Sophia's Story
A Disney crossover by talking2myself
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any recognizable Disney characters. All original characters are my own creations.
CHAPTER 11. Magic Water
After her encounter with the sprite, Sophia felt like she was being devoured by mosquitos. Her whole body was suddenly itchy and scratching didn't seem to help much. The sprite didn't stick around very long afterwards and had already retreated into the forest. Rosamund was looking down at her somewhat amused. "Congratulations!" She said with no real enthusiasm. "You are a now a fairy. How does it feel?"
Sophia looked down at her hands as if she had never noticed them before. She searched her fingers and arms for something telling, but apart from the insufferable itching feeling she didn't feel any different. "Itchy!" she answered honestly.
"Yep, that's normal," Rosamund said. "That's how you know it's working."
Sophia rose to her feet hopefully. "So I have magic? I can use it to find Giselle. I can go save her."
Rosamund crossed her arms "Honey," she said with faint exasperation. "Do you really think it's that easy? You don't know the first thing about magic. Besides, you are bond to the magic through your word. It's not gonna let you off the hook just like that. You will be assigned a godchild when the magic deems you ready. And you will go to them or face dire consequences."
Sophia met Rosamund's disapproving gaze fearlessly. "I will go and do all that after I save Giselle."
Rosamund pressed her forehead into her hand. "Just cause you have it doesn't mean that you can do anything productive with it. At least not yet."
"Then, show me how," Sophia insisted.
"It can take months even YEARS of practice before you get it right," Rosamund said.
"I don't have years," Sophia insisted. "Isn't there anything you can show me to help Giselle?"
Rosamund let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. Alright. There is something I can show you. It's pretty basic and it should at least tell you if your sister is still alive." Sophia's heart leapt at this news.
"Come here," Rosamund gestured wearily as she walked to the edge of the water. "Because your gift comes from nature, we can enlist nature to aid us every once and while. Rosamund gestured at the water with both her hands. "Water is a very magical thing in general even if it doesn't seem like it. It covers the kingdom and the spirit of water can show us things. If your sister is near any body of water, a puddle, a glass of juice, a fountain, we can ask the water to show us her. Even if she is halfway across the world."
"That's wonderful!" Sophia cried. "How do we do it?"
"First off," Rosamund explained. "Magic is a living thing. It's alive and wiggling around inside you which is why you're so itchy right now." She gave Sophia a sideways look. "Stop scratching your arms. It won't help." Sophia froze in place sheepishly slipping her hands into her pocket. "Anyway," Rosamund continued. "Your gift comes from nature. The sprite drew a small amount of it from the air, the earth, the wind and infused you with it. It's used to being pretty wild so it's still pretty rambunctious in your body right now." She turned to Sophia. "What you need to do is bend it to do your will. It's going to be quite resistant at first. Wild things don't like being told what to do." Sophia nodded, focusing on Rosamund's every word. "So what you are going to do is focus on what you're requesting and will the magic in your mind to do your bidding. Then, you need to command it by thinking up a spell."
"A spell?" Sophia asked.
"It doesn't need to be fancy," Rosamund explained. "Spells are just for beginners really. Eventually you will be so in tune with your magic that you won't have to say anything outloud. You'll just send the magic out as easy as breathing, but that's a long way off. The spell helps articulate your demands more clearly. So you simply make something and speak it out loud while summoning your magic."
"Just… make something up?" Sophia asked.
"Yes," Rosamund said with a line. "Two lines and it needs to rhyme."
"Rhyme?" Sophia asked in confusion.
"Yeah, strange quirk of magic," Rosamund shrugged. "It seems like the cadence of rhyming. You'll have better luck with that." Rosamund clapped her hands together. "Now. Focus on your sister. Summon up the magic. And say something that rhymes that tells the water what you want to see."
Sophia gnawed on her lip. The whole process was mystifying her, but if this was what she had to do to see her sister then she would figure something out. Sophia lifted her hands and closed her eyes. She focused on Giselle. Her laugh, her dreamy expressions, the way she would dance around their little house. That was easy.
The next step was a bit more challenging. Sophia tried to focus on the magic that was skittering around inside her body. Hello? Magic? Are you in me? She thought struggling to focus on the strange sensation. Show me my sister. She thought to herself. The magic didn't do anything different. It just seemed to continue moving through her. Please? She entreated helplessly, begging with the power to cooperate with her. The power did not respond. Now, Sophia was irritated. A spike of rage flashed through her and she mentally screamed at the strange force. SHOW ME MY SISTER NOW!
This time, the magic seemed to do understand. The strange swirling stopped and all of a sudden, Sophia felt the power surge to one spot, the tips of her fingers. Now, she felt a new sensation, like electricity.
The spell! She had to come up with a spell.
"Um…" Sophia stammered as she struggled to come up with a poem of some sort.
"Magic help me… um… it would be swell…" Sophia stammered. Two lines. "If you could show me, my sister Giselle." Sophia opened her eyes and suddenly she caught sight of a brief flash of light burst from her fingers. She stared intently at the water. The water swirled around in a circle and Sophia saw a brief flash of color. Sophia's heart leaped with joy, but just as quickly the water stilled again and the image was gone." Sophia let out an angry groan of frustration and stomped the pool with an angry splash.
"You broke your concentration," Rosamund said mildly. "Still, it was very good for a beginner."
"It didn't work," Sophia mumbled, heartbroken.
"It takes practice," Rosamund explained, not unkindly. "Now seeing that you won't give me a moment's peace until you see her, I'll give it a go. What did you say her name was?"
"Giselle," Sophia said.
Rosamund nodded. She thought for a moment and then held out her hands over the water and spoke in a grand voice.
"Waves crash and rivers swell
Show us the little lost girl Giselle."
Almost immediately the waters swirled and an image gradually appeared on the surface of the water. Sophia's breath caught in her throat and she stared intently at the water. What she saw confused her. It was the image of a girl, but it wasn't Giselle. It couldn't be. The girl was Unreal. She looked somewhat similar to Giselle. They both had red hair in bouncy curls with big blue eyes, but Giselle was Animated like Sophia and this woman clearly was not. Sophia stared in fascination. She had heard of Unreal folks of course, but this was the first time she had actually seen one after living in an Animated forest her entire life. The girl appeared to be in some sort of forest and was spinning around, dancing and singing to a dark-haired Unreal fellow who seemed a little uncomfortable by the display. She couldn't hear any of the words, but the girl seemed completely unfazed by the people staring at her. The image faded away after a few seconds and then the river was just a river again.
"Well, there you have it," Rosamund said dismissively.
"There's some sort of mistake," Sophia insisted. "That wasn't my sister."
Rosamund turned and crossed her arms. "Honey," she drawled. Rosamund had a low gravelly sort of voice when she spoke and she dragged out the word, stretching the two syllables. Sophia didn't know it at the time, but she would quickly learn that Rosamund would call her that whenever she thought Sophia was being dense. "I've been casting spells since before you were born. My magic don't make mistakes."
"But that wasn't her," Sophia insisted. "Giselle is Animated. You know, like me."
"Didn't you say you got on a witch's bad side?" Rosamund said pointedly.
"Well, yes…" Sophia admitted. "But why would she curse by turning her Unreal?"
Rosamund shrugged. "There's a lot of screwy sorceresses out there."
"It doesn't seem likely," Sophia snapped.
"Well, unless your sister knows someone who can cast one heck of a cloaking spell that's her," Rosamund insisted. "Or maybe she's cursed? Or maybe that's the woman who cursed her? Though I gotta say I've never seen an evil sorceress who looks quite like that?" Sophia frowned, staring down at the water where the image had been moments ago as though it could give her some sort of answer.
Rosamund let out a heavy sigh. Sophia would later learn that in the exceedingly rare moments when Rosamund would feel guilty or some sympathy for Sophia, she would begin the conversation with a dramatic sigh. "Look," she said gently. "If it will make you feel better, this seems to indicate that your sister is alive." Sophia looked up at her new mentor in shock. "If she were dead," Rosamund continued. "We would have seen something a lot more definitive and a bit more… well… unpleasant." Sophia winced and felt her stomach turn at the thought. "So take what comfort you can in that," Rosamund said brusquely. "If you want, I can try again later, but for now we need to keep moving. I am urgently needed in the forests on the edge of daylight and this little detour has eaten up enough of my time." Rosamund turned on Sophia dismissively. "Come with me or don't. It's up to you."
Sophia felt more confused than ever, but the thought of spending the night in a forest filled with witches, sprites and other strange creatures alone did not appeal to her. "Coming Sabrina?" Rosamund called over her shoulder.
"Yes, yes I'm coming," Sophia cried. Her thoughts were racing through her mind almost as fast and frenzied as the magic was racing through her veins. "And it's SOPHIA!"