Chapter 6: Sofia the First
Author's Note: This chapter takes place during the episode "Sofia the Second", and replaces the events of that episode.
Sofin sat upon the edge of his bed, his left leg bouncing excitedly against the edge of the wooden frame. The early morning light shone through the large closed window. Sofin looked out through the window, waiting for his animal friends to arrive. He trembled with nervous energy, quivering in anticipation.
Just as Sofin thought he might explode from the tension, he heard a polite knock from the window. Robin and Mia hovered outside, fluttering in the gentle breeze. Sofin leaped from his bed and rushed to the window, opening it and letting the two birds fly in. Behind them, Whatnaught scurried up the wall and through the open window, and then with a mighty leap, Clover hopped up onto the windowsill.
The gray rabbit yawned, and looked from the sun barely above the horizon to the wide-awake, smiling Sofin. "You're up already, kid?" he asked.
Perched atop the head of Sofin's bed, Robin spoke up. "Usually we're the ones that have to wake you up in the morning."
"And it's not easy!" added Mia, sitting next to the robin.
Sofin smiled. "I'm up early because today is the day of the Sorcerer's Soirée! I've just been so excited, it's hard to sleep." He bounced on the balls of his feet.
Clover furrowed his eyebrows. "The Sorcerer's what-now?" he questioned.
"The Sorcerer's Soirée," repeated Sofin. "It's an evening party held every year at Hexley Hall where all the famous wizards and sorcerers come together to chat, discuss the latest advancements in magic, and have dinner. Oh, and there's a dance. Mr. Cedric said I could go with him this year as his apprentice! Oh, I'm so excited." He spun in a little circle across the floor, as if he were already on the dance floor.
"Cedric let you go to a sorcerer's meeting with him?" questioned Clover incredulously. "I'm surprised he said yes."
"Well…" began Sofin. He thought about when he had asked Mr. Cedric.
"So, Mr. Cedric, can I pretty pretty please go with you to the Sorcerer's Soirée?" asked Sofin cheerfully. He gave his best smile.
"Of course not," said Mr. Cedric dismissively while stirring the potion he was working on. "Now, be off on your way, will you?"
"Okay…" said Sofin sadly before turning to leave the tower.
Sofin popped up in front of Mr. Cedric, who was intently reading a spellbook. "Hi, Mr. Cedric!"
The royal sorcerer jumped backwards, his hand flying to his wand and his eyes looking up towards Sofin. Seeing the prince, Mr. Cedric relaxed. "Oh, it's just you," said Mr. Cedric. "What do you want now?"
"Well," said Sofin, "I just wanted to ask if I could go to the Sorcerer's Soirée with you. Please?"
Mr. Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you already ask me earlier?" he noticed.
Sofin pouted. "I did, but I really do want to go! All the sorcerers from all the kingdoms are going to be there! Isn't it important for you to bring along your trusty apprentice?" He gave Mr. Cedric his best puppy dog eyes.
The royal sorcerer seemed totally immune. "I've already told you no," he responded. He looked back down at the spellbook. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I was working on looking for a particularly interesting duplication spell…"
Sofin sighed. There was no convincing Mr. Cedric when he was busy doing magic. He needed to try some other time.
"Hi Mr. Cedric!" said Sofin, popping out from behind a pillar.
The royal sorcerer, who had been walking down the hallway, tripped and almost fell over, but he managed to catch himself just in time. "Sofin!" said Mr. Cedric. "I almost dropped this vial of Powdered Foxglove." He held up a glass vial in his hands filled with some sort of red powder. Oops. "What were you doing behind that pillar, anyways?" continued Mr. Cedric.
Sofin ignored the question and barreled forward. "I just wanted to ask again about the Sorcerer's Soirée. Have you changed your mind, maybe?" He blinked owlishly.
Cedric clutched the vial closely, looking slightly annoyed. "I have not," he said briskly.
"But it would be so much fun!" argued Sofin. "Imagine it, just the two of us, dancing across the ballroom—" Sofin spotted the look on Mr. Cedric's face and backtracked immediately. "—I mean, just the two of us, talking about magic spells and potions and artifacts all night. And we get to meet lots of sorcerers. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Mr. Cedric went silent for a moment, looking down at Sofin, seemingly deep in thought. Sofin crossed his fingers. Was this it? Had he finally convinced the royal sorcerer?
"...no." replied the sorcerer eventually. Then he strode away towards his tower.
Sofin frowned. Usually Mr. Cedric would give in by this point. Hm. Well, in that case, there was only one thing left to try.
"Mr. Cedric, can I go to the Sorcerer's Soirée as your apprentice?" asked Sofin.
The royal sorcerer, who was in the middle of casting a spell, jumped, and the spell went flying towards a mirror, where it bounced off and hit Wormwood, turning him orange.
"Of course not!" said Mr. Cedric.
Sofin finished polishing the last of Mr. Cedric's cauldrons, then turned to the sorcerer, who was carefully crushing a potion ingredient. "So, Mr. Cedric, now that I'm done cleaning, can I go to the Sorcerer's—"
"No!" interrupted Mr. Cedric, and he accidentally hit the ingredient the wrong way, sending dust flying everywhere.
Sofin sighed. "I guess I'll get a mop…"
Sofin jumped out from behind a desk, and Mr. Cedric instinctively moved back, leaning backwards and causing his chair to almost tip over. "So, Mr. Cedric—"
Mr. Cedric groaned, cutting off Sofin. "If I say yes, will you stop bothering me?" he said, irritated.
Sofin nodded, his head bobbing up and down rapidly.
Mr. Cedric sighed. "Then yes, I suppose you may go to the Sorcerer's Soirée as my apprentice. It's the evening of the day after tomorrow, as I'm sure you're aware. Come to my tower by 5."
Sofin's face broke out into a huge grin. "Oh, thank you Mr. Cedric!" he exclaimed. "You're the best royal sorcerer Enchancia ever had!" He gave the royal sorcerer a hug, then excitedly left Mr. Cedric's tower, leaving the sorcerer surprised and a little dumbfounded, staring down at the open book on his desk.
"...let's just say he said yes in the end," finished Sofin. He looked back up at his animal friends. "Oh, I'm so excited! Today is going to be amazing." Whatnaught chittered in agreement.
Mia flew from the bedpost down to the doorknob of Sofin's closet, and with a forceful flap of her wings, she pulled the door open. "What are you wearing for the party, Sofin?" she questioned.
"Oh!" said the prince. "I'll be wearing a set of sorcerer's robes, just like Mr. Cedric." He followed Mia into the closet, then found the light purple robes sized for a child, hanging against the back wall. Another set, identical to the first, hung right beside it, just in case the first was damaged. "That's the one," said Sofin, pointing at the robes. "But I should get dressed when it's time to go, not now." He left the closet, Mia following behind him, then closed the door.
Clover hopped onto Sofin's bed, watching the prince bounce up and down. "Wow, kid," he remarked. "You seem pretty excited about tonight."
"I am!" agreed Sofin, walking over to the bunny.
"But, kid, how come this sorcerer's whatchamacallit has you so worked up? It's just a party. You go to those every other week, and none of them have you this excited."
"Just a party?" exclaimed Sofin incredulously. He grabbed Clover with both hands and held him up.
"Woah, woah, hey kid! Personal space!" exclaimed Clover, but Sofin wasn't listening.
"It's not 'just a party'!" continued Sofin. "It's the Sorcerer's Soirée, where every sorcerer in the kingdom meets together!" He set Clover on his shoulder. "Oh, I'm so excited I could sing!"
Clover just groaned, knowing there was no stopping the prince now.
Sofin skipped to his bedroom doors and threw them open, Clover holding onto his shoulder so the rabbit didn't fall off. Then, spinning through the halls, Sofin sang as he made his way down the halls of the castle.
Sofin:
Once every year, the time grows near,
For all the sorcerers to appear,
From every town, they gather 'round,
And I'll be there, starstruck, spellbound,
At Hexley Hall, come one, come all,
To see the sorcerer's magic ball,
Because today I'm happy to say,
I'm going to the Sorcerer's Soirée!
Sofin raced through the hallway and rounded a corner before running down a grand staircase, two steps at a time. On his shoulder, Clover bounced up and down and held on tightly as Sofin kept singing.
Sofin:
There'll be magic, dancing, conversation all night,
Some new spells from every place to dazzle and delight,
There's a dinner filled with treats from kingdoms big and small,
After dinner's done then comes my favorite part of all…
Sofin reached the bottom of the stairs and twirled his way down another hallway. Clover was getting pretty dizzy, but he still managed to say, "What is it? What's your favorite part?"
Sofin:
Turn the lights off! Clear the stage!
Get prepared now, every mage,
One by one, they'll come and show,
An impressive spell they know,
And the other sorcerers choose,
Which spell wins and which spells lose,
Then the winner gets a prize,
And we all say our goodbyes,
Now that Cedric's brought me along,
I know nothing will go wrong—Oof!
Sofin's last word was interrupted when he accidentally twirled straight into his dad, who was standing in the middle of the hallway. Sofin stumbled, but thankfully didn't fall over. He looked back up at King Roland apologetically.
"Sorry, dad," said Sofin to the king. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"It's alright," said King Roland. He looked a little sad. "Actually, I'm afraid I have bad news about the soirée. It seems that Lord Gilbert is coming to the castle tonight instead of tomorrow to discuss some 'very urgent business.'" He made air-quotes as he said the last three words, as if he doubted the business was really all that important. "I know you wanted to go to the Sorcerer's Soirée today, but you did promise to show Lady Joy around the castle."
Sofin's face fell and he sighed. "Yeah, I did," he agreed. "And a promise is a promise." He looked down at the ground.
King Roland seemed to notice the glum look on his son's face. "Why not pick out a present to give to Lady Joy when she arrives?" he suggested. "It might help take your mind off things."
Sofin pulled his face into a smile. "I'll do that now," he agreed, and waved goodbye to his dad, who left, disappearing around a corner. Once he was out of view, Sofin's face fell again.
"You okay, kid?" said Clover from atop Sofin's shoulder. "I know you really wanted to go to that Sorcerer's Shindig."
"Soirée," corrected Sofin softly. "And I did want to go. But a promise is a promise. He took a deep breath in and out, then hopped to his feet. "Dad's right. I should go pick out a present for Lady Joy."
"Right!" agreed Clover, feeling happier now that Sofin wasn't down in the dumps anymore.
"There's just one thing," said Sofin, looking at the hallway in front of them. "What present should I get?"
"Hm," said Clover, thinking. "What kinds of stuff does Lady Joy like?"
"That's just it," said Sofin. "We've never met, really. I only know she's a princess a couple years younger than me. I volunteered to show her around the castle because I was hoping we could make friends."
Clover tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Why not get her a doll?" he suggested. "Princesses love those."
Sofin thought about his own dolls, split between Ruby and Jade when he had learned he was going off to the castle. Clover was right: all little kids loved dolls. It would make for a great present. "Where would I get a doll, though?" asked Sofin. He'd long since given his collection away.
"Amber used to have a million of those things," said Clover. "She grew out of them around when you came along, though. I'm sure if you asked nicely, she'd give you one for Lady Joy."
"Oh. Thanks, Clover," said Sofin. He'd forgotten that his animal friends had all been in charge of taking care of Amber before he had arrived. They probably knew more about his sister than he did. Then, with renewed purpose, Sofin skipped along the hallway towards Amber's room. Clover hopped off Sofin's shoulder and followed along at a much more reasonable pace.
A few minutes later, Sofin reached Amber's bedroom, then knocked on the door.
"Come in!" called Amber's voice from inside.
Sofin opened the door and stepped into Amber's bedroom, Clover hopping along beside him.
Amber was seated in a cushioned chair at the table off to one side in her room. A yellow dress was draped across the edge of the table, which was also filled with gems of various colors. Amber looked up briefly to see Sofin, then turned back to the table, placing one gemstone next to the dress, then another, seeing how the colors matched.
"Sofin?" asked Amber as the prince came in. "Do you think this dress would look better with sapphires sewn into the hem or opals?"
Sofin walked up to Amber and examined the dress himself. "They both look pretty, but I think opals would match more," he decided.
"You're right," agreed his sister. "I'll tell the Royal Dressmaker to sew them in later." She pulled herself up from her work and turned her chair to face Sofin. "So, what's going on, Sofin?" she asked.
"Well," said the prince, "Lady Joy is coming to visit soon. And I was going to give her a present, so I was wondering if you might be willing to part with one of your dolls to give to her?"
Amber gasped, and for a second she looked very excited, but in just a moment she schooled her face back into a polite smile, so quickly that Sofin wasn't sure if he'd imagined the whole thing. "Oh, I have the finest doll collection in all of Enchancia. I'd love to show you." She sprung to her feet, then added on, almost as an afterthought, "so you can pick one out for Lady Joy, of course." Then without further ado, Amber strode to the door and out of the room.
Sofin traded looks with Clover. Why was Amber acting so weird? Clover shrugged his shoulders, and the two of them followed Amber.
The Enchancian princess led them past a few hallways to a set of wide double doors. She placed her hands on the handles, then announced, "And this, Sofin, is the most impressive collection of dolls in all of Enchancia." And she swung the doors open.
Sofin looked inside the room—and gasped. Amber hadn't been kidding when she said it was the finest collection of dolls in Enchancia. It made the group Sofin, Jade and Ruby used to play with look tiny by comparison. Hundreds of dolls wearing dresses were scattered across the huge room. To one side of the room lay a shelf filled with hundreds of tiny dresses, combs, and brushes. There were dolls of all different shapes and sizes, adult dolls and child dolls, dolls wearing every shade from red to violet with a half-dozen different colors of hair and skin. And forget dollhouses—the floor was practically a doll village, complete with a town square and still fountain, parks to walk through or hold tea parties, gardens and streets with shops and restaurants, homes with terraces and theaters and too many other fine details to name. At the back of the room, a model bridge ran over a small moat to a huge castle, taller than Sofin was himself. Within one of the many windows, Sofin spotted a doll with a suspiciously familiar yellow-green dress and blonde hair, wearing a crown.
"It's…beautiful," whispered Sofin, taking it all in. The dolls seated at shops, the children dolls dancing through the streets. Each doll had been carefully placed to form a lively model of the village and the castle far beyond.
"It is beautiful," agreed Amber. "Clio and Hildegard and I—but mostly I—worked on it all the time when we were children. And today, I'm giving it to you."
Sofin thought he must have misheard. "You're giving it to me?" he repeated.
Amber just nodded. "I'm a little too old to be playing with dolls, anyways," she said.
Sofin thought he might faint. The entire room? All the dolls? All the carefully constructed decorations? Hours and hours of work? His? It was all so much at once. He could barely believe it. And Amber was giving it away—because she was getting too old? There was no way. Sofin would have treasured this room whether he was five or fifty. And Amber was giving it all away. To him. Just like that. It was crazy. He was too stunned to say anything.
"So?" said Amber. "Do you like it?"
Sofin broke from his trance and pulled Amber into a deep hug, burying his face in her gown. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you," he repeated as fast as he could, not sure if a million "thank you"s would be enough to express the gratitude surging in his chest. Amber returned the hug gracefully, then pulled away.
"Well," she said, "I'm glad you like it." She turned away towards the doors to leave.
Sofin caught her by the wrist and pulled her back into the room. "Nuh-uh," he said. "I know what we're spending today doing. Come on, Amber!" Sofin turned her face to point at the village full of dolls. "It would be so much fun."
Amber looked across the village, and her gaze softened. "I'm too old for this," she said, but there was no force in her words.
"Just for me?" said Sofin. "It would really make my day." He knew Amber really wanted to play with the dolls.
"If you insist," she said, not sounding disappointed at all. And then she joined Sofin among the dolls, and the two of them picked up dolls and made funny reenactments and laughed together as the time ticked by.
The hours passed quickly, the joy of Amber's gift easily helping Sofin to forget that he couldn't go to the Sorcerer's Soirée anymore. Clover stayed with the two for a bit, then left, then eventually found his way back to the pair, who enjoyed themselves as the sun crossed the middle of the sky and began to fall. Baileywick brought the pair of them lunch, and Sofin might have missed Lady Joy's arrival if Baileywick hadn't returned to remind him. But in the end, Sofin and Amber had to say a sad goodbye to the set of dolls, though Sofin was secretly planning to drag her back sometime later. He picked out a doll with brown hair and a green dress to give to Lady Joy, and then left the doll room, heading towards the main entrance to greet Lady Joy.
Clover hopped beside Sofin as the pair walked towards the entrance of the castle. But before they could get there, they were interrupted with the sight of Mr. Cedric racing down a hallway, brandishing his wand and trying to aim it at a flying raven. But Wormwood, the raven, was expertly avoiding each of Mr. Cedric's spells.
"Doppler Duplicato!" yelled Mr. Cedric, aiming at Wormwood, but the raven flew out of the way and the spell went flying towards a painting instead. Sofin watched with amazement as the painting rippled and then glowed before a second copy of the painting seemed to pull int self out of the first. And then the paintings stopped glowing, and where there had once been only a single painting, there were now two identical copies.
"What are you doing, Mr. Cedric?" asked Sofin to the sorcerer.
"Well," replied the royal sorcerer, "I'm trying to get in some last-minute practice for my duplication spell on Wormwood. I'm planning on showing all the other sorcerers at the Soirée tonight. Now, if only Wormwood would stay still!" He aimed his wand, then cast "Doppler Duplicato!" again, but the spell missed, hitting and duplicating a houseplant instead. Cedric frowned, then turned back to Sofin. "You are coming to the Soirée, right?" he asked.
Sofin looked from the sorcerer to the duplicate painting, an idea forming in his mind. He smiled brightly. "Yep, I'm coming!" he responded.
"Huh?" said Clover at Sofin's side. But the prince had already started walking away, towards Cedric's tower. Clover hopped rapidly to catch up.
"Kid, whaddya mean you're going to the Soirée?" said Clover. "I thought you were going to show Lady Joy around the castle."
"I am!" said Sofin with a little laugh.
Clover furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't get it," he said. "How are you gonna both be with Lady Joy and go to the Soirée with Cedric? And isn't this the wrong way to the entrance?"
"That's because I'm going to Cedric's tower to get my training wand," said Sofin. "I'll cast the Doppler Duplicato spell on myself, so that my copy can spend the day with Lady Joy, while I go off to the Soirée."
Clover looked a little skeptical. "I dunno, kid," he said. "That duplication spell seems pretty tough. How do you know you're gonna get it right?"
"I'll practice on something easier first," said Sofin as they approached the tower. He climbed the stairs, Clover following closely behind. Then, with well-practiced ease, Sofin held Clover up in the palm of his hand, and the bunny leaped up to the secret key hidden in the gargoyle. He opened the toe of the gargoyle and kicked the key down to Sofin, who caught it and placed it in the door. Then Clover jumped down from the gargoyle, Sofin catching him carefully.
After setting Clover down, Sofin turned the key and entered Cedric's workshop. He grabbed his training wand from the shelf it always stayed in, then pointed his wand at an apple."
"Doppler Duplicato!" cast Sofin, and he felt the magic surge through the wand and strike the apple. It rippled, then glowed, and then a second apple pulled itself out of the first apple. They looked to be the same size and shape, but the duplicate was colored pink instead of red.
Clover jumped to the table with the two apples, holding them in his hands and looking at them closely. "Well," he decided, "even though one of them's pink, they look the same and feel the same. Give it a shot, kid."
"Right," agreed Sofin. He took a deep breath, then held the tip wand up to his head, closing his eyes. "Doppler Duplicato!" he said forcefully. For a moment he felt very weird and strange, and then he had the strangest sensation of something peeling off of him, like a ghost separating from him. It was a little unsettling, but the spell seemed to have worked! With some excitement, Sofin opened his eyes and turned to his copy.
Sofin's heart stopped.
The prince's eyes opened wide, adrenaline suddenly coursing through his veins. His jaw fell open, and the training wand fell out of his hand, clattering on the ground. The sounds of Clover gasping in the background sounded faraway and muted, as though the only things in the world were Sofin and the copy. Sofin couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe—he could only watch, paralyzed, as his heart raced and the figure in front of him opened her eyes.
The princess across from Sofin straightened her pink ballgown, adjusted the purple amulet around her neck, then turned to look Sofin in the eyes, her shoulder-length curly brown hair waving in the breeze. She smiled.
And in a perfect replica of Sofin's voice, the princess said, "Hi there! I'm Sofia!"