Crystallize

Summary: Both Sofia and Elena get drawn into the amulet when it senses that the princesses are in danger. It's now up to both the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia and the Royal Wizard of Avalor to figure out what's going on before it's too late.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First or Elena of Avalor.

A/N: This chapter focuses primarily on the team of The Defacto, so you can get a sense of who they are and what they want. It will also be the ONLY chapter without the other four characters present. Consider this the informative chapter, so it's not as long as the others… But don't you worry. Next chapter, brace yourselves. Things get very real very quickly. ;) That's all I'm saying. Enjoy!

*Story*

Chapter 4: The Defacto

"Well, well, well," an old man's voice echoed in the darkness, his amused chuckle bouncing off the abstract walls of an unidentifiable room quite literally in the middle of nowhere. "It appears we have quite the challenge on our hands, my friends. The Crown Princess of Avalor, keeper of the Scepter of Light, is a lot craftier than we gave her credit for. And that other little princess, Princess Sofia of Enchancia, is the holder of the Amulet of Avalor, of all things. Now isn't that a pleasant surprise?" He hummed in amusement. "Perhaps we underestimated our situation, eh? Let's discuss our options here…"

Suddenly, it seemed as if the darkness simply faded and a lighter setting appeared. Around a table were seated five men, all of whom had on opaque cloaks covering everything except their heads at the moment. At the far end of the table was a middle-aged light-skinned man with long white hair tied into a side ponytail and keen light eyes, one of which was partially obscured by loosened bangs. He went by the name of Maguilno the Magnificent. To his left was a much younger man, probably in his twenties, named Soleth the Solitary. Soleth possessed prominent rainbow-colored hair and eyes, which looked strange against his pale skin. A permanent smirk seemed etched onto his face. To Maguilno's right was another young man called Flandon the Fearless. Flandon seemed to be the youngest of all of the five men, perhaps no older than twenty years of age. He was of a darker complexion with a black banded mask wrapped around his obscure eyes, and his jet black hair was twice braided on either side of his head, reaching down to his stomach. To Flandon's right was a much older dark-skinned man with striking purple eyes and long, wavy black hair bespattered with white streaks from his age. He was known as Zolir the Zealous. And their leader, Evalto the Evolutionary, sat at the head of the table. He possessed frightening red eyes that seemed to peer into one's soul, tousled white hair, and a matching white beard and mustache.

They were The Defacto, figures of legend and power.

"When you say options," Zolir began, his voice smooth and warm, something he'd used to his advantage many times in the past in order to get others to trust him, "what exactly do you mean, Evalto? Because we've been seeking that wretched scepter for what feels like a millennia to no avail, and suddenly with the rise of this princess we're back at it again? Makes no sense, if you ask me."

"He didn't ask you, old man," Soleth sneered, his lack of respect for his elder comrade quite clear. "Evalto owes you no explanation. Just follow the rules, like a good Defacto member."

Zolir growled under his breath before glancing toward the leader of their group, who cleared his throat.

"Calm yourselves, men," Evalto ordered with his ruby orbs seeming to glisten as he gazed at each one. "Let us not divide ourselves by mere trivial banter. Our goal is the same: obtain the Scepter of Light so that we will have our powers restored."

Maguilno frowned heavily. "When that blasted wizard Quilor cursed us all, he doomed us to mere parlor tricks." He lifted his left hand, one lone spark of magic flying up before vanishing in midair. "It will be good to have our full powers returned to us."

"And then we can have our revenge on him," Flandon summarized with a satisfied smirk.

What they said was true. The Defacto had ruled with fear and hatred in their home kingdom of Iccylia for several months, where they'd overthrown the royal family in favor of their own methods. No one dared approach them or stop them, obviously, because they each had incomparable levels of power. Only Quilor, a wizard whom they'd underestimated yet who had extensive knowledge on everything magic-related, had been able to defeat them and send them running for cover before the royal family could have them exiled or worse.

After a great deal of research, Evalto had discovered the magical item of the Scepter of Light, which held a deep mysterious past yet which was said to possess extremely powerful magic, potent against anyone, often including the wielder. The scepter held the ability to transfer its own power into any magic user who knew the proper measures, and luckily for The Defacto, Evalto the Evolutionary had done his share of studying.

"It's perfect," Evalto told them all. "If we can secure the scepter from that blasted princess, we could not only restore our powers, but we could also demand order yet again. We'd be unstoppable once more."

"How do we manage that now?" Flandon asked curiously, gesturing toward a large crystal ball in the center of the table. In its image were Mateo and Cedric, who were working tirelessly to free Elena and Sofia from the amulet. "As you can see, the younger princess's amulet is obviously protecting them. They clearly don't know about the connection between the two items yet…"

"As well they shouldn't," Zolir snarled, his hands curling into fists. "The less they know, the better."

"I agree with Zolir," Evalto spoke. "It is not our job to fill in our enemy about the history of the scepter and the amulet. That would give them an advantage. No, instead, let us leave them in the dark. I like it when our victims grasp for reality and end up falling flat on their faces." He smiled wickedly as the image of Cedric and Mateo faded instead to one of the Scepter of Light. "We're this much closer to our destiny, gentlemen. Soleth, did you locate their whereabouts?"

"They're at Hexley Hall, sir," the rainbow-haired member responded.

"Ah, a familiar place indeed…" He stood, his fellow members following his lead. "We haven't any time to waste. Flandon, fetch the translocation spell." He smirked. "We have a few loose ends to take care of before we go after that scepter." He chuckled darkly as the crystal ball displayed Cedric's and Mateo's faces once more.

To be continued…

A/N 2: Just an FYI on how to pronounce the members of The Defacto's names:

Maguilno: Mah-GEEL-no; Soleth: SO-leth; Flandon: FLAN-done; Zolir: Zo-LEER; Evalto: Eh-VAHL-toe

Hope that helps, even if it's such a trivial thing. I've gotten into a habit of playing my stories back through a text-to-speech program, and the reader got the names ALL WRONG. Lol. So I was just making sure others knew how the names were pronounced. Anyway! Look for chapter 5 soon enough! It's going to be…a bit darker than the others. :D ~AquaTurquoise