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Mercedes was walking to Garreg Mach’s library. She and Hubert had a standing date every Sunday where they would study magic together, though she was a few minutes late for today’s session. However, she knew he’d already started without her, and the spell she wanted to show him today wasn’t particularly useful in battle. Still, she thought it a fun spell.
“Hello, Hubert!” Mercedes greeted, stepping into the library. Just as she predicted, he was already seated at one of the tables, a dark magic tome open in front of him.
“Hello, Mercedes,” he returned, closing the book. “So, what is this spell you wished to show me?”
“It’s not a battle spell, or even a very useful one. It’s just a fun little trick I picked up during my studies. Magic is incredible like that, don’t you agree?”
“Indeed. There are a few...tricks I am aware of myself.”
“Well, I sure hope that it’s not the one that I wanted to show you. Do you have the mirror I asked you to bring?”
“Of course.” He reached into his boot and pulled out a small hand-mirror, one Mercedes often saw being sold at the stores in town. “I have never heard of a spell requiring a mirror before, however.
“It doesn’t really require a mirror. I just like people seeing what the spell does as it’s happening. Now, hold it up to your face, and brush that hair out of your eye.”
Hubert did as he was told, and soon, he reminded her a little of Lorenz, fiddling with his hair in front of a mirror. She laughed a little to herself before reciting the words for the spell ( da mi mutare color in rota in oculis meis ) and turning her hand.
Mercedes watched as Hubert’s normally-green eyes turned a shade of yellow, a bit like the color of a cat’s eyes. He didn’t have much of a reaction, simply raising his eyebrows upon seeing the transformation.
“And that’s it!” Mercedes said, still holding the spell.
Hubert studied his reflection for a few seconds more, before letting the curtain of hair fall back over his face as he put down the mirror.
“It is certainly interesting,” Hubert said. “Is yellow the only color? Or are there more?”
“Oh, there are many more colors. Just watch!” Hubert picked up the mirror again, and watched as Mercedes turned his eyes orange, then red, then gold, then silver, gray, black, purple, blue, and finally back to green. “ That’s about the full extent.”
“Quite a few, then.”
“Yes. Like I said, the spell isn’t very useful, but it’s a neat trick.”
“It could be more than a trick, if done from a distance. Shall we suspend today’s session? There’s something I’d like your help with.”
“Of course!”
Mercedes and Hubert were standing just around the corner from the stables, watching Ferdinand brush his horse’s mane.
“So, what are we doing, Hubert?” Mercedes asked in a hushed tone.
“It’s quite simple. When I say, you’ll change my eye color once more,” Hubert instructed. “Feel free to change it to whatever color you like, but do not stop until I say.”
“Oh yes, that is simple.”
Hubert stepped into the stables. “Oh, Ferdinand. Of course you’d be here.”
“Hello, Hubert,” Ferdinand sighed. “Odd to see you here. Are you taking up riding? I am surprised, yet pleased. Finally, you shall see my skill in action, and that will prove my superiority over Edelgard!”
“ Hardly . In what timeline do you think that sequence of events would ever occur? Ah, but that is not the point. I have something I wished to show you.”
“You...you are feeling well, yes? I know that you do not go out in the sun that often, but surely you can handle some?”
“I am as sound of health as ever. Just look at my eye. ”
When he said that last part, Mercedes knew it was her cue. She recited the words, and the spell was active once again. Ferdinand’s expression shifted from suspicious, to awed, to a little scared, and she could see that Hubert was enjoying every second of it. She had to admit, this was a little fun. To increase the effect, Mercedes held the color at black.
“How-how are you doing that?” Ferdinand asked, but he received no reply. Hubert simply smirked as Mercedes shifted the color to red. “You...you truly are a monster! Does Edelgard know?”
Hubert closed his eyes and laughed his best evil laugh. When he opened them again, they were an ethereal yellow. Ferdinand tore his head away from the terrifying display and fled the stables. Luckily, he didn’t spot Mercedes on the way out. She dispelled the magic, and went to join Hubert in the stables.
“I think that went well,” Mercedes said, smiling.
“Very.”
The next day before class, Ferdinand rounded up all the Black Eagles, including the recruited students, to show them what Hubert could do.
“Ferdinand, this is ridiculous,” Edelgard sighed. “I have known Hubert my whole life, and this isn’t something he is capable of.”
“You will see!” Ferdinand said, pointing at the offending man. “Hubert, if you will? Show our classmates what you showed me yesterday!”
Everyone watched intently, waiting for color-change Ferdinand promised, but his visible eye remained a firm green.
“Oh, Ferdinand,” Mercedes shook her head. “I know you two don’t like each other very much, but really, this is petty.”
“But-but what was that trick you showed me yesterday? At the stables?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hubert shrugged.
“See, Ferdie? When would Hubie ever go to the stables?” Dorothea asked. “You two really need to get along.”
Ferdinand tried to think of something he could say to save face, but there was nothing he could say. He simply glared at Hubert and turned on his heel, heading to a table at the back of the class. The rest of the Black Eagles followed suit.
“That spell is quite the trick, hmm?” Hubert muttered to Mercedes, taking a seat beside her at a table in the middle of the class.
“Oh yes,” Mercedes agreed. “I can teach it to you, if you would like.”
“That would be excellent. Same time Sunday?”
“I won’t be late.”