Mateo had arrived in Cordoba and wandered the land a bit before finding himself in the Choral Cascades. He had been there once before and knew that it would be a quiet place to regroup his thoughts. He had no idea where to start in his search for the ring. He sat quietly under a tree and just listened to the sounds of the nearby waterfalls and the way the wind seemed to sing as it swept over the waters and through the trees. It was all so peaceful. It was a lovely change of pace from the life he had come to known since the invasion. It was all hard to believe that places like that still existed. He closed his eyes and sat tall, figuring now would be a good time to practice reaching enlightenment. He certainly could use some guidance right about now. He took some deep breaths and really concentrated on every tiny sound around him. Knowing he was alone, he didn't feel as foolish as he had in the past. He continued with his breathing and as he let out a long exhale he felt a lightness come over him. Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... He felt his body relax a little bit more. His mind began to clear. Another deep inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... There was a strange floating like sensation that he experienced next, something he had never felt before. It was too strange to him this time. He became uncomfortable with the feeling and broke his concentration, blinking his eyes open and to his great surprise he thought he heard a whisper in his ear. "The palace" it told him. He sat, stunned at what had just happened. 'Am I doing it?' He thought. Maybe it was something else. He looked around to make sure he was truly alone. He was. He picked up his tamborita and Rose to his feet. He waved and pounded his open palm on it, shouting a spell that would summon his spirit guide.

A blue cloud appeared before him and when it faded, there stood Cacahuate. The spirit sloth that served as Mateo's guide.

"Mateo! Great to hear from you! It's been awhile..." Cacahuate said, beginning to sound a bit disappointed. "I was thinking that maybe you didn't really need me anymore, that I'd become... obsolete or something now that you have the Maruvian spirits to talk to and all..."

"What?! I haven't actually talked to them... I mean I've tried.. But... Wait! If you didn't just tell me to go to the palace... Does that mean that it WAS the Maruvian wizards?! Did I reach enlightenment?!" Mateo asked, suddenly excited.

"Well I don't know if you reached enlightenment, you would definitely know if you did! Trust me... But maybe you came close? I mean... I didn't say anything to you... Maybe I should have? Do you think I should have? Oh no... I'm failing you again..." Said the underconfident sloth, questioning his ability as a spirit guide.

"No! Cacahuate, you're doing just fine." Mateo told him, feeding his need for approval. "I think this enlightenment thing is something I need to figure out on my own... So anyways, you think I should head to the palace then?"

"Sure!" Cacahuate answered. "Walk through the village on your way, open your ears and eyes, listen to what the people are saying. You'll find your way!"

Mateo nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Thanks Cacahuate!"

"I think he pushed her" A villager whispered as Mateo eavesdropped nearby "It makes sense right? The Queen dies tragically and then suddenly he's marrying the heir to the Avaloran throne?"

"Hush!" warned the villager's friend "Don't you know what he'd do to you if he heard such accusations?!"

Mateo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "The Avaloran heir?! Elena?!" He thought and then told himself that it just couldn't be true. Elena would never marry Alonso. Sure, she tolerated him for the sake of their alliance but marry him? Never! Still, it was the third time that he had heard about King Alonso taking a new bride and something seemed to be awry. He needed to investigate further.

Upon hearing that the king was going to be making a public announcement about his upcoming marriage, Mateo headed over to the palace along with the Cordoban people. All were eager to get a look at the future queen. When they arrived on the front lawn of the palace, Mateo slyly made his way to the front of the crowd just in time to see Alonso step out onto the very balcony that Carla had fallen from just a week prior to the day's events.

"People of Cordoba!" Alonso addressed "I am pleased to announce that I will no longer have to live in mourning over the loss of my beloved Queen. I have been blessed with the love of another. I present to you... Princess Isabel from the kingdom of Avalor"

Isabel joined Alonso on the balcony but it was immediately clear to Mateo that she wasn't doing so by choice. She didn't look frightened by the situation but something just wasn't right about any of it. She was being forced to marry Alonso and Mateo knew that any plans that he had to find the artifacts had to be put on hold. Right now, his priority was to save Isabel.

He stepped away from everyone and found a secluded spot behind some shrubbery. He took out his tamborita and cast an invisibility spell on himself. It was something that he had learned while training with Ataguchu. He walked back towards the crowd a bit unsure of himself. It was difficult to tell if his spell had worked as he couldn't exactly just ask people if they could see him or not. At least not without giving himself away as a wizard and drawing much undesired attention to himself.

He slowly made his way towards the front stairs of the palace. Nobody seemed to notice. So far so good. Two guards were standing watch at the front doors which were left wide open. Mateo nervously walked right past them and through the doors, letting out a deep exhale that he'd been holding in. "OK. The spell definitely worked. Great!" Mateo told himself. He then headed up the stairs. Alonso was just about done making his speech to the public and Mateo was hoping to catch them as they finished. His instincts were right. As he topped the staircase he spotted Alonso, Isabel and their guards exiting the balcony room.

"Take her back to her room. I don't want to see her miserable face until the wedding" Alonso commanded.

Mateo fumed at the way Alonso spoke about Isabel. He imagined himself casting all sorts of retaliation spells and sending them Alonso's way as punishment. He refrained though. Instead, he chose to follow Isa. When the guards opened the door for her, he swiftly entered the room behind her before the guards could lock it from behind.

"Isabel! It's me!" Mateo announced, completely forgetting that he was still invisible.

"What?! Who's there?!" Isa questioned as she looked around the room for answers. She quickly pulled out her dagger, ready to defend herself if she needed to.

"No! Wait! Don't panic! Ummm" Mateo stuttered as he hurriedly and clumsily reached for his tamborita and pulled off a reversal spell just in time. He was visible again.

Isabel froze and dropped her dagger to the ground.

"Mateo?" She asked quietly, nearing disbelief.

"Yeah" Mateo nodded "and you! I saw you fall from the cliffs with my own eyes! How are you even here right now?"

Isabel just stared. Then a smile spread across her face as she quickly ran into Mateo's arms. He wrapped his arms around her in return. Patting her on the back for comfort.

"I didn't fall" Isa began to explain as she pulled away from their embrace. "I jumped. I knew where the rocks were, where I needed to jump, how fast I would hit the water, everything. I calculated it all out and I just jumped."

"Wow!" Mateo said impressed with the princess. He had always known her to be incredibly intelligent so it wasn't surprising that she had the calculations correct but Isa had always been a very cautious girl so he was surprised that she had made such a bold move. "OK.. So... What have you been doing all this time? How did you end up here?"

"Umm... It's a very long story and I've been through a lot but... mostly I've been at the science academy. I've been working hard and I've been studying Maruvian artifacts.. Six in particular and if I can find them all then I think I can stop Shuriki"

"Whoa! Hold on! You know about the artifacts?!" Mateo asked, again surprised by what Isabel had to say. "I'M hunting the artifacts! I need to find them all so I can channel their magic and defeat not just Shuriki but the dark army that she's created. I'm the one who was chosen to do that. The ONLY one who will be able to use the artifacts. Look, it's a lot to explain but I've learned a lot about who I am and where I came from and finding these artifacts and defeating this evil is my destiny!"

"Oh. you're the chosen one?" Isa asked, a bit disappointed that it wasn't her. "I guess that makes more sense... Anyways.. I know all about the wizards and the artifacts and now we can work together to find them! We can help each other! This is so great!" She said, growing more and more excited as she spoke.

"Uhhh aren't you forgetting something?" Mateo reminded her, looking around at her prison of a bedroom.

"Oh yeah. The whole marrying Alonso thing..." Isabel said in a flat tone.

"Yeah... That. How did that happen?" Mateo asked, needing more information in order to curb his confusion.

"Well I came to Cordoba to look for the Ruby ring... I assume that's why you're in Cordoba too?" Mateo nodded that she was correct. So, Isa continued "well I got caught trying to search for it around the palace and when Alonso discovered it was me, he made plans of his own to marry me and overthrow Shuriki since I am the rightful heir to the throne. And well at first I wanted nothing to do with the idea... Obviously... But then I saw it.. The ring. It was Carla's wedding ring and when I marry Alonso, it will be mine! So I figured that I'd go through with the whole wedding thing and then once I had the ring I'd figure out how to get out of this whole mess and then I would go find the other artifacts."

"Wow... That's uh... Quite a story" Mateo said.

"Annnnd that's not even close to the worst things that has happened to me since the Avalor invasion. Comparatively, this is actually barely an obstacle." Isa told him.

"Wow.. You're pretty calm about all of this so... I guess I don't even want to imagine what else you've been through"

"Yeah... You really don't" Isa told him honestly and she certainly wasn't ready to confess exactly why.

"OK then... We'll work together" Mateo said with a smile and some enthusiasm. "Good news! You'll be happy to know that the Codex Maru is the book!" He pulled it out of his bag and Isa's face lit up. "Annnd... I have the amulet!" He continued and when he pulled it out of his satchel, Isa nearly squeeled, to which Mateo had to shush her and remind her that her guards were just outside the door.

"So once you get the ring all we need to do is find the dagger and then we know that the wand and the scepter are both in Avalor!" Mateo stated.

"Uhhh Mateo.. The dagger..." She said pointing to the object she had dropped to the floor earlier in their encounter.

"That's THE dagger?!" Mateo questioned as he picked it up and examined it.

"THE very one!" Isa said, standing proud.

"This is amazing Isa!" Mateo said to her and they grinned at each other as their hopes of completing a seemingly impossible task were gaining merit.

"Now all we need to do is get you out of this marriage" Mateo stated.

"Yeah..." Isa replied, suddenly feeling crestfallen. "Mateo, I've done some awful things since last I've seen you... And I can't do those things again... And the only way I can think of to get out of this marriage is to kill Alonso... And I just can't do that..." She explained without entirely explaining.

Mateo didn't know what to make of Isabel's semi-confession but he was confident that she would have had just cause for whatever role she played in the awful things that she spoke of. So he didn't question her.

"Hmmm..." Mateo thought as he sat down on the bed. "Do you think Alonso killed Carla?"

"Yeah.. I do. Without a doubt!" Isa answered. "And I would bet most anything that he killed his father too"

"Then I don't think we have to do much of anything" he said, as an idea came to him.