Reimagia
Summary: Now a graduate of Ever Realm Academy, Sofia accepts Cedric's invitation to train in a secret realm called Reimagia, which is home to some of the most powerful sorcerers on earth. However, there's a dark force lurking in the realm, destroying conjurors one by one, all while offering cryptic clues to his identity. If Cedric and Sofia can't solve the mystery, they'll be next.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First or any characters affiliated with the show. However, I do own the Kingdom of Reimagia and many new OCs mentioned in the story.
A/N: Ooh, here comes more conflict AND another necessary bonding experience with Cedric and Sofia. Also, some more development of the plot will take place in here. But make sure you're watching carefully. Wouldn't want to miss anything. 😉 Also, to theblindwriter95, I guess the ideas are just flowing and I have to keep writing as long as I have the inspiration. Also, I return to work in a few days and want to write as much as I can before then (especially since I'll have a lot of work-related things to do this weekend), so there's that. Lol. Enjoy!
PS: So… For inspiration for one of the murders mentioned in here (yes, I'm aware how awful that sounds, lol), I took a scene from the movie The Cube. If you've never seen that movie, I highly recommend it. Like this story, it involves solving puzzles and relying on common sense to survive. Anyway, one of the victims in that movie died in a similar-ish manner to what's mentioned in The Galley. So…there's that. lol
Chapter 10: Friction
The following morning, Sofia awoke with a sharp jolt in her hands, which startled her. "Mm," she whimpered, trying to calm the pain by clasping her hands together. It only seemed to make things worse.
Cedric, who'd felt her stirring, opened his eyes and noticed his friend's discomfort. He frowned and sat up, turning to face her. "Sofia, what is it? What's wrong?"
"My hands… They're hurting much worse than in the past." She looked toward him in concern. "I was so sick yesterday… Do you think it affected my magic? Something just feels wrong."
He reached out and clasped her hands carefully, waiting a few moments until she finally began calming down. He turned her hands palm-up and carefully ran his fingers over each one. He shook his head after a few seconds and said, "I don't think anything is wrong with your magic, Sofia. Instead, it's possible that they may be reacting to some negative force."
"What do you mean?"
"Whatever it is that's been killing sorcerers in this realm is getting stronger. We both felt it before, and now it's quite obvious to me that this negative entity is increasing its powers. Otherwise, you would have felt the negative reaction long before now."
After hearing his explanation, she hopped up from the bed, her arms by her sides and her hands fisted, a determined look on her face. "Train me in magical defense."
"Me?" He blinked, hesitating. "I… I don't know, Sofia… Perhaps it's best to come from one of your official trainers."
"No," she insisted, getting his attention. "With things the way they are, and with Malvino being out of the picture, clearly there's some sort of disconnect here. Until we know what's going on, we can't trust anyone." Her gaze softened as she added, "But I trust you, Mr. Cedric. And only you."
He sighed.
"We're partners, remember?" She ignored the jolt in her palms as she reached out and firmly grasped his hands. "Anything we do, we do together."
Realizing that he couldn't sway her, he nodded. "Very well." With a wave of his wand, they were both cleaned and dressed in their usual clothing: him in his sorcerer outfit and her in her Protector outfit. "But we must not draw attention to ourselves. Just follow my lead."
Meanwhile, at The Galley, several people were gathered in the throne room, discussing a key concern: the amount of violence and murder that had occurred. Sir Leignton stood in front of his throne as his advisors stood next to him. Axima, Hironko, Bergon, and Lamaya were even there, listening to the conversations.
"Two sorcerers were found dead last night," a female resident complained, her eyes wide with fright as she spoke to the leader. "One of them didn't even have a face left."
"I sent one of my assistants last night to…keep an eye on things," Lord Cadigan told Sir Leignton, but he clearly left out the part where it was Cedric the other man had been trailing. "He…never came back."
"It's quite possible he was one of the victims."
"There were five more found dead by the water," a man told them, stepping up to the woman who'd previously spoken. "Two of them were only children."
"That's awful," Lamaya murmured to her friends, her hands raising to her lips. "Who would kill children?"
"This is getting far out of hand," Sir Leignton announced, holding out his hands to calm the crowd. He sighed as they grew still. "I urge you all to return to your dormitories for now. Magically seal yourselves in. You'll be notified when things are considered safe…"
"And how long will that take, Sir Leignton?" the woman asked, frowning.
"I'm not sure, Madam, but give us the time to try." Once the crowd had been escorted out of the throne room and back to their dormitories, the leader turned to his advisors. "This has gone on long enough. Who knows who will be next? Quite frankly, gentlemen, I fear for my children's safety, and for the safety of everyone in our land."
"What can we do, Dad?" Hironko asked, nervously rubbing his arm. "It seems like there's no stopping this guy."
"He's right, sir," Bergon affirmed. "Even if we find the one responsible, how do we stop all of this?"
"We fight," the leader insisted. "We take him down. We destroy him like he's destroyed so many others. Even if it turns out this villain is one of our own, there must be no hesitancy."
Axima swallowed nervously and quietly turned as her father continued speaking. She discreetly hurried away, slipping out one of the side doors.
Hironko had seen her leave, though he wasn't sure exactly where his sister was going. Curious, he mimicked her previous actions and quietly followed after her.
To Cedric's and Sofia's surprise, the Grand Cupola was completely empty today. None of her trainers were there. No students. No operators. No one. Therefore, they decided to occupy one of the larger vacant training rooms, and after briefly talking, the time had come: they were ready to face off.
"Don't hold back, Mr. Cedric," Sofia insisted, gripping her wand in her right hand as she held herself steady. Her palms weren't hurting now, which must have meant something, but she wasn't sure what. "Hurl your strongest magic at me."
"Are you sure?" he checked, clasping his own wand.
"Yes. I have my wand, my hand magic, my Enchantlet, my GuardoRing, and my amulet. I can defend myself if necessary. Besides, do you think this villain will go easy on me if I go up against him?"
"No…" He nodded. "Very well. Brace yourself then, my dear."
The first spell he threw at her knocked her off her feet, sending her spiraling to the floor. However, he was surprised how quickly she rebounded from the impact and stood to her feet again.
"I'm impressed," he admitted, raising his wand again. "Not many can recover that quickly after being knocked down."
Sofia smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet, Mr. Cedric. Bring it on."
Cedric threw a few more spells her way, watching as she dodged a few, jumped over one, and then used her GuardoRing to create a shield to protect her from another. Of course, that was one of the functions of the ring he'd created for her, but for her to be able to consciously activate it was remarkable to him.
Seeing that he appeared to be a bit distracted, Sofia raised her own wand and returned the attacks, which Cedric barely dodged. In fact, one sent him to the floor at one point.
"Clever," he complimented, seeing her smile playfully, before he hopped up and tossed another spell her way.
Sofia grabbed her amulet and quickly called, "I wish to be small!" She just barely transformed into her smaller self as the magic went soaring past her. "Ha!"
"Where did you go?" Cedric looked all around, unable to find his friend.
Sofia crept along the room and ended up behind Cedric. She whispered to her amulet, "I wish to be my normal size." After transforming, she placed her wand against his back, smirking as he turned to face her in surprise. "I guess that would be… Cedric: one, Sofia: two?" She giggled as he returned the smirk.
"We'll see about that."
For nearly an hour, they faced off. Both used every spell, every outlet, every bit of knowledge of magic to their advantage. Cedric never held back, but Sofia never gave up. She was knocked down a few times, but she jumped back up just as quickly, returning the attack or dodging it.
At one point, Sofia sent a spell in Cedric's direction, catching him off guard long enough to activate her Enchantlet and create a lasso, which she used to yank his wand right out of his hand. She grinned triumphantly as she clasped his wand in her own hand, waving it tauntingly. "Missing something?"
Cedric smirked, folding his arms. "You're certainly far smarter and swifter than people realize."
"Thanks, Mr. Cedric." She tossed his wand back to him before wincing in pain, dropping her own wand and holding out her hands. "Not again…" She glanced up as he walked over and grasped her hands gently. "It's a lot stronger now than last night… What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure, but we're going to stop whatever evil is lurking about in Reimagia, and we're going to find an end to your pain." He released one of her hands and placed his hand on her cheek in a comforting manner. "I promise."
She nodded before hugging him.
Meanwhile, just outside the city limits, Axima was sneaking along, staying out of sight of any who may still be on the streets. Unbeknownst to her, Hironko was trailing after her, curious as to what she could be up to.
The blonde girl moved along until she arrived at a small alcove, where Malvino (who was now released) was sitting on a bench, his head down and his hands gripping the seat. She looked around before sitting down next to him.
"What took you so long?" Malvino asked gruffly, a deep frown on his face.
"I had to get away from the others," she told him, reaching out and placing her hand over one of his.
Hironko's eyes widened in surprise as he eavesdropped on them from behind a tree. "Hmm…"
"I don't know what to do, Axima," Malvino confessed, sighing heavily. "I was acquitted of the crimes, but I can't be sure I'm totally innocent either. My memory is complete garbage, and I know I'm prone to violent outbursts sometimes…"
"But always verbally," she reminded him, sounding somewhat cheerful when she did, confusing the boy. "Never physically. At least…not that I know of."
Malvino removed his hand from hers and folded his arms. "Let's face it, Axima. Everything is lined up against me. Maybe I did do all of those things, and I just wasn't aware."
"There must be some sort of explanation," she urged him. "We'll get to the bottom of it."
"I'm not a murderer," he whispered, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or her. He soon felt a sharp pang in his chest, and before long he felt a few tears streaking down his face; however, with a gentle and encouraging touch from the blonde girl, he turned and sobbed in her embrace.
Hironko watched the whole scene in silence. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it all.
Axima just smiled, brushing her fingers through Malvino's hair before gently rubbing his back and murmuring words of encouragement. With her free hand, however, she reached down to her boot and withdrew a dagger.
Noticing this, Hironko muttered something under his breath before turning and hurrying away.
To be continued…
Next Chapter: The Final Clue