Magic Is Overrated

CH. 10: The Power of Merlin

"When Eleanora was younger, she...how do I put this?" The demon sat down on a bucket in front of the girl. His hand covered his mouth. As if he didn't want to say anything. He knew he shouldn't, but someone close to Eleanora now should know. Maybe the more people who know can help her and Desmond. "Eleanora was...assaulted. When she was younger, of course." He let the silence sing to his ears.

Julia looked down sorrowfully, "She told me. She told me a long time ago, actually." The girl looked back up, ready to defend her friend. "Who told you that information? She hasn't told anyone but me."

The man fidgeted on the bucket. Debating on his choices of the remaining secrecy between his best friend and the witch, this best friend is loved dearly.

"It was Desmond wasn't it?" Julia read his face intensely. "How would he know? Eleanora said no one knew."

He hesitated to open his mouth. The more who know, the more who can help he repeated to himself. "Do you know why Desmond flirts with Eleanora exclusively?"

The girl shook her head. "He likes her?"

The demon nodded, "Yes, and more than that."

Julia leaned in on her hands, eyebrows raised.

Maximus continued, "Their relationship is kind of complicated... Like Desmond and Eleanora's mothers, the two were close friends growing up. Unlike their parents, however, Desi and Eleanora grew much closer, quickly becoming inseparable. In middle school, they started to date. Although it was clear that the two had a special spot in their heart for each other much earlier."

Maximus didn't miss Julia's soft smile forming as he explained their friends' story.

"Later in high school, Desmond graduated two years above Eleanora. He said the hardest thing he had to do was leave the girl he loved." Maximus shifted on the bucket once more.

"He said the weekend after he moved in, he missed his witch too much to not see her." He stopped again, "You know I never thought of him as a romantic when I became his roommate freshman year. He was definitely darker. Like something happened right before he moved here."

Julia studied the man in front of her. His face held sadness and maybe a bit of guilt.

Maximus sighed, "I remember taking him to human arcades and even snuck into human towns with him so he could maybe feel a rush of life and just forget whatever had happened before he got here. He's much different now than he was a few years ago."

Julia intertwined her fingers under her chin. Maximus stared at her for a minute, his copper eyes boring into her emerald eyes.

He opened his mouth, "Anyways, he went to surprise Eleanora after her piano lessons. He saw a guy in a grey hoodie and jeans push her up against an outside corner of her music building. Desmond said he remembers punching the guy in the back of the head and after he fell to the ground, grabbed his head and slammed it into the sidewalk over and over. He didn't stop until he heard Eleanora's heart pounding in his head." The man stopped for a breath.

"He caught Eleanora as her eyes were taken over by a black mist. Somehow, Desmond said he could see green in her eyes of darkness. He said he always felt a strange presence in her aura when they were younger, but he soon knew it was Merlin."

Julia's mouth was open as she wagered him to continue.

Maximus quietly chuckled, "He said he took her straight to her parents after that. Her parents were confused as to how she was feeling Merlin's shard. Typically, it takes the wizard or witch until they are of age or rightfully worth the power of Merlin to access his magic if given a shard. Desmond said that when Eleanora was younger, she told him that she was assaulted then, too. But she had an outburst of green magic when it happened for the last time. Her outburst left her cousin with a scar along his cheek. Desmond said he didn't know if Eleanora knew if it was Merlin's magic. But when she told her parents that she had an outburst instead of telling them that she was assaulted by her cousin, Desmond," Maximus laughed softly again, "At his young age hunted down her cousin and threatened his life if he ever tried anything again."