Twilit Mage

Chapter 19: Face to Face

"Oh, Mercy, there you are."

Mercury stumbled back. She had been so lost in thought that she almost hadn't seen Raoul until she was inches from knocking into him, sitting at the dinner table and looking up at her with curious eyes. "'Sup?"

She shrugged and smiled, placing down her tray of food and throwing down her bag as she sat next to Raoul, starting to shovel food into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Over all the trouble she had completely forgotten how hungry she was until now.

"Where you been?" Raoul asked between two mouthfuls of food. "You missed enchantment class. Pretty cool stuff, easy though." He grinned smugly. "I got to show off again."

Mercury smiled, secretly relieved to have missed the class. No matter what Raoul said, there was no way a practical magic class would have gone over without further drama, and at the moment she really needed to lay low or she might end up in detention or suspended. She had ruined her reputation enough for today. To say nothing of the fact that she still had no idea how any of her magic worked.

"I got sent to the principal," she explained, taking a momentary break from shoveling down her food.

Raoul swallowed his mouthful with a giant gulp. "Dude, you what?"

Mercury laughed and explained everything that had happened in the principal's office, from the not-scolding to the reveal that Blake was another illusionist and the set of instructions he had given her for damage control. Her smile faded and faded as she spoke, and when she finished all that was left of it was a weak, unhappy attempt at a grin.

"I mean," she added, "that sounds pretty impossible, right? It's not like I can just turn it off or something, that'd be nice..." She tried to laugh, but it sounded sad even in her own ears. "But I mean, if he says it works..."

Raoul stared at his mug, forming patterns in the surface of his cocoa, a slight frown on his face. "That's rough."

"Yeah..."

Mercury resumed eating. Her food had cooled down significantly, but she was hungry enough not to care, and it definitely gave her an excuse not to answer. Next to her Raoul did the same, and they kept on munching in silence until they had both cleared their plates.

Then Raoul looked up, a glint of renewed hope in his eyes. "But you know what, Mercy?" he said. "I think you can do it."

Mercury shrugged. "I have to."

"I'm serious. I mean, you've done cool impossible stuff before, right?" He counted it on his fingers. "Like the thief you caught on that rail thingy..."

He still hasn't remembered the word, Mercury thought. "But I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't stepped in."

"...the time you got here through the Otherworld..."

"That was luck."

"...the water bird earlier..."

"That was an accident!"

"Who cares." Raoul looked unfazed. "You got a lot of luck and a lot of guts. Yeah, you do," he insisted as Mercury raised her hands in protest. "You're gonna make it. I mean, you're confused and stuff but you're not really gonna give up, right?"

He was right, Mercury realized. She had no intentions of giving up. Principal Blake had tasked her with this, so she would find a solution, or at least keep trying until she either found one or had to admit it was impossible. Everything else would mean disappointing one of the few people in here who had faith in her, and she couldn't let that happen no matter what.