Twilit Mage

Chapter 59: Nothing the Same

They spent a long time in the middle of the staircase, simply sitting together and talking. Mercury told Raoul the details of her conversation with her parents, her mother's confession to lying about her powers, the riots, the abuse of Twilit Mages in the middle of that conflict. When she came to her realization and resolve she hesitated. Would Raoul be happy with her decision? He had always been so stubborn about her being Twilit and not Light or Dark...would he disapprove?

But in the end she did tell him. He was her boyfriend now, and he deserved to know. He deserved to understand what she had decided to do.

When she was done with her explanation Raoul was quiet for a long, long moment. Mercury stared at him in anxiousness. He wouldn't reject her ideas, would he? He wouldn't mind...?

"So basically," he said at last, "you wanna talk to lots of people and get them to see past the whole Dark-Light-Twilit thing, right?"

Mercury tensed up, trying and failing to read his expression and tone. "Y-Yes," she said cautiously. "What do you think...?"

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Um..." She blinked stupidly. "W-What?"

"It's just, you're so shy," Raoul said with a look of concern. "Will you be fine talking to people and stuff?"

Mercury stared at him. "That's what you're worried about?"

"What? I know you find that scary!" Raoul crossed his arms, giving a defensive pout. "You're not gonna push yourself too hard or something, right? Do you have a plan?"

"Um...not really," Mercury replied, fidgeting. "I still need to come up with something, but...I think I can do it. There have to be ways to learn how to be less scared of all this, right? And I've got my illusions, and...maybe I don't even have to use words all the time." She thought of Riley, and for a second she wondered if their opinion on her and Raoul had changed after the gorgon. "It's just...I feel like I need to do it. Somebody has to, right?"

Raoul smiled. "You're being badass again."

"I'm not. But..." Mercury hesitated. "You don't mind?"

"Mind what?"

Mercury stumbled over her words, taken aback. "Um..." How should she phrase it? "Just...you always cared so much about being a Twilit Mage and everything, so...is it okay if I'm fighting for a world where nobody cares what magic you have? Doesn't that make you invisible again?"

"Oh, that." A shadow passed over Raoul's face, even as he smiled. "Actually...I've been thinking. Stuff happened, and kinda...yeah, people know Twilit Mages are a thing now. But it still sucks if they suspect the thing and say we're bad guys or spies or whatever. I guess I just really don't want people labeling me as a Dark Mage or a Light Mage when I'm just...something else." He shrugged. "I dunno, maybe they'd stop doing that if it wasn't all Light against Dark and stuff."

Mercury stared at him in disbelief, processing his words. Then a smile made its way onto her face, and before she knew it she was laughing, laughing with the relief washing over her.

"I'm so glad," she said, reaching around him and pulling him into a hug. "Thank you so much!"

~ ~ ~

By the time Mercury and Raoul finally stopped talking and parted ways, the sun was already about to set. Neither of them wanted to leave the other's side just yet, not after everything that had happened, but it was almost time for dinner, and Mercury wanted to at least shower and change her clothes before showing herself in front of the school again. She wondered how many people had heard about her stunt. Did they think differently of her now? Would they trust her a little more, or would they be more distrustful than ever?