Entrancing

Summary: When Sofia, Amber, and Calista all appear to be under the spell of an enchanting guitarist, Cedric, Desmond, and Angel team up to break the musical enchantment. However, things aren't always what they seem.

Disclaimer: I only own Angel. Any other OC that appears in this story belongs to MarionetteJ2X.

A/N: We all like a good twist, right? Well, here you go. If you sprinkle some cinnamon on it, you'll have a delightful confection from Taco Bell! …I'll see myself out now. :p Also, sorry it's taken me so long to update this. Work has been sort of chaotic this week. Lol. But I figured a little Valentine's Day update might be good for all of us. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Turn of Events

"Was it a good idea to leave the girls at the castle like that?" Desmond asked the other two as they neared the bazaar on foot. They'd ridden the majority of the way before walking from the edge of Dunwiddie. "No one else is aware of their situation."

"This hopefully won't take long," Cedric responded, gripping his wand. "When I find the string-plucking womanizer who ensnared my niece and partner, not to mention our future queen, in his clutches, I will not be kind."

"It is best to hear his side of the story too," Angel reasoned calmly. "A calm mind allows you to hear both what is and is not said."

"Right, well, what I expect to hear: 'It wasn't me! Please don't magic-spell me!' What I won't be hearing: 'I definitely hypnotized those girls with my charming wiles and magical abilities, and here is the counter spell. Toodles!'"

"What 'villain' says 'toodles?'" Desmond asked, his nose wrinkling in both confusion and amusement.

"You'd be surprised, Your Highness."

It didn't take very long before the trio happened across their potential 'suspect.' As the girls had discovered the previous day, a young man with thick brown hair sat apart from the bazaar, his fingers lazily strumming the strings of his guitar. As he played, he hummed along to the tune of the music. He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't even notice the trio of guys approach him.

"This is the 'musician?'" Angel asked the other two. "His playing and singing are fine, but I do not understand their sudden fascination with him."

"I've come to realize that girls have very different ways of determining what is 'fascinating,'" the prince informed them as he folded his arms.

"I can hear you guys, you know."

The three friends exchanged quick glances before looking down at the guitarist, who'd stopped strumming and was looking up at them with a somewhat irritated stare.

"Well, good," Cedric countered, grabbing the man by his colorful top and hoisting him to his feet, pinning him against the tree as both Angel and Desmond tried to stop him. "Maybe you'll hear this then: what have you done to our friends?"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" The young man appeared quite nervous now, his sarcasm and bravado gone as he looked into Cedric's angry face. "What friends?"

"Three girls we know said they heard a musician's guitar, and all appear to be under a strange spell from it," Angel explained, still attempting to get Cedric to loosen his grip, to no avail. "They are all important to us, and we just want them back to normal."

"Look, I didn't steal your girlfriends or whatever, so give me a break!" He sighed in relief as Angel and Desmond both finally managed to pull Cedric off of him. "I just play for fun! And for money, if I'm being honest. But I have no interest in any girls around here. I have a wife and a baby back in my own kingdom. I just travel to get my music out there."

"So you know nothing about this then?" Desmond clarified, sighing as he shook his head.

"We know something about it."

The trio turned, hearing a gruff voice behind them.

Two older men working at an assorted goods booth looked solemnly toward the small group. They appeared to be in their late forties, both with light brown hair and a set of brown work clothes. However, the man on the left had more angular features and green eyes, while the man on the right had a more rounded face and hazel eyes. They didn't appear to be related; they just looked rather similar.

"Rumor has it that women have been going missing around the kingdom," the man on the left informed them. "In fact, it was said that a musician, such as him, would play his guitar and basically hypnotize women, which would have them at his mercy. Before long, those women just disappeared."

"Anyone who would do such a thing is just a rotten excuse for a human being," the guitarist proclaimed, yelping and ducking behind Desmond as Cedric glared at him again. "Please don't tell me you still think I've done this! I told you—I just play to earn money. It's to help my family. If people happen to like it, that's not my problem, but I didn't really see it as a bad thing either…"

Angel narrowed his eyes at the man before looking down at his guitar. His brow furrowed further as he observed the instrument, focusing especially on the wooden portion of it. He glanced back up at the guitarist. "I have a question for you." Seeing him nod and step out from behind Desmond, the boy continued, "You say you are just a musician, and I tend to believe you. However, I must ask… How did you come to own this particular guitar?"

The musician blinked, gripping the neck of the guitar a bit more firmly. "Why do you ask?"

"Just answer the question," Cedric snapped, his patience growing thin. In fact, he was curious to see where Angel was going with his line of questioning.

The other man sighed. "I've owned the guitar for a little over a week."

"The same time the women started going missing," one of the booth workers informed Cedric and the others, who seemed a bit intrigued by this information. It even seemed to calm the sorcerer a little bit for some reason.

The guitarist continued, "I had one before, but it got damaged when a carriage ran over it—long story." He shook his head. "I just needed a replacement, and I bought it at a price I just couldn't refuse."

Angel frowned in curiosity, his fingers trailing over the strings of the guitar. He sighed in dismay as he noticed a familiar shimmer of magic coating his fingers. "It is the same magic that I found on Calista…" He then gestured toward some strange carvings etched into the wood. "And those are dark magic symbols."

"Enough is enough then." Cedric folded his arms as he caught the musician's attention. "Where did you buy the guitar?"

"Some weird old woman near the forest at the edge of the kingdom. You'll know her if you see her: huge earrings with drooping ears, sunken dark eyes, long scraggly dark hair, and a bunch of missing teeth." He shuddered a bit at the last part. "What's even weirder is I'm pretty sure she was wearing a few around her neck in a glass pendant."

"That's…charming," Desmond attempted, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He turned quickly to Cedric. "We need to investigate this. Maybe this woman holds the key to undoing the spell on the girls."

Cedric sighed as he looked upward, noticing the clouds darkening and hearing a rumble of thunder in the distance. "I think we need to regroup and wait until this weather clears up first. Besides, I'm a bit concerned about Sofia, Calista, and Princess Amber. It might not have been a good idea to leave them alone after all… What if they go missing next?" He shook his head. "I don't even want to think about it." He glanced toward the musician, who was loosely holding onto his guitar now. "If we're going to confront this woman, we need to do it on our terms. And I'm sorry, but…" He reached out, quickly grabbing the guitar out of the man's hands.

"Hey!"

"We'll return it to you once we solve this case." The sorcerer gave the man an apologetic stare rather than a glare for a change. "I know you don't know us, and I realize it's a lot to appreciate a stranger's situation, but…these girls mean a lot to us. We only want them to be safely returned to us, and it's likely that this woman may hold the key—and unfortunately, that means your guitar plays some sort of role."

The musician sighed heavily. "Fine. It was pretty cheap anyway… Maybe with all the money I made the last few days, I can finally afford a better one."

"That's the spirit. Sorry if I seemed pushy, but…" He sighed, shrugging. "If you knew us a little better, I'm sure my actions would make more sense."

"Hey, I get it. I have loved ones too." The man nodded toward the trio. "Good luck." Without another word, he turned and walked away.

"That was surprisingly easy," Angel commented, placing a hand to his chin. "I do not know how I feel about that."

"It doesn't matter to me," Desmond admitted. "I just want to get Amber and the other two back to normal."

Cedric nodded. "Prince Desmond is right. Let's go."

All things considered, the trio made a conscious choice to wait before confronting the woman. Something told them that it would be rather dangerous, and they needed to fully prepare for whatever may be hurled their way. With that idea in mind, they made their way back to the castle.

Upon returning, Cedric stowed the guitar in his workshop for safe keeping. He locked it inside one of his cabinets, pocketing the key. With any luck, no one would be able to locate the magic-coated, dark-symbol-covered instrument.

Meanwhile, to the guys' utter dismay, the girls were still in a trance. In fact, it was much worse: they weren't even speaking anymore. Instead, they simply stood (in their pajamas) side by side in Sofia's bedroom, staring dazedly ahead, with a small smile on their lips. It was eerie and discouraging to Cedric, Desmond, and Angel, but they had no intentions of giving up. While they were sure that the guitar held the key, they still knew the old woman would likely be the one to unveil the method to using that key. Messing with a magical item that didn't belong to them could likely only cause more trouble.

The rest of the day was pretty much a lost cause. Eventually, the trio of guys decided to just put the girls back to bed. After all, there was little sense keeping them awake at this point. Thankfully, Miranda, Roland, and Corban were away visiting Tilly and Sir Bartleby, so they wouldn't have to go about explaining the situation to them. And while avoiding Baileywick proved a bit challenging, they somehow managed to pull it off.

While Desmond tucked in Amber and Angel saw to Calista, Cedric carried Sofia to her room and gently nudged the door open with his foot. He placed her onto her bed and pushed back the covers, before helping her lie down. He then pulled the blankets up and over her again. He inhaled sharply when Sofia suddenly grasped his hands. "S-Sofia?"

The princess smiled lazily at him, her eyes still glazed over. "Mr. Cedric… Will I ever see that musician again?"

Cedric frowned before sighing, carefully lowering her arms to the bed before gently tracing his fingers through her hair, resting his hand against her head. "Get some sleep, Sofia." When she slipped into unconsciousness, he watched her for a few more moments before finally leaving for the evening.

"How is she?" Desmond asked as he saw the sorcerer exit his friend's room.

"Still out of it," Cedric sighed, nodding to Angel as he approached and stood next to Desmond. "What about Calista? And Princess Amber?"

"The same, I am afraid," Angel lamented. "Calista would not even speak to me. She just stared at me." He frowned. "It is so unlike her."

"It is unlike her," Desmond encouraged him, folding his arms. "That's not the real Calista right now, Angel. And that's not your fault. She'll be back to her normal self before you know it. They all will."

"We must head to this old woman first thing in the morning," Cedric insisted. "We will be more well rested, and we are now aware of possible dark magic surrounding that guitar. We will be getting the answers we need, no matter what it takes. Agreed?"

"Certainly," the youngest trio member enthused. "Anything for our friends."

"Right then. I'll see you both in the morning. Get some rest." Cedric bid them goodnight before climbing the stairs to his workshop. He'd get to bed in a little while, but first he wanted to inspect the guitar more closely.

The moment he opened the door, he was startled. He heard guitar music…

"About time you showed up," Wormwood grumbled as Cedric rushed inside. "I was sleeping just fine and all of a sudden, some stupid guitar music just started playing and woke me up."

"This can't be…" Cedric retrieved the key from his pocket and unlocked the cabinet, gasping at what he saw.

The guitar was glowing a strange white color, and it was playing on its own. The symbols on the sides appeared to be burning. Something wasn't right…

"That's it." Cedric used his wand to levitate the instrument from the cabinet. "I'm destroying this thing, now."

"Good riddance," the raven squawked. "It's annoying anyway."

"There's more to the story than that, Wormy, but for once I agree. Exscindo!" He watched as his wand demolished the guitar, and for a split second, he was relieved. However, that relief was short-lived once he made a startling realization. "The music… It never stopped!"

"Then that was the most useless spell ever," Wormwood complained, groaning in dismay as he tried to use his wings to stifle the guitar sound, to no avail. "What is the deal?!"

The sorcerer huffed. "I don't know, but I intend to find out. Stay here!" He hurried out the door and down the steps. He gasped as he nearly collided with Angel and Desmond, who'd rounded a corner. "Oh! You two frightened me… I take it you hear that blasted music?" In fact, the guitar strumming had now practically echoed across the kingdom. How no one else could hear it was beyond him.

"Yes," Desmond responded. "We were coming to see if you'd figured something out. Where's the guitar?"

"I destroyed it."

Angel gasped. "You what?! Mr. Cedric, what if that was the key to saving the girls?"

"Then we'll just find another way to rescue them." He blinked. "Speaking of which, did you two check on them?"

The boys exchanged glances before hurrying up the stairs leading to the princesses' and the young sorceress's rooms. Cedric followed behind them, nerves fighting against him the whole way.

A sinking feeling filled each of them as they realized the horrible truth…

"They are gone," Angel mumbled, his heart thudding in apprehension. "Calista…"

"They couldn't have gotten far," Cedric assured him, though he was just as dismayed and scared when he realized the sisters' rooms were empty as well. "Let's head out and look for them, before anything happens to them. Hurry!" He wielded his wand as Desmond quickly grabbed a sword from a wall display, and Angel's family magic coursed through his veins as his adrenaline kicked into overdrive.

They bolted out of the castle and into the night, not realizing that they were rushing right into danger.

To be continued…

Next chapter: Breaking the Spell