*Cedric's POV*
Sofia had been extremely busy these past few months since the Sorcerer's Conference. She's always made time to spend with me whether that be just in silence or helping out with potions and things like that. In return I'd tell her stories of the rumored Wicked Nine that were to hold unspeakable power. The nine were items used by big time villains but one of them was split in two. Evil Queen's Crown and Box, Ursula's Necklace, Shan Yu's Sword, Aurora's Spindle, Jafar's Staff, Dr. Faciller's Hat, Mor'du's Claw, Lady Tremaine's Key, and Mother Gothel's Golden Flower.
"Cedric, how do you know about the Wicked Nine?" Sofia asked.
"Well kiddo, I grew up with the tales. All the royals have, but because I grew up here in the castle, I know about them. Most know about the Nine but not about the powers they have." I said.
"Would you be mad if Wormwood were to ever leave and we had to face him?" Sofia said.
"Now why would you think that?" I asked.
"Well, Wormwood helped you with your evil plans. Since you've turned over a new page, maybe he'll leave for a new evil master." Sofia said.
I thought about it and if it came down to it then yes. I would let Wormwood pay for what he's done. If he ever tried to hurt Sofia though, then he'd deserve what was coming to him.
"No dear. I won't. Not if he tries to hurt you." I said.
She cuddled into my side with a smile, "Thanks Cedric."
She fell asleep in my arms and I put her to bed before leaving.
*Chrysta's POV*
Sofia's learning curve is much steeper than I thought. So today was the day to teach her how to use the Necessi Key. I taught her how to use it and that it only lasts for a few seconds.
"So where do you keep it?" she asks.
"I keep mine in a pocket why?" I ask.
She placed the key next to the enchantlet and it snapped into a place that I've never seen before.
"Cool. Let's see if this works." she said.
She ran her finger over an area and the doorway still appeared. Then she placed the key on the other enchantlet and tried the same thing and it worked. She was always coming up with new ways of using the enchantlets and actually doing new things. The key became a part of the enchantlet power actually. Now that Sofia had touched both enchantlets with the key, she could use the key's magic to create a doorway even though she didn't have the key on her person. So really she could put the key somewhere safe in her castle and still be able to create a doorway.
I decided to copy and found that it worked well. Huh, this kid is smart in ways that make it seem she's doing it to protect herself.
*Prisma's POV*
Oh this is ever so unfair. The thing that I need to escape is right in front of me. I can't reach the damn locket due to it being stored in the vault across my cell. Just then a changeling appears and I tell him how to get the Locket. The changeling, Twitch, does as I asked and gets the locket. I promised to share whatever power the locket gives me and then put it on.
"What powerful creature freed me?" a spirit asked.
"That was me." I said.
"Hmm, you have no power." the spirit said.
"That's why I need your power to break free." I said.
"The only power I can give is the power of Knowledge." the spirit said.
Then she tells me about the Wicked Nine and how to find them. They are nine magical objects hidden throughout the Mystic Isles and the Ever Realm that belonged to history's most devious villains.
"If you gather all the objects and bring them to me, I will use their power to restore your own." the spirit said.
I clicked my tongue as I realized that I had no way out of the cell. Twitch offers his services and to retrieve them. The first of the Wicked Nine and the least powerful of the set was the Falcon's Eye. The spirit revealed the location of the Eye, it was in a marketplace in the Ever Realm Kingdom of Wei-Ling. Twitch leaves to retrieve it and as soon as he did, two of the Protectors discover that the Locket of Vor has been stolen. I remained quiet as they ran off to contact the others.
*Vega's POV*
I was contacted by the two Protectors I had guarding the vault and Prisma. They were frantic and rightfully so because the Locket of Vor was missing. Vor was once a Protector, but she became a power hungry witch that wanted the magic of the Isles to be hers and when she couldn't get what she wanted, she decided that no one was to have the magic and sought to destroy the Isles. The Protectors of old stopped her and trapped her inside that locket. Her ring was shattered and the pieces ended up in what is now known to us and the beings of the Ever Realm as the Wicked Nine. It was rumored though that the pieces were Vor's ambitions. The Falcon's Eye was her ambition to gain the magic of the Isles for herself and incidentally destroy the Isles. The Staff was her ambition to control people and get what she wanted. The Crown and the rumored box were her ambition to rule as the fairest and most beautiful of all. The Claw for her ambition to cut down any who defied her. The Hat for her ambition led to the dark arts. The Key for her ambition to lock all who opposed her away and silenced. The Necklace for her ambition of being heard by all and obeyed by all. The Spindle for her jealous ambition because she was not allowed to take the magic for herself and became like a needle on a spinning wheel weaving the threads of her life not caring about those around her. Finally, the Golden Flower for her ambition to stay in power forever and remain strong. The pieces went to the people who were most like the quality the piece represented and those people had gone too far down the path of darkness that they couldn't turn around. Thus came the villains.
The Falcon's Eye went to Shan Yu, who placed it in his Sword and moved to conquer China for the Mongols. The Staff went to Jafar who wished to control Agrabah's trade and take over as the new sultan. The Crown and Box went to Grimhilde as she wished to rule as the fairest person of all and her jealousy over her stepdaughter Snow White led to the Box. The Claw went to Mor'du who wished to be king and cut down everyone in his way like a bear. The Hat went to a man by the name of Dr. Facillier who dabbled in voodoo which got more difficult and his ambition to stay at the top led to him using the dark arts. The Key went to Lady Tremain, a woman who was jealous of her stepdaughter's natural beauty to the point of turning her daughters against her stepdaughter, Ella who became Cinderella. Lady Tremain locked Cinderella away when the Prince came around looking for the mystery princess for she feared Cinderella would rise to a higher power than she or her daughters. The Necklace went to a sea witch by the name of Ursula, who used her voice to lure in people to her so she could 'help' them but really turned them into slaves when they couldn't pay the price, a price they wouldn't be able to pay. Finally, the most powerful of all, the Golden Flower had been found by Mother Gothel, a lady who wished to remain young forever. When she was deprived of the Flower due to the royal family needing the flower so Princess, now Queen, Rapunzel would be born, Gothel kidnapped the baby so she could raise and keep the magic for herself.
One by one though each villain fell to the light that the Princesses and heroes possessed. Each fell to those who strove to protect others instead of just themselves. Just like Vor, they all were defeated by the love that the heroes possessed for their people. Now that Vor has a chance of escaping her prison and becoming a threat once more was worrying. Once I got the call, I called in Sofia and Chrysta. I knew those two would be able to keep the Wicked Nine out of evil hands.
"Sofia, Chrysta. Come in." I said.
"Yes Chief?" Chrysta called and both appeared.
Chrysta appeared to be training Sofia.
"The Locket of Vor has gone missing. I fear that whoever stole the locket is after the Wicked Nine. The first of the Nine is the Falcon's Eye. It is located in the hilt of the sword Shan Yu used to try and conquer China. It is in a marketplace in the kingdom of Wei-Ling. You must protect it. I am sending other Protectors to the known locations of the other parts we know of." I said.
"On it Chief!" Chrysta said.
*Chrysta's POV*
I ended the connection and turned to Sofia. With how she's performing, I think this will be a piece of cake. Sofia kind of reminds me of well, me. Sofia actually looks like she's older, around fifteen or so, but she's only eleven. She's tall for her age and really smart and strong. She's deadly in chess as she never plays a strategy twice in one game and always mixes her strategies in ways that make it hard to recognize. She's extremely deadly with a sword now as she can dual wield. She's got a deadly aim that shoots true when she does. What I like is that she's not too dependent on the Amulet. She keeps it around her neck as she explained once that it was a promise to her father to never take it off. If it weren't for the amulet, she wouldn't even be here but she doesn't rely on it's powers much except for talking to animals and transforming when needed.
Sofia whistled loud and her steed, Tempest, came flying. I waited for Tempest to land and Sofia to climb on before taking off again but of course Sofia just had to surprise me again. Sofia waited and hoped on as Tempest flew by. I had to fly fast to catch up to them and Sofia led me to the kingdom of Wei-Ling. We landed just outside the marketplace where there were a ton of people.
"Why are there so many people?" I asked.
"It's market day. A day where the castle opens to the public once a month to exchange goods and knowledge." Sofia said.
We find the sword with ease and I was trying to think about how we were to protect this thing. I wasn't paying attention until Sofia grabbed me and pulled me back. I looked down to realize that I had stepped in the trap itself and nearly found myself nearly impaled by the spikes at the sides. Sofia reset the trap and we waited for something to happen. Something happened. A rat with a white diamond on its chest tried to steal the sword. Key word being tries as Sofia lunged quite quickly and grabs the sword before the rat could. Which led to a fight between Sofia and a hawk. Sofia kept her grip on the sword and the hawk managed to snag Sofia's Necessi-Key off of her right enchantlet. The hawk, which I realized was a changeling, flew away after snagging Sofia's Necessi-Key.
"We did it." she said.
"Yeah, but he got your Necessi-Key." I said.
Sofia smirked, "Nope. When you lose something one to many times because people pickpocket or are just straight up meanies, you learn to hide the valuable things. Though, I learned to pickpocket, I learned to how to hide the valuables. Simply make the valuables look invaluable and the invaluable look valuable. What that rat just grabbed was merely decoration. The actual key is tucked in my armbands."
She brought out the key and it actually looked dull and unassuming.
"How'd you do that?" I asked.
"Well, outside of you training me, I wanted to know what each thing can do and its limits. I started with the more simpler of the two, the Key because the bow I could figure out normally. I found that if I just imagine the key looking a certain way, then the key would respond to me and turn. Once I figured that out, I wondered how long it would take it to respond to me and it was surprisingly fast. So when that rat tried to take it, I simply wished the key would be an inconspicuous and almost decorative piece on my armband." Sofia said with a shrug, "The bows I found were interesting. If I drew my right bow, its completely combative. I imagined it to be piercing and it went straight through a tree trunk and dug itself into the ground. I imagined it being flammable and it set a patch of grass on fire as soon as it hit. If I wanted it to be as powerful as a cannonball launched, it blew a hole in the tree. If I drew my left bow, it was more compass and astrolabe like. My left bow is the Which Way bow but more set to the stars of whatever realm I just so happen to be in."
A call came in and we connected our enchantlets so we could have some room.
"What's up Chief?" I said.
"What's the status with the Falcon's Eye?" Vega asked.
"Safe and secured." I said.
"Good, bring it back to the Isle for safe keeping." Vega said.
Sofia and I agreed and ended the call. We brought the Falcon's Eye to the Isle of Protectors and got a brief from Vega.
"Sofia, Chrysta. I feel like you should know about the history of the Wicked Nine." Vega said.
Sofia seemed interested and was listening.
"The Wicked Nine really came about after the defeat of an evil, power hungry witch named Vor. Vor had come to the land and wished to have the magic of the Isles for herself and no one else. However, when she was denied and stopped by Protectors of that time, she decided that if she couldn't have the magic then no one could. Vor was in possession of a ring that represented all of her ambitions. The Protectors defeated her by separating her from her power source, the ring, and then trapping her spirit in a Locket. The Locket was locked away in the Vault and the ring was shattered into nine pieces. Those nine pieces or shards were then placed inside certain objects. Those objects were the Falcon's Eye, the Snake Staff, the Spindle, the Necklace, the Crown was rumored to have been split in two, the Claw, the Hat, and finally the Golden Flower. Each shard represented an ambition of Vor's and each went to a mortal who embodied those ambitions to a point of no return." Vega said. "Fortunately, two of the Nine were made nigh impossible to reach. The two most powerful of the Nine, the Hat and the Golden Flower. The Hat is protected by a maze designed for only humans to enter and have a limited time before they join the Shadow Man himself. The Golden Flower is very close to impossible to retrieving as it's safety mechanism is one of the toughest. The royal family put a spell that grew sentient over time to where even descendants of the royal family couldn't reach it without passing the safety mechanism. Those who wish to find it and use it in healing as a last resort will find it. Those who wish to find it to use in evil deeds, will find it but the result will be disastrous due to the impurities of the deed."
Sofia was listening and then looked at the time.
"Ah crud, I have to be home in a couple hours. Bye." Sofia said.
She left for home and Vega turned to me.
"Chrysta, how did Sofia do with the job?" she asked.
"She did very well. She was the one to actually find the thief in the first place." I said.
*Miranda's POV*
Sofia came home after visiting Wei-Ling. She looked tired but she had fun. Also with what she's been up too, the sheer amount of food she eats is astonishing. She's always been an active girl but two full plates of food three times a day with some snacks in between, I think she may have a growth spurt soon. She's definitely put on some muscle and she's always wearing her cuffs and the amulet. She's only twelve and she's the tallest of the three. The armor she got from the knights had grown with her which was nice. I smiled at her because I quite enjoyed hearing about her adventures and school.
*Fauna's POV*
Normally we don't allow the student's to eat in class, but with how Sofia always eats more during lunch we allowed her to eat some snacks in class. We had heard of her appetite from her mother but we didn't think it would be this much. I mean, it made sense since she's so active, even some of our most fit princes had trouble keeping up with her at times. This year we had a bit of fun with some of the activities. We decided to conjure up an obstacle course for the princes to play on and just have some fun. James and his friends all had fun running through it but Sofia, Maya, and Jun all challenged each other to beat each other's times. I had watched them as they all breezed by the boys with ease.
Sofia had started to become more open with everyone and everyone realized that she was a kind hearted person underneath her walls. Zandar had taken to her quite nicely as did Desmond. It was absolutely hilarious that the boys decided to entertain her by doing silly acts and just get her to laugh. James looked like he was working too but was no where near Sofia's skill. He had gone around the school bragging that he had passed his Junior Knight's test and that he was now doing harder work for the knights. Sofia was quiet about her experiences and told us that she was much higher in rank than James, and practically an honorary knight.
*Roland's POV*
I tried to get James to do what Sofia is by training on the course but he doesn't do it. Sofia obviously is working and the results show whenever she's in formal attire. James challenged Sofia to the Royal Obstacle course again. We changed the course from what it was since it was getting quite easy. Now we had a ladder that you had to climb and then drop from, a high and low bar where you had to catch one foot and touch the ground before vaulting the high bar, then it was high stepping through wires and onto a crawl area bounded by more wires. Then it was around a curve to a much larger wall, one that needed to be ran up to get over followed by a balance beam to run across. Then it was a large wall at a slant to a high bar vault, and onto a two bar pull up to get over, and onto a slide where you'd have two bars, one high, one low and you have to go over the high one and under the low one. Then set of stair like obstacles that you need speed and technique to get over and run up yet a smaller but still slanted wall. Vault a decent height wall and around the curve to a hole and yet another ladder, followed by a higher wall to vault over. Then it was onto a curving beam and to finish out was a five wall vault.
Sofia just looked at it like it was something fun to do while James took it more seriously. I started them Sofia was in the lead by a lot. She had the techniques down for clearing the obstacles safely and efficiently. She was on the second set of obstacles by the time James was at the wall. Sofia finished in two minutes where James finished in about five. He got a little mad.
"How are you so good at this stuff Sofia?" he asked.
"James, I've done things like this since I was four. Plus, you just need to practice." Sofia said.
"But I'm already good. You need to slow down." James said, "Get the actual techniques down."
"James, I'm not the one who needs to. You do." Sofia said.
She began to walk away and James ran over to her.
"Well, do it again. I still think it's hard just to drop from the top of the ladder." James said.
Sofia climbed the ladder and dropped again.
"That drop is nothing James. Plus I can do this." Sofia said as she dove through the ladder rungs and rolled on the other side.
Sofia ran through the obstacles again, slower so James could see her. James looked as if he was annoyed.
"Sofia, find your balance on the beam. You fall off." James said as he tried to push her.
She jumped over him and he went past her. She landed back on the wall.
"James, work on what YOU need to work on, not correcting me on what you think I need to. Now, I have things to do." Sofia said.
She ran off.
"Dad, can you help me?" James asked.
So I tried to help him. James just didn't want to put in the work necessary to keep up the skills.
*Chrysta's POV*
Sofia was quiet when she came to practice, more unfocused than I've ever seen her.
"Everything alright Sofia?" I asked.
She looked up at me, "Oh yes. Just my brother is trying to make himself seem better by trying to teach me something I already know."
I was showing her some of the more advanced techniques and she was picking them up really quick but I could tell her mind was somewhere else. I was about to ask her again if she was alright, but she had school so she left quite quickly. I then got the call from Vega about another of the wicked nine. The protectors of old had placed protection spells over each of the nine so that we would know about who was taking it. The spell that was activated was the one surrounding the spindle, the very one Maleficent used to curse Aurora.
I contacted Sofia because the three Fairies of her School guard that spindle. Sofia looked at me and just sighed.
"I'll see what I can do because I'm supposed to be in class." she said.
*Flora's POV*
I had been in my more private office, all three of us fairies do because at times we want some time to ourselves, when the crystal ball that I never use much rang. I answered it.
"Yes, this is Flora." I said seriously.
"Hello Flora, I'm Vega. We were notified that the Spindle is in danger. We have someone watching out for anything suspicious but we wanted to let you know before it's too late." the person said.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"The person trying to steal the Spindle or the person watching?" Vega asked.
"Both." I said.
"The person trying to steal it is a woman by the name of Prisma and her changeling Twitch. The person we have watching for anything off is Sofia." Vega said.
"Sofia?" I said as I frowned, why her?
"Yes. She's doing quite well and she's quite resourceful." Vega said.
"She's my student." I said.
"Oh, well, then it'll be easier." Vega said.
I sighed as the ball cleared signifying the call was done. I called the other two into my personal office.
"Flora? What's the matter?" Merryweather asked.
"Ladies, I just got a call from Vega, the Chief of the Protectors from the Mystic Isles. She told me that the Spindle is in danger." I said.
"Who's trying to steal it?" Fauna asked.
"A woman by the name of Prisma and her changeling named Twitch. Vega told me that they already have someone watching but just wanted to let us know." I said.
"Who?" Merryweather asked.
"Sofia." I said.
"Huh, that doesn't surprise me. She does seem to have the guts for it. And it explains the food." Fauna said.
*Fauna's POV*
I guess that's the reason why Sofia has been eating more than usual. She's expending much more energy through training to be a Protector. It's an honor to be considered and I'm proud of her. It also explains the sheer amount of muscle she's gained. So when Sofia asked me if I had any materials for Dragon Fire I lead her to my private office.
"Ms. Fauna, where are we going? I thought your office was this way?" she asked.
I shushed her gently and told her to not to worry. I lead her through passageways that many don't know about and then came to a point where I put up a silencing ward.
"Sofia, we were contacted by Vega. She told us that the Spindle was in danger. Dragon fire is the only way to get to the room with the spindle." I said.
"So, you know then?" Sofia asked as she revealed her Enchantlets.
"Yes. Of course we do. We remember when Aurora was cursed. Do we agree with the king and queen's decision to make us her guardians and practically raise her when the curse was said to make her fall into a deep sleep when she turned sixteen? Not in the slightest. In fact, Maleficent was once our friend. She was such a sweet lady but she was bitter because the man she trusted decided that being king was more important than the relationship with a being that could have given him anything he wanted. He was given the task to take her wings and present them to the king as a way to become the next in line." I said.
"But Maleficent realized that she loved Aurora and tried to remove the curse. She realized that she was the one to free her. Maleficent was able to be free from her mission." Sofia finished.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
Sofia just kinda smiled, "Well, I remember traveling around to that kingdom when my mom was there for business. I stumbled across her area and got to meet her. I wasn't afraid of her because I had the sense that she wouldn't hurt me. I was right. And while my mom was working, I got to know Maleficent and quite enjoyed learning from her. She was quite amused when I pet her wings."
Then Sofia's enchantlet went off.
"Sofia, Prisma is after the Spindle." A woman said.
"On it." Sofia said.
We took off and found Prisma stuck at the organ. Sofia and the changeling fought while I handled Prisma. Unfortunately, the two got away as they decided that it was too much work and fled. Sofia went back to class after I helped her freshen up a bit and got her some food that was heavily packed with protein.
AN: Hey guys. So sorry for such a late update. School had taken up a majority of my time to the point of just wanting to sleep. Anyway, here's my take on the Spindle.
I used the Maleficent from the live action movie not Sleeping Beauty.