The girl's bathroom in Dragon Tower was relatively small. But since it only needed to accommodate Celica and myself it worked out.

Two stalls and two sinks with some drawers underneath for general storage. Lucky for Celica who had three of every hair tie thing known to exist.

I stared at myself in the mirror after splashing myself in the face with some cold water.

Okay. What's done is done. The duel was official now and out of my hands. I would get through this. I could get through this.

The day was over.

But it was still too early for bedtime. No matter how tired I was.

Only way to go is forward.

I stepped out of the bathroom to find Fethris making some tea with the enchanted tea kettle.

"Good news," I told him. "The duel is official. I hope you're ready for whatever that brings."

He grinned, "Good. I've been ready. The way my father talked about this school you'd think duels happened every other week. It's been almost boring. Well, besides this place."

"Maybe your father was just that confrontational?" I teased.

He let out a single laugh, "Maybe. He was part of a group of friends who apparently did nothing but cause trouble."

"Oh, so like father like son then?"

"I have done nothing wrong."

I said nothing while giving him a blank stare.

"Those Kelpies practically asked to have centipedes sent to harass them. If they can't handle the consequences they shouldn't open their mouths. A lesson I greatly look forward to teaching Miss Anubis."

"I wish this wasn't a thing that was happening."

"I'm thrilled to be doing this. Do you have any idea how worried I was that this school was going to turn out be boring? And then you came along and it's been more fun than I hoped for."

"We live in a haunted tower, I'm pretty sure someone died in here, and we're quickly becoming the poster children for outsiders."

"I fail to see how any of those are bad things."

Why were my Towermates like this?

"Would it be too much to ask for one day where nothing happens?" I asked.

"Well we still have five more ears of school to attend. That's a lot of days, one of them is bound to be quiet."

"Don't lie to me."

He laughed again.

"Eh, could be worse. We could be the Exterreri all over again" Russel commented as he came out of the boy's bathroom.

Fethris spit out his tea all over the table and he struggled to remain upright as he coughed.

"How do you know about that?" I demanded of Russel.

He blinked at me, "Wait, you already know about that?"

"Stop," Fethris said around coughs, "You brought it up, you explain first."

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"My dad was one of them," Russell announced. Like this was normal. "Your turn."

That had to be a coincidence, right? "My mother was a member."

"My father as well," Fethris stated. "That's…odd. I can't say I expected that. I need names, I can't wait to see his face when I tell him about this."

I must have been spending too much time with these people. Because that's when a thought occurred. "Or…we don't say anything and they find out during the parent weekend thing we have in November."

Russel cackled. "I second this motion."

Fethris said nothing for several seconds, "You know what? Why not."

"You three better not be planning something fun without me," Celica had joined the group. "What's going on?"

"If I asked you if you knew anything about a group of former students called the Exterreri what would you say?"

Celica, who had been relaxed, stiffened, "What about them?" She sounded guarded.

"My mother, Russel's dad and Fethris' dad were members," I explained.

I think she blue-screened on us. She stood there in a disarming silence. I couldn't tell if it was perhaps shock or if she was using telepathy with the boys.

Maybe I'll get a chalk board for the few rules we have so I could write them down.

"Both my parents were there," she said at last.

"Four out of five," I commented, "Coincidence or is Dragon Tower playing more tricks on us?"

"I'm asking Jarec, give me a second," Fethris announced. Probably for my sake.

What a good second. And maybe future Tower Representative.

Russel started laughing, "All five of us have connections to the Exterreri, confirmed."

"That can't be a coincidence," I said.

Celica's eyes went wide and she stormed over to where I was sitting. Without a word she grabbed my left wrist and pulled the glove off of it.

"Hey!" I tried to yank my wrist back.

"The Mists," Celica's voice was barely a whisper.

Why did she sound scared now? She already knew that part, right? "What about them?"

She was trembling with my wrist held tightly in her hand. "Did your mother not tell you about the Exterreri's origin?"

What did that have to do with anything? But she looked more upset than I had seen her so far, might as well indulge her. "She mentioned they once got in some trouble together and stayed close after. She never gave me details."

Celica groaned, "Please tell me I don't have to spell it out for the rest of you!"

I looked at Russel and Fethris to see if they had any idea what was going on. Both of them had similar looks on their faces. Horrified realization.

That's when something clicked in my mind.

"The trouble…they were attacked by the Mists?" I asked softly.

Celica's shaking and tight grip eased, "Kidnapped. They barely got away from the way my parents tell it."

There was no way on this Earth that my mother having been kidnapped by the same group of people who had placed a generational curse on our family was a coincidence.

That was impossible.

I stared at the scars and curse mark.

What else hadn't she told me?

Only one way to find out.

(*********)

It was just before curfew before I gathered the nerve to call Mom.

"Lucinda Stewart."

The mirror rippled and glowed. Then I saw her face.

She had a big smile and waved excitedly before stopping when she noticed the look on my face.

"Why didn't you mention that you were kidnapped by the Mists when you were a student?" I asked without preamble.

"Oh. That. Did Vivian Hearth tell you?" She asked, she sounded sad.

"No. My Towermates are the kids of the other Extrerreri members," I explained.

This snapped her out of whatever it was, "Really? How interesting. I never thought Ruby was the maternal type."

"Please don't change the subject."

"Right. The Exterreri and the Mists of Hecate. Yeah, it's true."

"And you didn't think that might be relevant information given certain recent events?" I waved my left hand.

She had the decency to cringe, "In my defense, I had every intention of telling you."

"Mother please."

She sighed, "You're right. It's probably all connected. I can't blame you for being upset at this. Here's what I know, the curse affecting you wasn't placed then. Given the reports about it that I have given it's far too complicated for how little time they actually had us. Plus, I was fifteen at the time, I would have remembered if I had a curse placed on me. Healers ran all kinds of tests for days afterwards and never found a thing."

"Sounds like what happened to me when we asked healers why I couldn't cast."

"The curse is still a big unknown right now. We're still trying to figure out the timeline for all of this."

"Is there anything else you've left out?" I asked her.

She stopped meeting my eyes. "There is. My family…they're well-known. Pretty famous. Especially around the school. My mother and my uncles still hold influence there."

"You think that's why you were taken, or why we were cursed?"

"Something like that."

"Mom?"

She let out another long sigh. "After you're done with your training with Vivian on Saturday, call me. There's some things I need to take care of if we're really going to have this conversation."

"You're just going to leave me in suspense for the next five days?"

She gave me a smile that I was certain was fake, "Your mother has quite a few secrets. But some of them aren't fully hers and she has to make some calls and have a few awkward conversations."

"Your family."

"Yep. Just focus on class for now. I'll call you when I have an update."

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