Saturday morning of the thirteenth was almost peaceful. Yes, the first thing I saw when I walked down the stairs to the main floor were two floating skulls. But they weren't chattering and instead were floating around their creator who was doing something. I couldn't tell what but he had two different open books floating around him and everything around him was glowing orange.

I opted to not engage with whatever he was up to.

"Where are you off to?" Russel asked as I headed towards the door.

"I have to go pick up a delivery at the mail office. Bye," I held up the notice slip. Being Tower Representative meant I was notified of things like this and was allowed to handle it however I wanted.

Since I knew who it was for already I chose to not bother the others.

With it being a Saturday the halls weren't so crowded. I hummed a little bit of Iron Roses to myself.

"Serafina!" Angelina's voice called out.

"Oh, Angelina. What are you up to this morning?"

"Not much right now I was thinking about heading over to Dragon Tower to see Celica about something. What are you up to? You look almost cheerful."

"Just heading to the mail office."

"Mind if I come with?"

"If you want to, sure. I can't promise it will be all that interesting."

She matched her pace with mine as we walked.

"What was that song you were humming?" Angelina asked.

"A song from my favorite band. I don't think anyone here has heard of it though."

"Tell me about it anyway."

I sighed, "Okay. The band is called Iron Roses."

She tilted her head as she made a contemplative hum. "Nope. Never heard of them."

That's about what I expected.

"That's fine."

"Is that why you don't talk much about your life before coming here?" Angelina asked.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Because you think we won't get it?"

I debated for a moment about how honest I wanted to be with her. "In truth, only partially. The main reason is that there's very little to talk about."

"Just because they aren't here doesn't mean you can't talk about your friends back home."

I didn't try to hide the wince.

"Oh no."

"About that…more like…friend singular. And I doubt he and I will speak to each other again."

The look on her face was a blend of alarm and sorrow.

"It's complicated. But it's nothing anyone can do anything about. And it's fine. All things considered it might actually be for the best for both of us."

"But that's so sad…"

"I'm not saying I wasn't sad about it. But this was over a year ago now and considering he's human there was always going to be…issues." Things I could never tell him, things he would never understand.

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"It wasn't because of your magic, was it?"

I almost laughed. There was a time when I wasn't even sure I had magic. How could it have gotten in the way? "No. It wasn't that. I think it was just…life happening. You know? And I think it might have been destined to implode."

She frowned at me. "That's not how destiny works."

"Oh?"

"Destiny is more about…finding where your thread leads."

I wasn't sure I was following her thread.

Thankfully she either sensed my lack of understanding or took my silence as permission to go on. "How do I explain this better… It's like a river."

"Okay?"

She held her hands out as she spoke, red began to float over them and form a river with bends, "You could say that a river's destiny is ending up at the ocean."

"Right. Inevitable no matter what."

"Not really," Angelina wiggled her fingers and suddenly the image became that of drops. "This droplet of water might follow the river its entire journey to the ocean. But this one, this one might end up getting evaporated and join the clouds to turn into rain."

"You've lost me."

"Two droplets, two friends from the same river. They may end up on different paths, but who's to say they won't meet up again when their destinies collide?"

"I do."

"Bonds aren't so easily broken I think. And considering how you feel about the word friend I don't think it's something you throw around lightly."

She…might have started to have a point. Actually.

"And my real point is, destiny is not as fixed an idea as some might lead you to believe. Maybe parting was destined, or maybe your destiny will be a reunion."

"Has this all been an elaborate scheme to make me less gloomy?"

"Shh. It's deep and meaningful. But is it working?"

"I'll let you know."

"Oh. We're here."

There wasn't a door to the mail office. It was just a doorway with a sign next to it.

I stepped inside cautiously, not knowing what to expect.

"Hello?" I called out.

There was a noise from somewhere behind the wooden counter. And then the sound of tumbling boxes. No shattering noise so it was probably fine.

"Oh. Hello there." As if blinked into existence there was a person behind the counter in front of me.

I held up the slip and slid it over.

"Oh right, the Dragon Tower delivery."

"That would be correct." The urge to curl up on myself in awkwardness was still just as strong at sixteen as it had been at fifteen.

There was a puff of pinkish white smoke and there were two things in front of me. One was a small box wrapped in shiny red wrapping paper that had a faint distinctive and slightly suspicious yellow glow. The other was a very thin and square envelope.

I picked them both up. "Thank you, have a nice day." It was stiff, but it was more about the manners than anything else.

A little while after leaving the mail office Angelina narrowed her eyes at me in suspicion.

"What?"

"You aren't telling me something."

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Serafina. I'm a Pixie. We know these things."

I sighed, "It's my birthday today."

The scandalized gasp that escaped from her was way louder than I thought she was capable of. "Serafina!"

And this is why I didn't tell her.

She actually glared at me.

"Do your Towermates know about this?"

"No."

Angelina rubbed her face and let out a noise that was frustration incarnate.

"Look it's not a big deal."

"You're turning sixteen! That's a big deal!"

"You're going to be mad at me, aren't you?"

"I am!" And she was back to hands on hips. "But I know what you can do to fix it."

Oh no. I forgot. Red magic means there's a bit of Dragon in her. I maybe should have thought about this more carefully.

"I'll have to discuss the details with your Tower though," she continued her threat to my mental wellbeing.

"Well we're almost there. You might as well stay for tea. I'm sure Celica would love that."

"She's the best. And will actually understand why I'm upset at you."

"Oh good you can spend your next date plotting to torment me."

She huffed as her face turned red.

"Open Sesame," I told the circular stone door of Dragon Tower. I stepped through the door, "Well? You coming in or what?"

I stepped into the first floor of Dragon Tower to find it empty. But that wasn't that unusual. What was a little strange were the noises coming from the workroom.

Who was up to something now?

I sighed.

I walked down the hall and knocked on the closed door twice.

"She's back, shh!" That sounded like Vivian.

Right. Grandmother and Tower Head. I forgot to factor in that she has access to records. And to Jarec. Who is solely responsible for the telepathic group chat.

"I think someone might have gotten the jump on you in terms of getting back at me for not bringing up my birthday Angelina," I announced loudly with the full intention of any and all parties that were in the Tower overhearing me.

"And we're caught," Jarec commented as he opened the door. "Though if you didn't want a surprise, maybe don't be secretive?"

"I wasn't being secretive. None of you asked."

"We shouldn't have had to."

"But then how am I supposed to know you care so much about this?"

That comment earned me a poke to the face from Angelina and an eyeroll from my cousin.

"In my defense," Vivian stated as she moved from in front of the table, "this was your mother's idea."

"Yeah that sounds about right."

But then I noticed the thing on the table.

"Where did you get a phonograph?" I asked as I looked over it.

"It was my grandmother's," Vivian explained. "She unintentionally left it here when the Tower closed itself up."

"Too bad I don't have any…" I set the presents on the table. "You collaborated with Dad on this, didn't you?"

"Well I don't know the first thing about restoration. And they both insisted you would love it if it worked. Apparently he knew someone he trusted to help."

"Uncle Roy runs an antique store. Give me a second," I carefully opened up the square sleeve.

"What is that?" Angelina spoke up as I pulled out the vinyl still in the sleeve.

The cover was familiar. I knew this song. "Master of Puppets. By Metallica."

Huh. That's weird.

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