"Mateo. Sweetie, time to wake up." Rafa said gently shaking her son.
Rafa's call was answered by a groan from the young boy. "Breakfast is downstairs. I'll wait for you." She said kissing her son's cheek. She then went out leaving him alone.
Mateo got up feeling week and warmer than normal. He checked his temperature and the result was not surprising. "Mild fever. Never mind that, it'll disappear in an hour or two."
So he got ready and went down. There he saw his mother reading a book in the dining room.
"Good morning" he greeted as cheerfully as he can
He doesn't want his mother worrying. Besides he's perfectly fine just a little weak…at least that's what he wants it to be.
"Good morning son! Come on eat up you need energy for the whole day."
"Can't argue with that," he sat down and ate with his mother.
While eating, the mother and son chatted of different and random stuff like catching up on what's going on with each other's lives. When Mateo was about to leave, Rafa called for her son.
"Son, I made pastillas last night, its milk, your favourite. Here, bring some and share with your friends." She said handing him a medium sized pouch.
Mateo put it in his bag along with his tamborita.
"Thanks mom." He thanked weakly
"Are you alright?" she asked tucking a loose curl behind his ear
"Yeah mom, I'm fine. Just a little bit sleepy, but nothing like a good long walk to wake me up." he said rubbing his eyes to give a full effect.
"Ok, well, take care." She said not convinced because 'mother instinct'
Mateo usually walks to the castle with ease but with his condition, he felt like he was hiking a mountain. When he was in front of the castle he straightened himself up before going in. The guards opened the door letting him in. Once he was in he quickly saw Armando in one of the halls.
"Armando!" he called as he walked up to him "Have you seen Princess Isabel?"
"Oh she's in her room. She's actually waiting for you." He said
Mateo thanked him before heading to Isabel's room. At the hall where Isabel's room was, he saw the princess pacing back and forth. He walked towards her and asked "Isabel, is something wrong?"
"You're here! Thank goodness, I thought you'd never make it!"
Mateo looked at a clock nearby and said "I'm ten minutes early."
"Come on" she said as she pulled him in
"Whoa, what's with the hurry?" he chuckled
"I heard you had other errands to go to." She reasoned
"Wait, how'd you know?" he asked putting down his bag
"The others told me." She said taking out something covered in cloth
"Ok" Mateo started to wonder why they would tell it to one another. "So what's your idea for a new invention?"
"It's not exactly new. More like an upgrade on my last invention." Isabel removed the cloth and revealed the telescope that they used to project the sun on the eclipse so that anyone can look at it without hurting their eyes. "Remember this?
"Crystal clear" he said recalling all the events from Orizaba to Elena's new found power
"Now I'm planning is for this to project coloured images. Imagine what difference it can make." She said enthusiastically while holding up a photo of her and her sister.
"Well when light passes through window stained glass it projects colours." He suggested
"But it doesn't really reveal their shapes."
"You got the colour problem down! Now the problem to solve is how to project it with its image." He said pointing at the photo Isabel is holding
"The window stained glass idea seems pretty good I just need to improve it. But how?"
"Magic?" Mateo suggested
"Mateo, I know I always call you here for some magical assistance but this time I want to be challenged…"
While Isabel is talking, Mateo felt a headache which dissipated seconds after he felt it
"It's just a headache, nothing that serious." He thought to himself
"… so magic isn't really that really necessary in science." Isabel concluded
"You don't have to make a persuasive speech about that topic, Isabel. I already had enough of it with my mom." He joked making both of them snicker
"Well, there's not much to do now. I think you better go now."
"Already?"
"Yeah, I mean what else can we do?"
"Not much I guess." Said Mateo
"At least you'll have plenty of time to do your other stuff." Isabel said
"I'm not in a rush, Isabel. There's plenty of time."
"Yes, yes. Plenty of time indeed, but we have nothing to do."
"I guess I'm off now."
"Take care."
As he was leaving, Mateo bumped into Isabel's nightstand causing the lamp on it to fall over, but Mateo's reflexes were fast enough to catch. Mateo let out a nervous laugh and placed the lamp back on the nightstand. He backed away from it only to trip on a foot stool causing him to fall over.
"Are you alright?" Isabel asked
Isabel ran towards Mateo and helped him up. Once he was up both of them burst into laughter.
"That's a new level of clumsy!" Isabel laughed
"Yeah, I gotta work on that." Mateo wheezed "See you later"
Isabel saw a little pouch on the spot where Mateo fell. She picked it up.
"Wait, is this yours?" she asked holding up the pouch
"Oh yeah. Thanks." He said taking the pouch from the princess
"What's in there?"
"My mom's homemade pastillas. Want some?"
Isabel held out her hand meaning yes to his offer. Mateo put a few pieces on her hand which was quickly gobbled up by the princess. Isabel's eyes lightened up in delight.
"That is so delicious!" she exclaimed "May I have some more?"
Mateo handed the pouch back to the princess and said " You can have all of it. There's a lot of spare back home.
"Thanks" Isabel popped another piece in her mouth
And with that Mateo left Isabel's room and headed to the training grounds of the palace where he saw Gabe waiting for him.
"Wow, this place is empty. Shouldn't the guards be training by now?"
"I moved it to noon this day. They deserve a little break and why I asked you to be early." Gabe grabbed two staffs and twirled it "Catch" Gabe tossed the other staff to Mateo which he catches smoothly.
"Nice catch. Now, like I told you we'll be practicing self-defense. For your own and Princess Elena's protection just in case." Gabe reminded
"Yes I remember." He said before feeling the impact of the staffing Gabe's hands on his arm "OW!"
"Improve your reflexes! They're extremely needed when defending. You never know what your opponent's next move will be." Gabe swung the staff towards Mateo again but this time he successfully blocked it. But as doing so he felt another headache only this time it lasted longer and it drained him.
"You ok?" Gabe asked concerned for his friend "Was I harsh on you or –"
"No, no, no. You were great. I'm fine I'm just… I'm fine." Mateo said straightening his posture "Let's continue. It's for Elena after all."
"And for you too." Gabe noted
"Yeah, yeah, let's go."
Gabe raised his eyebrow having suspicions with Mateo's behaviour. Gabe decided to just roll with it, but if something like that happens again he will stop and squeeze the truth out of him.
After testing and giving advices about defense, Gabe actually taught Mateo some sweet moves with and without weapons. Everything went well which decreased Gabe's suspicions but he's still curious about what happened earlier. There's still a few hours left and they spent it by polishing Gabe taught Mateo. Mateo mastered the moves pretty quickly and now they're taking a rest on the benches.
"What are you going to do now? You're tired for teaching me and you your training starts in a few minutes." Mateo asked
"Don't worry; our everyday training is not that tough. Sometimes all we do is do drills and that's it."
"Take your time to rest. I'll be moving along now."
"Where you off to?" Gabe asked
"To the docks. I promised Naomi I'd help her today." He answered
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, why'd you ask?"
"Well, it's about what happened earlier. You looked like you were going to pass out" Gabe said before drinking a bottle of water
"Really? I probably didn't get enough rest last night. But other than that I'm fine." Mateo lied
"Ok, just take it easy."
"I will. Thanks for your concern." Mateo grabbed his stuff and went out of the castle grounds.
On his way to the docks Mateo felt dizziness hit him. He leaned on a wall to prevent himself from collapsing and to regain his normal state. It took him a couple of minutes to do so. After doing so he immediately went back to walking pretending that the recent event didn't happen at all. When the docks were at his line of sight, he ran until he was there. After stopping, Mateo felt more energy drain out of him.
"I didn't thought this through." He told himself trying to regain as much energy as he can
"Hey Mateo!" Naomi greeted "You're just in time. We need a little miracle here."
Naomi pointed at the sailors and crew on the docks having a hard time unloading the ships because of giant crates taking over the docks.
"Where's the guy that picks up these crates?"
"They notified us that he's gonna be late when the crates are already out. They said that he'll be here by evening. Bad timing, I know. That's not our only problem. We have to load those crates to the ships before evening because that's the ships' schedule for departure." Naomi elaborated pointing at multiple wagons full of crates of all sizes. "So yeah, we really need a miracle. Sorry you got mixed up with this. I just wanted you to experience the docks on a normal day. Usually these problems never arise. And I just want you to spend the afternoon by the sea. There's so much to discover."
"It's okay Naomi. Besides we can hang out while working, introduce me to things we come across." Mateo said while petting a seagull that perched on a crate beside him
"I wouldn't pet those birds, they can be aggressive sometimes." Naomi advised
Mateo slowly pulled back his hand but the bird pushed its head on Mateo's hand as if asking him to continue, and so he did.
"This one seems friendly." Mateo countered
"I did say sometimes."
Mateo smiled at Naomi "Let's get to work, Mateo. There's a lot of it."
They walked on the first dock full of crates.
"Got any plan?" Naomi asked
Mateo didn't respond for he was thinking of a good plan. Once he was sure that the plan in his head would work, he smiled and said "Yes I do." He pulled out his tamborita and chanted "Watube Shappelli Frezugas!" he pounded on his tamborita and it glowed. The glow from the tamborita travelled in the air and dove in the water. The sailors wondered what just happened; some of them snickered because they thought it was ridiculous. But those sailors were silenced when the water started to rise and formed itself into an extension of the dock. Seconds after, the water turned into solid ice. The sailors were in awe and some of them had their jaws dropped. One was brave enough to test it out.
"Hey everyone it's solid!" the sailor confirmed
"What are we gonna do if it melts?" Naomi's father asked
"Don't worry, it won't." Mateo said panting heavily to catch his breath "It'll melt once I say the spell."
"Are you alright?" Naomi asked
"I'm fine. Elemental spells will take a lot of you." He said.
While part of that is true, he wouldn't be this tired if it weren't for his fever.
"Well, this one dock is enough. We'll make it work for the others. You've helped enough." Naomi said
"No. I can make all of the docks. I haven't done elemental magic for a long time that's why I'm like this. I'll get used to it" Mateo lied
Mateo did the same with the other docks, each one making him weaker. And Naomi is starting to take notice and more concerned every time he does the spell. While on their way to the last dock, Naomi spotted something near the water. She ran up to it and observed it before picking it up. Mateo followed Naomi and he saw her holding a clam.
"What are you gonna do with that
"Don't you recognize it? It's an oyster, a type of mussel that makes pearls. It's surprising to see one to get one ashore. Should we open it?" she asked
"I'd say yes but I'll agree with whatever you say." Mateo stated
"I say we open it." She said
She tried to pry it open but it didn't. She tried more force but it stayed closed. She tried again but to no avail. She growled and said "It won't budge."
"Hold it out." Mateo asked
Naomi did as she was asked while Mateo is taking out his tamborita. Mateo chanted "Opas" and the oyster opened by itself revealing to contain seven pearls. Both of them were surprised but what surprised them the most was that the largest pearl is the only black pearl.
"Whoa, how is this even possible?" Naomi questioned extremely baffled
"I don't know"
"We should make a necklace out of it! Come on!" Naomi pulled Mateo but he pulled back
"Naomi, what about the last dock and shouldn't we be helping to load the ships?"
"You're right. But I think the docks are enough."
"It's the last dock, what could go wrong?' he said walking towards the last dock
"Well One: You just jinxed it. Two: You get weaker and weaker every time you cast the spell. Who knows what will happen?"
"I know what will happen. I will successfully do that spell on the last dock fine and witnessing the ships' departure by your side completely fine. So stop worrying!" he snapped
There was a short pause between the two before Naomi broke it and said "I'm sorry, Mateo. But I'm just worried for you."
"You don't have to be worried and you don't have to be sorry. I'm sorry for snapping at you."
"It's okay. If you're confident you can do it maybe you can. Let's go to the dock."
When they got there, Mateo did the spell and like before the glowing aura from his tamborita travelled in the air and dove into the water. The water started to rise and take form, but as it was about to freeze it collapsed. Naomi, of course, is surprised at what happened. She looked at Mateo and saw him panting heavily.
"Mateo-"
Before she can finish her sentence, Mateo casted the spell again. It took a little while but it worked. Naomi looked at the result and back to Mateo who's now on his knees. Naomi helped him up.
"I'm sorry what was that again about you knowing what will happen?" Naomi teased
Mateo only groaned in response
"You can rest in our place." She suggested putting his arm around her shoulder helping him stand up
"No, no. I just need to sit down."
"Sorry Mateo, but I'm not listening to you this time. I mean look what happened to you."
"The spell just drained me just like Elena is when she used the sceptre too much."
"You're not going to pass out for two days, are you?"
"No"
Naomi helped Mateo settle down on a crate before sitting beside him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah"
Naomi's father walked up to the two
"How is everything going for you- whoa. What happened?" he asked noticing Mateo's state
"The spell he did drained him out but he'll be fine. I guess." Naomi said
"You drained yourself just to help us? Wow, I don't know how to thank you."
"It's okay Mr. Turner."
"Mateo you need to head home. Get some rest." Naomi said
"Aren't we supposed to help load the ships?"
"Seriously, you're drained and still wanna help. You've helped enough, Mateo." Naomi's father
"See, Mateo. Come on I'll walk you home."
"But I still have one more task."
"Well that task can wait. You need to go home." She said standing up
"Naomi, I'm fine. Really." Mateo also stood up
"You're never gonna give in, are you?"
Mateo stayed silent but his eyes answered Naomi's question
Naomi sighed in defeat "Alright, I won't bother you about it anymore but you better get home."
"Thanks Naomi."
"Yeah whatever" Naomi noticed that only one ship was left at the docks
"Well, there they go, all thanks to you."
"I'm gonna head off now. Pleasure helping you."
"Stay safe."
Mateo nodded at her and left.
Princess Elena was waiting for Mateo in the wizard's workshop. She was sitting on one of the chairs and her sceptre is on the table. She's been waiting for twenty minutes.
"Hmm, maybe I'm too early." She said and made her way out. When she opened the library door, she saw Mateo.
"Mateo!"
"Hey Elena, sorry I'm late."
"It's okay."
The two of them went in the wizard workshop.
"Why did you take so long to get here?"
"I helped Naomi at the docks."
"Oh so that what she was talking about. That's why you look really tired."
"So anything new with your scepter?"
"Nope. Still drains me whenever I use it."
"You were using it?!" He asked freaking out
"It was a joke, Mateo. Take it easy." She said giggling a bit "So what are we gonna do today?"
"We're just going to study it. You've been draining yourself these past few days so it's time to take a break. I also asked Zuzo to ask around the spirit world so it'll be easier to figure out what secrets it might hold." He said while observing the scepter
"Well what are you waiting for? Call him!"
Mateo pulled out his tamborita and chanted "Illuminara Alacazar Waiowell!" And in a puff of smoke Zuzo appeared holding a pencil and notepad.
"Okay, Mateo here's what I found-Oh hey Elena-I just found out that the scepter was made by Maru's royal wizard. How cool is that?!" Zuzo said waiting for an excited response from Mateo because he knew how much he's into this but there was only silence.
When the smoke disappeared, it revealed Mateo lying on the floor.
"Oh no." Zuzo muttered
"Mateo!" Elena ran to her friend and helped him up
"Kid what happened?" Zuzo asked
"Just got a little dizzy."
"Hmm, getting dizzy after using magic only means one thing" Zuzo stated
"What?" Elena asked
Zuzo disappeared and reappeared in front of Mateo "You have a fever." He said
"Fever?" Elena touched Mateo's forehead "He's right. You're burning up."
"It's nothing I'm totally fine."
"Only one way to find out." Zuzo summoned a thermometer and popped it in Mateo's mouth and waited two minutes before taking it out. "Whoa! Mateo, how can you still be in your feet?"
Elena took the thermometer from Zuzo and checked it. Her eyes widened in shock. "Sixty-five degrees?! You need rest, Mateo."
"I'm surprised you had the energy to summon me." Zuzo commented
Elena grabbed Mateo's hand and gently pulled him "Come on. I'll take you to a room where you can rest and we'll call a doctor."
Mateo pulled his hand back "I'm fine, Elena. I can handle this. Zuzo, did you find anything else?"
"Oh no, I'm not telling you anything. We're cancelled for today, you have to lie down." Zuzo directed
"You're gonna cancel today just for a fever?"
Elena took his hand again "Mateo, we can't work if one of us is not feeling well."
"I can handle this. I have enough energy for today. I'm fine!"
"It's time to face facts, Mateo. You're sick and don't have enough energy to focus. Please Mateo just rest." Elena pleaded hugging her friend
Mateo pushed her away "Fine, I'll just leave then."
"Mateo, it's almost night time and its cold outside. Going outside will only worsen your condition." Zuzo reminded
"I don't care!"
"What's gotten into you? You're not yourself anymore."
"Leave me alone!" He shouted and left
Elena was in shock. She'd never seen her friend like this before.
"Don't worry princess. He gets like that when he gets sick. Been like that since he was young. He throws tantrums whenever he's sick."
"We have to go after him. Something might happen."
Mateo ended up in the woods which he's starting to think that it's a bad idea since its getting dark, but he just kept walking. As he's walking, he started to feel guilty for shouting at Zuzo and Elena. He told himself that he's going to apologize first thing in the morning.
Mateo just kept walking and being worried about getting lost didn't even come to his mind. For every step he took, he felt getting weaker and weaker. Mateo finally agreed to what Zuzo said that being out will make his condition worse. He's weak and cold and things started to get even worse when a misty rain started and after a few minutes it turned into a heavy rain. But there's still a little luck in him for he came across a Maruvian temple that Avalor hasn't discovered yet. He went in because of curiosity and for something to hide to from the rain. The temple contained only one chamber and in it lays a thick book. Like the curious boy he is, he opened the book and checked its contents. He found out that it holds information about the temples and artefacts of Maru. Mateo can't help but smile at this discovery. He quickly packed it in his bag excited to show it to everyone.
Mateo headed to a corner to take some rest but his body collapsed before he does so. Mateo felt his body getting weaker and weaker and colder and colder by the minute. He started to shiver in his damp clothes and felt helpless as ever.
Finally after a long day of feeling uncomfortable he finally admitted to himself "I'm sick" he said as he lost consciousness.
Mateo later woke up in a room which he suspected is in the castle. He realized that it's already daytime since there are sunbeams passing through the spaces the curtains didn't cover. He looked over the right and saw his mother on a chair with her head rested on the bed he's lying in.
"Mom?" he moaned
Rafa's eyes fluttered open and looked at her son.
"Mom" he said again
Rafa hugged her son ever so tightly. "Oh Mateo, I was so worried. Don't ever do that again!" she scolded with tears running down her cheeks
"Yes mom. A-are you crying?"
"Of course I'm crying!" she said pulling back from the hug. "You're my only child and I promised myself not to let this kind of thing happen."
"I'm sorry."
Rafa kissed her son's cheek "You don't have to be sorry for anything. You're just your crazy self when you're sick." She said standing up "Despite what I said do not do anything crazy while I notify the doctor you're awake."
"The doctor?"
"She'll explain everything to you."
Rafa went out the room and minutes later, a middle aged woman with slightly gray hair due to aging. On her hand hangs a bag full of medicine and tools.
"Hello Mateo, I'm Dr. Trabado. You're probably wondering what happened to you and how you got here." She said
Mateo nodded in response
"I'll answer the second question first." She said sitting down on the chair where his mother was sitting "Princess Elena followed you."
Mateo's eyes widened in shock. He thought she was mad at him for yelling at her.
"She led a search for you. You were in a bad condition when we found you." She continued
"How bad?"
"We found you in that temple two AM in the morning lying motionless on the floor. Your temperature was at all time high and you're soaking wet."
"What was my temperature?"
"What was your temperature the last time you checked?"
Mateo paused for a minute trying to remember what Elena said when she and Zuzo checked it. "Sixty-eight?" he said quite unsure
"Hmm, add twenty."
"Oh, is that-"
"We had to give you a sponge bath to prevent your temperature from going up."
Mateo looked at the window that's been covered by curtains trying to figure out what time it is.
"It's four o'clock in the afternoon in case you were wondering." The doctor said surprising Mateo
"Are you a psychologist?" he asked
"I have a PhD on Psychology." The doctor claimed
Later a knock came through the door. Dr. Trabado stood up and went out. After a few moments, Isabel barged in with Gabe and Naomi.
"Mateo! How are you feeling?" Isabel asked
"I knew there was something strange with you yesterday!" Gabe said
"I told you to take some rest and I told you to go home!" Naomi scolded
"I'm feeling fine, Isabel. And I should've told you something, Gabe and I should've listened to you, Naomi." He admitted
"Here, have some" Isabel handed Mateo some pastillas
"Are these from yesterday?"
"Yeah." She answered shyly
Mateo popped the candy in his mouth.
"Mateo, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" Gabe asked
"You've been talking about that training the whole wee and I figured it was important to you." Mateo reasoned
"You're my friend, Mateo. Your well being is much more important." Gabe said and the two smiled at each other
"And uh… you remember the pearls we found?" Naomi asked "I made an amulet out of it. My dad and I figured that it's the best way to say thank you." Naomi handed him the amulet. The white pearls formed a circle with the black one in the middle all encased in glass.
"Thank you."
"Mateo, that necklace means us thanking you. You don't have to thank us about it."
"I'm still thanking you for it."
Everyone let out a giggle for that. The happy moment was later cut off by a Mateo's headache making him lie down.
"Mateo?" Naomi asked concerned
"Just a headache… and a little dizzy."
"Alright, we'll leave you to rest." Gabe said
"Take care." Isabel said before the rest of them leave the room
Mateo laid there trying to get rid of his headache and dizziness by blinking and massaging his temples. It's like every time he opens his eyes, he gets dizzier and makes his head pound like crazy. He's been struggling to fight this off from quite some time until a soft hand on his cheek distracted him from the pain. It comforted him, he thought that it belonged to his mother but when he looked he saw Princess Elena.
"How are you feeling?" she asked
"Here, it'll make your headache disappear." Elena handed him a pill and a glass of water
Mateo consumed the pill then lay back down.
"Elena, I am so sorry about shouting at you last night. It was so rude of me. I shouldn't have done that. I am so, so sorry."
"I forgive you, Mateo. At least I know what you're like in a bad mood when you're sick."
"Zuzo told you?"
"Yeah"
"That was a really kind move, leading a search party to look for me I mean." Mateo held Elena's hand "Thank you."
Elena brought up her other hand to hold his. "You've done a lot for me, it's the least I can do. And maybe I came off as forceful to you that night."
"No you weren't. I was just being stubborn." Mateo countered
"Are you hungry? You haven't eaten anything all day."
"I guess I am hungry."
"Good thing I brought a bowl of soup." She said pointing at a tray with a bowl and two pieces of toast which she too and handed to her friend
"Don't you have anything else to do? I-I might be taking your time."
"Don't worry, just relax. You need it." She said hugging him
"Elena, if you keep hugging me you might get sick too."
"At least I can take a break from all these royal duties. And we can take care of each other."
Both of them laughed at the statement.
"But seriously though, being fine is much better."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Elena parted from the hug
On a small crack on the door was Rafa watching the two bond making her happy. She closed the door and not long after, Dr. Trabado walked up to her.
"How is he?" she asked
"He'll be fine." She said as she led the doctor away from the room.