Twilit Mage

Chapter 4: Cut to the Chase

"I'm all ears."

Principal Blake looked at her, calm and expectant, raising one eyebrow in curiosity. Mercury swallowed. All the questions she had so neatly arranged and rehearsed in her head earlier had tumbled all over the place.

All the things that had confused her, worried her...all the questions...What were they again? Where should she start?

"Um..." She fidgeted awkwardly. "This might be a bit of a stupid question, but–"

"Wrong. Stupid questions don't exist, just stupid answers." Principal Blake smirked. "Let's hear it."

"Why...do Light and Dark Mages hate each other so much?"

"Oh." Principal Blake raised both eyebrows. "That's not a stupid question, that's a very good question. Well, you know how Light and Dark Magic are fueled by different types of emotions?"

Mercury looked into nowhere, recalling what her parents had told her when she was very little. "Light Magic runs on positive emotions...joy, happiness, love. And Dark Magic on negative ones like hatred, anger or fear...right?"

"Exactly. Neither's inherently good or bad, as your parents should've told you." Principal Blake gave a quiet sigh as his eyes darkened. "But since Dark Mages are always stronger in bad times, the Light folks started to fear us. They started saying we were making things worse and preying on people's suffering. Some of us probably did, but they started hunting innocents too. Till not too long ago they didn't even allow us to exist..." He smiled wryly. "I hate to say this, but the segregation we got right now is already a progress compared to old times."

Hunting innocents...Mercury shuddered. Had she heard this right? Had the Light Mages really tried to kill people just for the source of their magic?

Had her father's ancestors, her father's family also...?

"Right now we've got separate communities," Blake went on. "We don't talk if we can help it. We never exchange knowledge. We don't try to kill each other though...still, don't like it. Pointless drama, you know."

Mercury looked at the ground, deep in thought. She tried to understand this conflict and couldn't. The actions of the Light Mages didn't make sense...but she understood the Dark Mages. She understood why they were afraid.

At least the magic community she was supposed to be joining had a reason to hate the other side. Mercury wasn't sure if that was scary or reassuring. Reassuring, because the Dark Mages weren't at fault. But scary, because she wasn't sure how they would react to her. Would they really let the descendant of their oppressors let into their ranks? Wouldn't they suspect her, think that she might still be one of them?

"I..." She took a slow breath, trying to put the jumbled thoughts in her head into words. "That's...scary."

"Don't worry," Blake said gently, a knowing look on his face. "Twilit Mages like you are exiles. The Light Mages can't even interact with you. No sane person at this school will think you're one of them, don't sweat it."

Mercury wasn't so sure, but she wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe that he was right, that the others wouldn't make a wide berth around her for who she was.

"And no sane person should hate you for what half your ancestors did," Blake added, and Mercury started wondering if he could read minds. "You never even met them. And you don't approve of what they did, I know." He smirked. "It's written all over your face."

Mercury turned pink.

"So my ancestors..." She shuddered, an icy chill running down her spine. "They really did...?"