"Should you be using that?" Jarec asked.

I'd be more offended at his question, but between the glowing eyes and scars on my left arm and around my eyes I really didn't blame him.

"The teapot hasn't zapped me so far, it's probably fine."

The blend of concern and disbelief on Jarec's face was funny.

Scraps jumped up to bat at Jarec's face like he was some overgrown puppy.

I chuckled as I set the teapot down and settled back into my seat.

I sipped at the dark green tea made from an iron-rich species of lichen that had a vaguely minty aftertaste.

Jarec poked his creation on the nose and Scraps rolled over onto his back to show off his stomach. Or at least the approximation of a stomach. I wasn't sure if anatomy rules applied when the being was made of paper.

Jarec's red eyes were then on me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm worried. Celica mentioned you nearly fell down the stairs after going up to the attic by yourself."

Ah. That.

"It's nothing. Just saw an Echo up there that frightened me more than it should."

He was frowning.

I choose to elaborate. "It was an undead. I don't know what type or anything. Floating, creepy and had these scars on it."

"That shouldn't be possible."

I shrugged, "I didn't say it made sense. I just know what I saw. It could have been from Malcarg's time for all I know."

He didn't look all that convinced.

"Sorry for worrying you."

He was still staring.

I blinked twice.

"Just so you know, the eye thing is really unsettling."

I rolled my eyes. "Everyone's eyes glow."

He rolled his eyes. "Not when they aren't using magic."

I shrugged. "I wish I knew what to tell you, I don't get it either. I have a few theories but with the curse it's hard to confirm anything."

Red's comment about magic and loopholes rippled somewhere in the back of my mind.

Not that I could do anything with that right now.

I was starting to hate that everything circled back to the curse.

"There you both are."

I looked up to see Vivian Hearth coming down the stairs.

Scraps rolled back over onto his legs with his usual jerky motion. He looked up at her and gave two tail thumps as some kind of greeting.

Vivian Hearth looked at Scraps with a proud smile. "This must be the most recent puppet of yours. You've been making some good progress on those spells."

Scraps let out a quick breath of white paper triangles that hovered in the air then vanished.

Then she looked up to me and gasped.

"By the gods!" She exclaimed.

With a resigned sigh I set my head between my arms on the table.

"Hello. Was there something you wanted?" Jarec's attempt at casual was something I appreciated.

I raised one hand to give a wave.

"Serafina, your eyes."

"Yes. I am aware." I tried to not be annoyed at her over this.

"They've been like that all day," Jarec explained.

I grumbled an affirmation without lifting my head. Right on cue the curse was starting to heat up and itch.

I wondered if cutting it off would at least rid me of that part of the curse.

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Something crackled like static near my head. I sighed and sat up properly.

"You mentioned something about this," Vivian said as she came closer. "It's certainly more vibrant than I expected."

I covered my eyes with my hands. "I'm going to be stuck like this for the next three days."

"Hmm. Have you tried magic while in this state?" Vivian asked.

She sounded genuinely curious.

I removed my hands to look at her. "I managed to use the rune leading to the attic without issue. Not a hint of green."

"Progress," Jarec announced.

"Maybe?" Or at the very least an interesting data point. I may have to think about taking Runework next semester.

Vivian had a contemplative frown on her face. It was an expression that reminded me of Mom. "And it doesn't hurt?"

"If people stopped staring and mentioning it I wouldn't even notice until I looked in a mirror."

I maybe could have phrased that differently.

"No other sensations or feelings?"

I shook my head.

"Very strange. We'll have to keep an eye on that."

"If I notice anything that hasn't happened before I'll let you know."

As far as my magic and the curse were concerned.

In the back of my mind was still the image of that thing in the attic, it looked like it was reaching for me but that couldn't be possible. But then again if Red could interact with us, why couldn't something else? How did it even get there?

(*********)

The next morning was not any better. It wasn't worse, but it still sucked.

"Still glowing." I heard Russel comment.

"Of course. She'll probably be stuck like that for a couple more days," Celica responded.

"Do you know something?"

Celica snickered at his question.

"I can hear you," I announced as I put Living Accursed back on the shelf.

It was mildly annoying that nothing in it referenced curses affecting mana veins. I wondered if that was the result in a lack of foresight from the author or an indicator of how much malice was behind my affliction.

"Good," Celica said as she turned from where she was sitting across from Russel to face me. "Because I have a question I've been meaning to ask."

I was almost certain she would ask even if I said no. "Go ahead."

"That Echo the other day, the one of me and Jarec. Is that really the sound of my voice?"

Oh, was that it? "Yeah."

"Seriously? My voice is actually that high pitch?"

"Yep. That's exactly what you sound like to the rest of the world."

"I sound much less intimidating than I thought."

I shrugged. "If it helps, I was intimidated by you when we first met."

Still was a little bit sometimes, but she didn't need to know that.

She huffed, "Don't patronize me. You didn't look intimidated to me."

It was too early to argue. "Don't worry, lots of people are bad at picking up on my moods."

There was a flash of heat that had me scratching at the curse.

That's when my head decided to split itself in half. The air left my body in a rush as I grabbed my head with both hands.

"That temperament of yours does you few favors. But like all things it can be useful if channeled properly."

That wasn't Celica's or Russel's voice. It was a deep booming voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. I could feel it reverberate through my body. Who was that? I couldn't place this voice.

"You'll have to conquer this curse on your own little hatchling. But it's nice to finally talk to you. I'll keep this concise. Be careful hatchling, something is amiss with my Echoes."

Then the pain stopped.

I could finally breathe.

"Hey!" Celica was standing in front of me. "Stewart!"

"What?" I gasped out.

"Your curse was sparking," Celica said.

"Did either of you hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" Russel asked.

"The voice? Deep voice that was coming from everywhere? Mentioned something about a hatchling?"

They shared a look between them. "The Tower?" Celica asked.

The Tower? Right. I'd forgotten that it could speak. Or at least the statue could speak. But why could it talk now…

Oh. Right. My glowing eyes. The thing that was keeping me from casting was also keeping the telepathy out. At least based off of what happened with Angelina's attempts to see my future.

Could do without the headaches though.

I stood there and let myself breathe. The lingering pain was not fun but it was fading fast.

Just another reminder that I wasn't like the others.

(*********)

"Wait. What do you mean your Tower speaks to you?!" Angelina exclaimed at breakfast.

There was something reassuring about having another voice of reason around the table.

"Does Pixie Tower not talk to you guys?" I asked.

She gave me an annoyed look that I don't think was fully justified.

"Look, I don't know. Nothing works the way it's supposed to with me," I defended.

"No. Pixie Tower doesn't speak to us." She sounded alarmed. It occurred to me that maybe our situation was even stranger than perhaps I had given it credit for.

"Dragon Tower is very talkative. And opinionated," Fethris added.

"Maybe it's cause there's so few of us?" I offered. "Keeping track of five is easier than seventy."

"Or our Tower is the strangest out of the bunch," Jarec added.

He maybe had a point. But why give any of them more ammunition?

"More importantly Serafina," Celica leaned forward grinning. "What did he tell you?"

"Not much. He told me my temper wasn't helping and that I'm on my own with this curse thing," I shrugged. I looked down away from them as I tore up the pita bread on my plate.

"That's it?"

"He said he couldn't speak long," I commented.

"Anyone else think it's strange that you get headaches when someone reads your mind?" Jarec commented. "Assuming of course the attempt even works."

"Is that true?" Angelina asked. "But then how did you get chosen by a Tower?"

"I had a headache almost the entire process of being chosen by Dragon Tower," I admitted.

"But the curse didn't do anything then, did it?" Celica asked. "And your eyes definitely weren't glowing."

"Bold of you to assume I know how any of this works." I joked, "I have been operating on a blend of guesswork and trial and error. I never know what I'm doing."

Celica looked unimpressed. But that wasn't my problem.

"Don't look at me like that. You're the one who decided I should be Tower Representative."

"And if it was any of the rest of us it would be a disaster," Celica defended herself.

"It couldn't possibly be worse than what I've had to deal with."

Angelina was starting to look a little distressed. "Please no fighting."

I sighed. "No one's fighting. Just clarifying my stance to my towermate."

Celica rolled her eyes. "Of course. If this was a genuine argument I would wait until only other Dragons could hear it. This is just…aggressive banter."

"Right. Of course."

Angelina sighed and I was fairly certain she didn't believe a word of our nonsense. But she seemed placated enough that Celica and I weren't about to start yelling.

Small wins.

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