To Serve and Protect
Summary: When Sofia decides to pass off her Protector duties to her girls, they go through training (along with a few familiar faces) to become official Junior Protectors of the Ever Realm.
Disclaimer: I own Corban, Serena, Ira, Sapphire, Davina, and Avius. Nana and Tanya belong to MarionetteJ2X. Everyone/everything else belongs to Craig Gerber.
A/N: New character time, and he has a bit of a background. Hope you enjoy! By the way, just for fun, I posted some "hints" on my Season 4 Wix site (you can get there through my main site by clicking on any season 4 story). These are all hints I dropped toward revealing Serena's name way back in "Flash Forward." Did you catch any of them? ;)
Chapter 4: Sage Mage Advice
The Junior Protectors in Training had already completed numerous small missions with the aid of Ira over the last several weeks: helping a unicorn escape a tar pit, creating new brooms for witches in training, and many other things. One sunny morning, though, they found themselves on a separate island for retired Protectors: the Previous Protectors Paradise (or PPP for short).
Here lived several older people, including Orion's great-great aunt, who was still rather spritely for her startling 288 years of life. Soleil was her name, and she had been one of the Founders of the original Protectors.
Of course, Ira and the girls hadn't travelled to speak with Soleil. Instead, they'd been requested to help an old mage by the name of Avius. Evidently, the conjuror's spells were constantly going awry, and he needed some help getting them under control. Of course, given the man's age, it could be a number of different factors: outdated spells, mispronounced words, faulty wands, and just about anything else. Therefore, the team figured it would be the most beneficial to eliminate unlikely scenarios before pursuing actual possibilities.
"This is not quite what I imagined a retirement area for Protectors to look like," Tanya remarked as she walked with Ira and the girls along the pathway that led to Avius's house. "Actually, I am not sure what I expected…"
The island itself was just as lush and lovely as it could be. Most of the land was coated in wildflowers, and there was a river that cut along through the blooms and around a rather elaborate village. Several people could be seen tarrying to and from houses, walking along the river, or even lying amongst the flowers and staring at the sky. It was a busy location, something not fully anticipated, considering the nature of the area.
"It's pretty," Sapphire gushed with a warm smile as she looked around. "I hope I can live here when I retire."
Nana nodded emphatically from her position on Ira's back (she'd persuaded him to carry her with her large green eyes and her infamous 'Sofia pout' before they'd started walking).
"It is pretty," Davina agreed with a soft sigh. "I wonder if they serve cookies every night."
Ira chuckled as he ushered them along. "Come on, girls. We're almost there."
A few minutes later, they arrived at a small hut with a fancy blue door and silver handle. It was strange, because the hut itself was rather ordinary, yet this door stood out as striking (in a positive way). Ira knocked and stood back to wait for a response.
"Just a minute!" they heard an older voice call from within. Soon, the door opened, and Avius stood before them. He was probably close to Merlin's height, though he seemed to favor darker green to the wizard's famous blue. His hair was tied into a loose ponytail that bounced along his upper back, and his mustache blended into his cascading snowy-white beard, which just brushed his slipper-covered feet. Those playful blue eyes sparkled as he grinned at the crowd, insisting, "Oh, welcome to you all! Ira, good to see you, lad! Please, come in!"
Ira laughed as Nana slid down from his back and to her feet, hurrying after the other girls as they ran into the hut. He smiled as Avius wrapped him into a warm hug, and he patted the other man's back. "Good to see you too, Avius."
Once they were settled in, Nana sitting next to Tanya and Davina on the other side, and Sapphire subtly sliding into a seat next to Ira, Avius began talking to his guests.
"Oh, I'm so glad you've all come to visit me," he told them with a sigh. "It's my blasted spells. Every single one, no matter what I do, will not work. I've tried ones from my spell book, ones from my youth, ones from my days as a Protector, and none of them will work right for me anymore. It's quite a conundrum, being so tied to magic as I am."
"How long has this been going on?" Sapphire asked dutifully, leaning forward in curiosity.
"About two weeks now, I'd say… Things were relatively fine until one morning when I awoke, and my usual spell for creating breakfast didn't work." He groaned at the memory. "I had to make breakfast…by hand. It must have been thirty years since I've done such a ludicrous thing!"
Davina giggled at the man's dramatic nature before smiling at him. "Sounds like a scary thing, Mr. Avius… Especially if you haven't done it yourself in a long time. I hope your breakfast wasn't bad."
"Oh, now, don't get me wrong, young lady," he corrected with a grin. "I can cook like nobody's business. I just like to use my magic to add some finesse, I suppose. And less room for error, which is a wonderful thing considering my age, as you can tell."
"You are no older than our grandparents," Tanya surmised, looking the man over carefully. "Or I do not believe so."
"Your grandparents are over 200 years old as well?" He laughed at the astonished expressions on the girls' faces. "Oh, didn't you know? Many Mystic Isles based Protectors can live to be quite the centenarians, little ones."
"How long were you a Protector?" Sapphire wondered, blushing a little as her boot accidentally knocked against Ira's. She smiled sheepishly at him, but he only chuckled quietly.
"Oh, probably…" He muttered as he counted on his fingers, his tongue sticking out as he calculated. "Eh, perhaps about seventy years, give or take a decade. I had been a professor at one point before being recruited to be a Protector. I'll tell you this: most thrilling, fulfilling job I've ever had. There's nothing like saving the day and problem solving before the sun sets. And the friendships you make with your fellow Protectors? There's hardly anything that can compare."
Davina nodded excitedly. "We're Junior Protectors in Training! Ira is helping us become official!"
"Yes, Ira is quite adept at his young age," Avius agreed with a nod. "I'll give you some advice, though, young ones, and I urge you to follow it: always travel together, never issue a challenge that you are not certain to win, and only use spells you know well. There's nothing wrong with admitting you need help, especially when you have your friends by your side." He laughed as he recalled something from his past. "My old mate Wilbur was always on my case about never admitting I was wrong. I got us completely lost on a mission one time but insisted I knew where I was going. When I finally told the truth, I got a good—and deserved—scolding. But he and my other friends with me were nothing short of gracious after they saw how bad I felt about the whole thing." He shrugged. "But that's just an old man's advice anyway."
"It is good advice," Tanya agreed with a small smile and nod. She looked toward the man's neck, seeing a pendant resting there. "And is that something you used as a Protector?"
"Oh, this?" He shook his head as he reached up, grasping the pendant. "No, it's something I found at one of the bazaars in the Ever Realm a few weeks ago. I thought I looked quite fetching with it." He smirked, winking toward Ira. "Ethel nearly tripped over her walking cane when she saw me wearing this."
"Good grief," Ira muttered before snickering. "I…imagine she did, Avius…"
"Wait a minute." Sapphire slid from her seat and walked over to the man, curiously lifting the pendant and inspecting it. "Mr. Avius, I don't think this is just a pendant… This looks like a magic blocker." She turned toward Davina, who nodded in realization. "Our father is a sorcerer, and he told us this is used on wayward magic wielders when they're punished."
"Really?" He blinked as she released the pendant. "I've never heard of such a thing before. But then, 'wayward wielders' is a new term for me. In my day, magic users were some of the most prestigious and trustworthy people. It's a shame that's changed."
"You may want to remove it," Tanya informed him. "If it is what Sapphire suspects, the vendor could have kept track of who purchased the item, and they could be after you if you are powerless."
Avius nodded and removed the pendant, tossing it aside and onto a table. "It's really sad that people are so thoughtless and callus to create such things…" He then looked back at the girls, a knowing smile on his lips. "But I'm glad that you recognize trouble when you see it. Especially you, young lady." He nodded toward Sapphire, who stared at him curiously. "I actually have heard of a magic blocker. I just wanted to see if you could problem solve well. This was a test for your training, and you've passed."
"O-Oh!" Sapphire laughed. "Tanya was the one who noticed it, and Davina is familiar with these things too. And I'm sure Nana is as well. I was just more concerned about you, Mr. Avius."
"Much obliged, young Sapphire. And when I said you passed, I did mean all of you, I assure you." He laughed. "Being a Protector of any sort isn't easy, but when you get used to the methodology and become familiar with the tricks of the trade, it's actually kind of fun."
Nana beamed and clapped her hands, grinning.
"I think Nana is excited about that," Davina giggled.
"It runs in the family," Ira joked playfully, smiling at the little girl, who returned the gesture. He turned his smile to Sapphire, who looked toward him quietly. He nodded once. "Well done."
Sapphire smiled shyly. "Thanks, Ira…"
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Badge of Honor