheek. "Thank you thank you thank you!" She squealed into his burning red ears, then promptly released him and rushed out of her room.
"I'm going to go get James and Amber and show them! Thank you SO much again, Mister Cedric! You're the best sorcerer ever! Merry Wassailia!" She called before disappearing out of the door.
His face still burning red, Cedric reached up and touched his cheek, a small, stunned smile on his lips. "Hehe... Yeah, Merry Wassailia, Princess Sofia." He quietly called after her, then promptly disappeared back to his room once more, before Amber or James begged him to make them one too.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO