Deafening Silence
Summary: Elena and Mateo travel to Enchancia to visit for a few days, but something very strange is going on. Little by little, there is less sound in the kingdom, and to make matters worse, a stranger abducts Mateo and Cedric in the middle of a royal meeting. It's up to Elena and Sofia to figure out what's happened to their friends and how to stop the wicked force before the entire kingdom (and possibly even the Ever Realm) descends into utter silence for good. (Original concept requested by allyrwhitney; follow-up to "Magdalena the Mage")
Disclaimer: I only own the OC in here, whose name/title will be revealed in later chapters.
A/N: Okay! As most of you probably know by now, mystery is my favorite genre to read/write/watch. I love the whole aspect of, "What in the world is even going on?" And then of course, by the end, everyone's like, "…OH!" Haha. Mystery, suspense, and thriller all top my favorite genres, so I really enjoy writing more for each. I hope you enjoy this story, which will be multi-chapter. Also, thanks to allyrwhitney for requesting another EOA/STF crossover. I didn't know when I'd want to write another one, but when she mentioned wanting to see Cedric and Mateo abducted, I knew this was the perfect time. :D Sorry, boys. It had to happen at some point. Lol. Enjoy!
PS: Just FYI, in case any of you are newer to my stories, all of my STF/EOA stories are pretty much continuous, so Elena and Mateo have both met Cedric and the others at this point, and they know quite a lot about each other. Just wanted to throw that out there! 😊
*Story*
Chapter 1: Enchancian Mystics
"Thanks for traveling with me, Mateo," Elena said happily once again as they were relaxing in the back of a flying coach that had been prepared for them. "It's not really a big deal going to Enchancia by myself, but I do enjoy the company."
The royal wizard grinned at his friend and shrugged before placing his hands behind his head and leaning back. "No problem, Elena," he responded easily. "In fact, this is great for me. Estéban had just gotten onto me about cleaning out my workshop, so I'm kind of glad I don't have to do it until later." He snickered. "He's such a stickler for cleanliness."
"Oh, I know. Isabel said he did the same with some of her older inventions." She rolled her eyes. "I love my cousin, but really?" She giggled as she sorted through some documents in her lap. "Now, I told you what this meeting is about, right?"
"Eh, something about networking with all the trade partners…" He made a face. "To be honest, Elena, I sort of zone out when you guys are talking about stuff like that. It's not exactly my field of expertise."
She smirked at his mentioning before smacking him on the shoulder with the documents, causing him to laugh. "And that's why you're my royal wizard and not my communications expert."
"Fair enough," he relented before yawning. "And aside from that, what else are we going to do?"
"Well…" She smiled mischievously. "I can only assume we'll meet up with Sofia again. And where Sofia is, usually Cedric is right there with her. So, it's likely we'll all get to meet up and spend time together again."
"Oh, good! I needed to ask Mr. Cedric about this new tamborita that I heard of and if it's even worth getting."
The princess snickered. "It's so adorable when you act all excited about magic."
Mateo blushed modestly before smiling proudly. "I'm adorable anyway!" He gasped and sat up straight as the flying coach jolted, causing the vehicle some distress. He leaned slightly out the window and called out to the driver, "Everything okay up there?"
"Yes, sorry!" the man called back. "Just a strange shift in the wind. We should be in Enchancia in half an hour. Could you please tell the princess?"
"Sure!" Mateo returned to his seat and glanced toward his friend. "Thirty minutes to go."
She smiled gratefully. "Good. We kind of got a late start, so it'll be nice to get there soon."
Outside the castle, Sofia paced back and forth nervously, her hands wringing together. "Ooh, they should have been here by now," she muttered in concern.
Cedric, who was sitting on the steps with his arms folded over his knees, just shook his head. "Sofia, relax," he implored, offering her a calming smile as she paused her pacing and gazed in his direction. "People are late all the time. It's not so uncommon. Perhaps there was simply a slight delay."
She frowned. "Or maybe Shuriki came back and captured them. Or—Or maybe Grimtrix escaped and cast a spell on them." She gasped. "Oh, no, Mr. Cedric!"
"Sofia." He frowned as he reached out and took her hand as she started to pace again. "Sit down. Breathe. Princess Elena and Mateo are fine." He pulled her down next to him on the steps.
"They're an hour late, Mr. Cedric… That's not like them." She sighed heavily and mimicked his previous position: her arms folded over her knees. "They were supposed to be here at nine o'clock."
"Listen, Baileywick," he began jokingly, earning a very slight smile from his apprentice, "like I said… You don't know what caused their delay. But it won't do you any good to go jumping to conclusions."
The princess finally nodded in agreement and cast her eyes to the sky again, seeking out her friends. "I guess you're right."
"Of course! I wouldn't worry so much if I were you. There's nothing you can do if something like this happens."
Not five minutes later, the friends witnessed the flying coach finally touch down and roll to a halt at the base of the stairs.
Sofia grinned and jumped up, rushing down the stairs with her friend right behind her. She saw the door open, and she jumped toward the first person who got out. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said, wrapping her arms around the visitor.
Mateo laughed at the warm welcome and hugged the little princess back, ruffling her hair playfully. "Nice to see you too, Sofia." He turned toward Cedric and shook his hand. "Mr. Cedric! Good to see you!"
"You're looking well, Mateo," the sorcerer returned with a nod.
Sofia beamed as Elena exited, and she hardly gave the older princess time to react before she jumped into her arms, practically crushing her in a friendly hug. "Elena!"
Elena giggled and returned her charge's hug. "Oh, Sofia! What a great welcome!" She playfully spun the girl around, eliciting a happy laugh from the auburn-haired princess. "Sorry we're so late," she told them as she released Sofia. "We had a few coach troubles before leaving Avalor. And then there was a bit of bad weather we had to navigate around."
Cedric nudged his apprentice, who smiled. "Told you." He smiled as Elena gave him a hug as well. "We're glad you both made it safely, Princess Elena." He glanced toward Sofia when the older girl released him. "Sofia was worried sick."
"Well…" The youngest member shrugged. "Can you blame me? We kind of have a track record for things going wrong, so it's not exactly surprising that I'd be worried, right?"
Mateo nodded. "I can understand that."
As they headed back to the castle together, they all couldn't help overhearing a conversation the guards were having.
"Did you hear?" one of the guards asked his partner. "According to reports, some of the outlying areas of Enchancia have fallen silent."
The other guard frowned. "What do you mean, 'silent?'" he attempted to clarify. "As in…no one is talking?"
"As in there's no sound at all: talking, wind, wildlife, breathing…nothing." He frowned. "It's kind of weird. Apparently, King Roland has been informed, and there's going to be an emergency meeting on it soon."
"You know," Cedric began as they moved away from the guards, "as useless as they are with actually guarding the castle most of the time, they sure are caught up on their gossip."
"Did he say there are areas that have no sound at all though?" Elena asked in surprise.
"I've heard about that happening before," Mateo told them as they entered the castle. "A long, long time ago in Maru, that same thing happened to the kingdom before another powerful wizard expelled the silence. The Maruvians weren't really sure who or what caused it, but they did call the event the 'Deafening Silence.'"
"Rather appropriate oxymoron," Cedric murmured. "I know well enough: sometimes the silence can be louder than any noise."
Sofia frowned curiously. "What do you mean?"
"You ever been in a really quiet room, and then you start thinking you're hearing things? Or maybe you hear a ringing in your ears that steadily gets louder and louder? Or perhaps you can hear your own heartbeat pounding in your mind?" The sorcerer shuddered a bit at the thought. "It can be rather annoying and, honestly, frightening."
The young princess shivered at the examples. "I don't think I could handle that… When you put it that way, I actually like a little bit of noise in the background."
"Well, maybe it's just a fluke that will all be sorted out soon," Elena enthused cheerfully until she saw a rush of guards entering the throne room, exclaiming to the king that the silence was spreading to more outlying areas. The dark-haired girl's enthusiasm faded as she looked toward her friends. "Or…maybe not."
To be continued…
Chapter List:
1: Enchancian Mystics
2: Seized in Plain Sight
3: Hush
4: A Stranger's Name
5: Deafening
6: Resound Through Nothingness