Just a little side project that popped into my head, and has been super fun to write. Not a one-shot, but I don't expect this to get super long, either. As always, first chapter is on the short side.
She awoke with a start, blinking her eyes rapidly in a futile attempt to adjust her vision to the complete darkness that surrounded her as the details of her dream faded away to nothing. With a shaky hand, she reached out into the void, fingers fumbling until they found the delicate, beaded chain of her bedside lamp. With a tug, the bulb lit, allowing her to see the details of her bedroom, the same one she'd slept in since the day she was born, and yet it felt like some place completely foreign.
Rolling onto her side, she stared at the empty half of her bed, unable to explain the sadness that overtook her at the sight, much less quell the overwhelming emotion. At the tender age of fifteen, still years away from adulthood, she certainly had never shared a bed with anyone, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that someone should be there.
Her stomach churned again, an urgent reminder of why she woke so suddenly in the first place, and she leapt out of bed, dashing down the hallway to empty its meager contents into the cold porcelain bowl that awaited her in the bathroom. Hands appeared seemingly out of nowhere, holding her loose russet locks away from her face so she wouldn't dirty them.
"Not again, Sofia?" Her mother cooed, and the teenager reached up to close the lid, laying her cheek against the cool surface as she whimpered miserably, silently begging the woman to fix a problem she was old enough to know that nothing but time could solve. "That's the sixth time this week, maybe we should ring the doctor." Sofia shook her head as firmly as she could muster, which barely counted as movement at all.
"No... Grace had the flu this week, too. It'll-" Her stomach churned again, and she lifted her head, throwing the lid open for a repeat of the episode.
"Okay, we'll wait a little longer, but if you're not better in a few days, I'm making an appointment." Green eyes sparkled down at Sofia with concern as she gazed thankfully at her mother's face, too physically drained to rise from her spot on the checkerboard tiled floor. Were her eyes always green? Sofia tried to remember as her heavy eyelids slipped shut, only to open again when Margaret shook her awake, insisting she return to her bed if she was finished being sick for the moment.
...
"Merlin, thank the gods!" Cedric cried out, carrying his precious bundle into the older Sorcerer's home. "You have to help us!"
"Course I will. What's the matter with her?" Merlin gestured for Cedric to follow him, leading them into his workshop and magically clearing a large table so the unconscious princess could be laid on the surface.
"Nothing a good rest won't fix. I-I..." Cedric drew in a deep breath, running shaking hands through his silver bangs. "I've wiped her memories and put her under a short-term sleeping spell." He confessed, avoiding the other man's accusing eyes.
"Why?" Merlin demanded, but Cedric shook his head, refusing to answer the question.
"There's no time. I need you to send her forward. Give her a new life, a new family... false memories, just- just whatever it takes. Make sure she's cared for, she shouldn't be alone, understand?" He gripped his long time friend by the shoulder, imploring him to do what was being asked with no further explanation, a tall order, he was already aware.
"Forward? You don't mean-" But Cedric was in no mood for his feigned ignorance.
"Don't bullshit me, not right now. I know you're capable of chronomancy, and that you've done it before." He stared defiantly at Merlin, almost daring him to continue pretending.
"Let me get this straight: You want me to use forbidden magic to help you commit treason?" He questioned, watching slack-jawed as Cedric nodded, letting out a bitter chuckle at how absurd the request sounded when stated that way.
"That, my friend, is exactly what I want." He had nothing else to offer. It wouldn't be long until the Royal Guards tracked him to the fortess, and he needed to make sure that both he and Sofia were long gone by the time they arrived, for Merlin's sake as well as their own. "I'm begging you." Cedric whispered, turning his eyes back to the girl. He leaned forward, taking one of her limp hands into his and placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.
To his surprise, Merlin lifted his wand, lips moving in a silent chant as he started to cast the spell. For a second, blue light engulfed both the princess and the old man. His eyes shot wide open, and he stopped the magic before it had truly begun.
"Cedric, there's something you need to know..." Back at the entrance, there was a forceful pounding at the door, so loud that it could be heard from even this distance, and Cedric produced his own wand.
"Later. I'll be back as soon as I can. I intend to join her, after all." With that, he transported himself back to Enchancia without giving Merlin another chance to speak. Back inside his tower, he collapsed to the floor, exhausted and completely miserable.
