Friday morning came without incident. Thankfully. But there was…an energy in the air. Or maybe it was just in me. It made me itch and feel twitchy.

It made the quiz we were taking in Spellcraft hard to focus on.

Hover, the spell used to make small objects float either towards or away from the castor.

Lucky me, Telvis was a fan of using diagrams instead of trick questions. Unlike Gorgon.

When class was over, Jarec was leaning against the opposite wall folding a brightly colored square of paper. His foot was tapping in a wild, fast-paced rhythm.

So I wasn't the only one who was feeling restless.

"Celica wants me to ask if you heard anything this morning," Jarec commented as I got closer.

"No. Should I have?"

"We heard something roar loudly. No one else seems to have heard it except Dragons who aren't cursed."

I shrugged. I tried to keep my hands in my pockets, but whatever had gotten into me made that physically impossible.

Jarec's hands stilled as I started to pace a little. "You feel that, don't you?"

I froze. "The rest of you feel that?"

He nodded, "Curious."

Very. Was something influencing us? And only us? "You don't think…."

"I'm not an expert, but it wouldn't take much to convince me what I heard this morning was a dragon's roar."

"Finally, a fun mystery."

Jarec laughed.

We parted ways.

(*********)

Russel was using his desk as a makeshift drum with his pen.

"Are you okay?" Angelina asked me.

"I'm fine, what's up with you?" I asked. Did my words sound rushed or was it just me?

The look on Angelina's face told me it wasn't my imagination. "You've been tapping with your fingers all class. And last one."

I gave her a half shrug, my hands moved more than the rest of me. "I don't know. Just in a mood today."

"All right, if you're sure."

I wasn't, but I had no idea what was with me today so it wasn't like I had an answer.

(*********)

Celica was sketching. She wasn't looking at anyone and was mumbling to herself in a language I couldn't identify.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Her head snapped up and she spoke in that unfamiliar tongue before shaking her head wildly, "No. Wait. Ugh. Sorry. It's just…ugh. What is happening?"

"I have no idea." I was grinning. I don't know why I was grinning. "What are you drawing anyway?"

"I don't know, just a dream I had last night." She pushed the paper towards me and started tapping her fingers in some kind of complicated rhythm.

It looked like an archway. I couldn't tell if it was covered in leaves or made of leaves. A tangled mess of vines leading somewhere.

I pushed it back to her after her hands started to shake.

(*********)

I was nearly at the Pixie table when Celica grabbed my arm and started pulling me away. "Come on, the others want to talk about… the thing."

Right. "Just a second, I don't want to ditch Angelina."

Celica muttered something in that strange language again. "Hurry."

I was starting to hope whatever this was passed quickly.

And thus the five of us were sitting in a tight cluster at the end of the table mostly occupied by Salamanders.

"Whatever it is can't be magical, can it?" Fethris asked as we approached.

"What else could be affecting all of us at the same time? I bet it was that roar," Celica countered as we sat down.

"Except I didn't hear that, and I feel it too," I explained.

Fethris wasn't as visibly affected by whatever we were all feeling. "So it can't be magic then."

"We don't know that Serafina's immune to all magic. Just a lot of it," Jarec pointed out. "If she was then she wouldn't have been chosen by a Tower."

"And the spell that manifests magic," I added while thinking. "Maybe there's a limit to how much it can block? The roar wasn't strong enough, but whatever is happening is?" There was no way to know for sure until tomorrow.

The strange energy remained while we ate. I had some pasta turned green with herbs and broccoli.

Then a sharp pain in my head. I winced around a sip of water when a black envelope appeared in the air in front of me. The pain was then gone.

The others had identical ones in front of them.

They all had the red dragon symbol on the back.

Oh shit. Holy Hecate.

"No," I gasped. "No way."

There was a frenzy of motion as we all raced to open them.

Jarec was first. "They're doing it. They're actually doing it. Dragon Tower is opening. We're being moved tonight."

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Unable to contain myself I squealed in excitement. I couldn't bring myself to care about whether or not anyone was staring.

We were Dragons. Proper Dragons.

No more pink!

I was free!

"Thank Hecate I barely unpacked," I said while skimming through the letter. "They want us all at the Tower right after study hour."

(*********)

Monsters class flew by in a frenzied time warp. I'm sure we were told something important about sea serpents but I could not pay any kind of attention.

It was time.

I was nearly sprinting to Pixie Tower. I had to be sure I didn't leave anything behind.

My aventurine green trunk was open as I put what few of my things I had pulled out of it back inside. It was all just my casual clothes for the weekends.

And Dad's chemistry textbook.

"Definitely cannot forget you," I said as I gently picked it and placed it inside.

"You're leaving?"

I turned to the door and saw Angelina standing there.

"They're opening Dragon Tower. I'm getting moved today."

"Guess they didn't want to waste any more time."

I sighed. "Just cause I'm not going to be wearing pink anymore doesn't mean we won't see each other. It wasn't like I spent a lot of time in here anyway. And we still have three classes together."

She nodded. "You're right. It's just…are they sure about sending you back to that place? After what happened?"

"I'm sure. I won't lie and say I haven't been wanting and waiting for this to happen. I'm so excited for this."

"But…what about…"

"You're worried about your vision," I realized. Right. I had almost forgotten the first time Angelina had tried to see into my future. She had sensed danger then.

"What if you get hurt again?" she asked.

It wasn't exactly unjustified. "I'll be fine. The spiders are long gone."

"What about your ghosts?"

"I don't think Vivian Hearth would have let this happen if she had reason to believe it would be dangerous."

She still looked worried.

"You could visit," I offered. "Maybe seeing it in person will help ease your mind. I'm sure Celica would love to have you over."

She suddenly blushed the same pink as the walls.

Definitely will not miss those.

"Now is not the time for teasing!" she exclaimed. "This is an historic moment! Do you know how long it's been since all nine Towers were open?"

"A long time," I said with a smile. "I'm all packed up," I announced and pulled out the letter. I needed to leave my stuff here and arrive at the door. I would get a new uniform before Monday.

I would need to head over there soon.

"It's time for you to go, isn't it?" Angelina asked.

I nodded.

She reached out but then pulled back.

I let out a sigh and opened my arms in an invitation.

She nearly knocked me over.

I patted her back awkwardly.

"I'm going to miss you glooming around Pixie Tower."

"Oh, now who's teasing?"

She let me go and put her hands on her hips. "Okay. You probably need to get going. Please, please by Demeter's mercy please be careful."

"Nothing bad is going to happen to me in Dragon Tower." At the very least nothing that wouldn't also happen here in this pink hellscape.

She pouted.

"Fine. Fine. I promise to be careful."

"You'd better be!"

(*********)

I arrived first.

Vivian Hearth was there standing as tall as ever with her hands tucked behind her back.

"Good afternoon, Professor," I greeted.

"Serafina, it's good to see you feeling better."

"Yeah. Very excited for this."

"I'm sure, given what you told me." Vivian had a soft smile on her face. "And from what I've heard your friends must be just as excited for this."

"You have no idea," Jarec commented. When did he get here?

"Sorry about being late, but next time give us more heads-up than a couple of hours," Celica said as she approached.

"Apologies, I had assumed you all would want to be moved as soon as was feasible. If you'd like more time to prepare we can move you all next Saturday."

I had no idea Vivian Hearth could be sarcastic.

"We're here!" Russel declared as he and Fethris arrived.

"Hello Professor," Fethris nodded at Vivian.

"Good you're all here. We have a number of things to get done before curfew. Miss Stewart, if you would do the honors?"

"You sure?" I asked. Now that I was here standing in front of the round stone door with the dragon claw for a door knob. On the one hand, it was wonderfully exciting. On the other…

Screw it.

"Okay," I took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Open Sesame!"

And with a click of the lock the claw turned and the door swung open gently.

I hesitated there at the door for a moment. The unseen thing that had forced me inside that day was something I had barely thought about in between the excitement of the ghosts, spiders, and the curse. But I was thinking about it now. I counted to five in my head, and when nothing happened I stepped forward over the threshold and into Dragon Tower for the first time in thirty days.

The work they had put in was undeniable.

Before it had been cold, dark and dusty. Even without knowing it had been closed for a hundred years you could tell that no one had touched anything inside. It looked like a ghost of itself.

But now? Now it looked alive.

There was a flood of warm light from above my head. There was an iron chandelier with dragons holding candles where a nest of webs and the death spiders had been. The same dark wood I remembered seeing had been polished, and there were rugs that were predominantly red with black and gold patterns that looked like scales.

"Why don't you all take a few minutes to look around? We do have a lot to discuss and some business to take care of, but nothing wrong with orientating yourselves and getting used to your new home."

New home. This was real. Was that sound my heart beating, or skipping beats?

I stood there for a few moments trying to look around and think about where I wanted to look first.

There was a short hallway to my left. Further a head was a staircase leading up to doors that I figured were probably the bedrooms. There were five of them, for five of us. There was a pathway to the right that ended in a black wooden door. Most of the space to the right was on a step downwards from the rest of the floor.

Is that what I tripped on?

I wandered over and carefully stepped down. There was an assortment of three sofas and two armchairs around a square coffee table facing the large brick fireplace.

I didn't remember a fireplace. Was that new or had that been so covered in webs and spiders that I didn't see it?

There were bookshelves lined with leatherbound books. I grabbed one at random and read the front. Basics of Fire Magic by Mildred Hearth.

"I tried to get volumes that might be useful for first-years. I know you all spend time in the library and thought it might help. I also took the liberty of getting some things that I know our library doesn't have," Vivian Hearth said as I placed the book back. Her eyes glanced up to the top shelf.

I couldn't reach.

She held out her hand and curled it towards her.

A book in black leather drifted towards her and then she handed it to me.

"Living Accursed," I read the title out loud.

"Don't tell anyone outside this Tower but there's stuff to match your friends' interests as well."

I noticed a light green volume with depictions of bugs on the side, a white one covered in black skulls, something about art and anatomy, and a blue one with an origami swan.

"I want you all to be comfortable to here, and since we're all going to be seeing a lot of each other over the rest of your stay, we should all get used to each other."

That's when it dawned on me. "You're our Tower head, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I spent a total of fifteen years as head of Kraken Tower as well as being one of the few staff that Dragon Tower opens for."

"Serafina!" Celica's voice called out. "We picked our rooms and you're stuck with the one in the middle!"

I looked up to see Celica, who had ditched the Kraken overcoat and was leaning forward on the railing to yell at me.

"That's fine!" I called back.

"I am happy to see you figure this out." Vivian Hearth was too dignified to yell indoors, but she was projecting her voice to make sure my Towermates who were wandering around could hear her. "But we must get some things sorted before I let you all settle in for the night, so if you would all gather?"

A few moments and the five of us were standing around Vivian Hearth in front of the fireplace.

"Now, you should know that each Tower has a student representative that serves on a council to weigh in on decision making during the school year. Of course with Dragon Tower now opening, it too gets a representative."

"Um…we're first-years," I reminded her. "Are we even allowed to serve as representatives?"

"While it isn't common, it does happen and the rules state that any student of a Tower may have the role. The selection process is up the discretion of the Tower head," Vivian responded.

"There's only five of us, so no need to over-complicate this. Show of hands who wants Serafina to do it?" Celica interjected.

Wait what?

To my horror all four of them had their hands raised.

"Wait what? No. No. No. That's a terrible idea," Absolutely not. "I think Fethris should do it." I raised my hand and they all put their arms down like the traitors they were.

"Well, that was fast. Good. I'll be sure to make sure you get your badge and new uniform before the meeting on Sunday, Miss Stewart."

Why did the gods insist on punishing me at every turn?

"One last thing and then I will leave you all to unpack and get ready for the night. Usually Towers have more than first-years, and allow the older students to mentor the younger ones in exchange for improvements to their grades. To compensate for this I intend to fill that role. If any of you need any help academically, or find yourself in need of assistance in any matter at all, my office is always open you."

I remembered vaguely hearing about something like that.

"Is that everything then?" Celica asked.

"For the time being. I shall leave you all to make yourselves comfortable and I will see you tomorrow to take you to the Curse Breaker Miss Stewart."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

And then she left and closed the door to Dragon Tower behind her, leaving the five of us to get ready for whatever was to come next.

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