All Aboard

Summary: Chrysta sends Sofia on an Undercover Protector Mission to investigate strange magical occurrences at a boarding school, and her mentor and siblings get pulled along for the ride.

Disclaimer: I only own the characters featured at the boarding school.

A/N: And here is where you'll discover the true evil behind the school. Naturally, yet again, there's more to the story than what they see at first. 😊 Enjoy!

Chapter List:

1: Protective Instincts

2: Intervention

3: Parental Agreement

4: Boarding Abroad

5: Magic Words

6: Claire Lois XIV

7: Hidden in Plain Sight

8: Down with the Dame

9: Safe and Sound

*Story*

Chapter 7: Hidden in Plain Sight

"Sofia?" Amber asked again, walking over to her stunned sister. The other two followed after her as Amber picked up the unscrambled message.

Lacroix is evil

"Lady Lacroix?" Cedric attempted to confirm. "The red-haired woman who was so kind and welcoming when we arrived?"

"There's got to be some mistake," Sofia mumbled. "Wouldn't we have sensed something about her when we got here?"

"Well," James started with a shrug as the others looked toward him, "you can't always judge a book by its cover, right? I mean, sometimes the worst bad guys usually come across as the coolest people."

"Right," Sofia sighed. "Like Princess Ivy appeared to Amber, even though she doesn't remember it. Or like Grimtrix…" She trailed off when she saw Cedric's face contort into one of discomfort. "Anyway, I agree with James. You really can't take people at face value these days."

"I say we confront her," Cedric suggested. "I'd want to demand a reason for her staff's use of curses in what is supposed to be a magical school setting. In fact, how long has this been going on? How many students have they…?" He trailed off, holding a hand to his head. "Mm…"

"I think you should rest first," his apprentice declared, giving him a stern stare. "You're already worn out from today, and I'm not going to have you passing out on us just because we've maybe found something that could point to Lady Lacroix being the one behind everything. Sorry, but you'll be no good to anyone if you try to seek her out before you've gotten a chance to get stronger." She sighed as he reluctantly nodded. "Besides, what if it isn't true? What if someone's framing her or something?"

"That's…a good point," Amber commended. "We should probably just wait until tomorrow to make any decisions." She took notice that Cedric was starting to sway a bit, so she grabbed him by the arms and guided him to the bed, having him sit down. "As for you, Cedric, Sofia's right: you need to rest."

"This is one time I won't argue with you," he muttered, closing his eyes and sighing.

While the twins were seeing to Cedric, Sofia quietly and quickly grabbed James's room key and slipped out the door, hurrying over to the boys' room and shutting the door behind her. She held her wrist out and activated her Enchantlet, contacting Chrysta. Seeing her trainer's face, she began, "We have a problem."

"Already?" Chrysta asked in surprise, blinking. "What's going on?"

"Have you heard of a woman named Lady Lacroix? We got a secret note that I had to unscramble, and it said, 'Lacroix is evil.' She is the headmistress here."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Vega told me." She tapped her chin in thought. "I don't know that name, but it does sound a lot like a former evil Mistress of Magic that we tried to stop years ago: Dame LaCrolais. We failed to stop her, and she got away."

"Is it possible that she's disguising herself as the headmistress now?"

"Of course it is. I'd lie low if I were you, though. If that woman is LaCrolais, she's bound to be very powerful and extremely ruthless. She was once accused of draining magic from children in her old village, rendering them completely weak and helpless." She closed her eyes and sighed heavily as the next words escaped her, "And sometimes…worse than that."

Sofia frowned as she picked up on her trainer's meaning. "Oh… I don't know for sure if they're the same people, but I'm going to find out. What I do know is that the same thing is happening here. The kids in our last class were chanting what Mr. Cedric said was a curse, and they were growing weaker. Even he seems to be affected by it."

"That's not good, Sofia," Chrysta warned her. "If Cedric isn't careful, he could lose all of his magic, and ultimately, he may lose his life."

Those words sent a chill through the girl, and she asked, "How do I protect him, Chrysta?"

"You get rid of LaCrolais. Listen, it's not that hard to do. Dame LaCrolais used to wear a cameo pendant around her neck, and it was used to store all the magic she acquired. However, no one has ever been able to destroy it."

"Is it because it's indestructible?"

"No, it's because she never let anyone get close enough to destroy it." The older Protector put her free hand on her hip. "You've got to figure out how to deal with that, Sofia. You're smart. You'll figure something out."

"But—" She gasped when she heard a rapid knock on the door. "I've gotta go. Talk to you later!" She quickly deactivated her Enchantlet and opened the door, only to see James and Cedric standing there. "Um…"

"Sof, what are you doing?" James asked in confusion as he held onto the weakened sorcerer. "It's almost 9:00. They'll be doing room checks soon, and we don't want to get into trouble."

"Uh, r-right. I was just…heh…" She smiled sheepishly as she scooted past the boys, slipping from their room and tossing the key to James. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" With that, she rushed back into her room and shut the door behind her.

"…That was weird," James remarked.

Cedric shook his head. "Not as weird as whatever is really going on here." With that, he and James turned in for the night.

"Where were you?" Amber asked, annoyed, as Sofia took down her ponytail and shook out her hair before moving behind a changing screen to get into her pajamas. "You can't just go disappearing like that."

"I was talking to the Protectors in Mystic Isles," she confided as she walked out from behind the screen, her lavender pajama shirt and pants replacing her normal clothing. "I think we may have a lead, but we're going to have to be very careful."

"I sure hope this is over soon, because this is a bit more than we signed up for," the other girl proclaimed, yawning and taking down her own hair. She smiled gently as Sofia's expression changed to one of concern. "Sofia, everything's going to be fine. You'll see."

Sofia smiled sadly toward her sister. "I wish I could believe that, Amber…" She sighed. "I really do…"

To be continued…