Tower of Memories

I never imagined what being poisoned would feel like. It wasn't something I expected to happen. I didn't go out to places where that kind of thing was a risk. No accepted drinks from a stranger or communal punch bowl that one jerk ruined for a room full of people.

It happening in a classroom full of witness and the origin of the poison being myself was not a scenario I would have ever guessed to prepare for. Carmine outplayed us all. But what else could one expect from a Dragon? Something like this was basically our signature move. He'd claimed boredom, and I believed him.

Celica kept a hand over her mouth the entire way back to Dragon Tower. Hunched over with horror in every bit of her body language. It was nothing like the Celica I'd known so far. I would have thought she would have started complaining and angry, but instead it was this terrible silence.

I was trying to not think about it too directly.

I still didn't feel any different. I wasn't sure if it was fully working on me. Saying things I maybe shouldn't wasn't exactly new.

Russel had been deep in thought since we left class. Also not saying anything. Was he planning something or was he informing the others of our misfortune?

"I hope you guys don't ever think you're being sneaky with the group chat," I said as we got to the Tower.

Celica was still covering her mouth and turned to glare at me. There she was.

"Open Sesame," I said to open the door.

Celica rushed inside and upstairs. We had some time before dinner but she was going to face the music eventually. I accepted my fate and settled in my favorite spot to sit in the main room. The benchlike seat on the sill of the stained-glass window.

I still wasn't sure what Russel was doing, he headed downstairs. Out of sight and functional out of contact.

"Do you think this school will ever stop surprising me?" I asked M.

Two shakes from the floor next to me. A no then.

But that was fine. Not all the surprises were bad. Some of them had even been great. Jarec being my cousin had been a surprise, and he was a welcome addition to my family as far as I cared. Of course that was also balanced with the Death's Echo stuff. That was worse surprise of all, when compared to that this was nothing.

I wasn't sure how this brew was supposed to work, but it couldn't last that long in my system. I would have to check for brewing books either here on in the library. Library was probably my best bet.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to focus on how the curse felt. It wasn't a magical problem, so it's one singular upside wouldn't help me here. Immune to being able to talk to my friends remotely, but still susceptible to poisons. The curse was exactly the same. Throbbing with a dull sharpness but nothing concerning.

It was like me, in a neutral state.

I don't know how much time passed, but there was a smell of spices coming closer. I opened my eyes to see Russel approaching with a mug in his hand and two more floating behind him, little wisps of orange holding them aloft.

"Here, drink this. It won't cure it, but it should help get it out of your system faster. Maybe get us out of having to deal with the full twenty-four hours of this."

"Just that long?" I took one of the mugs. "Thanks, but is this really that big a deal?"

I hadn't really meant to ask that out loud. Ah well.

"Oh, you're worried about letting something slip. Just avoid professors tomorrow. Shouldn't be that hard."

Oh. Filter wasn't quite working right. That must be how this works. Mine barely functioned as it was, those two…well we would find out wouldn't we?

I took a sip. Oolong, with a blend of warming spices. Plus something sweet that wasn't honey. Apples maybe.

"You barely seem affected and that's kind of terrifying," Russel said. I could tell he hadn't meant to say that, his expression of discomfort was a dead giveaway.

I shrugged, "With everything else going on, I don't have space to care about something like this. Besides, I'm not wired for outright lies anyway."

"You've got to teach the rest of us how to do that," Russel commented as he left me to go upstairs and knock on Celica's door. Probably to give her the last mug.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Stay calm and focused. Not be shaken by almost anything."

"Don't mistake a lack of expression for lack of feelings. I'd hoped you'd all would have started to learn that. No matter how inconvenient for me."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I took another sip. It didn't make me feel any different than the truth serum had.

I should probably be feeling something. Worry, panic, something. I hated when I felt numb like this. We had a bit of time before dinner, not a ton but enough to gather myself.

I let out a long breath. The spices from the drink Russel made were starting to make my face and chest feel warm.

The stone door opened, revealing an oddly stressed looking Jarec. Like he'd just run a mile. But that didn't make sense, his Advanced Enchanting class was easy for him. There was also a bit of lingering blue around him and in his eyes. Wait, did he teleport here?

"What happened?" Jarec asked before he was even fully in the tower. The question rushed out so fast I barely processed that he'd asked one before Russel was coming back down the stairs.

"Carmine fucking happened. We got poisoned," Russel complained.

Celica was still hiding in her room. Probably planning to wait it out.

"He called it a compulsive honesty brew," I explained. While it was technically true, calling it poison might give the wrong impression.

"Oh no," Jarec said as he closed the door. "Anything bad slip out?"

"No. Thankfully. Celica won't come out of her room," Russel said.

"I don't understand why you're all freaking out. It's fine," I told them. Not really wanting to say that out loud but meh. Wouldn't be the first time my filter failed me since getting here.

Jarec looked at me, blinked, then looked over to Russel.

"I think asking about someone telepathically when they can't hear you but are in front of you is incredibly rude," I commented as I took another sip of drink.

The stone door opened again, this time it was Fethris. He looked more put together than Jarec. "Everyone okay?"

"I feel fine," I answered.

"No. Something's wrong with Serafina and I don't know what," Russel blurted out. He made it pretty clear what he didn't have full control over saying. He was looking increasingly panicked.

Jarec started pacing.

"This is one thing I hate about leadership. If I panic, you guys panic. If I'm too calm, you guys panic. And I'm not equipped for emotional control," I told them. "I would have phrased that better in usual circumstances."

"Oh. Unfiltered Serafina is just you without tact. That's…not that bad," Fethris commented.

"Am I the only one worried about one of us slipping and telling the world about the wraith?" Russel demanded.

"I think Celica is too. She hasn't come out of her room," I pointed out. Can't tell anyone something bad if you never speak to anyone.

"Wait," Jarec paused and looked back at me. "How much time do we have?"

"Like half an hour," Fethris told him. "What are you planning?"

Jarec didn't answer him. Not out loud. He was answering him with the group chat.

"Rude," I repeated with careful emphasis.

"Do you always know?" Russel asked.

"Yes. You guys are so obvious. I hope you guys didn't really think you were being sneaky. I think you all need acting lessons over the summer or something," I told him. A bit harsh but if they seriously thought I didn't notice they were delusional.

"Damn, oh yeah there's a difference. We'll keep that in mind," Jarec commented.

"I do like you guys, I promise," I told them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jarec asked.

"It didn't seem to matter much. I mean…everyone here uses telepathy it feels like. And even if a professor thinks you're talking to someone in class it's not proof of anything nefarious. It being so common means no one's going to really notice." I shrugged and took another drink. I was barely halfway through the mug at this point.

Jarec just stared for a moment.

"I guess that's what you get for asking someone who can't control what they say questions," Fethris told him. There was something different in his tone. Disapproval?

"No. It's good. I want to get stuff out in the open," Jarec said.

I wasn't sure how true that was. But better me who was struggling to care about much of anything than the still visibly upset Russel.

"One more question then. Before we head to dinner," Jarec announced. He sounded too serious. Fethris was looking tense, almost a little angry. "How bad is the curse?"

"Fucker," I blurted out first. Then the rest followed before I had a chance to think. "It hurts. It hasn't stopped hurting since winter break. It doesn't stop. I've gotten used to it."

The look of horror on their faces was bad and exactly why I hadn't told them.

"I didn't want to worry you guys. It's not like you can do anything about it anyway. The only fix is break the curse. Which I'm working on."

"I knew it," Jarec said while turning away for a moment. "Self-sacrificing little…"

Fethris stepped in, "Jarec-"

"I know, okay. I know. Forcing it won't…but!"

I sighed and finished the rest of the drink in one go. "It's not that bad. I promise. Can't lie, remember? It's not enough to stop me from functioning. It only gets bad when I get upset or if I forget to avoid it while casting."

"Avoid it. Just send your magic to your right hand? How do you even do that?" Russel asked. Though I don't think he meant to. More compulsion.

I answered anyway. For the same reason. "I can feel it as it moves through my body, so I just move it elsewhere. It takes more focus than I would like, but it works."

"And you want to do this under the pressure of a wraith attack?" Russel's incredulousness was warranted but not appreciated.

"This is why I said I don't think I can cast twice," I told him.

Celica finally came out of her room, staying up above us. Her door was open like she was leaving herself an escape route. "Why is this the plan? We need a better plan."

"We do. But I don't think we have time for a new plan," I explained.

"How much time do you think we have?" Jarec asked. Despite claiming he was only going to ask one more earlier.

"End of next year, I think. Based off what Red's told me," I said. Even though I couldn't control it, something in my chest did feel lighter after it was out there in the world.

Fethris was frowning, he took a breath before he finally tossed out his own question. Despite not being thrilled about this earlier. "What exactly did Red tell you?"

"Not specific dates. But months after getting a sixth Dragon student. Which I'm confident in getting a new one next year. She didn't say that we would…but it seems extremely likely right now." It was everything I knew about that. My hands were shaking a little bit.

"This is what's been bothering you. You're probably right. I don't think we have time to change the plan. But that amount of time means we should be able to find Death's Echo before it's too late," Fethris made it sound easy.

"Have I been that obvious?" I asked.

"Yes," Celica and Russel both said.

"Ow. I'll keep that in mind, sorry if I worried you all." I didn't need a truth serum to admit to that part. Worrying them had never been my intention. But I supposed it had always been unavoidable.

"Well," Fethris interrupted my thoughts. "We still need to prevent you three from saying something that could disrupt everything."

"No, we don't," I told him.

"Serafina, please focus on this," Russel pleaded. Russel begging was very strange. I didn't like it. "This could be a disaster."

"Yeah, if someone asks us about the wraith, Red, or Death's Echo," I agreed. "Which is not likely. Especially if we keep dinner talk to things like classes, the masquerade, and the trials."

"Sounds like a job for Fethris and me," Jarec graciously volunteered. Like there was someone else here who could do this.

"Exactly. That solves dinner and we can stay in the tower the rest of the night. Not that hard guys." Not the nicest way to say that, but the point still stood.

"Is your filter just saying 'please' and 'you've got this'?" Russel was staring at me like I'd told him I knew how to build a bomb.

"Only when I don't mean it."