The Lightning Mage

52 | The Choice that Makes You Happy

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The next few weeks flew by in a blur.

Cydney continued her job at the cafe. She had given up joining guilds; after all, only the best of the best mages could probably help her get home, so what was the point of joining other mediocre guilds? Instead, she spent her free time in the Boston Public Library. If the enhancer magic textbook had taught her everything she knew, surely an elemental magic textbook could work in teaching her too.

Except it didn't. Unlike the enhancer magic textbook that broke down every step and process in detail, every elemental magic textbook assumed one already knew how to do basic magic. She would stumble at the very first exercise in a first-grade-level textbook.

And so, she fell into a dismal routine: working at the cafe in the morning and scouring through different textbooks at night. It was hellishly exhausting, and the only thing that kept her going every day was... Lyn.

Yes, despite unknowingly breaking her heart into a million pieces, the redhead still visited the cafe every day. Cydney even had her orders memorized; an espresso shot for a normal workday, an americano for when she wanted to stay and chat for longer, or a red-eye coffee on days she looked exceptionally exhausted. Lyn would also always order something random from the pastry display and give them to Cydney; she would blush and stammer like an idiot, and Lyn would chuckle and give her the most radiant smile ever.

Why was she so nice to her? She had Emily! Tall, beautiful, slightly scary Emily. She really didn't need to wrench on Cydney's poor heart even more. Cydney sighed to herself as she lugged the bag of trash out of the cafe.

As she neared the dumpster, a familiar voice froze Cydney in place.

"It's because of Irene, isn't it?"

"I told you already, it's not." That was Lyn's voice; Cydney could recognize it anywhere. "And please stop bringing that up, okay? I'm still not over the fact that you got her into trouble."

Intrigued, Cydney inched closer and poked her head out from behind the dumpster. Two tall figures stood in the middle of the dumpster alley. A head of auburn shielded Cydney from the taller blonde's view, and she ducked back behind the trash bin before Emily could see her.

"I got her into trouble? She broke the fucking rules, Lyn, you know that! Why the fuck do you always side with her?"

"I don't—" Lyn let out an exasperated sigh; her tone was unusually harsh. "Whatever, I don't want to fight over this again, okay? This is not about her."

"Everything is about her! Everything is always about her!"

"Em-cakes, please, that is not t—"

"And now, because of her, you want to leave the guild? People are dying to get into Dawn Avengers and you want to leave the guild over a stupid dispute? One that makes zero sense, by the way, Irene was rightfully punished and I stand by it!"

"Stop it. It has nothing to do with that. It's my own decision, okay? There's no room for me to grow in the guild, so I'm quitting after this month."

"No room to grow?" Emily's voice had risen to almost a screech. "Everyone in the guild loves you! You're the fucking star, the fucking lightning mage! And the people over at the QA perk up like those screaming children whenever we tell them we're including you in quests! What the fuck do you mean you have no room to grow?"

Cydney kept herself hidden, her panicking heart almost beating out of her chest. The way the two women were yelling at each other was terrifying, especially Lyn. She was not screaming as loudly as Emily, but her cold, biting tone sent chills down Cydney's spine. Perhaps she should leave the trash bag on the ground and get out of here...