A Pirate's Life

Summary: Chrysta recruits Sofia and Cedric to go undercover as new members of a notorious magical pirate crew run by the wicked Captain Caegan. While aboard the ship The Barracuda, the friends must determine the captain's plans and figure out how to stop them; meanwhile, Cedric notices an interesting change in his partner while on their mission. (Sofia is 17. Artwork by MarionetteJ2X!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First. The cover photo was created by the amazing artist MarionetteJ2X! 😊 I do, however, own the OCs, including but not limited to Captain Caegan, Muscles, Marty, Wiggles, Garnette, and Duchess.

A/N: Hi, guys! Welcome back to another AquaTurquoise story! Yes, I felt like doing a commercial-esque thing. Anyway… This story is going to be far less dark and serious than the recent ones (and I hear some of you already going, "Finally!"). Haha. Hope you're up for another adventure! Also, this carries over from the end of "Reimagia." It takes place a few days after Chrysta contacts them, so there you go. Hope you enjoy!

Note: This story is dedicated to MarionetteJ2X, one of my dearest friends from the FF world and one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I asked her if she'd like to create the cover photo for this story, and she agreed without hesitation and definitely delivered, with the absolutely beautiful artwork! You're the best, MJ2X! :D

Chapter 1: The Corruptive Captain Caegan

It was a beautiful day in the Mystic Isles, which wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary. Most days were quite pleasant as far as the weather went. Regardless, the isles were all busy with several activities taking place or business being attended to, or whatever the case was.

Cedric and Sofia were currently nearing Chrysta's small house, because she'd requested to speak to them in person a few days ago. Of course, they'd had to push the meeting back a bit since they were needed at Amber's and Desmond's engagement party the previous day, but the crystal fairy certainly didn't mind that. In fact, it had given her more time to prepare her explanation of the situation that, in her eyes, only Cedric and Sofia could handle…or would want to handle, for that matter.

"I sincerely hesitate to ask why one of her blasted undercover missions requires us to act like pirates," Cedric mumbled as he and his friend stopped at the door.

Sofia grinned at him. "Oh, is that what you got out of her hint?" She laughed as he sent her a pointed stare. "Just kidding, Mr. Cedric. I'm kind of curious what's going on though." She reached out and knocked on the door.

"Did you tell her about being a sorceress yet?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Not…yet." She shrugged as he raised an eyebrow at her in question. "I'll tell her. I've just had a lot of things going on." She nudged him gently. "Which you already know about."

"Hmm." As soon as Chrysta opened the door, Cedric turned to her and put his hands on his hips. "What in Merlin's name are you planning for us now, with all this pirate nonsense?"

Chrysta just smirked and folded her arms. "Hi to you too, Cedric. I can see you're a radiant ball of sunshine, like always." She ushered them in before shutting the door behind them. "You may want to sit down."

"Nothing good ever begins with those words." The sorcerer looked around curiously before finally sitting on what he assumed was a chair. However, the moment he made contact with it, he fell directly through the "chair" and onto the floor, his arms and legs flailing as he called, "I'm stuck!"

Sofia laughed a little harder than she meant to while Chrysta was absolutely howling in laughter, tears springing to her eyes as she leaned against the wall for support. "H-Hang on, Mr. Cedric!" Sofia pulled out her new wand (which looked exactly like her old one, which was a conscious request on her part for sentimental reasons) and muttered a spell, pulling her friend to his feet again. She grinned as he pouted, his arms folded as he seemed to be flushed in embarrassment. "Are you okay?"

"…I'd be better if I could sit in a chair that isn't going to collapse on me."

Chrysta finally slowed her laughter and grinned at him. "That wasn't a chair, you goof. That was a creel with a load of my clean laundry." She shrugged with a smirk. "Or it was clean until you knocked it all down to the floor again."

He scoffed and dusted off his robe before sitting next to Sofia on a small sofa. "Anyway… Perhaps you can enlighten us on your oh-so-cryptic clue as to our undercover mission?"

The crystal fairy nodded and flitted up, resting on her table with her legs crossed and her hands clasping the edge of the table as she looked at the friends. "Okay, so here's the deal. There's this hot-shot pirate called Captain Caegan."

"Caegan?" Sofia blinked before glancing toward Cedric. "As in Caegan's Caves?"

Chrysta smiled as Cedric shrugged. "Sort of. Actually, those caves were named after this guy's grandfather, who happened to be a stand-up member of society: a duke and well-respected magistrate at that."

"I take it this Captain Caegan didn't exactly inherit the family career status," Cedric remarked, folding his arms as Sofia pulled her legs onto the sofa and played with the hem of her new sorceress robe-dress. He had to smile as he saw her wearing it more often. She'd really come to embrace her new role, and for that reason he couldn't be happier.

"Eh, not exactly. He's a wicked magical pirate captain who's set on overtaking the Seventeen Seas and the Magical World."

"How original," Sofia quipped, grinning toward Cedric, playfully nudging him. "Evil guy with magical abilities. Wants to take over something… Hmm."

"I think 'evil' is a bit of a harsh term," he remarked, huffing.

"Not really," Chrysta corrected, obviously missing their secret back-and-forth jest. "He's not exactly known for being overly friendly. He's marooned some of his own family members and former shipmates. Oh, and he once put a spell on a guy to sew his mouth shut when he wouldn't stop smacking while he was eating."

Cedric cringed at the mentioning. "To be fair, that's totally understandable. I mean, that's just annoyingly rude. Whatever happened to manners?"

Sofia laughed. "I think you're missing the point, Mr. Cedric."

He yawned. "Nope. Wicked pirate. Evil plan. Magical abilities. She wants us to go undercover as his new crew members and take him down." He smirked toward Chrysta, who glowered at him. "Correct?"

"Not quite." She stood up, her hands on her hips. "I do want you guys to go undercover as new crew members: as pirates. However, I just want you to get close enough to him to discover what his plan is to accomplish his goal. I do not expect you to try to take him down. When you figure out what he has up his sleeve, contact me. I'll notify Orion and Vega, and we'll step in after that."

"And why is it that you three never go on undercover missions yourselves?" the sorcerer wondered.

She smiled mischievously. "Who says we don't? We're Protectors, Cedric. We protect a lot of different people and creatures, and we do it by whatever means necessary. However, we can't be everywhere all the time, so sometimes we need a little extra help." She winked toward Sofia, who smiled and hopped up. "That's where you two come in."

"Is it weird for me to say that this actually sounds like fun?" the princess asked.

"Of course not," Cedric remarked sarcastically as he stood up beside her, stretching. "It's always fun hanging out with pirates with no sense of decorum or sanitary habits, not to mention buttering up their wicked captain in hopes that he'll spill his deepest secrets and most well-kept plans to us, a couple of newcomers with hardly any idea what being a real pirate is all about."

Sofia turned toward Chrysta with a grin. "You'll have to forgive him. The last few times we've gone on missions, things haven't gone according to plan, so he's a little wary." She grasped Cedric's arm and giggled. "And a little more sarcastic and snarkier than usual."

"You say snarky; I say realistic," he murmured, shrugging with his free shoulder. He glanced toward a hopeful-looking Chrysta. "But I suppose if it's that important, we can do this mission for you. As long as Sofia stays safe, that's all I care about."

The princess beamed and held his arm a little tighter.

Chrysta laughed. "I'm sure you'll keep her safe, Cedric. And she'll keep you safe too. That's what you guys are good at." She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a rolled-up map, tossing it to Sofia, who caught it. "Here. This will show you how to get to your destination. I take it you know where Caegan's Caves are?" Seeing them nod, she continued, "When you get there, go to the cave on the left. It will send you through a bit of a magical vortex to a hidden world called the Typhoon Realm."

"Riveting," Cedric mumbled, slowly starting to regret his decision to help out. "Is that beside Volcanic Eruption Land? Or possibly even Quicksand Island."

Sofia laughed, lowering her hands to grasp his hand instead. "We'll be fine, Mr. Cedric. Keep going, Chrysta."

The crystal fairy rolled her eyes and smiled. "When you get there, you need to find the docks just beside a ship labeled The Barracuda. That's Captain Caegan's ship. Sign up as new recruits and get onboard. However you choose to go about getting the information while undercover is up to you, but be smart and be safe. And…don't use your real names."

"I have names for us already," Sofia admitted, blushing a bit as her friends blinked at her. "What? I just thought about it for a while, because I wanted to be ready. Chrysta said this was an undercover mission, so I wanted to plan for it."

Cedric gaped at his partner. "You've seriously thought about this all this time?" He shook his head in amusement as she nodded, sighing. He then smiled. "Very well. What names did you have in mind?"

"Well…" She grinned and released his hand, turning to face them both and striking a playful pose. "I'll be called Ruthless Raelyn, daughter of a notorious thief called Barefoot Barabbas, because he highly dislikes shoes yet isn't opposed to stealing them from others." She blushed again as they continued staring at her in amazement. "What?!"

"I'm just astounded at how much thought you've put into this." Cedric laughed and folded his arms, watching her just smile sheepishly and shrug. "And what about me?"

"Oh! You'll love this." She gestured emphatically. "You're Heartless Horatio, my partner in crime."

Cedric raised an eyebrow at her revelation.

"We met when I tried to pickpocket you, and you tried to put a spell on me until I blocked it with my own magic. Soon we ended up finding a kindred spirit and friendship, and we've been inseparable ever since."

"What's funny is how plausible that story is," Chrysta snickered. "I mean, if I didn't know you two already, and if you were actually pirates, I'd probably believe it." She smiled. "Glad you've got the backstories ready. Make sure you also have a costume prepared."

Sofia grinned excitedly. "I already drew some sketches!" Again, she flushed as they gawked at her. "…I'm sort of excited for this mission for whatever reason."

Again, the sorcerer shook his head. "You don't say… Names, backstories, sketches… You're not actually thinking of becoming a pirate, are you, Sofia?"

She laughed. "Don't be silly, Mr. Cedric. That's not exactly a title I'd want to add to my list. I just feel like this could be fun, as silly as it sounds."

"With that sort of enthusiasm, you'll be done with this mission in no time." Chrysta chuckled. "I'd suggest heading to the caves early tomorrow, because from what I've heard, the ship will sail before noon once the new crew is assembled." Once she received an affirmative response from the Enchancians, she waited until Sofia walked out of the house before she grasped Cedric by the shoulder, stopping him momentarily. "Cedric, keep an eye on her when you guys are gone. I know she's excited about the mission, and I know she's capable of taking care of herself, but this guy is no joke. And Protector or not, she's still only seventeen and still pretty innocent and oblivious to some of the dangers she could face, so I don't want her getting hurt."

Cedric nodded. "I'll take care of her, Chrysta. You have my word."

She smiled, releasing his shoulder. "I appreciate it. And I know you're proud of her, becoming a new sorceress and all."

He blinked, surprised. "How did you know about that? Sofia said she hadn't told you yet."

The crystal fairy laughed. "I have my ways. News travels fast in the magical world, you know."

"Indeed."

"Hurry, Mr. Cedric!" Sofia called from outside. "We need to pack!"

He smiled and rolled his eyes as Chrysta snickered. "This will certainly be an adventure to remember anyway."

Chrysta grinned. "Oh, I have no doubt. You guys be safe, and remember to contact me when you figure out what Captain Caegan has planned."

Cedric nodded. "We will." With that said, he left Chrysta behind and met up with Sofia again before traveling home to Enchancia to regroup.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: New Recruits