The question escaped my lips before I could fully process what I was saying. The woman in the photo was beautiful. Her copper hair spilled over her shoulders in roiling curls, her forest green eyes were the exact same as Emrys’, and her face was so close to what I saw in the mirror every morning... there was no way she was anyone else. This was my mother.

The overwhelming emotion from seeing this picture brought a stinging sensation to my eyes, and the tears that followed spilled freely and I clutched the frame to my chest. I finally had something concrete, a link to her, a connection to the mother who I hadn’t seen since I was barely able to walk. Her disappearance just after Emrys’ birth was a blow to all of us, and this picture brought all that pain back to the forefront of my heart. So I wept, and I wept, and I cried and sobbed until the tears couldn’t come any longer.

A hand caressed my shoulder, and I looked up into Fianna’s emerald eyes once more, her head reattached to her body. She looked so confused about how to handle the situation, a glance over to Shuri reminded me that we weren’t alone. Shuri stood up and slowly moseyed herself over to me and wrapped me in her arms like an older sister reassuring her younger sibling that everything would be alright. I managed to get myself under control again shortly after, and when I did I looked at Fianna again and asked her... “What does this all mean?”

She smiled gently, “We need to make sure you can keep your powers in check, and I need you to promise not to reveal the secret this school has kept for centuries.”

“But... isn’t Avalon Academy a recent creation? I could swear I saw it somewhere... I think I read it was established in 1922 on mainland England. Isn’t that...” I was cut off by the growing smile on Fianna’s lips.

“Lauren, Avalon Girl’s Academy has been around since the late third century. The old magics were crafted and practiced here, the druids of the old religions worshiped here, the Once and Future King of the Britons is buried somewhere on this island. The fabrication of our Twentieth Century origins was designed to keep the secrets we know to be true from the outside world.” Fianna said slowly, giving me time to digest this huge piece of secret information.

“Lauren, I’d like you to ask your father about your mother. Tell him that you found an old photo here and you want the truth. A Sidhe normally ends up driving her mate to madness, so for all we know, he may just be your adoptive father. If he isn’t, he would know about your mother’s peculiarities. Press him for details, learn what he has to say, and find your truth. When you’re ready, I’ll be here to talk.” Fianna advised me, a mood I wasn’t familiar with crossed her face.

She nodded dismissively toward both myself and Shuri and then the door. Shuri stepped out first, saying she was going to head back to her dorm room and finish up some homework. I stood up seconds later and began to move toward the door, but I found myself restrained by a sharp blade lightly caressing my neck. The blade was curved and taped to one side, the profile was similar to a scythe... except it was almost a gray misty substance that seemed to make up the whole weapon.

“One last thing, Lauren,” Fianna said, removing the scythe from my throat, “the events of last night... you know as to what I am referring I trust. I’d normally ask you forget them entirely, but I do not believe you would do something like that so easily. So I shall offer you a choice; you may leave this office, never speak of those events again, and we’ll pretend nothing happened.”

I was going to regret asking this, but I had to know, “What’s option two?”

“Option two is you sit back down in that chair and we discuss the... nature of our relationship going forward.” Fianna got the words out, the sense that she was embarrassed was palpable. Her face was cherry red, and her hands were shaking.

“Fianna, have you never... had a relationship?” I asked gently, sitting back down. Part of this was so I wouldn’t accidentally catch a beheading on my way out, because that’s what I feared would happen with her hands being so jittery. But a bigger part of it was the curiosity that came from all the events so far snowballing into this moment. Her face was just too cute for me not to want to see what happened next.

“I’ve not... had the chance, no. A-and... if you can... overlook my behaviour when we met...” she trailed off, her nervousness making her all the cuter.

“Well, I mean you did come at me like I was a criminal to be punished... and you just threatened my life moments ago... I don’t know if I could just overlook something like that.” I teased, wanting to see how flustered this side of Fianna could get.

“M-my behaviour has been... appalling. I’m sorry, I just... you... I...” her speech became more stuttering than cohesive speaking, so I decided to go for the gold.

I stood up and leaned in until I was just over her desk, trying to look as seductive and tantalizing as I could. You know, like you see those women in movies acting when trying to seduce the cop or the P.I. “So what are you going to do to make it up to me, sweet cheeks?”

Her already ruffled composure went out the window. She spent a solid minute or two trying to make more than just sounds before I leaned in and kissed her with the same amount of surprise as when she kissed me last night. When I pulled back, I poked her on the nose with my index finger and said “I’ll catch you later, little red.” And I walked out the door.

Once I was outside I got about six feet before I felt my legs buckle. I wasn’t used to being so forward, or acting the tease like that. Add that to all the other events of the day, and I just didn’t have it in me to move much further. I decided to make a call on my crystal for some help.

“I swear to all that is good, Lauren if this isn’t a damn good reason for waking me, I will take your dessert privileges too.” The grumpy and groggy face of Val answered the call.

“I’ll buy you dinner and fill you in on what happened, but... I need some help getting back to the room. I kind of... collapsed... a little ways from Fianna’s office. And before you ask, I can’t ask her for help right now. Suffice it to say; Valerica Dalca, you’re my only hope.” I said, trying to sound as innocent as I could. Bonus points for managing a pop culture reference while I can hardly process what’s happening around me.

The glare from the other end of the call was enough to make me feel like a withering mouse, but then Val exhaled. “You’re buying my dinner for a week. I’ll be there in five.” She huffed once more before disconnecting the call and I felt relief spread through my body.

I really hope this stuff gets easier, because right now, high school is way harder than I thought it would be.