Story in a nutshell: Mateo loses his memory and it's up to his friends and a little magic to bring it back.
Note: Honestly I think I could have divided this in two. This is all mostly friendship and minor hints of Gabe/Elena. Sonia is from my story Of Friends and Surprises. You don't have to read it to know her character, it's recapped.
Special note: Thank you Visatoarea10 for the prompt who wanted to see this story happen. Hope you and the readers enjoy. It's been fun and challenging. If anyone has other ideas feel free to send them to me via pm or in a review!
The ruins of the eye of midnight chamber looked different during the day, thought Mateo. He had decided to come to this particular area for two reasons. One to get a good look around and two to show off a little. Not in a bad way though, he wanted to show her the kind of magic that Avalor had. The ruins were being studied today but it didn't seem to matter. Mateo had brought with him a girl that had just moved here from Enchancia. Proud of his magical heritage this was just his first stop of many.
Next to him was Elena and Gabe of course. No Naomi, she wasn't going to join them until dinner. She was spending some time with her mom before she had to go out to sea again. He shared a look with Elena as he raised his brows, it was different to be here in the day light.
"Oh this stuff is really cool and neat," said Sonia. Aka the girl that he was showing around the magical places of Avalor. Needless to say he was impressed and a bit jealous of the magical girl next to him. Impressed that she was a trained sorceress and a bit jealous that she knew so much more than him. He was hoping that she would give him some lessons. Maybe share what each other knew.
Then again Mateo de Alva was just excited.
"Ceramics, I don't know-"
"It's a stone calendar," he said as she looked impressed that he knew that.
Then he saw her look at the shield. It is made from different types of feathers (blue cotinga, scarlet macaw, yellow oriole and rose roseate spoonbill, he learned) which are arranged in rows. It is also made from several sheets of gold.
"It's a shield," he blurted out. "Magic keeps the feathers holding up and everything. It dates as far back from the Maruvian time."
Sonia looked even more impressed as he knew that one.
"This is so cool, I wish Enchancia had stuff like this; temples, ruins, shields like that. The closest thing I got to using magic outside of school was some dumb royal retreat." He raised an eyebrow- "Don't ask. It's really awesome that you get to see this stuff."
"Professor Mendoza found something that they thought was a headdress of some kind when she first came out here. Then stuff for rituals of some kind, like obsidian blades."
She looked excited to hear that one. "I'd love to see that some day when she's done researching. Has anyone tried to decipher the hieroglyphics?"
"Not that I know yet," he said hoping that she could tell him something about her school. Or magic, he thought as he told himself to calm down. Everything will come out when it should and not to get too excited. It wasn't like she was going to go anywhere.
He turned his head to look at Gabe and Elena who were looking at some kind of painting on the wall. Gabe had found a stray blade made from that volcanic glass rock. Professor Mendoza had said that if they found anything like that to turn in.
Mateo meet Elena's gaze as she nodded at him to keep talking. Okay, he thought, now was not the time for him to ask a rapid fire of questions. He was curious to know what Sonia knew. She just went a magic school for the last eight years of her life and going to one in a neighboring country.
Then he heard a small screech and Gabe and Elena hurried over. Sonia had tripped on what looked like rocks piled on each other. Crap, he thought, as he looked over her. She seemed unharmed except for her ankle swelling.
"It's okay, I can fix it," he said taking out his wand tamborita impressing not only Sonia but along Elena and Gabe. He was coming along so much with his magic.
"Maybe we should go back to the castle and make sure it's still okay," said Gabe as Mateo sent him a look to not end this so soon. He shrugged as he sheepishly handed his blade over to one of the archeologist studying the rest of the ruins. "So is there anything magic can't do?"
Mateo looked at Sonia as he didn't know at the top of his head. Sonia could only think of two.
"Well, we can't revive the dead, although witches can summon human spirits. We can't cure mental illnesses," she said. "Umm, that's all I got right now."
Made sense he thought remembering some of his grandfather's books. Reviving the dead wouldn't be good at all. Sometimes you can make mental conditions worse. A spark in his mind brought something up. "Love spells and potions are really hard to deal with."
Together they all went back to the castle as Mateo thought of another magical place he could show her. The codex maru chamber. That was cool and he could see if she found anything interesting that he could tell her about. Mateo only knew about so much that was in there. It was a wizard's workshop but there was a lot of space and things he didn't study all the way yet.
As they got there he told her that she could see that and he liked that she was excited about this.
"Gabe why don't you take Sonia to the doctor and Mateo and I could go down to the workshop," said Elena as he nodded offering his arm to her.
When they were gone, Elena turned to look at Mateo. "You're doing great showing her around, maybe you could be our new tour guide." She grinned as she said that bumping up against Mateo. "Where did you learn all of that stuff?"
"Some of my books and professor Mendoza. She thinks I could identify some stuff that might be magical in origin." And he wanted to go back too and sit in on some lessons. By now he learned a lot in his own books but more and hands on is always fun.
They stopped short when they had seen Esteban with Dona Paloma, Lady Yolanda, and Countess Delores in the library. All of them stopped their idle gossip to look at him and Elena. One of them whispered about how dirty they were and another wondered where Gabe was.
He smiled and waved as he heard Elena behind him. "Please Esteban? We won't ruin your dinner party, I swear," said Elena as her cousin looked at her with a puppy dog look. "Nothing bad is going to happen."
At this he seemed to contemplate as Elena shared a look with him. Mateo bite his lip as he wished that Esteban had made his decision. He had wanted to learn more about that wizard's lair in the castle. It wasn't particularly easy to find, getting into it required three keys, and he wanted to show his new friend what kind of magical stuff he had access to. The stuff in the codex maru chamber still had yet to be uncovered, especially since he had a different work space in the castle. Then he had one at home in their basement.
"Sonia's going to be back from the doctor any minute," said Elena with a coy smile. "And Mateo really wants to impress his new friend. I'll sit through an extra lesson for Mateo."
At this he flushed as he noticed that Esteban seemed to contemplate on it. Finally, he seemed to draw some kind of conclusion. "Alright fine, but it's going to be an extra politics lesson."
Mateo stifled a laugh as he had seen Elena make a sour face at this. She must have hated her politics lesson but nodded along to agree with him.
It had been awhile since Mateo had been in there, plenty of neat things could be around. Together he and Elena grinned as they raced to the library. The countess, the lady, Dona, and Esteban all left the library to go to the sun room. Much better. Together both of them turned the key as they stepped inside.
Following up behind them just in time was Gabe and Sonia who looked amazed at the entry to the chamber.
"This is so cool," she said smiling with a small laugh. "Whatever kingdom I get hired in, I hope has something like this."
Well that made him a bit glum, he thought, she formerly went to Hexley Hall. The school that trained royal sorcerers. So, she could one day get a job working with a royal family. That meant that she would have to leave one day. Maybe Sonia could work in Cordoba as he thought about Prince Alonso as his stomach tightened for some reason.
Together all four of them were searching through looking for something interesting. Mateo was proud that he had kept it all nice and the potions ingredients were nicely labeled and easy to find. Then the books were straight. Then again he rarely went down here except to take one of the books or something.
Next to him Elena nudged for him to speak as he had shown all three of them an alcove area. "This is the area I didn't really study yet. My abuelo, er, sorry, grandfather left it all behind."
He looked at the shelves and saw a few things. Tea leaves, stone tools, stone figurines, and something ceramic that looked like a monkey an idol of some kind he mused. Curious to know about that ceramic and reached out to get it.
"I wouldn't touch that," said Elena unsure what it would do. And the last time they touched something they didn't know, the stone that made them small, didn't turn out so well. "Mateo I have a bad feeling about that."
"Yea, like something might happen," said Sonia as she nodded along at this.
Mateo looked at both girls with a skeptical look. Gabe only nodded along with them, usually Elena's judgement was right but he couldn't help it. It didn't look like it would do anything. It was just a monkey head painted in a jade color. Contemplating it, he decided not to. He still didn't know what it did or anything.
Shrugging he turned to lead them to another alcove area as he felt something hard brush against his arm. Okay, his elbow touched the monkey and nothing happened. Until he felt like something had hit him upside the head. He clutched where his arm hit the monkey as the room started to spin. Then before he could yell for them to turn around, Mateo de Alva dropped to the floor.
The last thing he could hear was the three of them yelling his name and for him to wake up. His eyes slipped closed as he could make out Gabe for some reason giving him CPR. Then everything was black.
Mateo woke up with his head pounding and heart racing. This had to be some kind of spare bedroom that he was sitting in he thought. He blinked up at the ceiling as he looked around to see several people looking at him. None of them at all didn't looked at all familiar to him. On his right was two men one dressed as if he was a guard. The other had something medical in his hands. On his left was two girls, a pretty girl with dark red hair and another girl with hair in a ponytail. Another girl at his head holding him close.
"Mateo, are you okay?" asked the ponytailed girl with a worried look on her face. The one at his head looked so thankful.
He looked at all of them blankly not sure who exactly they were.
"I'm fine," he said flustered as they all stared at him. Then he realized that his name was Mateo. The name had a nice ring to it. "Um, who are you?"
All of them shared a look with each other stunned as the girls clasped a hand over their mouths. The doctor and guard shared a look. The girl that was at his head let out a choked sob. They all looked to be stunned at him as he didn't know why.
Then the first girl in the ponytail and pink dress spoke in an even voice. She looked nice with a worried look on her face. "Mateo, I'm your friend Elena and this your other friends: Gabe and Sonia."
She nodded at the boy that looked to be wearing a guard's uniform. He looked nice he supposed and very muscular with a worried look on his face. Gabe might have had a friendly demeanor if he didn't look so upset. Then Mateo's eyes strayed to the girl who had red hair and seemed to have some magical air to her as it seemed familiar.
Then Mateo looked up at the girl at his head. "Are you my girlfriend?"
"No, I am your mother," she said shocked and stifled something between a sob and a giggle. A bit offended and flushing a little Rafa looked at the others. "It's amnesia, he doesn't remember a lot- if anything."
At this both girls next to him hugged each other a little. Mateo just looked at them all confused. He was suffering from amnesia as he struggled to remember just about anything. Squeezing his eyes shut he tried to piece together something. However, it just stayed black.
Another person opened the door and Mateo looked at the blond that had entered the room. She didn't look familiar to him as she looked at him. "What happened? Mateo are you okay?" she asked as she came over to him. She put her hand on his forehead as he just looked at her curiously.
"Are you my girlfriend?" he blurted out with a confused look on his face.
Her face twisted from concern to confusion to a small grimace. The hand on his forehead slapped him gently enough. He gasped as he felt that contact but thankful it didn't really leave a mark.
"No, what is wrong with him?" She looked at her friends for an explanation.
"He touched something in the codex maru chamber, he lost his memory," said Gabe as Mateo looked at him. That is what happened? Huh, then again, he couldn't remember what happened last before he had blacked out.
Naomi looked at Mateo with a small grin. "I could slap him upside the head so that he could remember," she suggested as his hands flew up to his head, no way would she try that, would she? Then she looked at Sonia with an explanation. "Can't magic fix this?"
Magic? So the girl was magical of some kind. That was cool, if he had magic he would make himself fly or turn invisible. Or some kind of teleportation magic… He watched as the redhead started to freak out a little as she explained that magic couldn't fix mental illnesses, it could potentially make things worse. He didn't know what to make of that.
"I don't know.. I mean... I'm going to figure it out though," said the girl finally -Sonia?- as she smiled at him. "Going to go to school and find what that is and see if there is some kind of reversal to it. I'm not that good at magic."
Mateo smiled back as he wanted his memory back. In place of his mind was nothing but a blank space and that wasn't something he wanted. He nodded back at her that seemed to show that he was fine with it as if it mattered.
"I'll go with you," said Rafa. "I want to fix my son, he can't be like this forever." His mother hugged him as he sat there and let her kiss him good bye.
Together both of them left as he watched them leave and then the doctor behind him. Mateo was vaguely aware of him telling the others to make things familiar for him. Try to jog that memory back with something pleasant and it might come back to him. Otherwise, unless his mother and Sonia found something, he had no memory.
Then Elena and Gabe went to talk something over in the corner as he watched them curiously. A maid walked in with a tray of food for him. "Here, you like enchilada's this might jog something," said Naomi as she helped prop him up to eat something. "Thanks Maria, I guess you can go back to the kitchens."
The maid nodded at her and then at Mateo with a smile. That was when Mateo became aware that he was in a castle of some sort. Oh my gosh Naomi is the princess of wherever he lived. Princess Naomi was taking care of him?! He should feel flattered that she wanted to heal him.
Taking a breath he started to eat as he glanced at Gabe and Elena in the corner. She must have had a borrowed dress on or something then, because she looked pretty dressed up. Unless something special must have happened. He put his hand on her shoulder as if he was comforting her. Aw, that was sweet he thought. Maybe they were boyfriend and girlfriend unless she is his girlfriend…
The door opened again as Mateo saw a tall man and three women next to him. "What happened to him? He was supposed to do us a magic show like the last time. You're the royal wizard!" said the tall woman with a feather in her hat.
"Magic show? Me the royal wizard? I don't know magic, I really don't believe in magic," he said with a shrug as all four of them gasped out in surprise. Then the two women that looked to be twins started to gossip. What was the fuss about? If magic couldn't fix his amnesia how could it be real? Instead of looking at them he focused on Elena. Somehow, he didn't take her as his type but turned to Naomi instead. "Is Elena my girlfriend? Or Sonia?"
The chatting woman talk faster as they looked at him as the four of them laughed. Naomi gave them all a look before she could even explain what happened.
"No," started Naomi slowly as he couldn't really see it either. Then she looked at him curiously. "Why do you keep asking if someone is your girlfriend?"
Avoiding that question, he was about to ask about who the three women and the man was that just came into the room. When he overheard some of their gossip.
"Princess Elena and the royal wizard? I'd sooner see her with the lieutenant," said the woman with the feather as she nodded in the direction of the two of them. He could see it, he thought, although she might need a prince. "Maybe he and Naomi would be cute."
"The royal wizard and the grand council woman? She's too good for him," said the woman in orange.
"The royal wizard and a sorceress?" said the one in green as she paused, "Never mind she would be okay. Doesn't matter, he can't do his magic show now!"
Naomi huffed and looked annoyed at hearing their idle gossip. Apparently, she didn't really like to hear them talk about stuff like this. He, however, was slightly interested in what they had to say. Hearing what other people thought and said was rude but kind of interesting. Maybe he could be a spy instead of a wizard that would be a fun job.
Mateo thought about Naomi's question for a second as he tried to think about what he was like and what he might be like. "I don't think I'm the kind of guy to get a lot girls but the kind to have a steady girlfriend. And you, Elena, and Sonia care so much about me."
"Aww Mateo, we care about you that much because you're one of our best friends," said Naomi, er, Princess Naomi.
"Thanks Princess Nao-"
Naomi laughed a little as she heard that flushing a little as if it was a compliment. "I'm not the princess, Elena is. I'm the grand council woman, Gabe is the captain in the royal guard, and Sonia is just a sorceress." She took the vase with a flower in it from his tray and put it on the nearby table.
At this Mateo looked over at everyone as it seemed to click in his mind. Oh, okay he thought as it made more sense. Elena had the more decked out dress for that reason. Then that's why Gabe wore the uniform. And then why people, like the maid, listened to Naomi. And he guessed that he was the royal wizard when he had his memory.
The women in the room looked like they wanted to say something as Elena and Gabe went to talk to them about what happened. Then she turned back to him as he straightened up for her.
"Listen, Gabe and I discussed this. Until Sonia and your mom get back with some kind of cure, I figured maybe all three of us could try to remind you of things with a memory. It could jog your memory and maybe something might return?" she said as she smiled at him as he thought about it. He wanted his memory back, so why not.
He nodded as Elena took his hand and got him out of the bed. The first stop, he thought, wondering where a princess would take him. Elena had led him outside of the castle with the other two following suit. They didn't seem to go far as he was stopped in front of the castle.
"This is where I took out Orizaba because of you. Mateo you're one of my friends and I want you to remember that you've helped me and I've helped you before."
"What are you doing here? It's not safe," said Mateo wanting to protect his friends. "
I know, but Orizaba is really powerful, and it turns out that this is a magical Maruvian scepter."
Okay way cool remembered Mateo thinking about it. "Really? Wait. We can talk about this later. Right now, you have to go."
"Too late."
"Quick, hide in here."
"What's the plan?"
"You stay hidden. I'm gonna take her by surprise."
Elena told him a story where he helped take out some moth fairy with Elena taking the final blow. Then that night they promised to research the scepter together. They were close friends and that nothing was going to change that.
"Mateo do you remember anything?" asked Elena as she wiped some tears from her cheeks. He didn't want to make her cry. Mateo looked at Gabe and Naomi as they nodded at him to hug her. She felt nice and soft like hugging his pillow.
What was weird is that it didn't seem to jog anything in him. Maybe that was just a neutral moment for him. Elena was the one that took her out and he just watched. Maybe some of the others had something in mind. Then as he thought about it. The sense of pride and fear rushed over him. Maybe that was the way he was feeling that night.
"I remember how I was feeling," he admitted as the others cheered. Naomi hugged him and then Gabe did too. "What about you Naomi? What did we do together?"
Naomi seemed to think about it before a smile stretched across her face. She whispered into Gabe's ear to get something, he overheard before a carriage was pulling up in front of them. Okay… He thought as they went to some school. Maybe he and Naomi had a class together?
"Okay so here is what happened at the school. It's really funny."
"And do you Naomi Turner, take Mateo de Alva as your trusted health class partner?" asked Senora Maria Garcia with the most dignified voice. Underneath she was laughing she loved putting her students through this. The older woman tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder as she looked expectantly at the blond.
"I do," said Naomi as she herself was holding back a laugh. Across from her sat Mateo bright red as Senora Garcia christened them with a piece of paper and an egg, turning to another set of students.
At this Mateo listened in rapt attention laughing at a story Naomi told about them getting married and doing a health class project together. He became vaguely aware as a small memory of how many times they replaced that egg as he remembered.
"I remember replacing the egg," he said as all three of them squealed out in delight. Mateo was slowly remembering things as he looked at everyone with a smile. All three smiled as they hugged him as he was squeezed. Then he looked at Gabe. "What kind of memory do you have for me?"
Gabe thought about it as he decided to take him to his wizards workshop. Then he pulled out two books, that he kept face down. He didn't say anything about either as he sat him down at the end of a table. Nervously, he looked at Elena and Naomi who looked curious as well.
"You probably don't want to be in here, uh, guy things."
Okay, he thought as both Naomi and Elena had left the room. They looked extremely curious but couldn't do much of anything if it was embarrassing. Oh, he thought, wondering what he might have done with Gabe in here.
Gabe turned the books over, the first book was a math book: algebra two to be exact. The second was a book was titled: Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm a Girl.
"Gabe-?"
Gabe was getting ready to help Naomi with her math homework. They had been meeting with each other trading off duties with Mateo every other day or so. Sometimes it depended on when his break was. From the door on the right he heard the banging as he looked for his keys before realizing that it was Mateo's wizard's workshop. He never locked his door. Cracking open the door he let it shut behind him.
"Gabe the door put a lock on itself," said Mateo dejected. "I'm looking for the unlock spell and we're stuck in here."
Just great, he was late for his meeting with Naomi. "What are the books for?"
"Oh I'm going to tutor Naomi and my book to read."
Gabe tried to spark his memory back as he told them about a time he helped him with school. They tried to figure out Elena together. How one teacher Senor Parra would pass out enchiladas. How he would talk about magic. How much Gabe liked his job. Just about everything. It was kind of cool that they had talked freely about this stuff all while locked in a room together.
"And that's my memory since decided to, uh, keep it private."
If he had to guess Gabe didn't want to talk about some of the personal stuff in front of the girls. There was a matter of who he liked in this. Hearing his memory, Mateo could remember just being able to talk about boy things with another boy. The feeling made him warm inside.
The silence between must have been a cue for the girls to come in. Naomi put her arm on his shoulder and Elena smiled at him.
"I remember a line or two," he said innocently as Gabe let out a breath and smiled at him.
Behind them Armando found them all hugging and smiling at each other. He was running as he was out of breath. "They're back, Senora de Alva and Sonia. They're back!"
With that they all rushed to back to the room that he was moved to. Mateo saw everyone happy that he would be able to get his memory back. But what if he didn't? What if they came back empty handed? He didn't believe he was actually magical was he?
He walked into the room with his friends as he saw the girl came back too. She was talking with his mother who was smiling at her.
"Mama," said Mateo as he saw his mother come back to the palace. Next to him was Sonia with something blue in a vile in her hand and a person with her. "Why did you bring your dad?"
At this Sonia looked surprised as she flushed. "This is my former teacher at Hexley Hall, Professor Maxwell this is Mateo, who we were telling you about."
The man looked at them with a smile on his face as he looked over everyone in the room. Mateo wasn't sure what to make of him as he had salt and pepper hair and wide glasses on his face. Professor Maxwell looked him over and pinched his arm.
"Ow," he called as he looked at both Sonia and his mother. Why did they bring him?
"Oh it's a classic case of amnesia, we'll have you fixed right up," said the man as Mateo looked at him. He conjured up some food as Maxwell poured the blue liquid into the cup. "First eat and then drink, don't ask what's in it."
Mateo looked at the plate of food and then took a couple bites of a sandwich then finished it off. Then he took the cup and looked at his friends and mother. They all squeezed their hands and Rafa crossed her fingers for luck. Okay. He squeezed his own eyes shut and drank it down before everything started to become black again. Professor Maxwell said some words before passing out completely again.
He woke up shaking his head as he remembered what happened. He had lost his memory and… Oh my he had this memory back. He had his memory back! Oh my gosh this felt amazing as he could remember the time his abuelo would babysit him. He remembered a trip to a magic school. He remembered meeting Elena after getting her out of the amulet. He remembered meeting Naomi in kindergarten. Meeting Gabe with noblins fighting them.
"I'm normal, I remember things. Oh my gosh I'm sorry that I asked that all of you if were my girlfriend. Especially you mom and if I acted like a jerk," he said remembering a few things that he said or did.
Getting up he hugged Elena first as he spun her around. Then Naomi and Sonia although not at the same time. Finally, he hugged his mother thrilled to be back to normal. While still in her arms he whispered into her ear.
"Thank you, mama, for helping me get back to normal," he said knowing his mother had to give up magic under Shuriki's rule. "I love you."
"I love you too."