"Sometimes, the best way to deal with someone who’s always one step ahead is to make them question their own footing."
It all started with one of Yelle’s infamous ideas—brilliant in theory, disastrous in execution.
“We need to mess with him,” Yelle said, her eyes gleaming with mischief as she lounged on Seilorah’s couch.
Seilorah, sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by spellbooks, raised an eyebrow. “Mess with Zeyro? Are you out of your mind?”
“Oh, come on,” Yelle said, waving her off. “He’s been acting all high-and-mighty, like he’s untouchable. It’s about time someone knocked him down a peg.”
“I don’t know…” Seilorah said hesitantly, glancing at the nearest shadowy corner as if Zeyro might materialize from it.
Yelle leaned forward, her grin widening. “Trust me, it’ll be harmless. Just a little prank to remind him he’s not the only one who can play with shadows.”
The plan was simple—or so Yelle claimed. A harmless spell, easy to reverse, that would create shadowy figures to follow Zeyro around.
“It’ll freak him out,” Yelle said, flipping through a spellbook with reckless enthusiasm.
“And what if he figures out it was us?” Seilorah asked, already regretting the idea.
“Then you’ll get to see that smug look wiped off his face,” Yelle said, grinning.
Seilorah sighed, knowing she was going to regret this. “Fine. But if he tries to kill us, it’s your fault.”
“Deal,” Yelle said, clapping her hands. “Let’s do this.”
The spell itself was straightforward. Seilorah followed the instructions carefully, her hands glowing faintly as she whispered the incantation. A soft hum filled the room, and the shadows in the corners seemed to ripple and shift.
“Is that it?” Seilorah asked, looking around.
“Yep,” Yelle said, her grin widening. “Now we wait.”
It didn’t take long for the results to show. That evening, as Zeyro returned from one of his mysterious disappearances, Seilorah and Yelle watched from the kitchen window. At first, Zeyro seemed his usual composed self, striding toward the house with his typical air of indifference. But then he paused, his head tilting slightly as if he’d heard something. Seilorah covered her mouth to stifle a laugh as one of the shadowy figures flickered just behind him.
“Is he… unsettled?” Yelle whispered, her eyes wide with glee.
“Shh!” Seilorah hissed, though she couldn’t suppress her grin.
For a few minutes, Zeyro’s movements became more deliberate. He turned sharply, his eyes scanning the area, and the flickering shadows darted out of sight just in time.
“He actually looks freaked out,” Seilorah whispered, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and fear.
“Mission accomplished,” Yelle said, beaming.
But their triumph was short-lived.
As Zeyro stepped inside, his sharp gaze immediately landed on Seilorah and Yelle, who were failing miserably at pretending to look innocent.
“What did you do?” he asked, his tone calm but laced with suspicion.
“Do?” Yelle said, feigning ignorance. “We didn’t do anything.”
Zeyro arched an eyebrow, his smirk returning. “You’re terrible liars.”
Seilorah groaned, throwing her hands up. “Fine! It was a prank. Happy?”
“A prank,” he repeated, his smirk widening.
“Just a harmless spell,” Yelle added, though her grin faltered under his intense gaze.
Zeyro stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. “You thought it would be funny to play with shadow magic?”
“It was funny,” Yelle muttered under her breath.
To their surprise, Zeyro didn’t seem angry. If anything, he looked… amused.
“Nice try,” he said, his smirk turning into a full grin. “But you’ll have to do better than that.”
“What do you mean?” Seilorah asked, frowning.
“I figured it out in less than five minutes,” he said, his tone almost smug. “Amateur work, really.”
Seilorah’s frustration bubbled over. “You’re impossible, you know that?”
“Thank you,” he said, bowing slightly.
“It wasn’t supposed to be professional-grade magic,” she snapped. “It was supposed to make you question your reality, even just a little.”
“Well, it didn’t,” he said, crossing his arms. “But I’ll give you points for creativity.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she said, glaring at him.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, his grin infuriatingly intact.
As the evening wore on, Seilorah couldn’t shake her annoyance. Not only had the prank failed to rattle Zeyro, but he seemed even more insufferable than usual.
“He’s the worst,” she muttered as Yelle helped her clean up the remnants of the spell.
“Maybe,” Yelle said, shrugging. “But admit it—he’s kind of fun to mess with.”
Seilorah rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her face. “Next time, we’re stepping up our game.”
“Now that’s the spirit,” Yelle said, laughing.
Later, as Seilorah sat on her bed, she replayed the day’s events in her mind. Despite her frustration, there was something oddly satisfying about seeing Zeyro’s rare smile, even if it was at her expense. But more than that, his reaction had revealed something she hadn’t expected—his understanding of magic ran deeper than she’d realized.
“Just who are you, really?” she whispered to the empty room.
The shadows didn’t answer, but the question lingered, heavy and unspoken.
"Pranks don’t always go as planned. But sometimes, the failures are just as revealing as the successes."