Mystic Encounters

Summary: When Sofia has a nightmare about two entities trying to destroy her, she shares her concerns with Cedric. To her surprise, he claims that he had the same dream, and one of the entities left a cryptic message. (Part of the Beyond Enchancia Series. Takes place over two years after the show's ending.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First.

A/N: All right, guys! This story begins the main plot of this series and introduces some truly despicable characters. Remember that Sofia's nightmares (at least in MY stories) always seem to lend to something real later on. Just wait and see what's in store for not only her and Cedric, but for everyone else as well. No one is safe from the villains this time around. From the oldest…to the youngest. With that said, enjoy!

Note: Many callbacks to my old stories, including the Nightmare Series, Umbra Inferno, and Reprise!

*Sixth Story/Episode 6*

Sofia stood at the edge of a cliff, her long, loose hair whipping around her in the harsh wind as she fisted her hands by her side and glared at two shadowy figures. "Who are you?!" she demanded angrily. "What do you want?!"

"You," a woman's voice insisted with a low chuckle. "We seek the princess with the power to stop any villain: Princess Sofia of Enchancia. You may have defeated Vor, but you'll never defeat us."

"Prepare yourself, Princess," the man beside her taunted. "Your days are numbered."

A holographic image of a wing ripping, people falling, and an unidentified woman screaming in pain flashed before her eyes, and then—

Sofia sat up, gasping and panting. She quickly looked around the room, instantly relieved to find that she was in her own bed, and in her own bedroom. She glanced outside, noting the moon that was high in the sky, meaning it must be around midnight. She grasped her amulet curiously, but she was grateful that it seemed to be calm and quiet. "Wish I could say the same for me," she murmured before lying down again, staring at the top of her canopy.

When she found her mind wandering several minutes later, back to those sights and sounds from her nightmare, she frowned and shoved the covers aside. "Guess I won't be getting any sleep any time soon." She glanced at the crudely-fashioned wand case beside her bed, holding her own wand within its mahogany interior. Just the sight of it sent her mind elsewhere. "Mr. Cedric…" She hopped down from her bed and hurried into her closet to change.

Cedric was certainly burning the midnight oil, as the saying went. He was more than used to working late into the night at this point, but this time it was more for his own benefit than for the king's. He was carefully penning something of obvious importance on a crisp piece of parchment he'd secured from Baileywick. Every stroke of the quill made him both nervous and enthusiastic. He'd just finished signing his name when he heard the knock on the door.

"Seriously?" he muttered to himself before quickly grabbing his wand and making the parchment disappear. "Can't have her seeing that… Not yet, anyway." He glanced toward the door. "Come in, Sofia." He chuckled when he saw her state of dress as she entered. "In a rush, were you?"

She had hastily thrown a floor-length purple robe over her magenta pajama pant set, and she hadn't even bothered to try to fix her hair, which was half streaming down her back and half tucked inside the robe. "I had a nightmare," she declared, changing the subject to get to the point.

Cedric frowned. He was prone to nightmares himself; in fact, he'd had one just last night, but… He wasn't sure he should tell her about that one. Regardless, every time Sofia had a nightmare, horrible things happened. He'd never forget the incidents of the past with Furio, Simon the Silent, Lady Deyanira, and all those others who'd oppressed them. Granted, it had been a few years since she'd complained of any nightmares, so this came as a bit of a surprise. "What was it about?" he asked, noting her exhausted features and conjuring a sofa for them to sit on rather than the stools. In all honesty, he was afraid she'd fall off in her current state. He guided her to the sofa and sat down next to her, giving her his undivided attention.

Sofia tucked her knees under her chin and sighed, closing her eyes. "I was on a cliff. I thought I was going to fall off." She frowned as she opened her eyes. "Two shadows of a man and a woman showed up. When I asked who they were and what they wanted, they said they wanted me." She glanced toward Cedric, who'd grown suddenly still. "They said that I might have defeated Vor, but I couldn't defeat them, and that my days were numbered." She winced at the next part. "And then… I saw awful images and heard horrible things: ripping, screaming… It was scary, Mr. Cedric…" She watched her friend for a few moments, noticing that he seemed to be pondering something, and he'd gotten rather pale... "What is it?"

"H-Huh?" He blinked, coming out of his semi-trance, before looking toward Sofia. 'Should I tell her?' he wondered before sighing. "Don't panic."

The princess felt her entire body freeze, her eyes widening a bit. "You can't just say things like that, Mr. Cedric! You tell me not to panic, and of course I'm going to panic…" She frowned. "What do you know that I don't?"

"It's not that," he assured her. "It's just… I…had the same nightmare last night. Only… In mine, I received a warning that our ending was near, followed by a loud blast and then darkness."

She gaped at him. "You didn't say anything about it."

"I'm sorry," he apologized somewhat sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I was rather hoping not to alarm you over some meaningless bad dream."

Sofia gave her friend a hard stare. "Yeah, well, now we've both had pretty much the same 'meaningless bad dream.' So I guess there's just one more question to be answered." She frowned. "What does it mean?"

Cedric shook his head before turning a bit and holding out his arms toward her, smiling disarmingly.

The princess sighed before moving over to him, hugging him. "Why do we always have bad guys after us, Mr. Cedric? Why can't we ever have a boring day?"

He chuckled and freed her hair from the robe, allowing it to tumble down her back instead. He gently rubbed her back, his fingers passing through the auburn locks and apparently making her sleepy, as evidenced by her yawn. "Because 'boring' just doesn't seem to suit us, my dear. Besides, you're fifteen now." In fact, she'd had her birthday a few weeks ago, though she hadn't had much time to celebrate since she was bogged down with school work. "If you ask me, your life is going to get far more interesting before it ever becomes boring."

Sofia giggled and closed her eyes, resting her head against his shoulder. "You have no idea what I'd give just to have a normal life sometimes…" She sighed. "But then… I figure if I'd had a normal life, I wouldn't have met all of you." She peered up at him. "Life without Mr. Cedric… I don't ever want to know what that's like."

He was a bit surprised by these words, but he was also rather flattered. He smiled gently at his apprentice. "You'll never have to know, Sofia. I promise you that."

She smiled at the irony of his words, realizing something. "I think we've had this conversation before… Except last time, I was you, and you were me."

"My, how the tables have turned…" He laughed softly as she nodded and played with a loose section of her hair.

"Mr. Cedric… If it turns out that my nightmare is…more than just a nightmare…" She looked up at him. "We can handle it, right?"

"Of course." Oh, he certainly hoped so. He just didn't know if he could take another incident like what had occurred back in Mahiya, when Sofia had practically died in his arms before Master Elgraste sacrificed himself for her. At that horrid thought, he held his friend a bit closer.

Sofia seemed to pick up on his train of thought and slowly turned, placing her hands against either side of his face. "Nothing is going to happen to me this time, Mr. Cedric…" She smiled encouragingly as he sighed heavily. "I promise I'll be more careful."

"It's easy to say, my dear," he reminded her as she lowered her hands. "But when you are actually faced with real danger, you never know how you're going to react… Or what will truly happen, for that matter. That's what's so unnerving about everything."

"I know," she responded quietly. "I guess, for now, let's just hope our nightmares were just that: nightmares. But…if they're not…" She shrugged even as she felt the tiny hairs standing up on the back of her neck at the thought. "W-We'll be okay."

Cedric realized that all this talk was really starting to get to his apprentice, so he finally settled on a suggestion. "Why don't we have some hot cocoa and play a card game for a while until we finally get tired again?"

Sofia grinned, her anxiety melting away at his proposition. "You know, that actually sounds like fun." She hopped up from the sofa and hurried back to his wall of drawers. "I'll get the cards, and you make the cocoa."

The sorcerer laughed at her actions. "Very well. I'll have you know, I intend to win this time."

The princess smirked as she turned, playfully waving the deck of cards in his direction. "You say that every time, Mr. Cedric. Prove it."

He returned her smirk. "Gladly."

As the two friends settled with their cocoa and their card game, the silhouettes of two strangers in an undisclosed location stood watching them in a swirl of mystical magic.

"Rather foolish, aren't they?" the woman scoffed as she glared at the image. "They've just had the same nightmare, and yet they play their troubles away." She laughed. "This will be easy."

"Don't underestimate them," the man near her warned. "Especially the girl. She's much cleverer than you realize."

"I suppose that's to be seen." She turned to him sharply, a sneer forming on her shadowy face, showing off pearly white teeth. "I'm always up for a challenge…"

The end

(Next Story/Episode 7: Color Me Surprised)