I was packing for my return to the Towers of Nine School of Magic Study and Practice. It was the morning of January second, and I was basically ready. I just had to make a choice. Three outfits were laid out on my bed as I decided whether or not I wanted to bring them.

I had enough clothes without any of them. But they were more bold and an extension of my preferred style. And I wanted to try it. I took a deep breath then exhaled slowly.

After a moment passed I grabbed the one in the middle and stuffed it into my bag. A long red vest, a simple black tank top and my black and red plaid knee length skirt. Maybe I was being silly, worrying like this. But…

I hadn't stopped being nobody, but maybe they had a point. I couldn't hide anymore. Us Dragons were infamous at school. So why bother pretending I could fully blend in anymore? And it wasn't that bad. I wouldn't really stand out. It would be fine.

And if the others were even partially right about the person who stole Death's Echo, it didn't really matter what I wore.

Small steps Serafina. You can do small steps.

The last thing I was packing were a few more stones for my room. The shelf there had been looking a little too sparse. A little extra touch of home.

It was my room, it should reflect me. Right?

I stepped out of my room and towards the kitchen. Mom was sitting at the counter with a mug in her hands. Oh good, no one would need to get splashed with water today.

Dad was standing on the other side of the counter from her, his usual satchel over his right shoulder. He was reaching across the counter to rest a hand over one of Mom's wrists.

"Ready to go?" Mom asked. I could see tension in her face and in how tightly she was gripping the mug. Dad could too, from the way he was looking at her.

"As ready as I'm going to be."

What was she nervous about? I was the one who was going to be at the school. With the ghost and the people with expectations I was never going to be able to meet. But it was fine. I could…probably muddle my way through this. I'd done it okay so far. I think.

Mom stretched and stood up.

"I'm going to be fine. We're good," I grinned at her in an attempt to comfort her.

It didn't work. At all.

"Let's go before you're late or I change my mind," she said.

I waved at Dad while he waved back with a relaxed smile.

(*********)

The gates were open. The nostalgia of looking back up at them again since it's been so long. The last time I'd been full of dread and excitement and convinced my life was out of my control.

How little things have changed.

The only real difference was the lack of crowd. I walked towards the massive doors and tried to not let my nerves get to me. I was meeting with Vivian in her office.

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I hated how creepy it felt without the usual crowds. Instead of the rivers of people in all directions in the weird angles through the school. The lack of chaos made everything feel uncanny.

Luckily, I remembered the way to Vivian's office.

The door was open.

Vivian was sitting at her desk with pages and parchment floating around her on bits of purple light. Threads of that same purple connecting some of the pages in a web I didn't understand.

"Hello," I greeted.

Vivian's head snapped up to me instantly, the pages vanished in a poof of purple. "Oh good, you're here. We'll meet with the others later this afternoon. I have your schedules, you'll be in charge of handing them out. And there's meetings we both have to go to."

"Okay. Is there anything I need to do right now?"

"No. You should get to Dragon Tower and get settled in for a bit. I'll come collect you when it's time."

"Okay, I'll see you then Professor." We were back at the school so she couldn't say anything about what I called her. And I'd done the first thing I'd needed to do so it was fine.

I left her office and tried to shake the feeling of how weird the school was while empty. It would be back to normal tomorrow and I just had to get through today and tonight. It would be fine. And heck, maybe I could have some good news for the others when they got here.

There was a chance Death's Echo wasn't in the school anymore. It seemed probable. Not that they would know that we knew it was here. No one but us knew that.

It was kind of a shame I didn't have a way to contact Red from my side. Not that she'd tell me anything even if I asked. At best it would be something cryptic and unhelpful until it was way too late.

I was too lost in my thoughts. I'd nearly bumped into Professor Dellik. Literally.

"Professor," I greeted.

"Ah, Serafina. Did you already see Vivian?"

"I did. She told me that there wasn't anything to do so I was just headed back to Dragon Tower. Hopefully it didn't lock itself back up over the break or anything." Gods I hoped not. I needed the information it had. And it was better company than the spinning eyesore that was Pixie Tower.

He stopped as he seemed to consider me for a moment. The look in his eyes felt a little too much like the art teacher I'd had that was convinced my lack of interest was some kind of cry for help.

"I suppose only having four students to look after must not keep you that busy. It's good that you and Vivian seem to get along."

I shrugged, "I think she wants to be perceived as stricter than she really is." If anything, Vivian Hearth was an enabler. It was the only explanation for how Mom turned out. But saying that to anyone would probably be counterproductive.

Dellik just smiled, "Ah, you noticed that too."

"I mean…I think I get it. It helps her get stuff done efficiently."

"Are you going to emulate her?"

I laughed, "No. I'm pretty sure if I tried to it would just backfire entirely. I don't think my fellow Dragons would react very well."

"You seem comfortable as Representative, that's good."

"It's…better than the alternatives, I've decided." Celica as Representative would probably be a disaster. I still thought it would be better in Fethris' hands. Or maybe Jarec's. I was absolutely going to try and pawn this job off on someone else at the end of the year.

It was fine for now though. I could manage for just a little bit longer.

"I'm glad you're in good hands, and it's better that you trust those hands," he said.

"I do. Trust her, I mean." I wanted out of this conversation now.

"You think I'm meddling."

Busted. "I wouldn't use the word meddling, it's just…you don't need to worry about me. And I'm not even in Pixie Tower anymore which makes me not your problem."

"No student is a problem to me. And even though it was temporary, you stepped through Pixie's door. Every student that comes through that door is someone I'm going to worry about, and let's not pretend that you're not doing far more than any first year should have to deal with."

Ugh. Nothing worse than people who had good intentions and nowhere to put them. "Vivian's been a great help in that. She's been guiding me through this. And my Tower has been wonderful, to me at least."

He sighed like he'd been the one carrying weight.

"Now if you'll excuse me Professor," I said as I tried very hard to not actively run from the conversation.

I think he might have responded, but I was too far away. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter to me at that moment.

The school was empty which meant that even if I was running a little bit it wasn't that big of a deal. And there I was. Standing in front of the door to Dragon Tower. The large round slab of stone with a beautiful sculpted statue curled around it. The doorknob still looked like an outstretched claw, like it wanted to shake hands.

I took a deep breath, then looked the statue in the eyes. "Open Sesame."

The door opened slowly, a gentle welcoming compared to that first time.

"I'm back," I told it as I stepped inside for the first time in weeks. The door closed behind me, and it was time to get answers.

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