My quiet moment with Mom was interrupted by a rush of warm air. It made my hair stand up and even Mom seemed to freeze in place. There was a flash of panic on Mom's face before it flattened into something neutral.

Oh no.

I grabbed at my wrist, it was still numb from earlier.

The footsteps following the heat wave were familiar but heavy.

"Mother," Mom greeted. It wasn't warm, but it was friendly. The mask hiding her concern was thicker. Making it all the clearer to me.

"What were you thinking?" Vivian demanded. She wasn't yelling, but I wanted to hide anyway.

Mom visibly tensed, "Let's keep this civil Mother, please." Something in the air flashed yellow when she said civil, the air itself seemed to settle around me. It reminded me of the first time I tried a weighted blanket.

I hadn't brought one with me. Maybe I should have.

The look on Vivian's face made me remember that people were afraid and intimidated by her. Even I had been on that first day, before we started to talk to each other.

"That was incredibly reckless. Both of you," Vivian reprimanded she sounded angry.

I flinched away from her.

"I'm a little bit offended you think I'd be reckless with my daughter's safety like that," Mom countered. It might have sounded teasing if it weren't for how tense she sounded and looked.

"Then be offended, you still haven't told me what your plan in all of this is. You drag not only your daughter, who might I remind you can't protect herself, into danger but-" Vivian was raising her voice.

Something thick and unpleasant bubbled in my throat.

"Mother, what did I say about yelling in front of Serafina?" Mom kept her voice more even, but I could hear the effort it was taking.

I shrunk further into my chair. Not looking at either of them.

"Stop dodging the question Lucinda."

I heard Mom sigh and felt her pat me on the shoulder. I flinched. "I told you, you're looking at her wrong. And more to your point, Serafina isn't so fragile that a toy like that was putting her in danger."

In another situation, her faith in me might have been appreciated and welcomed.

"I wasn't talking about the Simulacrum!"

I covered my ears.

"You're yelling," Mom pointed out. "And in any case Serafina is fine, just like I knew she would be." At least that didn't sound forced.

"This isn't like when you were a child climbing things you shouldn't be."

My hands weren't enough to block anything out.

"You think I don't know that? I assure you, no one thinks about how to keep Serafina safe more than I do." Mom's temper was starting to flare. I could feel the air around us starting warm.

"Then what in the hells were you thinking?!"

Please stop.

"Mother, watch your tone in front of Serafina," Mom said sternly. The veneer of calm dropped entirely. "I told you, I have this handled. The last thing she needs is for you to pile on stress."

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"You're going to complain about me stressing her?"

"Yes."

They both were, but Mom at least knew she was doing it. I knew I should say something, anything. But the words weren't forming in my throat. The unpleasant feeling from earlier solidified, clogging my throat. Like a rock had gotten lodged in there. It hurt.

Breathe Serafina.

The curse was now itching and burning back to life.

"Mother, I told you Serafina isn't like me. Treating her like she my copy won't do her any favors. Now, you want the truth? Alright. I knew if I wanted real any real answers about the curse I was going to have to put it and her to the test myself. Serafina did surprise me out there today, she has a habit of that. I underestimated her determination to not disappoint her friends, and you're overestimating my ability to teach her." Mom wasn't yelling, instead that cold emptiness was back.

I hated it.

Vivian was silent for a moment and then I heard the clinking of glasses.

"If that's all your concerns dealt with Mother, we were about to have some tea. Would you like some?" Mom's voice had gone back to normal, but the offer only barely sounded sincere.

There was a sigh, "I wish you would tell me when you're up to things."

"The act of observing changes the subject," Mom quipped. "I haven't put honey in it, Serafina's not a fan."

I heard the liquids pour as I lowered my hands slowly.

"I noticed."

"She doesn't really like strong teas either. It's not always easy, but once you start to understand her more it becomes easier."

I could feel the weight of that statement, I knew she wasn't talking about tea. Not really.

I looked up to see Mom wink at me. I tried to smile back, I doubted it came through.

Mom's gaze was inquisitive, like she wanted to ask a question but was opting not to. "I also hope you noticed her casting form. Not bad for a second try."

"Once she's seen a form in person, she hasn't had trouble replicating it. It's the energy flow that's the problem. Or…well the lack of flow outwards."

"She's generating enough mana, but the curse gobbles it up before it can do anything. Who invented those enchanted gloves again? The flow helping ones."

"An Owlcourt, I forget who. You'd have to ask Larae."

Mom cringed.

"Besides, I don't think they'd help."

"Yeah I know, I'm just thinking about redirecting the flow."

"That's not possible Lucinda. You'd have to actively destroy the veins, which could paralyze the area entirely."

"Damn. Old man thought of everything."

"It certainly feels that way."

"What about encouraging, rather than forcibly stopping it. It won't be perfect but anything has to be better than stabbing herself with her Focus."

"What does Serafina think?" Vivian turned to me.

I froze, I wasn't ready to talk yet. I shook my head a little at Mom.

"Serafina knows she can interrupt me if she thinks of something. Don't worry, she's not that shy. She just likes to listen and learn."

Vivian looked between the two of us and either realized that Mom was only being partially truthful or decided that it wasn't worth another argument.

"I'll…default to your judgment Lucinda."

"See? That wasn't so hard." The teasing was real this time, the tension was gone from her posture too.

"I do trust you, both of you. I just worry."

"You always worry," Mom teased then leaned towards me, "She spent most of my childhood fussing over me, when Ruby came along she refocused that energy onto her too."

"You took to being a sister very well. With her following you everywhere you also took less risks."

Mom shrugged. "It wasn't like there was a lot of danger at Hearth Manor. Except the dust in the attic."

"She kept you out of trouble until you got here."

"Yeah, but at that point I had other people to drag into trouble with me."

I giggled.

"You should have seen Centauris' face when he found out who the Dragon Tower students were."

Mom laughed, "He probably sees me as a harbinger of doom."

"You weren't that bad. I always found the rumors around you and your friends exaggerated whenever I investigated."

Mom gasped in fake dramatics, "Excuse you, we had a reign of terror!"

"Is that where the silly name came from?"

"Betrayed by my own mother," Mom fake-cried.

"We both know you would never hurt anyone without a good reason, play the villain all you like."

Villain?

"See what I meant? She's always like this."

"Forgive me for seeing my daughter as she really is and not the mask you hide behind when things get complicated."

Mom didn't respond at first, she wasn't even looking at Vivian. She was looking at me. I couldn't decipher the look on her face. After a moment she turned back to Vivian. "Maybe I like it when things are simple. It's easier if they all see me that way."

"Ruby wasn't ever fooled."

"Have you talked to the others?"

"About you? Not recently. I don't have the time to run around talking to your friends. Ruby keeps in contact from what I know. You'd have to ask her."

"Probably best if I don't."

"I can't force you to do anything," Vivian said. "But you won't have infinite chances."

"I'm not dragging them into our problems. We'll deal with the curse our way."

Vivian sighed. "You think they won't notice?"

"They've got their own lives to live. Probably too busy to worry about what I'm doing."

Vivian stayed silent, but the look on her face made me think about every time someone called Krakens judgy.

"I hate it when she looks at me like that," Mom grumbled to me. "I don't ever give you that look, do I?"

I inhaled slowly, but then shook my head. Words were still failing me.

Vivian sighed, "You can't hide from them forever."

"I can try though, and I'm not hiding. You all know where to find me. And Victor." Some of the tension was back. It was in the way she said Dad's name. I think she was trying to see how Vivian reacted to it.

I couldn't see a reaction, but I wasn't sure if that meant anything.

"You've made your point Lucinda. I'll see you both later when it's time for goodbyes," Vivian stood up

"See you later then Mother," Mom called out as Vivian left.

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