What Arawn had thought to be an annoyance had actually helped him immensely.
Living in the Town Hall for days on end surrounded by whining filth had him on edge. There were too many witnesses to get his anger out, so he’d had to keep a lid on his emotions, and lucky for everyone involved they were allowed to go home just as he was about to drive a shard of glass into the woman crying next to him.
His house had not been hurt too badly due to his own doings. It was not as if a sorcerer of his intelligence and skill would set up in a house and forget to place protection over it. He was not stupid. Small town this may be but there were thieves in every corner of the world. No where was spotless.
Mateo had found him soon after, asking after his well being like the kind soul he was. Arawn had wanted to reach out and crush that kindness, mix it into a bowl and use it for something actually worth while. But then when Arawn had asked Mateo how he was doing, simply for appearances he did not actually care, he saw the sadness that took him over.
And it was beautiful.
Apparently some terrible things had come from the spell everyone had been under in the Town Hall before being released. It was like a gift from heaven, seeing how put out the boy was, how torn up he was about something that wasn’t even real. Someone who felt as deeply as him would make a powerful sorcerer in the end.
It was time to put him down the path Arawn had taken to get to where he was now. He told Mateo to return to him at night instead of in the day light, much like their first meeting, but instead of beckoning the boy in, he stepped outside and told him to follow. They walked through the town and down to the cemetery, a place he had made himself familiar with by now, and guided them over to the older grace markers. He snapped his fingers at Mateo, and took Mateo’s hand from his side to place upon one of the sun warmed stones.
“Describe what you can feel,” he told him, and then quickly added, “and that was not an invitation for you to start rambling. Keep it short.”
Arawn brings Mateo to the Gates of the Underworld.
TW: some gross use of blood (like gross), and violence.
ARAWN
When the river had run clear once more Arawn had gone home. Not what his initial thought was, as he wanted to go down those stairs to find what he needed, but that wouldn’t have been the smart decision.
Instead he went home. He cleaned himself of the blood and mud. He changed into a clean suit, packed a bag, and walked to where Mateo was waiting for him.
Arawn had informed his apprentice that they would be leaving today. He had thought they would have left sooner, the Seal in his hands instead of dried blood under his fingernails, but this would do. No doubt the boy had been waiting for him for hours.
The dot was in the place he had told him to meet, even though it was dark and no doubt the skittish boy was having a difficult time sitting still in the cemetery alone in the dark.
Sure enough, there Mateo was, sitting by the grave he had instructed him to meet him at, a bag already packed. Good. They would be leaving. Now.
MATEO
Arawn had said to him, a few days before when there had been a tea pot he hadn’t been allowed near due to his more “idiotic clumsy nature,” that he was going to be taking a trip with Arawn for a short while. He had been very wary to the idea at first. Leaving his friends? Leaving Elena? Yes, of course. He didn’t want to leave, had made a promise he wasn’t going anywhere ever again.
But Arawn demanded that he go, saying that it was crucial that he come with for his learning and for humanity itself. So, Mateo agreed. Arawn often spoke of big ideas and pictures and the good of mankind. Mateo wanted what was best fir everyone, people of every kind deserved what was right and if Arawn had something like that in mind then Mateo was more than happy to help him.
Besides, it would only be a week. And the princesses had a more than capable defensive system with Naomi and Mr. Golaith there to keep them safe. So he agreed, packed his things and went to Arawn’s for instructions the night before. Then, that Saturday afternoon he went to the cemetery
And he waited.
And waited.
And finally after a couple of hours his master came to get him, making Mateo pop up on his feet to look like he hadn’t just been about to fall asleep.
ARAWN
“We haven’t any time to waste, are you ready?” he asked, walking past Mateo at a fast pace towards the forest without stopping to pause, to greet, to do the usual song and dance he had grown so tired of.
The day was almost over and Arawn was not willing to risk the Gates closing at the stroke of midnight. Then he would not be able to hold himself responsible for what would happen to this town should he be disappointed once more for the day.
MATEO
“Yes, sir,” he said with a nod of his head. Usually Mateo would be really excited for something like this but ever since he had started seeing soul strings things were different.
Every life was before him, every day he was reminded of just how fragile everyone was. Sitting in the cemetery for hours had him looking around at all the graves with cut strings lying limp. It made his heart feel heavy, made his thoughts less vibrant. His smile had dulled because how could he smile at someone when all he could see was a reminder that they were going to die one day?
He followed behind Arawn, looking at his soul string now, too, wondering what he saw when he looked at Mateo’s.
“Uhh…” he made a face at the back of his master’s head, glancing over his shoulder towards the road. “Where…? Are we going?”
ARAWN
He had been waiting for that question. Had expected it when he has first told Mateo they were going somewhere but the boy was so trusting, never asking until he felt absolutely compelled to, when it had no choice but to come out like an accident.
“Hell,” he answered with the curt truth, no longer needing to walk around it.
"What I-, what we need can only be found in the City of Dis, located in the Underworld. The Gates have opened tonight, thanks to the equinox and the tea pot I was working with earlier. We only have a few hours before it closes, so we need to hurry.”
Arawn looked over his shoulder as he picked up his pace to add a barking, “Now!”
MATEO
Arawn didn’t have to tell him twice. He broke out in a jog after his master, his mind going a mile a minute.
Hell? City of Dis? The Gates? He’d only read about these things in the books Arawn had been giving him, but he never thought they would be here in Swynlake. Although...there had been talk about the Underworld for a while under the radar, but he never paid any attention to the town’s gossip. It made him feel all slimy talking about people behind their back in a bad way.
A voice that sounded like Naomi voiced his doubts, told him to go home, leave this to someone else. But this was Arawn, who had helped him so much, who had taught him despite the difficulty Mateo presented. He couldn't abandon him when he was asking for help in return now. So he silenced those doubts and he followed his master into the dark of the forest.
Running was already hard enough for Mateo, but in the dark through the terrain of the forest with the added uneven weight of his bag made it ten thousand times harder. He slipped and fell several times, had to catch up a lot, almost got lost three times, and-.
Well, okay he was actually lost now. He’d lost his master’s silhouette in front of him, and stopped to pant as he looked around.
“Arawn!” he called, then cupped his hands around his mouth. “Arawn! Where’d you go?”
ARAWN
Losing Mateo had been easy. All he had to do was wait for the right oofish noise to sound out and then he slipped into the large shadow of a tree and watched as Mateo jogged passed him.
For a moment he just watched the boy make a fool of himself, the panic rising from him right on time. Then he threw a vial off to the side to catch against the ground.
His voice sounded out, “Mateo!”
The boy turned. Arawn moved within the shadows behind him in silence, unseen. His voice chimed in again, more desperate this time. “Mateo, look out!”
Arawn admired his acting ability, wondering why they as a society gave praise to those who did such things for a living when he could do far better within the span of ten seconds as he yelled into a spell.
He struck Mateo with a rock he had picked up along their way through the forest. They were just inside the brush from where the Gates were, but in order to get inside, he would need to do something he knew the boy would never agree to do.
MATEO
The sound of Arawn’s voice made him turn, searching the trees and forest plant life for his master’s figure.
The warning didn’t process fast enough, they never really did when it came to Mateo in situations like these, and by the time he understood he was already laying flat out on the floor with dirt rubbing into his cheek and hair.
ARAWN
Unlike the girl Arawn would not be able to carry the boy. Instead he dragged him by his feet to the river.
There the girl’s body still laid, the blood that had once flowed like he had raised a dam now only trickled from the gash on her neck. It would have to be enough.
He smeared the blood from the wound onto Mateo’s face and arms, any exposed skin he could manage. The rest he put on himself, breathing in deeply as he did so. It was still sticky, but cooled due to her body having laid in the water and her core temperature dropping.
Arawn pulled Mateo along with him down the hole along the first few steps by the shoulders then, his feet and over limbs hitting against each step. They seemed to go on forever, or at least it felt that way. No matter, they had made it past the entrance and a cool breeze was drying the blood coating his skin. Using the water bottle and his own pocket square Arawn cleaned himself off carefully, but left Mateo’s on if only because it would be funny to watch him squirm. He placed the water bottle back and discarded his pocket square
He then picked up Mateo by the collar of his shirt and dropped the boy to let his head smack back against the stairs. Quickly he got down on his knees beside the boy, getting fist fulls of his shirt and tugging him up. Arawn panted, looking at the other desperately before he even had his eyes opened.
“Mateo?” he called, shaking him a little, “Mateo? Can you hear me? Are you alright?”
MATEO
The first thing Mateo did when he came to was groan. The first thing Mateo heard was his groan reflect back at him like he was in some kinda echo chamber.
Then he heard his master calling for him.
“Arawn?” he asked, his eyes slitting open in fear that they would be pierced by light. Instead all he could see was darkness, and the whites of Arawn’s eyes. He sat up quickly and, oh, gosh, head rush. A palm came up to cradle the back of his head. His skin felt tight and sticky, it smelled like sickening copper and he felt like he really needed to vomit, the headache stretching like a tight band over his forehead.
“Where are we?” he asked, then squinted down at his hands, “Oh, god, what’s on me?”
ARAWN
Idiot. Remarkable how everything that had just happened had worked. It could only have been Arawn who would be able to put such a useless creature to be such a vital portion of his plan.
He let out a sigh of relief, practiced once or twice in front of the mirror with no error, then released Mateo in order to stand so he could help the other to his feet.
“We’re in the Underworld,” he said in awe, walking down the next couple of steps. “I had to drag you down here, a...branch fell on your head back in the forest. The Gates were closing so I had to drag you since you weren’t waking up. I didn’t want to just leave you there. You’re very lucky I was there, otherwise who knows where your inability to pay attention to your surroundings would have gotten you.“
Arawn turned back to look up at him from down the way, ”Wash yourself off with water, whatever is on you it’s…,” he made a face, “everywhere.”
Around them the air seemed to get cooler. He sighed happily against it, the chill sending lovely goosebumps over his legs and up his arms. Oh, it was wonderful. Everything he’d ever hoped it would be and yet this was only the entry way. He was already making his descent down the stairs, not bothering to wait for the apprentice.
All these years of only ever seeing loose visions of where the strings would run off to and now he was here.
After the night of the proms, having Gabriel teetering on the edge, having had Isabel and Naomi in the middle of a fire, and Elena getting hurt, Mateo could only think one thing; he needed to talk to his master. He couldn’t though, not when Gabriel was in the hospital and he just wanted to be there for his friends. Mateo had made sure his master had gotten the message that he wouldn’t be coming, apologizing profusely, and with the promise that he would make it up to him no matter what it took.
Because he was tired. He was so, excuse the language, fucking tired of not being good enough. Of having to sit next to the people he loved while they were miserable and suffering because something happened that he could have prevented. That giant chandler had crashed down on Gabe and Mateo could only watch before the lights went dark. Elena had gotten hurt, Isa and Naomi had been in danger, too, and Mateo-. Well, Mateo had done nothing to help.
All he could do was hold onto them, and pace around the waiting room while they waited for any news on Gabriel. All he could do was cry silently because Elena had already been through enough, Isa had already been through enough, Naomi had already been through enough, he didn’t want them thinking they had to comfort him, too, on top of taking care of one another and themselves.
He was done. Done with being a terrible sorcerer who couldn’t perform a levitation spell for longer than ten seconds without something falling on his head and giving him a concussion. And he was done with not being able to do anything of use. No more, he vowed on the walk over to Arawn’s. He was done with the beginners stuff, he had already gone through that with Alacazar, and even with himself trying to back track in order to teach himself.
He knocked on the front door with the appropriate knock, which at the time Mateo had been super excited about because how cool was that, but now all he could feel was burning frustration and overwhelming sorrow.
ARAWN
He had gotten Mateo’s message about not arriving for their lesson because someone close to him had gotten hurt. Upon listening to the boy speak, blubbering and almost not understandable, he had rolled his eyes. Weak to be caring for someone that death could touch so easily.
It was why Arawn had gotten rid of anyone like that to him. First his master, then he waited for his parents to take their leave of this plane, and, well, anyone else he didn’t wait for. If he was so willing to put his lessons on hold for someone else then Arawn still had work to do.
But it was also a good thing, because at the end of the message he heard the tone in Mateo’s voice. The utter defeat. It was delicious, it had practically made this whole thing worth it.
The smile had not left his face for the remainder of the time between the message and Mateo arriving to make up the lesson for that day.
Approaching the door at their knock, he schooled himself into a sympathetic demeanor. This boy had lost a friend after all, and he was supposed to be the mentor figure who was there for his student when he needed him most. He took in a final breath, ready to find a shell of the boy he had been having do chores around the house and town for him, but when he opened the door he found something he did not expect.
There was residual anger sitting hot and heavy in the boy.
Oh, how delightful.
He quickly looked up into the boy’s eyes.
“Mateo.” He placed a hand on Mateo’s shoulder and pulling him inside with a concerned expression on his face, “I thought I told you to stay home today. It’s too soon for you to get back into things.”
MATEO
When the door opened he straightened up, trying to look presentable in front of his master. As soon as the other man said his name and touched his shoulder Mateo deflated all over again. So easily broken under the touch of someone who cared about him. That was probably another thing about himself that he needed to change, being so open and emotional. It caused more problems than not. Like right now, when he wanted to be strong and ready to learn, he crumbled under Arawn’s touch.
“I,” he sighed at the sound of his voice, then cleared his throat. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m not interrupting anything am I?”
Suddenly he felt very self conscious, looking around the entry way for any signs of someone else being there. He knew Arawn was a busy man, that he didn’t have any right to be barging into his house pretty much unannounced. Then he looked to his master with wide eyes.
ARAWN
The worry that welled up in the boy was rather interesting. Always thinking about others, wasn’t he? It’s why he was so easily exploited. Thinking about people before he thought about himself.
That’s why he was doomed to fail. He would put everyone else before his studies, his magic, himself. Arawn was sure that if asked he would put his life on the line for someone he cared for.
He barely caught his smile from pulling at his lips at that thought.
Arawn released his hold on Mateo in order to shut the door behind them and lead the way to his workshop, opening the door to the room. There the sun was setting and the light that came through the windows was tinted more orange than the warmed yellow.
“No, luckily I wasn’t busy, but you should think next time you come over like this, Mateo, I can’t simply put my life on hold for you, you know.” He sighed, as if it were a chore to scold him like this and not like he was taking pleasure in it.
“But you’re here now, so there’s no reason to linger around that subject,” he continued on waving his hand in the air to dismiss it before Mateo could counter or apologize again. “Tell me, why are you here and not with your friend?”
MATEO
Mateo followed Arawn into the familiar workshop, closing the door behind himself. He nodded, relieved at first to hear he hadn’t troubled his master, but then Arawn continued and Mateo felt his heart sink. He was still a selfish kid, wasn’t he? Always asking people to put him first, his needs first, what he wanted first, never thinking about his actions before he did them. Gosh, he was so stupid! It wouldn’t have been hard to wait to come when Arawn had told him to, or call ahead to ask if it would be okay for Mateo to come then.
But he hadn’t done either of those things, and the guilt would sit with him. He continued into the room, his head hanging so his eyes were trained on the ground, resembling the demeanor of a dog that had just been kicked, though, Arawn really hadn’t said anything mean. It was the truth.
“Well, I was...I was thinking,” Mateo started, his hands coming together to meet in the middle at his chest to pull at one another’s fingers. He just needed to say it, he just...just had to tell him! That’s all that was stopping him at this point. Himself. That’s it, once he could get past himself everything else would fall into place. Arawn had said that, too, after all.
God, Mateo! Just say it!
“I’m tired!” he blurted suddenly, head snapping up, eyes closed, hands turning into fists. And, oh no, here came the word vomit, “I’m tired of not being enough anymore! I want to be able to do magic! I want to be like my grandfather, and I want to be like you! I want to be able to pull ingredients from people whenever I see them, and I want to be able to use my Tamboritas like they’re supposed to be used!”
He started pacing then, arms wiggling around in the air, “I’m so sick of being like this, Arawn! I want to be somebody people can count on! I’m tired of having to sit around and watch as terrible things happen to good people because I’m not good enough. I want to be worthy of being my grandfather’s blood!”
Mateo stopped and turned to look at his master, still looking like the pitiful excuse for a sorcerer he was. His shoulders had fallen, his eyebrows were screwed up in misery. Mateo let his hands go limp by his sides.
“Please, help me,” he said quietly. “I can do more than this I just...I know I can. Please show me how.”
ARAWN
He had stayed silent throughout Mateo’s little outburst, watching the fireworks shoot off of him in bursts of self hatred, anger, disappointment, shame. It was a lovely display. The words were a little lackluster but he made up for it in the way his face contorted into such a pitiful expression.
Arawn had never felt more pleased with himself in picking this child up off the street. Yes his house was spotless and his cabinets filled with the ingredients he needed thanks to Mateo, but this! Oh, this was more than he could have ever asked for.
The devotion, the want, the desperate need that Mateo was showing here was absolutely glorious.
He kept his expression neutral for the moment, as if he was thinking about it instead of celebrating. Had he known he could get this reaction from Mateo from one of his friends getting hurt he would have killed off someone sooner.
“Mateo,” he sighed, stepping forwards and shaking his head. It was too easy, wasn’t it? He needed to make the boy work for it, see if he had it in him. And if he begged, that was just an added bonus.
“Like I told you, you’re far too distraught to be here. I know you’re hurting right now, and that’s perfectly reasonable, but there’s no need to think of yourself like this. What happened wasn’t your fault was it? There was nothing you could have done, surely, otherwise you would have done it and your friends, and anyone else, wouldn’t have been hurt.”
MATEO
“No,” Mateo tried to say, his voice airy as his lungs started to ask for more. He sucked in a breath and shook his head.
“No!” he said more forcefully, swiping his hand across the air. “That’s just it! I can’t do anything but I...I want to. I know I could if someone would just give me the tools I needed. I’m ready. I’m- I’m ready for this.I know I wasn’t ready before, but I am now!”
And he was. He really was. He didn’t want to see anything else happen to his friends, he was ready to be the sorcerer who could help Elena figure out the Scepter of Light and he was ready to be the sorcerer people could look towards for answers.
Mateo de Alva, grandson of Alacazar de Alva, was supposed to be the Royal Sorcerer of Avalor.
As of right now he was just some kid who had not only failed in his task in keeping the princesses safe when their Royal Guard had been ordered to leave, but a failure at the only thing he was good for. Magic. He wasn’t a sorcerer, he was a disappointment to the name. He didn’t want to be anymore. He wanted to be someone his friends could count on for help. He wanted to be someone his grandfather would have been proud of to leave his title to.
“Please, Arawn,” he said, stepping closer to his master, his desperation sinking his voice. “I’ll do anything.”
ARAWN
I’ll do anything.
He could feel the boy’s desperate pleads from where he stood. So pathetic, so helpless, who was Arawn to deny him? To those like he and Mateo, who possessed it at its rawest form, magic should not be oppressed.
All over the world people were being hunted, sold, and thrown away just because they were better than those who dared to do those things. Because they did not understand, because they were weak minded.
He had once thought Mateo to be weak minded, sitting there through each lesson with a stupid grin on his face while Arawn insulted him. But finally his true colors were revealed, as everyone’s were when they had finally broken open.
Because their came a time in everyone’s life where they would have to choose, either to stay in their ways and be satisfied living in the mud and rot away among the foul stench of those doomed to fail or they would find their footing and move to the river to cleansed of their weaknesses.
“Mateo,” Arawn said, his voice clear and sturdy among all the soft whispers and crackling yells the boy had been spouting. “You have more power than I believe yourself to know. I have told you before that it is only you that is holding yourself back. Tell me, boy, what is it you are so afraid of? Why will you not allow yourself to be the sorcerer you are asking me to make you?”
MATEO
He looked towards the ground, needing to focus on the words Arawn was saying instead of his face or the fantastic room around them.
The answer was there. It had always been there. Ever since the assassination of the King and Queen, since his grandfather had died at the hands of magic, ever since that evil sorceress had taken his home from him. It had turned up in a dream, and it had been left in his nightmares.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Mateo said, looking up into Arawn’s eyes.
So many had fallen victim to want, to greed, to pride. It was all for the sake of humanity but Mateo couldn’t imagine them really believing such a thing. It was all due to selfish desire, cloaked in the mask of ‘for the greater good.’ He had lived through a life where he had walked that road, following an order that had made him kill. It had been fake, but he had still felt every moment of it. He had lived a life in the span of a night, and had woken up hating that he didn’t have the power he had been able to control within it.
“I love magic,” he continued, smiling sadly as he gestured around them. He reached behind him, pulling on the handle of the Tamborita that stuck out of his bag to hold it out in front of him. Mateo smiled down at it, “Ever since I can remember it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and I’ve only ever wanted to be a sorcerer but-.”
He swallowed, finding his way back to Arawn, knowing he had promised to not keep things from him when asked. “But I don’t want it to make me into someone I’m not.”
ARAWN
Perhaps Mateo was not weak minded but his heart was still soft.
He regarded the apprentice in the fading light of the sun, the power pulsing just below the surface, waiting to be let free. It was being kept so heavily guarded by all of these fears. Dangerous for someone with that amount of residual power, both from being born from his bloodline and from the amount of time it had spent being locked away over the years, to be walking around in such an emotional state.
“I understand.” Arawn sighed. “Well, if that is the case then I’m afraid I cannot help you.”
He turned away from Mateo then, moving across the room to busy himself with other things.
MATEO
A hopeless, “No,” came from Mateo as he let out a breath, watching Arawn turn his back on him. They had only been apart of one another’s lives for a short amount of time now, but that didn’t change the fact that Arawn had been the only one willing to teach him in years.
No one in Avalor had wanted to take on the task and they hadn’t settled down somewhere for two years in order to be able to have someone teach him. Finally they had and finally someone had decided it would be worth it to take him on. He wasn’t going to lose that, not now.
“Please,” he said, taking a hard step after him. “Please! I’ll do anything! I can’t do this anymore, you have to understand! It’s miserable, and I can’t do this all by myself. I’ve tried and it doesn’t work. I need your help. Please, tell me what I can do to change your mind.”
ARAWN
Those words were like music to his ears. He was more than willing to get Mateo’s powers up to where they should be at his age, but he wanted to milk this. If he could push the boy’s desperation past the point of no return then there was nothing that would be holding either of them back.
He turned round to face him, pinning Mateo down with a glare for a moment until he fell silent.
“I’m not here to play games, Mateo, I told you that from the start,” he snapped. He needed to be authoritative and clear, no matter how funny this whole situation was to him. Ridiculously dramatic all because he needed Mateo to eat from the palm of his hands now. The time for caution and wariness would need to be behind them.
He needed the full trust and loyalty now, and if not then he didn’t want the idiot around at all.
“Do you hear yourself when you speak? Or think about your words?” Arawn scoffed and rolled his eyes. “What you’re asking of me is an oxymoron. There can be no success without failure.”
Another step closer. His eyes turned harsh to match his tone, “You are a failure. And you will always be a failure. You fear it so much, and because of that you’ve let it become who you are. You wish to know what you can do in order to change my mind? To become a sorcerer?”
MATEO
He really admired Arawn’s ability to tell it like it was. There was never any lies, or a layer of sugar over the truth to make it go down easier. He was always brutally honest. It hurt but Mateo knew it was necessary. It was the only way he was going to get his point across to Mateo, who would otherwise probably not get what he was saying at first.
Here there was no mistake. He knew that Arawn thought so little of him, but was still willing to help. He was right, too. Mateo was afraid to fail because every time he had in the past bad things would happen, and he was in such a position that he shouldn’t be failing anymore. He should know the ins and outs of magic more so than anyone in Avalor.
Mateo held his ground as Arawn stepped forwards, but bent under his stare. His head lowered and shoulders fell forwards. He was a failure. He was right. The only person that had been holding him back was himself, because he was too scared at not being good enough when that’s exactly what he had been this whole entire time.
He swallowed, looking up at the questions his master was asking him. Mateo nodded enthusiastically, sniffling and wiping at his nose with his sleeve.
“Yes,” he answered too quickly. “Yes!”
ARAWN
“Stop caring. Stop thinking so much about other people. They don’t give a damn about whether or not you become a sorcerer. It is up to you to get better.”
He thought back on himself. On a young boy who slaved over books and lessons, trying to understand what it was he was doing wrong. Arawn had worked harder than any other apprentice he had known trying to please his master, his family, his friends. There had been no one, and never would be, anyone more worthy of the title of Sorcerer than Arawn Prydain.
Yet he couldn’t even pull a single memory from anyone. He couldn’t get a spell to combine. Nothing worked.
“Magic will change you, there’s no getting around that.”
Not until he took it upon himself to become what he was today. He had done that, all on his own. No master, no friends. No one. Just him.
“I can get you there, I can teach you what you need to know,” he continued. “But I can’t do that until I know that there’s nothing holding you back.”
MATEO
His first thought went to his friends which led him to remembering Gabriel in the hospital. To Elena bleeding in a basement in Germany. To Avalor having to sit in the palm of a tyrant while its people suffered.
He didn’t want to not think about them, it felt wrong to solely think about himself in a time like this but...but Arawn was right. Mateo hadn’t gotten any better with the weight of his failures sitting on his shoulders, just sinking further and further down. He had thought it would be good motivation to get better, that if he thought about all the things he had done wrong that he would get better in an effort to try to avoid them when he was a great sorcerer. Wise, strong, powerful. All the things his grandfather had been, and maybe a little bit more. If possible.
What Arawn was saying, it seemed like that’s exactly what he wanted for Mateo, too. Only he couldn’t worry about what other people thought about him anymore, and he couldn’t worry about the things his magic would do if it went wrong, either. He couldn’t look at failure as something to be scared of anymore. Mateo needed to become something better if he was ever going to be able to fill the robes that had been left for him and protect the people he cared about. That was the only motivator he needed.
“I understand,” he said finally. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
ARAWN
Arawn had watched the whole thought process pass over the boy’s face. He wasn’t awfully hard to read, his expressions always gave him away. It was cute. Innocent.
It would have to go, too.
Finally, though, he could see the acceptance release the worry lines and knew he had won. Lovely. This was going to be easy.
“Good. Then I must warn you that some of my methods are not the most widely accepted. But I can assure you, Mateo, that I am here for your benefit. I would never do anything to misplace your trust, and would hope that you would do the same for me,” Arawn said. “I will teach you my specialty under the circumstance that you are willing to listen and learn. My word is final and if you fail to follow my instructions, there will be consequences.”
He held out a hand between them, never letting his stare waiver from Mateo’s.
“Do we have a deal?”
MATEO
Was that even a question? A bright grin appeared on Mateo’s face for the first time since he had arrived. Since even before he had arrived. He was just so relieved and happy and excited to finally be taking this step in his life! There was nothing that was going to keep him from becoming someone that his friends would benefit from being around, that his country would be happy to have under the title of Court Sorcerer.
The terms were fair. Who was Mateo to say that Arawn was wrong? He was the apprentice. And, as Arawn said himself, he was there to help Mateo. There was no reason to doubt that. All Arawn had done was teach him and help him, and now he was going to bring him up to a level that he should have been at years ago. The word, finally, kept running through his mind.
He grabbed Arawn’s hand and shook his animatedly, nodding and laughing, and only crying a little tiny bit.
“Thank you!” he said, “Thankyouthankyouthankyou, I won’t let you down! And you won’t regret this!”
First Lessons & Introductions || Dead Wizard Walking
In which Arawn and Mateo come to an understanding.
@mateodeavalor
Timestamp: May 22nd, 2018. Dusk.
TW: none actually. (believe me i’m as surprised as you are as far as arawn is concerned.) unless verbal manipulation makes you uncomfortable!
MATEO
When Arawn had walked away that day Mateo had been so ecstatic with what had just happened he didn’t even notice that he had no idea how to go about the task set before him.
Meet me the day after tomorrow at sun down at my house. Finding it will be your first lesson. Good luck.
He had just continued on his way, thinking about how great an opportunity this was! How he was going to be able to practice with someone who knew what they were doing, and how he was going to finally be able to become a great sorcerer like his grandfather. There was a little moment where he had mourned the fact that Alacazar wasn’t here to see it happen, that he wasn’t there at all. But it would be okay because Mateo was going to everything he could to ensure that the work Alacazar had already put into Mateo’s training was going to end with him becoming a sorcerer. No longer a 22 year old apprentice! A full on sorcerer! Who could join his friends in the fight to take back their home, and help Elena figure out the Scepter of Light.
And he was going to make Alacazar proud.
The first step to that was finding his master. Mateo had spent the whole day before flipping through his books, trying to find something that would help him get to his master’s house without becoming a stalker. That’s what magic was for!
Well. Not to stalk people. God, no that was-. Nevermind, you get the point. He was a sorcerer’s apprentice, and he was almost positive that his master had meant for him to find him via magic. Duh.
Also lucky that he had been given pretty much two days to figure it out because man, did he need it. The tracking spell he’d found in one of his grandfather’s books had been a little difficult to get done for him. Starting with the ingredients. He had pretty much had everything he needed in the enchanted bag, he was just missing one thing, a memory of the person he was looking for.
Lucky for Mateo he had one of those himself. Not the trouble was getting it. It took hours and a lot of frustration, but eventually he managed to get his Tamborita at the right angle, the words correct, and tapped his palm to the drum wand. The memory fought against him for a moment but eventually conceded to his hand. Mateo laughed in triumph for a moment before composing himself enough to get started on the spell.
Again, it took him a few hours, having to move back and forth from the spell to the instructions, taking each step slowly to make sure he got it right. The first three times he said the incantation nothing happened and he couldn’t understand why. Outside the sun was its descent and he was running out of time. On the fifth time, because the fourth he had sneezed during it, he finally got it to work.
Alacazar’s spell had said to use it on something easy to follow that was not alive so Mateo had just used a rock he had picked up by the town’s lake. When the spell finally pulled itself together instead of splitting apart the rock jumped to life, bouncing around the room. At first he laughed, but then the thing started to knock on the window of his room and he had to quickly grab for it, saying that this was not his window to break, so they’d just have to use the front door.
The rock bounced down the sidewalk of the town, passing through people’s legs and feet easily.
Mateo on the other hand was pushing through those same people, stumbling, tripping, and yelling at the rock to wait up! Thankfully people would only watch him for a second before shrugging and moving on. Just another day in Swynlake, right?
The sun was almost gone as Mateo came sprinting down the residential street, his bag having gotten caught on a stray bush branch while the rock kept jumping along. He had to stop to bend over and put his hands on his knees, sucking in air, as he tried to figure out where the rock had gotten off to. Distantly he heard a knocking sound and turned his head to look at the house he was standing in front of. He could see his rock knocking against the door, trying to make its way inside.
ARAWN
In all honesty he did not care whether or not the street urchin would be able to find him. If he did, very well, he would have the challenge of converting this seemingly goodie-goodie into someone he could bend and break to help him on his quest. If he did not that that would prove to Arawn that he was not worth the trouble anyhow. He would be a boy trying to fill big shoes with no power worth looking after.
The day after he had met with Mateo he had made his way home earlier than wanted in order to wait for the boy. He had a cup of tea while he watched the time. The sun would be setting soon and Arawn smirked to himself.
Very well, he thought standing from his seat. Arawn was about to make his way back into his kitchen when he heard the knock on his door. It sounded small and insignificant, not nearly as large or impacting of that of a human’s hand. He thought it to be an idiotic bird who could not tell the difference between a window and the world.
Then it came again.
And again.
And then in rapid succession.
It was annoying and Arawn stalked over to his door to tear it open.
MATEO
He didn’t know whether the rock wanted to use the house as a shortcut or if this was where his master was. Either way, he was going to have to go get the thing. He started up the walk, slow at first. When the rock started knocking insistently, and rather rudely in Mateo’s opinion, he jogged. The enchanted bag across his bag bouncing as he did so.
“Hey!” Mateo whisper-yelled, at the thing. It stopped for a second as it noticed him again, wiggling at him, and then going back to pinging itself against the door. “Stop that!”
Mateo reached down but the rock evaded him, continuing on its quest to annoy whoever was inside the house. Be it stranger or the man he was looking for, Mateo knew they were going to be annoyed and he did not need that to be his second impression! Especially not when they were about to have a training session after this, it would be all awkward and weird if it started with his master thinking about how annoying Mateo was.
The rock didn’t seem to want to listen to him, it just wanted inside.
At one point Mateo ended up moving in the wrong way and wound up diving for the rock, landing on his stomach against the hard surface of the front porch. His hands actually ended up wrapping around the rock, its warmed surface from the summer air and sun warmed cement banging against his skin as it attempted to escape from his grip.
“Gotchya,” he said aloud right before the door next to him opened. Mateo winced as he looked up the length of the person to find his master standing there. He quickly scrambled, jumping to his feet and smiling nervously down at him.
“Hi!” he greeted, waving his hands in the shape of a cage to Arawn.
ARAWN
His eyes were at level when he opened the door, ready to yell at whoever or whatever the hell was making such a fuss. When nothing was there he blinked in surprise.
No, wait, there wasn’t nothing there. Magic was nearby, one familiar to him. Where, though, was still yet to be found.
He looked down in time to watch Mateo raise his eyes up so that they met one another’s gaze.
Oh goody, he’d found him.
Arawn watched as Mateo made his way to his feet with difficulty, holding something with magic attached to it in his hands. He took the moment to glance at the sky, noting the darkening colors. The sun was just setting.
The boy sure knew how to cut it close.
He returned his eyes to Mateo at his greeting and nodded to him, forcing a smile to his face that was only slightly pained. This was either the biggest mistake of his entire life or one the the best ideas he had ever had. He didn’t know if the enthusiasm and excitement coming from Mateo at a nauseating degree was manageable just yet.
“I’m glad to see you’ve found me. Please, come in,” he said, stepping aside with the door as he gestured for the boy to enter. “And then we can discuss what you have in your hands.”
Inside this house was not much different from that of which he had lived in Wales. It was small, clean, and dark, just as he liked it to be. The furniture was a little more lavish than probably most people in this town went for but they were not living here. He was. There was plenty of empty wall space but things such as mirrors, clocks, and paintings hung on occasion. The lighting was more yellow in hue, and the dark burgundy rugs that sat on top of the dark stained wood floorings pulled in the light to keep it dimmed.
MATEO
Mateo grinned proudly at Arawn as he said he was glad to see Mateo because Mateo was over the moon to have found him. He had his own house! How great was that! The apartments were great and all, reallyreally great, but they did have their downfalls. A house, though! That meant they could do stuff without being interrupted. Not that Mateo didn’t welcome his friends knocking on his door if they wanted him, it would just be kinda nice to not be on edge thinking someone might hear him say something wrong besides his master. Or listen in, or distract him.
He took the invitation with a curt nod and walked inside, his grin diminishing as his jaw went slack and he looked around in awe. It was a little...well dark if Mateo were being honest, which he usually was. The house he’d grown up in had had a lot of windows to give them natural lighting. The colors his mother had painted were bright, and everything about it had made Mateo feel at home. Arawn’s house seemed….
Cozy!
“Oh, this?” he asked, wiggling his still enclosed hands. “It’s how I found you! My grandfather had this spell that lets you find people as long as you have a memory of them and something to take you there. I uh,” Mateo huffed nervously, “I guess I wasn’t really thinking so I used a rock instead of like a bike or something. But it worked! See-!
Without thinking Mateo opened his hands and out jumped the rock from his hold.
ARAWN
The door shut behind the boy and Arawn folded his hands behind him, watching Mateo look at his house. He seemed impressed, though he had no reason to. Unless he lived on the streets and hadn’t seen the inside of a house. Which was probably not the case since he had clothes that were of remedial standard and looked well put together. To a degree. There was the slouchy, unconfident way he held his shoulders and the naivety that clung to him like static.
He eyed Mateo’s hands, having already guessed that he did not have the experience to have been able to find him via feeling alone and would have to use the help of a spell or potion or tracking him down by knocking on all the doors in town or roaming about until the day light withdrew.
His eyebrows drew upwards as he looked at Mateo in disapprovement, but...how interesting was it that the boy had mentioned his grandfather’s writings. A sorcerer’s journal or grimoire was one of the greatest and honorable heirlooms, in Arawn’s opinion. They were also vital to history and power and...if this Mateo was from another continent with differing histories then maybe there was something in those books that would help Arawn in his ventures.
One step at a time, though. He could read them eventually.
The rock, apparently, was not the only thing that had magic on Mateo’s person. Besides the raw magic lighting up the boy himself there was the bag wrapped around him. Enchanted no doubt.
He watched on at Mateo opened his palms and the rock lunged for him. Arawn didn’t flinch violently, simply raised his hand to catch the rock mere centimeters from making contact with his face. He hummed, turning his hand over and opening the fist he had enclosed around the rock to stare down at it. He waved his other hand over it before it could make another attempt to jump at his face, and the rock fell still in his hand. Arawn held his hand out to Mateo.
“Very well done,” he lied, “a relentless little thing you had here.”
MATEO
Mateo gasped, his arm shooting out to try and grab the rock back up before it could do anything stupid. It was already too far out of his reach with his less than subpar reflexes. He could only watch in horror as the rock would probably his his master in the face and take Mateo’s hopes and dreams long with it.
Arawn caught it. Right out of the air. Like it was nothing!
Mateo couldn’t help but let out a laugh of disbelief and wonder because, wow! Just! Wow! He didn’t think that had been magic, but it had impressed him all the same. He fixed his footing, having stepped forwards in an attempt to get the rock back, taking him closer to his master. Mateo watched on in more awe than he’d had for the house as Arawn took the spell from the rock. His eyes were wide, aas was his smile, as he held out his hands for his master to give him back the rock.
“Thank you,” he said, ducking at the praise. He rolled the rock around in his hands, smoothing a thumb over it because, yeah, he was a little proud. Mateo had gotten a spell right! He turned his smile up to Arawn, “That means a lot coming from you.”
ARAWN
The rock dropped from his hands down into Mateo’s. He watched as the boy preened from the simple words he had said. He wasn’t here to teach him how to take a compliment, he was here to teach him magic. And whatever he could to ensure his trust was given willingly.
Trust was a very tricky thing. Hard to gather as it was so fragile. One false move and it was ruined. Crinkled trust was usable but that untainted, untouched, untampered with trust was more powerful.
Arawn smiled at Mateo, knowing he would take for sincerity, and stepped forwards to grip one of his forearms reassuringly.
“I believe you don’t give yourself any credit, Mateo. With time you’ll learn that you are more than capable of spells and the like much more complicated than this. ” Arawn patted his arm twice before brushing past him. “Follow me, we can work in this room just here.”
He walked over to a door that did not looked like it belonged to the house because, well, it didn’t. He had put it there himself, along with the room it opened up to. It held the same feeling that the rest of the house did, but outside the sun was still shining. To his dismay. There were shelves of ingredients on the walls, and where there wasn’t a long workbench ran the width of the walls with books, journals, and loose-leaf papers piled here and there. The middle of the room was wide open, nothing but burned markings from long lost memories scorched into the surfaces.
MATEO
Mateo’s eyebrows rose, his face opening up in wonder as he looked at Arawn telling him that he was going to learn and thrive. He felt something wedge into his throat and had to swallow it down before he made a fool of himself. There was no need to get choked up over this! It was a good thing, him being here. Arawn had seemed a little of putting upon first meeting but he was really making up for it now. Just goes to show that Mateo was right about people, you couldn’t just write them off after one meeting. There was no telling how their day had been going or if they were going through a rough time. People were good, and he believed the best in them.
Probably why when he felt a cold prickling running up his sleeve when Arawn touched his arm he wrote it off as the air conditioning instead of the red flag it should have been.
He followed after him, thinking that the room was just going to be an extra bedroom or an office or, he didn’t know actually, just a four walled room of the house’s originating structure. It never even struck him that he would be walking into a room that wasn’t even in Swynlake. And when he did, when his brain put together that the room was too big for the layout of the house he’d just been standing in and the sunlight coming in through the windows that looked stronger than that of the setting sun that he had just been witnessed to, Mateo let out a loud disbelieving laugh.
He had missed this. Magic in seemingly every nook and cranny of the world.
“Wow!” he said, stepping in to turn round and round. “This is amazing! Did you do this all by yourself? Where are we? Is the sun real or is it just artificial light so you always have a day time? This is amazing!”
ARAWN
He watched the boy follow and then move past him into the room, shutting the door as Mateo let out a joyful noise that made him sigh through his nose. The things he did for an means to an end. It would all be worth it. Soon enough this annoying demeanor and child like attitude towards magic would be replaced with a more refined person. Mateo would no longer twirl around like a child, he would stand there at attention like the man he was supposed to be.
“No, this room has been in my family for generations,” he said, “it was my mother’s before me. It’s a fairly easy spell to attach it to any residency. Office buildings and restaurants are harder to get it to consistently open, but luckily that isn’t a problem.”
Arawn gestured for Mateo to follow him as he walked to the middle of the room and sat down on the floor. He crossed his legs over one another, and motioned for Mateo to sit across from him.
MATEO
His eyes were trying to take it all in on one glance over while his brain tried to reassure him that if he did well then he would get to be spending many days, in this place if he wanted! Or, rather, if Arawn allowed it. It had that residual magical feeling. Again, a little colder than his grandfather’s room and workshop had felt, but there was still something familiar about it. It just felt so good to know that he was in the right place, in the right presence. Finally, he was on his way to filling in the robes of the Royal Court Sorcerer of Avalor.
Mateo nodded at the anecdote, looking over the room again with new eyes. There must have been years and years of history and stories this room could tell. He almost missed the wordless command, catching it at the last second in order to stumble to catch up. After Arawn sat Mateo plopped down across from him, clutching the fabric of his pants on his thighs.
Despite the questions wanting to poor out, because he just had so many! What were they doing? How was Arawn? Was Mateo dressed correctly? Was there even a dress code for this kind thing? Was he going to learn how to-?, Mateo kept his mouth shut and blinked at his master, waiting for his instruction with excitement.
ARAWN
He had never taken it upon himself to teach another. It was not because he didn’t think himself capable, because he was, more so than most of the atrocious masters out there, it was because he did not have the time. Time was precious and ongoing. Arawn wasn’t going to waste it on that of another. It was only now that he saw a purpose behind it all.
Sitting across from the live wire of a child, because he was still a child in many ways. His awe, the way his eyes lit up when he saw something new, and the way he walked was almost as if he was a newborn foal. Truly, Arawn wondered how he was still alive. Miracles and dumb luck most likely.
“Now,” he started, looking at the apprentice through narrowed eyes, “we do not know one another and it is not as if you’re here to learn maths. So, in order to ensure that this is going to work, Mateo, I’m going to ask something of you. You can choose not to answer, but that will end our lessons here.”
MATEO
The smile plastered on his face dimmed a little at the thought that things would end before they even began because of a question. That was so much pressure. He was already so close, his foot already across the threshold. It was like being given a glass of water after spending a week in the desert and then being told that he couldn’t drink it. Maybe this was a lesson, too? Alacazar had done this often when he had been alive, making Mateo do seemingly useless tasks only to turn around and show him why it was necessary. Mateo would often get paranoid because of this, wondering if the request to go get them cookies from the kitchen was a test. Until Alacazar would notice the look on Mateo’s face and reassure him that it wasn’t, he just wanted one fresh from the oven before Rafa had the chance to notice they were gone.
Mateo sat up a little straighter, having been bending his back because even sitting down he was taller than Arawn which made him feel awkward or like he was undermining him in some way, and lifted his chin a tad.
“What is it?” he asked. There were only a number of things that he could think of that he couldn’t be able to answer. Those being; anything to do with the princesses that might bring them harm and anything that would put his friends or family in danger. Mateo would hold tight to that, but if Arawn was after those things, if he came right off the bat swinging with those questions then he probably wasn’t interested in teaching Mateo at all and this was all a waste of time anyways.
ARAWN
Mateo looked like a child squaring up to take a punch. He had to keep himself from laughing.
“Very well,” he nodded, “the only thing I ask of you throughout these lessons is to not keep any secrets from me, or yourself. The only way you are going to be able to achieve the things you want, and the things I want for you, is going to be if you are honest.
“I use to be like you when I was younger. Unsure, behind the curve,” he could taste the bitter tone in his voice as he thought about those times, as he thought about his own master and the people around him who had done nothing but shut him out as he tried to reach out. It made his skin crawl, having to reveal such truths to this insect, but the empathetic path seemed to be the one that would lead Mateo to taking comfort with him.
“It was only when I came to turns with my true self that I was able to surpass all of that. In order to succeed you must only think in terms of who you are and who you wish to become. If you are not doing it for yourself then there is no point.”He cleared his throat, wanting to stop there, but knowing the next part needed to be said in order to win this boy over, “No one’s standards will ever be as high as your own. Doing things for others, that will come later. But for now you must solely think on your own magic.
In order to do this, you must come to terms with everything that is keeping you from using your magic to its full potential. This means lies, secrets, uncertainty, all those anxieties I can see flitting about. In order to teach you, you are going to need to be able to show these to me, too, as you face them. Do you understand?”
MATEO
He didn’t know why, but hearing those things made tears sting his eyes. Which was stupid and embarrassing and made Mateo want to crawl into a hole and never come out. But he had already done that once this year. It had been awful and he wouldn’t have recommended it again. Unless he was starting to cry in front of his new master, who he was only meeting for the second time in three days.
It was just...well his mother and sister had always told him how proud they were of him, and he could see it. Bright and shiny and wonderful, but he was also their blood. Of course they were proud of him, he was proud of them, too. And his friends were all so nice to him when he fucked up or when he didn’t fuck up. Always trying to pick him up and dust off the dirt from his clothes. Sometimes he wondered if they were all really telling the truth or if they had all been exposed to one another for so long, being around him as a terrible sorcerer who they couldn’t rely on, and they had somehow adapted to being disappointed with him. They forgave him for how he couldn’t do anything because they just knew it before they even asked. Like they expected the failure before it even happened in order to not be let down.
So to hear from a stranger the truth, the real truth, the one that he wished someone would just come out and say already, was heart wrenching. It told him that his thinkings had been real because Arawn had no reason to lie. He was wanting what was best for Mateo, and that was the truth. That Mateo was a bad sorcerer because he let himself be. There was no other reason. He’d been given the basic tools and principles, he could perform spells correctly under immense amounts of pressure but never when he wanted, and he worked hard for it. He knew it, too.
It was why that whole dream, spell, town hallucination, thing last December had gotten to him. He had been powerful, his powers of that world had been fully formed and he could remember how easy it had been to use them. Here Mateo struggled to see ingredients, he struggled to muster up enough magic to be able to cast a simple spell. There had been this freedom that was unlike anything he had ever felt in the real world, and it scared him to think that it was his own fault for not being able to do anything he was supposed to at this age.
He was holding himself back because he was too scared. And Arawn could see it. Mateo cleared his throat and nodded, sniffing a little as he hadn’t let the tears fall from his eyes and, well, they had to go somewhere.
“Okay,” he answered softly, nodding again. “I will.”
ARAWN
The rise of emotion from Mateo was not surprising, he had been expecting it. This was becoming a joke. A few pretty words sprinkled with a sympathetic or caring tone and the boy had turned to putty.
He thanked every doubt, every terrible event, every failed attempt at magic from this idiot’s hand for this moment. If he had any doubt about the dedication this child was going to be putting forth in these lessons before then this moment had seen them out.
All he had to do was sing praises and tell Mateo that he was proud of him whenever he did anything correctly. Such simplicities would please him enough to come back time and time again.
Eventually his usefulness would come into play. Until then he would work on cutting down that easily excitable personality he was hoisting around. Tear down this framework of a young boy who looked at the world with optimism and wonder. Had Mateo not had it in the first place then maybe he would have been able to see Arawn’s truth, the world’s truth.
Oh well. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and all that.
“Good,” he said, leaning back with a smile. “And I shall do the same for you. No secrets. Everything you see is everything I am. Anything you ask I shall answer to the best of my knowledge. Now, a few ground rules.
“Firstly we will meet every other day, and when we are not meeting I will be giving you work to do, so it won’t be as if you’re resting. I am not here to waste your time, so do what I ask of you and we won’t have any problems. Do not contact me unless absolutely necessary. I have shown you my home, but I do not expect anyone but you to be knocking on my front door.” The last thing he needed was whoever hung around or were friends with this moron to be crawling around here.
“Do we understand one another?”
MATEO
All of those were perfectly fair things to ask of him. Honestly he was happy with the one day in one day off set up, he had been expecting the five to two day ratio like everything else but this was probably a better system. Arawn knew best, after all!
He nodded along, smiling all the way through it. They wouldn’t be very hard to follow either as he hadn’t planned on telling any of his friends where Arawn lived. They wouldn’t really care, would they? Except maybe Gabriel. But Mateo didn’t want Gabe to scare his master off either. And he wasn’t going to tell Arawn who he was or that he was connected to Elena in anyways. Unless he asked him. Which he wouldn’t! Because it wasn’t that obvious. There were other places he could be from! Sorcerers came from all over the world, and he could be from any number of those places. Not telling Arawn and straight up lying were two totally, completely, different things anyways. So as long as Arawn didn’t ask he would be fine. And if he did maybe he would understand that Mateo wouldn’t be able to say anything.
If he didn’t then the choice there would be easy. Devastating, but easy.
“We do,” Mateo said with one final nod that was really more of a bow of his head. He was practically bouncing where he sat now, feeling the introduction portion of this coming to an end. Mateo grinned at his master before turning to the room once more. “So, where do we start?”
