Basilisk Tower stood proud over the grass fields and crowds of students. The outside was a muddy brown, or to be more precise made of mud bricks. The stonework enchanted to look like mud and straw and dirt, but it was just as strong as the other Towers. And like the other Towers hidden amongst the rockwork were wards and runes meant to keep threats like the undead at bay.

  They were ancient and thrumming with unfathomable power all of which made my story about ghosts impossible. But I saw something. I experienced something.

  And somehow, I’d prove it.

  Speaking of ghost stories… there was Dragon Tower. Why did I always end up here? I half considered walking away from it… but then I noticed something. The dragon statue had moved again. This time its head was resting just below the main window. The tail and body curled up underneath forming a spiral.

  I double-checked the window. No movement or hint of a person behind the glass. For now.

  I looked around at the booths near me. There was a brewing club, run mostly by Krakens and some older Pixies that I vaguely recognized. Pass.

  Botany, lead by a mix of Basilisks and Sylphids. Hard pass.

  I almost didn’t notice when I nearly bumped into a familiar set of princess braids.

  “There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you!” Celica said. Though something about her face looked…off. Different.

  But I couldn’t tell what it was.

  “We?”

  “Yes! Come on!”

  Something felt off. Wrong, somehow.

  “You’re looking at me funny,” she said.

  And something was funny about her. I tried to think of how to voice the thoughts swirling in my mind when a loud, boisterous, and familiar laugh echoed over the crowd around us.

  “And that’s our cue,” she giggled and moved behind to start shoving me forward. Seriously, what had gotten into her?

  I was glad I was wearing layers. Somehow, even through my light jacket and gloves Celica’s hand was ice cold. Almost painful and sharp.

  That can’t be healthy.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, worried.

  “Huh? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “You’re acting strangely.” Among other things.

  “Am I?” She hummed. “I don’t think I am…We might have to talk to Prime.”

  Prime? “Who?”

  I was suddenly spun around. Celica had her head tilted and she blinked at me a few times. But I figured out what was wrong with her face. Her eyes were the wrong colors. They were both purple.

  “I forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?”

  “I am very confused right now.” I told her plainly.

  “I’m a duplicate! Prime sent me to look for you.” Duplicate? Realization dawned on me. Duplication spells were infamously complex. Celica could do that?

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  “To clarify, ‘Prime’ is the real Celica?” I asked, my mind reeling from the audacious display of skill.

  She nodded. “I knew you were smart. Now come on!”

  I shrugged her hands off and followed her. She frowned for a moment but let me escape her icy grip. But as I walked next to her she broke out into a very un-Celica-like grin. Looking at her at little closer, Not-Celica’s skin was lighter, closer to a pastel blue than the light grey.

  “I can’t wait to see their faces when a Kraken shows up for tryouts. This is going to be way more entertaining than the Newspaper Club.” That sounded like Jarec.

  “You sure you’re not going to tryout too?” Celica’s voice, and I really hoped it was the real one this time.

  “I would. But I have this terrible habit of falling on my face whenever I step on one of those boards. You want to go break your nose, be my guest.”

  “Oh please, I have the grace of a swan.”

  “All I heard was I need a front row seat and popcorn.”

  Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all.

  “Prime! I found one!” Not-Celica called out. She waved wildly and pointed at me.

  Celica and Jarec were leaning against Dragon Tower chatting loudly with seemingly no care about who heard them. The eyeroll the fake one received for her efforts was a dead giveaway, this one was very definitely real. Her eyes were even the right color.

  Celica smirked as I approached. Not-Celica took off in a different direction leaving me in the care of my should have been Towermates.

  “Hello.” I greeted with far less volume and enthusiasm than my guide.

  “There she is! The conquering hero and defeater of spiders!” Jarec teased.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “We should coordinate what clubs we’re joining. I don’t want us to pick things that make it impossible to hang out together because we didn’t plan,” Celica explained.

  “I only had my eyes on the Alchemy club.” I told her.

  Jarec had no reaction. Celica started laughing.

  “You can’t! Gorgon will have an aneurysm,” she said around her laughter.

  That hurt. Though was probably true.

  “Who?” Jarec asked.

  “Head of Kraken Tower and our Alchemy teacher,” I explained.

  “And Serafina is the bane of his existence.”

  Jarec’s eyes started to glint with what I could only describe as pure mischief. “Serafina, do you cause trouble in Alchemy?”

  “No. She’s the model Advanced Alchemy student. But she’s a Pixie. And our class is full of Krakens and Banshees and we are kicking their asses.”

  So what if Pixies had a reputation for not being the smartest? So what if I was the only Pixie in an Advanced class? I looked away from both of them and up at the face of the Dragon statue.

  Were its eyes glowing?

  “It’s not that big of a deal,” I muttered.

  “You got the only one hundred on the first quiz, and we both are the only ones to clear all five labs this week,” The glee in Celica’s voice made me want to go find a nice hole to go hide in.

  “Oh the Banshees must hate you,” Jarec sounded so amused by this.

  “The Krakens definitely do,” Celica nodded slowly.

  “Compared to the exam the quiz was easy,” I shrugged.

  “And did you get a hundred on the exam too?” Celica teased.

  I had, but something in both of their faces told me that telling them that would be an invitation for my own misery. But I opened my mouth anyway. “If I did would you hate me?”

  Celica gasped. Jarec laughed.

  “You did what? I was joking! What are you?!”

  I shrugged again. “What did you get?”

  She started ranting. “I scored an eighty-six! I had to take a placement test! This is bullshit. No wonder you got shoved into our class. One hundred on the entrance exam.”

  “If it makes you feel better; I didn’t do nearly as well on the other parts.”

  Celica was still not looking at me. “Can I tell the Krakens this? I need someone else to be angry at this for me.”

  I wasn’t sure they’d believe her. “Why not?”

  She turned to Jarec. “Can you believe this? And she doesn’t even care! Like it’s nothing. Gorgon is going to have a stroke.”

  Jarec had mercy on me, “It’s for the best. I heard the Alchemy Club meets on Sunday mornings.”

  Oof. “So even if he didn’t hate me, I couldn’t join anyway.” My Sunday mornings were taken by visits with Healer Sealie until further notice. Just to make sure I was healing correctly.

  “It’s for the best. We’ll find other things that are far more entertaining to do.” Celica winked.

  Oh no. I had a flashback to my mother and her idea of fun. Dread pooled in my stomach.

  But lucky me whatever trouble she was thinking up got interrupted by a newcomer. But this one wasn’t a Dragon. I vaguely recognized him. I think he was in my Spellcraft class.

  He coughed into his hand. Celica gave him a flat look that reminded me of when we met. He turned to me, “You’re Serafina Stewart, right? Hi, I’m part of the School Newspaper. Would you be interested in doing an interview about Dragon Tower?”

  “No thanks,” I told him.

  “Are you sure? I could get you on the front page,” he offered.

  “Definitely no thanks,” I told him, the very idea gripping my heart with an irrational terror almost on par with the image of spiders.

  “You won’t even have to do anything, just answer a few questions! It’ll be great!”

  “She said ‘no’. No piss off,” Celica interjected.

  My savior. I’ll tolerate whatever mischief she cooks up.

  “This is why we have a reputation for being nosy,” Jarec rolled his eyes. “Please don’t embarrass our Tower.”

  The guy’s eyes narrowed on Jarec, who was still leaning casually against the stonework of Dragon Tower, and huffed once before turning around and leaving.

  After a few seconds Celica turned to Jarec, “He’s cute. Until he opens his mouth.”

  Jarec nodded, “He has abs. I am very much a fan.”

  “But you,” she turned back to me, “need to be more assertive.”

  “I just don’t want to cause a fight with people.”

  “You managed with Gorgon, and he is a lot scarier than some Pegasus punk.”

  I cringed.

  She rolled her eyes. “We’ll work on it. In the meantime you should come watch me tryout for the chaser team next week. Or you could just hang around like Jarec and gawk at the athletes.”

  Jarec, unembarrassed, shrugged, “What can I say? I appreciate good physique.”

  “I’ll support you,” I told them really not wanting to go near the other suggestion. “But a warning, I know nothing about Chaser or the people who play it.”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t know much about it either. Just clap randomly and no one will care,” Jarec commented.

  “It can’t be that complicated.”

  “You’re only trying out because your brother said you shouldn’t.” Jarec accused. Brother? Celica had a brother? Hmm.

  “No. I’m trying out because there are some very cute Pixie girls who I know will be there.” Celica was smirking again.

  “I think that’s worse,” I commented.

  She ignored my contribution. “And maybe you can introduce me to some of them?”

  I sighed, “I’ve been told that most of the Tower is going to be there. And Pixies aren’t exactly a shy bunch. If they’re interested, they will introduce themselves.” Please don’t ask me to wingwoman. I don’t know how romance even works!