5 Are You a Mage?

"Oh-em-gee! Jade!" Manning screeched, jumping up and down as they left the store. "You saw that, right? He was so freaking cool!"

Jade kept her head down, fidgeting with her fingers. She did see it, of course. Those who didn't leave all saw it. Hayden, the renowned bully at school who was also known to be one of the mages, was simply scared out of his wits and chased out by the store worker who wasn't even a mage...was he?

"He's so fricking handsome! I'm in love!" she squealed, squeezing her cheeks together. "Those beautiful dark eyes...his mysteriously low, smooth voice...just, argh! His hair, too! He's perfect!"

Jade, for once, didn't mind Manning's crazy fangirling and fantasies.

Instead, her mind was too focused on a different person.

Emrys.

She mustered a smile.

She didn't think he'd be at the store today. He usually doesn't hang out with other kids, much, but he'd always stay longer at school. He must've followed Hayden to make sure he wasn't doing anything bad.

...did he see me? she wondered.

Her shoulders sagged ever-so-slightly as she remembered she was staring at his back the entire time.

Oh well...

_______________

Emrys looked up from his cellphone as he heard the clanging and rumbling of metal beside him.

It's been five hours, maybe even six, since when he first arrived. It was already almost dark.

Why did he wait so long just for this man to close down the store? To be honest, he didn't know either.

It was just a...gut feeling.

The man looked up at him once he finished closing the metal shutters down on the front entrance and gave a quirk of the corner of his mouth.

This man, he stood a few inches taller than Emrys, and he had to look up at him as he trudged closer. His eyes were dark and still and his steps made no sound as he walked, not even as he stepped on the loose pavement covered with pebbles.

Just who was this guy? Where did he come from? After what Emrys saw in the store, he was sure he was no ordinary person.

The man stopped right in front of him, letting Emrys get a clear view of how young he actually looked. "Mage," he suddenly said, a hint of glee in his low voice.

Emrys stiffened and leaned off the street pole. "How did you know?" he asked. He never told anyone, nor showed anyone his powers.

"I just do," he answered simply. "I can feel it...what are you doing here?"

Emrys opened his mouth to speak, only to find the words gone from his mind. "I...don't know," he replied truthfully.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asked. "Well then, I'll be off. See ya."

Emrys suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm as he turned, surprising himself and the man. He quickly retreated his arm awkwardly. "Sorry...I didn't mean to do that," he said.

The guy turned all the way back around and stared down at him. There was a moment of silence before he finally spoke up. "I know you have questions," he said with a tilt of his head. "Ask away, I'll answer as much as I can."

Emrys pressed his lips in a thin line, his mind reeling. He did, in fact, have a lot of questions, but somehow they were all gone. He felt like those students who would always freeze up before the start of their presentations, like their whole mind has gone blank or something.

But he was the student body president of his high school, how can something like that happen to him?

Emrys cleared his throat and stole a glance up at the man in front of him, who was blinking down at him dumbly. Emrys shook his head and exhaled. "Are you a mage, too?" he started.

He stared at him, giving him the look as that the answer should be obvious. "Of course, I am," he confirmed, sounding the slightest bit disappointed. "Can't you feel it?"

Emrys took in a breath and looked down at his shoes, a bit embarrassed. "No," he admitted. "Not really. Maybe I can feel a bit, but it's not enough for me to know for sure."

The man was silent for a bit. "To be better, one has to practice and focus on their strengths, shouldn't a top-notch student like you know that?" he inquired.

Emrys froze. That tone of voice, his rhetoric...no one had talked to him like that in such a long time. People these days didn't have anything else to say but to praise him for being a good student, but that wasn't getting him anywhere, especially after finding out that he had a mage's power.

Now, standing before him was probably a man just in his early twenties, but the way he talked made him sound more experienced than someone his age would allow.

Emrys clenched his fists at his sides. "You're...you're really powerful, aren't you?" he asked bitterly. "Your power, it isn't anything like what I've seen from other mages."

He smiled. "And if I was? What would you do?"

"I-"

Emrys found himself stuck again. He knew what he wanted now, he wanted to better. And since he was a mage, he also wanted to become stronger. Stronger and better than anyone else. He wanted to prove the rest of his family and the people from his past that he wasn't all that useless.

He was going to prove them all wrong. He was already a top student at school, but that wasn't enough.

He wanted to make it to the nation's Mages' Association.

And for some reason, his intuition was telling him that if he wanted to get any further, any better, it was this man that he had to go to.

Emrys clenched his jaw and gathered his courage. "I want-"

"You want me to help you," he interrupted before he could even finish.

He paused, then nodded slowly. He waited for an answer, glancing up at him expectantly.

But there seemed to be not the slightest change at all in his expression. "Why'd you ask me? There are a lot of other powerful mages out there," he said calmly.

Emrys stood up straighter, sticking with his choice. "I don't want to go to other mages," he said with confidence. "They're not...I don't like them."

His eyes suddenly darkened, growing serious and frightening. "Are you sure? What if I told you I'm a bad guy?" he rumbled.

He hesitated, taking a step back. Bad guy?

It was true, he did radiate some sort of negative energy. Even when he smiled, it had an edge to it. It was like there was a second meaning to almost everything he said and did.

But he'd already come this far, there was no backing down.

Emrys stepped forward again, determined. "Even if you say you are, I'll still follow you. I have a feeling that you are the right person, and I won't go back on it."

It took a few seconds, but the dark look on his face quickly dissipated, changing back to normal. He looked almost uncertain, but slowly, a strange grin spread across his mouth, and Emrys didn't know if he should be glad or scared.

"You better not," was all he said before he turned and began to walk away.

Emrys stared after him, completely confused. He just left like that? So was that a yes or a no?

From the back, Emrys observed, he really did look like any normal guy just minding his own business and walking through the street. But when he looked longer, he noticed he looked down, depressed. It was like he was carrying some invisible weight on his shoulders that couldn't be lifted.

Emrys stood there in front of the closed store, watching in the direction he went, even after he had gone too far for him to see.

There was definitely something more to that guy than what he let on.

Who was he, really? Why did he suddenly appear at this little corner shop?

And that's when Emrys realized he didn't even know his name.

"Ah...I'll come back tomorrow," he muttered.

Then he turned away and went in the direction of home, glancing behind his shoulder every now and then as if he was hoping that he would suddenly appear at any moment.