"Mr. Lovejoy, please pay attention," Eryn sighed as she pushed a lock of brown hair out of her face and back behind her ear.

Romeo let out a groan and rolled his forehead back and forth on the table.

"I'm. So. Bored. We've been here for like, six hours."

"Less than two, actually."

"And you made me read like twenty books."

"You've read less than three chapters."

"And take notes."

"You haven't taken any notes, though I would recommend you do. I will likely test you on this material."

"This place is so depressing. Why do we have to work in here?" Romeo moaned against the table.

Eryn looked around the silent library and frowned. "I fail to see anything wrong. This library is one of the finest in all of Voy. It contains many priceless first editions, some them even written by hand by the most prolific authors and philosophers of all time."

Romeo tilted his head until he could look at her. "But it is so quiet and stuffy and no one is smiling."

"This is a place for higher learning, Mr. Lovejoy," Eryn said. "There is no need for loud discussion here. The silence is out of consideration for others."

"See what you just said? That right there? That's why no one is smiling." Romeo turned back towards the table.

"People are not required to be smiling all the time," Eryn sniffed.

"Apparently they aren't required to smile at all here." Romeo pushed himself back up and off the table. He held up his hand. "We're reading about some mage that died centuries ago and I can shoot freakin' lightning out of my fingers right now. Why aren't we starting with that? This books stuff can't compare to real life practice."

Eryn grit her teeth. "While practice has its own merit, understanding the foundation of magic is key to using that power. Furthermore, that mage is one of the first recorded Users of your specific type of magic. He created the basis for the spells, incantations, and and and…"

"And that was a long time ago," Romeo yawned. "S'like I told Banksy. If that guy can do it, then I can do it too."

"…What?"

"I'll make up my own spells," Romeo said, twisting his hands into complex motions.

"I highly recommend you do not do that," Eryn said with a pointed look at his hands.

"Why not?" After a moment of Eryn continuing to stare at him he stopped his movements. "Fine, why not?"

"Magic in the hands of one untrained, such as yourself, can be extremely destructive. That is why they used to teach students of magic from a young age and why they started with extremely simple spells. Spells, even though they are nothing more than words, help the caster to visualize what they are doing. It helps to create a clear image in their mind, even if only for a moment, and allows them to focus all of their energy."

Romeo propped his head up with one hand. "So, basically, it's not the words themselves that are important… it's the meaning behind them?"

"I suppose you could say that is true," Eryn said reluctantly. "The meaning to the user is more important than the words, and it was not uncommon for a mage to name his own spells to more personally fit themselves. In time and with sufficient practice, that is."

"So, then technically." Romeo drummed his fingers against his chin. "Even speaking the spell aloud isn't necessary."

"With enough skill, no," Eryn said with a slight nod. "But it is recommended for novice spell casters to always say aloud what they desire, to help construct the physical manifestation of their magic."

Romeo lifted up his free hand and narrowed his eyes. Eryn watched him and slid back ever so slightly in her seat.

"Mr. Lovejoy?"

"Call me Romeo," he answered before thrust his hand up dramatically. "Burning palm of righteous justice!"

Eryn sighed deeply as Romeo's loud display did nothing but draw unwanted attention from the other, now annoyed, patrons of the library. She mouthed a silent apology to the students that glared in her direction, before turning back to Romeo who was now staring at his hand with a crestfallen expression.

"Man… I really though that would work."

"You're a complete idiot, aren't you?" Eryn said after contemplating Romeo for a short time.

"Well, now we are just trying to hurt feelings, aren't we?" Romeo replied with a mock pout. "Don't be so stiff. I just wanted to see if it would work."

"And what if it had?" Eryn snapped. "What if you had managed to produce a magical attack and lost control of it. What if you had hurt someone? Even killed them?"

"Well, I didn't really think about that,” Romeo admitted sheepishly. "I just kinda… did it."

"That much was obvious." Eryn shook her head and turned back to the pile of books she had amassed for their session. She pulled one and began to silently read, though, Romeo noted, her eyes never actually moved and after a few minutes she had failed to turn the page.

"You seem… upset. Want to talk about it?" Romeo ventured after a few minutes of the silent treatment.

"I would rather not," Eryn said, her eyes glued to the book before her.

"You might feel better," Romeo said. "I always feel better when I talk."

"Then you must always feel quite well because you have yet to cease speaking," Eryn hissed.

"So you are mad." Romeo gave a small nod. "I could tell. I have a sense about these things. Come on. Spit it out. Is it about me? It kind of feels that way, to be honest."

Eryn snapped the book closed. "Mr. Lovejoy-"

"Romeo"

"Mr. Lovejoy, I am attempting to calm myself, but your incessant babbling is making that nearly impossible. Please, for just a few minutes, be quiet."

"So it is about me," Romeo mused.

"Of course it is!" Eryn caught her rising voice before it became a shout. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before continuing. "Do you understand how much time and energy I have devoted to the study of magic? Can you even begin to imagine it?"

"Well, I never really went to school so not really. I assume a lot?"

"Yes, a lot. To put it mildly." Eryn glared at Romeo. "I love magic, Mr. Lovejoy. I love the concepts and the history, I love the wide range of abilities, I love that there is so much that we do not know about it and much we likely never will. It's a never-ending mystery that I cannot get enough of. So you can imagine how overjoyed I was when suddenly reports of magic, real magic, began to appear across the Kingdoms. I was so excited when I was offered a chance to work with a real life mage. I couldn't believe my luck.

"Then, I met you. I cannot imagine a worse person to be given this gift. You have something that many would be willing to trade almost anything, and you can't even take the time to learn a condensed version of history? You can't be bothered to learn the basics? You are the first mage I have ever met and I dearly hope that you are an exception and not the rule to what I should expect if I ever choose to try this with another, though I expect I will not."

"Oh," Romeo said as Eryn finished her tirade. His mouth twisted back and forth as though he meant to say something more, but in the end he remained silent.

Eryn's hair had fallen into her face again and her small shoulders were rising and falling with her uneven, angry breaths. Pushing her hair back behind her ear, she composed herself.

"I believe we are done for today, Mr. Lovejoy." Eryn stood up from the table and grabbed her pack, leaving the books where they were on the table. "I have reserved this table for the next week or so. I have no doubt we will require all that time and more. We will meet here tomorrow, same time. Good day."

She left without waiting for Romeo's reply, not bothering to even give him another glance.

"Yeah," Romeo said long after Eryn had left. He glanced at the large pile of books she had carefully set out for him. For the first time he noticed just how many places she had bookmarked for him to read. It had likely taken Eryn a long time to pick these out for him and even longer to read through and only mark the important parts. He felt a sort of uncomfortable weight settling firmly between his shoulders. He slouched down in his seat and let out a long sigh. "Well, damn it."

xXx

Eryn fumed for the better part of the day, walking aimlessly around the college's campus before finally returning back to her dorm room. Falling into an oversized chair that was snuggly seated in a corner under her window, she snaked her hand into her pack and let out a groan.

In her haste to leave the library, she had left her book on the table with the others. While it would no doubt be safe, she had just reached a rather interesting section and she was loath to wait an entire night to finish reading. The decision over whether or not to go retrieve the book took her only a moment. Sighing, she ran a hand over her face before pushing back up and slouching out of her room.

The day had already grown to night and she met few people on her way to the library.

The impressive building was still lit up, as it always was. It was one of the things she loved about the building. It never closed. Always inviting the students to peruse its abundant knowledge. It baffled her that so few took truly advantage of that opportunity.

At this late hour the library was all but deserted and most of the interior lights had been dimmed. Eryn made her way back to the table and was shocked to find Romeo still sitting where she had left him. Silently, she watched as he scanned through a page before nodding and making a note in his notebook. She couldn't help but smile at his messy scribble. Stepping up, she cleared her throat softly and Romeo looked up. His eyes were bloodshot but he still gave her a cherry smile.

"Oh, hey! Is it tomorrow already?" He stifled a yawn.

Eryn shook her head and craned her neck to get a look at his notes. Despite the sloppiness, the length and detail were rather impressive. "Have you been here the entire time?"

"Nah, I took a break to eat lunch," Romeo said as he closed the large book he had been reading from. "Hey, check this out!"

With careful movements, Romeo lifted up his right hand, his other hand wrapping around his wrist for support. He took in a deep breath and spread his fingers wide.

"Lumia," Romeo breathed, his eyes closing in concentration.

Eryn watched in rapt attention as Romeo's fingers began to emit a faint glow before arcs of yellow energy shot out from each finger, connecting in the center of his palm. The light condensed into a small sphere that rotated dimly in Romeo's palm before he let out a gasp. He slipped forward and the light extinguished.

"Now before you get mad!" Romeo held up an unsteady hand. "I promise I went outside to practice that for like two hours. And I know I'm not using the word in the book, but I can't pronounce that word and it was messing me up, so I just used the Dumian word for light."

"Mr. Lovejoy…" Eryn gave her head a tired shake and gave Romeo a tired smile. "You have done more than enough today. Please go home and get some rest."

Romeo grinned. "Okay, Teach. See you tomorrow!" He popped out of his chair and paused, his hand dropping down to one of the books. "Actually, you mind if I borrow this one? I'm almost done reading it. I promise I won't ruin it!"

Eryn nodded as she retrieved her own book and turned to leave. "I'm sure you won't. Goodnight, Mr. Lovejoy."

"You can call me Romeo." Romeo called out to her retreating figure, a large goofy grin plastered on his face. “Nailed it.”