Saving Prince James: A James and Sofia Love Story

Set in an alternate universe, James is now 20 and usurped his father as king and conquered every kingdom to create an empire, but he has lived his years as a lonely king with only power and wealth to keep him company. When Cedric summons a banished Sofia, 18, to the castle to secretly save the kingdoms and James, something stirs in James's heart the moment he sees a grown and blossomed Sofia. Can a banished princess save the kingdoms and can a ruthless prince find his way into the heart of a princess he once lost?

Chapter 20: The Sneak Out

James

James was scared, not a terrified kind of scared – or maybe it was, he doesn't know – but it sure did come close.

Not because of how fast the snow and winds were increasing around them as they were flying through the winter night air at top speeds.

But because Sofia was giving him the silent treatment.

No matter how many times he would say her name just to get her to respond to him, she refuses to look at him or answer. She hasn't said a word to him since they left the royal stables.

"Sofia, are you mad?" he loudly asked her over the rush of the snow. It seems that the farther away from the palace they got, the harsher the snowy winds become. The minuscule flying shards of ice were slicing hard at his cheeks despite his how much of his face he had covered with his scarf and hooded cloak.

He didn't hear her reply. All he saw was her huff to herself and glared over at him before returning her gaze back in front of her.

James didn't like this. Her cold shoulder was harsher and icier than the snow around them. It was worse than the cold winter winds and stinging ice that was thrashing at their faces as they sped off to their old academy, Royal Prep.

In most of their moments together, she was his happiness personified. Her smile was his sun while her eyes were his stars and moon. But in other moments when she was utterly pissed off at him, she was his greatest fear in the physical form. She was capable of completely destroying and ruining him right down to his own soul; her words could easily become his poison while her angry frowns were jabs to his very core.

James has been on the receiving end of her anger more than once already, but knowing that Sofia was angry with him can still send fear shooting down his spine and stab at his heart.

His bed was already an example of what her anger can do. And it was just her anger and jealousy mixed together...

True to her word, Sofia had the palace staff throw out and burn his old mattress. Right in the middle of the castle's courtyard. And she just stood there, watching it burn. It sent a scary chill down his spine when he saw the anger and jealousy mix in her eyes and burn brighter than the fire itself. Sofia looked ruthless and possessive and... and someone he was slightly afraid of...

And the possessive fire in her even made her into one hell of a liar. Sofia just told everyone that his bed was simply getting old and was in danger of getting bed bugs. She said it all without a single hitch. It was like it all came to her so easily. It scared him beyond his wits when he saw what that kind of angry jealousy did to her.

The look in her eyes was something he's never seen before and it scared him somewhat to see that, it was like she had a force and power in her that this world has never known.

But her angry jealousy wasn't all bad...

On one hand, it made her into a formidable force to be feared. On another, it turned her into... something else entirely. Sofia became a dangerous and greedy and intimidating, but in a different and appealing kind of way.

Since watching his mattress burn wasn't enough, later that night, Sofia decided to christen his new bed by possessively kissing him and teasing him until he was sure he went insane - no, until he was well passed the point of insanity. James saw it all in the way she smiled at him as she crawled on top of him and pinned his hands down so that he couldn't even touch her as she barely trailed her lips over his skin. It was all maddening and he couldn't do anything. She held him captive with just her eyes and lips.

If her anger and jealousy was separate, she was scary but predictable. But together, she was an unstoppable force... Sofia became someone of unimaginable fury and rage and danger.

"Come on, I'm sorry," he yelled over the loud winds. "I only meant for it to be a small, harmless kiss! I swear!"

Sofia's head quickly whipped around, giving him one of her worst and scariest glares. Her head turned so quickly that he was surprised that she didn't get whiplash or maybe she was just so mad at him that she didn't even feel the pain.

Even in the billowing snow around them, her blue eyes managed to pierce through the flying snow and stare hard daggers at him. He could even feel them dig into him like they were physical knives.

Oh, shit.

"Well, that was one hell of a 'harmless' kiss, James!" Sofia shouted back at him. He wasn't sure if she was shouting at him out of anger or because the winds were wild and crazy now. Most likely the first one, though. "And, that little kiss of yours almost got us caught by Hugo!"

"Okay, that was something I honestly didn't expect to happen!" he shouted over the winds. In reality, the only thing he was able to focus on back in the royal stables were Sofia's kisses.

When they were making their way to the royal flying horse's stables earlier that night, all James could think of was trying to keep quiet and not make a sound so Sofia could reward him with more kisses. That was her promise after all.

Anyway, he already knew that she was using her kisses as an incentive for him to just listen to her.

It wasn't a common tactic of hers, she rarely ever uses it on him. He could count on one hand how many times she used it on him since she's returned back to the castle. The rare times that she did use her kisses against him was because of something like this situation. She had an important task for him to do, but he wouldn't listen to her; so she would use her kisses would just get him to focus long enough to get it done. On the other rare occasions, she would kiss him so he would stop annoying her when she was busy with some important business.

And while she had her little tricks to use against him, he had a few of his own.

Sometimes, he would simply try to be a little more frustrating and annoying than usual just so he could get as many kisses from her as possible. Or he would purposefully delay most of paperwork so she would have to use that trick of hers just so he would do them. It was a cycle he liked; he would procrastinate to the extreme or act so immaturely that she could do nothing else but kiss him so he could behave and do his work.

When they finally did make it to the stables without a single hitch in her sneak-out plan, James tried to get her to kiss him again because he thought it was another one of their little kissing games. But Sofia just swatted him away like he was a little child. She had on a no-nonsense expression as she placed one hand on her hip while pointing to a random horse and frowned at him.

"No," she had said to him. "We need to be up in the air before anyone catches us. So, go and saddle up your horse."

He would have protested or at least negotiated for one kiss, but her warning stare was hard to argue against. So he just did as he was told and silently readied a random horse he chose out, a young male named Lightning. The horse was a beautiful creature, an incredibly white purebred with bright streaks of blonde on his wings. It was a lively thing, jumping and excitedly neighing at him. It was like the young horse was excited for a little night time adventure.

James was slightly proud that he still remembered how to ready a horse on his own. It's actually been a long time since he's ridden and saddled a horse by himself. And he was hoping that Sofia would notice his idiotically proud grin when they were both done saddling up their horses in a short amount of time.

But she didn't.

She was too focused on her little mission at hand and just nodded at him before she started to lead Lilac towards the gates. He was sure that she was expecting him to follow too.

He did, but with a grumpy pout.

What could he say? He was looking forward to a kiss because she promised him one.

When she was busy with rechecking that her horse's straps were secured, James just sulked towards Sofia and stared at her with a childish frown. He knew that their current situation was a bad time to be petty about not getting a kiss, but she promised him one!

And by the stars, he was going to make sure that she kept that promise.

They were in the royal stables at eleven thirty at night, anyway! They were far from the palace and most people in the castle were either asleep or in their respective rooms at this time of night. So he was more than certain that no one was still up or wandering the castle grounds. He believed it was safe for them to just kiss a little before shooting themselves up into the cold winter night.

She just continued to ignore him and went over to check if Lightning was properly saddled. James just followed her and continued to frown at her, making his frown grow even grumpier as the seconds passed by. It got to the point where he started to poke at her with a gloved finger and whine her name like he was some kitten or puppy looking for attention. Maybe both….

When she finally looked up, she just raised a brow and silently stared at him for a while before sighing.

And by sound of her sigh, he just inwardly cheered. He knew he won! It was a defeated sigh! She only sighed at him like that when she was going to give in to him! He was going to get his kiss!

"One kiss, James," she sternly warned him, but he could see the smile on the corners of her lips. "We need to be out of here quickly."

He could tell that she was trying to look firm and strict in front of him, but it didn't last when he just nodded as his happy smile grew. Then she let out a small laugh before rising on her toes and cupped his cheeks. He enjoyed the rush of heat and warmth when she looked into his eyes for a moment, like she was reconnecting to him and silently apologizing for being so controlling, before she lightly kissed his lips.

He always relished it when she kissed him first, when she instigated their kisses before he could. It always made his heart beat ten times faster than when he would kiss her first because it reminded him that she wants him just as badly as he wants her. Sometimes, he liked to think that she just couldn't resist him any more and needed to take him where ever they were because her emotions for him were too much for her to handle.

It was a nice and simple kiss, no crushing lips or an all-consuming dance of tongues. She had meant for it to be quick but loving.

But when she started to pull away, this was where he made his first mistake.

As he felt her lips move away, he wrapped both of his arms around her as he swiftly pinned her against the door of a box stall behind her. He started to press into her, needing to feel her warmth seep past his clothes and into his skin. He felt her bend towards him as she brought her arms around his neck.

He knew that he was getting carried away – well, honestly, they both were getting carried away – but he couldn't help it. She always set him into a frenzy, making him want more and more of her. Her touches, her rosy sweet scent, her sugary lips. Just everything of her.

It wasn't his fault anyway; Sofia was using her kisses as an incentive against him and promised him kisses. He wasn't complaining against her tricks, but what did she expect? Just one kiss from her made him go crazy for more.

Their kiss grew into something way more than he knew she had intended as tongues started to move and play with each other. Heavy gasping and breathing echoed through the silent stable, ringing off of the ancient old wood and iron. James felt one of her hands roam up and tangle her fingers around his short blonde strands, while another traced the skin of his jaw.

Vaguely, he heard the clip-clop of the two horses' hooves as they moved around behind him. He didn't know why they were even moving and striding about, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him in this blissful moment was Sofia and Sofia alone.

But then, he heard voices outside of the closed stable doors. There were two voices to be exact, one was laughing while the other was talking. The heavy doors muffled their voices, so James couldn't really understand what they were saying.

At this moment, he knew he should have pulled away and go hide Sofia somewhere, but the kiss was too good to stop. Especially with how Sofia was tightly clinging onto him, telling him that she didn't want their kiss to end any time soon. So, he let the kiss continue on and was sort of willing to let whoever was on the other side of the doors catch them.

And this was his second mistake.

As they got closer, their talking and laughing grew louder and, by Sofia's sharp intake of breath, James knew that she heard them.

Sofia immediately broke away with a gasp, and not a contented gasp like when he was kissing her, but a horrified and slightly angry gasp. She looked around frantically, her eyes weren't even glazed over like they usually were whenever their kisses ended. They were clear and alert.

He was sure that he had more than a pair of hazy eyes as he was coming back down from the high of crushing his lips onto hers.

The next few moments were kind of a blur to him as his mind was still murky from their kiss. He needed to calm his body and mind back down, but for some reason he couldn't. The fog in his head was too thick to break through. He remembered hearing Sofia telling Lilac and Lightning to go back into their cells and watched through his hazy vision as they obeyed. The amazing part pf it all was how they managed to shut their own stalls just by using their nose and the wide spacing between the iron bars.

Then he felt Sofia pull on his shirt and drag him over to an empty stall.

In the back of his mind he remembered that two elderly flying horses had died a few weeks ago. And after their honorary burial in the animal cemetery, their stalls were cleaned out and prepped for the two new horses that Amber chose from one of the royal breeding farms. And since she had arranged to have them arrive in the spring, the stable manager decided to use the empty stalls to hold the hay for the winter to save the stable boys the time and cold of going out to the side of the stable to pick up the feeding hay.

Inside of the stall, there was so much large stocks of hay that there was barely enough space to fit James's large frame between the large cubes of hay.

Actually, that was kind of a good thing for James since it resulted in Sofia having to sit in his lap. Well, he more or less pulled her into his lap, cradling her against him.

Even in a situation where they could get caught, he just couldn't help himself because he and his body wasn't back down to earth yet. They were still happily messed up from Sofia's kiss.

But when the two voices entered the stables, one voice stood out to him like a million needles poking him in the temples and he came rushing back down like a boulder rolling off a high cliff and crashing into a tiny pieces.

Hugo.

The entire time he and his little friend was talking, James was doing his very best to ignore Hugo's annoying voice so they wouldn't get caught, and he was doing a pretty good job of it too until he heard what exactly Hugo was saying to his little friend that made James begin to boil and rage. He would have nearly jump up and fight the idiot if it weren't for Sofia quickly reaching up and clasping a hand around his mouth and glaring icy daggers at him.

"So, what are you going to do then?" his annoying little friend said. James didn't recognize the voice, but the guy sounded too young to be a soldier or guard. He guessed the kid was probably Hugo's squire. "Princess Sofia and Princess Amber refused to leave with you, and I thought you said that even if she rejected your offer, you would have just put Princess Sofia over your shoulder and ran back to your kingdom?"

"Yeah, I did say that," Hugo laughed, making James's skin crawl and boil even more. "But I don't think she'll appreciate me manhandling her like that. Have you seen her even remotely mad? And if I did try to run with her over my shoulder, I doubt I can even get ten steps out of the front doors because she looks like she can put up one hell of a fight. I've seen her kick and scratch and practically beat James a couple of times when he did that to her."

That part was true. The first few times he did hull her over his shoulder, he end up with a couple of bruises and scratch marks all over his body. Despite her tiny petite frame, she had a hellish punch and kick stored up in her arms and legs. She was a scrappy little thing, really...

But he managed to wear her down and she eventually stopped with her kicks and punches after he kept hoisting her over his shoulder every day.

"So are you giving up then?"

He heard some clicking sounds of some locks and rattling of some stall doors, like they were checking if everything was locked and secured for the night. He guessed hey were probably the night time patrol or something.

"Hell no. I'm going to find a way to get her and Amber out of there," James heard him say. "I can't make her leave, so I'm just going to play nice to James like she asked for and wait for my chance to really convince her to leave. But if any situation ever get too dangerous for her and Amber, I have the full authority to force them both to leave with me."

James wanted to go out there and beat them both!

Well, okay not the kid because he has no part in this, but definitely Hugo.

"And what about you and her in romance department? Are you still trying to win her heart?" the kid asked. "You know, everyone is kind of rooting for you two to hit it off."

Okay, so he won't beat the kid, but he will definitely yell at him. To think that his own men were rooting against him for Sofia's heart! They were supporting his own archrival!

Granted they didn't really know about his relationship with Sofia, they can't just chose Hugo's side over his! Even if they still think of him as some evil king, they were his soldiers! His men! They've been on the battlefield together! He fought side by side with them! They can't just encourage Hugo to go after Sofia!

"Well, I'm trying," Hugo said. It disgusted James to hear how shy and modest the idiot sounded, like the guy was blushing or something. "She gave me some hope today, you know…."

James couldn't help but glare at Sofia like she betrayed him. He wanted to shout at her, but with her hand over his mouth, all he could do was narrow his eyes and silently yell, "what the hell!"

All she did was roll her eye at him and glared at him with a silent message of her own, "I'll explain later."

Or maybe she was telling him to be quiet? He wasn't too sure.

He just narrowed his eyes even more and mutely said, "you better."

"She did?" he heard the kid say in a surprised tone.

"Yeah," he said with more rattling sounds of metal and wood. "She said she'll give me a second chance if I prove to her that I can be trusted and support her in trying to save James. I am going to do whatever she wants because I don't want to blow my chances with her."

"You better not, man. Not all girls give second chances, especially girls like Princess Sofia. She doesn't look like she gives just anyone a second chance."

More of the idiot's laughing filled the stables before their voices faded. Neither he nor Sofia moved until they heard the heavy sound of the large doors shutting closed. And waiting a few minutes just to be sure that that they were gone, they quickly mounted their horses and were up in the air within a matter of seconds.

But even when they were a good distance away from the castle, Sofia didn't say anything to him and just glared ahead of her. And that was when he realized that she was giving him the cold shoulder.

She was pissed at him.

"I know that, James!" she replied, bringing him back from his thoughts. "I just hate it when you do that sometimes!"

The snow and winds blew harder around them as they neared Royal Prep, forcing them to fly closer together just to be able to hear one another.

"Do what?!" James shouted.

"I hate it when you don't know when to control yourself sometimes! Especially when it comes to kissing! It's like you can't help but want to kiss me at every hour of the day!"

"But I do!" he yelled harder back at her. The snow around them was whipping and lashing at them so hard that he almost thought that they were in a blizzard or something. "I do want to kiss you at every hour of the day! I want to have you in my arms and just keep you there! I can't help it!"

She looked wide-eyed at him, her cheeks blushing.

He wanted to laugh when he saw her face redden at his words. He liked that she was blushing so hard that he could see her brightly red cheeks in the surrounding whiteness of the snow.

"I'm sorry that I got carried away and started to kiss you way more than once, but I don't regret it!" he continued on. "Sofia, being able to kiss you, hold you, or just be in the same room with you is precious to me! You are precious to me! And you can get mad all you want, but I don't regret that kiss or that we almost got caught because it was worth it! Every moment that I know I could be with you and just have you for myself, I will take it no matter the costs because you are worth it!"

He didn't care how corny or clichéd his little speech sounded, every word that came out of his mouth was the truth and it rang deeply in his heart.

Sofia just stared at him speechless and wide eyed. Her blush grew brighter, making her look like some bright red star in the white snow. She looked down at her clenched hands on her reins, still burning bright red like a light.

It looked like she wasn't going to say anything else and a part of him was upset that this was how their argument was going to end while another part thought that he could have possibly won the argument.

Then she startled him when she let a loud frustrated groan and glared over at him.

"Dammit, James!" she shouted at him. The frustration was obvious in her voice. "How the hell am I going to stay mad and try to yell at you when you decide to get corny on me?!"

He couldn't help but laugh at her frustrated and blushing expression. She was being too cute and adorable for him to not laugh at. "I'm a master at debate, Sofia! I read up on every debate book in the royal library!"

"Ugh!" Sofia let out another groan as she looked up at the night sky. She was silent again for a short while, looking like she was in deep though, before looking back over at him with a different, softer expression. Her gleaming and sincere eyes captured him and sent his heart racing. "James, I should apologize too! I shouldn't be mad at you since I wasn't in control either, that kiss was a mutual thing! And I got carried away in it too!" She looked embarrassingly down at the reins in her hands. "Actually, more than half of me wanted to do a lot more than kiss you!"

And despite how wonderful her eyes looked to him – he wanted nothing more than to stare at it for all eternity – he couldn't help but perk up at her last few words. "Really?!"

How far was she going to go with the kissing? And what does she mean by 'a lot more than kiss'? James thought as some rather dirty thoughts filtered through his mind. Because… that could mean a lot of things here, Sofia.

"Yes!" she said. "And I lied when I said that I hated it when you get carried away when we kiss, I just said that because I was just mad! I actually like it a lot!"

"You do?!" James was practically jumping up and down on his horse now, and he was sure that he was smiling like a buffoon at her.

"But!" she said, laughing at his expression. "Let's make a compromise here! You can only get carried away only when we're completely alone and not one a secret mission! When we're busy with something important and I need you to focus, you need to have complete self-control!"

"Deal!" he said all too fast, enjoying the light sound of her laugh mixing with the snow and swirling around him. But a thought ran through his head and bringing back to their mission at hand. "Wait, you never told me why we're traveling back to Royal Prep!"

"Well," she yelled to him. He saw her face returning back into a serious and focused expression. "I found out a way to find The Evil's source!"

It was getting harder and harder for them to talk and hear each other the deeper into the storm they went.

"Seriously?!"

Nodding at him, she continued on, "I think that the evil thing in your head is a curse of some kind! And this mysterious book I found told me that there are three ways to break a curse: acts of true love, the one who cursed you has to lift it, or destroy the source! And since all I do is kiss you and we don't know who exactly put this curse on you, those are out of the question! So, all we can do is destroy the source! And this book said that to find an evil curse's source is through good magic!"

"So, we're going to Royal Prep so you can ask The Good Fairies for help?!"

"Exactly! Or Lucinda! She's a good witch!" she replied through the increasing snow and winds.

The winds were getting too strong and James was starting to worry about Sofia and the horses. It was starting to really look like a blizzard around them now. The snowy winds were howling like a monster, whipping at their faces and blurring their vision. Ahead of them, it was starting to look just plain white and he was beginning to think it was unsafe for them to continue on with this plan.

"Sofia, are you sure you want to continue with this plan?!" he asked her. "Things don't look safe enough for us to keep going!"

"No, we've already came this far! We can't go back now!"

"What about the horses?! Can they even continue on?!"

Sofia looked down at Lilac and asked her something into her ear. The horse just neighed back something to her. "She said that we're almost there! She and Lightning can keep going!"

James still can't believe that Sofia could talk to animals.

The few days after her little confession, Sofia admitted that her amulet gives her some powers like talking to animals and turning into a mermaid. And truth be told, her ability to talk to animals is cool and everything, but it was her ability to turn into a mermaid that really got his attention.

James made sure to remember to plan a trip to Merroway Cove sometime in the summer, just so he could see his own little mermaid in action. A little vacation with her would nice regardless, but it could be better if he could see her turn into a mermaid.

If she still can turn into one anyway.

If she still has that power, he might just have added in some underwater kissing to that plan….

I need to remember to ask her that….

"Are they sure?!" he asked, dragging his mind back into reality. Lightning neighed and nodded his head in response to his question. "Alright then!"

After that, the horses kicked it into high gear and shot through the crazy snow storm like shooting stars. The horses' speed just increased the mean snow, making it cut and gnarl at his face. But within the quick but brutal flight through the harsh snow, they were at Royal Prep in no time.

Yet the odd thing was that there was no snow storm at the school. There was no snow shooting around them and whipping at them like ice shard instead of small soft snowflakes. It was all just simply snowing gently down onto the ground like it was a picturesque winter scene.

"That's odd," Sofia said the moment the horses landed down. James quickly got off of Lightning and came over to help her mount off of Lilac. "The freak snow storm is gone once we came here. I mean look," she pointed at the forest behind them, where the blizzard was wrecking hell to the trees and forest, "you can draw a line in the snow where the storm beings and ends!"

"I know," James said as he stared at the storm. Not a single snowflake fell past the entrance of the forest despite how fierce the winds were blowing it around over the trees.

It was odd, how was it possible that the storm was only over the forest? It doesn't make any sense.

Maybe it's some magical storm... but that can't be possible. I locked all of the magical beings inside of Royal Prep. No one can get in or out, and that includes magic.

"Do you think that it's some magical snow storm?" James asked her.

"Most likely," she replied. She turned to the horses and addressed them. "Lilac, Lightning, stay here until we get back."

When they neighed in return, she turned and walked towards the gates of the former school, and stopped right in front of it. Then she reached out her hands, looking like she was about to touch the gates.

No, wait!

James ran over to her and stopped her before her fingers got too close to the iron gates. "Sofia, you can't touch them. I had Cedric place a really strong spell over the school to lock all of the magical beings in there. If anyone gets too close to the barriers of the school, they get badly zapped."

"I know about the force field," she said, looking at him with firm determination.

"Wait, you know?"

"Yeah, Ruby and Jade told me when I snuck out to them and Hugo gave me a more details about it," she shrugged. "Anyway, I think my amulet can get us through."

"Really?"

"Remember that book I was talking about?" she asked as she pulled out an old black book from her messenger bad and handed it over for him to see. It was a book he doesn't recognize, and he would have recognized any book from the castle since he's read them all, but he's never seen this around the castle or palace library before. It had no title or special marks like most of the books in the castle's library. "It told me that my amulet can cancel any powerful spell."

"Seriously?" James tried to open the book, but it refused to even budge. The edge if the pages wouldn't even move. It was like the thing was sealed shut. He didn't know what was more embarrassing, that Sofia was watching him struggle with opening a simple book or that he was using his full strength to open it? James was actually starting to get angry at the thing. "What is wrong with this book?!"

"There's nothing wrong with it." He heard her laugh at him while she took the book from his hands before he could throw it on the ground and stomp all over it. "It' a magical book, James. It only opens for me."

"Why only you?" he asked confused.

"I don't know why exactly," she said as she put the book back into her bag. "It said it chose me."

"It chose you?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Anyway, we're getting off track. We need to get in and find either The Good Fairies or Lucinda."

"And you're planning on getting us in through your amulet?"

"Yup." She smiled confidently up at him, clutching onto her large purple gem and walking closer towards the gate. She looked like she had an entire plan formed in her head.

But when she reached out a hand and touched the gate, bright yellow sparks immediately formed around her hand. A loud static sound soon followed with the small electric bolts. The flashes and bolts grew and went after Sofia's hand, attacking her. She was immediately zapped. Hard.

James grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the gates. He could tell that it stung her pretty badly despite her thick gloves when she hugged her hand to herself.

"Why didn't it work?" she asked, stepping back to the gates. James wanted to just pull her away again and refused to let her get anywhere close to the magical gates. "My amulet is on me, so it should have worked."

I don't think that touching it will work. What if there's another way to it? What if the stone needs to know what kind of spell is enforcing this force field?

"Sofia, mayb –" James wasn't able to get in another word as she reached out her hand again, only to get shocked by another electrical strike.

And she just went on to ignore him for the next few minutes.

"Sofi –" Zap.

"I –" Zap.

She kept lunging at the gates, trying to push her way in. She punched, kicked, even ramming her shoulder at it, but that only got her even more zapped, stung, and shocked again and again.

"May –" Zap.

"You –" Zap.

"There –" Zap.

James would have stopped her after the first couple of zaps she's received but he was all too mesmerized by the look in her eyes.

There was this fierce look of determination on her, something entirely different from what he normally sees in her. She always had a look of strength and perseverance on her face like she was wearing an armor, but the way her eyes burned with an icy determination right now was something new. Her eyes swirled with a mix of stubbornness and idiocy and some hardheadedness but there was a tenacity and spunk in her too. And it made her look so beautifully amazing at the same time.

"How –" Zap.

But despite how wonderful she looked to him at the moment, he couldn't stand by and continue to watch her get zapped and hear her curse out of pain.

"Sofia!" Sofia didn't hear a word he said as she just continued on, he could see her growing frustrated by the minute. "Sofia!" he shouted again, dragging her away from the gates by her arms. "Stop, I don't think that you're going to get in this way."

"No, the book said that my amulet can nullify any spell. So –"

"Let me finished," he said. He was tired her being so hardheaded and not listening to him. "I meant that you can't get in with the amulet around your neck. Maybe to break the spell, you need to touch the force field with your amulet."

"You think that can work?" she asked skeptically.

It almost sounds like she doesn't trust me here….

"It's better than just keep getting zapped over and over again," he said sarcastically. He was kind of offended that she seemed like she isn't entirely convinced on his idea. "Honestly, your current idea doesn't look like it's even working so far."

She cocked her head and pursed her lips at him, looking like she was taking in his opinion.

"Alright," she said as she walked over to the gate and unclasped her necklace. "Let's see if this works."

He held his breath as Sofia raised her large gem to the gate. He didn't know what to expect. Will the stone make it all backfire on them and cause the force field to start shooting erratically at them? He honestly just had a thought, he had no proof that his theory will actually work.

What if I'm was horribly wrong and Sofia gets hurt because of me? His stomach lurched at the thought of her getting hurt.

And, as if she was sensing his own fear and hesitation, she reached for his hand and held on. She gave him a tight squeeze before placing her amulet on the bars of the iron gates.

The moment her purple stone touched the iron gates, sparks and static charges immediately went everywhere. But it all quickly faded away and turned into a wall of shimmering light that ripped around the gem. The wall moved and flowed like it was a waterfall of iridescent colors and lights.

Then the gates disappeared! There was nothing in its spot but more glimmering lights and a spectrum of beautiful colors.

"What?" he heard Sofia gasped.

Then, just beneath the gem, the lights started to part just like a waterfall. She raised the stone higher, making the lights part even more.

"Incredible…" he admired.

He wanted to reach out and touch the now soft looking lights. It looks like it would feel soft and light as a feather.

The lights weren't blinding or overpowering, it was just a gentle show of every color imaginable. It was moving like it was dancing in front of his eyes.

"James, hurry! I don't know how long this might last! No time to admire the pretty lights!" Sofia pushed him forward into the opening.

He passed through the opened portal and turned around to see the rippling lights. Being on the other side of the shimmering lights looked odd, it wasn't as bright or beautiful on the inside. Instead it looked dimmer and duller, but still quite beautiful.

"That was incredible," he repeated after Sofia entered and pulled her necklace away. She returned it back around her neck while he was still staring at the entrance way. "I can't believe your amulet can do that."

She looks over at him and lets out an amused sounding laugh. "James, it was your idea to use my amulet like that. How can you look so awestruck by what just happened?"

"I don't know, I just am," he shrugs at her.

"Well, anyway," Sofia holds out her hand and takes his, interlacing their fingers. "Come one, we need to start looking for the Headmistresses and Lucinda."

He turns around and looks over at the academy's building. He was a bit surprised that everything looked the same.

There was still the same blue, red, and green coloring on the exterior walls. The paint almost looks like it was fresh and neat. The roofs were kept in a clean condition, nothing was decrepit or failing. In the distance, there was the same old working clock tower while the other separate buildings were still standing.

It wasn't like he expected the entire place to be falling apart or crumbing, but he didn't think that the place would still look so good and pristine. Even the trees and bushes looked trimmed.

"Come on." She tugged on his hand and started to drag him towards the building's doors. "I guess we'll have to start with the first rooms."

This place is a lot bigger than I remembered, James thought as he looked at the imposing building up and down. How the hell are we going to find them?

"Wait, can't we just ask someone where they could be?" he halted, bringing them both to a stop. "This place is huge and they could be anywhere, it's going to take us all night if we search for them on our own."

"But we can't just storm in there and ask anyone who might still be up – which I highly doubt by the way, it's almost midnight," she countered.

"I think that's a better way than searching all night," he said. "And didn't you say that you're on a time crunch? We can't stay here for long if you want to be back before anyone notices that we're both gone."

"But if we do wake someone up or ask anyone who is still awake, how do you think they'll respond to seeing the guy who ordered their imprisonment here?" she raised a brow at him.

And they stood there, going back and forth about which was the best way to go about this plan. He didn't know how much time they had wasted standing there, debating on the details of their plan. It was a pointless battle between them, neither had a better idea and they were just getting nowhere in the ideas department.

When it looked like they were both going to give up, Sofia's amulet started to glow a bright purple. The large stone started to levitate off of her chest and point in a direction behind her.

What the hell?

"I… think it wants us to go in that direction," James was so stunned by what was happening. He was kind of surprised that he even managed to say a coherent sentence, nonetheless utter a word. There was shock and amazement and complete bafflement in his voice, "…into the building."

"Well, I guess that solves our current problem," she said to him. She held on tighter to his hand as they started to make their way towards the multicolored building.

Sofia looked completely calm to him, like she was used to this kind of thing all of the time! She was so composed as she held is hand, while he felt like he was about ready to loose it. It didn't help that while he was so confused and puzzled by what was going on, a thousand questions started to run through his head.

Sure, Sofia did tell him that her amulet was magic and everything, but he's never seen it actually do anything before now.

How was it possible that in the past years I've known Sofia, I've never once seen this thing happen before? Was I that oblivious or just plain stupid? Or did she just hid it really well?

The closer they got, the brighter the thing glowed. There was even some shimmering and sparkles coming from the gem, making it glow even brighter than before.

They tried to enter as quietly as possible, both of them cringed when the large doors creaked as they opened it. It was worse when they had to close it and it nearly slammed behind them, but James managed to ease it into a quiet close just in time.

Inside of the building, the only source of light was coming through the windows and the glow of Sofia's necklace. Then it pointed them down the hall and to turn at the end of the corridor.

"...Does... Does this kind of thing always happen to you?" James whispered to her when they entered into a hall with no doors or rooms.

"Sometimes," she whispered back. "I can't really control it but it helps me out whenever I'm in trouble or in some sort of predicament."

"Wow…" he said in amazement. At the end of the hall, they walked up a short flight of stairs and quickly sped down the hallway. "This thing gives you powers and helps you out whenever you're in trouble?"

"Yup," she lightly laughed as they turned another corner into a brightly light hallway. The windows on the left side let in a lot more of the moon's light that was reflected off of the snow. "It protects and helps me in anyway it can."

"Hey… can you still turn into a mermaid?" he remembered to ask her. "I mean, you can still talk to animals, so do you still have the power to change into a mermaid?"

"Yeah, I still can."

Yes! She can still turn into a mermaid! He mentally cheered as images of Sofia as a mermaid began to fly through his mind.

Oh, I am so planning that Merroway Cove trip when we get back.

He started to imagine what it might be like to just spend the summer with Sofia. He could already see them lying beside the glistening water and just having her in his arms as a mermaid underneath the warm sun. Or they could be swimming together underwater and kissing without a care.

This is going to be one hot summer….

"That is the only power I can control." He didn't even realize that he was smiling widely at her until her voice interrupted his happy little summer fantasy and brought him back to reality.

"Control?" He couldn't help but hear how high his voice squeaked out of guilt from his rather dirty thoughts.

"My ability to talk to animals never stops, so I have no control when I can understand or not understand animals. But I have absolute control over my mermaid power. I can choose when to turn into a mermaid whenever I am in water," she said. James saw her looked over at him out of the corners of her eyes and smirked up at him. "Why do you ask?"

Crap, James thought. His heart started to race because he knew he was busted. Her smirk already told him that she was starting to catch on to what he was thinking and why he was asking about her mermaid powers.

Well, she knows… there's no point in denying it now….

"Because I want to see you as a mermaid," he said honestly. He figured that if she already knew what he was thinking, he might as well just be straightforward about it.

He saw her blush a little in the hallway's moonlight and she looked like she was going to say something but was stopped short when her necklace started to glow blindingly bright. It pointed to the door next to them and shook a little until it just stopped glowing and fell back against Sofia's chest like it was a regular old necklace again.

"I guess this is where they are," Sofia said as she stopped right in front of the door that had a golden plaque with each of the headmistress's names on it. James saw that light was coming through the small gap at bottom of the double doors. "Should I knock?"

He was surprised to hear her so unsure of herself. He kind of presumed that she would have just walked right in there and ask for their help.

"Knock, Sof," he nudged her.

But before she even did, a voice called out to them through the door and made them both jump.

"Just come in already." The voice sounded impatient. And young.

Why does it sound so young? I thought The Good Fairies were a bit on the older side?

Sofia took in a deep breath before opening the doors with full force. James followed quickly behind her, but bumped into her when she walked in and stopped short. "Lucinda?"

Inside, it was so brightly lit that he had to blink a few times to adjust his eyes to the room's bright lights. When he could finally see correctly, he saw all three fairies standing behind a large, professional looking desk and a tall, young woman standing beside them.

"Lucinda, it is you!" Sofia exclaimed as she ran over and hugged the woman.

He was surprised to see her standing there with the three fairies. She appeared to be as tall as him and had short black hair that was cut into a boyish, pixie style. Her short bangs were brushed off to the side while the sides of her head were cut neatly close to her head. She had on a black dress with a darker black robe over it, and her hands were covered in fingerless black gloves. He noticed some inky black feathers that were tied to a thin black leather string hanging from her hair. Her right ear had about four piercings, two of them were black pearls while two of them were gold and silver hoops.

This girl must really like the color black….

"James, do you remember Lucinda?" Sofia asked him, turning around with a big and happy smile.

"Yeah," he said. Her smile was infectious and he couldn't help but smile back at her. "She's your 'good witch' best friend you always brought over to the castle with Ruby and Jade."

Sofia nodded back enthusiastically and turned back to Lucinda. "How have you been? You look so good! When did you grow so tall? And your hair! It's so short! And are those black pearl earrings?"

He smiled at hearing her so excited. He's never seen her so happy before, she was literally jumping with joy.

"Slow down, slow down," Lucinda laughed. She gently patted Sofia's head as a way to calm her down before coolly answering each of Sofia's questions. "I've been better. I had a growth spurt. I cut my hair last summer because it was so hot; I liked the length, so I kept it. And I inherited my grandma's black pearl earrings as an eighteenth birthday gift."

"You do know that you're not supposed to wear both of them on one ear, right?" James sarcastically teased as he walked closer to Sofia, standing protectively behind her.

Besides Sofia, Lucinda was the only other girl he was friends with as a kid. He wasn't really close with her as he was with Sofia, but they were on good terms before he discovered his father's affair and locked her and her mother inside of Royal Prep. The only times he would ever hang around her was if Sofia was there with them, and all they would really do was be heavily sarcastic and teasing with one another. They were just good friend who had a mutual understanding of one another.

"This makes me look like the badass that I really am," she looked back at him, her voice even more sarcastic than him. She turned back to Sofia, who was bouncing up and down like the adorable thing that she is, and warmly smiled at her. "It's so good to see you."

But Sofia's joy was cut short when one of the fairies placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I am sorry, Princess Sofia," said Flora, the red colored fairy, "but I am going to have to cut your reunion short."

Each of the fairies looked like they hadn't aged a single day. They looked the same as they had when he attended here as a student. Flora was still focused and kind, she had the same gray hair and red dress with its matching hat he remembered they would always wear. Fauna still looked jolly as always, her hair was still brown with a ting of gray and still had her same green dress fairy dress. Merryweather had on the same stern expression, her black hair didn't have a single gray strand and her dress was still shiny blue.

"And we don't have enough time to tell you everything that needs to be said," said Merryweather. She pointed over to the seats in front of their desk, telling them to sit.

But he remained rooted in his spot as Sofia sat down where the blue fairy motioned for her to sit. He felt uncomfortable because he was the man responsible for imprisoning them here. He didn't felt like he was welcomed to sit and listen.

"James, you too," Flora said kindly. He was surprised to hear such gentleness in her voice. Normally, everyone he's ever interacted with in the last five years hated his guts and would choose to remain hostile and angry with him. "Dear, it's okay. We know the truth."

What? Now he was too shocked to even move.

"You do?" Sofia said. She looked back at him surprised.

"Yes," Fauna smiled at them. "James, sit down. Let us explain everything."

But he still didn't move. He couldn't.

He remained there until Sofia had to pull him over and push him down into a seat next to hers.

"Alrighty then," Merryweather said. She turned over to Sofia and politely asked, "Did you happen to have that black leather book and the two gems from Hugo?"

"Ah, yes," he heard her say as she pulled out the book and opened it. Inside of the book was just a hallowed out hole with a green and purple gem inside. He was stunned to see the hole disappear when she picked the two crystals up, the hole was replaced with a blank page. She placed them all on top of their desk, spreading them evenly out. "Here it is."

"Can I take it that you read the parts of the gems, your amulet, and ways to break curse?" Merryweather asked. When Sofia nodded in response, she continued on, "good, that can cut out a lot of explaining time. Does James know about them?"

Sofia shook her head, "no. He only knows about the curse and the gist of my amulet. He doesn't know about the gems."

Flora smiled and said cheerfully while holding up the book, "that's okay. We can start from there. This is the Book of Hyproti and –"

"We sent you that book, Sofia," Merryweather interjected quickly with an annoyed glance at Flora. She took the book out of Flora's hand and gave it back to Sofia. "We were hoping that you would flip through the book and stumble upon the curses page, and put two and two together so that you would know to come here. That was all a part of our plan."

"Wait, part of your plan? What part?" she asked confused. "If it was part of the plan, I would have heard about it from Hugo."

Hugo? Why would she have heard about it from Hugo?

"Wait, what? What is this about Hugo telling you stuff?" he asked, the jealously high in his voice.

"I'll explain later," she said, patting his hand sympathetically.

He saw Flora look at her hand on top of his and smiled at them. It wasn't a fake or disgusted smile, it was a kind and understanding smile, like she knew about what was really going on between them.

Then she hip-bumped Merryweather and pushed her away.

"Let me explain from the beginning," she said, obviously irritated at Merryweather for her bad explanations. "When we heard the news that you had killed your father, we were surprised but we didn't believe that you would have been able to do such a thing. And, that day when you took over Royal Prep, we knew our feelings were right. We sensed the evil within your mind the moment you stepped foot on our academy that morning, James. We could sense that a lot of your actions were being controlled by something evil."

A large sense of relief washed over him as he listened to them. This entire time, there were others who knew he wasn't himself that night. It was an unbelievable sense of happiness to know that he still had supporters out there in the kingdom, that some people knew he wasn't a complete monster.

"And we would have tried to expel it from you, James," Fauna finished for her, "but it had already sunk its claws too deeply into your mind. We weren't powerful enough to get rid of it because it was already embedded so far into you."

"But do you know who it could be?" Sofia asked hopefully. "If you know the truth, do you know who could be doing this to James?"

"No, I am sorry, Princess Sofia," Merryweather said with a heavy tone. "We only know that The Evil's source is somewhere in that castle."

Flora nodded and added, "For the last five years, we have tried to find a way – any way – to defeat this thing and end all of this chaos, but every plan had failed miserably. We tried to enlist help from some of the people back at the castle but the moment they would approach the school, we felt The Evil's touch on them and realized that no one in the castle could be trusted because in some way or form, that thing is using them to gain control of the castle. You and James are the only ones we can trust because almost everyone else isn't really protected from its influence in that castle. We already know of your amulet's powers and gifts, and that you two are destined for each other. You two are the only ones that The Evil can't reach within those castle walls because of the amulet's protective powers."

"So when the book chose you as its new owner, we saw another opportunity to find a way to help defeat The Evil once and for all, and finally end this chaos. We devised of a secret plan together with Lucinda," Fauna said, "to make you two come here and give Sofia what she needs to find the source and defeat it. In that book, it said that Sofia needs to use good magic to find The Evil's source in the castle. We can't be of much help but Lucinda can."

"Why can't you guys help?" James asked.

He was confused. They were The Good Fairies, the most powerful fairies of good magic. How could they be of no help?

Fauna just sadly smiled at him. He saw large pools of sorrow and age mix in her eyes. "As the years have passed," she continued on, "we have felt that thing's power grow immensely the longer it remained in that castle and feeding off of you, James. And our magic, even if we use it collectively, won't be enough to beat it because we're not as powerful as we were back in our youth. So we enlisted Lucinda's help."

Both he and Sofia looked over Lucinda, she had her arms crossed over her chest and smiling confidently at them.

Merryweather floated over to Lucinda and placed a proud hand over her shoulder. "Ever since our imprisonment here, Lucinda has been something of a protégé to us. We have been teaching her everything about fairy magic in addition to her mother's teachings of witch magic, so we can assure you both that she is the perfect person to help you because she is a very powerful good witch. At twenty years old, she is already a master in both types of magic, there is no one else we trust more to help you guys than her."

Are they saying that she's coming back with us? James thought, confused.

And as if reading his mind, Lucinda smiled at them both. "I am going to be leaving with you guys so I can determine its exact location and help you destroy it. I don't know if I am more powerful than this thing, but I am more than determined to help you guys out. I want everything back to normal so I can free everyone here."

"You are?!" He heard Sofia say, there was half excitement and half disbelief in her voice. She looked like she was ready to knock the book out of her lap and jump out of her seat to run over to hug Lucinda. "You're going to help us?!"

Oddly enough, James was kind of jealous of how excited Sofia looked at Lucinda. She never looked that excited at him, and there has only been one occasion where she had only wanted to jump up to hug him. And she didn't even look that excited when she ran into his arms. She was definitely loving and happy – there was even a few kisses from here - but not excited.

Why has she never been excited about me like that? James thought. I need to have a talk with her about that….

Wait, am I really jealous about her being excited about a friend? It's Lucinda! Her best friend! Why am I jealous of her?!

The sound of Lucinda's laugh brought James back from his slightly bitter thought. She nodded to Sofia's animated and exhilarated question, then looked over at the fairies and let them continue their explanation.

"This is the only way we know how to help you, Sofia," Flora said. "We used a good amount of our magic to conjure up these gems and send the book to you." Picking up the purple gem, Flora held out her hand to Sofia and waited for Sofia to give her the amulet. "With the exception to Lucinda, we have grown tremendously weak, but we have enough left to bind the purple crystal to your amulet and show you how to use it."

Sofia nodded and handed over her amulet. Then she reached for the green one. "And what about the green crystal? It said that it can protect the wearer like my amulet. Why did you have Hugo give me it to me?"

Flora and Fauna both turned away and James saw red and green light begin to swirl around them. Sparks of purple spewed around and bounced off of the desk.

"Merryweather was going to make it into a necklace and have you give it to Amber when we're done," Lucinda answered for them. "Amber has luckily been protected from that thing's influence since returning back to Enchancia, but the person who has been keeping her safe can't keep it up much longer. She needs to be protected like you two."

An immediate feeling of dread and fear welled up at the pit of his stomach when he heard Lucinda's words. This entire time, he and Sofia has been only worrying about themselves, they didn't even think twice about Amber and how she might be doing with that evil thing inside of the castle. She could be vulnerable to The Evil's influence right now!

While Lucinda was talking, Merryweather magically pulled out a silver chain and a piece of metal twine. She silently asked for the green crystal in Sofia's hand and started to wrap the metal around the crystal. Then she pulled out her wand and welded the chain to the metal wrapped crystal.

In a matter of seconds, the three fairies were done with their magical work and presented to James and Sofia the amulet and new green gem necklace.

Flora then handed Sofia's amulet over to Lucinda and told her to show Sofia how it works before saying that they were going to be gone for a brief moment. Then they fluttered out of the door in a single file of red, green, and blue.

"Alright, this is where you really need to pay close attention to what I am about to say," Lucinda instructed. "Inside of your amulet is that purple Gem of Monatroe. If you place your hand over your amulet and concentrate on the gem with an image of any weapon, you can pull it out and it'll shapeshift into whatever weapon you want." Then she handed the amulet back to Sofia. "Give it a try."

"…Okay…" Sofia said hesitantly. She looked like she didn't think she was capable of doing that.

He heard her breathe in deeply and slowly released it while holding the gem in the palm of her right hand. She closed her eyes as her left hand hovered above it and the purple amulet started to softly glow again. Her brows were deeply furrowed as she started to concentrate, she frowned with tight lips as the time passed by. The gem in her hand began to grow brighter and brighter. Then she started to pull her hand away and out came a small purple crystal dagger. It was no longer than the size of his hand, the handle of it were wrapped in deep, dark purple satin as the sharp blade shined in the room's light.

"Oh my gosh, it worked!" Sofia said astonished. She held the purple crystal dagger in front of her eyes and examined it, turning it around and around in her hands.

She looks like a little kid, James thought, amused at her childishly fascinated expression. Her eyes were wide with delight while she smiled in a bright smile.

"James, look!" She looked happily over at him and eagerly tried to hand him the miniature thing.

But the moment she let it go, it evaporated into thin air.

What?

"That's the beauty of the Gems of Monatroe," Lucinda said. "The gems remain loyal to whomever they are bound to. In this case, that purple gem is loyal to Sofia and will disappear the moment it is out of her hands. That means, no one is allowed to use it against her and it'll just return back into the amulet."

"So the thing is like a boomerang," James joked.

"Just like a boomerang," Lucinda repeated with a nod and nasally laugh.

Her laugh faded when the doors opened and the three fairies returned, Merryweather was the last to return into the room. She was carrying in a large and rather rusted looking double-edged sword. Its metal blade had cracks and dents all over it, there was pealing rust coming off of it and its hilt was even browner and moldy looking.

James was sure that the sword was probably a great beauty in its day, a strong and intimidating sword that brought would immediately bring fear and respect from its enemies. But, now, it looked completely fragile, like just the slightest breath from him can make it crumble into coppery dust.

"James, this is for you," Flora said as she floated back to the other side of the desk. The other two fairies followed her around the table and Merryweather gently placed the old looking sword onto the wooden desk. "This is the Sword of Bagdiqual, the oldest and most powerful magical sword in existence."

"It sure looks like it's the oldest sword in the world," he muttered before he could stop himself.

"James," Sofia chided. Both she and Lucinda glared at him, Lucinda looked like she was ready to smite him for what he said.

"Sorry." He blushed, feeling guilty and embarrassed.

"Why are you giving him this sword?" Sofia asked. He was grateful at Sofia for changing the subject.

"Like the book said, all magical items choose their owners," Merryweather began to explain. "The Book of Hyproti and Amulet of Avalor chose you, Sofia. We believe this sword will choose James. If it actually does, then it will bind itself to him and he can use it just like your purple Gem of Monatroe."

"Really?" both James and Sofia said.

"Can you believe that, James," Sofia smiled widely at him. There was a proud and excited gleam in her eyes as she held onto his arm with both of her hands.

"The sword wants me?" He didn't know if he really could believe that a magical item will deem him worthy enough to be its owner. Why would a magical sword want to choose a killer monster like him? "How do you know it wants me? How did you even know that the book chose Sofia?"

"The moment its owner dies, most magical items would always seal itself away and wait for its next rightful owner," Lucinda explained. "Half a decade ago, the Book of Hyproti once belonged to Sybilla the Sorceress and, before her passing, Sybilla entrusted the book to the fairies and asked them to keep it safe until its next owner appears. So for about fifty years, the book has been locked away here at this school, completely sealed shut."

James carefully listened to Lucinda as she talked and fully turned to Sofia with a serious expression. He watched Sofia out of the corners of his eyes, just to make sure that she isn't being too overwhelmed all of this information.

"It was about three days ago when Fauna and I were dusting and checking on the magical items they have locked away here," Lucinda continued, "the book reopened right in front of us and spell your name on the first page of the book. It told us that you are its new owner and it needs to be with you. So we magically shipped it off to you and hoped that our plan would work."

Nodding, Fauna explained further on, "It's a similar story for the Sword of Bagdiqual. We were given the sword to protect until it chooses its next owner. For the last few decades, this sword has been dormant and idle here. But after we sent the book out to you, Sofia, the sword began to glow. And moments before you two arrived, it began to vibrate and glow brighter. So we had a vague notion of who it might have chosen as its new owner."

"So, James," Flora said, motioning to the sword on the desk. "Hold this sword. We need to see if it really has chosen you."

James stood up and walked closer to their desk, looking down at the rusted sword.

How am I going to use it if it's all rusted and old? James grimaced down at the thing, looking it over and taking in the ancient sword. The hilt looks like it might break off any second now. Will it just crumble in my hands when I pick it up?

"Don't worry about its appearance, James," Fauna said, smiling. She was most likely amused at his crinkled nose and hesitant look. "The sword changes appearances depending on its owner. It only takes on this look when it has no owner."

"Um… okay," he said. He didn't know what else to say and just carefully picked it up.

He was glad that it didn't break at his touch, and he wasn't too surprised to feel how light it was in his hands.

But seconds after just holding it, the sword started to vibrate and shake.

"Wha –" he began. Fear and exhilaration started to pump through his blood.

The rusted pieces of the sword began to fall off of the blade, floating to the ground and piling around his feet. Beneath the falling rust, he could see the shiny, silvery-gray blade begin to turn into an iridescent, inky black. It started to look like a hard, unbreakable black stone.

Underneath his hand, the moldy hilt and the grip's decaying leather started to fade. The green, murky mold mixed with the gooey brown of the leather and dripped between his fingers onto the floor with the rust. He could feel the hilt start to change into something solid and cool.

As it changed in his hands, a new feeling began to run through his hands and up his arms. It's hard to explain, but it was a durable and solid feeling. Like he was gaining a sense of strength in the sword, like it was feeding it to him and making him more courageous than he was before. Somewhere in him, it was like the sword was telling him that it could help him defeat this evil thing for good so that Sofia and everyone he loves was safe and sound.

When the shaking finally ceased, James held the magical sword in both of his hands and stared down at it. He took in its new form, admiring the strength and power that radiated off of the black blade and new golden hilt. The pommel that topped the hilt was small, it had a white shiny gem in its center that was encased in shining golden metal. The sword's grip was now a black leather that had his name etched cleanly into it.

"Well, we were right about it belonging to James now," Lucinda teased.

Then, his sword faded into golden dust in his hands.

"What just happened?" Sofia said.

He heard the brief scraping sound across the floor, like a chair was being dragged. And when he looked up from his hands, he saw Sofia standing up and her chair was scooted a few inches behind her. She was looking confusingly at where his sword was just a moment ago.

"It's bound to James, now," Lucinda answered. "Don't worry, behaves a lot like your gem, Sofia. If he concentrates, then he can make it reappear in his hands. And the moment it leaves his hands, it will just disappear until he summons it again."

"Go ahead," Sofia nudged encouragingly. "Give it a try."

"Just imagine the sword in your hands, remember the feel of it," Lucinda instructed.

Wordlessly nodding, James breathed calmly and closed his eyes. He held out his hands, palms up, and tried to picture his new sword while it was still fresh in his head. Remembering the cool feeling of the solid, smooth leather in his hands, how the shiny black blade extended out in front of him like it was another part of his body. He tried to bring back the rush and thrill of power and strength that ran through his arms as he held it.

As he continued to concentrate, the palms of his hands began to grow warmer. He could feel the heat being pulled down from his shoulders and settle in his hands. The warmth started to build faster and faster in the center of his hands, becoming hotter and hotter until he was certain that he was holding a ball of fire in his hands instead of still air.

His hands were burning now, sweating from the overwhelming heat. It felt like the skin of his hand were going to melt away!

Then the burning sensation burst, and his hands immediately cooled as they felt cold leather settle in between them. He quickly grabbed onto it, holding it and savoring the intense rush of energy run through him. Relief and exhaustion washed over him as he slowly opened his eyes and stared down at his newly reappeared sword.

He heard Sofia let out a loud, happy squeal as she rushed at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. James was so blown away by his new ability to summon a magical sword that he wasn't ready for the sudden force of her hug that he nearly fell back and dropped his sword.

"You did it!" she said into his ear. He laughed at how giddy and thrilled she was for him.

He was so charged with the electrifying energy of his sword that he couldn't control him and slipped his one free hand around the back of her neck, pulling her face to him with as much force as her hug.

And he started to kiss her hard, urgently, restlessly. Jame felt Sofia respond back just as fervently, opening her mouth eagerly to him.

But their kissing was short-lived because of the four loud and uncomfortable coughs in front of him. If it weren't for them, he was sure that their kissing could have led to something more fun.

"We already know that you two are soulmates, no need to prove it," Lucinda said disgusted.

Her nauseated and repulsed expression was apparently funny to Sofia because he heard her giggle embarrassingly.

"Sorry," she blushed, standing straighter beside him.

He wrapped his free arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head, his lips needing to touch her just one more time.

"Seriously, quit it," Lucinda made another grossed-out expression at him as she rolled her eyes. "I don't need to see any more of this or else I am going to get super queasy."

"Then you better get a bucket," James smirked at her as he leaned down and kissed Sofia's cheek. He felt Sofia's cheek grow warmer beneath his lips and, when he pulled away, he saw that her blush was redder than before.

"By Merlin's Will," Lucinda gagged, looking away and rolling her eyes in disgust. "I don't even know why I'm friends with you, James."

James arrogantly laughed at Lucinda's annoyed and appalled expression as he tried to kiss Sofia again, but she turned her head and looked down at his sword in his right hand.

"Wait, why did the blade turn black?" she asked the fairies. "I remember seeing that it was this shiny gray metal underneath all of the rust."

"The sword changes according to whomever owns it, remaking its appearance so that it matched its owner's true personality," Merryweather answered.

"Does this mean my true personality is black?" James asked horrified. He tightened his arm around Sofia's waist, trying to take in the comfort of her warmth and calm himself. "Am I evil or something? Is that how the sword sees me?"

"No," Lucinda said. "Each color has deeper meanings than what everyone already knows. Black does not always mean evil. In the case of you and your sword, the black means strength and power. The gold metal means intelligence, victory, and triumph. The white stone means hope and good."

So, I'm not evil, James thought. His head lifted higher, like a great weight was lifted off of him. He looked down at Sofia, smiling in relief as he rested his chin on top of her head and hugging her tighter to him. I'm not truly evil…

"In magic, colors can mean a lot of different things," Flora explained further. "Take your purple amulet for example, Sofia. Normally, purple is the color of royalty, but in magic's language of color, it stands for many things. In your case, it means enlightenment, romance, honor, and wisdom. But – separate from you – purple could mean mystery, cruelty, impracticality, gloom, or arrogance in the darker sense."

He felt her head shake under his chin as she nodded her understanding to the fairies. "So, color –"

"I hate to do this, but Sofia, it's almost two o'clock," Lucinda interrupted, her head turned in direction of the room's clock. "We need to get you two back."

"Wait, but there's so much more I need to ask!" Sofia rushed.

Lucinda shook her head and started to push the both of them out of the door. Behind them, the three fairies followed. "I'll explain when we get to the castle. Right now, we need to leave if you don't want to get caught, Sofia, because I really doubt that Amber is going to like finding out that you're missing and that James is coincidentally gone too."

"But –" she tried to protest.

"Lucinda's right, Sofia," James said, agreeing with the witch. He released his sword and let it dissolve into gold dust behind them so he could have both of his hands free to pick Sofia up and hoist her over his shoulder. Then he started to running back down the hallways towards the cold winter night.

"See? Even pretty boy agrees with me," Lucinda mocked, running beside him. "Smart move picking her up and start running. I didn't think you were that bright."

"I'll take that as a compliment," James dryly muttered.

If they weren't busy running back to their horses just to save their butts from getting busted, James would have thought of a better comeback for the smart-alecky witch.

"You're welcome," she sarcastically teased.

"What about my book?" Sofia said.

"I have it right here." James looked back and saw Fauna waving the book in the air.

James's feet pounded across the marble floors, loudly echoing through the empty hallways. He ran faster and faster, down the same flights of stairs and sharply turning the same corners that he knew would lead them back to the entrance of the school.

"What about the snow blizzard?" Sofia pointed out.

Oh, I almost forgot about that….

"What snow blizzard?" Lucinda asked right when they all burst through the front doors of the academy.

James and Lucinda halted to a stop, staring at the now ferocious looking blizzard. It seemed to have grown even worse since they were inside of the building. The forest trees were nearly bent at a ninety degree angle from the hellish mix of winds and snow. The snow didn't even look like snow, it looked like it was hailing instead. Large rocks of ice began to beat down on the entire forest, looking like it could break the tree branches.

He felt Sofia turn around on his shoulder, pointing at the swirling clouds of ferocious snow and winds above the forest. "That blizzard."

"Shit," he heard Lucinda cursed under her breath. "That bitch created a snow storm!"


Chapter twenty! Woo!

I seriously can't believe that I've made it this far! Holy Crap! A big and teary-eyed "Thank you" to each and every one of you guys.

Okay, enough with the sentimental stuff, time for the important stuff. What did you all think? Did you all like this chapter? I really got into this chapter and made it my longest one so far. I hope that you all like that it was super long. This chapter isn't as steamy as the last few ones, but I promise that it'll get really steamy in the next chapter.

Shout out to Robiprime23 for her suggestion of James getting to see Sofia's amulet in action, StarAF938 and guest user, Guest, for suggesting that Hugo might catch them. I altered your ideas just to fit the story a little better.

Challenge: Guess who is behind the snow storm. If there are at lease five reviews with correct guesses (ie, correct name. You guys need to actually have her name in the review), I will reveal something major about the next chapter. It has something to do with The Evil's source.

Challenge hint: She can grant powers. She is NOT a princess. She has ice powers.

Read, review, etc.

Thanks :)

Ps. If you ever have a question or whatever, feel free to PM me. I swear I don't bite, I would love to answer or talk to you guys.