Sofia the First: The Alien Prince

Here We Go Again

The next day, Amber and Hildegard joined Sofia in seeing Hugo at his palace. They reached his bedroom when they heard spraying.

"Oh, boy—it smells like a springtime meadow in here," Axel's voice rang out.

"There's no way this air freshener can make it any better—now this place smells like a skunk who's been rolling around in flowers," Hugo blanched.

Sofia called through the door, "Hugo, is everything okay in there?"

Hugo and Axel emerged from their bedroom.

"Oh, hi, Sofie," Hugo waved. "Let's just say we're having a little trouble keeping our room clean for personal reasons."

"Well, I'd better go and see Dad," Axel said, pinching his nose. He went off to find Garrick.

"Well, what do you feel like doing, Hugo?" Sofia asked.

"Do you want to play Snakes & Ladders?" Hugo offered.

"Sure," Sofia nodded. She turned to Amber and Hildegard and asked, "Do you want to join us?"

"We'd love to, but we don't know how to play," Amber declared.

"It's okay—we'll show you," Hugo offered. "Meet me in the library, and I'll bring the game over."

"You got it," Sofia smiled.

Hugo went back into his room to get the board game while the girls went to the library.

"You see, Sofia? He really is an alien," Amber told Sofia.

But Sofia was really annoyed with her sister. "This doesn't prove that he's an alien, Amber," she frowned.

"It does so—he and Axel sprayed air freshener in their room," Hildegard protested.

"How does the air freshener prove they're aliens?" Sofia blanched.

"On his planet, their choice of food is air freshener, which is consumed by sprayed it and inhaling it through their noses," Amber told her.

"That's ridiculous," Sofia scoffed.

Suddenly, Axel's voice rang out, "What's ridiculous?"

The girls jumped at the sound of Axel's voice. Sofia looked at Amber and Hildegard with a smirk, waiting for them to answer. The two girls didn't say anything, so Sofia replied, "Let's just say that these girls are letting their imaginations get the best of them."

"Oh," Axel smiled.

"Here I am," Hugo smiled. He came up behind the girls with a board game.

"What are you up to, baby bro?" Axel asked.

"I'm just going to play Snakes and Ladders with the girls," Hugo replied.

"Okay," Axel smiled.

Hugo and the girls went to the library, where they set up the game board.

"Here's how you play: you roll the dice and follow the numbers on the board," Hugo explained to Amber and Hildegard. "If you land on a ladder, you take a shortcut to the top of it."

"But if you land on a snake, you go all the way down and fall behind," Sofia continued.

"Sounds interesting," Amber said.

"Okay, let's pick a game piece," Hugo said.

Hugo's game piece is blue, Sofia got purple, Amber yellow, and Hildegard green. Sofia went first—she rolled a dice and went up four spaces. Amber went next and rolled only one. Hildegard rolled two. Hugo went up five spaces and landed on a ladder—and the ladder moved the piece up by itself.

"Wow," Sofia gaped.

"I forgot to tell you—this game is enchanted," Hugo chuckled.

Amber and Hildegard were sure this was proof that Hugo was an alien. Sofia rolled a six and went up six more spaces.

"It's your turn again, Sofie—you rolled a six," Hugo told her. "When you roll a six, you get another turn."

Sofia rolled a four and went up four more spaces.