“When we do this,” Nova told Celeste, “we do it carefully. Reversing the spell will be your work, but the memory erasure will be mine.”
Celeste nodded. “That’s what I wanted to ask about. I’m worried something will go wrong.”
I straightened. “Celeste—”
She held up a hand gently. “Mom, I know. I know it’snotnothing. I just need to understand what happens after.”
Nova inclined her head. “Ask.”
Celeste took a breath.
“When you erase his memories,” she said, then hesitated. “Does… any of it stay?”
Nova didn’t answer right away.
“There’s risk,” she said.
Celeste waited.
“It doesn’t cut clean,” Nova added. “It never does.”
“He’ll feel it?”
Nova nodded once. “But he won’t know what it is. It’s like when we walk into a room to grab something and forget why we’re there.”
“And emotionally?” Celeste prompted.
Nova exhaled. “That part doesn’t listen to spells.”
Nova considered that. “He may feel unsettled for a while. If we’re lucky, he might even be kinder. But memory spells don’t rewrite character. They only remove access to what has been for a finite amount of time. He will return to his old ways.”
Celeste absorbed that quietly.
I found my voice again. “And there’s no risk to Celeste, her magic, or most importantly, her well-being?”
Nova turned to me. “There’s always risk when someone touches power intentionally for the first time. But this is a release, not a binding. It’s safer than leaving the spell to calcify.”
I exhaled slowly. “And doing it away from the Academy?”
“Is essential,” Nova said. “The Academy amplifies magic. Tonight, we don’t want amplification. We want containment.”
Celeste looked relieved. “So… your shop?”
Nova nodded. “My walls are designed for precision. And privacy. Lots of spells over the years to make sure I’m the only one who lets things in and out of there.”
“If I didn’t know better, that sounded super creepy.” Twobble scowled.
I looked at my daughter again and felt the strange mix of pride and grief that seemed to follow her and me everywhere lately.
“You’re sure you’re ready to go?” I asked softly. “I don’t want you doing this because you think you should.”
Celeste’s eyes met mine, and she smiled. “I’m sure. I don’t want this hanging over me when I go back to school. I don’t want to worry about losing control again because I didn’t finish what I started.”
I swallowed. “Okay then. We will de-toad my ex, the cheater formerly known as Alex.”
Celeste’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.
“Thank you for trusting us, sweetie,” I said, brushing her hair off her cheek. “We’ll get through this.”
