Enchancian Expedition

Summary: In honor of his upcoming retirement, Roland decides to take nearly the entire Enchancian castle (including friends, family, and some workers) on an extended holiday. They have plans to travel to several countries and realms, and they'll make a number of surprising discoveries along the way. (Note: The setup is similar to but not exactly like AIM. :D)

Disclaimer: I own Corban, Alamea, Dominic, Serena, Angel (mentioned) Arnold (the newborn of Vivian and James), and several other familiar OCs you'll see in this story (including those from Mahiya, Helvetica-mentioned, Reimagia, the children of Mateo and Elena, and others). MarionetteJ2X owns Nana and Tanya as well as the characters from the Abstruce Realm. Mr. Shortman92 owns characters from the Absentia Realm as well as the 'Evil Cedfia' duo and their child Angelina (mentioned), Delilah, and Dana. Everyone/everything else originally from Sofia the First belongs to Craig Gerber.

A/N: Time to venture to Shortman's realm (Absentia) and see what's been going on in their lives.

Chapter 2: Absentia

The warm welcome from the counterparts in the once darker realm was pleasantly unexpected, but most certainly rewarding. After spending a few days in the Abstruce Realm, the Ever Realm crew decided it was time to venture to their next destination: the Absentia Realm. After bidding farewell to the others, they took off in the Floating Palace yet again.

"Can you rub my back?" Sofia asked as she lay on her side beside Cedric while they were in their cabin. The girls were hanging out with the other kids up on the deck, so they finally had some alone time.

"Hmm?" Cedric removed the pair of reading spectacles he'd brought (mostly due to his eyes being a little strained after reviewing some paperwork with Cordelia before they left), and he set both his book and the spectacles aside before turning his attention to his wife. He smiled playfully as he just barely brushed her back with his fingers, making her sigh in frustration. "Are you sure? Last night, you wanted your space."

"Well, tonight, I want you." She scooted backwards a bit on the bed, smiling in triumph as she felt his hand warmly settle against her nightshirt. "That's better."

"You're something, you know that?" He chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her temple before proceeding to rub her back. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she told him softly with a yawn. "Just a little tired. The baby was really hungry today."

"Right, the baby was hungry." He snickered as she tossed him a pointed look over her shoulder. "I'm just kidding, my love."

"You think you're so cute." She smiled before turning her head, and then she slowly maneuvered to where she was facing him. She took his hand that had been against her back and placed it on her stomach instead, giggling as he gingerly massaged her relatively small abdomen (for now). "I guess you are though… Cute, handsome, adorable…"

Cedric felt himself blushing with each positive adjective aimed his way. It wasn't that he didn't receive compliments from his beloved princess on a near daily basis. Rather, he was still amazed that she thought so… Even after all these years of knowing each other… "This coming from the most beautiful person on this vessel."

Sofia grinned as she leaned forward and kissed him slowly before breaking the contact to whisper, "And that, my sweet sorcerer, is why we're having another baby. All your sweetness, kindness… Everything you do or say still makes me all warm inside, and I love showing you my gratitude. In fact…" She reached up, playing with the top few buttons on his pajama shirt. "I wouldn't mind showing you now…"

"W-What if the girls return though?" he asked nervously, not liking the idea of being caught doing something very natural and quite enjoyable and familiar at this point in their marriage.

The princess lifted one hand, twisting her wrist in a locking motion, and smirked when she heard the mechanism in the door bolt tightly. "Any other questions?"

"Just one." He reached out and embraced her, carefully pulling her toward him, minding the baby. "How did I get so lucky?"

"You opened your tower and your heart to me." She smiled gently as he stared at her lovingly. "And you allowed me to do the same. I love you, Cedric the Sensational."

He chuckled, slowly and softly unbuttoning her shirt, revealing the small but prominent roundness of her abdomen as he brushed his fingers over her skin, causing her to shiver. "I love you too, Sofia."

The Floating Palace spent a day traveling through the realm, but eventually everyone was pleased to find that they had made it to the Absentia Realm. Absentia was the same as they'd left it: a pretty good similarity to the Ever Realm, especially their version of Enchancia.

"This reminds me a bit of twenty years ago," Miranda remarked as they ventured through the village of Dunwiddie (or the Absentian version anyway). "Back when Sofia was little, this was pretty much what the village looked like. It's like a suspension of time almost, just in a different realm."

"Oh, about that," Cedric mentioned with a clearing of his throat. "This realm is rather unique in that very rarely do terrible things happen. It's not immune by any means, but it is a bit more reserved than others… And there are those who are gone in our realms who are still alive here."

"Wait…" Amber stared at him with wide eyes. "Like… Like who?"

He smiled gently at her, nodding in affirmation. "Like Queen Lorelei…" He glanced toward Miranda. "And Birk Balthazar…"

"O-Oh," Roland stuttered, a bit stunned to hear this information. Of course, surely, in passing, he'd heard this before. But actually being faced with the potential reality of it? He wasn't sure how to respond. "So, um… So, here, Miranda and I aren't…"

"No, Dad," Sofia answered with a shake of her head. "This realm's Roland is still with Queen Lorelei, and Miranda is still with Birk. And Corban is their child…"

"Whoa, I have a twin?!" Corban asked excitedly, completely missing the rest of the conversation. "Wow!"

"Not exactly," his sister responded with a giggle. "It's complicated, Corban."

"This is why realm-hopping is such a painful experience to me sometimes," Tanya informed the others. "Reality in one place is not reality in another, and it challenges everything we know."

"I'm curious about our counterparts here then," Amber suggested, smiling as Alamea played with her hair while leaning against her shoulder. "If we grew up with our mom here but not with Sofia… I'm sure we…they…uh…" She shook her head once. "I'm sure this realm's versions of James and me are at least a little bit different."

"Sofia!"

Sofia barely had time to brace herself when she felt herself wrapped into an energetic hug. She laughed as she noticed Sofie, beaming at her excitedly. Her counterpart must have been baking, because her hair was piled on top of her head in the messiest bun she'd ever seen, and she had flour all over her face and apron. "Sofie, hi…"

"That's it?" Sofie teased, grinning at her. "We haven't seen each other in forever, and it's just, 'Hi?' Okay, Sofia." She looked behind the princess and noticed all the others there. "Whoa… Um, family reunion?"

"Family vacation," Cedric corrected, chuckling as the bubbly villager hugged him next. "Where's your Cedric exactly?"

"He and Fayette are busy collecting herbs in the palace garden. I was helping my mom and little brother bake some bread." She gestured toward her clothing as she stepped back. "Which explains my messy state right now."

"Did you actually bake anythin', or did all the flour stick to you instead?" Violet joked, smiling toward the non-princess version of Sofia. It was strange seeing the villager version of her dear friend, especially since she hadn't seen that variation of Sofia since she was much younger. Still, Violet thought this Sofia was rather endearing.

"Oh, don't worry," Sofie laughed. "It was a success. We made plenty of bread too, in case you guys want some."

"Sofie, could you go get your dad?" Sofia asked kindly before reaching out and taking her mother's hand, guiding her to her side, especially as she noted the mildly distressed look on her face.

"Oh, sure! Be back in a minute!" The ball of energy turned and hurried away.

"Sofia, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Miranda suggested, obvious nervousness written all over her visage. "Your father was lost at sea… It's been years since we've seen him. I'm not sure how… How this will go…"

"It was a bit healing for me, Mom… Actually seeing him, hearing his voice… It was like the closure I never got to have."

The queen smiled uncertainly and nodded. "I-If you say so, Sofia…" She looked up and nearly collapsed when she saw her daughter's counterpart returning with…her first husband's own counterpart. "B-Birk?"

"Wow!" Birk laughed, his blue eyes lighting up in mirth as he held out his hands. "M-Miranda! Look at you, all regal-like! Sofie told me that everyone's different in different realms, and you look so fancy…" His smile faltered a bit, a frown creasing his brow as he observed his wife's counterpart. "Miranda? What's wrong?"

"Oh, Dad," Sofie began, placing a hand on his arm, "you… Um… Sofia said her dad isn't…around…in their realm."

"O-Oh..." He smiled disarmingly, chuckling. "I'm sorry to hear about my…passing? Um…" He shrugged. "Well, if you want a hug or anyth—" He didn't even get to finish before Miranda pressed forward and wrapped him in a warm hug. He laughed and returned the woman's hug, humming in delight. "Yep, same kind hugs… Seems like that's the same in every realm."

Sofia smiled happily, pleased to see her mother and father together again, even if for just a brief moment and in crossover realms.

Roland cleared his throat before smiling as Miranda stepped back, and he moved forward to shake Birk's hand, much to the taller man's delight. "Hi, I'm Roland."

"Oh, I know, King Roland! I took you—well, your other version of yourself—out on one of the fishing boats a few weeks ago. Our king said he was curious about the process, so I showed him what we sailors have to deal with when we're fishing." He grinned toward Sofie, who snickered. "And then he got finned by a sunfish, and I almost never heard the end of it. Poor guy."

"And he's talking about the fish," Sofie giggled. "King Roland screamed so loud, and the poor fish looked terrified."

"Sofie, didn't you and CeCe get married?" Sofia asked, changing the subject but anxious to hear more about how things were going.

"Oh, yeah! A while ago now." She grinned. "He took me to the Baltiz Islands for our honeymoon. And we've talked about having a baby so Fayette would have a little brother or sister, but CeCe wants to wait two more years." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Why two?" Cedric wondered, genuinely curious.

"He said something about the magical alignment wasn't right…" She shrugged. "I personally think he's just scared. It's one thing to have a fairy daughter, but a human baby is probably much harder to handle."

"Um…" Amber laughed as she gestured toward Dominic, who was fast asleep in Desmond's arms. "Babies are babies… They don't change much from species to species."

"I call false on that one, Princess Amber," Baileywick mumbled, shaking his head. "You've never dealt with a baby ogre. Far different from a human. Bigger, messier, and more unpredictable."

"When were you around baby ogres exactly?" Violet asked, quirking an eyebrow at the former steward.

"About thirty years ago… I don't want to talk about it." He removed his spectacles and cleaned them briefly before replacing them. "Bad memories…"

Cordelia grinned as she pushed forward, grabbing Violet's shoulders. "But he was a natural, Violet. Daddy Baileywick, the ogre babies called him."

Cedric glanced toward his friend with a perplexed expression. "I can't believe I never knew this…"

"It's a dark blot on my memories, Cedric," Baileywick returned with a sulk.

Birk laughed. "If a baby ogre likes you, how dark and desolate could it be?"

After the group tarried onward toward the castle and were settled inside, CeCe and Fayette finally arrived, seeming rather pleased to see some familiar faces.

"Fayette," Tanya acknowledged happily, hurrying over (along with Nana) to hug her sister's counterpart. "You have grown! You are so pretty!"

Like the other variations of Nana, Fayette had also grown and aged. Her hair was down and curled around her waist, and she wore a simple white dress, her wings fluttering from the back. She spun around once before giggling. "Thanks, Tanya! Nana! You both look so pretty too!"

"Sofia," CeCe greeted energetically, offering her a soft hug, before turning to Cedric and shaking his hand. "It's good to see you both! You look…" He glanced down at Sofia's clearly growing abdomen and then smiled up at the parents. "Well, you look happy. And good reason, too!"

"Thanks, CeCe." Sofia nodded toward Sofie, who was animatedly talking to Miranda and Roland. "Sofie said you guys aren't having any children for magical reasons?"

"That girl…" He rolled his eyes. "I told her it may be best to wait a few years until we're settled, both magically and physically. I told her we needed a better stable situation, perhaps outside of the castle, and if we had a stronger magical alignment with our powers, we'd be more prepared in case we have another incident like what happened with our evil counterparts. I don't want to face evil when she's pregnant."

Sofia smiled wryly at his statement (he didn't know what she went through a few years ago; so many still didn't, of course). "I'm sorry to tell you this, CeCe, but you can't prepare for evil. It will either happen or not. But that shouldn't keep you from starting a family with Sofie, if that's what you guys want." She took his hand, offering him a gentle expression. "Don't be scared of the unknown. Having Serena, and soon this new little one as well as Nana and Tanya, is the best thing we could have done. And I love our children more than anything."

He chuckled, squeezing the princess's hand. "I know, Sofia…" He took in a deep breath before nodding. "Very well. We'll have a conference this evening."

Cedric raised his eyebrows at the other sorcerer's words before clearing his throat. "That's…one way of putting it…"

"Oh, Amber, I want you to meet someone," Sofie gushed, taking her hand and tugging her along. She then glanced back toward James, who seemed confused. "You too, James. Come on."

"Uh, okay…" He followed his sister and Sofia's counterpart, a little unsure about what was going on.

The auburn-haired girl stopped just beside a door, knocking gently. She smiled happily when a blonde woman opened the door. "Hi, Queen Lorelei."

"L-Lorelei?" James asked, his eyes widening.

The woman before them looked just like what they'd always heard: slender, very blonde (her hair tied up into an elegant bun), golden gown… She looked a lot like Amber, as a matter of fact.

"Hi, Sofie," the queen greeted pleasantly. She then smiled toward the twins. "Amber, James, what's going on?"

"Oh, no, Queen Lorelei…" Sofie released Amber's hand and gestured toward the siblings. "These aren't your James and Amber. These two are from another realm: the Ever Realm." She bit her lip as she noticed Amber tearing up. "Their mom… Well, they grew up without your counterpart…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" A great wave of sympathy filled the older woman as she reached forward and placed a hand on each twin's shoulder. She laughed softly as she heard the soft intake of breath. "You've grown into such beautiful people though, with or without me… And because I have a feeling you'll want to hear it…" She nodded to each sibling before telling them, "I'm very proud of you…"

Amber sniffled and wiped the tears falling from her eyes. "Can I…? Um, c-can I hug you?"

"Of course, sweet—oh!" Lorelei smiled fondly as she hugged the future queen, brushing her fingers through her hair. "My sweet Amber… Always so emotional, whether you want to admit it or not."

James laughed, though it sounded a little watery from his emotions. "Y-Yeah… That doesn't change in any realm…" He gasped as Lorelei then released his sister and turned to him, hugging him next. "Oh…" He slowly returned the hug, a feeling of completion flooding his entire being. Not getting to hug his real mom like other kids growing up was hard. And while Miranda more than made up for those lost years, there was something special about hugging Lorelei… Not his mother, necessarily, but certainly close enough. "Mommy…"

Amber smiled softly as James stepped back, leaning against her, and she wrapped an arm around her brother. "Thanks, Sofie," she murmured, glancing toward the young woman. "You definitely have Sofia's spirit and graciousness…"

Sofie blushed, giggling. "Thanks, Amber… I try!"

The evening came to a close, and soon, the visitors were able to settle into the castle, which was so different yet so familiar at the same time. A home away from home, one could say… And they were fine with that.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Corona