I was fighting with my ComMirror. I was holding it up to my eye level, tilted so I could look down the back of the handle. Inspecting the ridges of the runes carved into the metal. For normal calls I didn't need to worry about the runes and the other functions. Runes that enabled picking sounds for certain callers, setting a sound to let people know I was calling them, and the function I was trying to access calling multiple people at the same time.

It didn't help that I was still dealing with cramps and my body's refusal to keep up any level of energy. I wanted to throw up, then take a nap.

I was exhausted already, but I'd been looking forward to this call for days. Also Celica would be furious if I missed this. And I didn't want to have to deal with the fallout of that. We had enough to deal with, adding a vengeful Celica was the last thing I needed. And also it was clear that this meant a lot to her and upsetting her was something I hated to do.

"Do you need help with that?" Mom finally asked after watching me grumble and growl at this damn mirror for ten minutes. She was leaning against the doorframe leading into my room.

"Yes," I told her, giving up on any pretense of being able to do this on my own.

She took the mirror in her hands and held it with the glass down and runes up. They were confusing to me, but of course Mom knew what to do. She traced her fingers over the engraved runes in a very clear pattern that I wouldn't have been able to guess no matter how long I tried. Pale yellow seeped into the metal and then the entire mirror shook. Mom flipped the mirror over as it shimmered in silvery light that solidified to form four arched mirrors attached to each other to form a semi-circle around the original glass. A smaller mirror formed where the handle met the main mirror.

Mom handed it back to me, I took it a little clumsily, it was heavier now. I carried it to my bed to keep it safe. I adjusted the angle so that my shelf of stones and crystals was behind me.

I was nervous despite my excitement. I knew my eyes were still glowing dimly. Hopefully none of them cared or noticed.

I hadn't set any specific songs or sounds for any of them. I wasn't able to do that without help, plus I wasn't sure what songs to pick for them. I took a deep breath as all of the mirrors suddenly started rippling like a pond a stone was dropped into.

I tapped the center of the main mirror just like every other call I'd answered. The mirror on the middle left was filled Celica's face. She shifted back from her mirror and adjusted her hair. Barely a second after she was done the far-left mirror spawned Fethris. I waved to both of them.

Celica was smirking and Fethris seemed relaxed.

Another moment passed before on the middle right mirror Jarec came into view. "Not late!" He exclaimed.

And Russel had about a minute to answer the call if he wanted to claim the same thing. I hoped for his sake he answered quickly.

I counted to five in my head before the last mirror suddenly had Russel in its glass. "Everyone's here."

"I demand gossip from all of you. Yes, even you Stewart."

I mean…I had something that might be gossip. But I wasn't sure a call was a good place for it. "Um…who wants to go first?" I couldn't help but think that the look Jarec was giving was aimed at me. I dodged it, "What about you? What are you up to Celica?"

"I'm hiding from my brothers. Tell me at least one of you has done something interesting over the break, I've been bored out of my mind."

Oh boy.

"Is that what nervous looks like on you, Serafina?" Jarec asked teasingly. Because he wanted me to suffer.

The others noticed, I could see the curious looks on their faces.

I had the most traitorous cousin in the entire world. "Okay. I have…I guess we'll call it gossip."

Celica was looking at me like she was a wolf and I was holding a raw bloody steak.

With a sigh I shifted how I was sitting, "I…uh…cracked the curse. It's not broken. It's still there but I can… work around it. I need a bit more practice to be reliable with it though."

"The fuck?" Celica demanded. "What were you doing over there?"

"Panicking, mostly. I do that more often than you think." I admitted.

Jarec started laughing.

"Wait, what?" Russel asked. "How even…what?"

"You continue to be the strangest person I have ever met," Fethris commented. It was said like it was some kind of compliment, like I'd accomplished some impressive feat. This was another reason I didn't want to tell them.

"I'm a Dragon, we're different," I defended.

"Special," Jarec said. A very clear taunt. Asshole, I can't believe I'd missed them.

"Hush you," I told him. It was the nicest version of what I wanted to tell him.

He chuckled like I wasn't going to get revenge for this the first chance I got. They loved underestimating exactly how much power I had. Something they were going to regret once we got back to the school.

"Is that why your eyes are glowing?" Fethris asked.

"No. They're glowing for the same reason they normally do. Don't worry about it," I deflected.

Celica looked delighted. Which didn't really help my mood.

"What about you guys? What are you up to?" I asked to see if I could distract someone.

"Nothing out of the ordinary here, usual Kingsley tradition of hanging out at the local boardwalk."

"Where are you that boardwalks are open right now?" I demanded. All the ones near me were closed because there was too much snow.

"Opposite coast from you," Russel admitted.

California? Or maybe Washington? "Dude, I've got like four feet of snow outside my window."

He laughed at my misery, "Sucks to be you. No snow where I am."

What an absolute prick. I hope he gets bitten by a snake.

"Wait, I'm confused. I thought you two lived in the same country?" Fethris asked.

I sighed. "I'm about as close to Russel as I am to the school. Same piece of land though."

"I go to the island hopping route to Japan and the common route from there to get back and forth. It takes me like a week."

A week? What the hells? How crazy strong was Mom?

She'd definitely let Jarec and I win the little duel. But that was fine.

"There wasn't a closer option?" Fethris asked, he sounded incredulous but also curious.

"Not for me. Other schools required casting as part of the entrance exams. And I don't think Mom would send me anywhere else anyway," I shrugged.

"Dad's family were being assholes about my prospects so I set my sights as high as possible just to prove them wrong," Russel explained.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Nothing quite like spite to motivate a person. What about the rest of you? Why go to the Towers of Nine?" I asked. Mostly Celica and Fethris, Jarec's reason was kind of obvious.

"My brothers were already there and my parents had mostly nice things to say about it. I got my future read and I liked the look of my destiny if I came to the school."

A year ago I might have made fun of a story like that. But now with my friendship with Angelina my mind about future reading had shifted. There was more to it than I'd once given it credit for.

"And how's that destiny holding up?" I asked.

"So far not disappointed," Celica said with a smirk I wasn't sure how to interpret.

"Fethris, your turn," I told him.

"I'll be honest, I just picked one from a list Dad gave me. No real reason," he admitted.

I laughed, "Really? Random chance brought you to us?"

He shrugged. "Life's random, I guess."

"Without you Dragon Tower would have stayed closed," I pointed out.

"The gods are funny like that. Guess this was our fate after all."

Fate. The Fates were funny in that not humorous way. They liked to make life very strange. Strange and inescapable. "Well, I'm glad you did. It would've been miserable without Dragon Tower."

"Truest thing I've heard in weeks," Russel commented.

"We'll be back in those haunted walls soon enough," I reassured him.

"Too bad there wasn't an actual ghost," Russel mumbled.

I really wanted to ask Dragon Tower before saying anything about the Malcarg thing.

"What is it, Serafina?" Jarec asked.

"What is what?" I commented.

"I can kind of understand the looks on your face now. I can't tell exactly what it is but I saw it shift just now. What's up?" Jarec pressed.

Celica looked excited, "Wait what? It did? You have to tell us how to figure it out when we get back to school."

I wasn't that stone-faced! And of course now was when my poker face failed me. Ugh. "I have a theory. But I wanted to be more sure about anything before saying something."

"Ooh theories, tell us," Celica looked so excited for this. Too excited really.

"So. The voice of Dragon Tower," I started trying to figure out how to talk about this.

Jarec's posture shifted, listening a little more intently and leaning forward.

"During one of our…talks Red called it something. M." I wanted to get the evidence out first.

"Oh now you tell us this," Celica said with sarcasm and attitude I probably didn't deserve. At least not in full.

"It didn't seem that important at the time! Anyway I think the M stands for Malcarg and his soul is bound to the tower. Or maybe the statue?"

I could see Jarec mulling it over. Piecing it together with the information he had. I wondered if he knew the same things Mom did. That made the most sense to me.

"Is that possible? Jarec, thoughts?" Fethris asked.

"It's…not impossible," Jarec said as he was clearly deep in thought. "We know Malcarg died before the school opened and that Jantres was very protective of his legacy."

"Like I said, I wanted to ask him first before saying anything."

"That's messed up to do to someone," Russel commented.

"Maybe?" I shrugged, "but I think he might have asked. Or gave permission or something."

Russel went quiet as he seemed to be deep in thoughts, "I mean…unbinding a spirit is…possible. It's doable with some training and research. Depending on the spell."

Mom had seemed confident that Russel could do it. "Yeah, and in two thousand years…that's a lot of students that could have done it. Unless he didn't want to be unbound and told the students that."

"That…does make a certain kind of morbid sense," Celica commented. "Seems a little extreme though."

"Malcarg got sick before the school opened. Real sick. He would have known he was dying if our records are correct," Jarec corroborated what Mom had told me. Which considering he would have seen the same records as her that made me feel better.

"We can't confirm any of this until we get back to school. I was gonna ask before you guys got there," I explained.

"What?" Fethris interrupted. "We're all arriving at the same time, I thought."

"No. You guys are arriving on the second, I have to be there on the first because Tower Representative," I gestured to them then to me as I spoke. "Which means I have to spend an entire night in Dragon Tower all by myself. Which now that I think it's properly haunted I'm not sure I'm looking forward to so thanks guys."

"Don't get into any trouble before we get there," Celica said.

"I don't choose trouble. Trouble chooses me and I don't know why."

"I can think of several reasons," Jarec piped up. Because he was a prick.

"Do you know when were getting our new class schedules?" Fethris asked. Either to spare me or avoid the topic of the kinds of trouble we might be in.

"I think that's part of why I need to be there early. Or whatever else us Representatives do. I'll figure it out then."

"Wow, making you arrive early and not even tell you why? A little rude of our Tower Head," Celica commented. Like she wasn't the grandmother of two of the people on this call.

Jarec didn't look offended thankfully, "I think she doesn't realize how…" he paused like he was looking for the correct word.

"You think she doesn't know that I have no idea what I'm doing or what's going on most of the time?" I asked.

He shrugged sheepishly, "I think she assumes better of you than you do."

"That fills me with negative confidence and horrible dread," I told him. "But I was thinking about something that might be able to help fix some of that and I wanted your thoughts specifically."

"Okay, what's up?" Jarec asked.

"The frog thing," I mimed my hand hopping around like it had. "Where you made sound come out of that. How does it work?"

I was so glad my friends were smart because Jarec seemed to catch on to my idea before I'd gotten to actually telling him it. "Doable, but I'm still practicing the enchantments and the range is still my biggest problem. I've gotten it to do about thirty feet reliably."

Not nearly far enough. "Damn it."

"You want to put a communication spell on a frog?" Celica sounded shockingly grossed out by that.

"On a paper thing. Like what Jarec makes," I told her. "I'm not partial to a shape. Though please no spiders."

"I know a few spells like that. I can help you workshop something Jarec. What kind of range do you think we need?" Fethris asked.

"From one side of the school to the other? As long as I can contact one of you quickly," I explained. "I'm more than willing to carry a little folded origami thing to help us communicate easier."

"It is a pain in the ass to get a hold of you sometimes," Russel confirmed what we all knew.

"Telepathy isn't an option yet," I said in open defeat. "I don't think it will be until I actually break the curse."

"We'll run some experiments," Jarec looked kind of excited for this. "Any color preferences?"

"Not pink," I wanted to be firm on this. "But if you really want me to narrow it down, black, red, and white."

Jarec nodded, "I can work with that."

"Anything you guys come up with will be better than what we have now. I trust you both." I wanted them to know I was grateful for the extra effort they were putting in. It would have been so easy for them to shrug me off as a lost cause. But they weren't giving up on me. So I had to do the same.

"It's gonna take some time though," Jarec explained. "I can't promise when we'll get something working."

"I think we have time still, so just do your best and I'll do mine," I promised him. All of them. And myself.

"Why does that sound like you know something we don't?" Celica pressed.

I really needed to watch my words better. Or maybe they were finally starting to pick up on how to read me. "I don't know anything. I just have…I guess we'll call it a hunch."

"Stewart." It was amazing how much disdain she could fit in one little word.

"Red once told me that at her point in the timeline there were six Dragons. So whatever wraith attack isn't going to happen while there's still five of us is my thought."

Celica pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm going to start making you write logs of this. Exact appearance times and exactly what both of you say."

"I'm not that bad," I complained.

None of the boys said anything about it and I wasn't sure if it was self-preservation or them agreeing with Celica. Both spoke poorly for me.

If they thought I was bad about secrets, I was a fountain of forthcoming compared to Mom.

"She's getting better at this. Just need to sit her down and apply pressure until the mask cracks," Jarec sounded too proud of that. Was that why he decided to try and force confessions out of me today? I didn't deserve this. I had done nothing wrong.

"We'll keep working on it," Russel promised. Though it sounded kind of like a threat.

"I can only promise to do my best," I told them as honestly as I could.

I wasn't sure they were fully convinced. But that was okay. I'd just have to prove it to them. Assuming Red or Malcarg shared more information about all of this. Though really the best news would be if Death's Echo was taken out of the school and vanished without a trace.

"We'll hold you to that," Jarec warned. "In other news, you guys hear anything more about Death's Echo?"

Was that really something we should be talking about just casually?

"Nothing here," Fethris said.

"No news at all," Celica complained.

"I think I'm too far to hear any news even if there were some. Sorry." Russel and I were probably in the same boat on that.

"Sometimes no news is good news. That must mean nothing horrible has happened to anyone yet," I considered out loud.

"Yet," Fethris repeated. "Could still happen though."

Probably would. If I was right about Red being a Dragon that has yet to join us. That could mean that the Wraith wasn't a wraith yet. But what could we do about it? We didn't know who had the knife or who they were going to target with it.

"That just means we should be careful about the attention we draw to ourselves," I said instead of running through those thoughts more.

"I think it's a little late to stay hidden," Celica said. "Most of the school knows who we are and they definitely know who you are."

"Don't bother," Jarec said. "Serafina doesn't think she has anything to do with this."

"I'm right here. And it's…I'm no one special. So why bother going after me?"

The near unison sigh between Celica and Jarec spoke poorly of what they thought of my opinion here. Which was very rude of both of them.

Fethris laughed. Which was only better by the fact that he could be laughing at them as easily as laughing at me.

Russel was pointedly silent.

"How are you this oblivious?" Celica demanded, though it was lacking her usual bite, it was more resigned than angry.

"Look. I've been a nobody my entire life. I'm used to being different, but like…invisible different. I was comfortable with that. Attention was always bad. And I'm not convinced that it's any better now," I tried to explain.

"You've been involved in this from the moment you opened Dragon Tower," Fethris pointed out. Like I didn't know that. Like everyone didn't insist on reminding me of something I already knew. "I think if anyone among us is a target, it's going to be you. And we'll need to be ready for that."

I wasn't sure if I could ever believe that. People hating me for things I couldn't and refused to change wasn't new. But to go so far as to plot my murder? That seemed too extreme. Especially from someone I'd never met. "There isn't enough that we can do right now. The best we can do is be careful and keep our eyes and ears open."

"I suppose that's all we can do for now. I don't like it though," Celica grumbled.

"I hate waiting too, but we haven't been given a choice. I promise to call if I hear anything." I meant it. Though it would be impossible to even guess when that would be. Or what form that news would take when it eventually came. But hopefully as long as that sixth Dragon doesn't show up we had time to figure a way out of this mess.

In the meantime…

"Until then," I said with what little authority I could scrap together. My title didn't mean much, but it was something. "I think we should just focus on school stuff. Nobody do anything crazy, okay? And don't go rush into anything alone."

"It's not like we have any better ideas," Russel said. "Sure. Nothing crazy, and don't go alone."

"I'll see you all on the second then. Remember: keep out of trouble," Celica reminded me.

"I will," I told them as Celica hung up first. I hung up a moment afterwards with another wave.

As the mirror shimmered and reverted back to its normal form, I found myself feeling better than I had in days. We would be okay, all five of us. I would do everything in my power to make sure of it.

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