Against the Clock
Summary: Cedric learns that a dark curse has been placed on his past self, which is causing him to weaken and disappear in the current day. In a race against the clock, he and Sofia travel to the past to see who has been tampering with past events and stop the culprit before Cedric disappears for good. *Carried over from Villain Symposium*
Disclaimer: I only own a few of the characters in here, including the villain. The character of Mahoney is in honor of one of my favorite actors who recently passed away: John Mahoney.
A/N: Poor Cedric can't catch a break. I'm pretty sure he needs a majority of this chapter just as much as Sofia does. Lol. I blame "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman for a lot of events in this chapter. The sugary sweetness of both versions of the song…yep, the content here was bound to happen. Haha. Anyway, bonding time coming up, so hope you all enjoy.
Note: For all my riddle-lovers, pay good attention to the message conveyed down at the bottom. If you get it, if you leave a review, type the first and last letters of the name hidden in the mysterious message. Example: if the name is George, type GE. 😉 Let's have a little fun with this one!
Chapter List:
1: Less than Sensational
2: Covert Chaos
3: Pastimes Aplenty
4: A Race Against Time
*Story*
Chapter 3: Pastimes Aplenty
About an hour after falling asleep, Cedric awoke only to see that the princess was now sleeping silently herself. She was leaning over the bed, her head resting on her arms like earlier, and her hand clasping his. He smiled. "Oh, Sofia." He managed to tug his hand from hers as gently as possible before sitting up against the inclined bed. He sighed and leaned back against the arrangement of pillows, pondering what to do next.
It just wasn't fair. Someone clearly had nothing better to do than to personally seek him out for vengeance or whatever; however, as per usual, his apprentice was now dragged into the situation. Granted, he'd tried to keep her out of it, but he knew better. She always wanted to help him out whenever and however possible, and she was not about to let him go at it alone. While he admired her stamina and loyalty, he often feared it would put her into grave danger… Of course, she was no stranger to that.
"Mm, Mr. Cedric?" Sofia asked as she sat up and yawned, rubbing at her eyes. She blinked when she saw her mentor's child form sitting in the bed and staring down at the blankets. "I mean, Cedric," she giggled, correcting herself just in case anyone else was around. She frowned at the look on her friend's face. "What's wrong?"
"I'm worried, Sofia," he admitted softly. "I don't know which of our numerous enemies could be after me and trying to get rid of me, but I'm also scared something is going to happen to you. You don't deserve it…" He frowned. "Your parents don't even know you're here." He pressed his hands to his face. "I'm a terrible mentor," he lamented, his voice muffled by his hands.
The princess smiled and shook her head before standing up. She reached forward and lowered his hands, looking directly at him. "You're a wonderful mentor," she countered. "I made my own decisions, like I always do. Sorry to say, Cedric, but I'm a headstrong girl."
He laughed as she released his hands. "I'll not deny you that." He inhaled before exhaling slowly. "I guess I'm just…nervous about how things are going to turn out."
She pondered his words for a few moments before asking, "What were some of the things you liked to do when you were a kid?"
"Oh, goodness, let me think…" He closed his eyes and let his memories come flooding back to him, a smile playing on his lips as he recalled some of the better times of his childhood. "Aside from magic, I liked sitting outside Hexley Hall underneath one of the trees and reading. Oh, and there was a secret about some of the trees that many of us discovered but promised never to tell the adults." He laughed as he opened his eyes. "I'd forgotten that."
"What secret?" Sofia asked, enthralled with his words.
"It would be easier to show you." He huffed. "But if I were to leave, they'd know…"
Sofia grinned and pulled him to his feet. "Just leave that to me. It may not be my most shining moment in my own past, but I do know a thing or two about duplication spells…"
"Sofia," Cedric began in a warning voice, "so help me, if you create that horrid copy of yourself again…"
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing this time." She grabbed his wand before he could say anything and aimed it at both of them. "Doppler Duplicato!" Once the spell was complete, she managed to use Cedric's wand to levitate his copy into the bed and her own copy into the chair, much to his surprise. Just when had she learned to do that? "Somnibus Populi Celae." She smiled as the two children copies fell asleep instantly before turning back to Cedric, who gaped at her.
"You still remember that spell?" he asked in surprise.
"Mm-hmm." She handed the wand back to him and grinned as he accepted it.
"That was years ago."
"What can I say?" She shrugged. "Even though I now know what you were planning to do that night, it's hard to forget the first spell your mentor ever wrote specifically for you." She grinned.
Cedric blushed and looked down. "What a memory to have. One of the first times I lied to you and tricked you."
Sofia shook her head and took hold of his hands. "I've forgiven you, haven't I? Probably at least fourteen times by now, if not more." She grinned as he chuckled. "You're just so stubborn and can't or won't allow yourself to believe it. If I was still mad at you, I wouldn't be here now. Would I?"
He shook his head as he smiled back at her. "No… No, you wouldn't."
"Glad you see it my way. Now let's go." She began walking before pausing. "Um…" She smiled sheepishly before glancing back at her friend. "I don't know where I'm going."
Cedric rolled his eyes in humor before walking forward and grabbing her hand this time, pulling her along. "Follow me."
Outside Hexley Hall, nature was clearly preparing for springtime. The evergreens were even more brilliant than usual, and flowers were just barely beginning to bloom. The two Enchancian inhabitants peeked through a side door, looked around only to find the coast was clear, and then made a mad dash toward a clump of evergreens on the side of the grand school.
Cedric climbed over the stone fence that separated the school grounds from the trees before extending his hand to the princess, helping her over as well. He turned toward a particular cluster of three trees and sighed. "This is it. This is where I used to spend some time to myself."
Sofia took one look over the edge and whimpered a bit, clinging to the sorcerer's robe. "This is where you used to read? Over the edge of doom where you could fall to your demise?"
"I sometimes used to read under one of the trees higher on this hill, actually. But I told you that there was something secretive about some of these, did I not?" He reached out and pressed his hand against the bark of the tree. "Revelare Mysteria." With a sudden flash, both sorcerer and princess were transported to what appeared to be an entirely new location, with waterfalls, fields of wildflowers, animals grazing in the grass, and the most magical array of colors Sofia had ever seen—some which she felt she'd never seen before. Cedric smiled at his friend. "Kind of leaves you speechless, doesn't it?"
"Wow…" She glanced down at some reeds near a body of water as the wind rushed through, creating a musical sound. "Now this is what I call magic."
Cedric nodded. "It's a place I always longed to come back to." He sighed. "But only children can access it. One day when I was older—probably in my mid-teen years—I tried to access it again but couldn't." He shrugged. "I guess I'd lost too much innocence by then or something."
Sofia blinked at him. "What do you mean?"
He smiled at her misunderstanding. "Never mind. Come along." He took her hand and led her forward. "I'll show you the actual tree I liked to read under."
It took a few minutes, but they made it to a large weeping willow that stood facing one of the numerous waterfalls. Hanging from one of the branches was a swing, decorated with vines and flowers. At the base of the willow was a smooth stone.
"This is it," Cedric announced as he sat down on the stone. "This is where I used to read if I could escape here for a bit. While everyone else was playing in the water or off on a magical adventure, I'd stay here by the water and have some time to myself."
"Wow," Sofia breathed. In a way, this reminded her a bit of the clandestine passage to the Secret Library, and in some cases the Mystic Isles. So her mentor had his own version as well? "This is amazing." She grinned and hurried up to the swing before sitting down and wrapping her hands around the vines and flowers that created makeshift ropes. "I could stay here forever…"
"I felt the same way. Some days, I preferred here to going home."
"I can see why. It's beautiful." She gasped when she felt hands on her back before realizing she was being pushed. She laughed. "Did you ever swing on this?" she asked.
Cedric nodded as he continued pushing her. "Sometimes. I had to push myself though."
Sofia frowned. This whole pastime thing was turning out to be more solemn than she'd hoped it would be. She dug her heels into the ground and stopped the swing, much to Cedric's surprise. "Come sit with me, and we'll swing together."
He blinked in surprise. "H-How?"
"There's plenty of room." She moved over to one side of the swing before patting the spot next to her, smiling as he hesitantly sat down. She grabbed his left hand with her right as she held onto the vine with her other hand.
"I—I meant, how are we going to swing together? Now there's no one to push us."
"It's called magic, Cedric," Sofia whispered playfully before withdrawing her own wand and casting a simple spell to make the swing move back and forth.
Cedric laughed softly as the swing carried them backward and forward, gaining in momentum a bit as the beautiful scenery before them swayed with them. "You could quite possibly be the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Sofia giggled. "It's just a swing…"
"I'm serious, Sofia." He glanced at her as she blinked. "No one else would ever have done this for me: getting me away from my troubles and helping me find some sort of peace. Maybe if I'd had this when I was younger…"
"…You wouldn't be the same Mr. Cedric I know," she informed him. "And I don't think I would like that very much. You are who you are now because of everything you've experienced and overcome. Don't sell yourself short."
The sorcerer couldn't help smiling at her words. "Sofia, I—"
"Enjoying your downtime?" a jeering voice inquired from behind them.
The pair immediately paused the swing and jumped off, turning to face the source of the voice. Before them stood a pale redhaired boy with matching devious red eyes and a uniform of the same color, decorated (if one could call it that) with several buckles and armor-like materials. On his left middle finger was a gold ring with a black S symbol in the center that was surrounded with what appeared to be diamonds.
"Who are you?" Cedric demanded as he pushed his apprentice behind him.
"You may call me Sylas," the boy responded with a sneer. "However, I doubt you'll be saying much of anything soon enough, Cedric the Sensational." He snapped his fingers, causing the sorcerer to drop to his knees and cry in pain. "Feeling a little off, are we?"
"Hey!" Sofia snapped, lifting her arm with the Enchantlet. "Who do you think you are?! What have you done to Mr. Cedric?!"
"Isn't it obvious, you pesky girl? I'm making him disappear…for good." He grinned as he clenched his pale hands together, twisting them in the air, causing Cedric to cry out again.
"Stop it!" Sofia ordered. "Leave him alone!"
"You're right, Princess." Sylas released his magical grip on Cedric and dropped him in a heap on the grassy ground. "There's plenty of time for that later. I'll tell you what." He snapped his fingers and caused a scroll to appear in his hand before tossing it to Sofia, who caught it. "This might actually be more fun. See if you can figure this little riddle out. If you can, I'll let your precious Mr. Cedric survive. If not…" He shrugged. "It's a rough world with harsh lessons, I'm afraid. It's probably time you royals learned that anyway." He chuckled and vanished into thin air.
"Are you all right?" Sofia asked as she knelt beside Cedric, who was breathing heavily. "C-Cedric?"
The boy sat up and looked toward his apprentice, nodding as she placed one hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine… well, in a manner of speaking." He frowned at the scroll in her hand. "What did he give you?"
She unrolled the object and held it out for both of them to see. Her eyes widened at the blood red letters etched into the parchment.
Who am I?
Only time will tell.
Open your ears and listen well.
You think you'll solve a mystery true?
Stop dreaming and scheming; your days are through.
I hope you've listened; I hope you can see.
For only the message here will lead you to ME.
X
"I… I thought he said his name was Sylas," Sofia told Cedric with a mystified tone.
"Or maybe that's his cover… We need to figure out who's really behind this." He frowned as a dark memory returned to him, overwhelming his mind. "Sylas…" He then sighed heavily and took Sofia's hand, causing her to blink in surprise. "Sofia, I think there's something I should tell you… And you aren't going to like it…"
To be continued…