Weakened Link
Summary: A powerful enemy has its sights set on separating Cedric and Sofia, whom it considers too powerful due to their bond. It plans to infiltrate the past and eliminate the princess, but what it doesn't count on is the powerful ties between the alternate realms, and the partners' sheer will to protect each other at all costs. (Collab with MarionetteJ2X)
Disclaimer: I don't own the show. Nana, Tanya, and the Abstruce Realm and its inhabitants all belong to MarionetteJ2X. The Absentia Realm and its inhabitants belong to Mr. Shortman92. Any other OCs you see, including Angel, Corbin and Alamea, belong to me.
A/N: You want some sweetness mixed with drama and danger? This is the chapter for you! 😉
Chapter 4: Heart Attack
Stepping through that vortex had sent the quartet spinning, like gravity wasn't even a thing anymore. The sheer velocity with which each Cedric and Tanya were propelled into the past was astounding. It was enough to make them feel as if they would be eradicated at any moment, yet they felt no pain. Time travel wasn't a new concept, and while it was highly discouraged, it wasn't necessarily illegal. It wasn't exactly unfamiliar either, especially to Cedric from the Ever Realm.
He and Sofia had done the time traveling thing years ago, not to mention the incident recently with Sunni. And there had been bits and pieces over the last several years that could count toward time traveling. It was not a favorite pastime, though, because of all the things that could go wrong. One tiny incident conducted in the past could change the entire pathway for the future, and that was petrifying to think of.
As they soared through the seemingly endless nothingness, they heard Zarova's voice loud and clear.
"Attempting to rescue Princess Sofia, are you?" she taunted, chuckling lowly. "Trying to save her from me… How do you like my handy work so far?"
"Who are you?" Tanya demanded, her dark eyes narrowing. This enemy's voice was unfamiliar, yet she knew immediately how powerful she must be. To cause this much trouble for at least three realms already…
"I am Zarova, the sixth member of the Elementals. And my aim is to destroy every known version of Sofia of Enchancia, princess or otherwise, in existence, and I've begun with the most problematic trio."
"The Elementals," Cedric growled. "I should have known…" He looked toward the other two sorcerers, who seemed confused. "They're our current enemy. More nuisances than anything, but this… This one is different, and…" He sighed in frustration. "Number six… Sofia and I even researched this member. We were wary but not wary enough."
"Every single Sofia of Enchancia whom I've encountered is suffering greatly," she gloated, angering the quartet further. "The Absentia Realm version is the weakest, as you can imagine… I've already captured her childhood counterpart. It was a little too easy for my liking. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she didn't make it. Oh, tsk, what a pity…" Her voice was like a serpent, with its hissing coo, soft yet somewhat disturbing.
"Leave her alone!" CeCe yelled out at the emptiness, his fists tightening, and his nails digging into his palms.
"And let's not forget Abstruce Realm's princess," Zarova continued, ignoring the normally happy sorcerer's outburst. "She's tough, powerful, and always up for a challenge. Yet she's lying, weakened, in her bed, while a child has to tend to her, helpless to save her mother. I've also already captured her childhood counterpart."
Ceddy didn't give Zarova the satisfaction of reacting. Instead, he stayed quiet and calm, like he often did. He was terrified, not knowing what would become of his darling Fia, but he wasn't going to panic. There surely had to be a way…
"Finally, my least favorite of all these wretched girls, the precarious Princess Sofia of the Ever Realm. Saving the day, saving the realms and the world… Defeating all opposition… Always so cheerful and positive, despite the decay of humanity around her… Her powers and her resilience are undeniable, but that makes her quite possibly my biggest threat… Which is why I've decided to destroy her first."
Cedric's eyes widened as Tanya gripped his hand. "You can't do that! She's done nothing to you!"
"Oh, she's done everything to me, you fool! Every hollow victory your princess wins, she sets the Elementals back more and more. We're a force to be reckoned with, yet this girl makes us look like amateurs! Well, no matter… The current Princess Sofia may be hard to destroy, but I'm rather sure things were not always so easy for her. She wasn't always this strong and powerful." The others could just hear the smirk she was likely wearing on her lips. "I'll destroy her in the past, so there won't be a future for her… And after that, I'll destroy the other two younger versions. Without Princess Sofia, there likely never would have been a proper 'future' for any of you." She cackled loudly as a flash of light descended upon them. "Do you think you can stop me? I'd like to see you try!"
A complete whiteout zapped through the nothingness, and everyone suddenly vanished.
"Papa, wake up."
Cedric groaned in pain as he slowly sat up, his muscles aching as he did so. He frowned, lifting his hand to shield his eyes from the brilliant sunshine just beyond the trees. He blinked as he noticed Tanya before him, back in her child form, staring at him worriedly. "I'm all right, Tanya," he told her, causing her to sigh in relief. "Where are the other two?"
"I think the question is more, 'When are we?'" CeCe suggested as he and Ceddy stepped up behind him and pulled Cedric to his feet. "I mean, it's obvious we're in Enchancia, but it looks a little…strange. Kind of like how it would have looked, what? Over a decade ago?" He sighed. "That woman said something about having captured my Sofia's and Ceddy's Sofia's childhood forms."
Cedric held a hand to his head, already despising the catastrophic issue of handling the 'past' and now the multiple versions of his partner. "So… I guess that means that we are in my realm's past… Which would mean that Sofia is in Dunwiddie with her mother."
"Mommy, come see this picture I'm making!" a young voice called out from an area not too far away from them.
They turned and saw a young Sofia, probably about six years old, sitting outside on a blanket, her parchment book on her lap and a set of paints scattered around her. Some paint was even on her skin and in her hair, which was tied into little pigtails.
"That is Mama?" Tanya wondered in awe. "She looks so…tiny."
Cedric laughed. "Some things never change." He knew that if Sofia had been next to him, she would have likely slapped his shoulder for that comment. If they were successful in their quest, she could smack him all she wanted. At least he'd know she was alive, and he could feel her again…
"I'll come check in a minute, Sofia," Miranda's voice called back from inside the small house. "I'm making lunch, okay?"
The little girl sighed. "Okay…" She frowned as she wiped some blue paint off her cheek and brushed her dirtied hands along her apron. "I wish I had a brother or sister to play with. Mommy is always so busy…"
"Your Sofia was an only child?" CeCe asked with mild surprise. "I thought… Aren't Princess Amber and Prince James her siblings?"
"Step-siblings," Ceddy answered. "In both our realms, Miranda married King Roland, and they all became step-siblings."
"And in the Ever Realm, Prince Corban was born a few years ago, the child of Queen Miranda and King Roland," Cedric concluded. "But Sofia didn't have any siblings as a child, from what she told me."
"Aww. That's too bad. I know Sofie's little brother Corban is just the cutest little thing." CeCe walked forward, kneeling in front of Sofia, smiling pleasantly at her. "Hi!"
Sofia didn't react and continued her painting, her fingers smudging the green paint across the paper, creating what looked to be…grass, perhaps. "Hmm."
"She can't see me or hear me?"
"We are in the past," Tanya reminded them. "To her, we do not exist yet…"
"So, how is Zarova going to…?" Cedric frowned. "Never mind. I don't want to find out. We need to figure out a way to make her see us so we can help her."
Little Sofia yawned once before dipping her fingers into the red paint, drawing lazy patterns on the parchment. She smiled softly as she observed her handiwork. "A heart," she giggled, nodding to herself.
Ceddy glanced at the picture and smiled fondly as Cedric moved next to him. "Remind you of anything?"
"The rubies…"
"What rubies?" CeCe wondered. "You two get the twin power and have the same past for the most part, and I'm over here like a lost duck on a rainy Tuesday with no bumbershoot."
Tanya couldn't help but laugh. "What a strange analogy…"
"I smell cookies," Sofia mumbled to herself, looking up and sniffing the air, but of course the only thing that was actually cooking was the food Miranda was making. Her mom didn't really bake cookies often, since they couldn't exactly afford them, so how was this possible? "Cookies and… Ooh, is that magic?"
Cedric blushed a bit, remembering that Sofia had always told him that was his scent each time she hugged him. All those years, and that hadn't changed.
"Hmm." Little Sofia glanced back at her painted heart, poking her lip out. "If only I knew magic. I could make the heart glow." She ran her fingers along the paper, her blue eyes tearing up a bit.
Not wanting to see his partner's childhood counterpart sad, Cedric unsheathed his wand and mumbled a quiet spell, allowing the heart on the paper to glow.
"Cedric," Ceddy began with a sigh, knowing that tampering with the past could be dangerous. However, seeing the little girl light up changed his mind. She deserved a little happiness, even if…
"Wow, I did it!" Sofia cheered, giggling as she dropped the parchment book to the blanket and stood up, waving her hands in the air. "I am magical! One day, I'll be a real sorceress! And I'll save the world!"
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of…"
Zarova descended before Sofia, who gasped sharply as she stared wide-eyed at the woman before her. The sixth Elemental smirked, snapping her fingers, allowing all of the Cedrics and Tanya to suddenly become visible to Sofia.
"W-Who are you guys?" the little girl asked as she stared at all of them. "I… I didn't know I was that magical!"
Cedric resisted calling the girl's name and instead quickly moved in front of her, murmuring gently to her, "Stay behind me, little one."
She blinked before nodding, nervously clinging to the sorcerer's robe. She nuzzled her face against the soft fabric. It was purple: her favorite color. And…it smelled like cookies…and magic… She gasped, glancing up at the mysterious man. Could he be…?
"Oh, so you think stepping in front of her is going to stop me?" the woman taunted, sneering at him as she removed Silas from her waist, tossing him at Cedric, cackling as the snake bit him and caused him to double over in pain before slithering away. "You seriously underestimate Zarova, sorcerer!"
"Cedric!" Ceddy called, watching CeCe scoop up Tanya protectively, as a massive electrical storm appeared from nowhere, lightning striking all around them, setting a few trees on fire in the process.
"Mommy!" Sofia screamed, tears streaming down her face. Maybe Miranda couldn't hear her, as she never came out to see her, but… How could she not? Was that a form of magic too? If so, she didn't like that kind…
"My power is plasma," the woman informed them. "The energy in lightning…" She held out her hand toward little Sofia, smiling dangerously. "And blood…" With a sharp crack of magic from her fingertips, she blasted the little girl backwards, the woman's eyes glowing a bright white as she began absorbing the energy and lifeforce from the future princess.
"S-Stop it!" Cedric called weakly, crawling over to the seemingly lifeless body of his princess, scooping her into his arms as Zarova broke her connection. He felt for a pulse and couldn't find one. With a look of horror, he noticed the same bruises, cuts, and welts breaking out on the little girl's body, mixed with the paint from earlier. She was… He lowered her to the ground and stood up, a rather obvious infection from the snake bite materializing as the venom began flooding his bloodstream, but he didn't care. He withdrew his wand and aimed it at Zarova. "I'll destroy you, slowly and painfully, for what you've done to her!"
Enraged, the other Cedrics and Tanya, who had wriggled free from CeCe's grasp, rushed over to Cedric, their own wands or magical items ready.
Zarova laughed as Silas slithered up her body, nestling into place along her waist again, his fangs dripping with a mix of his own venom and Cedric's blood. A spark of dark magic erupted, the princess's blood pooling in her hands and intermingling with the energy she was radiating. "I'd love to see you try…"
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Reignite