"Where were you last night?"

Elodie whirled around to see Adelaide, Renee, and Penny.

"Sorry, birthday stuff," she said, thinking quickly for an alibi— for the truth was too strange. "I did get my case done, though."

"Yeah, I saw that, and Hannah's satisfied, but it really would've been nice to see you at practice," Adelaide said pointedly.

"Well, I took a night off to celebrate," Elodie said.

"Took a night off?" Penny reached to feel Elodie's forehead for a fever. "Are we talking to the same Elodie Durand that wrote Congress cases during Christmas?"

"To be fair, Christmas isn't a holiday I celebrate," Elodie reminded them. "I didn't do anything during Diwali this year."

There was blinking incomprehension spread across the three faces. 

"Festival of Lights?" Elodie tried. "Come on, I even invited you guys to my family's celebration, and you said you were too busy. Isn't any of this ringing a bell?"

They all had the decency to look embarrassed. 

Elodie sighed, shifting the weight of the books in her arms. "Look, I have to get to class. But I'm still in Speech and Debate, I'm still managing. I just took one night off. Get over it."

"Look, we're just concerned," Renee said. "You've been in Speech and Debate for three years and don't have even one placing under your belt."

Elodie felt as if she could spit fire right then and there, but tried to keep her composure. 

"You know what?" She couldn't help the vehemence in her voice. "I'm not talking about this right now. I'll see you in class."

"Stop right there, Elodie Durand!" Adelaide's voice rose higher in desperation to regain control over Elodie. "You can't sit with us at lunch if you walk away now!"

Elodie found herself laughing uncontrollably at the juvenile antics of her friends. Then again, were they really her friends?

Kira had a free period right before her lunch, so she headed into the library. Dragons had been creatures of literature and lore for so long, she knew there had to be some book on them that wouldn't be straight from the creatures' mouths.

Her dad taught her to look for the truth, and that meant collecting as many sources as possible. And as many unbiased ones as was possible in a world with ever-increasing biases. 

She sat down at one of the student computers and pulled up the card catalog. A quick search revealed that the books on dragons that were not some adventure story that Kira may have preferred to read were in the Legends and Mythology section. 

She hopped up and headed to the back of the library, where all of the more controversial content was kept. After all, Goldwater Harbor was not far from Salem, and was known as a refuge for those who fled the Trials there, as well as all over Massachusetts. 

Many started new lives where they put away what had made them targets, including books about things that Puritans were not supposed to know or speak of. 

Kira stared at the tower of books for a moment, before finding what appeared to be an old red book, labeled Dragons of the Earth: A Collection of Myths and Legends Around the World.

Wouldn't it be best to start with a general, worldwide database, and work her way down to the specifics? 

As she reached for the book, at the same time, another hand reached for it, one with a cat's eye ring and band bracelets layered over one another. Kira looked to see a blonde boy her age with dark brown eyes peering through wide glasses the color of apples. His ensemble was a mix of dapper, and modern, with a short-sleeved button-up matched with a black vest and bow tie, and black ripped jeans tucked into his mud-splattered boots. 

"Oh, sorry, were you going for that?" He moved his hand away.

"No, no, it's okay, if you want it—"

"No, I just wanted it for a re-read," he admitted, holding his hands behind his back and rocking on his heels awkwardly. "If it's your first time, you should try that book. It's the best for cryptozoology."

"Cryptozoology?" Kira removed the book from the shelf.

"It's the study of like, the physiology of magical creatures and how they would fit into a hypothetically magical ecoystem," he said, his brown eyes lighting up as he spoke. "One of my favorite things to study. I think I've read nearly every book here and in the public library on the subject."

"Cool." Kira was a little speechless because the guy was definitely cute, in her eyes.

"I'm Galileo, by the way," he said, his eyes darting to avoid her gaze. "I take the Media Studies class here, which means I'm a library assistant for class credit."

"Kira," she said, before taking in the shelf again. "I actually wanted to learn about the cryptozoology stuff— for dragons, to be specific."

"I have a collection of my own personal books at home," he said, tucking a blonde strand back into place. "I could lend you some— if you wanted. I live literally right next door to you, I think— you're Dr. Gershwin and Mr. Goldstein-Gershwin's daughter, aren't you?"

"I am," Kira said, tucking a strand of her own hair behind her ear. "I've never seen you before."

"I thought I saw you around, but you always seemed busy— are those Cthulu earrings?" 

Kira reached for the small studs shaped like purple and white tentacle earrings. "Yes."

"You have to got to tell me where to get some like that," he said in awe.

Kira laughed good-naturedly. "Of course I will— if you don't mind getting those books for me."

He winked. "It's a date." Then he stammered. "Not like, the romantic kind or—"

Kira smiled. "It's alright. I got what you meant."

"Yeah."

They stood there, for a moment, smiling and saying nothing. Then Galileo jerked a thumb behind himself. "I have to get back to re-shelving some stuff, just— thought I'd stop by—"

"Yeah, thanks," Kira said, backing away. She turned when he returned to the cart, and felt as if she were flying already.

"I'm home!" Aideen called, entering the big house once again. "Grandmother!"

"I'm here!"

She could hear the echoes, presumably coming from the kitchen. Aideen walked through the living and dining rooms to get there, and perched on the counter on the kitchen island where there were matching stools with pale green cushions that matched the serving dishes and other decor.

"I'm cutting apples as a snack," Felecia explained. "Now that you've begun transforming, it's going to take up a lot of energy. I still remember when I used to be able to transform— it was such a long time ago, as you know."

"Yeah," Aideen said. "Thank you, Grandmother."

"Good girl," Felecia said, with a tone of voice that made Aideen imagine being patted on the head patronizingly. "Now, did you give them the invitations?"

"Yes, Grandmother."

Felecia's amber eyes were piercing. "You seem rather unhappy about it."

"I don't know why!" Aideen groaned in frustration. "I should be happy to do my duty, and to be involved, but I just feel so angry— so—"

"Jealous?" Felecia arched an eyebrow. 

"Is this what that feels like?" Aideen wondered aloud. She sat up straighter, a little angry when she registered Felecia's expression. "Well, I wouldn't know. You've always told me to keep my body busy, and that having any time for introspection would lead to negative emotions that weren't okay for a ruler to have!"

Felecia sighed. "Young lady, take down that tone."

Aideen visibly wilted. "Sorry, Grandmother."

"That's better." Felecia put the apple slices on a plate. "Perhaps you need that snack.

It rankled Aideen, for her feelings to be dismissed as a case of the munchies. But it didn't matter, did it?

Nothing that she felt should matter, if she was to rule over the dragons.