ã€ŠTower of Memoriesã€‹


 Episode 1: Entrance Exam

    "Permission to splash water on Mother dearest? I will not be late today."

    "Only as a last resort," my father responded calmly and without looking up from the omelet he was making. "Though you may want to hurry, whatever you do."

    I glanced at the time displayed on the microwave, the green numbers taunting me with how little time I had left until the most important moment of my life. "Okay."

    My parent''s bedroom was at the end of a small, hallway-like section of the house. It was more like an alcove that ended in a door that Mother had painted sunflower yellow. I knocked on the door loudly three times.

    "Mom!" I called. "Today is the day for the entrance exams!"

    Silence.

    Fine then. I was going in.

    I opened the door to find my mother still under the blankets and for all purposes lost to the land of the living. She snored loudly, her black hair a matted mess that hid most of her head.

    I sighed.

    "Mom!" I called again.

    No movement.

    I stood next to her and shook her shoulder twice.

    Nothing.

    All right then.

    Their sink was just a few feet away in their master bathroom.

    Mom sputtered awake as soon as the cold water touched her skin. "I''m up! I''m up!" She rubbed her face and blinked a few times. She looked at me, my hands were wet and I was already dressed for the day and she frowned. "The entrance exams!"

    "Dad is making breakfast. I suggest you hurry," I told her then turned around and left.

    There was a flurry of noise from the room as I closed the door behind me and sighed.

    "How much time do we have?" I sat down at the counter and checked the time on the microwave.

    "Eat something. She''s going to be at least twenty minutes," Dad set a plate with a ham and spinach omelet in front of me.

    "Thank you."

    "I know how much today means to you. I want to see you succeed." He offered me a small smile, well it was a grin for him. His eyes were a proud light green.

    I gave him a near identical expression. "According to Mom it''s a five-stage test and I''m getting graded in nine categories. I just have to score an average of seventy-five across them all."

    "Six hundred and seventy-five total or higher," he confirmed.

    "Out of a possible nine hundred. I should be fine¡­unless¡­"

    "Unless Spellcraft requires casting."

    And there it was. The four words that would decide my fate and the trajectory of my future. If today didn''t go well¡­ if my entrance hinged on being able to cast a spell¡­I was doomed. I would have no choice but to re-enter the human school system and live my life as if my mother''s side of the family didn''t exist.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    The thought terrified me.

    "Whatever happens today and every day after¡­I''m proud of you, Serafina."

    "But do you think I can do it?"

    My father gave a thoughtful hum. "I believe that if your mother is correct on how they intend on testing you, then you will do just fine."

    I let out a sigh of relief. I trusted my father''s honesty. It was a trait I had often been called ''too brutal'' for. But it was reassuring. If he thought I couldn''t do it, he would tell me. It was why he brought up Spellcraft. It was the greatest hurtle and the largest obstacle between me and what I wanted.

    "Of course she will!" My mother, her eyes a sparkling golden yellow and her hair still slightly damp from her rushed shower, walked into the room and threw her arms around my father. Accustomed to it, he just let her hang off of him like they were still in their twenties, rather than well into their forties.

    I was unamused. "We''ve spent the past year getting ready for this."

    "And so have the other kids. You won''t be behind them, I made sure of that. Those old-timers haven''t changed the way the entrance exam is held in over a thousand years. I know my baby can do this!"

    "I''m fifteen," I reminded her dryly.

    Dad didn''t even have the decency to look sympathetic. He just looked charmed by it.

    I am so glad I will never be like that.

    "Oh Hecate! We need to go!" Mother gasped, pecked Dad on the cheek and grabbed my hand with enough force to pull me out of the chair. Lucky me, I was already done eating.

    "Love you both!" my father called after us as Mom cast a transport spell with smooth wide circular hand motions.

    I waved once before the spell was finished.

    It was a little disorientating, being one place and then in seconds being somewhere entirely different. The architecture around me was stonework, old Gothic style with dark grey gargoyle statues and stained glass.

    "It still looks the same as when I took the entrance exam," Mom said quietly. I''m not sure I was meant to hear that. "Come on, stay with me and follow the crowd."

    We were surrounded by dozens of people all heading in the same direction. Mom barely looked at me as she grabbed my wrist, making sure I didn''t get lost like some child, but her eyes kept darting around. Was she looking for something? An old acquaintance? Former coworkers and classmates maybe? She looked nervous.

    "I can do this, Mom," I told her over the dull rumble of the crowd.

    "I know. I just¡­would rather not be recognized until you at least get inside the exam chamber. I''d rather not cause a scene."

    I frowned. I knew Mom''s decision to marry Dad had been problematic for her. There was a reason I¡¯d never met my grandmother. Or anyone else on that side of the family.

    "Don''t fret. Your mother is just being paranoid. Today is a big day for you and you just need to focus on doing your best. And whatever happens in there I want you to know that I am, and will always be, proud of you."

    "Thank you for your vote of confidence Mom."

    She gave me a flat, narrow-eyed look. I gave her a grin. She rolled her eyes and then we stepped into the room. It was filled with lines of parents with their children, all filling out forms. The kids were all the same age as me. I noticed Mom glance around nervously, but then settle down. Was she looking for someone?

    Mom led the way. In moments she was hastily scribbling down our information on parchment with a quill pen.

    "Can''t believe I''m actually doing this. You know I was once part of the committee that ran these things? It''s so strange being on this side of everything," she mumbled to herself not looking at me. Once she was done, she rolled up the parchment and tossed it into the air, then snapped her fingers twice and it was gone.

    "Now what?"

    She looked at a large wooden pair of door. "Through there and just follow their instructions." Her voice wobbled a little.

    I sighed as the tears in her eyes got bigger. "Mom, it''s okay."

    "I know¡­" She sounded seconds from crying.

    Taking pity on my poor mother, I gave her what was meant to be a quick hug. She was having none of it. "Mom¡­I''m not going anywhere yet."

    "Don''t care."

    I gave a weak attempt to shove her away. "Mom¡­" I whined. "I have to go."

    She had mercy on me eventually, I left quickly before she changed her mind. I could hear her mumbling about me still being a baby, and rolled my eyes.

    (*********)

    It would be four hours before I saw her again. Four hours of exam testing. By the time we finished I was exhausted and my head was pounding. I wasn''t the type prone to migraines. This was highly unusual. And vaguely concerning.

    Mother was sitting outside on a stone bench under a shaded tree. Her eyes were focused on the crowd leaving the testing chamber with me. I saw her go from nervous to excited in an instant.

    "How did it go?" she asked.

    "Fine," I told her as I winced.

    "What''s wrong?"

    "Headache."

    She blinked in confusion, then instantly switched to worried mother hen mode. "Where does it hurt?" she asked touching my forehead with the back of her hand. "No fever," she muttered.

    "Everywhere?" I attempted to explain.

    "Maybe you just need to relax. Come on, we''ll go have some lunch."

    I closed my eyes to shield myself from the now-overpowering sunlight, and let my mother pull me by the hand.

    The next thing I knew I was sitting under an umbrella, at a caf¨¦ table outside. Some water sat in front of me.

    "You nearly fainted on me," Mom was explaining. "What happened in there?"

    "I took a few written tests," I shrugged. "It started as I was leaving."

    Her frown grew deeper.

    I took a sip of water slowly. It didn''t help the pain at all.

    Mom twitched nervously in front of me. We couldn''t leave to just go home quite yet. Not until they sent my results back. Which could take another hour.

    "If it starts to get worse, you will tell me."

    "I will."

    I closed my eyes again. Blurry images of questions melted together with blinding light behind my eyelids. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took several deep breaths. I opened my eyes and gave my mother a reassuring smile. Or at least an attempt at one.

    I don''t think she was convinced.

    I picked at lunch quietly, a simple toasted turkey sandwich with cheddar and apple spread. It wasn''t helping.

    There was a slight poof sound, like a soft pop just over our heads. A scroll landed in the center of the table a black wax seal with a gold symbol of the Towers of Nine stamped in the center.

    Mom covered her face with her hands. "Open it! Ah¡­I can''t look!"

    I rolled my eyes because I knew she couldn''t see it.

    I picked up the scroll. When the seal came off my headache vanished. Gone as if it was never there to begin with.

    Okay.

    I read the contents out loud. "Miss Serafina Stewart''s Results for the Entrance Exam for The Towers of Nine School of Magic Study and Practice. Alchemy; one hundred. Brewing; eighty-three. Monster Husbandry; seventy-two. Geography; eighty-five. History; seventy-seven. Spellcraft; fifty. English; seventy-four. Elements; eighty-one. Runework; sixty-four."

    I looked over at Mom''s expression. Her mouth moving silently. Doing the math. Was it enough? I needed a total of at least six hundred and seventy-five. I bit my lip and ran the numbers quietly as well.

    "I did it," I breathed. "I did it!"

 Episode 2: To Be Chosen

    Mom was leaning forward and staring at me with narrowed eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s official now. Have you thought about which Tower you want?¡±

    I shrugged. Of course I had thought about it, but that didn¡¯t mean I had my heart set on any of them.

    She gave me a flat unimpressed look.

    ¡°Which one do you think would suit me?¡±

    She let out a slow exhale and tilted her head to the side, letting it rest on her hand. ¡°You¡¯d be a terrible Banshee. You¡¯re not serious enough.¡±

    Ah yes, because she was the image of seriousness.

    ¡°You¡¯d do okay in Basilisk. You¡¯d be bored though,¡± she continued thoughtfully. ¡°The Salamanders would drive you crazy.¡±

    I shuddered at the thought of being surrounded by competitive hotheads.

    ¡°As much as the idea of you being a Sylphid like me is charming you¡¯d have a hard time making friends there.¡±

    I wondered if the horror  of the idea of being surrounded by tiny versions of my mother showed on my face. I think it did because Mom started laughing. ¡°What about Kraken Tower?¡±

    She let out a last huff of laughter. ¡°You¡¯d do okay. Until you had a bad day and opened your mouth. And Krakens are judgy anyway.¡±

    ¡°And I don¡¯t think I¡¯m social enough for Pixie or Pegasus.¡±

    She shook her head slowly. ¡°Definitely not.¡± She started frowning, ¡°I don¡¯t think Kelpie would work either. They¡¯d give you a very hard time if any of them learned that your father is human.¡±

    Well¡­this was troublesome. ¡°Meaning I¡¯m a bad fit for all the Towers.¡±

    Mom switched from worried to an attempt at reassuring. ¡°Well¡­being chosen by a Tower can sometimes produce shocking results. We might both just be missing something.¡±

    ¡°Were you shocked when Sylphid chose you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, actually. For years I was convinced I was going to be a Pegasus. I had gotten blue streamers for my room and everything. But the yellow suited me better.¡±

    ¡°What about Dragon Tower?¡± I asked after a few seconds of thought. It was a soft and quiet worry in the back of my mind.

    Mom blinked a few times. ¡°It¡¯s still closed, but it might choose you. That does happen. It¡¯s incredibly rare, even way back when it was open.¡±

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    Did it only take people rejected by all the other Towers?

    ¡°But that would be something, if you were. You want to know something?¡± She smirked in a conspiratorial manner, like she was preparing to share some horrific secret. ¡°My family has a very long history with that Tower.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve always told me The Towers of Nine was in our blood.¡±

    ¡°It is. Very much so. Ever since it opened two thousand years ago our family has attended it. And the Tower most of them were chosen by was Dragon Tower.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± She rarely spoke about the details of her family. I had never met any of Mom¡¯s relatives. I doubted even Dad had.

    ¡°Your great-grandfather was the first of us to not end up there. He was a Kelpie instead. Though, that was also after it closed. But I think it worked out. That¡¯s how he met my grandmother.¡± Mom had a soft smile on her lips. ¡°She was more excited than he was about me being a Sylphid. She baked a cake and decorated it in so many yellow flowers. Which was for the best because Mom could not bake for the life of her. It took me being married to your father to actually learn how to be functional in a kitchen.¡±

    ¡°Baking is like chemistry,¡± I quoted.

    She laughed. ¡°Yeah. Something like that. Grams always compared it to Alchemy though.¡±

    ¡°How did your mother react to you being a Sylphid?¡±

    ¡°She was less surprised than I was. She just nodded at me when I told her. Like she already knew and was just waiting for me to figure it out on my own. But that¡¯s a Kraken for you.¡±

    I chuckled.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to do great. I know it. You ready to go home?¡±

    I nodded.

    (*********)

    ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Dad asked as we appeared in the living room.

    ¡°Your daughter got a hundred on Alchemy,¡± Mom announced.

    ¡°That¡¯s my girl.¡±

    ¡°More importantly,¡± I said with a wide grin, ¡°I did it.¡±

    My father, face as stony as ever, clapped slowly but sincerely.

    Mom sighed happily, ¡°We¡¯re going to have to go shopping for the school year. You won¡¯t know what classes you¡¯re taking until you get there. Do you want to take advance classes? You¡¯ll have to prepare for the placement tests if you do.¡±

    Mom spoke in a rushed frenzy. Was she even breathing?

    ¡°Breathe, Lucinda,¡± Dad said.

    ¡°Victor! This is important!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to need a haircut,¡± I told them both.

    Mom¡¯s eyes sparkled with mirth.

    Dad nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a boarding school. You¡¯ll be sharing a bathroom.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Shorter hair will mean less hassle.¡± At least Dad was helping focus on the practical.

    ¡°But we can still get you decorations! You¡¯ll be living in that room for five years, you¡¯ll want to make it home as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°You think they¡¯ll allow rock-growing kits?¡± I asked her. I wasn¡¯t fully sure what the policies on bringing objects from home were.

    Mom rolled her eyes. ¡°Non-magical objects are almost universally allowed. With a handful of exceptions.¡±

    Dad was trying and failing to hide a smile. It was his fault I was like this. Though it was miles better than being like Mom.

    How did anyone have the energy to be so excited all the time? Just looking at her was exhausting sometimes.

    I let out a loud yawn. Four hours of testing was catching up to me.

    (*********)

    Four weeks after the Entrance Exams, I stood in my room for what would be the last time for several weeks. I wouldn¡¯t be home until mid-December for the three week winter break we got. My stuff was already packed. I had finished two days ago.

    My rock collection glittered at me, sparkling in the streams of sunlight coming in through the blinds. My babies¡­I was going to miss them. I would have to make them siblings once I got settled in. My fingers traced over the blue and white clusters and I let out a soft sigh.

    ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± Mom asked me from the doorway. ¡°We still have a couple of minutes if you need them.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re wearing that for orientation,¡± Mom commented once she saw the shirt I was wearing. I had picked it out of my closet a week ago.

    I gave her a grin.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? No one is going to know what it is, and if there¡¯s anyone who does then maybe I could make a friend.¡± That was my excuse and I was sticking to it. The shirt in question had the logo from my favorite band over a black background a neon bouquet of roses surrounded by grey metal chains.

    Mom didn¡¯t look fully convinced. ¡°Just be careful. Your father may not be anything to be ashamed of, but that doesn¡¯t mean you should go around advertising it either.¡±

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I know. It¡¯ll be fine. Besides, I blend into the background too much. No one notices me here, I don¡¯t see how a fancy boarding school is going to change that.¡±

    She did not look pleased.

    ¡°Now we should probably get going. The last thing I want is to be late before classes even start.¡±

    (*********)

    The Towers of Nine School for Magic Study and Practice was both exactly what I had been expecting and not at all what I expected at the same time. I had expected large iron gates and a wide, ruler-straight cobblestone walkway leading up towards a castle. But all of Mom¡¯s stories hadn¡¯t prepared me for how massive it was.

    At least seven stories tall at its highest point, and nearly a thousand feet on each of its nine sides all punctuated by one of the titular Towers. From the front I could see Pixie Tower, its tell-tale spinning gave it away. On the other end of the same wall loomed a Tower with a swirling thunderstorm that blocked the top floors from view Pegasus Tower.

    I couldn¡¯t see the other Towers from my current vantage point.

    Which one would choose me? The daughter of a collage chemistry professor and a witch who left all of this behind to be with her family?

    It was terrifying. Exhilarating. And completely out of my hands now.

 Episode 3: What Makes a Dragon?

    In front of the open iron gate was a woman. She stood tall and straight with her hands behind her back wearing a stern expression. Her hair was pulled back into a bun without a single strand of hair out of place her green eyes scanned the crowd of roughly one hundred and fifty fellow teenagers.

    "Every single one of you passed the entrance exam. From this point on whether you passed by a single point or two hundred won''t matter. Where you came from won''t matter. Here at the Towers of Nine you''ll be stuck with the people around you for the next five years. My name, as those of you who bothered to read the packets we sent will know, is Professor Vivian Hearth. I won''t be teaching any of you yet as I teach Elite and Master Spellcraft. I am also Head of Security and Discipline. Meaning I am one of the few who can suspend or expel you on the spot. You do not want to be sent to my office. I do not care for excuses and I do not hesitate. Are we clear?"

    I joined the chorus of, "Yes, Ma''m!"

    "Good. Now all of you follow me. I''m sure you all want to be chosen by your Towers as soon as possible."

    I lingered in the back of the crowd as we walked marched towards the massive stone compound.

    In the days after the entrance exam, I had received maps of the school, along with general information about most of the staff. Between that and Mom''s stories, I had a general idea of where most things were in relation to each other. The school had a simple layout, considering it was a castle that the five founders placed a school right on top of.

    Professor Hearth started speaking again as she stepped into the giant doorway which consisted of two massive wooden doors held together by large bands of iron that stood open in silent greeting. "This castle has stood for nearly two thousand years, turning the best and brightest of each generation into the most productive members of magical society. You will be no exception."

    "You think she always acts like she has a stick up her-" a boy with reddish brown hair whispered to me from nearby.

    "Those of you who choose to not take this seriously may turn around and go back out those gates. I will be happy to write the letters to explain to your parents."

    Holy Hecate. Mom worked with this woman? No wonder she never talked about her. There''s no way they got along.

    The light chatter that was building silenced.

    Do not mess with Vivian Hearth. Noted.

    I was already dreading the day I would have to take her class. Spellcraft was a vital part of the curriculum here, a core class that had to be taken by all students every year. My heart was pounding and my hands shook. Had this been a mistake?

    No. Relax. That would be years from now. Elite and Master Spellcraft were the fifth year courses. I had more immediate concerns. Like whether my Towermates would hate me.

    "Some of you might be wondering at this point why we call it being ''chosen'' by a Tower. When this school was founded and the Towers were built each was enchanted with complex and unique magic. This allows it to know who you really are and it will select students that will thrive within its walls. So, you''d best play nice with your Towermates. After all, being chosen by one of our Towers is an honor and a privilege. One best shared with the other like-minded people whose company you will share.¡±

    And which one was going to choose me?

    We walked together into a short hallway. It forced us to stand in rough rows of about ten across. Professor Hearth stood in front of another wooden door. This one was closed and had wood carvings of nine creatures a Pixie, a Pegasus, a Salamander, a Slyphid, a Basilisk, a Banshee, a Kraken, a Kelpie, and at the very top was a Dragon. Nine creatures, nine Towers, and a choice I had no say in.

    Part of me was relieved. This was a moment that would affect the next five years and possibly the rest of my life. The idea of choosing on my own was enough to fill me with enough terror to overwhelm any nervousness at having such a pivotal decision be out of my hands.

    "Once you have been chosen, the student representatives of each Tower will take you to your new home so that you may get accommodated and settled in before the Grand Welcoming. Your representatives are to be given respect equal to what you would give a professor. They are here to assist you for this next week before classes begin properly. Now, I will open this door and you will all sit down in an orderly fashion at the tables inside, and your time here at the Towers of Nine can begin." She lifted her right hand to be at an equal level to her ear and snapped loudly. The sound pierced the air and echoed in the halls. A wave of purple energy shot through the air like a harmless shockwave. The doors behind her burst open with a resounding thud.

    It took a few minutes for the dozens of students ahead of us to shuffle into the room.

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    "Psst¡­" The boy with the reddish hair from before spoke a whisper in my ear. "What Tower are you hoping for?"

    "Whichever one isn''t full of pricks, I think," I whispered back softly. "Does it really matter which one?"

    He laughed quietly, "Yeah, I hear that. My fingers are crossed for Salamander."

    "Good luck," I whispered back.

    The way eventually cleared enough for us to walk in.

    The room was massive, which considering it was built to sit over one thousand students, was to be expected. But I was confused by both the configuration and number of representatives standing in the back.

    Before us were eight massive tables, each with a representative in full uniform standing at attention at the far end of the room. I wasn''t shocked that Dragon Tower didn''t have a representative. It had been closed for over a century. The door was sealed and unable to be opened by anyone.

    I tried to imagine myself in one of the colors worn by the students standing at attention in the back of the room. I still couldn''t see any of them suiting me.

    I sat down at the fifth table from the left, close to the center of the room and away from everyone else. My hands trembled slightly as the others shifted around. Some sitting in groups like old friends. It was loud. Too loud.

    I looked down at the table I was sitting at. I traced the lines of the wood with a finger.

    At least until a girl with silver hair in very intricate princess braids and a pastel pink sweater sat in front of me. Her hands folded themselves neatly on the table. She had grey, almost blue skin and a very disinterested look on her face.

    "My name is Celica Fel''Graces. What''s yours?"

    "Serafina Stewart. Nice to meet you," I offered.

    "I haven''t heard of the Stewarts. Where are you from?"

    "Massachusetts." I gave her my best friendly smile. "We tend to keep to ourselves."

    She tilted her head at me and narrowed her eyes. "Nice shirt," she said curtly. Was she mad at me? Did I say something wrong?

    I shrugged. "Thanks. Nice sweater?" I tried. Could I sound more awkward?

    She frowned. "I don''t suppose you mind if I sit here while we get chosen by our Towers?"

    I shook my head, "Not at all. I wasn''t saving the seat for anybody or anything. And I can''t tell you where to sit."

    Her frown vanished at least, but her face went back to cold disinterest.

    A part of me prayed I didn''t end up in her Tower.

    A few awkward moments passed until the last student was sitting down. There was a loud whistling noise from somewhere behind me. I nearly jumped at the sound. In a puff of green smoke a blank sheet of paper and a white quill had appeared in front of every student.

    I fiddled with mine a little while Celica Fel''Graces set hers down neatly next to the paper.

    Please tell me I don''t somehow have a mortal enemy before going to my first class. I don''t need the stress.

    I looked down at the paper, which was still completely blank until Professor Vivian Hearth''s voice came from the door.

    "In a moment, instructions will appear on the paper in front of you. Follow them carefully and answer each question honestly. Nothing you put down will affect your test scores or grades. The only thing we are learning is which Tower you will belong to. Do not stress. In truth these won''t even be read by anyone. Begin."

    Ink filled the paper. The swirling mess of letters and shapes gave me a bit of a headache to look at. Luckily, it settled down. The top of the page read:

    Look closely at the shape below, tell us what you see.

    It was an inkblot test. Okay. In truth I didn''t see much of anything; the messy blob of ink just looked like someone dropped a half-full inkwell onto it.

    There was a line at the bottom for my answer.

    I stared at the inky, asymmetrical mess on the page. My mind tried to make it conjure something. Anything. Nothing came to mind. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them I still saw a black smudge on a piece of paper. But if these weren''t going to be read by anyone anyway¡­ I wrote ''Ink Mess'' on the line.

    Well, the magic personality test seemed to think it was an acceptable answer.

    The page re-arranged itself again. I closed my eyes to fend off the headache this thing was giving me. I opened them to find four multiple choice questions.

    The first: Which class are you most looking forward to?

    The options were:

    A: Alchemy

    B: Brewing

    C: Spellcraft

    D: Monster Husbandry

    I grinned to myself as I circled Alchemy, remembering my father laughing when I told I would be taking it. It was the closest I would ever get to being able to take a Chemistry class, like the ones he taught for the university.

    The second: Which class are you least looking forward to?

    The options repeated themselves in the same order.

    I sighed and chose to be honest. Those were the instructions. I circled Spellcraft with a cringe. That class was going to be my biggest hurtle here. But maybe, just maybe, I would finally be able to cast spells.

    The third: Which Founder do you relate to the most?

    The options:

    A: Malcarg the Tyrant

    B: Felorias the Merciful

    C: Delc the Wild One

    D: Colferna the Honest

    E: Jantres the Feared

    I bit my lip and thought about it. I knew the basic histories of the founders. My mother had worked here after al,l and of course she talked about this place most of my childhood. But as far as relating, I could only choose one. I circled Jantres the Feared.

    How could I not? He was the only one who also had one human parent and one magical one. The son of a wizard and his human bride, who vowed revenge on the world after a lynch mob tore his family apart at a young age. Eventually he¡¯d chosen to assist in building a school on the promise that any child, no matter the origin, should they be worthy, could learn magic.

    It was likely the main reason I was even sitting here.

    The last question: Which is your favorite color?

    A: Pink

    B: Blue

    C: Orange

    D: Yellow

    E: Brown

    F: White

    G: Purple

    H: Green

    I: Red

    Seriously? They were asking us which of the Tower colors was our favorites? I shrugged again. I tapped the tip of the quill on the page a few times and settled on circling Green.

    I glanced up at the representative wearing the green uniform of the Kelpie Tower, I couldn''t see myself in it. But it was infinitely better than the garish abomination that was the shade of pink for Pixie Tower. I''d rather gouge my eyes out.

    The page scrambled and changed itself again. The headache was worse sharp and unpleasant, but faded quickly once the new task settled in.

    In one sentence, tell us your name and reason for attending this school.

    The rest of the page was blank.

    I let out a deep sigh. And started writing.

    My name is Serafina Holly Stewart and I chose to attend this school to learn how to be a witch.

    The page went blank for several very long seconds. I set the quill down nervously and my hands shook again.

    "Now we wait," I spoke under my breath to myself.  I closed my eyes again and counted to ten in my head. I opened them again when I was done.

    The page, which up until then had used plain black ink, was filled with color.

    Nine symbols, each creature in its color in full display looking back at me. I tried to discern how I was supposed to know which had chosen me. Then they started to shift and move around on the page.

    One then moved to the center. The others encircled it but gave it room as it grew. The red quickly dominated the page, and I smiled a little. The creature in the center moved as if to roar in approval.

    My Tower was Dragon.

 Episode 4: Open Sesame

    I looked back up at the representatives, as if trying to will the impossible and change the fact that I had done the unlikely by getting chosen by Dragon Tower.

    The pink for Pixie.

    The blue for Pegasus.

    The orange for Salamander.

    The yellow for Slyphid.

    The brown for Basilisk.

    The white for Banshee.

    The purple for Kraken.

    The green for Kelpie.

    No one was wearing Dragon red. Because of course not.

    ¡°Oh no,¡± I voiced the worried thought out loud. No. No. I didn¡¯t want to stand out¡­

    ¡°What? Didn¡¯t get the Tower you wanted?¡± Celica asked me, her voice had a sharp taunting edge to it. I glanced up at her. Her sheet was completely blank. Mine still had the Dragon Tower symbol on full display.

    ¡°I got chosen by Dragon Tower.¡± I answered in a calm deadpan voice.

    Her disinterest melted into a delighted grin. ¡°What?¡±

    I held up my paper wordlessly.

    She laughed and leaned backwards. ¡°Sucks to be you.¡±

    I set it down and shrugged at her. ¡°I¡¯ll probably have to talk to Professor Hearth.¡±

    The strange glee on her face, the glint in the dark grey and electric yellow of her heterochromatic eyes, made me nervous.

    It was everything that I didn¡¯t want.

    Color sprung itself on to Celica¡¯s page. I stared down at mine wondering what I was supposed to do now. I put my head on the table and fought back a groan of despair.

    A few moments passed before she nearly screeched, ¡°Are you kidding me?!¡±

    I looked up at her while keeping an even face. Her jaw slacked open. My eyes flashed to the paper. From my angle I couldn¡¯t see much, but I could see the familiar red covering the paper.

    I burst out laughing.

    I was not alone in this mess.

    ¡°No one has been chosen by Dragon Tower in years! What is going on?!¡± she continued.

    I laughed harder.

    ¡°This is not funny!¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I said around my hysterics, ¡°no, it¡¯s not. This is absolutely terrible.¡± I did mean that sincerely, but it¡¯s hard to not sound sarcastic when you¡¯re having nervous hysterics.

    Mom was going to have a field day when I told her about this.

    ¡°Dragon Tower¡­¡± Celica was ranting. ¡°What¡­how¡­what?¡± At least she was quieter about her freak out. We were starting to get looks from nearby students.

    ¡°Is something the matter, you two?¡±

    Of course our nonsense got the attention of Professor Hearth.

    I, still shaking with laughter and trying to breathe, held up my sheet of paper for her to inspect. Celica was too busy staring off into the distance with her jaw on the floor.

    ¡°Oh dear. Both of you? It happens. Nothing to be worried about. A few more minutes and we¡¯ll get it all sorted out.¡±

    I placed my paper back on the table and reunited my forehead with the wood of the table. I took a deep breath to calm myself and then sat back up normally. Celica seemed to be snapped back to the real world.

    ¡°The rules say that no Tower will have less than five students in it. So we¡¯ll likely be assigned different Towers.¡± She was talking mostly to herself, I doubted she was saying it for my benefit.

    ¡°Well, nothing to do about it except sit here and wait.¡±

    Celica nodded numbly. ¡°Right, this will get sorted out. We might even choose our own Tower.¡±

    I shrugged again. ¡°Possibly.¡±

    Celica scoffed, ¡°Can you please react like a normal person? Or am I stuck with a wierdo Towermate?¡±

    ¡°I might still be in shock at actually being here.¡± There had to be a protocol or precedent for what to do in this scenario. I was not the first student this happened to.

    ¡°Ugh. This sucks.¡± She groaned. ¡°I was hoping for Sylphid Tower. We¡¯re probably going to get stuck in the boring ones.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be fine.¡± I was aiming for comforting. But her raised eyebrow and accompanying eyeroll told me I didn¡¯t succeed.

    ¡°All right, all of you are done now.¡± Professor Hearth spoke loudly to the room. ¡°Representatives line up your new first-year students. The rest simply follow the guidance of the representative matching the color you just received. If your color does not have a representative, please speak with me on the other side of the room. All of you keep those papers for the time being. You will need them.¡±

    Oh good. Not awkward at all.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t be a big deal,¡± I quietly wished as I got up to walk in the opposite direction from ninety-nine percent of the room.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    By the time Celica and I broke out of the crowd, I noticed three other students heading for the Professor. The boy with the reddish-brown hair, a boy with short but very neat black hair, and a third boy with a long ponytail of light brown hair with a streak of green.

    All five of us arrived at about the same time. Papers in hand.

    Professor Hearth¡¯s face went a shade paler. Besides that she stayed composed. ¡°That¡¯s¡­more of you than I expected. In any case the five of you are to follow me to the headmaster¡¯s office. We¡¯ll get this sorted out.¡±

    The five of us shared looks. It might have just been me but there was a nervous energy that seemed to spark between the five of us.

    Somehow, being in a small group was more comforting than being just Celica.

    Professor Hearth was quick to soothe, ¡°None of you are in trouble. But with five of you this might get complicated and we¡¯d rather you all be in the same place since none of you know your way around yet.¡±

    That made partial sense to me. And really what were our options at that point? She turned around and started swiftly walking in a direction. We all hurried to follow her.

    ¡°Dragons. Five of them. All in the same year. Ten years without a single one and then five all at once,¡± Vivian Hearth muttered to herself in a quiet, trembling voice. I might not have heard it if the hallways weren¡¯t empty.

    She continued, ¡°Hecate help me. Dellik is going to have a field day.¡±

    We all exchanged similar confused looks.

    Oh good. I wasn¡¯t the only one worried and not thrilled with this development. Yay. We finally stopped in front of an open doorway, a plaque above read: Headmaster Theodore Pan.

    ¡°Vivian, you¡¯re back early-¡± A younger looking man, probably in his forties, noticed us and gave Professor Hearth a raised eyebrow. ¡°Please tell me you are not about expel these students. You always say you will but you¡¯ve never followed through-¡±

    ¡°Dellik, these five first-years all were chosen by Dragon Tower.¡± Professor Hearth explained in a tense voice. Her posture grew impossibly straighter.

    His eyes boggled. ¡°Curious. Very curious. Headmaster Pan is going to be very interested. Mind if I come with?¡±

    ¡°You can watch them while we talk. No unaccompanied first-years until classes start.¡± Professor Hearth told him.

    ¡°Very exciting,¡± he grinned at us.

    My nerves increased tenfold.

    The two adults lead us past the doorway and into a smaller room where twelve armchairs circled a small fire burning in a pit at the center.

    Dellik spoke, ¡°Why don¡¯t you lot all sit down? We can have a cozy chat while Vivian and Headmaster Pan figure out the next step.¡± He sat down in a sky blue chair closest to the fire waved an arm around the room.

    I sat in a teal green chair farthest from him, though the angle kept him in my direct line of sight.

    Celica sat in a purple chair right next to the fire, her posture as neat and proper as before.

    The boy with the long hair looked the wariest. I noticed his eyes were red. He sat down in a white chair close to the door.

    The Salamander hopeful with the red hair sat down in an orange chair close to Celica, on the other side of the fire from Dellik.

    The last member of this makeshift group, the one with the neat black hair, sat down in a brown chair next to me.

    ¡°How are you so calm right now?¡± he whispered as he sat down.

    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± I told him with a shaky laugh. ¡°I am panicking. This is my panicked face.¡±

    ¡°Impressive.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll start simply, my name is Hansel Dellik. I teach Entry, Beginner¡¯s, and Intermediate History here as well as coach the Chaser team. Do any of you have questions? I will be happy to answer them.¡±

    The long haired-one spoke. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Dragon Tower?¡±

    Oh thank the gods, someone else asked before I had to.

    Dellik laughed. ¡°Nothing is wrong with it, it just hasn¡¯t had occupants in a century.¡±

    The guy rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah, we know, but why?¡±

    Dellik laughed again. ¡°Dragon Tower has always been very, very picky about who gets to reside within it. But we never wanted a student to feel isolated here. Being alone could hinder their education, so in the early days of our great school a rule was put in place that if a Tower¡¯s occupants across all five years was less than five then those students would be placed within other Towers. How they¡¯re placed is up to the current Headmaster.¡±

    ¡°But there are five of us now,¡± I said.

    The grin on Dellik, which I was sure was supposed to be reassuring or comforting, got bigger. ¡°Yes. Yes there are. For the first time in a century, Dragon Tower might be reopened for occupancy. Which would make this the first time all nine Towers were occupied in a very, very long time.¡±

    No pressure or anything.

    ¡°Is that why the door was sealed? Because there weren¡¯t enough Dragons present?¡± the guy with the pony tail asked.

    Dellik, still grinning, shook his head. ¡°No. The lock on the door has nothing to do with whether it is in use or not. One summer day, when there were six Dragons that were due to return the next school year, the Tower, which was undergoing regular maintenance and cleaning, closed its door and hasn¡¯t reopened it since. No one knows why.¡±

    Oh. Wonderful. That¡¯s not foreboding or anything.

    ¡°So are we getting reassigned or not?¡± the same guy pressed.

    Dellik¡¯s grin faltered. ¡°Not sure. I guess that depends on whether or not we can get that door open. If not, I suppose you all will get placed in different Towers and continue your school years like this first day never happened.¡±

    I wanted that option. I didn¡¯t want attention. I didn¡¯t want the spotlight.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine,¡± My neighbor said in a normal tone. ¡°You can relax. We¡¯re here, the hard part¡¯s over. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    I swallowed before answering, ¡°I¡¯m Serafina, what¡¯s yours?¡±

    He had a small but relaxed smile on his face, it was much more calming than whatever Dellik was doing.

    ¡°I¡¯m Fethris Nightcall.¡± He held out his hand for me to shake. He moved himself so that he was facing me while in his chair.

    I shook his hand, adjusting myself to mirror his posture. ¡°I¡¯m okay. This is just not how I wanted today to go. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on and I don¡¯t like it. How do you feel about this?¡±

    ¡°Ancient castles, mysteriously locked doors, and teachers who are just as bewildered as the students? Can¡¯t say I¡¯m a fan either.¡±

    I let out a breath I didn¡¯t realize I was holding. ¡°Yes¡­exactly. I¡¯ve watched enough fantasy movies to know where this is going.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little curious though?¡± the Salamander asked. ¡°I mean clearly there is something in there. Doors don¡¯t just lock by themselves and why bother locking a door unless you want to keep people out or¡­¡± his face twisted to a wicked, mischievous smile, ¡°something in.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡± Celica asked, her disinterested look giving way to curiosity as she leaned towards him.

    ¡°Like he said,¡± he said, pointing to Fethris, ¡°this is an ancient castle. You know how many people have come and gone through those gates? Any of them could have had something dangerous to hide.¡± Salamander seemed thrilled with the attention he was getting.

    ¡°Like they¡¯d let us sleep in there with a century-old evil locked inside,¡± the long-haired one scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s probably just haunted or something.¡±

    ¡°The other Towers all have their quirks. Pixie rotates constantly and there¡¯s an eternal rainstorm over Pegasus.¡± Fethris¡¯s smile was wider.

    ¡°Why do you all sound like you want to sleep in a Tower with an evil being inside it?¡± I demanded incredulously.

    ¡°Mostly because it does sound kind of fun,¡± Fethris shrugged indifferently.

    I stared at him, dumbfounded. ¡°You are all insane,¡± I told the room in a flat voice. What metric put me in the same Tower as these weirdos?

    The one with a ponytail gave me a big toothy grin, ¡°If we¡¯re insane then what does that make you?¡±

    ¡°The straight man to this clown show. Clearly,¡± I deadpanned.

    They all laughed and despite my nerves, I laughed too.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you all took my advice about being nice to your Towermates to heart.¡± Professor Vivian Hearth¡¯s voice cut through the room like a cold wind. We all froze.

    All eyes snapped to her.

    She let out a sigh. ¡°We haven¡¯t made a final decision just yet. Dellik, would you please escort them through a tour of the grounds while we deliberate? This is going to take longer than I thought.¡±

    ¡°I would be thrilled to show these fine youngsters our wonderful school,¡± Dellik said with his grin still in place.

    The five of us shared a look as Vivian Hearth rolled her eyes. ¡°Do be careful not to be too enthusiastic. We don¡¯t want to frighten them.¡±

    At least somebody can read a room.

    He looked at all of us, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can get carried away.¡± At least he had the decency to look vaguely ashamed. ¡°All right, everyone make sure you still have your papers and we can begin to get you settled in wherever you might end up.¡±

    Professor Hearth sighed as Dellik stood up and gestured for us to do the same. She then went back where she came from, in the opposite direction of where he was directing us.

    At least we are back on some kind of track, closer to how today was supposed to go. It was more reassuring than anything else right now.

    ¡°Are you going to take us to Dragon Tower?¡± the Salamander as we exited back out into the hallway. I really needed to get his and the other guy¡¯s name this was getting fairly ridiculous.

    Dellik¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°So eager! Show that kind of spirit in my class and passing will be easy! Of course I will! It¡¯s actually not far from where my classroom is located so we won¡¯t even have to go out of our way.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to see what all the fuss is about.¡± Fethris walked next to me in the unorganized cluster behind Dellik.

    I nodded.

    ¡°If this is our history teacher maybe it won¡¯t be too boring,¡± Ponytail muttered.

    Dellik made a strange scoff-like sound. We turned a corner and saw a much larger cluster of students. About twenty at most twenty-five students were led by a boy in brown who looked about eighteen. He nodded at Dellik but he looked a little confused at the five us.

    I shrugged at him as we passed. Not like any of us had a proper answer for him anyway.

    Dellik stopped in front of a hallway leading towards the center of the castle. ¡°Down there and to the left is my classroom. It¡¯s labeled H1 on your maps and above the door. The further down the hallway the more difficult the class. The same pattern works for every classroom section. Questions?¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°Good. On to Dragon Tower!¡±

    Two right turns past hallways that all seemed to be the same shape but had hints of color. We also passed the stone doors for Banshee and Sylphid Towers. At least I assumed that¡¯s what they were, judging by the ghostly woman and dancing flowers on the respective doors.

    ¡°And here we are, Dragon Tower.¡±

    Standing before us was a stone door with a beautifully detailed carving of a stone dragon, long and serpentine and embracing the doorway in a complete circle. The head rested upon the tail at the foot of the door.

    ¡°Well, go on. All the first-years try and open it when they learn it¡¯s unopenable. Please.¡± Dellik gestured towards the door.

    After a brief non-verbal exchange with Ponytail, Celica tried her hand first. She strutted confidently towards it, placed a hand on the knob shaped like an extended claw, almost like it wanted to shake hands, and pulled on the door.

    Nothing.

    She huffed and turned back around.

    After her Ponytail gave it a whirl.

    No luck.

    Salamander actually rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his hands together. I heard him faintly whisper something as he attempted to push the stone door, forgoing the knob altogether.

    Nope.

    Fethris, amused by this, went up and simply knocked.

    The stone door held its ground.

    ¡°I suppose you all are going to make me attempt this, aren¡¯t you?¡± I sighed while looking around. ¡°Okay.¡± I slowly walked towards the door, eyed it apprehensively and decided to have a chuckle. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and without an ounce of irony, spoke in a calm clear voice, ¡°Open Sesame.¡± Nothing. I turned around and started walking back to the group.

    The looks from my audience ranged from Celica¡¯s confusion to Salamander chuckling.

    I let out a laugh, ¡°Wasn¡¯t expecting that to work anyway.¡±

    I took another step forward.

    Something behind me clicked.

    ¡°No¡­.¡± I said slowly, not believing that that actually worked.

    All eyes went wide. They heard it too. I turned around slowly.

    The knob on the door started spinning on its own.

    ¡°You have got to be kidding me,¡± Salamander said. ¡°Really? Really?¡±

    The door opened with a loud slam. Before any of us could react something grabbed me. An invisible force of some kind pulled me into the Tower. I stumbled forward and turned back around just in time to see the door slam shut.

    Oh no.

 Episode 5: Death Spiders

    The first thing I did was try the doorknob. To my complete and utter lack of surprise, it wouldn''t budge anymore from this side than it had from the other one. I pounded on the door loudly with my fist.

    "It''s not opening!" I yelled, not sure if they could hear me. I pressed my ear to the door and heard what sounded like jumbled yelling and panic. I pounded on the door again.

    "We''re getting help! Stay put!" That sounded like Fethris.

    "Stay put?! I''m locked in! Where am I going to go?" I stepped back. "This is not happening. This is not happening." I kicked the door once more out of a desire to vent than any delusion it would actually help at this point.

    "You should start running," a voice spoke behind me.

    Oh hells no.

    I turned around to find myself face to face with a ghost. A girl in a red unform, her face was obscured and whole body transparent. She flickered with a pale blue light that emanated off of her.

    "Who are you?!" I demanded, startled. Though perhaps ''what'' was the better question.

    She stared at me. "You...you can see me..." She gasped in shock. "Later." She looked down, away from me. Was she talking to herself? She glanced up at me. I still couldn''t see her features clearly, and she added a layer of urgency to her voice. "Run. You need to run."

    "Run? Run where? I''m locked in!"

    "The door will open. Eventually. But you have more immediate problems."

    I was about to ask what when I heard the hissing.

    "Good luck. You''re going to need it." And then she was gone.

    Out of the darkness, barely visible to me was the outline of massive grey spiders. Dozens of them. All slowly encroaching on my space. Some of them had their front legs reared up as they hissed loudly.

    NOPE.

    I looked around for a place to go. I saw an opening and ran. There was a thud behind me and the hissing just got louder.

    I tripped over something, I glanced back to see something covered in cobwebs and dust. I stood up and continued running as the spiders continued chasing.

    "Nopenopenopenope...." I chanted to myself. I internally cursed my lack of spellcasting ability. Anything, literally anything would be helpful right about now. Faint sunlight was feeding in from dust covered windows. Everything was a pale grey from the light and dust. Ghostly. Ethereal. A little spooky.

    It would be more pleasant without the horde of angry ravenous spiders!

    I passed a staircase in my mad dash to get away. At the top were, surprise, even more spiders. More leaped towards me, their massive size causing them to land behind me with a terrifying thud.

    Then I found myself staring at a window a massive wall of glass with what might have once been a built in bench with cushions, now degraded with age.

    "Not helpful," I muttered to myself.

    I heard laughter behind me. It was a strange sound, as if with dozens of voices played out of sync. I took off in a new direction, heading to the other side of the staircase. The hissing just got louder and louder.

    I kept running, picking random directions and getting lumps of dust and web stuck to my clothes.

    But I found myself staring back at the door. I ran to it and started banging on it harder and harder. My hands and arms hurt. "Let me out! Let me out you stupid Tower!"

    The stone didn''t budge.

    There was silence from the other side.

    I wanted to cry.

    Something tugged on my leg with enough force to pull me to the ground.

    A sharp pain pierced my ankle and I looked to see a massive and fanged nightmare with its teeth in my skin. I kicked at it with my other leg. It didn''t let go.

    I screamed.

    I placed my hand on the ground in an attempt to yank my leg free.

    The room burst into bright pink flames. Columns of searing heat shot up from the ground. The spider on my leg was turned to ash. The flames hit cobwebs and spread. The hissing grew to a deafening roar and then quieted.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    The ghost, the one from earlier, wearing red and glowing blue was kneeling near me. "Fae fire..." she whispered.

    As the flames died down all that remained was scattered pale ash.

    My body spasmed.

    My vision tunneled.

    I slumped against the door.

    (*********)

    When I awoke next I was staring up at a clear glass ceiling. It was dark out, and the stars nearly infinite.

    "Where..." My throat was dry and scratchy. As I blinked into awareness the aches all over my body made themselves known.

    "Goodness!" A portly woman with a mix of white, grey, and black hair exclaimed nearby. "I wasn''t expecting you to be awake for a few more hours! Gave us all a scare."

    "What happened?" I asked as I tried to sit up.

    She was having none of that, and gently pushed me back down. "You were attacked by a breed of highly venomous spiders. You were lucky we got to you quickly," she looked down at me with a soft expression in her green eyes. ¡°Though not quickly enough, it would seem."

    I closed my eyes amd my head hurt. "How bad is it?"

    "Nothing you won''t recover from, thank Hecate. But you will be in here for at least a few more days. The last thing you want to be doing is putting weight on that ankle of yours. Unfortunately, you will likely have a permeant scar from all of this."

    "I can live with a scar." I waved it off.  "At least it will have a cool story behind it."

    "Locked in Dragon Tower with a bunch of dangerous spiders. Quite the harrowing tale for a first day."

    "And ghosts. There were ghosts too," I told her, remembering the event now that the haze was clearing. "How long was I out?"

    "A day and a half dear," she sighed. "You just get some more rest. Do you need anything? Water? Food?"

    The thought of eating anything made me want to hurl. "Water, please."

    "Of course."

    A few seconds later I heard the faint clicking of a glass nearby.

    I took several breaths and sat up carefully, mostly leaning against the wall to sit up and I sipped the water slowly.

    My hands trembled.

    "I cast a spell," I breathed between sips of water. "I actually cast something."

    I looked down at my left hand. It looked the same as always, despite the tremors. My heart was pounding in my ears.

    "Are you sure you''re all right?" the woman asked.

    "I am. I''m just a little out of it, I think. Do you know what the plan is, for my Tower placement? I know the door opened but I don''t think it''s in any condition to be used right now."

    "Professor Vivian Hearth is on her way. She''ll know what the plan is. Half the staff is in a frenzy, the possibility of Dragon Tower reopening has everyone buzzing."

    I groaned. That sounded like a mountain of attention. "I wonder what Mom''s going to think about all this. I''m sure she''s worried out of her mind by now."

    "I have a ComMirror somewhere..." The woman muttered, "Would you like to try talking to her? It might help."

    "Am I allowed?" I couldn''t remember the rules about using ComMirrors on campus.

    "Of course! As long as you stay in that bed, that is."

    I nodded. She disappeared again then reappeared with a small hand mirror in a silver frame.

    I took it with a grateful smile. "Lucinda Stewart," I told the mirror. The glass glowed with a pale green light and after a few seconds the face of my mother appeared. "Hi Mom."

    "Serafina! I wasn''t expecting you to call me so soon! How are you? How''s the school? What Tower chose you?"

    They hadn''t told her yet? Oh boy. I glanced up at the Healer, then looked down and took a deep breath. "I''ve been...busy."

    "Busy?" She huffed, "How could you have been..." Her tone shifted and she frowned deeply. "Serafina, my wonderful daughter whom I love very much, why are you in the Healer Wing?"

    "Before I tell you, please sit down and have Dad nearby."

    "I don''t like that tone. I know that tone. You learned it from me. What happened?"

    "Are you sitting down?"

    "Yes, Serafina I''m sitting down. Now please tell me what happened and start from the beginning."

    "I did the thing and got chosen by a Tower. Woot. Except it was Dragon Tower. Boo."

    "You got chosen by Dragon..." Mom said in quiet disbelief. "Hmm. Okay, continue."

    "So me and the four other kids who got chosen by Dragon get pulled aside by a Professor Hearth. Do you know her?"

    Mom blinked a few times and let out a breath. "I do."

    "She first took us to Headmaster Pan''s office. We didn''t see him but guess she didn''t want us stuck in the Hall while they try to figure out what they want to do with us."

    "Right. No unsupervised first-years."

    "And she ended up handing us over to a Professor Dellik, and he showed us Dragon Tower because I guess he didn''t have anything better to do."

    She nodded. "I remember him."

    "So the others try the door and I decide as a joke to try it as well. I went, ''Open Sesame'' and everything. I got a couple laughs and we were ready to continue our tour...but then the door opened..."

    Mom''s eyes nearly popped out of her skull and she covered her mouth with one hand. "You...you opened Dragon Tower?!"

    Distantly I heard, "What''s wrong? Why are you yelling?" from my father.

    "Victor! Get in here!"

    Dad came into view behind Mom. "Hi Serafina."

    I waved. "Hi Dad."

    "Your daughter opened a door that has been impenetrable by magic for over a century by saying ''Open Sesame''," Mom informed him in a tone that was both impressed and terrified.

    I shrugged.

    "At least she''s having fun?" he offered.

    I laughed, "I wouldn''t call what happened next ''fun'', but okay."

    "What happened next?" Mom demanded.

    "Something-don''t ask me I don''t know-pulled me inside and the door locked again."

    Mom let out a strangled sound.

    Dad sighed.

    "It was full of death spiders! Massive venomous and very unhappy spiders!" I told them. "And ghosts!"

    Mom stared at me dumbfounded.

    Dad covered his face with his hand. "Define massive, please."

    "Like this big," I gestured with my hands to approximate the size. "One bit me! And pulled me to the ground!"

    Mom vanished from sight and Dad''s face became clearer. He must have taken the mirror. "And the ghosts?"

    "I only saw one, but I heard others. The one I saw told me to run right before the spiders attacked."

    There was a high-pitched whine from outside of the mirror''s view.

    "But you''re all right now?" Dad pressed.

    "I''m okay. I fell asleep and they got me to the healer. She has me on bedrest for now. I should be okay by the time class actually starts."

    "Give me one reason not to pull you out of that school right now, Serafina!" my mother''s voice cried, still out of sight.

    "Because I finally cast a spell!" I exclaimed, excited and grinning.

    Dad, without a word, turned the mirror so I could see Mom laying on her back on the couch her eyes wide and mouth parted in a shocked gasp.

    "You did?" She asked softly.

    "I did! I don''t know how, but I made these pink flames appear and they burned the spiders to ash."

    Mom covered her eyes with her hands and let out a groan. "Fine. Fine. But only because you''ve wanted this since you were a little girl. But I will have words with the Head of Security."

    "Are you speaking with your parents? I just finished sending the Incident Report paperwork," Professor Vivian Hearth said as she approached.

    "Yes Ma''am. I didn''t want them to worry more than they needed to."

    "Is that her? Good, I will have words with her." I saw Mom narrow her eyes. "Give me the mirror. Victor sit here with me. You''re her father and have every right to be part of this conversation."

    I looked between the Professor and my parents and turned the mirror around.

    "Lucinda, for the record Dellik was not supposed to take them to Dragon Tower. He was supposed to show where their classes are going to be. You of all people know how difficult it can be for decisions to be made around here. I didn''t want them sitting in the Headmaster''s office while we argued back and forth. I thought a tour would be a better use of their time."

    "Doesn''t change the fact that my daughter was in danger and got hurt, Vivian." There was a sharp edge to Mom''s voice I hadn''t heard her use before.

    "I''d rather not argue. Serafina Stewart is perfectly safe and will make a perfect recovery. Her injuries will not affect her ability to do anything."

    "Don''t worry. I''m not pulling her out. She''s wanted this too much. And I know you. If you thought her staying there was going to put her in danger you would send her home yourself."

    Vivian Hearth sighed. "Good. I''m glad we understand where we both stand on this issue. She is one of ours now and I will treat her with the full extent of our school''s protections and services. This will not happen again. And since it was deemed not anyone''s fault, once she''s recovered it will be treated as if this incident never happened."

    "Good. If she got a strike over getting hurt I''d pull her out."

    For a moment, a split second, I saw a fond smile cross Professor Hearth''s face. "I know."

    "Can I ask something?" I spoke softly.

    Professor Hearth met my gaze. "Go ahead, Miss Stewart."

    "What about my Tower placement? Dragon Tower didn''t look habitable. I can''t imagine it''s anywhere near ready. What''s the plan?"

    She nodded. "We inspected it ourselves once you were here safely and reached that same conclusion. Currently the consensus we''ve reached is to assign all of you Towers for the potential to relocate later. When you''re better Pixie Tower Representative Mr. Set will help you settle in. Welcome to the Towers of Nine, Miss Stewart."

 Episode 6: A Pink Nightmare

    It would be two more days before I finally got to see Pixie Tower in person. I was following next to Gregory Set, dressed in the most garish shade of pink I had ever seen and felt a pit in my stomach at the thought of me having to wear it in the very near future.

    ¡°Since you missed out on the placements test, they¡¯ve given you a schedule based on how you did on the entrance exams,¡± he was explaining. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about missing the grand tour. All of your classes should have at least one other fellow Pixie in it, so just follow them for now. The others are excited to meet you.¡± He had a big dumb cheery grin on his face that I didn¡¯t have the heart to return.

    I fought back a sigh. ¡°This has just been one huge mess. I¡¯m just glad the worst is behind me.¡±

    He laughed. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! We¡¯ll be far better company than those spiders. And it would be lonely having a big old Tower with just the five of you.¡±

    I don¡¯t think the idea that some people might prefer smaller groups ever occurred to him.

    ¡°That place must have been so scary. No one blames you for seeing things.¡±

    For whatever reason, no one had taken my tale of ghosts seriously. If this was a school for human teenagers, I might have understood that. But it wasn¡¯t. Everyone here practiced magic. They were studying it. Ghosts shouldn¡¯t be that far-fetched!

    ¡°Didn¡¯t see things,¡± I muttered more to myself than to him. And peace and quiet wasn¡¯t that bad of a thing. Hopefully, the people weren¡¯t as bad as the color scheme.

    He laughed, loud and obnoxious. I silently prayed to Hecate that he was not the benchmark for Pixie behavior. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Pixies aren¡¯t the type to talk about you. Must have been rough, locked in a dusty old Tower with Aranea Imigifalso. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be handling it better.¡±

    Of course the spider that bit me was famous for making people see things. But I saw the student pre-envenomation. I know what I saw. I ground my teeth to hold back the arguments churning in my brain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look so tense,¡± he teased with a grin. ¡°News happens quickly around here. Give it a week or two and everyone will forget all about your ghost story.¡± His voice was full of the most obnoxious condescension I had ever heard in my life. The worst part? I don¡¯t think he was doing it on purpose.

    I let out a shaky, heaving breath. Part of me almost understood. No one else saw what I¡¯d seen. The spider venom had hallucinogenic properties. I¡¯d been in distress and scared.

    It still made me furious to be so completely written off by everyone.

    I forced myself to let go of the tension. Maybe once class started, I would have better things to focus on.

    ¡°Your things are in your room already, as is your Pixie uniform. On school days you have to wear it until after dinner at seven. But on Saturdays and Sundays we don¡¯t have to wear it at all!¡±

    At least I would have two more days of reprieve before donning the vomit inducing nightmare he was wearing.

    ¡°And here we are!¡± he shouted, despite standing all of five feet away. In a poor attempt to save my hearing, I leaned back as he continued to shout. ¡°Pixie Tower! The bestest most awesomest Tower out of the Nine!¡±

    The door was made of stone. A lot like Dragon Tower¡¯s. Only this one was surrounded by the forms of dozens of small pixies all pointing towards the door.

    Gregory Set, in his horrifically ugly pink uniform, sauntered up tothe door while I stood where I was. The door opened and I got my first glimpse into Pixie Tower.

    Oh no.

    The uniform was a warning.

    The Tower itself was much worse.

    ¡°Come on in and meet everyone!¡±

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    Was it too late to go back to spider-infested haunted Tower?

    In the simplest terms possible Pixie Tower was a very polarizing tower. You either loved it, like the residents did, or you hated it, like I did. The first thing I noticed was how pink it was. There was almost every shade of pink on the spectrum. From the floor, which was a very pale pastel wood with a bright rug down the center, to the walls, which had a three-tone wallpaper with a pink oakleaf design, to the furniture, which was predominantly hot pink, to even the window, which was a multi-toned rose-tinted mural of an oak tree.

    Admittedly, these elements by themselves might have been tasteful. All together however, it was a nightmare my poor wounded psyche could just barely handle.

    And the actual tower was not the worst part.

    No. Because there were twelve first-year Pixie students cheering and clapping with pink confetti raining down with seemingly no origin.

    I wanted to vomit. Violently.

    The leader of this travesty was a girl already decked out in the full uniform. She was somehow both walking towards me and jumping up and down.

    Oh no. Oh please no.

    ¡°Hi there!¡± Her eyes literally sparkled and she took my hands in hers. I was too stunned by the sensory assault to protest. ¡°My name is Angelina Farsee. It¡¯s really nice to meet you!¡±

    I blinked rapidly and opted for polite, ¡°I¡¯m Serafina Stewart. Nice to meet you too?¡±

    She giggled and pulled me into the crowd and all but physically forced me into a chair. She sat down across from me on a pastel pink wooden coffee table, placed her hands under her head and gave me wide bright blue eyes. Expectant.

    ¡°Tell us everything!¡± a girl exclaimed.

    ¡°About what?¡± I asked still dazed and confused. Maybe I left the Healer too early and should go back.

    ¡°Dragon Tower!¡± Angelina clarified.

    I blinked some more. Okay. Sure. ¡°Where would you like me to start?¡±

    There were honest to the gods squeals of excitement from the girls and eager looks from the boys. I wanted to find a dark cave to hide in until this all blew over.

    ¡°The beginning! How did you know how to open the door?¡± Angelina pressed.

    I sighed and took a deep inhale. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I let the others go first and when nothing they did worked, I decided to try and have a laugh. I made a reference to an old story my father introduced me to, and I was as shocked as everyone else when it actually worked.¡±

    They all were staring at me, expectant and eager. Like children or puppies.

    I relaxed a little and continued. ¡°After the door opened, by itself mind you, something pulled me in. I¡¯m not sure what.¡± I shrugged at them.

    ¡°And once you were inside?¡±

    ¡°The door closed itself behind me. Slamming shut on its own and locked me in.¡±

    There were gasps.

    ¡°That¡¯s when I heard a voice. I turned around and saw a student. She was wearing a red uniform. Just like yours but in Dragon Red. But she looked surprised to see me, and I could see through her. And she glowed blue.¡±

    Gregory Set was now leaning in, listening intently like my future classmates.

    ¡°Then she vanished. That¡¯s when the spiders started crawling out of the woodwork.¡±

    ¡°How many were there?¡± Angelina asked.

    ¡°So many. Dozens. It was pretty dark and dusty so I couldn¡¯t tell you exactly how many. The small ones were like this big.¡± I made a shape with my hand to demonstrate they were the size of my hand. ¡°But the big ones were like this,¡± I held my hands about a foot and a half apart to give them an idea.

    ¡°EEP!¡± One of the girls clung to a boy and partially hid behind him.

    ¡°So I started running but they chased me, and I ended up running in a circle and found myself staring at the door again. It still wasn¡¯t opening. That¡¯s when I got bit.¡± I wasn¡¯t comfortable telling them the details about the spell I cast. I wasn¡¯t sure why but I felt the urge to blur the truth a bit. ¡°I don¡¯t remember much after that. It¡¯s a little too hazy. The venom, probably.¡±

    Angelina nodded. ¡°So cool¡­¡±

    ¡°Not really. But hey, at least it can¡¯t get worse. And if the worst day of my school career is already behind me then that has to be a good thing, right?¡±

    Angelina gave a wistful sigh, ¡°Do you know if they¡¯ll reopen Dragon Tower?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. Professor Hearth said that won¡¯t even be a discussion until they get it into a state fit for people to live in. And who knows how long that will take.¡± The horror had faded for now. While I wasn¡¯t sure if this was going to work out I no longer felt the urge to jump out of the window.

    There was a knock nearby.

    ¡°How is everyone settling in? I heard the last minute addition was finally free of Healer Sealie¡¯s care.¡± I turned towards the voice. It was Dellik.

    I gave him a flat even look. Why was he here?

    ¡°Ah! I forgot to mention. Along with my teaching and coaching duties, I am also the Pixie Tower Head. We are delighted to have you here with us. No matter if your stay is temporary or if you become a permanent member of our hollow.¡±

    I ground my teeth in an effort to not say something unpleasant.

    ¡°I also have your schedule.¡± He made a movement with his hand a rapid twitch of multiple fingers my eyes couldn¡¯t follow. Then a sheet of paper popped into my lap.

    ¡°Thank you, Professor,¡± I told him politely.

    I picked it up but didn¡¯t look at it. I stood up and tried not to think about all the eyes following my movement. ¡°It was nice to meet all of you but I¡¯m a little tired and still kind of drowsy from the past few days. Can I get shown my room so I can rest for a bit?¡± It wasn¡¯t untrue. I did feel exhausted and there were too many people staring at me out here.

    Angelina, who had deflated a little, perked back up. ¡°Sure. Come with me.¡± She grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

    We went up a spiral staircase, past two floors and into a curved hallway that spiraled outwards. Most of the doors were decorated with all kinds of stickers and bright sparkly things. She stopped in front of the one door that had no such thing.

    ¡°This one is yours.¡± She opened the door and the room was as bad as the rest of the tower.

    Frills. Pink and frilly. And that was my luggage at the foot of the bed. A dark brown suitcase that clashed with everything in the room and a weathered green trunk that fit just as poorly.

    It was comforting.

    ¡°I¡¯ll come get you in a few hours for dinner. Don¡¯t forget to try on your uniform to make sure it fits!¡± She waved enthusiastically and closed the door behind her.

    I let out a slow exhale and slumped back against the door.

    ¡°Okay Serafina. You can get through this. This is not the worst thing that could have happened. What did Mom say about Pixies?¡± I thought out loud. ¡°Optimistic and endless energy? Class should be fine and I¡¯ll just limit my time in the Tower to mandatory things. I can do this.¡±

    But even as I spoke my mind flashed back to the dusty eeriness of Dragon Tower. The student in red. What had it looked like, before the death spiders and the century of neglect?

    I patted my face and stood up straight.

    I finally looked at my schedule. Breakfast was at Seven. Then I had Practical Spellcraft at eight-thirty. History was at ten. Advanced Alchemy, which was a pleasant surprise, at eleven thirty. Lunch started at one. At Two thirty I had Basics on Monsters. From four to six I had a free study period and Dinner at six.

    Okay. That wasn¡¯t a bad schedule.

    I wasn¡¯t expecting to take any advanced courses but Alchemy promised to be an interesting subject.

    Though really, when a chemistry professor and a witch decided to have a baby, that baby liking alchemy was an outcome anyone could have anticipated.

    ¡°I can do this,¡± I repeated to myself, though this I actually meant it as opposed to trying to blindly convince myself that this was going to be okay. ¡°Nothing can stop me now.¡±

 Episode 7: Morning Classes

    Monday morning came with a bright light in the window. I put on my uniform piece by piece as I kept checking my reflection in the full body mirror. Black slacks. A white undershirt with mid-length sleeves. A black vest. There was a tie, but it was optional for girls and it was the hideous shade of pink so I opted out. There were fingerless gloves, that went up to my elbow and ended, just below my knuckles, black with pink trim. They were optional too but I liked them. And lastly, the thing that starred in my nightmares almost as much as the spiders, a bright pink overcoat that ended above my ankles and had a hood that we were required to have off when indoors. The sleeves of the coat were extra wide at the wrist and flopped about with any movement.

    It didn''t suit me.

    I checked my reflection again. But the eye-melting color wasn''t changing. I let out a defeated sigh. "First day. Just have to show up."

    I stepped out into the spiral hallway and down the staircase with the rest of the horde of bright pink. Since the rest of the students had arrived the total occupancy of the tower was up to nearly seventy. And they were all enthusiastic and happy and cheery and I was a coward who barely left my room.

    Also, they were all morning people.

    I was not.

    Angelina was at the door, jumping up and waving to get my attention. "Serafina!"

    It was too early. "Good morning Angelina," I greeted flatly.

    She giggled, looped her arm around mine and pulled me into the crowd. "Are you excited for class? Which one do you think will be your favorite? Don''t worry, no one''s talking about your accident anymore. I hope we get to actually see a creature in Monsters."

    Did she even breathe? "One at a time. Please." Her eyes twinkled with excitement. "I''m excited for Advanced Alchemy."

    "Aww!" She was disappointed. "I got stuck in Basic Brewing. I don''t think anyone else has it either. You''ll be all by yourself!"

    Thank the gods. "I''ll manage," I reassured her while repressing the urge to roll my eyes.

    She was thankfully content to chatter about what she was hoping we were going to cover in Basics on Monsters. I interjected with the occasional affirmation so she would know I was listening.

    The tables from that disaster of a first day were filling up with the students. Banners were placed at the other side of the room, black with the Tower symbols and outlines around them in their colors.

    I let Angelina manhandle me into a seat at the Pixie table. After we sat down a Pegasus I vaguely recognized as another first-year sat down on the table and peered down at me. The sky blue coat blocked most of my vision.

    "Aren''t you that girl that nearly died?" he asked.

    I gave Angelina an even, tired, and flat look.

    She giggled. Traitor.

    "That''s one way of putting it," I responded. "What''s up?"

    He smirked at me in a way that made me want to hit him. "I heard you tripped on spider venom and saw ghosts."

    I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Angelina gave me a worried look. I then looked this person dead in the eye. "And I heard that Pegasusses are airheaded gossips who don''t know what they''re talking about." It was barely seven in the morning and my well of patience had officially run dry.

    His smirk faltered.

    One of his Towermates, at the table next to ours, laughed loudly.

    Angelina was giving me a scandalized look.

    "If he wants polite he has to be polite first. And I need something to drink if I''m to be patient with people," I told her flatly while not looking at the blue robe next to me.

    One of the older Pegasus students grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back to the table.

    The other Pixies were giving me stares.

    I shrugged at the table.

    (*********)

    "Good morning ladies and gentlemen," the Spellcraft Professor greeted. The classroom was like a curved amphitheater. Professor James Telvis was standing on what could pass for a stage, while me and the other fifty students curved around him in five rows. This class had a mix of Pegasus, Pixie and Slyphid all scattered about. The Pixies were mostly sitting in the front row, the twenty or so Slyphid students took up the middle two rows, and I was in the back with a majority of the Pegasus students. Except one who had a familiar ponytail with a green streak in it.

    "In this class I will be teaching you the simple versions of the most common spells. We''ll spend two weeks on a spell and then a test at the end on how to cast it. Due to some regulatory safety rules I cannot require casting of the spells for passing. Pay attention to the lectures, pass the test, you''ll do great in this class. Any questions?"

    A girl in Slyphid yellow raised her hand.

    "Yes, miss¡­"

    "I''m Jackie Heller. You said casting isn''t required here, but will we still be able to?"

    Professor Telvis grinned. "Of course. The hope is that you will be able to cast everything I teach by the end of the unit. Nothing in this class will be dangerous and there are places around campus to practice more complicated spells if you think you need to. I''ll also need the occasional hand to demonstrate some of what you will be learning."

    I was relieved. I hadn''t managed to cast anything since the accident in Dragon Tower. And I hadn''t cast anything before that moment either.

    "Well if there are no questions, I''ll introduce you to our first spell. Deflect." He looked around the room and pointed at Ponytail. "Pegasus in the first row, what''s your name?"

    "Jarec Quicksilver." He sat up straighter as he answered.

    "I want you to throw that pen in your hand at me. As hard as you can. Whenever you''re ready."

    Jarec looked back at the room, our eyes met when he saw me. He smirked, and I grinned back at him. He turned around and chucked his pen. It spun three times in the air.

    Before it hit Professor Telvis held up his left hand. With a delicate batting of his pinky, a thin spherical shield of blue fog appeared for a second. The pen fell to the ground with a clatter.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    I mimicked the motion with my own hand.

    "Deflect is the basis for all defensive magic. This version is simple and has a low energy cost. It can be cast quickly but the drawback is that it isn''t very strong. However learning it and understanding its quirks will help you grasp the foundation of the more complicated spells. This might very well save your life one day."

    He picked up the pen from the floor and tossed it into the air. I watched his hand as he pointed towards Jarec''s desk, and it teleported away.

    "Pixie in the back, what''s your name?" Professor Telvis focused his eyes on me.

    "Serafina Stewart, sir."

    "I saw you mimic the motion. That''s an interesting habit, and very helpful in this class. The rest of you should be doing the same thing when I demonstrate a spell. You don''t want to get stuck trying to remember the motions of a spell if you need to get yourself out of trouble."

    I shrunk back a little as a few eyes flashed to me. A few faint whispers echoed in the room.

    "Isn''t that¡­"

    "Ghost girl¡­"

    "Spider venom¡­"

    "Dragon Tower¡­"

    I wanted to crawl under the desk. Why did teachers do this?

    The professor coughed loudly and then clapped three times. "Now on the count of three I want to see all of you try the motion for Deflect. One. Two. Three." He batted his left pinky again holding his hand in front of his face so we could all see it.

    I hid my hands beneath the desk.

    "Well done class." He looked around. "Most of you have good form but I wouldn''t say any of you are ready for any kind of stress test. I would say don''t practice in the Towers but I''ve taught enough eager first-years to know that won''t discourage you. If you do try, do it with crumbled-up paper. One student nearly took his friend¡¯s eye out with a pen in a practice session gone wrong."

    (*********)

    Class ended and I was one of the last to start heading out of the room.

    Professor Telvis called out to me before I could actually leave though. "Miss Stewart, a moment?"

    I froze for a second and then turned and walked towards where he was standing. "Is something wrong, sir?" I asked cautiously.

    "No. Just an old man''s curiosity. You wouldn''t happen to be related to a Lucinda Stewart, would you?"

    I nodded. "She''s my mother. Is that an issue?" A bolt of nerves ran through my body.

    "No. No. Not at all. She was my Practical Spellcraft teacher when I was your age. I noticed the resemblance."

    This was so awkward. "Yeah¡­well, I''m not as good at this stuff as she is." I scratched the back of my head. "Was that all you wanted?" Please say yes.

    "Yes. I know you have other classes to get to. I look forward to seeing you get better Miss Stewart."

    I left as quickly as I could without running.

    As soon as I was officially out of the classroom I let out a breath.

    "They put you in Pixie?" a voice asked.

    I nearly jumped out of my skin. Next to the doorway was Jarec, one of the other would-be dragons. He raised an eyebrow at me. The blue Pegasus coat and tie didn''t look right on him. It clashed with the green streak in his hair and red of his eyes.

    "They put you in Pegasus?" I responded.

    "Airheaded gossips that do little more than talk badly about everyone else." He rolled his eyes. "I think I get why they let the Towers choose. They suck at it."

    I nodded. "The Pixies are nice, I guess. But everything is so loud." I pulled at the coat. "This is just a taste of what the Tower is like. I have my fingers crossed that they get Dragon Tower sorted out. I''m starting to miss the spiders."

    He frowned. "Yeah. Sorry about earlier, by the way. That guy was a jerk. Great comeback though. Best laugh I had since coming here."

    I shrugged at him. "I don''t do friendly that early. You don''t have to apologize, though. Hopefully, everyone will forget about me as soon as romantic drama starts happening." Ugh. Romance. No thanks.

    He smiled, amused. "Good to see you''re holding up. A couple days of gossip cycles and this should all go away." He patted me on the side of my arm and started to leave.

    "I hope so," I smiled back at him and waved. "See you around!"

    (*********)

    "Good afternoon everyone." Professor Dellik was standing with a podium next to a massive wall of reflective glass. In a classroom that held thirty desks in six rows of five, there was a mix of Salamanders and Pixies, fairly evenly distributed through the room. In the reflection I saw a familiar face amongst the Salamanders. Good for him, getting the Tower he actually wanted.

    "Nice to see so many young and eager to learn faces this year." Dellik was all smiles, but that seemed to be how he was by default. I thought I understood how he became the Head of Pixie Tower. "Before we get down to business I would like to propose a question to all of you. I don''t want you to answer, I want you to simply think about it. How do you believe you will be remembered, and by whom? Most of us will never know but think carefully on that answer, and try to live your life so that if the unthinkable happens tomorrow, you have an answer you can rest peacefully with."

    The room was quiet.

    "This class will be mostly lectures. I will be testing you once every two weeks. Topics will be split into four-week blocks and at the end of those blocks will be a paper due related to the topic of that block. Any questions?"

    No one raised their hands or said anything.

    "All right then. Well, this starting block will be about the history of our Towers. The paper I want you to write should be about a small piece of the history of a certain Tower that I will be assigning you. Most of you won''t get the Tower that chose you. Questions?"

    Still nothing.

    "Now to assign all of you Towers." He clapped twice and in a puff of very pale pink smoke a paper appeared on my desk.

    Of course he gave me Dragon Tower. Why wouldn''t he? On the paper was an image of the Tower from the outside, simple in the design with a large, pointed roof and a dragon statue that coiled around the whole Tower. Dragon Tower was in big red letters at the bottom.

    I tried to not roll my eyes in case he saw. He was in charge of my Tower after all.

    "But of course, there would be no Towers without the people who built them. We should start this story where all stories should, at the very beginning."

    He tapped the glass behind him three times and the reflection of the room vanished. In the glass five portraits started to appear and lined themselves up neatly next to each other.

    The Founders.

    "From left to right we have, Malcarg, Felorias, Delc, Colferna and Jantres. There is a good chance you''ve at least heard of them, but who wants to guess how they earned their various monikers?"

    The class was quiet for a few seconds then a few hands shot up, Angelina was the only hand I could put a face to.

    "How about you, Salamander in the second row?"

    "They took the castle by force, didn''t they?"

    "The magical world was in the depths of a conflict we haven''t seen before or since. Magic was wild then. What we know as Spellcraft today was all but non-existent. It wouldn''t be invented and properly implemented for another five hundred years.

    "Malcarg was the leader of the group, born to a long line of wizards and witches capable of taming fire. The only magic he knew was prokinetics. He had heard stories of a village decimated by a child using dark necromancy and thought to recruit him for his king. He and Jantres fought for three days and nights before Jantres relented, and followed him. Then the two became inseparable.

    "They became the king''s main tools of war. Jantres took a near lethal blow in the final battle and saved Malcarg''s life. Felorias was a healer, of a sort, she got him back on his feet she decided to travel with the pair once the war was officially over. It was on these travels that they met Delc, a forest hermit who never liked company. But he took a liking to the trio and followed them back when they received a summons from the new king.

    "The new king was young and after his father''s murder, paranoid. His right hand, Colferna did her best but when torn between her king and the people he was supposed to protect. She made a choice that must have been difficult for her. She abandoned her post and helped a group of lords overthrow the king. The lords chose to not rule in the castle after seeing Jantres'' corpses roam the halls. They instead took over what was then a college for magic. The castle, after some severe modifications, was turned into a school.

    "The Towers were built to house the students. And as part of the agreement Jantres designed unique and very powerful wards defending the castle and all those within from all manner of attack. Two thousand years and the school has remained unchanged since. What we call them now would come much, much later. For centuries the founders were called simply by their name."

    A Salamander in the first row raised his hand. "I was told it was because of their powers."

    "Ah yes. Malcarg and his fire, Felorias and her duplication, Delc spoke with animals, Colferna''s telepathic abilities, and of course Jantres and his infamous necromancy."

    "It couldn''t have been that special," a familiar voice mumbled two rows in front of me.

    Dellik laughed. "Perhaps not. The powers themselves were not unique then, nor are they now. I believe somewhere in your Spellcraft syllabus is a fire spell. And reading minds, while difficult, can be done with enough training and practice. But having something unique is not important. It''s doing something unique with it. They helped topple a spiraling empire. Which, in my humble opinion, is far more special than any fancy parlor trick."

    (*********)

    I was just outside of the hallway when an orange coat suddenly blocked my path.

    "You''re looking better," he grinned. "How''s Pixie Tower?"

    I inhaled slowly. There was too much pink within earshot for an honest answer. "The people are nice," I said as evenly as I could. "I see you got Salamander like you wanted. Is it everything you hoped for?"

    He barked a laugh. "Nope. I just like the color. The people suck and the Tower is tacky. I never thought there could be such a thing as too much flame-themed d¨¦cor, but I do now."

    I laughed.

    "More importantly," he leaned closer to stage whisper, "tell me about the ghost you saw."

    "Only if you promise to not laugh at me."

    He covered his heart and leaned back in a mockery of offence. "Never. I would never make fun of someone who has been through a traumatic experience." How did he sound sincere and sarcastic at the same time?

    "She was a student. Wore a red uniform. I could see through her and she glowed blue."

    He looked at me closely and then hummed. "Interesting. Could she see you?"

    "She was surprised to see me and told me I should start running. And then the spiders attacked. After the spider attack I heard laughter. Not hers-multiple voices."

    "Ooh¡­" he had a smirk on his face. "Walk with me, I want to show you something."

    I followed next to him, amid a sea of students headed in all directions. I recognized the route when we were halfway there. "We are not going in," I told him firmly. I was not missing Alchemy.

    "Of course not. We have class and it''s guarded. There''s been at least one person outside and at least three on the inside doing the clean-up."

    I let out a relieved sigh.

    "And here works.¡± We slipped from the crowd and stood against the wall. There was a wide circle around the door to Dragon Tower. A professor I didn''t recognize ushered students away. The door was being held open by what looked like a web of chains that glowed with a telling grey light.

    "They aren''t risking letting it close again," I observed.

    "All the staff are tight-lipped about it but according to a few Pegasusses only a handful can get the password to work. Good job setting the password to ''Open Sesame'' by the way. Hilarious."

    "In my defense, I genuinely didn''t think it was going to work."

    "The best part? The door opened before with a non-verbal password that was a knock pattern."

    "That''s very strange and kind of suspicious."

    "Here''s are facts that I could find. Something is definitely in that Tower besides spiders. We all saw something pull you in. You saw something when you were inside."

    "I find it hard to believe there isn''t a connection."

    He nodded. "Exactly. And I think I know how to get an answer, but I will need your help."

    "Before you finish that thought, I am not agreeing to anything that could get me expelled and I am not going in there unless I know for sure the spiders are all gone. Understand?"

    He nodded, "That''s fair. When they''re done I want to hold a s¨¦ance. I have the stuff but if whatever is in there isn''t showing itself to others it might be useless without you around. What do you think?"

    "Okay. But now we have to get to class."

    He nodded and started to wander off.

    "Wait." I pinched the sleeve of his coat. "Before I forget, what''s your name? I don''t think we ever introduced ourselves."

    He turned his head to me and he thought for a second. "We didn''t. How rude of me. My mother would be appalled, I''m Russel. Russel Kingsley," He performed an elaborate formal bow.

    "I''d curtsey, but I''m wearing pants." I smiled at him. "I''m Serafina Stewart."

    "I''ll see you around," He waved and left.

    I headed towards Alchemy at a hurried pace.

 Episode 8: Lets Turn Lead into Gold

    I arrived in time and before the professor. Everyone else, Banshees and Krakens, were all staring at me. I kept my eyes down and tried to find an empty lab station in the back. Each station was a black stone countertop clearly designed for two people to act as partners. Going by the disdain in the eyes of a few of the other students, finding a partner was going to be unpleasant.

    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t,¡± A familiar voice snapped me out of the doom and gloom of my thoughts. ¡°You are sitting with me.¡±

    I snapped my head up to see Celica, without a partner and gesturing me over.

    I switched direction and walked over to her, trying and failing to ignore the judgmental gazes of her fellow Krakens.

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± I asked her as I sat down.

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°If I have to sit down with one more of my Towermates attempting to quote the rulebook and why ghosts are impossible here, I will do something with the alchemy equipment that will get me expelled. So you have to sit next to me. For the safety of the others.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Not like I had options anyway.¡±

    She grinned, ¡°Frigid bunch, aren¡¯t they? I have been stuck with them all day.¡±

    I repressed a shiver.

    ¡°The Banshees are just as bad,¡± she smirked. ¡°All they do in class is quote books.¡±

    I let out a snorting laugh. ¡°Is that why they¡¯re looking at me like that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a Pixie. In the hardest class offered to our year. Notice that you¡¯re the only one.¡±

    ¡°Well if whoever is in charge of schedules didn¡¯t think I could handle it, I wouldn¡¯t be here.¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t even at the exams to qualify for an advanced course. Let alone this one.¡± From someone else that might have sounded angry, but she just sounded impressed.

    ¡°I was sleeping off a deadly spider bite. I have an excuse. Plus they based it off of my entrance exam scores. I assume they know what they¡¯re doing. But then again based of the Tower choices they made for us¡­¡± I drifted off.

    She nodded. ¡°Well it won¡¯t matter. Professor Gorgon is almost as bad as his Tower. We¡¯ll see how he responds to today. If he lets you stay. they¡¯ll have to keep their mouths shut.¡±

    I fought back the urge to cry. This was supposed to be my favorite class¡­the one I looked forward to every day! I was so excited to be here! I took a prolonged and deep inhale. No. I fought deadly spiders to be here. I will not be defeated by a bunch of judgmental pricks. So what if I was a Pixie? So what if they thought I was crazy or a liar?

    I would just have to be at the top of this class.

    I looked up to see a pale man with long black hair tied up behind his head. ¡°Hello students.¡± His voice was cold, icy and brimming with contempt. His very pale blue eye and they were narrowed right at me. ¡°Pixie, are you sure you¡¯re in the right class?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± I responded confidently. ¡°Third period, Advanced Alchemy in A2 with Professor Gorgon.¡±

    His narrowed eyes became a glare. I continued to sit up straight, unwavering under the gaze. Other students nearby flinched. Celica looked proud.

    ¡°Hmm. No matter. We¡¯ll see. Today you will do a lab. If your end result is subpar, I will kick you out of this class. That goes for all of you. If a Pixie manages to keep pace with you then clearly I¡¯ve made the syllabus too easy.¡±

    I felt a rush of excitement. Finally.

    Professor Gorgon snapped his fingers. Deep purple smoke made a pile of equipment and a single piece of paper appear on our counter.

    I read the sheet excitedly, I could feel the massive grin on my face.

    ¡°Mercury Crystals,¡± I read out loud from the page. ¡°While in its normal form, mercury is a liquid. In this lab you will turn mercury into a solid.¡± So cool!

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    I glanced up at Celica, who was giving me a weird look.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°I have been looking forward to doing alchemy labs for months. I don¡¯t care that the teacher dislikes me or that the students have all written me off.¡±

    Celica blinked three times slowly. ¡°Okay, whatever. Let¡¯s do this.¡±

    I looked at the equipment on the table. There were five plates of different metals with identical runes. I glanced at the paper again. ¡°We need a blue-green flame for this to work.¡± At the bottom of the stack of plates was a copper one. ¡°So, this one.¡± I didn¡¯t light it, but I did set it aside, and moved the other plates to the other side of the counter.

    ¡°Such confidence. Clearly I have made the correct choice.¡± Celica sounded very amused for some reason.

    ¡°Now we need the vial of mercury.¡± I looked at the set of vials on the table. Five near-identical vials of liquid metallic substances with very similar colors. ¡°So only one of these is real, I would imagine.¡±

    I heard cursing from a few stations away.

    Celica nodded and held up two vials to compare them. ¡°I can¡¯t tell which. They look the same to me, but admittedly I don¡¯t have a lot of experience with mercury.¡±

    I closed my eyes and thought back to my childhood. To Dad in the chemistry lab we had in the house. I could see it in my mind. I opened my eyes again Celica had placed the vials back in the holder.

    I pointed to each one and muttered to myself, ¡°Too thin, too dark, too pale, this one.¡±

    Celica grabbed the paper. ¡°Now we heat the mercury with the flame plate for five minutes.¡±

    ¡°All right, how do we use these things?¡±

    Celica gave me a flat look. ¡°You¡¯re able to identify mercury, but you don¡¯t know how to use a runic fire plate? You are very lucky I am your partner and not someone who might judge you for that.¡±

    It sounded like she was judging me a little. ¡°I¡¯ve seen mercury before. I just haven¡¯t seen one of these before.¡± I was looking at the plate on the counter. I poked at the engraved runes.

    Celica sighed heavily and tapped the runes twice.

    Blue-green flames ignited on the plate. A blue shimmer made a metal stand of the same color appear, perfect for holding a vial over the heat.

    ¡°That¡¯s awesome,¡± I breathed and, then snapped out of my awed daze. ¡°Okay, so, mercury vial goes here.¡± I placed it at the top.

    Celia was setting, a white egg timer like one Dad had in his lab.

    ¡°While we wait, what¡¯s next?¡± I asked her, since she still had the paper.

    ¡°Once it¡¯s done, turn off the heat and add one part basilisk venom to three parts mercury,¡± Celica read.

    I looked at the mercury vial. There was no indication how much was in there, but it didn¡¯t look like much. ¡°Where¡¯s the basilisk venom?¡± I asked, checking what we still had on the table.

    I guess Professor Gorgon had some mercy in him as there was only one helpfully labeled bottle on the table.

    I picked up the bottle and examined it; dark glass that held a light colored liquid with a dropper. ¡°I¡¯m thinking two drops. What do you think?¡±

    She eyed the bottle in my hand, and then the vial over the fire. ¡°Probably.¡±

    Since we had nothing better to do while we waited, I glanced up from our station and around the room. Some students were testing the plates one by one to see which colors they produced. Others were blindly picking a vial and hoping it was the right one.

    ¡°Well, I feel good about our odds,¡± Celica murmured. ¡°At the very least, we won¡¯t be at the bottom.¡±

    ¡°Me too,¡± I agreed.

    The timer eventually clicked and Celica tapped the side of the plate once. The fire turned off but the stand remained.

    I popped the cork off the vial and watched Celica drip two drops into the bottle. I put the cork back and watched the mercury eagerly.

    ¡°It¡¯s doing something,¡± I announced quietly, full of excitement.

    And it was. Slowly but surely it was shifting from a liquid to a sharp jagged crystalline structure.

    Celica was smiling too. ¡°It actually worked. And everyone else thought you didn¡¯t belong here. No way he can kick you out now.¡± We high-fived.

    ¡°Well, well, looks like a pair of you have finished. Let¡¯s see how you two did.¡± Professor Gorgon was standing next to our station, looming over my shoulder. Celica jumped a little.

    I sat up straight and kept a smile on my face while he picked up the vial of fully crystallized mercury. He turned and inspected it.

    ¡°Impressive.¡± He said, though his tone of voice didn¡¯t match it. He almost sounded sarcastic. Rude.

    I kept quiet while he took the vial and set it in a case for display at his table in the front of the classroom, for everyone to see. He then sat down in his chair and started reading from a book I couldn¡¯t identify.

    ¡°How does he not scare you?¡± Celica demanded under her breath.

    I turned to her. ¡°I fought death spiders last week. A strict teacher won¡¯t faze me. Besides, we did what we were supposed to and finished the lab. What can he do at this point?¡±

    Celica shook her head slowly. ¡°Should you really be making jokes about that?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine. As long as people who weren¡¯t there keep their opinions to themselves I¡¯m fine. Though I will admit I¡¯ll probably be an arachnophobe for the rest of my life.¡±

    I heard grumbling from a few stations and noticed that a few of them clearly guessed wrong on their vials.

    ¡°It was terrifying, you know. From our side. One moment you were there, the next you were violently pulled away. Like you had gotten caught in a drain. We couldn¡¯t even do anything to stop it. We didn¡¯t even see what it was. The door locked again. None of us could get it open, in our panic we had forgotten your password. Dellik wasn¡¯t much help. All of us yelling got the attention of the Pegasus group and they helped us get Professor Hearth. She helped us calm down enough for Russel to remember what password you used. When the door opened you were covered in ash and cobwebs. You looked so pale and there was a lot of blood.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± I offered.

    She scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re lucky to be sitting here. They wouldn¡¯t let us see you. Which was not helpful. I had nightmares about empty desks where you were supposed to sit.¡±

    ¡°Well I¡¯m here now.¡±

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes you are. And you¡¯re not allowed to pull stunts like that anymore.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t pull a stunt. I genuinely believed it wasn¡¯t going to work.¡±

    She rubbed her face, ¡°You opened a magically locked door by accident. This better not become a thing with you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, next time we find a mysteriously locked door I¡¯ll stay as far from it as I can.¡±

    ¡°Good. This class would probably bore me to death without you.¡±

    We looked around. Another vial was added to the display up front, but the crystal inside was a strange orange color.

    ¡°That would just be cruel of me to leave you to these guys.¡±

    (*********)

    ¡°I¡¯m mortified that so many of the best and brightest of your year were out-performed by a Pixie. Either she is in the wrong Tower or all of you need to spend less time gossiping and more time in the library. Today was a test to see if you could correctly and efficiently identify the materials and equipment you will be working with this class. Judging by what most of you turned in, I would say only a handful of you can.¡±

    Out of a total of twenty-one vials, five looked like ours, six were the wrong colors, four were still liquid, two were filled a strange black gas, and two were a green liquid.

    ¡°Lucky for you, I can¡¯t kick all of you out. As much as I would love to only have the twelve of you that actually managed to correctly complete the lab. So for those of you who failed the lab you¡¯ll get a second chance. I want an essay by Friday on where exactly you went wrong. There are shelves of alchemy books in the library. I suggest you read them.¡±

    Celica looked relieved next to me.

    ¡°Those of you who did manage to succeed, let this be a warning on complacency. This is an advanced course. For the exceptional students. Failing to prepare beforehand will make nothing but more work for you and waste my time. My time is precious. Waste too much of it and I will remove you.¡±

    Keep up or get left behind. Okay. I could live with that.

    ¡°I will see all of you tomorrow.¡±

 Episode 9: Aranaea

    I was back at Pixie table for lunch. Not by choice, not really. But once Angelina had caught sight of me, she dragged me back to the crowd of bright pink. Celica, the traitor, was laughing as I got dragged away.

    Was this going to be a thing? Angelina forcing me to sit with the other Pixies?

    ¡°How was alchemy? I¡¯ve heard Gorgon is terrifying.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad. I think the others hate me but whatever at this point.¡±

    She gasped. ¡°Don¡¯t say that! They just need to get to know you, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Gorgon said I ¡®out-performed¡¯ them and he was ¡®mortified¡¯ that a Pixie could do better than a class of Krakens and Banshees.¡± My imitation of his voice was poor, but I think she got the gist.

    She gave me a wide-eyed stare. ¡°You got stuck with Krakens? You poor thing.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°At least whatever not-nice things they think about, I don¡¯t have to hear. Unlike Pegasus.¡±

    She flinched, probably remembering that morning. ¡°That¡¯s¡­true I suppose.¡±

    ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear, it really doesn¡¯t bother me that much. I was just cranky this morning.¡±

    She gave me a soft smile. ¡°If you need anything, we¡¯re your Towermates. Remember that, okay?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I will. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    I¡¯m sure the Pixie habit of banding and staying together like an actual swarm of pixies would be comforting for the more social butterfly type of person. But that wasn¡¯t me. I didn¡¯t like crowds of people whose names I couldn¡¯t remember. But that was the center of the problem, wasn¡¯t it? I didn¡¯t fit the Pixie mold.

    Maybe even Gorgon noticed I was in the wrong Tower. He¡¯d said as much, hadn¡¯t he?

    ¡°You¡¯re so quiet, the others worry.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Mostly because I never know what to say.¡±

    She looked away from me and stared pensively into her lunch. Some kind of chicken with pasta and a cream sauce.

    I decided to let her think, and picked at the fruit and veggie burger on my plate.

    ¡°You¡¯re a vegetarian,¡± she announced. ¡°I¡¯ve known you for four days and I haven¡¯t seen you eat meat.¡±

    I swallowed the bite of melon I had just taken. ¡°Eh. Kind of. Have to be right now.¡±

    ¡°Have to?¡±

    I took a deep breath and a sip of iced tea. ¡°Did you know,¡± I asked calmly, ¡°that being bitten by a massive spider has side effects besides the scarring and swelling?¡±

    Her mouth was wide open and she was covering her face with her hands.

    ¡°For the record, this was not like a little poke of a bite. It bit, held on, and tried to drag me away. I was injected with approximately one hundred and seven milliliters of venom. Which is like¡­this much,¡± I put my finger to my iced tea glass at what I estimated to be about a little under half a cup. The Pixies nearby were staring at me with similar wide-eyed terror and awe.

    ¡°And this venom was potent. A very, very, nasty cocktail of toxins. And by the time the Healer could distribute an anti-venom it had wreaked utter havoc on most of my organs.¡±

    I was apparently starting to attract a crowd from nearby tables. Mostly sky blue and yellow. ¡°Everything is fine and working right now, but they are still not exactly in pristine condition. Technically, I¡¯m still recovering. And part of that is until my innards heal enough to process it, meat and dairy are off the menu for me.¡± I finished with a smile and another tip of tea. I looked around me to very concerned and horrified faces. ¡°What? I¡¯m fine. Really.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Angelina was shaking her head. ¡°You¡­what¡­is this why you don¡¯t talk much?¡±

    I gave her another shrug as I drank my tea.

    ¡°Holy Hecate¡­no wonder you barely left your room.¡±

    ¡°I think you all might be over-reacting,¡± I mumbled into my tea.

    ¡°You¡¯re on a medical diet.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal.¡±

    ¡°Not a big¡­how are you so okay with this?¡±

    I rolled my eyes. ¡°There really isn¡¯t anything to be upset about. A few temporary changes aren¡¯t anything to be upset about.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re weird,¡± Angelina commented. ¡°You know that right?¡± Her tone reminded me of the conversation I had with the other would-be Dragons.

    I laughed. ¡°Probably.¡±

    (*********)

    Basics on Monsters was a massive class held outside. One hundred rustic benches shaped like logs that could fit up to three people formed a half circle centered on a massive trail leading into the woods near the school. The grass was a bright and healthy green. Around me were Pixie, Basilisk, and Kelpie students. There was a dull roar of nearly seventy students chattering amongst themselves, all indistinctly.

    I was sitting by myself. Since the teacher wasn¡¯t there yet I took the opportunity to look at the castle from this angle.

    From where we were, I could clearly see the outside of two Towers. The farthest from me glowed with the white light that it was known for: Banshee Tower. No windows. Just stone that emanated a soft white light.

    And then there was the other tower I could see from this angle. Dragon Tower. The stone blended into the castle far more than Banshee Tower did, but the roaring dragon statue on top was unmistakable. Unlike the image I was given in History, there was no Dragon wrapped around the tower, just one up on the pointed roof, roaring like it had just secured a new horde of treasure. There were windows, one massive one that overlooked the entire back field of campus. I think it might have been the window I saw when inside. There were five smaller windows at the top of the tower just below where the roof started. There were no curtains, but I couldn¡¯t see inside.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like the home of unimaginable horrors. But you¡¯re the one who got a glimpse inside.¡± I turned to see that I had been joined by Fethris, who was dressed in Kelpie green.

    ¡°Howdy stranger,¡± I greeted him with a grin.

    ¡°Hi. It¡¯s nice to see you looking better. I wanted to talk to you during lunch but the other Kelpies don¡¯t understand the word ¡®no¡¯. But looks like fate is on my side here.¡±

    ¡°I think the green suits you,¡± I told him.

    He smiled. ¡°I guess. Could do without the swamp water smell and the Hecate blessed attitudes of the others.¡±

    ¡°That bad? This is my only class with Kelpies in it.¡±

    ¡°Everything you¡¯ve heard about Kelpie arrogance is true.¡±

    ¡°Well if you need a break from them, no one is sitting here.¡± I turned back to look at Dragon Tower.

    ¡°You think they¡¯ll let us actually live in there?¡± Fethris asked.

    I turned back to him. ¡°I hope so. Which might sound odd after what happened¡­but I would like to.¡±

    ¡°Well, at the very least the spiders will be gone.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there supposed to be a professor?¡± I asked. The front was still empty. Other people were looking around but the professor was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°There is. Running late on the first day is not a good way to make a good impression.¡±

    ¡°Rude,¡± I joked. ¡°Very rude professor.¡±

    Fethris nodded.

    That¡¯s when a scream echoed from the front of the group.

    Fethris, myself, and a number of Basilisk students nearby stood up in alarm. A Pixie, a girl with short light brown hair whose name I couldn¡¯t remember, was scrambling away from a massive spider on the ground.

    I felt a chill. Judging by Fethris¡¯s look of worry, I must have looked pretty pale.

    The spider in question was two feet across, had its front legs reared up, and was hissing loudly. It was an ashen grey with bright blue stripes on its legs and numerous beady eyes.

    They looked much worse in bright sunlight.

    I swayed on my feet and a hand caught me by the arm. I was shaking as Fethris helped guide me back to a sitting position.

    My ankle hurt. I think Fethris was speaking but I couldn¡¯t hear him. I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath. I counted to ten. I exhaled. Then I opened my eyes.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Fethris¡¯s eyes were wide with panic.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for the fright students. Our little friend managed to wander off. He won¡¯t attack any of you. I strengthened the wards keeping him where he is.¡± The Professor was a short portly woman. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on doing the spider unit so early in the year, but after learning of the Aranaea Imgifalso nest in Dragon Tower I couldn¡¯t resist.¡±

    And this just became my least favorite class.

    ¡°This one is a fully grown adult male,¡± The Professor continued. ¡°You¡¯ll notice the bright color on the legs. Females don¡¯t have that. In this class I will be teaching you how to identify various creatures like our friend here which you might encounter in the wilder areas of our lovely world.¡±

    Nope. Whatever region that thing came from can burn down. I don¡¯t care.

    ¡°Aranaea Imgifalso is a very rare breed of spider. Their venom has some very unique properties. No doubt a few of you have been whispering to each other about those same properties. The other purpose of this class is separate facts from rumors and speculation. Staying informed about these critters might save your life if you ever find yourselves trapped in a room with a frightened and dangerous animal.¡±

    A number of hands shot up near the front.

    ¡°You, Basilisk girl,¡± she called.

    ¡°I heard their venom makes you see things. Is that true?¡±

    Fethris scowled in the corner of my eye.

    The professor sighed. ¡°It can. But mostly the younger ones and only if a person has a particularly nasty reaction to the bite. Very few things are guaranteed with any spider bite.¡±

    I let out a small gasp. I knew it. I knew I wasn¡¯t seeing things!

    ¡°How about you?¡± she pointed to a Kelpie.

    ¡°Are these things really that dangerous?¡±

    ¡°A vast majority of spider species are harmless. Most are too small to even pierce you with their fangs. Their venom isn¡¯t designed for us. But when they get as big as our friend here, the amount of venom they produce can do incredible amounts of damage to your body. Once a bite occurs every minute will count.¡±

    A few Pixies kept glancing back at me. I wanted the Earth to open up and swallow me whole.

    ¡°But with any luck, you won¡¯t be put in that situation. If you encounter one of these there are two foolproof strategies to escape safely. One, they are very territorial, so leave slowly from wherever you¡¯d wandered into. They aren¡¯t the chasing type and can¡¯t move that quickly.¡±

    ¡°I disagree but okay,¡± I muttered softly.

    ¡°The other way, if escape is not an option, is fire magic. These fellas love dark cool spaces. They are, rightfully, terrified of fire. A simple flame will scare them away.¡±

    I nodded rapidly, the memory of bright pink flames flashed in my mind. Yeah. That worked.

    Another student asked, ¡°What are you guys going to do with the nest in Dragon Tower?¡±

    ¡°Aranaea venom has a number of other properties. For example it is an ingredient in a potion that can cure petrification from cockatrices. They will be captured and sent to schools like ours or other places that study spiders and their venoms. There are quite a few who are very interested.¡±

    Oh well. Wonderful. My misery will help advance magical medicine. Maybe. Or just give other students nightmares.

    ¡°The farther away the better,¡± I mumbled.

 Episode 10: Ghosts of the Past

    ¡°Do you have plans for your free study period?¡± Fethris asked after class as we walked back towards the castle.

    ¡°I was going to go the Library. I haven¡¯t had a chance to see it yet.¡±

    ¡°How convenient. I was planning on meeting the others there. I assume Dellik assigned you Dragon Tower like the rest of us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bet you a drake that¡¯s not a coincidence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m certain I¡¯d lose.¡±

    Fethris looked up at Dragon Tower and stopped suddenly. I followed his gaze to the massive window five stories above our heads. A student wearing a red uniform was lounging against the windowsill. She looked down at us, too far away for me to see her face, and gave a small wave. Then she was gone.

    ¡°You saw that, right?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yep. I saw that. Don¡¯t think anyone else did though.¡±

    ¡°Was that the same person you saw before?¡± he asked, excitement filling his voice.

    ¡°Probably,¡± I nodded.

    (*********)

    The five of us, in our multicolored uniforms, probably looked a bit silly. Starting at myself and going clockwise around the circular table were pink, green, blue, purple, then orange.

    It took a while for them to speak after Fethris told them about what happened after class.

    It was Jarec who broke the silence. ¡°So there is definitely something in that tower.¡±

    ¡°More like someone¡­¡± Russel commented.

    ¡°If a student had died, there would be records of it. Right?¡± Celica said. ¡°Maybe we can find out who it is.¡±

    Jarec crossed his arms and leaned back, ¡°I thought there are supposed to be wards preventing ghosts from forming or entering the castle. Jantres himself made them.¡±

    ¡°I heard that too,¡± Celica confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s all Kraken Tower talks about. How what you saw couldn¡¯t possibly be a ghost.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°If someone can come up with a better explanation, I would be happy to hear it. But I can¡¯t think of what else it could be.¡±

    ¡°It was a student,¡± Fethris said. ¡°Had to be. She was wearing a red uniform just like ours. And she was just sitting there, like she was enjoying the view.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t have been a staff member,¡± Celica muttered. ¡°The Tower was closed at that time.¡±

    ¡°Do we have access to records about Dragon Tower?¡± I asked, ¡°If there is something in it, assuming it¡¯s been there since before the closure, then someone might have written about it.¡±

    The library, to the surprise of no one, was massive. Five stories tall, designed like a staircase. The top floor was the smallest, and a balcony that overlooked the entire mass of space. The floors increased in size the further down one went. A massive twisting stairway, shaped like a double helix, ran through the center of the space.

    Jarec was looking at the space. ¡°Okay so we know what we want but how are we supposed to find anything in here?¡±

    Russel shrugged. ¡°We could split up, then meet back here if we find something.¡±

    Celica sighed loudly and in a clearly exaggerated fashion. ¡°Did no one tell you how the library works?¡±

    Jarec, Russel, and me all shook our heads.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    She turned to Fethris, who looked bemused at this, and gave him an annoyed look.

    ¡°Do you want to or should I do it?¡± he asked.

    ¡°She has an excuse, what about the two of you?¡± she demanded.

    ¡°The Salamanders were more interested in the Chaser fields.¡± Russel rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Pegasus refused to stay in one spot long enough for me to actually understand any of it,¡± Jarec groaned.

    Fethris leaned forward and placed his hands neatly folded on the table. ¡°Watch closely.¡± He then tapped the center of the table three times in rapid succession.

    There was a dim green light and then a small kelpie, roughly the size of an average housecat, neighed softly as it trotted over to him. It stood and looked up at him expectantly.

    ¡°We need books on Dragon Tower, specifically dating from times when it was occupied.¡±

    It neighed again, then dived off the table, like it was jumping into a pool. It floated away as if it was swimming.

    ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡± I exclaimed.

    ¡°Oh, I get it. Instead of an army of librarians, they installed rune summons.¡± Jarec looked carefully at the center of the table, ¡°I didn¡¯t even see that.¡±

    Sure enough, blended into the white stone of the center of the table was an etched rune.

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly more efficient than wandering the library and hoping for the best,¡± Russel commented.

    ¡°Professor Gorgon said the more specific you make the request the better, that even small details might help it find what you need,¡± Celica explained.

    I nodded. Runes weren¡¯t something I had experience with. It was going to take time to get used to them. Assuming, of course, they would even work for me.

    Our little green friend returned with five leatherbound books in shades that varied from a deep crimson to a light tan. The books, hovering in the air, placed themselves gently on the table in front of us.

    The darkest red one was titled in gold lettering that read: Successful Students of the Ninth Tower.

    The next one was a bright red with black lettering: Secrets of The Nine Towers Volume Nine: The Tower of Ancients.

    The third one was still red, but it was a desaturated color that looked almost brown. The lettering was green and said: Stories from Dragon Tower.

    Number four was a dark brown with the title in tan. The Founder¡¯s Trials: The Tower of Memories.

    A Student¡¯s Guide to Dragon Tower, was a tan book with black lettering.

    ¡°Everybody pick one?¡± I offered. ¡°Speak if you find anything interesting.¡±

    I picked the one closest to me, Stories from Dragon Tower.

    Celica picked up Secrets.

    Fethris chose Successful Students.

    Jarec grabbed A Student¡¯s Guide.

    Russel was left with The Founder¡¯s Trials.

    What I had picked, apparently, was a collection of letters written from students who were living in what is now called Dragon Tower. The earliest letters called it the Tower of Memories, which seemed to last a few hundred years judging by the dates. Then for a much longer stretch of time, it was called the Tower of Ancients. Judging again by dates the current name didn¡¯t come about until about three hundred years ago.

    I was mostly skimming through it. Most of the letters talked about grades, classes, and their Towermates. School drama. It wasn¡¯t until about halfway through that I noticed that a few names were repeated, meaning multiple members of the same line ended up in the same Tower.

    One family that popped up with consistency was the Hearth line. From the founding of the school it seemed that if the ninth Tower was open and a Hearth was attending, they were in it.

    A letter from a Serafina Hearth dating a decade before the closure of the Tower that mentioned something interesting:

    Father, I send exciting news! The Tower has deemed me worthy to commit to memory, though I didn¡¯t recognize the sound of her voice at first. Why did you never tell me I sounded like a baby songbird? She was quite amusing to see running around the Tower with no idea what lies ahead of her. I wonder if my children will someday see her walk amongst them.

    Much Love, Your Serafina.

    Memory seemed to be a running theme in the letters as well. A majority talked about the Tower remembering things. How does a Tower have memories?

    ¡°There is absolutely some kind of spell or enchantment on the Tower,¡± Russel spoke as he closed his book. ¡°Which is not surprising, the other Towers have their own things going on. But it¡¯s never described in detail. Or if it is it¡¯s too abstract to make sense of.¡±

    ¡°Is there a spell that can make a building remember people?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I have references here to something walking amongst the students in the tower.¡±

    Celica added, ¡°The guy who re-named it the Tower of Ancients said he did it because ¡®it was the one place where ancient feet still make footsteps¡¯.¡±

    ¡°So it is haunted,¡± Jarec commented. ¡°Because it sounds like it¡¯s haunted.¡±

    ¡°But not by ghosts,¡± Fethris was staring off into the distance, ¡°because some of the people who graduated talked about seeing their past selves and learning to improve. If they talked about it at all.¡±

    ¡°Is there any spell that can do that?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I have never heard of anything like what is being talked about.¡±

    ¡°If there is, I have never heard of it,¡± Celica was shaking her head.

    Russel leaned back in his chair. ¡°The founders built and enchanted each of the Towers themselves. Whatever they did to Dragon could be lost to time. Or maybe something only one of them could do.¡±

    ¡°Or all five of them together,¡± I added.

    But something still wasn¡¯t adding up. If what I saw was some kind of memory of past events, then how did she interact with me in real time? She knew I could see her and looked surprised that I noticed her.

    ¡°But the memory thing doesn¡¯t explain it fully either,¡± Fethris chimed in. ¡°Because she waved to us. She was looking at right us.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± I told the others.

    ¡°There¡¯s also another thorn in the memory thing,¡± Jarec pointed out. ¡°You said she wore a uniform just like ours?¡±

    I pointed to myself. ¡°This, but red.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± Celica said suddenly. ¡°This style of uniform was introduced until eighty years ago. Before, the overcoats just had inner linings in the colors, as opposed to the entire garment.¡±

    A change implemented after Dragon Tower was locked.

    Meaning no one should have worn a uniform like the one I saw.

    This was making my head hurt.

    ¡°When I saw her, she was definitely wearing the modern coat,¡± Fethris said looking at me.

    ¡°Both my sightings had the modern uniform.¡±

    Russel crossed his arms. ¡°Well¡­that¡¯s definitely confusing. We¡¯re missing something. Clearly.¡±

    Jarec started playing with the end of his ponytail. ¡°Something impossible and without explanation. And here I thought this old castle was going to be boring.¡± He had the hint of a grin on his face.

    Fethris looked amused. ¡°I wonder if they¡¯re ever going to let us in there.¡±

    ¡°As long as they clear the spiders out first.¡±

    Celica started giggling. ¡°If they don¡¯t, we should form a club. If I have to spend the next five years with the Krakens I might cry. This is the closest to fun I¡¯ve had since got here.¡±

    ¡°I fail to see why not. Or just meet here after classes for now. Even if we don¡¯t get any further on the Dragon Tower stuff, we can still hang out,¡± I offered. ¡°This was supposed to be a study period but why let it be boring?¡±

    ¡°We all cool with that? Meet here after the last class until we start to annoy each other too much? My father will be thrilled to know I¡¯ve already made friends.¡± Russel looked at me while he was talking. ¡°Especially ones I have so much in common with.¡±

    He was trying to hint at something. But I had no idea what. Still¡­it was better than hiding in my room in Pixie Tower.

 Episode 11: A Future in Red

    It was Friday evening in Pixie Tower. I was sitting in my room trying not to think about the ache in my foot. Apparently walking back and forth to class had caused it to swell a bit. It looked red and irritated and was clearly still healing. I wasn¡¯t shocked. Healer Sealie had warned me before turning me loose that it would recover in time and that this was a likely outcome of walking between classes. I just need to stay off of it for a little while.

    The bite mark, while looking better overall, was still very clear on my skin. The scar tissue, white and bumpy against the swollen and irritated skin around it, was clear enough that I could see the spots where the spider¡¯s fangs had broken off into my leg.

    Healer Sealie apparently had them in a glass jar in her office. She offered them to me but I had enough reminders of that night. No thank you.

    But I had made it through my first week of classes. Only thirty-nine more to go for this school year. We would get our first grade report. Not that it would say much of anything at this point, but it would be routine for the rest of the year and they wanted us to get used to the rhythm of the school as quickly as possible.

    I sighed and leaned back into the pillows, purposely trying to not look out the small arched window next to the bed.

    The thing about Pixie Tower is that it spins. I knew that. Everyone knows that. It was enchanted to have a rotation that completed once an hour. When inside the Tower, the spin is unnoticeable. That was part of the spell. The problem is that looking out a window and seeing the spin we couldn¡¯t feel gave me motion sickness. It was disorientating.

    How high up I was didn¡¯t help either.

    Here¡¯s another thing about Pixie Tower, and likely other Towers based off the exteriors: is that while we entered the tower on the ground floor of the castle, it wasn¡¯t ground floor for the tower. For Pixie Tower, we entered it on the fourth floor. Meaning I was seven floors off the ground, nearing eighty feet.

    So in conclusion: looking out of a window in Pixie Tower was not fun, enjoyable, or relaxing.

    Which was a shame really.

    What was the point of sleeping in a Tower of an ancient castle if I couldn¡¯t even enjoy the view?

    I rubbed the swollen bite mark, the bruise-like ache making me wish for home. But this was what I had wanted. Over three thousand miles away from home surrounded by strangers and magic and unfamiliarity. I buried my face in my hands.

    ¡°Get a grip Serafina. It¡¯s just a stupid spider bite. You¡¯re probably just homesick,¡± I mumbled into my palms. Saying the word out loud only helped a little. I could still handle this.

    An eager knock on my door made me move my hands. ¡°You can come on in,¡± I informed the other side of the simple wooden door.

    It was Angelina. ¡°We got mail for you!¡± She grinned from ear to ear while hiding her hands behind her back. Mail? For me?

    She skipped over and set a plain white cardboard box next to me. It was heavy and rectangular. The only thing identifying it was a return address that I knew by heart. From home.

    ¡°If you¡¯re curious, you can stay,¡± I told Angelina and her excited puppy dog eyes. I opened the box carefully as she sat down on the floor next to my bed.

    It was a textbook. Mostly light blues with white lettering. A phantom image of the periodic table formed the main image. A name at the bottom brought a smile to my face.

    Angelina looked confused.

    An Introduction to Chemistry written by Victor Stewart.

    I hugged it to my chest, the dark cloud in my brain clearing a bit. The solid weight and fresh book smell were more comforting than anything else this past week. I almost missed the note that slipped out of the box.

    Lucinda informed me that the library will only have texts related to magic. I understand why. I was worried you might be overwhelmed by it all. Magic is a part of you. But so is this. You will always be my daughter. No matter what path you choose in life. That school is in your blood. You belong there as long as you want to. But you¡¯ll always have a place amongst us non-magical folk.

    Wishing you the best, your father.

    My dad was a sap. I missed him.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°It¡¯s a piece of home from my dad,¡± I told Angelina eventually.

    ¡°Aw¡­¡± she cooed. ¡°that¡¯s so cute!¡±

    I rolled my eyes a little. She was right, but hearing her say it made it sound shameless. ¡°Did you just come in here to play mailwoman to the cripple?¡±

    There was a flash of panic, ¡°You¡¯re not actually crippled, are you?¡±

    ¡°No. I was joking.¡±

    She relaxed a little from relief. ¡°The first and second years are going to go to tour the club openings. We can¡¯t join some of them, but we can still go look. You think you¡¯re going to be able to come with us?¡±

    I had nothing better to do. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know at breakfast. If I try and push myself too far Healer Sealie will have my head.¡±

    She nodded and smiled brightly.

    (*********)

    The next morning at breakfast, me with my plate of fruit salad and toast with jam, and Angelina with some kind of omelet with vegetables in it, I told her that I was feeling better. Which was true and the concept of clubs made me curious. I had no intention of joining any, but what harm was there in taking a look?

    The dozens of apparent clubs here had all set up booths and demonstrations outside the castle.

    At least it was a nice day.

    ¡°Do you have your eye on anything?¡± Angelina asked.

    ¡°Not really, but why not look?¡±

    She frowned and led me by the hand towards the massive crowd. We split off from the other Pixies, through the multicolored crowd but going the opposite direction the majority were walking in.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to drag me everywhere,¡± I informed her.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± She let go of my hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m not upset.¡± Well, not upset enough to want to make it a big deal. I slipped my hands into my pocket.

    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­I worry. We worry. You¡¯ve barely even smiled since getting here and-¡±

    I sighed. ¡°You do know that not everyone is like you Pixies, right? Not everyone¡¯s default expression is cheery.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a Pixie too.¡±

    I shrugged, my hands still in my pockets, ¡°Technically. But there is a reason it didn¡¯t choose me. But don¡¯t mistake indifference for something it isn¡¯t. If I¡¯m actually upset at anything I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    ¡°Like that Pegasus guy the other day.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°I think he might have it out for you. He was glaring in Spellcraft yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Was he?¡± I asked, more curious than anything. I was terrible at paying attention to people around me. I only really knew Angelina out of the Pixies and the only classmates whose names I confidently knew were the other would-be Dragons.

    ¡°Do you just¡­not care at all?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. I only have so much energy you know? If I spent it all worrying about others I¡¯d never get anything done.¡±

    She blinked at me. ¡°You¡¯re¡­an odd one.¡± She stated, ¡°Not in like a bad way or anything!¡±

    I rolled my eyes at her. ¡°Did you have any clubs you wanted to join?¡± I asked, changing the subject deliberately. ¡°I forgot to ask earlier.¡±

    She flushed. ¡°Well¡­I was going to try out for Chaser Support. It¡¯s a bit of a Pixie tradition.¡±

    Ah. Of course. The group in charge of refereeing, cheering, and organizing events for the Chaser team. ¡°I can see that. If you want emotional support I can sit on the side-lines and clap for you.¡±

    She laughed. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    We walked for a bit, side by side with her chattering about Chaser tryouts.

    ¡°The team is usually mostly Salamanders and Slyphids,¡± she was saying excitedly. ¡°They¡¯re so cool.¡±

    Of course, the highly competitive Tower and the eager for every new adventure Tower made sense for the sport team. I hummed in agreement to reassure her I was in fact listening.

    ¡°They aren¡¯t doing tryouts today for the team. Just letting people sign up. They¡¯ll probably do it next weekend.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to watch the tryouts?¡± I asked despite guessing the answer was yes.

    ¡°Yep!¡± she grinned. She gasped and then stopped in her tracks. I stopped a few feet ahead of her.

    ¡°Something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No one told me we had a fortune telling club!¡± she shouted in joy. ¡°Can we go check it out?!¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± I told her.

    ¡°Yay!¡± she clapped and nearly ran towards the booth. I sighed and followed her. I stopped once to apologize once to someone she nearly bumped into in her excitement.

    The Fortune Telling Club¡¯s set up reminded me a bit of a tent I had once seen at a fair my parents had taken me to. The sign for it had constellations and horoscopes on it. The people were wearing their school uniforms. It was a mix of Banshee white, Kelpie green and Basilisk brown.

    We were greeted by a male student in green with silver hair. ¡°Hello ladies, would either of you be interested in knowing your future?¡±

    I pointed silently towards Angelina, who was practically vibrating with excitement. Her eyes nearly doubled in size at the actual crystal ball set up on a table. A Banshee sat there smiling at a couple of other students hanging around.

    ¡°Yes. Very much so,¡± she said.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Angelina Farsee.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°I know your family¡¯s reputation. Why don¡¯t you try out the crystal ball on your friend?¡±

    She turned to me with wide eyes. She looked like a sad puppy. I sighed in surrender. Not that she needed to go to such lengths.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    And that is how I ended up sitting in front a crystal ball across from Angelina. The ball sat neatly on a metal stand that looked like tree roots sprouting upwards and holding the volleyball sized orb of glass. It was perfectly smooth and inside I saw flecks and specks of glittering shards and fragments of stones. I remembered my mother reading to me about these. The various gemstones allowed the channeling of energy while the glass enabled the energy to produce an actual image. Like the screen of a projector. This was my first time seeing a real one.

    Angelina was sitting up much straighter than I had seen her do in any of our classes so far. Her eyes held a hint of seriousness to them. She wiped her hands on her shirt then held them out to me.

    ¡°I can do this. Just give your hands and I¡¯ll tell you what I see. Maybe there¡¯s someone cute in your future.¡±

    I sincerely doubted that. Not the future seeing part, the ¡®someone cute¡¯ part. But that was not a conversation I felt like having at this point. She seemed nice and all but no reason to go there a minute sooner than I have to. I gave her my hands despite my misgivings.

    Angelina took a long deep breath and closed her eyes. I counted to three before she opened them again. Her irises were glowing with a red color that I hadn¡¯t seen before.

    The crystal ball filled with red smoke, swirling and clouding the glass. I couldn¡¯t look directly at it. Something about it made my head hurt.

    ¡°I see two shades of red,¡± she said calmly and more quietly than normally spoke. I only saw one shade of red but I felt no urge to interrupt her. ¡°One is¡­relaxed. Gentle. It will feel like home and comfort. But the other shade¡­it looks like blood. Danger. They¡¯re¡­intertwined. You can¡¯t have one without the other. But you won¡¯t be alone.¡±

    The smoke emptied and she blinked a few times, the red fading back to her natural blue. She gasped.

    ¡°Huh. It that how it¡¯s supposed to go?¡± I asked. The headache was fading quickly.

    She frowned. ¡°That was more vague than what I normally see. It was like¡­something was blocking me. But I wonder what it meant.¡±

    I snorted. ¡°Clearly the universe is telling me that going back to Dragon Tower will be just as much fun as the first time.¡± Because the only things red in this school were related to Dragon Tower.

    She laughed. ¡°Then you should stay in Pixie Tower!¡±

    ¡°That isn¡¯t up to me. That¡¯s up to the Headmaster, Professor Hearth and whoever else makes decisions here.¡± From what Mom had told me, decisions of that level were usually made by a group of the most senior staff.

    There was clapping from nearby. ¡°Impressive, Miss Farsee. To be expected of the family that invented most of modern Fortune-Telling.¡±

    Angelina blushed brightly. Someone might have forgotten we had an audience. ¡°Well¡­I mean¡­yeah? Can I join your club?¡±

    ¡°You have fun,¡± I told her as I got up from the table. Maybe I would go find the Alchemy club. The chances of there being one had to be pretty good, right?

 Episode 12: Seeing Double

    Basilisk Tower stood proud over the grass fields and crowds of students. The outside was a muddy brown, or to be more precise made of mud bricks. The stonework enchanted to look like mud and straw and dirt, but it was just as strong as the other Towers. And like the other Towers hidden amongst the rockwork were wards and runes meant to keep threats like the undead at bay.

    They were ancient and thrumming with unfathomable power all of which made my story about ghosts impossible. But I saw something. I experienced something.

    And somehow, I¡¯d prove it.

    Speaking of ghost stories¡­ there was Dragon Tower. Why did I always end up here? I half considered walking away from it¡­ but then I noticed something. The dragon statue had moved again. This time its head was resting just below the main window. The tail and body curled up underneath forming a spiral.

    I double-checked the window. No movement or hint of a person behind the glass. For now.

    I looked around at the booths near me. There was a brewing club, run mostly by Krakens and some older Pixies that I vaguely recognized. Pass.

    Botany, lead by a mix of Basilisks and Sylphids. Hard pass.

    I almost didn¡¯t notice when I nearly bumped into a familiar set of princess braids.

    ¡°There you are! We¡¯ve been looking all over for you!¡± Celica said. Though something about her face looked¡­off. Different.

    But I couldn¡¯t tell what it was.

    ¡°We?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Come on!¡±

    Something felt off. Wrong, somehow.

    ¡°You¡¯re looking at me funny,¡± she said.

    And something was funny about her. I tried to think of how to voice the thoughts swirling in my mind when a loud, boisterous, and familiar laugh echoed over the crowd around us.

    ¡°And that¡¯s our cue,¡± she giggled and moved behind to start shoving me forward. Seriously, what had gotten into her?

    I was glad I was wearing layers. Somehow, even through my light jacket and gloves Celica¡¯s hand was ice cold. Almost painful and sharp.

    That can¡¯t be healthy.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked, worried.

    ¡°Huh? Yeah, why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re acting strangely.¡± Among other things.

    ¡°Am I?¡± She hummed. ¡°I don¡¯t think I am¡­We might have to talk to Prime.¡±

    Prime? ¡°Who?¡±

    I was suddenly spun around. Celica had her head tilted and she blinked at me a few times. But I figured out what was wrong with her face. Her eyes were the wrong colors. They were both purple.

    ¡°I forgot to introduce myself, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°I am very confused right now.¡± I told her plainly.

    ¡°I¡¯m a duplicate! Prime sent me to look for you.¡± Duplicate? Realization dawned on me. Duplication spells were infamously complex. Celica could do that?

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    ¡°To clarify, ¡®Prime¡¯ is the real Celica?¡± I asked, my mind reeling from the audacious display of skill.

    She nodded. ¡°I knew you were smart. Now come on!¡±

    I shrugged her hands off and followed her. She frowned for a moment but let me escape her icy grip. But as I walked next to her she broke out into a very un-Celica-like grin. Looking at her at little closer, Not-Celica¡¯s skin was lighter, closer to a pastel blue than the light grey.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see their faces when a Kraken shows up for tryouts. This is going to be way more entertaining than the Newspaper Club.¡± That sounded like Jarec.

    ¡°You sure you¡¯re not going to tryout too?¡± Celica¡¯s voice, and I really hoped it was the real one this time.

    ¡°I would. But I have this terrible habit of falling on my face whenever I step on one of those boards. You want to go break your nose, be my guest.¡±

    ¡°Oh please, I have the grace of a swan.¡±

    ¡°All I heard was I need a front row seat and popcorn.¡±

    Maybe this wasn¡¯t a good idea after all.

    ¡°Prime! I found one!¡± Not-Celica called out. She waved wildly and pointed at me.

    Celica and Jarec were leaning against Dragon Tower chatting loudly with seemingly no care about who heard them. The eyeroll the fake one received for her efforts was a dead giveaway, this one was very definitely real. Her eyes were even the right color.

    Celica smirked as I approached. Not-Celica took off in a different direction leaving me in the care of my should have been Towermates.

    ¡°Hello.¡± I greeted with far less volume and enthusiasm than my guide.

    ¡°There she is! The conquering hero and defeater of spiders!¡± Jarec teased.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We should coordinate what clubs we¡¯re joining. I don¡¯t want us to pick things that make it impossible to hang out together because we didn¡¯t plan,¡± Celica explained.

    ¡°I only had my eyes on the Alchemy club.¡± I told her.

    Jarec had no reaction. Celica started laughing.

    ¡°You can¡¯t! Gorgon will have an aneurysm,¡± she said around her laughter.

    That hurt. Though was probably true.

    ¡°Who?¡± Jarec asked.

    ¡°Head of Kraken Tower and our Alchemy teacher,¡± I explained.

    ¡°And Serafina is the bane of his existence.¡±

    Jarec¡¯s eyes started to glint with what I could only describe as pure mischief. ¡°Serafina, do you cause trouble in Alchemy?¡±

    ¡°No. She¡¯s the model Advanced Alchemy student. But she¡¯s a Pixie. And our class is full of Krakens and Banshees and we are kicking their asses.¡±

    So what if Pixies had a reputation for not being the smartest? So what if I was the only Pixie in an Advanced class? I looked away from both of them and up at the face of the Dragon statue.

    Were its eyes glowing?

    ¡°It¡¯s not that big of a deal,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°You got the only one hundred on the first quiz, and we both are the only ones to clear all five labs this week,¡± The glee in Celica¡¯s voice made me want to go find a nice hole to go hide in.

    ¡°Oh the Banshees must hate you,¡± Jarec sounded so amused by this.

    ¡°The Krakens definitely do,¡± Celica nodded slowly.

    ¡°Compared to the exam the quiz was easy,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°And did you get a hundred on the exam too?¡± Celica teased.

    I had, but something in both of their faces told me that telling them that would be an invitation for my own misery. But I opened my mouth anyway. ¡°If I did would you hate me?¡±

    Celica gasped. Jarec laughed.

    ¡°You did what? I was joking! What are you?!¡±

    I shrugged again. ¡°What did you get?¡±

    She started ranting. ¡°I scored an eighty-six! I had to take a placement test! This is bullshit. No wonder you got shoved into our class. One hundred on the entrance exam.¡±

    ¡°If it makes you feel better; I didn¡¯t do nearly as well on the other parts.¡±

    Celica was still not looking at me. ¡°Can I tell the Krakens this? I need someone else to be angry at this for me.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure they¡¯d believe her. ¡°Why not?¡±

    She turned to Jarec. ¡°Can you believe this? And she doesn¡¯t even care! Like it¡¯s nothing. Gorgon is going to have a stroke.¡±

    Jarec had mercy on me, ¡°It¡¯s for the best. I heard the Alchemy Club meets on Sunday mornings.¡±

    Oof. ¡°So even if he didn¡¯t hate me, I couldn¡¯t join anyway.¡± My Sunday mornings were taken by visits with Healer Sealie until further notice. Just to make sure I was healing correctly.

    ¡°It¡¯s for the best. We¡¯ll find other things that are far more entertaining to do.¡± Celica winked.

    Oh no. I had a flashback to my mother and her idea of fun. Dread pooled in my stomach.

    But lucky me whatever trouble she was thinking up got interrupted by a newcomer. But this one wasn¡¯t a Dragon. I vaguely recognized him. I think he was in my Spellcraft class.

    He coughed into his hand. Celica gave him a flat look that reminded me of when we met. He turned to me, ¡°You¡¯re Serafina Stewart, right? Hi, I¡¯m part of the School Newspaper. Would you be interested in doing an interview about Dragon Tower?¡±

    ¡°No thanks,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Are you sure? I could get you on the front page,¡± he offered.

    ¡°Definitely no thanks,¡± I told him, the very idea gripping my heart with an irrational terror almost on par with the image of spiders.

    ¡°You won¡¯t even have to do anything, just answer a few questions! It¡¯ll be great!¡±

    ¡°She said ¡®no¡¯. No piss off,¡± Celica interjected.

    My savior. I¡¯ll tolerate whatever mischief she cooks up.

    ¡°This is why we have a reputation for being nosy,¡± Jarec rolled his eyes. ¡°Please don¡¯t embarrass our Tower.¡±

    The guy¡¯s eyes narrowed on Jarec, who was still leaning casually against the stonework of Dragon Tower, and huffed once before turning around and leaving.

    After a few seconds Celica turned to Jarec, ¡°He¡¯s cute. Until he opens his mouth.¡±

    Jarec nodded, ¡°He has abs. I am very much a fan.¡±

    ¡°But you,¡± she turned back to me, ¡°need to be more assertive.¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to cause a fight with people.¡±

    ¡°You managed with Gorgon, and he is a lot scarier than some Pegasus punk.¡±

    I cringed.

    She rolled her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll work on it. In the meantime you should come watch me tryout for the chaser team next week. Or you could just hang around like Jarec and gawk at the athletes.¡±

    Jarec, unembarrassed, shrugged, ¡°What can I say? I appreciate good physique.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll support you,¡± I told them really not wanting to go near the other suggestion. ¡°But a warning, I know nothing about Chaser or the people who play it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t know much about it either. Just clap randomly and no one will care,¡± Jarec commented.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be that complicated.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only trying out because your brother said you shouldn¡¯t.¡± Jarec accused. Brother? Celica had a brother? Hmm.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m trying out because there are some very cute Pixie girls who I know will be there.¡± Celica was smirking again.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s worse,¡± I commented.

    She ignored my contribution. ¡°And maybe you can introduce me to some of them?¡±

    I sighed, ¡°I¡¯ve been told that most of the Tower is going to be there. And Pixies aren¡¯t exactly a shy bunch. If they¡¯re interested, they will introduce themselves.¡± Please don¡¯t ask me to wingwoman. I don¡¯t know how romance even works!

 Episode 13: Choices and Consequences

    Healer Sealie looked worried about something. She was frowning deeply as she held my wrist softly. Her fingers over my veins as a pale blue light glowed from her hands.

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Good news, you are on track for healing from the spider bite. You¡¯ll still need to take the medicine every day and stay on the vegetarian diet for the next week at least.¡±

    Okay. That wasn¡¯t so bad. But was there bad news?

    ¡°Your mana veins, on the other hand, aren¡¯t recovering at a healthy rate. They¡¯ve barely recovered.¡±

    ¡°Is that bad?¡±

    ¡°Have you been sleeping? Your weight has stayed the same so you must be eating. Have classes been that stressful?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No trouble sleeping and classes have been all right. No stress there.¡±

    ¡°Have you been getting along with your Towermates? Pixies aren¡¯t the types to cause problems but-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Pixies,¡± I told her. Sure I had hidden in my room for most of the week as it was the only place in the Tower for peace and quiet.

    ¡°Is there anything you haven¡¯t told me because there is no mana in your body right now. Do you understand how serious that is?¡±

    I did. But a problem with my mana veins was new. It was likely connected to my lifelong problem. ¡°I have always had issues with casting magic. I can¡¯t cast. I¡¯ve never consciously cast a spell in my life. I never cast anything before the spider attack.¡±

    I sat there in silence. Waiting for either the disbelief or disgust.

    She let go of my wrist. I shrank inwards onto myself.

    There was a horrifying few seconds of quiet from Healer Sealie. Not even a gasp of air.

    I trembled. My throat felt clogged. Don¡¯t cry Serafina.

    ¡°Has Lucinda ever had that checked out by a Healer before me? Do your parents know?¡±

    I swallowed and nodded. ¡°They know. Mom tried to take me to Healers but they all said it was because of my father.¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s human,¡± she whispered. ¡°So they never found anything?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°No, they never looked for an explanation.¡±

    The frown on her face deepened even more. ¡°Here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. I am going to let you loose for today and I am going to have a talk with your parents. I want to run a few tests that we don¡¯t normally run here. Until then I am going to write a note for your Spellcraft Professor telling him that the spider bite has inhibited your use of magic and you are under strict orders from me to not push yourself.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°You think there¡¯s something else going on?¡±

    ¡°My twenty-seven years of experience tells me that there is something we don¡¯t know yet. I don¡¯t want to alarm you until I have an actual answer though.¡±

    The unknown was more alarming than anything else. ¡°Is there anything you can tell me?¡±

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Whatever this is that¡¯s blocking your mana veins has nothing to do with your father. Whatever is happening to you is an outside force. In truth, I haven¡¯t seen much like it before. I don¡¯t want to speculate much until I run further tests. And don¡¯t feel bad for telling them to go stuff it if anyone bothers you about your father.¡±

    Or better-just not tell anyone about him being human.

    ¡°Now off you go. I¡¯m sure you have better things to do than sit around here.¡±

    There was that history paper I had to work on. Might as well get that started.

    (*********)

    I was hiding in the library. Like a coward. But to be fair, getting anything done in the pink hell was near impossible. Seventy people talking over each other, no wonder no one else was taking an advanced class.

    The library was sterile and quiet. Peaceful and serene. Ideal for studying or working on homework. Or it was supposed to be.

    The history paper was coming along. A little. I had a whole paragraph. Which was more than I had that morning. One down, fourteen more to go. Which was not a lot to show for an hour of sitting here.

    Not that I had actually picked a topic. But faking a few opening sentences wasn¡¯t that hard. It was the rest of this paper that was kicking my butt. And staring at the papers in front of me wasn¡¯t getting me to the finish line any quicker. I still had three weeks left to finish this thing.

    I missed my headphones.

    I missed Iron Roses.

    Why was homework so much easier with music playing?

    On a whim, and because the library was empty enough that I was confident no one would hear it, I started humming one of Iron Roses songs. The first one I heard found one day while on YouTube looking for some new music. Hearts Of Steel. It was one of their slower songs, and had the most English in it compared to the others. The Russian half of the song was better. The heavy metal was relaxing. Though maybe it wasn¡¯t supposed to be.

    I finished the song twice before deciding to pack this unproductive work session.

    (*********)

    I did, unfortunately, have to return to the sensory nightmare of Pixie Tower. Because no food or drink in the Library and I had medicine to take. Ugh.

    Thankfully, at one in the afternoon the Tower was empty. Or as close to empty as I had seen it this past week. Angelina was out doing¡­whatever she does on Sundays, and I had yet to really talk to anyone else.

    Which maybe I should fix. I do have three out of four classes with them. And probably will until winter break. But that was a later problem. Now I had tea to make.

    Off of the main common room in Pixie Tower there was a round wooden door, circular and small, that lead off into a small kitchenette with lots of table space. Not enough to cook anything substantial, but enough for people to have beverages and make something warm to drink.

    The medicine that Healer Sealie had prescribed was a light green herb mixture. I wasn¡¯t sure the exact mix of the compound but I knew it had to be the single most bitter thing on the planet. Even after a tablespoon of honey and diluting it with a large cup of green tea it was pure misery in a glass.

    But if I ever wanted to eat normally again I had to take it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think glaring at it will make it taste better.¡± Professor Dellik was suddenly behind me.

    After nearly jumping out of my skin I turned around to face him. ¡°Hello Professor.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you, please call me Dellik.¡±

    ¡°Was there something you wanted?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Just checking in. Do you have a moment to sit and talk with me? Don¡¯t worry this isn¡¯t about your schoolwork.¡±

    Saying ¡®no¡¯ would probably just cause me problems down the line, wouldn¡¯t it? ¡°Okay.¡± It was quiet and unenthusiastic. But if he was expecting cheery, he was talking to the wrong student forced into a pink uniform.

    I sat down at one of the long tables that looked like they were picked up at a thrift store after spending decades in the house of some eccentric grandmother whose idea of restoration was to paint it pastel pink. Or maybe someone cast a spell on doll furniture to make it person sized.

    Even the mugs had floral patterns on them.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t I start simple? How are you settling in here at Pixie Tower?¡±

    I wasn¡¯t. ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡±

    ¡°Angelina Farsee is worried. She seems to think you hate it here.¡±

    I kind of did. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± How was I supposed to even phrase this? ¡°I don¡¯t know. It has nothing to do with the people.¡± Which was mostly true. I couldn¡¯t really pinpoint the exact issue. But I could feel in my bones that Pixie Tower wasn¡¯t for me.

    ¡°I¡¯m not as worried,¡± he said.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°You might not be spending time with your fellow Pixies. But you have been spending time with classmates, without anyone pushing you to do so.¡±

    I nearly sighed with relief. This wasn¡¯t an intervention.

    ¡°If I had reason to believe you weren¡¯t spending time with anyone, willingly or not, then I would worry. But I know you talk with Miss Farsee and you get along with Russel Kingsley.¡±

    I let myself sigh audibly.

    ¡°Each Tower has its upsides. But they also have their downsides. There¡¯s nothing wrong with being comfortable elsewhere.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if everyone would agree with him.

    ¡°I know Pixie Tower can be a lot for people. As much as I hate to admit it, we earned our reputation for being loud, obnoxious and far too eager.¡±

    So someone in this Tower was at least a little self-aware. Wonderful. ¡°Is it an insult if I agree with you?¡± And I maybe shouldn¡¯t have said that.

    He laughed, ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I was called much worse when I was Pixie Tower Representative back when I was a student here. I¡¯ve heard all of it and then some.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re not upset or here to tell me I should try and be more like a Pixie?¡±

    ¡°Gods no. You¡¯d be miserable and it would go against all the things Pixie Tower stands for. If you weren¡¯t allowed to be yourself here then I would have failed at being the head of this Tower at the most basic level.¡±

    ¡°And what is Pixie Tower supposed to stand for?¡±

    He just smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s not my place to tell you. That¡¯s for you to find out while you¡¯re here with us. Even if that¡¯s only for the next few weeks.¡±

    ¡°Are they still not sure about that?¡± How hard was it to just make a decision?

    ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to tell you this so keep it to yourself, but the committee in charge of that project is evenly split. From what I hear it¡¯s up to Vivian Hearth to make the final choice, and she has remained undecided since that first day.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful,¡± I groaned. ¡°How hard of a decision can it be?¡±

    He shrugged uselessly. ¡°Vivian is only worried about the safety of students.¡±

    ¡°I hate being in limbo,¡± I told him as I drank the now cool tea mixture. Absolutely horrid taste. Ugh.

    ¡°Just focus on your classes for now. I¡¯ll let you know when I have updates.¡±

    We¡¯ll see about that.

 Episode 14: A New Week and a New Adventure

    Sunday evening and I was hiding in my room again. But I was also having a call with my mother, so whatever. The ComMirror was balanced on top of my now-empty truck, and propped up by a pillow allowing her voice to carry to the room. The door was closed to keep the noise of the Tower out and our conversation in.

    ¡°First week officially done! How do you feel?¡± Mom was as excited as ever. Her eyes were wide and the smile on her face looked ready to split her face in half.

    ¡°Tired,¡± I told her while laying out my uniform for tomorrow.

    She sighed, her smile dropping a fraction but her eyes still followed me. ¡°Come on! Give me something! Making new friends? Are you liking Pixie Tower?¡±

    ¡°I talk to the other Dragon kids mostly,¡± I told her. Purposefully not answering her question about Pixie Tower.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you some extra spending money. Maybe you¡¯ll like your room more after decorating it.¡± She must have picked up on and decided to ignore my attempt to side-step. Ah well.

    I rolled my eyes and turned towards the refection of my mother in the ComMirror. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are enough posters in the world to make me like this room.¡± As funny as the idea of covering the walls with Iron Roses and maybe horror movie posters to try and offset all of the pink in the room was, that was more effort than I felt this place desvered.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡±

    ¡°Mom. I live in a Barbie DreamHouse. That spins. I would need to burn it all down and start from scratch. Look at this place. Pink wallpaper, pink carpet, pink bedspread. My eyes hurt looking at it. And I might move out any day. Apparently Dragon Tower is a hot debate topic amongst the staff.¡±

    Mom laughed. ¡°Oh I remember. Getting those old folks to just make a choice, any choice was always a nightmare.¡± She smiled. ¡°Have you done anything fun yet?¡±

    ¡°I turned Mercury into a solid in Alchemy, and had my fortune told yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Ooh! I didn¡¯t know you were into fortune telling, Serafina. Since when?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not. A Pixie I hang out with is.¡±

    ¡°Do they have a name?¡±

    ¡°Angelina Farsee.¡±

    ¡°Oh that¡¯s nice. I bet she saw some interesting things.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Not really. She saw two shades of red. That was it.¡±

    ¡°Was she trying?¡±

    ¡°Her eyes turned red and she made a comment about something blocking her. Does that mean anything to you?¡±

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Mom¡¯s eyebrows furrowed, worried. ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s odd. Being in an Awakened state should have allowed her to see more than that. Unless she really didn¡¯t know what she was doing.¡±

    ¡°She seemed pretty confused,¡± I told her. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s up with that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a little worrying. Being able to hinder something like that is no easy feat.¡± Mom hummed for a second. ¡°Did you feel anything during the process?¡±

    ¡°I got a headache from looking at the crystal ball. Does that mean anything?¡±

    ¡°A headache? Strange. Very strange. Have you told anyone else about this?¡±

    ¡°No. Do you think I should?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Helpful Mom. Very helpful.¡±

    ¡°Enough of this downer talk. You said you were spending time with the others chosen by Dragon Tower? Tell me about them!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re fun,¡± I told her. ¡°It¡¯s been a week. I don¡¯t exactly have much to say about them yet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re making friends. I won¡¯t pretend that you would ever want to be the most popular girl in school, but having a few people is good. I had a close-knit group of friends myself when I went there. All from other Towers. I¡¯m still in contact with a few of them.¡±

    ¡°The Terribles.¡± I remembered from Mom¡¯s stories of her schooldays.

    ¡°No! That was not our name!¡± The tone of her voice was a blend of fake and genuine offense.

    ¡°That¡¯s what the teachers called you,¡± I teased with a grin.

    ¡°We were the Exterreri. And we ruled that school in our fifth year.¡± And from the stories she told me, they were terrors to the students and staff the other four. All while being at the top of the social ladder.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see me ruling anything Mom,. I shook my head. There was an image that definitely didn¡¯t make any sense, for me at least. Mom had told me all the stories already. Climbing up to the roofs of the castle to hoist a flag on their last day, and then Mom coming back less than two years later to start teaching here.

    There was a reason she was a Sylphid all those years ago.

    Probably the same reason I wasn¡¯t one now.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. All that matters to me is that you be you. That whatever it is you do, you do it your way. No one else¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying. We¡¯ll see how it goes.¡±

    (*********)

    Not well. It was going not well. Dinner time. Tofu in teriyaki sauce with fried rice and broccoli. Angelina was chattering with Pixies around me. I had yet to have anything to add their conversation which was mostly hold-over excitement for the clubs they had all joined and the upcoming Chaser tryouts.

    It seemed like every Pixie except me was in at least one club. Many were in several.

    Angelina turned to me and finally asked the question. ¡°Serafina did you find anything you wanted to join?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± I told her between bites of rice.

    ¡°We have nearly seventy clubs and you didn¡¯t find any you liked?¡± an older Pixie, I think he was in third year, asked.

    I shrugged. ¡°Not really.¡±

    Angelina frowned. ¡°Maybe you could start one, we could help!¡±

    ¡°If I ever have the urge to actually start a club you¡¯ll be the first person I tell.¡±

    Her frown switched to a pleased smile.

    I was proud that I didn¡¯t roll my eyes. But I was getting the hang of handling the Pixies. Or maybe it was just Angelina. But it was something.

    ¡°By the way, the guys from Fortune Telling wanted me to ask if you were interested in more readings. Apparently our little demonstration got their attention,¡± Angelina continued.

    ¡°I think being told I might be in danger once is good enough. Thanks but no thanks.¡±

    She nodded, ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± There was a several-second pause from her. ¡°Wait, that means you believed it?¡±

    I shrugged at her. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? I saw the red smoke in the crystal ball. And you don¡¯t seem like the lying type.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t look worried though.¡±

    ¡°Well, ¡®danger¡¯ could mean anything, couldn¡¯t it? Not necessarily life and death. It might just mean I¡¯m more likely to stub my toe on a daily basis if I move into Dragon Tower.¡±

    She gave me what could best be described as a ¡®confused dog head tilt¡¯ and blinked several times.

    I decided to continue. ¡°Didn¡¯t you also say I¡¯d feel at home? Can¡¯t do that if I¡¯m destined to die or something.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if that¡¯s pessimistic or optimistic.¡±

    I grinned.  ¡°A girl has got to have her secrets.¡±

    Angelina did not look impressed.

    (*********)

    There was a small sliver of time between sundown and curfew at the Towers of Nine School of Magic Study and Practice. Less than an hour. Just enough to find a bench and get a few minutes of looking up at the infinite stars that were usually blocked out by things like city lights. Here, there was no silly human light pollution to hide the countless planets and burning balls of gas unfathomably far away.

    It was even more beautiful than Mom had described.

    It was also the only thing that had gone the way I wanted it to since getting here.

    But it was going to get better. The worst of all of this was behind me. It had to be. The Aranaea encounter was an accident. An outlying blip in my school life.

    (*********)

    When I got to Practical Spellcraft, there was a strange energy in the room. Metaphorically. The other students all seemed more jittery than they had last week, and the Pixies were even more wide-eyed and excited than they were at breakfast. I didn¡¯t like it. I looked around to see the source of it, and noticed our Professor was not alone.

    Standing next to Professor Telvis, in a near-identical straight-backed stance as that first day, was Professor Vivian Hearth. Not a hair out of place and a serious expression on her face.

    What was she doing here?

 Episode 15: A Message in Blood

    ¡°I assume you all remember Vivian Hearth?¡± Professor Telvis asked.

    There was a rumble of affirmation.

    ¡°Good. Before you ask, she¡¯s here to help me oversee a little exercise we¡¯re doing today. But before we get into that, I need to ask all of you a question. Who here has heard of Awakening before?¡±

    A vast majority of the students, myself included, raised our hands.

    ¡°Good. And who here has actually entered an Awakened state?¡±

    Most of the hands went down, leaving only four, two Sylphids whose names I didn¡¯t know, Jarec Quicksilver, and Angelina.

    Professor Telvis nodded, like this was what he expected. The four put their hands down. ¡°Before we begin, for those you don¡¯t know, Awakening is a natural part of the process of becoming an adult in our world. We won¡¯t be worrying about the specific mechanics of it. I only want to focus on the parts that affect your Spellcraft and will only test you on what we go over in class.

    ¡°The main thing you need to know this moment is that when in that state you will be capable of magical feats far beyond your normal limits. But that naturally comes at a price. It drains your body completely of your mana reserves and renders you unable to cast for a period of time. At your age a full night¡¯s rest should fully restore your mana. At mine it might take a little bit longer.¡±

    There were a few awkward laughs.

    Professor Hearth stayed silent and stoic.

    ¡°Now do any of you have questions before we move down to the dungeons for our exercise?¡± Professor Telvis asked.

    Dungeons? What were we doing that required going to the dungeons? And wasn¡¯t down there blocked off to students?

    A number of hands were raised. Professor Telvis picked a Sylphid. ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t allowed down there.¡±

    Professor Hearth spoke, ¡°Normally you wouldn¡¯t be. But the wards down there will enable us to perform this exercise with minimal risks.¡±

    Wait, was this dangerous?

    ¡°You all shouldn¡¯t be in danger, but magic can always go wrong. No matter what precautions we might take. Complete control is an illusion, and thinking otherwise is a fast way to get yourself and the people around you hurt.¡± She scanned the room as she spoke. Was I seeing things or did her eyes linger on me for a fraction longer than the other students?

    It must have been my imagination.

    ¡°Now if there are no other questions, we have places to be and I would like us to get started.¡±

    The room was quiet.

    ¡°Good. Now if you all would follow me.¡±

    Well this was a strange moment of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, following her and Professor Telvis through the corridors, past the library and to a nearly hidden dark grey stone door. Unlike the round circles of the Towers, this was a bulking rectangle with large strips of black leather holding it together.

    Was it original? Part of the first castle, or part of the first wave of renovations in the conversion to a school? Even if it was a later addition, it might still be hundreds of years old. The cracks in the leather made it look old at any rate. It was locked with a massive black metal padlock.

    Professor Hearth snapped her fingers and a black metal key appeared in her hand. With a click the door was pushed open, a loud high-pitched screech came from the hinges. They must not use this door much.

    ¡°Please watch your step,¡± Professor Telvis said as Professor Hearth started to walk down a stone spiral staircase into darkness.

    This wasn¡¯t ominous at all. Nothing terrible could possibly happen.

    Just please let it be someone else this time¡­

    We followed her down in double file. Angelina walked next to me as excited as ever.

    ¡°Are you nervous? This is so cool. Do you know what we¡¯re doing? I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re doing this so early in the year.¡±

    I had no idea what we were doing. Presumably, something about Awakenings.

    ¡°What shape are you hoping for? Do you know what color you have?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± I told her. Still not sure what was going on.

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    ¡°Aww come on. Give me a guess. Please?¡±

    Okay, if this was about Awakenings then it was connected to our magic. ¡°Pink?¡± I shrugged. An image of pink flames in my brain.

    ¡°Is that your color? How fitting that your magic is Pixie pink!¡± She squealed. ¡°I bet you get something super cute!¡±

    I had doubts. And hopes. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±

    She pouted a little, though I doubted it was serious.

    We reached the landing of the stairs and stared down a hallway of ancient cells. Most no longer had bars or doors, just small square rooms. Dozens lined the hallway, which ended in one cell that was perfectly intact.

    It had metal bars and door hung open just a little. It looked larger than the others, a square nearly three times their size.

    It took several minutes to funnel everyone in.

    ¡°I could explain with words, but I think a demonstration might serve our purposes better. Could one of the four students from earlier please volunteer?¡± Professor Hearth asked.

    Angelina¡¯s hand went up into the air fast enough to nearly hit me in the head.

    ¡°Pixie, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Angelina Farsee, Ma¡¯m.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you step forward Miss Farsee. And you too, Mr. Quicksilver,¡± she said as she opened the door of the cell.

    Jarec came forward from the crowd somewhere behind us, while Angelina practically skipped to the front of the group. Professor Hearth leaned towards both of them and whispered something. They both nodded and Jarec gestured for Angelina to go first, with an amused look on his face.

    Angelina stepped inside and stopped a few steps after passing the threshold.

    Professor Hearth closed the door.

    The floor beneath Angelina¡¯s feet began to glow with a pulsing rainbow of colors. The light pouring in between gaps in the stones and flowing up to form a shape, then became several small shapes. Then it turned a bright, familiar-looking red.

    It was the exact same color her eyes had turned during the fortune telling.

    The shapes were becoming clearer. Butterflies. A swarm of bright red and glowing magic butterflies. Okay. That was cool.

    They flew around her and fluttered in the air before dissipating. She giggled and turned around as Professor Hearth opened the cell door again.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve seen what you¡¯re going to be doing, can anyone tell me what it is we¡¯re looking for with this? Any guesses as to why we do this?¡± Professor Hearth asked the group.

    A small number of hands, mostly yellow and blue coats, went into the air around me. Jarec even had his hand up.

    ¡°Mr. Quicksilver,¡± Professor Telvis spoke from the back of the group crowd.

    ¡°We¡¯re trying to reveal the nature and health of our magic.¡± Jarec stated.

    Professor Hearth nodded. ¡°Very good. Learning about your magic can assist in helping you choose a discipline. And if something is wrong with your magic this is a very strong indicator for what those problems might be.¡±

    Was I sweating? I felt like I was sweating.

    What would this reveal about me? Would anything even appear? What if it didn¡¯t?

    No. I had magic. I could use magic. I could. This would be fine.

    ¡°Now Mr. Quicksilver, your turn.¡± Professor Hearth nodded at Jarec.

    He stepped inside and like before the floor lit up when Professor Hearth closed the door. The same pulsating rainbow effect flowed upwards. But instead of breaking up into shapes it formed a swirling mass of color that morphed into a light sky blue. It looked like a tornado with Jarec as the eye of the storm.

    But what did that mean?

    He snapped his fingers and the whole thing froze. Like someone hitting pause on a disaster movie. He waved his right hand dismissively and it disappeared.

    Professor Hearth opened the cell door.

    ¡°Well done. Now who should go next¡­Telvis it¡¯s your class. You pick someone.¡±

    ¡°How about Miss Stewart?¡±

    And why wasn¡¯t I surprised?

    I sighed. I looked up at Professor Hearth, who was somehow standing straighter. Her eyes focused on me. I wanted to hide in the back of the crowd. I sighed again and stepped forward.

    Please don¡¯t let anything weird happen. Again.

    The cell door closed behind me and the floor lit up a third time. Okay. So far so good. Rainbow colored light began to form a massive shape in front of me. I couldn¡¯t tell what the shape was supposed to be. But I could see it slowly turn pink. Because of course it did. Was it on fire? Or maybe it was supposed to be made of fire? The shape was too vague.

    One part of the entity before was clear though. A hand of thin and long claws made of what looked like pink crystals. It reached out towards my left hand.

    I reached back, just to see what would happen.

    I felt the pain before I saw it move. The screams from behind me didn¡¯t register in my ears until I saw the blood. Whose blood was that? Where did it come from?

    Why did my wrist hurt?

    The being was suddenly gone. Like glass shattered to pieces.

    Blood was pouring out of my wrist. A dark red flood. My eye focused on a blurry spot of pale white that stood out against the sea of crimson.

    The cell was spinning.

    A voice was calling out to me, I think. It sounded so distant. Someone was catching me. Cradling me. Someone familiar.

    Mom?

    (*********)

    When I awoke I was in the Healer Wing and staring up at the glass ceiling. The sun was bright but still low in the sky.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I groaned.

    ¡°Something that by all accounts should have been impossible,¡± Healer Sealie commented.

    My left wrist was in terrible pain. It itched and burned at the same time. It was wrapped in a white bandage with a red stain.

    ¡°We have been running that exercise incident free for nearly one hundred and fifty years. I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re too much like your mother or not nearly enough like her,¡± Professor Hearth stated. ¡°I¡¯ve already informed your parents. They¡¯re still willing to let you attend here thankfully. But it seems I¡¯m going to have to keep a closer eye on you.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it on purpose! I don¡¯t even know what happened,¡± I told her as I sat up. Professor Hearth was sitting down on the cot next to me.

    ¡°That¡¯s something I¡¯m still trying to figure out myself. I¡¯ve never seen magic lash out like that before. And I hadn¡¯t even heard of it injuring a person before today. You¡¯re just full of surprises, aren¡¯t you?¡± Professor Hearth continued.

    A swarm of angry thoughts flooded my mind. All of them were bad ideas to say out loud. None of them coherent enough to voice.

    ¡°Bur as much as I don¡¯t like to, I do have to acknowledge that the fault here isn¡¯t yours,¡± she switched tactics.

    ¡°Is this going to keep happening? This is the second time I¡¯ve been attacked on campus by something improbable.¡±

    ¡°I hope not,¡± Healer Sealie cut in while handing me a cup of redish brown liquid. It smelled like hibiscus and lemon. ¡°Drink this. You lost a lot of blood today and your body needs some help fully recovering it.¡±

    I took a sip. It wasn¡¯t great, but it tasted better than the spider bite medicine. Granted that was not a high bar to pass.

    ¡°I¡¯m also going to need to change those bandages.¡±

    I held out my wrist and watched as she unraveled the stained cloth.

    Large jagged lines, red and elevated and pulsing, were across my wrist. Yikes.

    ¡°The bleeding stopped a while ago. But the last thing you need is to get an infection.¡± Healer Sealie explained as she started to wrap a fresh bandage around them.

    But the wounds weren¡¯t the part that were worrying me.

    It was the part of my wrist undamaged by the attack. Somehow, the wounds hadn¡¯t hurt a section of my wrist which formed the shape of a simplistic eyeball. A perfect oval with a circle in the middle and a thin slit in the center. All undamaged, while the rest of my wrist looked like the aftermath of an attack.

    I looked up at Professor Hearth. ¡°Please tell me you know what that¡¯s about.¡±

    ¡°At this moment, we don¡¯t,¡± Professor Hearth explained. Her hands, which had been resting in her lap, were clenched tight. ¡°The best guess we have is that it was trying to tell you something. We¡¯re working on deciphering it. Whatever it is seems invulnerable to harm.¡±

    ¡°Like a reverse Achilles¡¯ heel?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°The rest of you is as fragile as anyone. But that spot is completely invincible.¡±

    ¡°Made giving you stiches a lot more complicated,¡± Healer Sealie said. ¡°But I managed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve informed your teachers about this morning.¡± Professor Hearth¡¯s posture relaxed a little. ¡°So you don¡¯t have to go to class if you don¡¯t want to. I¡¯d rather you stay in Pixie Tower for rest of the day.¡±

    No way. ¡°I¡¯d rather go to class.¡±

    This earned me an eyebrow raise.

    ¡°Unless there¡¯s a reason I can¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Her own magic turns on her and she decides she still wants to go to class? Goodness, you really are Lucinda¡¯s daughter, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Professor Hearth was silent.

    ¡°Though when Lucinda ended up in here, it was because she was doing something she knew was dangerous. Nearly cracked her skull open one time when climbing up Slyphid Tower. Those vines aren¡¯t as sturdy as you¡¯d think.¡± Healer Sealie started rambling. ¡°Insisted she was fine afterwards. Went to go take a test in her Journeyman Elements class. Passed it too, from what I remember.¡±

    Professor Hearth¡¯s tension was back.

    ¡°As long as you take it easy and don¡¯t mess with your wounds or bandages, I¡¯ll allow it. But if it starts bleeding again or you don¡¯t feel well, head straight to your Tower, all right?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

 Episode 16: Life Continues

    Russel was staring at me as I walked into History. I had missed the rest of Spellcraft.

    ¡°You¡¯re almost late! What happened?¡±

    I glanced down at my still wrapped up wrist. ¡°I had an interesting morning in Spellcraft.¡±

    He looked at my hand and shook his head slowly. ¡°How did going to class get you hurt?¡±

    I shrugged at him and tried to look ahead at Professor Dellik, who looked at me with a confused expression for a second.

    The Pixies were also looking at me funny. Guess they weren¡¯t expecting me to come back to class so soon. But I was not staying alone in the pink hellscape of Pixie Tower when I could be elsewhere. Besides, maybe we were going to set something on fire in Alchemy.

    ¡°I want details,¡± Russel pressed.

    ¡°After class,¡± I told him.

    (*********)

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they sent you back to class!¡± Angelina exclaimed as we left the classroom. ¡°I thought for sure you¡¯d have the day off!¡±

    I sighed as she and Russel both decided to corner me while I excited the classroom.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Russel demanded.

    ¡°My Magic Manifestation exercise didn¡¯t do what it was supposed to,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± Angelina screeched. ¡°You nearly lost your hand!¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad,¡± I tried to reassure both of them. ¡°If it was, I wouldn¡¯t be standing here.¡±

    ¡°Magic Manifestation can go wrong?¡± Russel asked.

    ¡°Apparently.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°How are you so calm about this? There was so much blood!¡±

    ¡°I got better.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Got better¡­¡± she repeated softly and quietly. ¡°You are unbelievable.¡±

    ¡°Back up, what actually happened?¡± Russel asked.

    ¡°I did the thing. My magic manifested, it attacked me, but I¡¯m fine now,¡± I explained.

    ¡°It can do that?¡± Russel asked. He didn¡¯t sound nearly as alarmed as Angelina. He mostly sounded curious.

    ¡°I know. I hadn¡¯t known that was even possible. Apparently it can.¡±

    ¡°I heard it can attack others. But I have never heard of it attacking the person being tested.¡± Russel continued, ¡°Any idea why it might have done that?¡±

    The throbbing little mark covered by the bandages was likely a big clue. ¡°There are a few theories, but nothing concrete.¡±

    ¡°Helpful,¡± Russel scoffed. ¡°What do you think happened?¡±

    I glanced at Angelina, whose eyes were wide and watering. I sighed. ¡°I have an idea, but it¡¯s hard to say for sure. I¡¯ll give it some thought and let you know later.¡± I gave them both my best grin to prove that I was in fact fine.

    I don¡¯t think it worked.

    ¡°Anyway, I have to get to Alchemy. See you around!¡± And then I left.

    (*********)

    Celica was already sitting in our usual seats in the back when I got to class. Her eyes narrowed and I noticed she was glaring at my left wrist.

    ¡°There wasn¡¯t a locked door involved?¡± I tried to explain while she sat there in a heavy silence.

    She said nothing in response.

    I was in trouble, wasn¡¯t I?

    Nothing I could do about it though.

    ¡°Miss Stewart, I¡¯m surprised to see you with us today. I was sure Miss Fel¡¯Graces nearly had to do today¡¯s lab by herself.¡± Professor Gorgon¡¯s cold gaze caused a Banshee in front of me to flinch.

    ¡°Nothing better to do. I¡¯d much rather be here than sitting around Pixie Tower,¡± I told him as I sat up straight and faced the front of the class. On Professor Gorgon¡¯s desk were thirty lumps of round rock. They sat in two rows of fifteen.

    Celica scoffed.

    ¡°Do be more careful. I will not have an accident in this classroom.¡±

    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± I nodded as I spoke.

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    ¡°Unbelievable,¡± Celica grumbled next to me.

    ¡°Speaking of today¡¯s lab this week you are going to be a multi-day experiment. This first step will involve each of you picking a geode.¡±

    Geodes! I then noticed the steel runic plates on all the tables. Square shaped and with different markings than the fire plates of last week.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re so eager to learn, Miss Stewart, why don¡¯t you and Miss Fel¡¯Graces go first?¡± Professor Gorgon asked in a way that made it sound closer to an order.

    Should I bother being surprised? I blamed the garish bubblegum pink I was wearing. It made me stand out too much in this class.

    Celica didn¡¯t seem to mind as we stood up. She still didn¡¯t say a word and wasn¡¯t looking at me.

    Was she that mad at me?

    I picked the geode that was third from the right in the back row. Celica picked the one in the center from the front.

    The walk back to our seat was just as awkward.

    What was I supposed to do? What did she want me to say? Please don¡¯t hate me!

    It took a few minutes for him to call up the other students and for them to make their selections. The geode in front of me sat on my desk. It wobbled a little from the unevenness of its surface. Roughly the size of a baseball and fairly light, I couldn¡¯t help but be a little excited to be able to crack it open.

    Celica rolled hers around as we waited for our classmates.

    ¡°So. What happened?¡± she asked stiffly.

    ¡°This?¡± I held my left hand up to show off the bandage. ¡°I had an accident in Spellcraft. It¡¯s fine though.¡± It wasn¡¯t hurting anymore. It itched a little though.

    ¡°You know we haven¡¯t been here for two full weeks yet, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t do it on purpose. I just have terrible luck. I¡¯m sorry?¡±

    She sighed. ¡°At least being in Dragon Tower won¡¯t be boring. I can¡¯t wait to say goodbye to Kraken purple.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t kidding about me rather being here than in Pixie Tower.¡±

    She rolled her eyes. But I don¡¯t think she was upset at me anymore.

    Small wins.

    ¡°Now that everyone has their geode, I want you to place them on top of the plates on your desk. I trust you¡¯re all smart enough to figure out what to do next?¡±

    Celica tapped the corners of her plate once each. There was a quick flash of light, and then her geode split evenly down the middle. Inside were small glittering grey crystals.

    I mimicked the same motion and pattern with mine.

    And big shock; it did nothing.

    ¡°Runes don¡¯t like you very much, do they?¡± Celica teased.

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think that maybe magic in general doesn¡¯t like me.¡± Not even my own.

    I tried it two more times just to confirm that this was not going to work.

    I rubbed my face with my hands and Celica decided to have mercy on me by activating the plate for me.

    The two halves of my geode fell to the side to reveal large blood red crystals inside. Of course it was red. Why wouldn¡¯t it be red? Why did everything I touch involve pink or red?

    ¡°Of course you get the red one,¡± Celica scoffed.

    ¡°The sooner I get to wear it, the better.¡± Hopefully, we would get that opportunity.

    ¡°Most of you have figured out how to open them. For this next part you will extract the crystals from the rock. To do this you will be using a solution of compounds found in carbuncle and kobold cells.¡±

    How was that supposed to work?

    ¡°Can anyone guess why those cells hold compounds that are able to separate the crystalized material from the other rock?¡±

    A sea of hands, mostly in white, were raised.

    ¡°Mr. Viess,¡± Gorgon pointed towards a Banshee guy in the front.

    ¡°Both species have parts of their bodies made from minerals and have special tissue designed keep those minerals from hurting the softer parts of their body.¡±

    ¡°Proving yourself worthy of Banshee Tower Mr. Viess. That¡¯s correct.¡±

    I saw Celica roll her eyes.

    I rubbed the top of the bandage on my arm absentmindedly while Professor Gorgon made four empty glass beakers, two large and two small, and glass vials of a translucent green liquid appear on our tables. Along with them were pairs of metal tongs and tweezers and a sheet of parchment with instructions on the amounts to use.

    Gorgon, despite the reputation he had, did have something that resembled a merciful bone in him. Or us melting from chemical misuse would look bad on him. Maybe both.

    I placed one of the geode halves in one of the large beakers. I carefully used the dropper in the vial to put two drops of the liquid at the base of where the crystals grew out of the rock. The parchment said ten seconds minimum so I counted to twenty in my head. I watched as small bubbles formed between the red crystals and a small amount of clear liquid form.

    I picked up a pair of tongs, and after I was done counting, I reached for the largest crystal out of the cluster with them. It was about the size of my pinky finger and came off easily. I placed it in one of the small beakers.

    It took a few more applications of solution but at the end I had filed the small beaker about halfway with the red crystals. I glanced over at Celica¡¯s. She was finishing up.

    ¡°Can you believe Professor Gorgon? He¡¯s trying to shove the fact that you¡¯re in Pixie Tower in your face. Like¡¯s it¡¯s a bad thing. So rude,¡± Celica whispered to me while the rest of the class was working.

    I shrugged. ¡°He is head of Kraken Tower. Doesn¡¯t that make him the king of judgment making?¡±

    Celica snorted. ¡°Yeah. I guess it does. I¡¯m using that from now on.¡±

    ¡°Unless I¡¯ve terribly misunderstood how Kraken Tower works.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t. If they say anything juicy about your injury I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    ¡°Did you mention my entrance exam score?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I did. They didn¡¯t believe me. Pricks.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t shocked. ¡°That¡¯s Kraken Tower for you.¡±

    ¡°Guess what happened next.¡± Celica was grinning, ¡°Gorgon stood up for you. Or against gossip, I can never tell with that guy.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡±

    ¡°That students who score ninety-five or higher on the exam automatically qualify for advanced classes. No test required.¡± Celica laughed to herself. ¡°The look on some of the faces of the other Krakens was the best.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad I can be a source of entertainment for you.¡±

    ¡°If only you could stay out of danger,¡± She was glaring at my bandage again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t do it on purpose!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not better.¡±

    ¡°And we all seem to be done for today. Tomorrow we will continue this lab, so you¡¯d all better be here. Even if you don¡¯t have the same enthusiasm as your Pixie classmate.¡±

    Rude.

    (*********)

    Celica had decided to not let me out of her sight to go sit by the sea of bright pink.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to hover.¡±

    ¡°Tell me exactly what happened.¡±

    ¡°I went to class, I did the magic manifestation exercise, it went badly,¡± I explained. Again.

    ¡°I want actual details.¡±

    ¡°Serafina!¡± I looked away from Celica to see Fethris headed towards us while a number of Kelpies stared after him. ¡°Jarec told me what happened. Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I held up my hand. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly fine.¡±

    ¡°Jarec said you nearly lost your hand,¡± he continued.

    ¡°WHAT? You didn¡¯t tell me that part!¡± Celica screeched.

    People was starting to stare. ¡°It¡¯s not that big of a deal¡­¡± I said quietly.

    ¡°Not that big of a¡­you were attacked by your own magic. That¡¯s kind of a big deal.¡± Fethris was leaning in and thankfully not yelling.

    ¡°What? It can do that?¡± Celica demanded.

    ¡°Can we go sit down somewhere? Please? I¡¯ll explain if we do.¡± So many eyes in the ocean of colors, and a tsunami of voices whispering. I wanted to find a hole to crawl in.

    ¡°Come on. The others are waiting for us anyway.¡±

    Oh thank the gods.

    ¡°You did not mention your own magic did this to you,¡± Celica said as Fethris led us to where Russel and Jarec were waiting. The majority of the Slyphids were sitting at the table, so it wasn¡¯t quite isolated but it was the best I could hope for considering that the entire student body was scattered throughout the room.

    ¡°Quicksilver! Tell me everything because Stewart is useless,¡± Celica said as we sat down. I ended up between Fethris and Jarec while Celica slid in next to Russel.

    ¡°It was crazy. It was standing there and then it moved so quickly. Then Serafina was on the floor. Professor Hearth can apparently move pretty quickly. She had it dispelled before anyone else could react.¡± Jarec was leaning forward there was a glint in his eyes that I didn¡¯t fully trust.

    ¡°What shape was it?¡± I asked.

    He turned and gave me a flat look with a raised eyebrow.

    ¡°Look, my memory of the event is a bit hazy. All I remember is the color pink and a lot of blood.¡±

    ¡°Your bone was sticking out of your wrist, Serafina,¡± Jarec stated. ¡°Your hand was barely hanging onto the rest of your arm.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t known that part. ¡°It¡¯s fully attached now?¡±

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you went back to class after that,¡± Fethris said. ¡°I would have taken the week off.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think sitting around getting my eyeballs burned out by the ugliness of Pixie Tower is going to help me heal faster. Besides, I¡¯m sure the spider bite was worse. Sealie forced me to be on bedrest for that.¡±

    ¡°Saying, ¡®It¡¯s not that bad compared to the near-death spider bite,¡¯ does not help your case,¡± Fethris said.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, really,¡± I insisted.

    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Russel drifted off. ¡°I¡¯m more interested in how it happened.¡±

    Jarec shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a person being attacked by their own magic before.¡±

    ¡°Neither have I,¡± Fethris said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was even possible.¡±

    ¡°Apparently, neither did the Professors,¡± I informed them.

    ¡°Gods above Serafina,¡± Celica was in disbelief. ¡°How do you do this? First it¡¯s opening Dragon Tower and now it¡¯s somehow being capable of being attacked by your own magic. Something without an explanation.¡±

    Maybe. Maybe not. ¡°I have a theory on ¡®why¡¯.¡±

    Russel leaned forward. ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

    ¡°After it was done¡­there was a mark on my skin. For whatever reason a patch of skin couldn¡¯t be harmed. I think that might something. Whether that mark made it attack me, or it attacked me to reveal that mark, or maybe something else. I don¡¯t know. But I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s unrelated,¡± I told them while leaning forward to talk quietly.

    Russel whistled low, ¡°That¡¯s not suspicious at all.¡± His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

    ¡°It¡¯s all I know for sure. They want to run a few tests to try and pinpoint exactly what happened,¡± I told them. I rubbed the spot where the mark was hidden by white cloth.

    ¡°So you¡¯re staying?¡± Fethris asked.

    ¡°I have waited my entire life to go here. I¡¯m not leaving because of two crazy accidents. Besides, if I leave we definitely won¡¯t get into Dragon Tower.¡±

    ¡°Is this going to be a thing with you? Get into crazy situations and not caring?¡± Celica asked.

    ¡°Well ideally, this kind of thing won¡¯t happen a third time,¡± I told her.

    I wished I was more confident about that.