Obscure
Summary: Cedric and Sofia finally discover the final link that connects their nightmares, and together they must confront the one who's been tormenting them. But things aren't going to be easy for them, and they'll have to learn how to be strong together to overcome their biggest obstacle: the truth. *carried over from "Lavender Legend"*
Disclaimer: I do not own "Sofia the First."
A/N: Here's chapter two! Just so you know, there will be some more dramatic scenes in this one, plus as the chapter title suggests, there will be some unveilings in here as well. Just sit tight and enjoy.
Chapter 2: Unveiled
A few hours later when Sofia returned to the workshop, she blinked in surprise as she found that Cedric had a damp cloth draped over his forehead. He was leaning back in his chair with his legs propped up on the table for leverage. She almost wanted to giggle at the sight, but she was a bit concerned about the cloth… "Mr. Cedric?"
"Mummy?" he asked in panic as he floundered about, falling onto the floor and making a sound of discomfort. "Ow…"
The princess giggled and knelt next to her mentor, removing the cloth and setting it aside as she watched him carefully. "Are you all right?"
"Not really," he answered honestly as he shakily stood to his feet. He grabbed hold of the chair and righted it before grasping his table, leaning against it.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid I have a bit of a headache." Well, there went his idea of giving her less to worry about. He straightened his robe before looking toward his apprentice. "Sorry to have worried you, Sofia."
She smiled and shook her head. "It's okay, Mr. Cedric. Um…" She placed her hands behind her back. "Are you still…up to doing our research on my amulet?"
He nodded before making a face. "…I probably shouldn't do that."
"Research?"
"Move my head," he clarified as he closed his eyes, attempting to will away the pain.
Sofia frowned. "Mr. Cedric, if you're not feeling well, maybe we should wait." She grabbed his hand and tugged him behind her.
"What are you doing, Sofia?" He had opened his eyes amid the movement and seemed a bit disoriented by everything at the moment.
"Sending you to bed." She grinned as he groaned in dismay. "It's for your own good, Mr. Cedric." Once she'd gotten him into his room and motioned for him to lie in his bed—which he did—she then relayed her next idea. "I'll come check on you in a few hours. You need to get some rest. Believe me: a headache is nothing to take lightly." She took a blanket from a nearby chair and draped it over him.
Cedric sighed and smiled appreciatively. "You're acting like my mother," he informed her with a chuckle.
Sofia giggled. "Well, 'Mother' does know best!" She smiled. "Get some rest, Mr. Cedric. I'll check on you later." She waved and left the room.
The sorcerer sighed heavily as he stared into the darkness of his room. His window had been blocked off due to the irritation of the sunlight (he really wasn't a morning person anyway), so it was nearly impossible to see any outlines or anything without at least some lamplight or a candle flickering.
Cedric yawned and settled in, slowly fading into the dream world.
In the workshop, Sofia's amulet glowed immensely for a few moments before dying down, the deep red color fading to purple once again.
"So what's going on with Cedric?" Amber asked Sofia as she watched her sister skitter about her room, tidying up things and putting various things away.
Sofia slowed a bit as she heard her sister's question. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound oblivious. Oh, there was a lot going on with her mentor… She just didn't want to worry anyone else.
The blonde frowned and folded her arms. "So it's like that, huh? Don't trust your own sister with whatever is going on?"
"No, it's not like that, Amber…" Sofia sighed and faced the other girl. "Mr. Cedric is just…tired. He's not feeling well…which is why I'm cleaning my room."
Amber blinked. "…You clean your room when you don't have magic lessons?" She then became a bit more concerned. "Sofia, you only clean like this when something is really bothering you. What's going on?"
"Nothing…" She dropped a pair of shoes into her closet and shut the door behind her.
The older princess walked toward Sofia, placing her hands on her shoulders. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Sure, Amber," she began before thinking, 'Except for the fact that I can talk to animals, my amulet is magical—though you knew that at one point, but that's another story—and can summon princesses, and that Mr. Cedric and I are being tormented by bad dreams, but sure! I can tell you anything…' She sighed.
"Just…promise me you'll let me know if something bad is going on, okay?" Amber smiled encouragingly. "You're my sister, and I care about you."
Sofia finally returned her smile. "I know, Amber. Thank you."
After a while, Cedric sat up in bed, his headache subsided. He blinked a few times, attempting to see in the darkness. He noticed the sunlight under the crack of his door and walked over, pulling it open.
He glanced around the workshop and noticed that no one was in there. Wormwood must have gone out the window to search for food…or stretch his wings. He yawned and slowly shuffled into the workshop before pausing as the door creaked.
"Sofia?"
"Guess again."
Cedric was now fully awake as he gasped, facing a cloaked figure before him. "Who are you?"
The figure removed his hood, revealing Payó underneath. He smirked at the shorter sorcerer. "I'm Payó. And you? You're no one." He held up his hands, blasting Cedric with a shot of energy.
Cedric yelled and fell back into the cabinets, knocking himself unconscious.
Payó hummed in satisfaction before hearing the door creak behind him. Realizing he couldn't hide in time, he whirled to see the young girl he'd been looking for.
"Mr. Cedric?" she asked cautiously, seeing him lying on the floor. Her eyes widened when she saw the other man. "Who are you?"
"Again with the formalities…" He chuckled and lunged at the girl, growling when she ducked out of the way. "Get over here, you little brat!"
Sofia panted and rushed to her mentor's side, shaking him. "Mr. Cedric, wake up!" She gasped when she looked up, seeing a blast of light heading toward them. She quickly lowered her head, holding onto her friend in terror.
They disappeared.
Payó smirked, grabbed the amulet from Cedric's table, and vanished.
An hour or so later, Sofia and Cedric awoke and found themselves in a room. Cedric had come around after some time adjusting, and he'd assured his apprentice that he was fine, or would be. It also didn't take them very long to realize that his wand had apparently been taken. Or at the very least he couldn't find it.
The room was very minimal at worst, and not a prison cell at best. Neither was tied nor chained, for which they were grateful and relieved, but they still had no idea where they were. The window above the cot upon which they'd found themselves had a stream of weak sunlight illuminating a portion of the room.
Sofia could see a table near the door (locked, of course, as she had already checked), and on that table lay her actual amulet…or at least she thought it was her amulet. The normal amethyst color had been restored, so she wasn't sure… There was also a curious section of the wall that didn't match the rest: it was brown while the rest of the room was beige.
Sofia picked up the amulet and examined it, finding that indeed it was hers. "Mr. Cedric, look," she whispered, moving over to him quickly and holding the gem toward him. "It's my amulet!"
"How can you tell?" he asked curiously, blinking.
"I can feel it… I just know it's mine." She reached up and unclasped her temporary amulet, smiling and handing it to her friend. "Here. Thank you." She then put her own amulet on and sighed in relief as she felt a familiar wave of power emitting from it.
"Sofia, is it wise to wear your amulet right now after everything that's happened?" He held his hand out as she unlatched the fake necklace and offered it to him. He instead draped it over his own neck and hid it inside his robe. Seeing her confused glance, he sighed. "What I mean is… We've obviously been sorcerer-slash-princess-napped."
Sofia couldn't help the giggle that escaped her with his sarcasm.
"Your amulet was lying on my table before we ended up here. And now suddenly it's in the room with us? Doesn't that sound rather, I don't know, suspicious to you?" He was clearly alert, more so than his companion at the moment, and he was highly concerned about their circumstances. Sofia, on the other hand, seemed a bit oblivious for a change.
"Mr. Cedric, do you think that means that tall man who was in your workshop brought it here?"
He frowned. "I'm not going to rule that idea out, but why would he leave your amulet here? I mean, clearly he wanted it—truth be told, who wouldn't, if you were trying to do something…um, bad?" Digging his hole a bit deeper here—moving on. He stuttered as she watched him carefully, "I-I just mean that… We should be careful!" 'Nice save, Cedric.'
"I don't know what's going on anymore," the princess sighed as she put her head in her hands. She seemed so forlorn that Cedric was a bit worried. He'd never seen her look this down before.
Deciding to cheer her up, Cedric offered a suggestion: "If you say this truly is your amulet, why don't we test it out?"
Sofia blinked, looking at him. "How?"
"Uh…" He pondered this for a moment before shrugging. "Well, how do you normally use it? I mean, it contains magical powers, after all… Can't you just…?" He clammed up quickly, realizing what he'd just said. She never mentioned the amulet's actual powers. He should in no way reveal his knowledge of its capabilities…
The girl froze. He sure sounded like he knew a bit more about the amulet than he'd let on. True, she knew that he knew the amulet held certain powers (he'd even been the first to tell her about the secret code of the amulet)…but she was sure he didn't know all the details. Did he? Even if he was her mentor and friend, she felt that she shouldn't divulge too much information. She was not going to get cursed again if she could help it. With that in mind, she dropped her suspicions for now. "I… Hang on a minute. Can you turn around, Mr. Cedric?"
The sorcerer lifted an eyebrow at her request. "Turn around?"
"Just trust me," she pleaded, seeing him sigh and roll his eyes, giving in.
"Fine. But make it quick." He turned his back to her as she grinned and held the amulet up to her lips.
"I wish to be small," she whispered, and the amulet granted her wish, making her rather tiny. She giggled in excitement before reversing the spell and quickly throwing her arms around a surprised Cedric. "It's the real amulet, all right!" she squealed happily, all previous concerns forgotten.
"Marvelous!" he returned while she giggled ecstatically and twirled around the room. "How is that going to help us get out of here?"
Sofia paused. "Um…" Oh, right. She didn't have a power to transport yet. That would have been so useful too. If only Cedric hadn't had his wand taken… "I guess we're stuck here."
Cedric sighed. "Can this day get any better?"
The princess smiled and shook her head before walking toward the mismatched wall and leaning against it. She yelped when the brown section of the wall gave away, causing her to fall through it into a corridor.
"Sofia!" Cedric jumped up from the cot and rushed toward her, helping the girl up. He looked around and blinked. "Could it be? A…secret passageway?" He grinned, walking ahead of the princess.
"Where does it lead?" Sofia asked curiously as she followed him, shivering at the damp and cold atmosphere, illuminated only by torches on the wall.
"Who cares? If it's out of that room, then let's go!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her along.
"Mr. Cedric! Slow down!"
Meanwhile, a menacing set of icy blue eyes watched the two friends, a smirk set on her features. Lady Deyanira chuckled as they took off. "That's it, my darlings… Come right into my trap."
As they continued walking, Sofia felt as though she should ask Cedric about his statement earlier. It had circulated in her mind over and over, and she just had to wonder…what he really knew that he was keeping a secret from her. "Mr. Cedric, I have a question."
Cedric hummed thoughtfully as he looked back and forth. They'd come to a fork in the passageway, and he was trying to decide which path to take. "One moment, Sofia. I'm trying to figure out which was is the correct way to go."
She frowned, pulling her hand from his and folding her arms as he turned to face her. "What do you know about my amulet that you're not telling me?"
The sorcerer gulped at the expression on his young apprentice's face. She looked…not mad, but very serious. It was rather frightening. "I…"
"The truth this time, Mr. Cedric," she insisted as he fidgeted with his fingerless gloves nervously.
"Ugh, oh, very well. You might as well know." He pulled her over to one side and had her sit against the wall with him, which she did. "You remember how you came to me a few years ago when you first arrived and asked me about the amulet? And I read you that passage from the spell book?"
"Yes," she responded, nodding. How could she forget?
"Well… Prior to your arrival, I actually knew more about the amulet than I let on. I…had actually studied it." Well, it wasn't a total lie, but he wasn't about to get the girl angry. He'd seen her anger directed at someone else before, and it wasn't pretty.
"Why?"
Oh, yeah. Why would he study the amulet? He searched the depths of his mind for a reason. "Because." Perfect. She'd never question that response.
Sofia blinked and then became a bit distraught with his short answers. "Because why, Mr. Cedric?"
Cedric placed a hand to his head as he felt the headache returning, but this time it was more of a dull pulsation in his temple. "Because I—" He gasped when a shock coursed through him, shaking him to the core.
"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia jumped up and watched her mentor with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"
The shock ceased, and the sorcerer quickly scrambled to his feet. "We—We mustn't stay here." He grabbed her hand and quickly led her down the left tunnel.
Apparently neither of them saw the sign tacked to the beginning of the wall that read, "Danger Ahead."
"Lady Deyanira, why do you allow them to roam freely about your castle?" Payó asked in concern as he stood behind the blonde woman, who watched the two friends in her orb once more. "Shouldn't we just capture them already? I mean, I even practically gave the amulet to the princess, and—"
"Payó." Lady Deyanira turned from her orb and glared at her servant. "Have I ever indicated that I needed your input on anything?" She smirked as he lowered his head. "I thought not. I know what I'm doing. As you've seen, with my own magic, I can control them from a distance if I so desire, as I just did. You need to learn to be a bit more patient, not to mention useful. Now, why don't you be a good servant and bring our little captives to me?" She grinned and thrust a wave of magic at the brown-haired man, transforming him into a red-scaled dragon with eyes of fire.
Sofia breathed deeply from her place next to Cedric. They had stopped. They had to stop. Before them was a large gap in the floor, and on the other side of it was a door. There was no way they'd make it across without magic!
Magic. That's it!
Sofia glanced toward Cedric, who seemed dismayed by the fact that there was a large gaping hole in the ground. She took his hand, garnering his attention. She smiled, previous conversations forgotten for now. "Do you trust me, Mr. Cedric?"
He blinked. What a strange question… "I…" He nodded uncertainly. "Yes."
She held one hand over her amulet, her mind made up. "I'm going to show you something that you can't tell anyone else about. It's our secret, okay?"
Cedric became slightly nervous. "What are you talking about, Princess?"
She smiled and held his hand tighter. "We wish to be small!"
Within seconds, both sorcerer and princess were only a few inches tall. Sofia was used to it by now, but Cedric…
"Ahh!" the sorcerer yelled. "We're tiny! Why are we so tiny?! And how is this going to help us get across the large hole in the floor, Sofia?!"
"Mr. Cedric!" She grabbed his hands, calming him down. "Trust me. This is one of the powers my amulet…granted me."
He tilted his head. Oh, right. He'd figured that one out already, but how had she gotten this particular power? "I… I see." He glanced to his left at the large hole and immediately scooted backwards. "And how, do tell, are we going to use this magnificent power of yours to get over that?"
"Easy! Look." She pointed toward the wall, which seemed to have a crevice carved at the bottom of it. "We can use that part of the wall like a bridge. But we're going to have to be very careful."
"Really? What was your first clue?" He yelped when she grabbed his hand and dragged him along.
They approached the wall tentatively, careful not to look down. Clinging to the wall for protection, the friends slowly edged their way to the other side. Slide. Stop. Slide. Check to make sure the other was okay. Slide. A bit more…
Soon enough, they arrived to the other side unscathed. Sofia hurried toward the door, Cedric right behind her. She grabbed his arm and held onto her amulet, wishing to be big again. Both of them transformed into their normal sizes. She grinned up at him. "Comes in handy, doesn't it?"
"Indeed," he muttered, rubbing his head after he'd knocked it against the wall during his transition. "How long have you had that power?"
She shrugged. "Not…long." She didn't really feel like going into details. She was scared she'd lose her powers if she exposed their existence to others. She wasn't exactly sure how the 'rules' worked in that case. But this had been an emergency, and she sincerely hoped if her amulet decided to react, she'd have more of a blessing than a curse.
Cedric nodded, sensing her hesitancy. Maybe he'd learn more about this whole escapade later. "Right then. Let's go." He grabbed the door knob and shoved it open.
The next room was rather ominous. There were lakes of lava everywhere. Smoke rose from the depths of the hot liquid, and the smell of sulfur attacked their senses.
"Ugh," Sofia complained, holding her hands to her mouth and nose. "What is that?"
"Torture," Cedric replied, half seriously and half sarcastically. Truthfully, he didn't want to stick around long enough to find out if he was right. "Let's go." He led this time, the girl following him closely.
"HALT!"
Both friends looked up as a large red dragon appeared out of nowhere before them. It was Payó in his altered form.
"M-Mr. Cedric," Sofia whimpered, latching onto his arm. This wasn't like the nice dragons she'd encountered before. Oh, no. There was something far scarier about this one…
Payó cackled and reached out, picking up both Enchancian inhabitants before he disappeared from the room with them.
Lady Deyanira glanced up as she saw a spark of magic and electricity flicker, producing not only her servant but the banes of her existence as well. She smirked. "Well, well, well. I see you made it out of your holding room."
"Who are you?" Cedric demanded as the dragon roughly dropped them onto the marble floor. He glared at the beast, which transformed back into Payó. He blinked. What in the world was going on?
"I'm Lady Deyanira. Welcome to my kingdom." She raked one hand through the air, her nails scraping against the very fabric of reality and making Cedric and Sofia feel dizzy all of a sudden. "I must say, it's been quite entertaining watching you two these past several months. Been having strange nightmares, seeing things vanish when they were there before…or something?"
Sofia gasped. "You! You are the one behind all of this?!" She frowned. "You are the one who cursed my amulet, sent Shadow Cedric after Mr. Cedric, and invaded our dreams!"
She chuckled. "My, what a clever little princess." She floated down from her place in the air and lifted the girl's chin, her sharp red nails digging into Sofia's skin a bit. "Now I see why you're so revered, and why the amulet has been so loyal to you these last few years."
Cedric pushed Sofia behind him, breaking the contact the woman had with his apprentice. "Keep your hands off her, you…you fiend!"
The blonde woman pouted insincerely. "Now, Cedric, that really hurts." She smirked, holding up her hand with an orb of energy glowing in her palms. "You'd really talk that way to a fellow sorcerer—or shall I say, sorceress?"
Sofia gasped. "She's a sorceress?"
"The top of my class, I might add." She chuckled and whirled around, smacking Cedric in the face with her hair and making him sputter and grumble. "Oh, I knew every spell, every curse, every potion to make for just about anything… But they wouldn't let me expand my horizons. So I wanted to conquer a few kingdoms and eventually galaxies… Where's the harm in that?" She grinned as she faced them again. "So I harnessed my knowledge and my abilities, and I cultivated them over the last several hundred years."
Cedric smirked. "You are looking a bit old now—I see a few wrinkles forming at the base of your forehead." He yelped before ducking as the blonde sorceress hurled another magic attack at him. "Temper, temper!"
She scowled. "This is no game, sorcerer! Now. You two will do as I say from now on. Failure to comply will result in…" She smiled wickedly as she glanced toward the young princess. "…dire consequences…"
Sofia hid behind Cedric, clinging to his robe.
"Why us?" he asked, trying to understand. "Why Sofia?"
"Why you? Well, let's see. You know all about the Amulet of Avalor, of course. You know what it's capable of doing. You know it can unleash a wave of magic and mystery." She glanced at Sofia, who seemed a bit surprised by this revelation. "And young Sofia here, of course, because she is the owner… She can control it, even if she doesn't realize it yet." She grinned and held out her hand to the girl. "So hand it over."
Sofia frowned at the demand. "No!"
Cedric searched his robe frantically, trying to find anything to help them. His eyes widened when he fished out something rather familiar. "…Oh, here's my wand!"
The princess gaped at him in disbelief. "You just now realized you had that?!"
"It was in my other secret pocket," he answered sheepishly as he clutched the wand securely. He pushed her behind him. "Run, Sofia!" He set forth a blast from his wand, but instead of hitting Lady Deyanira, it hit the ceiling, causing a huge crack. "Oh, for Merlin's sake!"
Sofia, for once, didn't hesitate. She took off running.
"Going somewhere?" Lady Deyanira challenged as she held her hand out, a blast of energy narrowly missing the young princess as she screamed and ducked.
"Sofia, look out!" Cedric yelled worriedly as he attempted to aim his wand at the more powerful woman.
Sofia ignored him and continued running haphazardly, ducking each time a blast of energy or powers zoomed toward her. She smiled triumphantly as she evaded several blasts at once by moving behind a pillar. She glanced upward and noticed the newly formed cracks in the ceiling. "We're making a mess," she mumbled to herself thoughtfully. When she sensed that the attacks had stopped, she peaked out from behind the pillar and sighed in relief. Lady Deyanira was nowhere in sight.
She stepped out, smiled over toward Cedric, and gave him a nod of encouragement. "We did it, Mr. Cedric! She's gone!"
He returned her smile nervously before gasping with wide eyes. "Sofia, behind you!"
"Huh?" She turned and barely had time to register what was happening as Lady Deyanira grabbed the amulet around her neck. "Please, stop!"
"And why should I?" the blonde woman cooed menacingly, allowing her powers to course through the amulet, changing it from its normal purple to a sickening, bloody red once more. "You just don't know when to listen, Princess Sofia. Allow me to demonstrate."
While her magic invaded the amulet, her free hand released an attack on Sofia herself, causing her to double over in pain. The magic became ruthless, slicing wounds in her skin and loosening the intricately-sewn pearls from her dress.
Cedric scowled and aimed very carefully, though shakily, as he muttered a key word in possibly the darkest tone he'd ever mustered: "Perdere."
Lady Deyanira seemed to hear him and released her hold on the girl's amulet, also ceasing her magic attack, and screamed in frustration as the attack soared toward her. She pulled Sofia in front of her, using her as a shield.
Cedric watched in horror as his magic struck Sofia's amulet, shattering it. "Oh, no…" He watched helplessly as the girl's eyes closed, her body collapsing to a heap on the floor. He glared at Lady Deyanira. "You… You monster!"
She smirked. "And now you're starting to see, sorcerer…there's no stopping me."
"She's an innocent child!"
"And I…am not." She sneered at him and cackled. "Welcome to the real nightmare, Cedric!" With that, she vanished.
Great, now where had she gone? He sighed heavily and shook his head before clenching his fists in outright rage as he realized he was going to have to try to track her down again. And now with the amulet destroyed— The amulet… Sofia!
"Sofia, please, wake up," Cedric began shakily as he lowered to the marble floor and gently patted the girl's pale face. His own face slowly began draining of color. "…Sofia?"
Sofia lay still and quiet, her dress somewhat tattered with several pearls now missing. Around her neck lay the remnants of her once beautiful and precious amulet. She was so still that it looked as though…
"She's not breathing," the sorcerer whispered to himself in disbelief as he gasped and gathered the unresponsive girl into his arms.
"Perdere," he'd declared, intending to destroy Lady Deyanira…and the spell had instead unwittingly been directed at…
"Sofia!" He was inconsolable as his body shook with sobs, the princess cradled in his hold. "What have I done?"
To be continued…