I had no idea what to expect from this excursion with Angelina. In theory she was going to try and tell my future again. But I wasn't knowledgeable in this area to expect anything more than a roll of the dice. Maybe we'd learn something, maybe something bad would happen, maybe nothing.

I didn't think telling her this was a good idea. For one, she likely already knew. Two, the idea of letting her down upset me. For all our differences I did try to see things her way.

It just wasn't a viewpoint that came naturally to me.

I was sitting at small round table while she knelt in front of a box and was trying to reach inside. I was fairly certain the box was enchanted somehow because she was reaching in far more than looked physically possible for a small cube of cardboard.

"Aren't you one of Celica's Towermates?" A voice that I couldn't put a name to but recognized asked.

I looked around to find one of Celica's brothers. I was sure I knew his name but at that moment I couldn't remember which one this was.

Angelina paused in her looking through her box to wave at him. He greeted her back with a silent wave before Angelina went back to leaning almost entirely into her box.

"I am. Dragon Tower Representative Stewart. Though I'm just here as Angelina's friend Serafina."

If I didn't already know, the vaguely annoyed and bored look he gave me would have proved their relation. "How is Celica doing?"

"I haven't heard too many complaints. A few here and there but I'm fairly certain that's just how she is. I think I would worry if she didn't complain at all."

His mouth twitched with a smile. "It sounds like she's having fun then. I was worried."

I was pretty sure if I mentioned this conversation to her she wouldn't be happy about it. But what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Though I admit, I was confused when she basically demanded that both of our parents be here when it's time."

I felt pretty confident about why she might have done that. But if she hadn't let her brother in on what was going to happen then it wasn't my place. "She hasn't said a word about that to me, I don't know anything you don't."

"Alright, then I suppose I'll leave you be."

He left as Angelina turned back to me with a box in her hands. It was a light wooden box that rattled. She had a big smile on her face.

She set it on the table before sliding off the lid to reveal what looked like five twelve-sided dice.

I couldn't recall if Mom had ever mentioned anything like these before.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"What are we doing?"

Her smile brightened and she plucked one of them out of the box. "Remember what I said about destiny?"

"I think so?"

She held it out for me to inspect. I carefully picked it up and took a closer look.

It reminded me a lot of her crystal ball. It seemed to be made of glass with similar little flecks of crystals inside. While they were too small for me to tell what kinds of stones were used, the colors I saw were green and pink. On the outside were markings in thin white lines that I didn't know.

I gave it back.

"If I do this right, we should be able to get a peek into what path destiny has in store for you."

That felt like a big if, but she was the expert here.

She picked up all the dice and started to shake them in her hands. A faint red glow came off of them. "Ask a question. Any question. But I tend to get clearer results with a yes or no."

So many questions. Let's do a test. "Will I pass history class?"

She giggled then dumped the dice back into the box. I had no idea what the symbols meant. She hummed thoughtfully as she looked at the results. "If you continue down your current path, yes."

"Reasonable. Seems like they work with no backlash from the curse."

She grabbed her dice again. "Now that we know it works for you, ask another one. Anything."

Any question, huh? "I think I have one, but I may ask you not to ask any questions about it."

Concern and curiosity seemed to war for a moment on her face. But she nodded and started to shake the dice in her hands.

"Will I ever meet Red in person?"

She dumped the dice into the box. The confusion on her face worried me.

"What do they say?"

"I'm…not sure. It starts like you already have, but then it also says never." Angelina frowned for a moment before her expression shifted to understanding. "Didn't you tell me you saw her in Echoes in Dragon Tower? Maybe that what's got it all confused. Technically, you have met her. But if she's from a long time ago you'll also never meet her. I mean…I've never seen something like this before, and I don't really understand the Echoes. Maybe you need to rephrase your question?"

I gave it some thought. Then nodded.

As she rattled the dice a third time, I took a breath and asked, "Is Red a real person?"

She looked relieved as she glanced at the results. "That's a definitive yes. No uncertainty at all."

Okay then. "Cool. Thanks."

"But can I please ask you a question?"

It was probably a little bit fair, given her indulgence of me. "Ask away."

"Why did you think she might not be real?"

Hello there consequences of my actions. "Just wanted to rule out possibilities. Dragon Tower has shown her a lot more than anything else in the Echoes."

"Any idea when she might be from?"

I shook my head.

Excited curiosity flashed across her face. "Maybe she's from a really long time ago!"

I nodded, "Maybe, yeah."

But I knew that wasn't true. There was no way she was from over a hundred years ago. That wasn't possible. But there was no way to explain this to Angelina without risking more questions. Ones that I didn't have answers for and didn't want the wrong people to hear.

Even if the premise was wrong, however, the idea still had a bit of merit. What if Red was from a time and place where I just could never meet her in person?

Certainly something to think about.

"Let's try one last question for today."

"How about you pick one?"

Angelina leaned back in her chair and seemed to think on it. "Oh! I got one!"

Oh boy.

Another roll of the dice.

"Is Serafina ever going to be free of the curse?"

Oh no.

The symbols on the dice, despite me not knowing what they meant, gave me an uncomfortable feeling. Like watching the movement of a long-legged spider.

Angelina's frown worried me.

"What's wrong?"

"Maybe, it says maybe but only if you alter your current course."

That…was a little terrifying. Alter my current course? What, was I doing something wrong?

"I think that's enough peaking into destiny for me today," I said in a hurry to be very far away from here and those dice. Suddenly I understood why Mom had never bothered with glimpsing into the future.

No thanks.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.