DISC: I DO NOT own any of the characters from Elena of Avalor or Sofia the First. They belong to Craig Gerber. I'm just borrowing them.
Enjoy!

"Quest for the Apricot Rose"

Chapter 4

"There we go," Mateo announced. He had just finished drawing out the poison from Isabel's left ankle. "You need rest."

"But Ele…Elena needs the…" Isabel started to protest, but Naomi hushed her.

"We'll get it to her. Remember, Mateo said we have until tomorrow at sundown."

Isabel nodded. She tried to relax as Naomi ran a hand through her hair.

"Isabel, I wouldn't lie to you, " Mateo earnestly said. "Look at me."

Isabel did so, locking eyes with the royal wizard.

"Elena will most likely be okay. We'll get the cure made in time."

"Estás diciendo la verdad?" Isabel softly asked.

"estoy diciendo la verdad," Mateo replied.

"Okay," Isabel closed her eyes in an effort to sleep.

"You didn't just lie to her, did you?" Naomi narrowed her eyes at him.

Mateo shook his head.

"I promise. I'm going to see if Alex has any food on hand. I'll bring you back something," with that, he left the two girls alone.

Naomi started humming, hoping it would help Isabel drift off to sleep.

****

Isabel's eyes flew open at the sound of yelling. Sitting up, she had to lie back down from sudden dizziness.

"What did I Tell you about bringing strangers noto our home!" a woman's voice shouted.

"They needed help," another voice protested. It was strong, but Isabel could sense a little fear in it. She also recognized it as Alex's.

"I told you what would happen if you invited strangers into our home without my permission after the last time," the woman hissed.

"Our home?" Alex scoffed. "It's your home. It hasn't been our home since you made Papa leave."

"Why you little…you'll pay for that!" the woman vowed.

Isabel gasped as the sound of a hand hitting another person's body was heard. Sitting up despite dizziness, she stood. Taking a second, she pushed passed it. Going out into the hallway, she followed the sound of raised voices to the living room. She was just in time to witness the woman attempt to strike Alex again. Not thinking of anything but protecting her new friend, Isabel got in front of her. This caused her to take the slap. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she blinked them back.

"Isabel! You need to get out of here, " Alex tried to gently push her out of the way, but the young Avalorian princess refused to move.

"I'm not going anywhere. You don't deserve to be hurt like that! It's not right! You helped me, it's my turn to help you. My sister, Elena taught me to always help where I can." Turning her attention to the woman who was now glaring at both of them, she ordered, "You wont' touch Alex again. If you do, you'll have me to deal with and my friends."

The woman laughed.

"You're just a little girl. You have no power. What can you do?"

Pulling something out of her pocket, Isabel threw a blue and gold hair clip on the floor.

The woman laughed.

Isabel ignored it. Praying silently that the magical object would do its job, she opened her eyes to find the jewel in the center of the clip glowing the same color as her sister's scepter. As the light expanded, it created a barrier between the girls and the woman intending to harm them.

"Run!" Isabel insstructed. Turning, she took off as best she could on her still injured ankle. The two girls had just gained the foyer when Mateo and Naomi joined them.

"Isabel? Wha'ts going on? You shouldn't be on your foot so-" Naomi started to say, but the nine-year-old interrupted her.

"Lecture me later. Right now, we need to get out of here! Alex is in danger."

"What do you mean?" Naomi asked.

"Run! I'll explain out there!" with that, Isabel lead the way. She was so intent on leading her friends to safety, she didn't see Mateo cast a return spell on her hair clip. Reaching the stairs, Isabel managed to get down the first two without a problem. As she stepped on the third, her ankle gave out. Falling forward, she felt her right cheek scrape against the ground. Blood dripped from a cut, stinging as badly as the slap she had received. Feeling someone lift her up, she started to struggle since the arms weren't familiar.

"Let go! Let go of me!" Isabel demanded.

"Isabel, it's okay," Alex assured her.

Isabel relaxed a little.

"Where are we going?" Naomi asked. She had taken the lead now.

"Now we get back to the palace so we can cure Elena," Mateo declared.

Isabel sighed with relief at his words.

Reaching the summit of the mountain, the group faced a problem. Naomi, Mateo and Alex could climb down easily, but Isabel was a different story.

"Do you think you can hold onto me if I put you on my back?" Naomi asked the young girl.

"I'm not sure," Isabel truthfully said. "Maybe if I…Wait…what was that?"

"What was what?" Mateo asked. Cocking his head to the side, he heard it too. It sounded like rustling.

Before any of them could do more than move closer together, a net suddenly dropped down, trapping Isabel!

"Isabel!" Naomi took out a small knife she carried for self defense. But before she could move closer to cut the young girl free, the net started to move in the opposite direction as though being pulled by an invisible force!

"Naomi! Mateo!" Isabel cried desperately. "Help!"

Alex frowned.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"No it isn't. We need help."

"Who can help us now?" Alex shook her head.

"There's only one person. But in order to ask for her assistance, I need to create a portal. And to do that, we need some ingredients," Mateo informed them.

"If we can get down the mountain, there's a shop nearby," Alex informed him. "It sells all kinds of magical things."

"Gracias. Let's get going," as Mateo and Naomi let Alex lead the way, the two friends sighed. Now it looked like both Florez sisters needed their help. The only question was, would they be able to save both in time?

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Elena was jerked out of a restless sleep by the sound of Ember hooting in a frantic manner. Sitting up, Elena fought through dizziness and remaining nausea.

"Que pasa, sweetie? Bente aqui," holding out her free hand, she was rewarded by Ember flying into it. Using her fingers of the hand with the IV in it, Elena stroked Ember's back. "qué es?"

In response, Ember flew over to the nightstand. Picking up something in her beak, she flew back to her friend. Dropping the object into Elena's free hand, she landed on her shoulder while letting out a hoot that sounded urgent to Elena's ears.

Glancing down at what Ember had found, Elena gasped.

"Isa…" setting the small notebook down, Elena formed a plan in her mind. Her little sister needed her. She wasn't about to let her down, no matter how bad she still felt. Carefully, but quickly, Elena managed to remove the IV from her right arm. Seeing and feeling blood, she quickly wrapped a piece of fabric around it. Once that was done, she stood. Determinately, she reached out her left hand towards the scepter of Light. Once her hand closed around it, she pulled the magical object close to her body. As she did, she suddenly felt somewhat stronger. Taking a minute to gather her thoughts, she kept a firm grip on the scepter. After a few minutes, she tested her theory. Stepping forward, she was relieved when she only felt a little unsteady. The fog in her head had completely cleared. Hearing scratching at her window, she turned towards the sound. Opening it, the princess was met by Skylar's relieved face.

"Princesa, you're better! I was so worried about you!"

"Almost," Elena corrected him. "Skylar, I need you to do me a favor. Isabel's in trouble. I need to help her."

Skylar hesitated.

"Should you really be flying right now?"

"Skylar, pore favor? Isa needs me. I can feel it."

"Fine. But if you get hurt…Hop on."

"Gracias mi amigo. I'll be right back," with that, Elena quickly changed. Coming back to the window, she put one foot on the sill to help her up. As she got her balance, dizziness swept over her. Swallowing hard, she fought it with all her might. Grabbing a hold of the frame, she managed to hoist herself up. Unfortunately, the exertion made her wince in pain. Ignoring it, she mounted Skylar or tried to at least.

"Princesa, maybe this isn't such a good idea," the jaquin frowned.

Growling in frustration, Elena muttered, "Blazes!" At the word, the scepter shot a beam of light towards the open window. Gasping in surprise, Elena made a mental note to watch her words.

"Wow! That's a neat power you have, princesa."

"It would be better if I could control it," Elena sighed. After trying a third time, she finally mounted her friend. Strapping the scepter to her pants, she felt Ember land on her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Elena took a hold of Skylar's feathers. "Let's do this!"

"Hang on!" with that, Skylar turned around and flew out of the window. "Where to?"

"Azul ridge cliffs," Elena replied. She squeezed her eyes shut as vertigo threatened to engulf her. Even so, she could feel the scepter re energizing her to a point. As they flew onwards, Elena placed Isabel's notebook against the scepter. A beam of light shot out of it and to the right. "Go that way!" she commanded.

"You got it, princesa!" Skylar flew in the direction his best friend had indicated. Feeling Elena start to shake a little as they got higher, he hoped he hadn't made a mistake by agreeing to help with this rescue mission.

*******

Meanwhile, Mateo put the last ingredient into the pot. Dipping his tamborita into the mixture, he muttered a spell. With one tap of his tamborita against the side of the pot, he activated the portal. Smoke rose up and started swirling outward. It changed from gray to red and finally purple. Expanding, it shaped into a portal.

"Way to go!" Naomi praised. "What's next?"

"Now we wait. It's up to her if she responds. We can't force her to do this. It has to be her choice."

Naomi nodded. She wasn't sure who Mateo was trying to summon, but she hoped it worked. For both her best friend and Isabel's sakes.

****

Meanwhile, across the ocean in the kingdom of Enchancia, Sofia was sitting in royal prep, reading a book. She had already finished her homework for the next day, so she had some time to herself. All of a sudden, she felt the amulet around her neck getting warm. Glancing down, she saw it glowing red. Realizing something was wrong, she raised her hand.

"Yes, Sofia?" Miss Flora acknowledged the ten-year-old.

"May I use the bathroom? Please?"

"Of course."

"Thank you," with that, Sofia and left. Once the young girl was out of the classroom, she broke into a run. Heading into the stall, she sat down. No sooner had she done so, a beam of light shot out of her amulet, creating a portal.

"What's going on?" she wondered. Reaching out, her hand came in contact with fresh air. Glancing down at her amulet, she whispered, "What do I do? Please, show me." As though in answer, a projection suddenly formed within the portal. Sofia saw a creature that looked like a bird and a leopard flying towards some mountains. She gasped when she saw who was astride it. Her eyes widened when she saw the trouble the teen was in. "Elena! She needs my help again. Hang on. I'm coming!" with that, she stepped forward. As she entered the portal, she felt grass beneath her feet. Glancing around, she suddenly heard voices up ahead. Following them, she saw threepeople standing near a cauldron. One she recognized, while the other two were complete strangers. "Mateo!" she ran into the teen's arms, receiving a hug in return. "I was in school when my amulet started glowing. Elena's in trouble!"

"We know. That's why we created the portal to bring you here," Mateo explained. "But that's not all. Isabel is in danger too."

"Elena's sister, right?" Sofia hoped she was right.

"Yes. Elena's sick. We came out here to get a rose to cure her. Then Isabel got hurt. She's been captured," Mateo revealed.

Sofia gasped.

"That's why I saw Elena flying somewhere on Skylar."

"What do you mean?" Mateo was thoroughly confused now.

"Before I came here, my amulet showed me a vision of Elena flying on Skylar. She looked sick. It looked like she was having trouble holding on. I think she's heading here."

Mateo shook his head.

"Elena…" a girl with blonde hair growled.

"This is Naomi," Mateo introduced. "And this is our new friend, Alex."

"It's nice to meet you both," Sofia hurriedly said. Turning to Mateo, she asked, 'How can I help them?"

"The best thing to do is split up. Alex, you come with me. Naomi, Sofia, you two stay here in case Elena is heading this way," Mateo instructed.

"Okay," Sofia agreed.

"What are you two gonna do?" Naomi asked.

"We're going to save Isabel," Mateo said determinedly.

"How will we know where to find you?" Sofia questioned.

"I'm going to cast a tracking spell. If Elena has the scepter of Light with her, it should connect."

Sofia nodded.

"Could my amulet help?" she suggested.

Mateo thought for a minute.

"You know what? I think it can. I want you to close your eyes. Concentrate on Elena. If this works, you should get a mental image of where she is."

"How?" the young girl asked.

"You two are bonded in a special way. Close your eyes…"

Sofia did so. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on Elena. She suddenly saw the teenage princess in her mind. And she wasn't far from them.

"I see her! She and Skylar aren't too far from here!" Sofia reported.

"Buenas trabaha," Mateo praised, "good job." He cast the tracking spell. "Okay, Alex, you're with me. Hopefully, we'll all meet up again in a little while with Isabel."

As Sofia watched them go, she hoped Elena would be okay. She was worried for Isabel too, but she didn't really know the younger princess. Elena was like an older sister to her. One she never knew she had. They had spent so much time together, granted Sofia didn't realize it at the time. Now that Elena was free, Sofia felt lonely at times. After they had found one another, Sofia couldn't imagine her life without the future Avalorion ruler in it.

"I'll do whatever I can to help you," Sofia softly vowed. With that, she sat down next to Naomi. It was time to play the waiting game. Sofia just prayed they wouldn't have to wait too long to set things right.