This chapter was extra long, simply because I didn't want to split it into two chapters. I hope you'll like it, as it was packed of actions. Here we go!
4. IT TAKES TWO TO VICTORY - PART 2
They flew towards the Amazing Maze for the third task. From this checkpoint onwards, all the contestants will have the same tasks, but played separately at a different venue. This is the same like you watch the same movie in the cinema, but watching it at a different hall from your other friend. The race was designed as such that to create competitive fairness among the riders, as they may not be able to steal an idea or solution from their fellow riders and enable them to move in their own pace.
CHECKPOINT 3 : THE AMAZING MAZE
Sofia and Minimus followed their track and arrived at the entrance of the Amazing Maze in a few moments. Squire Vaughn and the other riders also followed their own tracks and arrived at their own set of Amazing Maze.
The climate was different over that area as if it was in the spring season. A big signboard was placed on top of the entrance gateway. "WELCOME TO ANGEL OF PEACE'S AMAZING MAZE" words were written on it. There were other smaller words at the bottom of the title. As they moved closer, Sofia could read the second line was written as, "Free Entrance, Exit with Permission." Hm, what does that mean?
Suddenly, the gate was sprung open as if welcoming its guests into the maze. Sofia and Minimus entered the maze right away and was surprised to see how beautiful it was. Colorful flowers such as lavender, daisy, hyacinth, ivy and dandelion in the maze attracted butterflies and honeybees to feed on the nectar from the flowers, and the air was filled with a light sweet scent. There were many animal statues in the maze, as if to add variety to the place and make it more lively.
"Wow, I can spend hours in this maze enjoying its stunning view. It is perfect for relaxation and a picnic, much better that your secret garden, Sof!," Minimus praised.
"Oh yeah? Ok, we need to find the right path to the exit of this maze. We need to get out of here as soon as possible." Sofia reminded him. "I think, we should go on this way," She pointed in a direction, instructing Minimus.
Before they could go towards the pathway, a green wall suddenly appeared out of thin air blocking the way they saw. Sofia shocked. She went to another path on her right, a nearby wall moved and changed position, making the pathway looked different than earlier.
Hm… So this is a moving maze. Interesting! She thought. Maybe I should look over the wall and get a look of the entire maze to identify the correct path. She remembered did that when she was young during a journey to find the Orchard of Arabella Apples with Aunt Tilly.
"Minimus, fly up over the wall," She instructed.
Minimus did as he was asked. They flew up, but not even a few feet from the ground, Sofia felt her head was touching something like a roof that prevented her from moving further upwards. She looked up but saw nothing above her. In fact, she could still see the sun shining brightly in the sky. Okay, it seems like this maze was covered by a transparent, invisible roof that cannot be seen by the naked eye! She groaned in frustration.
How can I find the correct path if the maze keeps blocking and changing the way as if preventing us from getting closer to the exit? There must be a way. But, how? She couldn't think further.
"Minimus, how are we going to do this? Do you have any idea?" She asked her horse feeling like almost lost hope. They had been wandering through the maze for more than half an hour and still getting to nowhere.
"I am sorry. I don't know, Sof. Anyway, this maze belongs to some angel. Maybe you should ask her."
Sofia thought for a moment before exclaiming in delight. "You are brilliant, Minimus! We must go and find her."
"Ok, but how? We haven't seen anyone else other than us in here." Said Minimus, puzzled.
"I am not sure. But the angel must be somewhere around here," Sofia replied in certain. She looked at her surroundings and her eyes fell on the animal statues around the maze. These animal statues must be placed here for some reason, she thought.
Sofia looked at the figures carefully while her brain was actively working. Her eyes gazed at the Eagle Statue in front of her. It's big sharp claws pointing forward as if ready to pounce on its prey. Next, she saw a Lion Statue. Lion is king of the forest, she thought. Then, an Ox statue, dubbed as the strongest animal in the world. There were also Goldfish, Horse and Dog Statues. Her eyes then fixed on a Cobra Statue, the biggest statue in the maze. It had fine scales, it's big body coiled into little circles, it flicked its tongue out of the mouth with threatening eyes as if telling the visitors that area was under its protection. There was a Dove Statue sat on top of its head. As if, the tame dove ruled the fierce Cobra, not the otherwise. Strange, Sofia thought. A sudden realization was dawning on her. That's it! Dove is considered by many as a peace symbol, and if an angel is to appear in the form of an animal, it should be as a dove!
She dismounted from her horse and walked towards the Dove Statue.
"Ooo Angel of Peace, we seek your permission to exit this maze. Please show us the way," She asked softly. Suddenly, she saw the cold eyes of the stone dove statue blinked, the object moved and in a few seconds it transformed into a lively dove and spoke to her.
"You are a wise girl. Please follow the guiding light to find the exit." Said the dove in a melodious voice. A moment later, the dove transformed back to its previous form and Sofia found she was looking at the Dove Statue again.
"Thank you, Angel of Peace." A moment later Sofia saw a source of light brighten a pathway in front of her all the way to some direction. Quickly, she mounted back on her horse and followed the light's path to continue her journey, effortlessly as there were no more moving or blocking wall before her. Finally, she saw a gateway and the exit appeared in the form of a bright light spot, just a few meters after the gateway. The light shone so brightly like the sun and dazzled her eyes. The bright spot was surrounded by a dark ring wall that separates the maze from the other world.
"Jump into it, Minimus," She said to her horse. Minimus jumped into the bright hole. For seconds, she just saw black and white. Everything seems so vague and indistinct, like a shadow. Then, the gray atmosphere changed to become vivid and clear.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself riding her horse on a flat crystal pebble road in the middle of a meadow. She knew she had arrived at the fourth checkpoint – To search The Rainbow Entrance.
CHECKPOINT 4 : THE RAINBOW ENTRANCE
Sofia looked at the meadow at her left and right. It was so wide like an endless green field, but there had no trees, animals or other life except Minimus and her. The crystal pebbles on the road gleamed under the sun in a cloudless sky. The glaring light reflected from the crystal rocks shone brightly in her eyes, making her wish that she had brought her designer sunglass with her. After riding for about 10 miles, they arrived at a big roundabout. There was a man-made pond in the middle of the roundabout edged with paving. There were seven floating water fountains at the brink of the pond that sprayed the water up into the air to about 6 feet tall. The sprinkled water from the fountains spun, swung and danced beautifully in a particular rhythm, creating a soothing sight and a relaxing atmosphere around that area.
Sofia saw there were seven exits at the roundabout, each heading in a different direction. Every exit has a different pebbles color to differentiate it from the other, in which each represents the rainbow colors – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.
Maybe The Rainbow Entrance was located in one of the exits, but which one? I like violet, maybe I should take the violet exit, she thought. But, later she felt it was foolish to make a choice based on preference without any basis. After thinking for a few minutes, she decided to take on the blue exit located at the center of all the other exits. She spurred her horse toward the exit but before she could enter it, an ugly old woman suddenly appeared before her out of nowhere. She was so shocked that almost fell from her horse because of the sudden presence of the woman. She looked at the old lady. She had long gray hair down to the waist, her eyes were hidden under her pointed hat. Her face and hands wrinkled, full of warts and she had a pointy nose with big raised nostrils. She was wearing a big black robe, a mantle of the same color and held a broomstick.
A witch, Sofia thought.
"Hello, beautiful Princess. What an honor to have you come to my gate. May I help you?" She was sneering to Sofia, revealing her yellowish teeth. Her breath was so horrible as words coming out of her mouth, made Sofia felt wanted to pinch her nose with her hands to reduce the smell.
"Thanks. I am searching for the Rainbow Entrance. Do you know where can I find it?
"That is for you to find out," Replied the witch looking straight at Sofia.
"Well, okay. May I use this road to continue with my searching?" Asked Sofia to the witch.
"You may... if you can give me a good gift,"
"What gift do you want?"
The witch looked over at Sofia. Her eyes then fell onto her necklace, "Your amulet,"
Sofia startled. "I am sorry, I can't give you this amulet. Ask for something else," Replied Sofia to the witch.
"Okay then. What about your arrows?" The witch motioning towards her bow and arrows hung behind her back.
After a little bargaining session, finally, the witch agreed to take her silver dagger she had always brought and put it in her side pouch. She vanished into the air after granting Sofia access into the blue road to continue with her quest.
Once on the blue road, Sofia found that she and Minimus were riding in the middle of a market - full of witches, sorcerers and wizards sort of. They were selling potions, amulets, crystal balls, magical herbs, brooms, wands, witches attire and many other magical materials. They were shocked to see her there, incredibly shocked - Sofia could tell. The busy and buzzing market suddenly became silent and everyone was startled looking at her. At that moment, Sofia felt her heat and perspiration burning through her pores, her face grew hot and she felt blood roaring in her ears. The situation was very awkward as she was frozen in her place with her mind processing what she to do next.
Then, a tall, middle-aged man in a black suit walked closer and bowed before her, "Princess Sofia. Please come with me."
Sofia looked at the man. His face was clean with a thin mustache, balbo beard and shiny black hair. He had a pleasant expression and politeness or so it seemed to her. He smiled up, "You need to trust me, plus... it is not safe here for you." He motioned to their surroundings.
Sofia dismounted from her horse and followed him, thinking that she had no other choice except to trust him. They arrived at his dome tent not far away from her previous point and went in.
"Princess Sofia, I am Warlord Gideonlock, the caretaker of this market." He introduced himself. "What brought you here to the World of Magic?" He asked Sofia, but later laughing out loud as if just watching some funny comedy. "Of course, to find The Rainbow Entrance, don't you?" He answered his own question.
"You can't find it here - Not in the World of Magic, believe me." He stated.
So, if The Rainbow Entrance is not here, it must have been in one of the other exits. I had picked a wrong exit, I should go back to the starting point - The roundabout, Sofia thought.
Warlord Gideonlock continued, "But I could show you where The Rainbow Entrance is, for a price..."
Sofia waited patiently what the man in front of her was going to ask. "Tell me, what do you want?"
He leaned forward as if going to say something secret, "Your father's ring."
"Ring? What ring?" Sofia confused. She knew her dad, King Roland has a vast collection of expensive and rare rings.
Apparently, the warlord could read what's on her mind, as he later said, "I am not interested in the King Roland's ring. I am talking about your biological father's ring."
At this point, Sofia's eyes widened and she almost jumped, disbelieve in what she was just heard. "You knew my father? How?"
He laughed. "I hardly say I know him, but I met him once,... here. I saw him wearing that ring." He breathed in before continued. "When God created humans to be the leader on earth, he gave rings to certain human rulers as a proof of their ruling's right. These rulers were entrusted to rule wisely and to bring peace to the people. These rings were only a few of its kind, the first ring ever been forged, later were passed down for many generations, some of them lost while some of its new owners didn't know anything about its history and the responsibility that comes with it." He concluded his story.
"I am an antiquarian. The ring would fetch a high price, here, in the market." He explained.
"But I don't have the ring," Sofia told him. She had never seen her father in her entire life, let alone know about the ring.
"I knew you didn't have it. But I know where the ring was kept and I need your permission to take it from its place," Replied Warlord Gideonlock, looking straight into her eyes.
Sofia closed her eyes, thinking. She tried to process this new information in her head. As far as she could remember, her mother, Queen Miranda had never mentioned anything about her father. Sofia just knew that his name was Birk Balthazar and he was dead. If he had ever left a ring or a memento, she would do anything to earn it and keep it as her most precious thing in the world.
"I am sorry, the ring or whatever belonged to him shall remain as it is," Sofia said firmly.
"I understand and respect your decision." Warlord Gideonlock rose to his feet, as if ready to bid farewell to his guest. "I guess your time here is over. You shall go back to where you came from,"
"How do I get out of here?"
"Don't worry, I will get you to the roundabout in a second." Informed the warlord, snapping his fingers. In a moment, the World of Magic disappeared and she was looking at the big roundabout again.
Sofia breathed heavily. Too many things happened to her in a day and she just couldn't process all the information in her cloudy mind. Furthermore, she still had the unfinished tasks with another six exits that have yet to be explored. If she was to explore every single exit, she might be unable to finish the race on time. Plus, she didn't know what to expect in every exit and what creature she might encounter next. Sofia wondered how were the other riders doing. Have they found the Rainbow Entrance? Or... maybe have even finished the race. But, she shook her head, disagreed with her last thought. If anyone had managed to complete all the tasks and arrived at the finish line, she and the other riders will automatically be brought back into the stadium, back into reality, back into the real world as the game is over.
"Err... Sofia. Don't you feel thirsty? We have been riding and flying for hours now." Said Minimus, snapping her out of her thought.
"Oh, my mistake. I am sorry. I should be more thoughtful, Minimus." For the first time since starting their journey, Sofia realized how thirsty she was, just like Minimus. She looked around. "Let's get some water from the pond." Sofia dismounted from her horse and walked Minimus towards the pond at the center of the roundabout.
They later drank from the pond to quench their thirst. Sofia sat on the paving and gazed at the floating water fountains in front of her admiring its beauty. The fountains danced in unison following their own rhythm. The sprinkled water from the fountains fell like raindrops in the form of water droplets. The water droplets looked like little shiny prisms under the sunlight. They reflected the light and breaking the white sunlight into seven spectrum colors in the background. The seven spectrum color... there is the rainbow! She gasped. She blinked her eyes to see clearer. But the rainbow she just saw disappeared within a few seconds. She walked around the pond, her eyes fixed on the seven fountains, but she couldn't see the rainbow anymore. Then, she walked back to her earliest point. She noticed the sun was shining right in front of her from where she was standing. The dancing fountain sprinkled the water at a certain angle in particular rhythm under the sunlight. There, the rainbow reappeared before her eyes. Her eyes fell onto the water surface in the pond. The rainbow reflection could clearly be seen on the water like she was looking into a mirror. The pond. It is the Rainbow Entrance! She squealed in delight.
"Minimus, we need to dive into the water," She told her horse.
"What, Sof? Do you want to make us both drown?" Asked Minimus, pitched his voice high, almost dramatically.
"The pond is the Rainbow Entrance! You need to trust me."
Minimus closed his eyes as Sofia and he dove into the water. They held their breath as they both fell to the bottom of the pond. The water was cold, but so refreshing, as if the water soothing her mind and body, restored her energy and renewed her spirit. She felt calm and peace. Suddenly Sofia felt like her horse had been touching the ground and the fresh water around her was gone. She breathed in and felt her lung was filled with air, not water. She opened her eyes and found they had been in a deep tropical forest, home to an incredibly diverse range of animal and plant species. They had arrived at the last checkpoint, to search for the Door of Reality.
CHECKPOINT 5 : THE DOOR OF REALITY
Warm summer air filled the space around them in the forest, blowing with it the sounds of crickets chirping, monkey chattering and birds twittering. They wandered in the woods looking for a sign to the Door of Reality. Earthy plants creeping in and out among the enormous trees were the major obstacles, not only slowing down their pace but made Sofia busy cutting them down to ease their movement. Finally, they arrived in a foothills area, filled with stones and large rocks on the ground. A series of caverns could be seen forming naturally beneath the rocky hill.
"There it is!" Sofia exclaimed, pointing to one the caves not far away from them, with a signboard written as "The Door of Reality" hung above its opened entrance. Quickly they rode towards The Door of Reality to leave the unpleasant giant tropical forest, but were stopped by a sudden loud growl. They watched around and taken by surprise to see a beast, no... a monster, precisely an Ogre, appeared before them out of the blue. They were very shocked, speechless and rooted to the spot as the Ogre came nearer.
He was huge and tall and Sofia was no taller than its knees. He had bulky muscles, pale greenish skins, large bald head with pointed tube-like ears. His mouth goes from ear to ear, filled with razor-blade teeth that appeared to grow from their lips rather than their gums. He wore nothing except the bearskin loincloth. This one was very hideous, certainly not the cute and friendly type like you saw in the famous Shrek movies.
"Run!" Sofia shouted to Minimus. They were 'fortunate' the ogre had no weapons with him, but his long arms seemed could extend to any distance. A deafening roared escaped from the creature as it furiously stomped its feet towards them. The ground was shaking and the stomping sounds of his feet echoed in every part of the jungle.
They fled as fast as they could. We can't run like this forever. I need to do something, Sofia thought.
She took out her bow and arrow, aimed carefully at the ogre, trying to shoot it down. She pulled the string back as far as it would go and let the arrow fly. It landed squarely on the ogre's chest. The ogre merely grimaced, reached down and pulled the arrow out of his chest. Blood flowed out of the open wound and caused minor injury to the ogre, but that didn't stop him from chasing his unwanted guests like crazy.
"Oh, crap!" Sofia exclaimed in disbelief. The look of shock was obvious on Sofia's face. A trace of fear went through her. She shot another arrow, this time, it hit his shoulder. The creature cried in pain but it just made him became even angrier as he started to pull out the trees and threw rocks that got in the way with his strong hands and then tossed them away mindlessly, enough to cause severe damage to the inhabitants around the area.
They were running out of arrows and even if they have it plenty, nothing much could they do to hurt what more to defeat the mighty ogre. Sofia definitely couldn't kill the ogre with her arrow, she knew it.
"Watch out!" Sofia warned Minimus, as she saw the Ogre was about to throw a big rock towards them. But Minimus wasn't all prepared, he stumbled while avoiding the thrown rock causing Sofia to fall to the ground. Sofia moaned in pain from the fall and she could only see the Ogre walking closer towards her. She heard Minimus was shouting and calling her, but she froze unable to respond. She watched the Ogre reach out his hand and take her onto his palm. The Ogre beat his chest a few times with his other hand and roared in victory, at the same time, slowly lifted Sofia up closer to his mouth to devour her. Sofia was now very close to the ogre's face, but she managed to grab her arrow at the crucial time and fire it right into his big left eye. The ogre instantly screamed in pain as blood trickled out of his eye, later released his victim from his grip. Sofia almost fell onto the ground, but luckily was saved in time by Minimus. She drew another arrow to hit his other eye, but this time, she missed her target. She reached her last arrow aiming at the blind eye Ogre who was still unsettled with his pain. She aimed her arrow straight, searching for the best target. She released the arrow and it landed right into his opened mouth, penetrated deep into his throat to the neck. An ear-splitting loud and long roar released by the ogre that was capable to kill a flying bird and causing tremors to every inch of the jungle. The ogre staggered to his feet, swaying and then fell to the ground.
Sofia breathed in relief. "Yeay, we did it. Let's go Minimus, to The Door of Reality!" She cheered in delight.
Later, they rode through The Door of Reality without any hindrance and completed their last task. In less that a second, they found they were back in the stadium again and was flying on the track to the finish line.
"Princess Sofia has completed all the tasks and became the first rider to arrive at the stadium! It seems that she is going to win this championship again to be the first ever rider to win the trophy for five consecutive times!" The Announcer commented.
Meanwhile, Queen Miranda, King Roland II and Princess Amber were relieved to see the youngest in the family had come back in one piece. There were tremendous cheers from the audience, especially supporters of the Royal Prep College the moment they saw her appearing in the stadium. They are confident that The Greatest Rider Trophy will be retained in the Royal Prep College for five times in a row, but then... something happened.
"Minimus, why did you stop? What's going on?" Asked Sofia in confusion.
"Sof, I would like to wait for the beautiful horse to come back into the stadium. We will cross the finish line together! Oh, it is going to be romantic. Or... maybe I will cross it after her. You know the custom, that, ladies first...? " Replied Minimus solemnly. Sofia was certain he was referring to the Squire Vaughn's horse.
"What! Are you crazy? Do you want us both to lose in this race? After what we went through?" Sofia shouted.
"Sof, winning is not important for me. All this fame and victory mean nothing compared to her. I have found my trueeee loveeeee..." Minimus cried joyfully. Sofia was certain that Minimus was flashing his stupid grin at that moment, thinking about the female horse he didn't even know.
The audience was bewildered and could not understand what's really happening. "Oh, it seemed like Princess Sofia is having a problem with her horse, Minimus. Apparently, her horse refused to race and stay put on his track!" The Announcer explained.
To make it worse, at that particular moment, another rider has arrived at the stadium and he was none other than Squire Vaughn!
"Squire Vaughn has arrived! Oh... He and his horse are coming closer and will pass Princess Sofia at any time. Hohohooo... Will he defeat Princess Sofia and become our new champion?" Said The announcer dramatically, stirring up the already anxiety feeling among the audience.
Back to Sofia and Minimus. Sofia said to her horse, "It's true that winning is not important. Minimus, you want to give up this race for someone you love, but I want to win this race for the people I love. This win means everything to my family, for this will make them happy. It means everything to Royal Prep College, for it will make them proud and feel like a team. Look at our friends who were cheering for us. They were full of hope. This is not about you and me. This is about all the people we love."
Minimus gave no reply. Maybe he did not agree. Maybe he was thinking.
"Have you ever thought about Electra? She might be disappointed with you. Did you forget how happy she was when both of you won that Flying Crown Trophy together? Did you forget how happy I was?"
At these words, a sudden realization begins to enter Minimus's mind. "You are right, Sof! I have never thought about our friends, about Electra, most importantly about you, Sof!"
"You do care about me?"
"Of course, I do! More than anything." Replied Minimus.
"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's do it for the people we love!" Sofia exclaimed.
"For the people we love!" Minimus echoed her. With that, Minimus sprinted off to the finish line.
"Princess Sofia seems able to soothe her horse down and get him back into the race. They are trying to catch up where they left and reduce the distance with Squire Vaughn, who is now in the lead. But will she be able to overtake her rival, clinch the prestigious title again and create a new history in flying derby?" The over dramatic voice of the Announcer echoed all over the stadium.
With all skills and energy he could muster, Minimus accelerated briskly to the finish line faster than the famous Olympic sprinter, Lightning Bolt. In a few seconds, he managed to overtake Squire Vaughn, maintaining his speeding momentum and crossed the finish line.
The horn was blown, "Princess Sofia and Minimus, win!"
The audience was applauding wildly, clapping and cheering for Princess Sofia as soon as she crossed the finish line and became the winner of The Greatest Rider Trophy for five times in a row! They were very glad for being one of the witnesses that able to see a new history being created after more than 30 years. With this win, Princess Sofia is officially the most successful derby rider of all time! The audience especially those from Royal Prep College was thrilled at the success. They were celebrating, singing (Huzzah! Huzzah!)..., praising and admiring her like she was the most popular superstar who just appeared on stage to perform a show in a mega concert!
The Enchancian's Royal Family were extremely proud of their youngest member as they watched Princess Sofia bowed to the cheering audience and received a standing ovation from her supporters.
"Err.. May I have your attention, please." The headmistress, Miss Flora was to make an announcement.
"We are honored to have a VVIR (Very-Very Important Royal) today, to present The Greatest Rider Trophy to our champion, Princess Sofia. Please welcome His Majesty, King Stephen from The Great Kingdom of Edenlande. His Majesty is here on behalf of his son, the late Prince Argon, the previous four-time champion."
King Stephen later was ushered to the main podium to present the trophy and garlands to Princess Sofia and Minimus. Princess Sofia curtsied before him and received the trophy from the old king. She was all smiling and lifted the trophy up in the air before the audience, making them roared with overwhelming joy.
Nevertheless, Princess Sofia couldn't forget about her father and his ring as she learned from the warlord in the World of Magic. She reminded herself to ask about it later to her mother, Queen Miranda. For now, she just wanted to cherish one of the fantastic moments in her life and enjoy her perfect day to the fullest.
1. A/N: I hope you enjoyed the adventure with Princess Sofia and Minimus.
I made a little change to the previous chapter, as follow:
Princess Sofia's birthday ball. Changed from 1 week away to 3 weeks away.
- I have to add few important plots before the birthday ball. Don't worry, it's worth the delay. You may find the additional plots are quite interesting too.
2. NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW: The handsome Prince James will make his first appearance in the following chapter. Stay tuned! ;)
3. REVIEWERS: I haven't decided who is going to be the lead hero yet, between Prince James and Prince Hugo because the story is still in the early phase. I love to get your opinion and thought before I get started drafting my storyline. The story will be slightly different depends on who the hero is. So, here a shout out to Jamesfia or Hugfia shippers, let me know your favorite ship, so that I could write a story based on your preference! Since I ship both pairs, I kinda let you all decide. Thanks, guys...
