The Monster of Hexley Hall
Summary: *Based loosely on The Hunchback of Notre Dame.* Cedric is a reclusive sorcerer who was taken in by Grimtrix the Good many years ago, now living within the confines of Hexley Hall and never daring to venture beyond the school grounds. When a newly recruited student named Sofia begins attending the school, Cedric is immediately drawn to her for some reason. In addition, there is a dark secret lurking below the surface of the pristine magical school's exterior: students are getting severely injured, and some have even perished. When Sofia appears to become a target, Cedric will do anything he can to protect her while also trying to solve the mystery of what is happening to the other students. (An AquaMan Production. Read Me a Story format. Takes place 5 years after my "Season 5" stories.)
Disclaimer: I own neither Sofia the First nor The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Tanya and Nana belong to MarionetteJ2X. Serena and Charlie belong to me, and so do a few OCs mentioned in this story.
Chapter 6: A Little Light Reading
After leaving Cedric to his own devices (namely going to bed and finally putting the day's events to rest), Grimtrix made his way to his private study, where he spent many hours most evenings. He was a brilliant man, his mind filled with knowledge on just about every subject imaginable. His specialty, of course, was magic and its origins and purposes.
His family was purist, in that they had been raised with and supported magic at any cost. He'd gotten his motives and beliefs from them, forever destined to be a lifelong learner himself.
However, he wasn't just studying magic tonight. Instead, he was studying case files of former students of Hexley Hall, namely those who possessed Light Magic.
"Elwyn Volander," he read aloud, humming to himself as he took a sip of his drink, the strong aroma filling his senses as he did. "Elwyn possesses strong traces of Light Magic, though he doesn't know how to control it. Intervention is needed. Hmph, right." He tossed that file aside and picked up another. "Ah, Matzia Portland. Her cognitive and magical skills are incomparable. She is well versed in Light Magic. Mm, she was." He laughed and threw that file aside as well, forming a small pile next to him.
Overall, at least fifty-eight students over the past twenty years had met their end either before or directly after graduation, and they all had one thing in common: Light Magic. Grimtrix and a few of his colleagues (who shall remain nameless) extracted their magic before sacrificing them. To keep suspicion low, of course, he'd had to do some finagling and memory tampering that would alter peoples' memories or knowledge of the students. No matter what he said, he wasn't all that different from Master Hexley and his cult, because he himself believed in and followed many of the same practices. He just took a little longer and liked to do things his own way.
With that said, he thought of the new girl: Sofia Balthazar. She was a Light Magic Wielder, and she easily could have become a victim herself, but… He couldn't bring himself to sacrifice her. She was so different from the others… Strong, loyal, self-sacrificing… And he'd only seen a little bit of that mere hours ago when she'd stuck up for Cedric. The glow around her small frame was astounding, unlike anything he'd seen before.
He'd become captivated by and infatuated with the student. She was so intriguing to him, although he recognized that he was certainly overstepping boundaries due to the nature of their statuses: she was a student, and he was the headmaster. Still, he resolved himself to at least keep an eye on her, knowing that he would continue to sacrifice other Light Magic Wielders as he did. It was his duty, after all…
Grimtrix lifted up his left palm, a dark symbol (a pentagram) appearing directly in the center, heavy energy radiating from the mark. "It was my destiny to serve the darkness…" He smirked. "And no one—no one—is going to get in my way."
To be continued…
Next Chapter: We Meet Again
