Tower of Memories

Fethris was grumbling to himself and pacing when I got back to Dragon Tower. The light from the stained-glass window made him cast a long shadow on the ground as he continued spiraling down whatever was bothering him.

I should probably ask. I shrugged my jacket off, black leather with white bat wings on the back. And carried it upstairs. If he was still doing it when I got back I would have to ask.

Forcing him to talk about it before he was ready would make the talk harder. For both of us. Which wouldn't be helping.

I tossed it onto my bed, next to where I had left my ComMirror after this morning.

I should have known not calling would be suspicious. Ah well, I'd figure it out later. Maybe I'd find some time during the week. If there was another call I needed to have a plan.

My dress was hanging up on the mirror. Tossed over the top and only half visible. I wouldn't need it for a few more weeks, but I pulled it out of the bottom of my trunk. I didn't really want to think about the mask right now. That pile of mostly black fabric could wait.

After another deep breath I closed the door to my room and leaned over the railing to see Fethris still lost in whatever was going on with him.

"Do you want me to ask?" I called down to him loudly.

He stopped in place so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. "When did you get back?" That explained the lack of greeting then.

"Literally just now. I walked right past you and you didn't notice. Everything okay?" I kinda knew the answer, but I had to start with something.

"Mostly. Sort of. Has Jarec talked to you yet?"

"No. Is he around somewhere?"

Fethris didn't respond for a moment. Then sighed loudly, "Jarec wants to teach us all how to dance so no one makes a fool of themselves at the gala."

I blinked, "Do…do you not know how to dance? And why wasn't this an issue for the last one?"

"That one's informal, this one isn't. Why are you asking that like you know?"

"Because I do. I might be a bit rusty but I can do it."

Fethris said something under his breath. I couldn't hear it, but I was fairly convinced it was a swear of some kind. "So Russel and I are the only ones in trouble?"

Russel needing help didn't surprise me. But Fethris kind of had the air of someone who would have had to sit through lessons. Forced to go maybe. Perhaps he ditched? Or I'd misread him. I wasn't perfect.

"I promise to not laugh at you."

"That's not helpful."

I shrugged at him. The world wasn't ending so he could suffer without me feeling bad about it.

"Don't suppose you'd be willing to help me ditch going all together?"

"Willing, yes. Able? Not likely. Besides, probably for the best to stick to crowded places for a bit." At least until the Death's Echo thing has been dealt with. One of us wandering campus alone when everyone else was at the gala would be the perfect chance for something horrific to happen.

"I hate this."

I was glad he wasn't arguing about it. "Me too. I'd rather not have to go but it's out of our control."

"Aren't you in charge?"

"You think I would be in this situation if it were up to me?"

"You could pretend like you have power here."

"Trust me, I'd be intolerable if I did that." I didn't know how true that was, but if Red was anything to go by…I'd be vague and very annoying about everything.

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Fethris was giving me a strange look. Evaluating, maybe? Or perhaps he was looking back on everything since that day we met. I'd been thinking about how we got here a lot more recently.

"You know, perhaps it wouldn't be that bad. If anything it would probably be smoother sailing." Was he experiencing the same school year as me? Or did he mean I wouldn't force him to go to a gala?

I wanted to laugh either way. "You know the last big choice I made was to come here right? I've been coasting by since we arrived. I can't believe it hasn't even been a full year, or hells, school year since then." I hadn't been fully in control since going through the gates.

"I'm glad you made that choice. Everything else aside. Not meeting you would have been a tragedy."

Tragedy, huh? Red's words made it sound like it was heading in that direction anyway. I wanted to believe in Fethris' words. "One thread out of place, and our fate could have come completely undone," I mumbled to myself. One wrong word, and whatever Red was planning would unravel at the seams. How many people would get hurt if that happened?

The Fates. I wasn't sure if they were real. If some outside force had chosen my path for me or not. If they were, they had a sick sense of humor.

All I knew was that I had to do something about this. Anything.

"Are you…okay?" Fethris asked after a moment. "You've been…quiet recently."

Crap. "Sorry. Just….overthinking. Maybe. It's fine."

He looked skeptical. "If you want to talk about the Red thing…just know we're here for you. Okay? And you're not going anywhere. Not if we get any say in it."

"You're sweet, but it'll be okay. We're figuring this out." As much as we could. With as little power as I had over this situation.

He still looked worried.

I couldn't even tell him not to. That would have been a massive lie and he'd know that. I would have to settle for telling him something else. "If anyone could, I think it's our little collection of weirdos."

I don't think he appreciated my joke. He scoffed in a way that made me laugh. "We're not that bad."

I stepped down the stairs and settled on sitting on the second to last one. It might be seen as rude to do that, and probably a bit dangerous in a Tower more crowded, but I struggled to care.

"Not to me, no. But apparently you all scarred the other towers."

"I'm not apologizing."

"Fethris, if I expected you to apologize I wouldn't be able to use you as a threat," I said with a grin.

The door opened to reveal Jarec standing on the other side. "What's this about you knowing how to dance already?"

"Yeah? Why are you surprised? You saw my parents at winter break. I'm not amazing at it, but I can get by without stepping on the other person's toes. Which is good enough, right?"

It better be good enough. Besides, it sounded like Fethris and Russel were going to need all the help they could get. Hopefully I wasn't being recruited into the teaching side of this.

I could see the wheels turning in his head. Probably thinking back to that day. Mom and Dad had weekly ballroom dancing lessons they went to. I'd never gone, but Mom had insisted on sharing some of that knowledge before I left for school.

Didn't mention anything about her family, but made sure I knew how to not accidentally step on toes.

Because that was the important part.

"You have got to tell the rest of us what happened over winter break," Fethris mumbled.

"We did!" I defended.

"Not all the details."

Jarec shrugged, no help at all.

"My parents can't be left in an empty ballroom for more than a few minutes. They taught me what I know about dancing. It's not that big a deal." Especially compared to the other secrets I hadn't told them yet.

"So that means we only have to teach Russel and Fethris. We can make that work. Next Saturday. No getting out of it," Jarec was talking. Probably for my benefit. He could tell the others anything over the group chat without speaking a word out loud.

"You and Celica have fun with that," I told him.

"Oh no. You're going to be there too."

"Do I have to be?" I complained. I was usually too tired for anything after training. Tired and sore from the curse, mostly.

"Yes. No arguments."

I sighed. Ah well. "We'll see how I feel."

"You'd feel better if you stopped pushing yourself too hard in training," Jarec said.

That was a bit much. "I'm not pushing myself any harder than I think I need to."

"That barely even means anything, coming from you," Fethris added. Oh so this was now happening.

The curse itched and the icicles felt a bit sharper than usual. I was almost at the point where I could ignore how it felt most of the time. Scratching at it was barely even a thought.

But Jarec's eyes snapped to the motion nearly instantly.

Busted. "It's fine. It doesn't bother me that much." I tugged on the gloves. Dark grey made to look quilted with patches of white and black in square shapes and exaggerated red stitching. Fingerless and more than long enough to cover the scars entirely.

I could cover how bad it looked, but not how it felt. That was entirely up to my acting skills. Which I could sort of depend on, but they hinged on people not being able to read me so I was going to have change tactics soon if Jarec was going to keep noticing shit.

"You can't get out of going to the gala anyway Fethris, Celica finished your mask today. It would rude to not use it." Not my best attempt to change subject, but I really didn't want an argument about this.

Jarec huffed, still not happy with me. Maybe he also didn't want to fight.

"I guess we'll just have to suffer through it," Fethris said with a sigh.

I didn't like the tension in the air. I was going to have to deal with that at some point soon.

Tonight, while the others are waiting for Hope's return from its excursion. Jarec and I were going to have to talk.