I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from Vivian Hearth’s office, but it wasn’t the light openness around me. Most of the right wall was taken up by a massive window that looked out over the woods, letting a ridiculous amount of light in. There was a shelf filled with trophies of some kind. They glittered in the sunlight. The rest were filled books except for the one directly behind me.

  “Before we begin, I would like to assure you that you are not in trouble here. But given your connection to this incident I wanted to at least speak with you before I had to start handing out punishments.”

  “Punishments?”

  “We have rules here, Miss Stewart. Polices older than me. They must be upheld.”

  “I think I follow,” I told her warily. What had the others done?

  “I’ll start with Mr. Albenion, the author of…this morning’s headline.”

  “I don’t know him. He’s in one of my classes but I’ve only said a few words to him total.”

  “I got that impression from the way he wrote about you.”

  I tried to unclench my hands, but they were too stiff.

  “Luckily, being as old of an institution as we are, there is a precedent for almost anything. In this case we are suspending his club activities until such a time where the editor-in-chief decides Mr. Albenion is ready for the responsibilities of contributing to the school paper again.”

  “And my friends?” I asked.

  Vivian sighed. “While Mr. Nightcall’s stunt with the bugs was harmless, I’m sure Tower Representative Horus is handling it. Mr. Quicksilver is stuck helping clean the Spellcraft One room.”

  That was annoying, but it could have been worse.

  “Miss Fel’Graces is serving detention with me this Saturday.”

  “What? What’d she do?”

  “I would have thought she bragged about her artistic skills. You really don’t know?”

  “What did she do?” I asked again.

  Vivian picked up a sheet of paper from her desk and handed it to me. “Your friends really didn’t like what Mr. Albenion had to say about you.”

  On the paper was the entrance to Pegasus Tower. Round stone door and familiar walls. Painted on the door was a brightly colored sky-blue Pegasus that was majestic and very, very dead. Something with a massive bite had taken most of its neck and ripped large gashes across its torso. Blue feathers were scattered amongst the Dragon red.

  “Holy Hecate.”

  “I have no idea how she managed to get to class and get that done. Unless of course Miss Fel’Graces has more advanced magical abilities than we thought.”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea.” Though being in two places at once probably helped.

  I don’t think she was convinced. “And somehow Mr. Kingsley managed to outdo them all. We definitely have some exceptional students this year. I’ve never had to deal with cleaning up summoned floating skulls before. That’s a first.”

  Russel did what?

  “This year is certainly shaping up to be unique,” Vivian Hearth sighed.

  “Trust me, if I had my way it wouldn’t be.”

  She let out a single laugh. “I hope for both our sakes you get your way.”

  Why did I get the feeling that it wasn’t going to be that easy?

  “Would you mind if I asked you a question?”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Feel free.”

  “Why did you choose our school? There are other schools that teach magic.”

  I looked down at my hands, folded them together and let out a long breath. “Did you know that The Towers of Nine is the only school that doesn’t require the casting of spell to get accepted?”

  “Really?”

  I nodded while still looking away. “It’s a mix of written and multiple-choice tests. There isn’t a practical section of the exam.”

  “But everywhere else has one.”

  I nodded again. “Meaning this is the only school I could get into. It being a part of my family history is just a bonus.” I looked up at her and she looked tense. Stiff. She had pulled her glasses off at some point and was holding them so tightly I was worried they might snap.

  “No wonder you are determined to not leave. Regardless of what happens.”

  “If I’m to have any hope at being a member of magical society, family connections or not, this is my only chance. And it’s going to take more than ghosts, spiders, or a bunch of assholes who know nothing about me to make me give it up.” I hadn’t realized what I said until a few seconds after it left my mouth. “Sorry for the language,” I told her meekly.

  To my surprise, she laughed, “You have no idea how long it’s been since anyone has been that blunt with me. It’s funny the things you miss about a person.”

  “Were you and Mom close?”

  “You could say that.”

  “She doesn’t talk much about her life before dad. She never mentioned you. Or if she did, it wasn’t by name.”

  There was a strange soft smile on her face. “I can’t say I’m surprised, all things considered. Our last conversation wasn’t exactly civil.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that. I didn’t have the context for this. Why was she even telling me about this?

  “But that’s not your problem. Nor should it be. Before I set you loose, I want to ask one last question.”

  Thank the gods.

  “Do you want to be moved to Dragon Tower?”

  I couldn’t help myself; I broke out in unrestrained laughter. “You’re kidding right? Right? I was nearly eaten by a horde of spiders and saw a ghost that everyone except my friends thinks I imagined.”

  “Not everyone.”

  “Of course, I want to move! And if this morning proved anything it was that the others are also in the wrong Tower. Wait, what?”

  “Not everyone. Yes. Most of the staff is convinced you didn’t see anything. But there are a couple who think differently.”

  “Do you? Think differently?”

  “I do. I don’t know what it is you saw, but I think there is strong enough evidence of some kind of phenomenon happening within Dragon Tower.”

  “I…I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “And yet, despite knowing that, you still want to move? Is Pixie that bad?”

  “It’s not that it’s bad…it’s that it doesn’t fit correctly. I am not like other Pixies. I can’t stand the color pink, I don’t like people that much, I’m barely friendly enough to qualify, and the noise is headache inducing.”

  She winced.

  “So yes. Please. Move me. Please?”

  “You do have a point. Your friends don’t seem to be fitting in any better. Miss Fel’Graces is the least Kraken student I have seen.”

  “Was it joining the Chaser team or the mutilated Pegasus art that tipped you off?”

  She snorted out a laugh. “Gorgon likes to complain when things don’t go the way he thinks they should.”

  A cold terror entered my body. “Oh no.”

  “Yes, he has mentioned you. And yes, ‘least Pixie’ is a way he has described you.”

  I wanted to hide. Why did I always forget that teachers talk to each other?

  “Dellik also shares that sentiment. But he means it in a nice way rather than derogatory.”

  I buried my face in my hands. I resisted my urge to scream.

  “I think that’s enough for both of us today. Besides, I’m sure you have things to do.”

  I removed my hands and took a few breaths to calm down. “Homework to do, papers to write. I’ll...um… see you around?”

  “Yes. Have a nice rest of your day Serafina.”

  (*********)

  Pixie Tower was mostly empty. Lucky me. I found myself back in my room but any hope of getting some rest was thoroughly dashed at that point.

  There was someone in front of my room. Someone with their hands tucked behind their back and looking at the floor with what could only be described as a guilty look.

  And the new sticker of a bright orange moth on my door was a good hint as to what this was likely about.

  “Hi there Serafina…”

  “Hey. What’s up?”

  “I…I wanted to apologize.”

  Okay? “For what?”

  “This morning. I…I didn’t know he was writing such a mean article.”

  Oh. Not my sticker placer then. “Back up a little, I’m confused.”

  “Last Tuesday a Pegasus from the Newspaper Club approached me after our Spellcraft class. He told me he wanted to do a story on you guys since that was the big thing happening and what better first story for the paper? I told him I didn’t know you well but was happy to answer questions.” They started shaking. “I’m so sorry. They seemed harmless at the time and-”

  “Stop. We’re good. I’m not mad at you. Albenion is the only person I’m upset with at this moment. You don’t have to apologize.”

  “I’m also the one leaving stickers on your door. It’s just…we want you to fit in and be happy here but you don’t seem like it and-”

  I cut them off a second time. “It’s fine. If they bothered me that much I would have pulled them down.”

  They perked up a bit.

  “I will ask you to stop though mostly because I still don’t know if I’m staying or not. Because it takes forever to make decisions I guess. I appreciate the thought however. I assume your color choices were deliberate?”

  “That obvious?”

  “A little. But I am not mad at you for either thing. Thank you for telling me. Now if you will excuse me I have some homework that needs doing.”

  “Oh. Right. See you around Serafina.”

  Welp. That’s one mystery solved. Only about a dozen more to go.