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 24. The Rules
By the end of the week, Sophia had been transformed into a rabbit three times as well as a kitten, chick, and a puppy. It would seem that Madam Leota had a fondness for small fluffy animals. To her credit, Leota did change her back after a reasonable amount of time, but not until after watching Sophia drive herself to the edge of insanity. Both her skills at transforming herself back and blocking Leota's spells were lacking.
Madam Leota did give her a training session on how to properly block spells. To Sophia, blocking spells seemed like advanced paranoia. The goal was to keep your magic "activated" at least lightly at all times. Sophia was always vaguely aware of the strange feeling of magic running through her, but her main goal was to be able to summon her magic quickly to form an imaginary wall around herself.
So far, Sophia was not quick enough on the draw to react and Madam Leota surprised her multiple times throughout the day until Sophia was reduced to a paranoid wreck, constantly searching for new places in the manor to hide. The ghosts didn't make it easier for her, often tattling on her to Madame Leota.
On this particular morning, Sophia was mouse. She scurried around in a circle in the manor library as Madam Leota sat in one of the overstuffed chairs, reading a book as she waited for Sophia to make something happen.
"You're letting your anger cloud your focus," Madam Leota commented as she flicked a page in her book.
Sophia stopped and glared up at her. "Why wouldn't I be angry? You only transformed me into something small and helpless against my will." Madam Leota sighed and raised a finger. "I know, I know," Sophia groaned. "You're doing this so I won't be small and helpless if someone who actually wants to hurt me tries to transform me."
"Very good," Madam Leota said dismissively. "Though it might help if you can find out what you're so mad about and find some way to let that go."
"It's not a what, it's a who," Sophia scowled. "It's Rosamund."
Madam Leota shrugged. "If you say so."
"Who else would it be?" Sophia demanded.
"Didn't say it would be a person," Madam Leota said nonchalantly. "Now focus."
Sophia scowled. She closed her eyes shut tightly and struggled to fixate on the strange magic running through her. Admittedly, she had been transformed so many times now it was starting to feel a bit familiar. Sophia focused har on the feeling and seconds later she heard a POP! Sophia looked around eagerly but realized that her tail had disappeared. Progress, but very small progress. Sophia groaned and flopped to the ground. She glared back up at Madam Leota. "What else would I be mad at? Did you know what Rosamund did to me?"
"You told me," Madam Leota said dismissively. "What did I tell you about self pity?"
"This isn't self pity," Sophia snapped. Madam Leota gave her a questioning look. Sophia scowled. "You would understand if you met her."
"I'm sure I would," Madam Leota said. "Now try again."
Sophia drew a deep breath, trying to shove all thoughts of Rosamund out of her mind. She struggled to think of something calming. A placid lake surface. Dandelion fluff floating on the breeze. Snow drifting through the winter skies. Once again she drew a deep breath and struggled to focus on the foreign magic. It seemed to collide against her own. Sophia visualized her magic and Leota's as bubbles casually bouncing against each other. Her own bubbles were a shade of bubble gum pink while Leota's were a shade of vibrant emerad green. Having exhausted all of her other options, Sophia decided to continue with this mental visualization. Instead of viscerally trying to override the magic, Sophia tried to sort all of Leota's "bubbles" into one section. Once she assembled all of them, she meticulous began to pop them one by one until all of them were gone.
Suddenly, there was a poof and a shower of pink dust and Sophia found that she was sitting on the floor on a dusty rug in the library back into her usual form.
"Well, would you look at that," Leota remarked, setting aside her book. "Looks like someone had a breakthrough."
"I did it?" Sophia repeated in amazement She stared at her fingers and then pressed her hands to her face, half expecting to find whiskers somewhere.
"Yup, amazing what happens when you calm yourself," Madam Leota commented.
"I… I imagined your magic as bubbles," Sophia admitted.
"Bubbles?" Madam Leota repeated.
"Well… uh… yes," Sophia admitted sheepishly.
Madam Leota shrugged, "Far be it from me to criticize methods when they work." She rose to her feet.
"Does this mean you'll stop transforming me?" Sophia demanded.
"Of course not," Leota said. "You need to work on your speed and you still haven't figured out how to block them yet." Sophia groaned and flopped backwards onto the floor. Leota smirked. "Cheer up, on the plus side we know what your color is."
"My color?" Sophia asked, immediately pulling herself off the floor once she realized how filthy the ancient carpet was.
"The color of your magic," Madam Leota explained. "Everyone's is a bit different. Mine is green as you more than likely found out by now." She offered Sophia a hand and pulled her to her feet. "Usually, it reflects your preferences or your personality "I have to say, I never pegged you as a bubblegum pink sort of girl."
"I don't actually like it that much," Sophia frowned. If Kelsey was here she would be downright horrified at this new development. "But…" Sophia swallowed hard. "But it was my sister's favorite color."
"Oh," Madam Leota said. She gave Sophia a searching look. "Your sister has come up a few times now. Are you two close?"
"We were," Sophia admitted. "She's… she's gone now."
"Ah, I see," Madam Leota said. She gave Sophia a stern look. "I think it's time we had a talk."
"A talk?" Sophia asked.
"Yes," Madam Leota said. "About the limitations of custodial magic."
"Custodial magic?"
"Is there an echo in this library?" Madam Leota snapped. "Custodial magic is the type of magic you've been gifted. It's also the type of magic that genies have innately. The short version is because your magic is given to you on the conditions that it is designed to protect and nurture another person, it comes with certain limitations."
"Like what?" Sophia demanded.
"Rule number 1, you can't kill anyone," Madam Leota said. She paused and thought to herself. "Well, at least not directly." She caught sight of Sophia's confused and alarmed expression and sighed. "Okay, let me try this again. Your magic is designed to fulfill the wishes of your godchild, within reason. If your godchild wishes anyone dead, it doesn't matter, you can't do it. However, if you just happen to turn them into a cupcake and there just happens to be a cliff nearby…" Madam Leota shrugged.
"Okay," Sophia said uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed.. "Hopefully, my godchild won't want to do too much killing."
"Generally, not something you need to worry about," Madam Leota said. "But the rules are there just in case you end up with a real monster." Sophia shuttered at the thought. "Rule number 2, you can't make anyone fall in love with anybody else."
"Okay," Sophia shrugged. "Seems like an odd rule to include."
"You'd be surprised how often that rule comes up," Madam Leota said. She rolled her eyes. "Lovesick princesses running around looking for their prince charmings." An image of Giselle running around their cottage with her prince sculpture flitted through Sophia's mind followed by a wave of melancholy. "Rule number 3," Madam Leota continued meeting Sophia's eyes directly. "You can't bring anyone back from the dead."
"Is that what you're worried about?" Sophia demanded.
"Seriously, don't try it," Madam Leota said sternly.
"I won't," Sophia sighed. "That's not…" Sophia trailed off searching for the right words. "That's not why I wanted to be a godmother. Yes, there was a point where I wanted to be able to use my magic to help her, but that was a long time ago."
Madam Leota didn't look convinced. She held Sophia's gaze for a long time before she sighed heavily. "Well, while we're on the subject. Rule number 4: your magic is designed to advance your godchild's future. Every magic user has a few perks and you'll be able to use a few practical things for yourself, but generally your magic is the light fluffy kind. You can use it to make your godchild happy, but that's about it. No magicking yourself a house, or making yourself wealthy or creating the perfect boyfriend."
"How do you know so much about this type of magic?" Sophia asked suspiciously. "Aren't you an enchantress? Like Rosamund?"
"Yes, but I was a member of The Circle back when it was still functioning," Madam Leota said. "I got to know a few godmothers. Cinderella's godmother explained a decent amount to me."
"The Circle?" Sophia asked. "What's that?"
Madam Leota groaned. "It's nothing now. It was a social club for magic folk for many years, but it was broken years ago." She waved a hand dismissively. "It's all very complicated and nothing that you need to worry about." She folded her hands in front of her. "I think you've done very well for today. Keep practicing and we'll work on improving your speed." She turned to leave the library, but halted at the doorway. "Also," she added thoughtfully. "I think you should try meditating more often."
"Meditating?" Sophia asked in confusion. Sophia hated everything about the prospect. Sitting quietly was never something that Sophia had been good at. There was always something to do, something to learn, something to clean."
"Yes," Madam Leota continued. "Strong emotions can help magic, but it can also hinder it, especially when you're a beginner." She eyed Sophia. "You still have a lot of strong feelings about Rosamund and I suspect about your sister as well. Calming those emotions might help you improve." Sophia frowned and glared at Madam Leota suspiciously.
Madam Leota groaned. "I won't sneak up and transform you while you're meditating if that's what you're worried about."
That was a benefit that made meditation seem worth pursuing. "I'll give it a shot," Sophia said.
Madam Leota nodded. "See that you do." She turned and head out of the library with a swish of her skirts.
Sophia dusted off her skirts and checked her hands again. Mercifully, they were still hands and not mouse paws. Her thoughts drifted to her newly developed magic and its strange color. Giselle's favorite color. Sophia frowned. She thought that after her adventures with Kelsey she had moved on, but perhaps Giselle's ghost continued to haunt her.