Bad Habits
Summary: A few days before Sofia's 18th birthday, she and Cedric are cursed by an unknown source, who absorbs the goodness within them and turns them wicked, forcing them to do his evil bidding. If the curse isn't reversed within 48 hours, they'll remain wicked forever.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First. I only own the concept of the Never Realm, which will make its appearance in the next story.
A/N: Here we go! Cedric and Sofia get to be bad in this chapter. Which, let's face it, is pretty much what this whole thing is all about. Lol! Wormwood's got his talons full—that's for sure. 😉 Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Bad to the Bone
"You know," Sofia began thoughtfully as she crossed her legs and tapped her right foot against the floor of the AutoCoach, "Mr. Doom-and-Gloom didn't say we had to deal with Magnus right now."
Cedric raised an eyebrow at his partner across the way. "Just what are you suggesting, my dear?"
She smirked. "We need some practice first. What better place to practice than…home sweet home?"
"Enchancia?"
The princess rolled her eyes. "No, Friezenburg. Yes, Enchancia!" She reached up and twirled some of her loosened hair around her fingers. "Imagine the look on Dad's face when you, a reformed sorcerer, and I, Sofia the ah-mazingly obedient daughter, start causing chaos around the castle—or the kingdom. It'll be great!"
"Hmm. I suppose that could be fun." He shrugged. "If we get locked up, though, we won't be able to mess with Magnus."
"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Cedric. We won't get locked up." She playfully tapped her Enchantlet. "I'll make sure of that."
Wormwood sighed in relief when he finally had the AutoCoach in his sights. He'd been flying for a while now, nearly passing out from the extra exertion he'd put into his efforts to catch up to the two friends. With one extra push forward, he locked his talons around a bar outside of the flying machine and caught his breath. "These two…are in so much trouble for leaving me behind." He glanced inside the window and frowned. "Look at them—laughing and enjoying themselves! I guess some people can't take a joke." Scoffing, he continued holding on to the AutoCoach as it began to make its descent into the Kingdom of Enchancia.
The friends settled the AutoCoach just outside the steps to the castle before exiting, making their way up the steps.
"Good afternoon, Princess Sofia," one of the guards greeted before bowing. "I trust you had a nice trip?"
"Of course," she responded saccharinely before withdrawing her wand and aiming it at the man, who appeared startled. "And you're about to have one as well. Caespito!" She grinned as the man yelped before tumbling down the steps, sprawling out on the pavement and groaning in pain. "Whoops."
The man didn't seem to be hurt—just stunned.
"Shall we?" Cedric asked, holding out his arm to his partner, who grinned.
"We shall." With that, she hummed as they walked into the castle together.
The guard gasped. "That was Cedric the Great with her. He's gotten into trouble for trying to take over the kingdom before. What if he's up to his old tricks? What if he's corrupted the princess?" He groaned and pushed himself to his feet. "I must warn the other guards!" With that, he took off.
Wormwood rolled his eyes as he flew after the rogue duo. While he was surprised at first to see the friends attack someone (Seriously, what had he missed earlier?), he was more concerned about trying to get things back to normal right now. "A lot of good the guards will do. They're always the first ones to get stopped in an attack." He frowned as he reached the entrance, noticing it was closed. "Hmm, guess I'll have to go in the back way." With that, he flew off toward Cedric's tower.
Cedric and Sofia ran through the hallways, knocking over vases, tearing down tapestries and portraits, and knocking down workers as they moved along. And they did it all while laughing.
Baileywick happened to be near the end of the hallway when he heard the ruckus, but he never could have imagined who was causing it. His eyes widened as Cedric and Sofia stopped before him, arms folded and smirks on their faces. "Cedric? Princess Sofia? What is going on?" He gaped at the mess behind them. "Did you two do that?"
"Does that surprise you?" Sofia asked, giggling innocently. Before the steward could move, she waved her wand and called out the words for a freezing spell, stilling the older man in his place. She sauntered up to him and smiled sweetly, patting his cheek. "Now, now, Baileywick… We can't have you spoiling our fun."
"What's gotten into you?" he asked with some difficulty, seeing as his body was frozen. He then tossed a glare at the sorcerer, who seemed more than pleased with Sofia's actions. "You did this to her, didn't you? I should have known that you'd never really change for the better. It was only a matter of time before our princess became influenced by your wicked ways."
"Believe what you want," Cedric told the other man, reaching out and placing his hands on Sofia's shoulders. "She has a mind of her own, and I'm not about to deny her the desire to cause a little trouble, even at your expense." He grabbed Sofia's hand, tugging her along. "Come along, Sofia. We have much more to destroy."
"Awesome!" Sofia gushed, following him.
Baileywick frowned, trying to move but to no avail. "If I get out of this, Cedric, mark my words: you are going to regret this."
In the throne room, Roland looked toward the entrance as the doors were literally blasted from their hinges. Suspecting some sort of attack from an enemy, he jumped to his feet, Desmond hurrying over from Amber's side with his sword wielded and prepared to strike.
Amber gasped as she and Miranda also stood up. "Cedric? Sofia?!"
"What is the meaning of this?" Roland demanded as the two friends stepped into the throne room. He noticed the strange change of clothing and basic appearance for both of them and instantly began wondering about the circumstances. "Cedric, don't tell me I misplaced my faith in you all those years ago."
"All right," the sorcerer responded sardonically. "I won't tell you that. We'll just let it be a little unspoken obvious thing."
"Sofia?" Miranda walked closer to them. "You're in on this? What's gotten into you?"
"I think you're asking the wrong question, Mom," Sofia laughed. "More like—what's been taken from me? I guess you could say the annoying sense of feelings and, ugh, goodness. Being good is so boring. Not when you can do this!" Using her wand, she destroyed the new stained-glass window they'd had created after Corban was born.
"No!" Amber gasped. "Sofia! How could you?!"
"We're just getting started, Princess Amber," Cedric assured her.
"GUARDS!" Roland called, scowling as only two appeared from the hallway. Still, two guards could do more than none. "Arrest them!"
"Rollie, no! Not Sofia!" Miranda pleaded.
"She's working with Cedric, Miranda," Roland snapped. "Family or not, I'm not about to let anyone get away with destroying our castle or trying to hurt others."
"That's cute, Dad," Sofia taunted as she felt one guard grab her arms while another guard grabbed Cedric. "But I think you forget who you're talking about here. I'm Princess Sofia, keeper of the Amulet of Avalor, a Protector…and a sorceress." She placed her left forefinger against the Enchantlet on her right wrist, smirking as it reacted to the negative energy radiating from her ring. With a quick flick of her wrist and a subtle movement, she ensnared the guard who'd captured her with a much more powerful net than usual. It even seemed to have some electricity sparking from it. She smirked as the guard grabbed the net, only to yelp as it shocked him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Moving only makes it worse."
Meanwhile, Cedric elbowed the other guard in his chest and side before twisting out of his grasp, using his wand to freeze him in place. "Sofia, let's go."
"Sofia, don't!" Amber called out to her sister. "This isn't like you!" Her eyes then trailed to Cedric, who glared at her. "And this isn't like you either, Cedric. What's happened to you guys?"
The sorcerer frowned as he noticed Sofia staring at her sister a little too long. He grabbed her arm. "Let's go!" With that, he pulled her out of the throne room.
"I want them found," Roland growled. "When I get my hands on Cedric, he's in for it, for what he's done to Sofia."
"I don't know, King Roland," Desmond finally spoke, seeming conflicted. "Sofia seemed to be pretty willing to cause trouble on her own. She did more damage than he did, too…"
"Desmond's right, Daddy." Amber walked over to her fiancé and sighed. "Something obviously happened to them. They may be under some sort of spell or something, because at this point, neither of them—Cedric or Sofia—would do something like this."
"He's been in trouble before, Amber," Miranda reasoned. "And Sofia's easily swayed by him sometimes… She admires him more than anyone."
"Mom, she saved us from him when he tried to take over the kingdom all those years ago. Even though he was her best friend then. Don't you think she's smart enough to do the same now, if she's in her right mind?" She folded her arms. "That wasn't Cedric and Sofia. Something's controlling them, and it needs to be stopped."
"I certainly hope you're right," Roland told his daughter, "because the last thing I want to do is imprison or excommunicate my own daughter."
Sofia squealed and giggled in excitement as she and Cedric raced up the steps to his workshop. "Getting some backup spells, are we?" she asked hopefully as he withdrew the key to his workshop, unlocking the door and quickly pulling her inside, locking it back.
"If we're going to take on that loud oaf, it couldn't hurt," he reasoned as he swiped his spell book from his desk. "I'm sure I have plenty of spells to cause all sorts of trouble for Magnus." He laughed.
"I doubt it," Wormwood's voice cut in as he swooped down from the top of the tower, landing on the worktable before the two friends. "When you became Mr. Goody-Goody Cedric the Great, you tossed out all those old spells. I doubt you even remember any."
"I'll be the judge of that," Cedric countered. "Where were you anyway, Wormwood? We didn't see you when we left Lanshire."
"Um, yeah, because you two wannabe 'badlings' left me behind! I had to fly double time just to catch up to your blasted AutoCoach, and then I hid out here while you two were causing trouble in the castle." He shook his head. "Which is so weird to say, considering the two goody-two-shoes you both tend to be. You're out of control, Cedric. You too, Princess Sofia. What you're doing is bad news, even by my standards."
Sofia grinned, tapping the raven on his beak and causing him to sputter a bit. "We'll take that as a compliment, Wormy."
"Agh, don't you start that too!" He flew off the table, hovering before them. "Enough is enough already!"
Cedric hummed before shrugging. "We've got a job to finish, Wormwood. Our next aim is King Magnus and his kingdom, and no one is going to stop us." He smirked at the startled bird. "Not even you. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay here and out of our sight." He grabbed Sofia's hand again, tugging her along. "Come on, Sofia. We have some mischief to make."
She laughed. "My favorite pastime!"
"This is just getting weird," Wormwood complained to himself as the pair left again. He watched from the window as they dodged a few guards before hopping into the AutoCoach, taking off again. He groaned loudly as he realized what he had to do. "I guess it's up to me to stop them… This is so wrong on so many levels!" Irritated, he flew out the window, quickly latching onto the AutoCoach again, aiming to determine what's happened to the sorcerer and princess and how to set things straight again…surprisingly enough.
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Magnus and Mayhem