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: Wrap-up time! 😊 Oh, y'all have every right to be suspicious of this old woman. The guitarist certainly didn't paint her in a favorable light, nor should he. Hmm. 😉 With that said, enjoy this chapter! "Bad Habit" will be starting soon, and I've just got to say… You guys have no idea what you're in for. Mwahahaha! :D
Heads up: Fluff alert! lol
Chapter 7: Breaking the Spell
"We've looked everywhere," Desmond panted as he, Cedric, and Angel stopped and caught their breath just outside Dunwiddie. "Around the castle grounds, through the village, and even along the line of the outer landforms. It's like they just disappeared into thin air."
"That is impossible," Angel assured him, shaking his head. "There must be some way to find them."
"If only Sofia could feel distress right now," Cedric groaned, gripping his wand. "My wand is connected to her GuardoRing, and it would signal if she felt like she was in danger."
"I have a suggestion: modify that when we find her," Desmond told him. "Even if she doesn't feel it, the ring could. And then, she'll be safer, and so would anyone around her."
The sorcerer nodded. "Believe me. That will be a first priority after this is all over."
They all grew silent when they heard footsteps approaching. A bit frazzled and startled, they scrambled to hide near the side of a house as a shadowy figure staggered by. Upon closer inspection, they saw that it was a young woman with a vacant expression on her face. They could tell she was clearly out of it, and it showed by her haphazard stepping.
After the several hours they'd spent searching for the girls, it had gotten darker outside, casting an ominous blanket of uncertainty over the area. They were somewhat surprised, then, to see the strange woman approach and then enter a dark forest on the outermost part of the kingdom without a care in the world.
"We haven't checked the forest yet," Desmond reminded them, gripping his sword.
"Maybe that woman knows something that could lead us to the girls," Cedric responded quietly. "We should follow her. Carefully."
The other two nodded and hurried after him as they followed the woman into the forest. As they trailed the stranger's trek, Angel stepped on a twig and snapped it, causing the woman to instantly stop and turn slowly to glare in the direction where they'd been standing. Thankfully, Desmond had shoved both guys aside and behind a bush just as the woman stared unblinkingly behind her. Satisfied that no one was there, she slowly turned back around and continued on her way.
"That's just creepy," Cedric whispered with a visible grimace as he shook his head.
"We should keep following her," Angel suggested.
"But watch where we step," Desmond added, garnering a nod from the other two.
They continued the path made by the mysterious woman, following her at a distance and minding their footfalls. When it appeared they'd come to a halt, the trio had to stifle a gasp at what they saw.
"W-What is going on here?" Angel asked in surprise as he watched the woman fall into line with probably more than a hundred other women.
Before them was a small, old carriage with a lit bonfire and cauldron in front of it. Surrounding this strange sight was what appeared to be a huge population of women from around Enchancia.
"Remember how that guitarist said women were going missing?" Desmond whispered. "I think we've found them." His eyes then widened as a radiant wave of blonde caught his eye from the side. "Amber! And Sofia and Calista!"
"Where?" Cedric pushed forward and gasped as he saw his partner, his niece, and his princess standing side by side, looking dazed as ever. "Oh, no…"
They kept quiet and out of sight as they saw something unexpected. The old woman the guitarist had described appeared out of nowhere, moving past the cauldron and directly toward Sofia. She raised one withered hand and slowly beckoned her forward with her gnarled fingers, grinning (nearly toothlessly) as the princess stepped forward unwittingly. The old woman mumbled something unintelligible before smirking as a purple aura appeared around the girl. Stepping forward, she leaned in and literally began sucking the life out of the princess. Before anyone could react, the woman's old features began to alter into younger ones. Her skin grew tauter and more youthful; her hair became healthier; her teeth, despite however few remained, began re-growing; and her frame was becoming leaner.
Cedric, realizing what was happening, burst into the open and quickly hurled a blast of magic toward the woman, knocking the shrieking woman to the ground as Sofia slumped forward a bit, her energy and lifeforce clearly drained. He hurried toward her. "Sofia!"
Angel trained his focus on the palms of his hands, quietly chanting an ancient language before facing his palms toward the crowd of women. He watched as the magic he'd produced spread over them, coating them in the shimmering blue mystic veil. "Go home," he said simply to the women, who were now under a very different spell. He sighed in relief as the women began trudging away from the scene.
The old woman suddenly bolted to her feet and snarled at Cedric as she grabbed Sofia's arm, pulling her toward herself before the sorcerer could even reach her. "Stop right there," she ordered, her older voice not quite matching her morphing body. "This little beauty belongs to me now… It's the least you could do after you freed all my sacrificial lambs."
"What sort of sick joke is this?" Desmond demanded, holding his sword out toward the woman. "Unhand her!"
"No! You've ruined everything! I'd set things up perfectly!" She hissed as she dug her nails into Sofia's arm, hardly noticing the entranced girl flinching in pain. "My music spell would charm all the women into submission. The guitarist who'd purchased my enchanted guitar would be my cover. And then, all the women would follow a musical command to come to me, and I could drain their youthful lifeforce to become young and beautiful again." She gestured emphatically toward the empty area around them. "Now that you've scared away my sheep, I guess I'm just going to have to take what I can get!" With that, she began inhaling the purple aura from Sofia again, smirking as she felt herself growing stronger while Sofia grew colder and weaker.
Desmond quickly maneuvered his fiancée and the young sorceress out of the way and settled them against a tree a good distance from the old woman's bonfire. "Angel," he began, turning toward the Native boy who'd followed him, "can you keep an eye on them? I'm going to help Mr. Cedric rescue Sofia and deal with this evil woman."
Angel nodded and sighed as he watched the prince turn and bolt back to Cedric. "Be careful…"
"Let her go!" Cedric demanded, sending blast after blast toward the wicked woman, who cackled and dodged him each time. "She owes you nothing! Just because you're a disgusting, power-hungry, old hag, that doesn't give you the right to seek out younger and more beautiful girls and steal their youth and vibrancy. Whatever mask you may craft for yourself on the outside, it will never match your decaying soul on the inside!"
The old woman growled and held Sofia tighter, smirking as the girl whimpered a bit, seeming to feel pain despite her predicament. "Keep talking, and I'll tear her to shreds. There will be nothing left of this girl."
"If you even try, I'll tear you to shreds," Cedric warned, pointing his wand at her. "Release her, now!"
"Make me!"
"Gladly."
The woman barely had time to react as she felt the blade of a sword slice down her shoulder, forcing her to drop Sofia to the ground. She yelled out in agony and anger as she watched Cedric quickly scoop Sofia into his arms. She then whirled around, her eyes glowing yellow and her brows furrowed as she glared at Desmond, whose sword blade was now coated in a strange green color. Her blood, perhaps? "You will pay for that!"
"I doubt it."
She gasped and turned back again, only to see Cedric's wand glowing in one hand as he used his arms to support his partner's weakened form.
"Vinco Malefica!" A powerful stream of magic erupted from his wand, blasting the old woman and destroying her for good. He grunted in a bit of discomfort as his strength began giving out, but he sheathed his wand and felt a sense of renewed strength as he supported his partner in his arms. "Sofia," he whispered, sighing as he saw that she was breathing yet seemed to be unconscious due to the loss of energy (not to mention lifeforce).
"Did that woman hurt her?" Desmond asked in concern as he walked up toward Cedric.
"She was practicing a dark magic ritual: lifeforce extraction. It certainly knocked her out and may have even done some damage—I won't know until Sofia wakes up. But the best thing was definitely to destroy that woman as it was one sure way to break that wretched spell, so I thank you, Prince Desmond, for your quick thinking."
He nodded, smiling softly. "Anything for my friends, and Amber, of course. Speaking of which…" He glanced toward Angel, who was keeping a close watch over the other two girls at a distance. "They all have been through a lot. Maybe it's best to get them back to the castle so they can get some rest."
"I quite agree. As soon as I regain some of my strength, I'll be happy to oblige…"
Before long, the guys were able to carry the sleeping girls (and sometimes levitate them with Cedric's and Angel's magic) as they headed back to the castle.
Desmond placed his future wife in her bed and kissed her forehead as she slept. "I love you, Amber," he whispered gently in her ear, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb before smiling and leaving the room.
Angel helped Calista into her bed, sighing in relief as the girl seemed to smile in her sleep. Her breathing was even and steady, much to his delight. "Goodnight, my Chante," he told the sleeping sorceress before leaving and heading out her door.
"What about Sofia?" Desmond asked curiously as Angel walked up next to him in the hallway. They were standing across from Cedric, who was holding the considerably weaker princess in his arms. "She got the worst of it."
"I'll monitor her tonight," Cedric assured the prince. "It would be best both for my peace of mind and her safety. I'll update you both tomorrow."
Angel nodded. "I believe I will sleep in the guest room set aside for me; it is a bit too late to go back to my tribe this evening."
"I'll do the same," Desmond concurred. "Mr. Cedric, please make sure you also get some rest…"
The sorcerer sighed. "I make no promises, Your Highness. Sofia is my first priority. If she is all right, then I can start to worry about my own health."
Angel smiled thoughtfully. "Spoken like a true protector."
Desmond smiled at the irony. "And here, I thought that was Sofia's job." He chuckled before turning and walking toward the guestrooms, Angel beside him and chatting with him as they left.
Cedric sighed. "Right…" After a bit of a struggle with his exhaustion and Sofia's unmoving frame, he finally managed to maneuver them into his tower and, at last, to his own bedroom. He pulled out his wand and cast a spell on the bed, making it warmer and a bit softer.
The sorcerer carefully placed his partner onto the bed, helping her under the heavy covers as she slept. He knew that the best thing for someone who'd gone through what she had was rest. He was startled, then, when he heard a soft mumble from her.
"M-Mr. Cedric?" Sofia opened her eyes and blinked at her friend. "What happened? …Where am I?"
"You're in my room for now. You've had…an accident." It wasn't exactly the full truth, but he couldn't necessarily go into details when she was still so out of it. "Get some sleep, my dear. I'll explain everything later."
She yawned. "Okay…" She then frowned and gave him a sheepish look. "Mr. Cedric…Will you stay with me for just a little bit? I feel kind of…weird."
He knew quite well what the 'weirdness' was about (her energy loss), and he knew he had to oblige her request. "I suppose I could, for a little while." He carefully sat down next to her, surprised when she instantly curled up next to him. He relaxed a bit as he began rubbing her back, lulling her back to sleep before too long. "Sleep well, my dear."
Perhaps half an hour went by, and Sofia was sleeping peacefully now. She showed no more signs of pain or discomfort, which was a relief to him. Although he'd attempted to get up and allow her to have the bed to herself, he found that she'd somehow tightened her hold on him. Resigning himself to the situation, he eventually caved in and fell asleep as well.
The next few days went by a bit faster. The guys had managed to find a new guitar for the musician, who happily showed up at the bazaar one day and was more than thrilled with his replacement. Amber and Desmond were able to spend some time out on the water in a sail boat, away from the land for a while. And Angel and Calista were having a picnic outside near the same water, both performing their own magical tricks to pass the time together. The downtime seemed to do them all a lot of good.
Meanwhile, in Sofia's secret garden, Cedric had magically strung up a hammock for them to relax on (an ode to their evenings aboard the pirate ship The Barracuda a while back). As they reclined against the hammock, they let their minds wander before settling on a topic of conversation.
"Desmond told me how you saved me," she murmured softly with a smile as she giggled at his sheepish look. "You're always saving me, aren't you?"
"Just trying to repay the favor, my dear girl." He chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his own arm and rested her head on his shoulder. "When I saw that wicked woman literally sucking the life out of you, I…" He sighed. "I swear my heart sank to my feet. My fear was that you'd have your very being absorbed by that awful woman. She didn't deserve the youth and beauty she stole from you."
Sofia blinked before glancing at him.
"She didn't realize that to be truly beautiful, you have to have a heart to match." He reached down and gently squeezed her hand. "She could have learned a lot from you, but her villainous ways destroyed her in the end. She could never have the heart that you possess, thankfully."
The princess smiled, blushing a bit. "Mr. Cedric…"
He returned her smile before looking up toward the sky, where the clouds lazily floated by. "I'm just glad it's over, and that everything is back to normal."
"Our version of 'normal' anyway," Sofia corrected, giggling as he nodded. "Although, I feel like I should tell you something." She frowned thoughtfully and released him, letting her arms drape across her stomach. "While I was hypnotized or whatever with Amber and Calista, I had…" She sighed. "I don't know if you'd call them dreams or visions or what."
Cedric blinked at her. "What are you talking about? What sorts of dreams or visions?"
"I kept…dreaming about strawberries." She laughed as he chuckled. "I know what you're thinking: 'Perhaps you were hungry, my dear.'"
"At least your impression of me is better than some people. Because that's pretty much what I was going to say."
Sofia smiled before shaking her head. "It wasn't just about that though. In my dreams, these strawberries seemed…sad? Afraid, even? I can't really explain that, but I wanted to try to help them somehow. So I made tiny little dresses for them, with miniature hats. And I used some paint to make little happy faces on them, and—" She flushed in embarrassment as Cedric started laughing. "I know it sounds silly! Stop laughing!"
Cedric sat up a bit, shifting somewhat before lying down next to her again. "I'm not laughing at you, Sofia. I just…think it's mildly adorable that you believed strawberries were sad." He chuckled warmly as she sighed heavily. "I suppose I never imagined food having feelings."
"I just…think there's more to it than that. I think it's symbolic of…something. I don't know." She shrugged. "I just feel like we're in for a few more big changes for some reason. And maybe those dreams mean something, and maybe they don't. Maybe I'm stressed?"
"That's a possibility," he admitted, nodding. "Many people tend to have strange dreams when they are stressed. It could have just been your mind trying to process and react to everything that's gone on the last few days, especially since you weren't able to react to the situation at hand." He smiled as she returned to her original position, wrapping her arms around his arm again. "Whatever it is, if anything is going to happen, we'll deal with it accordingly. Meanwhile, if I come across you dressing strawberries up in tiny ballgowns or something, I'm not going to say a word."
Sofia just laughed. "Gee, thanks." She sighed softly. "I just can't shake the feeling that we're in for something big soon… I just wish I knew what it was."
"Whatever it is, we'll handle it like we always do." He patted her hand encouragingly as she gazed at him. "Together."
The princess smiled. "Good to know."
The end