By the time the others woke up, Mercury had already left the nurse's office, moved into her dorm room, got dressed, and stared at her schedule and the map of the school for almost forty-five minutes to make sure she wouldn't get lost and be late on the very first day. Bonnie, who had either slept very little or stayed up the whole night, had helped her retrieve her bags and find the way, and now she was stuck with a lot of nerves and nothing left to do.
She sat down at her desk, got up again, walked around the room, sat down on her bed, and jumped up again in an instant. Her body felt cold and shaky, her head light, her heart pounding and fluttering like an anxious butterfly. Her stomach hurt. She was starving, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to eat a single bite at breakfast.
It's okay, she told herself. I've got Raoul. I'll manage.
But that thought did nothing to stop the chills running down her spine, the cold, clammy feeling in her hands, the gasps of her breath. It didn't stop the images of people staring at her, pointing, whispering, or the nagging, clinging, creeping fear of being caught spacing out and embarrassed in front of the whole class. Or what if someone pulled the same thing Georgiana had and kept her out of a room again and she showed up late? Or what if the teacher called on her and she couldn't answer a basic question about magic? Or–
Mercury squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the images as they grew wilder and wilder, more and more vivid and terrifying. She couldn't panic...she shouldn't panic. That only made it all a self-fulfilling prophecy, her mother had always said that.
Mom...Maybe she should call home. Maybe that would help her calm down...
She looked at the clock and shook her head. No, this was a bad time. Her mother should be going to sleep after her night shift just about now, no need to bother her when she needed to rest. And her father was in the middle of opening the shop and couldn't spare a minute. The last thing she wanted to be right now was a burden to her own parents.
Taking a shaky breath, Mercury reached for her headphones and tried to listen to music until it was finally time to head down for breakfast.
~ ~ ~
The breakfast room was too big and too crowded, and Mercury wasn't hungry. She didn't want to eat anything. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home and curl up under a blanket in her room where nobody could see her.
For the moment, though, no one seemed to be paying much attention to her. Everyone was standing in groups or sitting down around tables, laughing and talking and stuffing their faces. Mercury's eyes darted around in search of free seats. There were a few...but all around them were people, people that she'd have to go up to and ask if she could sit with them. Her insides tensed up. No...no, no, she couldn't do that if she tried. They were so deep in conversation and she'd have to interrupt them...they would mind, they'd definitely mind...
"Boo."
Without warning a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, and a second later Raoul's grinning face peered over her shoulder, his glasses a little lopsided, his already messy hair an even messier bedhead. "Mercy!" he said cheerfully. "Good morning!"
Mercury felt herself relax a little. Raoul's tackle-hug felt warm and reassuring, a bright, cheery reminder how much she had needed the affection even though she could never muster the courage to ask for it from anyone. "G-Good morning," she said, returning his smile.
Raoul's face brightened even more, and he loosened his hug to step beside her, one arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders. "Man, good thing I found you!" he chattered as he pulled her along to get plates of food for both of them, pointing questioningly to different items until Mercury gave in and nodded at a single pop-tart, cutting through the crowd with little consideration. "It's so crowded in here, I thought I was gonna have to climb on the table and look down to spot you. Have you checked out the food already? Looks pretty nice! I bet they use magic to make really cool stuff or something. Hungry?"
"A little," Mercury said diplomatically, just as Raoul went up to a table with several free seats and, without even asking the two strangers who already sat there, pulled aside two chairs and gestured her to one of them.
Mercury hesitated. "Are you su–?!"
"You guys don't mind, right?" Raoul asked the two students. They looked up in surprise, and he didn't even wait for their response before sitting down with a cheery smile. "Thank you!"
The two carried on with their conversation, and Mercury sat down next to Raoul, still unsure if it was really all right. Raoul started to dig in and chattering on with his mouth full while all around them people were still arranging themselves and sitting down at the tables. Mercury focused on him without actually remembering anything he said. She just wanted to block out everyone else, every possible look or whisper that someone might send her way. The jittery feeling in her gut had calmed down a little but it was still there, ever-present, a constant reminder that she wasn't safe yet.
Something moved into her field of vision. No, someone. A glint of auburn hair, smooth and braided like it had never been untied overnight. A figure that sat down across from her without sparing her a single glance.
Georgiana DeVille.
Mercury tensed up. She tried to focus on Raoul's chatter and failed. Her eyes flickered across the table no matter how hard she tried to look away, alarm bells ringing wildly in her head.
Georgiana didn't seem to have noticed her. She was bent over her plate, stuffing her face with the gigantic mountain of food she had piled on, looking strangely unladylike compared to her usual demeanor. Mercury tried to look at her own untouched pop-tart, hoping and praying that Georgiana wouldn't look up. Please don't notice me. Please don't notice me. I'm not here.
Georgiana took a particularly large bite, chewed, swallowed– and looked up.
For a second the world stood perfectly still.
Georgiana's eyes went wide. She stared blankly at Mercury's face, then she shook her head, blinked, stared again. All color drained from her face.
"You–!" she hissed at last. "You...What are you doing here? How did you–" Her eyes flickered from Mercury to Raoul. "You helped her, didn't you?" she asked. "What did you do?"
Raoul blinked at her in complete confusion. Then he leaned back, the most smug of smirks spreading over his face as he eyed Georgiana with perfect satisfaction.
"Nope," he said easily. "I didn't do a thing."
Georgiana narrowed her eyes in disbelief. Her gaze flicked back to Mercury. "Oh, is that so?" she asked coolly, a sharp edge to her voice like a knife hidden behind silk. "Then how come you are here now?"
Mercury opened her mouth, but Raoul beat her to the punch. "She followed us through the Otherworld!" he chimed. "All by herself! How's that, huh?"
For a moment Georgiana looked pale, horrified, the faintest hint of regret crossing her features. "You could have died," she whispered. "I should have kept that binding spell on you longer–" She shook her head. The horror in her eyes faded away as furious realization and disgust dawned across her face.
"Oh, I see," she said loudly, clearly, her voice carrying over the murmur and chatter and making people pause in their conversations, turning around to look at her. "A girl who has never known magic just happens to be able to find her way into the Otherworld and back out, in exactly the place she wanted to go to. How incredibly plausible." She rose from her chair, looming over Mercury like a wall, the shadow she cast down on her impossibly larger than life. "Tell me," she demanded, and this time she was almost shouting, "who trained you to travel the Otherworld, Mercury Day? Who taught you to be prepared for the off chance that someone might not let you infiltrate this place in the official way, Light Mage?"
The entire room had fallen silent. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Nobody was breathing. All eyes were fixed on Mercury, staring at her from across the room.
Mercury gasped for air, but her lungs weren't cooperating. Her insides were tangled in knots. Her skin was cold and clammy. Her head was spinning, her heart pounding against her chest, her body shaking, her mind completely blank as she stared at her fingers with wide eyes, unable to utter a single word.
Then, one by one, the whispers broke out.
"Hey, did she just say 'Light Mage'?"
"No way, that can't be real. I mean, they're not letting Light Mages in here, are they?"
"Yeah, no. She's crazy."
"Crazy? Her? Don't you know her? That's Georgiana DeVille! I've met her before. That girl knows everything!"
"So you mean she's right? But..."
"Light Mages? In here? What do they even–?!"
"These stupid Lights. They can't even let us have a place to ourselves, huh?"
"First they hunt us and now they want in on our stuff. How's that any fair?"
"What's she doing here?"
"What's she doing here?"
"What's she doing here?"
Mercury shrank down. She wanted to shout, shout at them all to shut up, but she couldn't open her mouth. Her chest hurt too much to breathe. Her body was shaking, shaking so much that she couldn't move an inch.
"Shut up, everybody!"
The whispers fell silent. Mercury gave a start and glanced up at Raoul, who had amplified the sound of his voice as if he was holding an invisible megaphone.
"No offense, guys," he said a little quieter, but still amplified, "but could you all maybe chill? 'Course Mercy's not a Light Mage. She's Twilit, she's never met a Light Mage in her life! You guys heard about this exile stuff before, right?"
Another silence. Some people were still glaring at Mercury with unconcealed animosity. Others were looking doubtful.
"Funny that you should come to her defense, Raoul Warden."
Georgiana was still standing, her eyes now laser-focused on Raoul. "A Twilit Mage helping another Twilit Mage out, huh? How good that you can prove that Twilit Mages are indeed exiled from the Light community and not their secret spies like rumors say."
Mercury forgot about her panic for a moment. "Spies?"
Georgiana's glare focused on her again, and Mercury shrank back. "What, are we not getting too powerful for you?" she snapped coolly. "Not weak and helpless enough anymore? In need of destabilizing? Not ready to give up your privilege yet, are you?" Her eyes were black with hatred, burning with a silent fire like a volcano ready to erupt. "Tell me, if you grew up as exiles, how come you can travel the Otherworld? If you only just met each other, why do the only two Twilit Mages in the grade just happen to be inseparable already?"
Mercury flinched. Her gaze flitted over to Raoul in wide-eyed panic.
It had been a coincidence, she knew that. They had just happened to run into each other that day at the mall. But no one here would believe her if she told them. Especially not Georgiana. She could barely believe it herself.
What should she say? What should she say? What should she say?
Raoul, say something...I don't know what to say...
Raoul looked back at her, seemingly at a loss himself. Mercury's panic rose. Everyone's eyes were still locked on them, now more hostile than ever.
"No answer?" Georgiana asked coolly, sitting back down, her eyes still narrowed on the two of them. "That's enough of an answer for me. I'm amazed Sullivan Blake ever let you into this school. I always thought he was an intelligent man."
The whispers carried on. Mercury stared at her pop-tart, every ounce of appetite she'd ever had gone missing for good.
Raoul shot a cold look over the table, but Georgiana ignored him in favor of her breakfast. He closed his eyes, then his eternal smile reappeared, not as bright as before but confident as ever.
"Don't mind, Mercy," he whispered, draping an arm around her shoulders. "I mean, how many people are gonna listen to a girl who talks like a robot, anyway?"
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