A Rational Magic || ONC2022

Twenty-Three || Too Much To Think About

How did this even happen?

Elizen got away easily — Mercury's attention was on me. And while... I don't know if I can believe his 'sorry'.

"I helped you."

"I know," he whispers, looking scarily determined. "But I can't do anything about this."

"Excellent!" One of the men of Project: MALIS walks over, holding something that looks uncomfortably like a pair of handcuffs. Very rusty handcuffs. "Looks like you can be useful after all."

"I'm not doing this for you."

He looks even less confident than he did when we stopped Kerrigan from kidnapping him, but this is the most effort he's put into defending himself so far. So...

"Shut up."

Mercury just manages to dodge the blow the man — possibly Andires — aims at his head, his hand crackling with something that probably isn't electricity.

"Now, where's your sister?"

"I don't know."

"You're twins. Nonsense."

"What... twin telepathy isn't a real thing!"

He doesn't seem to believe me, but he doesn't actually say anything else until he's, no joke, handcuffed me to Mercury.

"I asked you where your sister was, and I expect you to give me the truth."

"And I'm telling you the truth, I don't know!"

"Lani," Mercury hisses. "Stop it."

"I am telling the truth, though. I don't know where she is."

"Leave it," someone else shouts. "We have one of the girls, don't we?"

"Better than nothing," maybe-Andires huffs. "Get over here, then!"

"That's Gosling," Mercury whispers to me as the man comes into view. "I don't know anyone's first names, except this one guy..."

"Which one?"

"You wouldn't know who I'm talking about."

"Maybe I do."

"Tall, reddish hair? He's got a weird tattoo of some dragon-ish creature or other, I don't know what..."

"Ah, the wyvern? I know who you mean. Longhurst?"

"Yeah. Thomas Longhurst."

"How come you know his name?"

"No reason," he said quietly. "Just... don't try and get any names out of them. It's basically a mass kidnapping they're orchestrating, after all."

"Shut up."

"Yes, sir."

I watch, curious in spite of myself, as the men set up what I assume is some kind of teleportation spell — and committing what they do to memory.