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 14. The Return of the Witches
The weeks following her accidental enchantment were a panicked blur for Sophia. For the first couple of days, Sophia and the others didn't do much of anything. Most of them were taking stock of their new forms and how to move in them. Sophia's biggest struggle was her inability to grip or hold anything now that she no longer had arms or hands or fingers. She couldn't even "walk" anymore. Every "step" was a "sweep" as she pushed dust around the palace floors.
She was somewhat surprised that she could still hear, smell and see, but hunger proved to be something that she no longer responded to. In fact, it seemed like the former prince was the only one capable of eating or drinking anymore. This was probably a blessing considering that Sophia probably wouldn't be able to get herself any food without any hands.
Another curious thing Sophia discovered was that despite her new appearance, she still had her magic. For the first couple of days, Sophia spent hours trying to transform herself back to normal. However, her magic seemed to stubbornly refuse to listen to her. Not to mention the fact that she could feel Rosamund's magic working actively against her own, creating a stinging sensation every time she tried to summon her own.
The prince spent most of his time in the West Wing. They could hear snarling and crashing noises every now and again, but no one had the courage to check on him again. Cogsworth maintained a strict household schedule as though none of them had been transformed into knickknacks. Sophia could only assume that it was the uptight little clock's way of preserving a sense of normalcy. Lumiere on the other hand, was constantly keeping an eye out from the windows in the hopes that a worn traveler would stop by, preferably a lady to fall in love with their prince. Sophia didn't have the heart to point out that the prince was more than likely to scare off any person who came close. Lumiere was one of the few people who had hope. Most of the others seemed resigned to their fate.
For the first couple of weeks, Sophia had hope. She hoped that Rosamund would remember her, that she could somehow summon up the magic to transform herself and that she could resume her search for Giselle.
A month passed.
Two months.
Three months.
After a year passed, Sophia gave up hope of ever seeing Rosamund or her sister again. Rosamund clearly wasn't too concerned about her welfare or her godson's for that matter. This meant that she wasn't likely to find her sister again either. Wherever Giselle had spirited off to, it was probably too late for Sophia to help her.
Another year passed, and Sophia resigned herself to the fact that she would live out her days as a broom. The others seemed to have come to the same conclusion. They were so far away from civilization that travelers never stopped at their castle and even if they did, the prince would probably rip apart anyone who dared step inside. No one voiced it outloud, but everyone believed that the spell would never be broken… everyone except Lumiere that is.
The one silver lining in Sophia's situation was that the rest of the castle staff had accepted her without hesitation. She worked alongside the others and none of them suspected that she had any connection to Rosamund. Sophia wasn't the only one who had been transformed into a broom. Many of the maids had been transformed into mops, brooms and feather dusters. She spent most of her days cleaning and recleaning the empty castle. What else was there to do?
Every day that followed seemed identical to the one before, until one morning several years after the enchantment. Sophia was cleaning the foyer to the palace like she did most mornings.
Sweep. Sweep. Sweep.
So this is my life now? Never ending cleaning.
Sweep. Sweep. Sweep.
Stuck in a castle with magical powers that have never done me an ounce of good.
Sweep. Sweep. Sweep.
Sophia halted suddenly. Her self-pitying monologue was interrupted by a faint sound. It sounded like a wail of alarm, but it wasn't coming from inside the castle. It was coming from the other side of the massive double doors.
The doors suddenly swung open and a very frazzled figure burst into the room. He was a middle-aged man with shaggy gray hair and a pot belly. A worn looking harp hung around his neck. He pressed his back against the doors, keeping the doors closed tight as he panted for breath.
Sophia stared in utter shock. It had been years since she had another person and then this stranger just stumbled into the castle. Apparently, the figure hadn't realized that Sophia was more than a simple broom. Sophia froze afraid to move and spook the man, but the man was more afraid of something else.
"Yoooo hoooo! Where did you go handsome?"
"Great Balin!" the man moaned. "When will that infernal woman leave me alone?!"
"Playing hide and seek are you?" the feminine voice cooed. "Ready or not! Here I come!"
The man yelped and dove behind a suit of armor. Sophia didn't have any time to move or think before the double doors flung open again. A familiar figure appeared in the foyer. It was a round woman with red hair and necklace of white stones against her throat. Sophia stifled a yelp of fear. It was Orwen, one of the witches of Morva.
Mentally, Sophia prayed frantically that it was just Orwen, but those hopes were dashed seconds later when Orgoch pushed the doors open. "I saw him first! If I find him, he's dinner!"
"Oh no you don't!" Orwen snapped. "There's no way I'll let you transform my handsome suitor."
"Suitor? Bah!" Orgoch laughed. "The man was running away from you."
"He was not!" Orwen yelled. "He was just playing a little game."
At that moment, Ordu followed both of her sisters, rubbing her temples with a heavy sigh. "I swear if you two both don't shut up this instant, I'll…" Ordu froze, her gaze shifted towards Sophia. "What on earth…?"
Orgoch and Orwen stopped arguing and turned their attention towards Sophia. Sophia remained frozen in place. I'm just a broom. I'm just a broom. No reason to pay any attention to me.
"How odd," Orwen remarked. "An enchanted broom. I didn't realize a sorcerer lived in this castle."
"A sorcerer doesn't," Orgoch snapped. "Word around the swamp is that a cursed prince lives here."
Ordu took a step closer, narrowing her eyes. "There's something oddly familiar about the magic surrounding that broom." Ordu snapped her fingers.
Suddenly, the stinging sensation vanished from Sophia's body. Her arms and launched seemed to launch out of her body and Sophia toppled to the ground. For a few moments, she stared in shock at her hands and legs. She had a body again. She could move her arms and legs. She was human again!
"Well, well, well," Ordu said with a wicked grin. "Who do we have here?"
Completely forgetting the man, Orgoch cocked her head to one side. "Hold on a second, she looks familiar…"
"It's the girl from the swamps," Ordu said. "The one that got away. The one Rosamund rescued."
Orgoch looked around anxiously. "Where is Rosamund?"
Ordu gave Sophia a wicked grin. "I believe that she is not here." Sophia anxiously scotted away from Ordu. "Ordu… please… don't…" Sophia accidentally backed into the suit of armor. It toppled to the ground, revealing the stranger.
"There you are!" Orwen cried out happily. The stranger let out a yelp of fright as Orwen flung herself at him and began smothering him in kisses.
"Madam!" the figure cried. "For heaven's sake, control yourself."
Orgoch rolled her eyes. "This is making me sick." She pointed a finger at the man. There was a poof of smoke and a bullfrog stood in his place.
"Orgoch! How could you!" Orwen wailed. The bullfrog hopped away frantically, jumping into Sophia's apron pocket. The frog shivered wildly as he peeked out of the pocket.
"Ordu, did you see what she did…?" Orwen whined.
"Shut up both of you!" she snapped. She glared at Sophia. "I spent THREE DAYS as a bullfrog before Rosamund's little spell wore off. A few hours my foot. I didn't enjoy it at all. You're going to enjoy it even less."
Sophia sprang forwards darting out of the way as a blast of magic flew towards her. Shards of metal exploded around her as the blast hit the armor and ricocheted off metal and struck the chandelier hanging above their heads.
"Watch out!" Orgoch shrieked. The three witches scattered as the chandelier struck the ground and burst apart. Sophia took advantage of the moment and flew across the foyer. She could feel the little frog man let out a yelp of discomfort as he bounced around in her pocket, but it couldn't be helped.
Sophia almost slipped and fell to her feet as she skidded across the shiny slippery floor. She caught herself by gripping the door handles.
"Hey!" Orgoch snapped. "She has my snack!"
"That's not your snack, that's my boyfriend!" Orwen yelled. Sophia felt immense sympathy for the frog in her pocket. She couldn't tell which option seemed worse to him.
"Run while you can, it won't do you any good," Ordu snapped. "Rosamund isn't here to help you, no little fairies to rescue you either."
Sophia flung open the doors and raced down the steps. It was nighttime and the forest seemed inky black. The only light was the barest crescent of a moon in the sky. Sophia didn't think, she just raced through the forest blindly, branches whipping against her arms and legs, tearing her skirts as she fled. Her legs were wild and unsteady beneath her feet. She was so unaccustomed to having limbs again it felt like her legs were going to collapse beneath her at any moment. It was only a wild fear that kept her moving and that proved to be a pretty powerful motivation.
"Hang on little fellow," Sophia said to the frog. The doors to the castle flung open, Ordu leading the way with the two other witches behind them.
"There she is!" Ordu cried. "Get her!"
"Get the frog!" Orgoch yelped.
"Don't hurt him!" Orwen wailed.
Sophia let out a scream and tore off through the woods vanishing into the darkness with three witches close on her tail.