“Wasn’t me,” Evie said, looking up from her book as she perked up a little. “Though it probably should have been, you know, since you left the other one lying around like the trash gremlin you are.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I! This is a shared space, and you really need to be tidier than this. It’s unbecoming.”

“Can you leave that just for one second?” Juniper said exasperatedly. “If it wasn’t you, you realize someone must have broken into our room, right?”

Evie’s brow went up. “No way. The doors are spelled. None but us and the admin can enter, and I really doubt the admin has the time to slip you blank notes.”

Juniper frowned, taking a long look around the room. “Through the window…?”

“It’s the fifth floor. Not even a fourth year could get up here, not with the wards against flying.” Evie’s voice softened. “Juniper. Look at me for a second.” Juniper obliged. “Are you sure you don’t remember putting those notes there?”

“No, why?” Juniper said, tilting her head askance. “Did you see me doing so?” Her frown deepened. “I think I’d remember…”

“I didn’t see you, no, but nothing else makes sense.” Evie closed her book, putting it aside as she scooted over to the edge of her bed. She looked Juniper in the eye. “ Who else could have gotten in your test papers? And under your pillow?”

Juniper could see genuine worry in her friend’s eyes. If she’d thought her the prankster, she didn’t anymore. “I don’t remember doing anything of the sort…and I don’t have any gaps in my memory–at least, I don’t think I do.”

“Maybe you’re just tired,” Evie said softly. “I know better than anyone how much time you spend studying–stress can do weird things to people.”

Juniper froze, in deep thought, her lips parting ever so slightly.

“Look, just take a short break,” Evie continued, trying to push through Juniper’s doubts. “Why don’t you join the class field trip? Professor Zaldia’s not the type to mind you signing up at the last moment, I’m sure. It’s just two weeks. What do you think?”

“No,” Juniper said reflexively. As soon as Evie had said the words ‘two weeks’, any chance of getting through to Juniper had disappeared like ice cream on a hot summer day. Losing two whole weeks was entirely too long. “It’s not stress,” she said authoritatively. “And I’m not forgetting things. Maybe it’s… I don’t know. A curse. A ghost.”

“June…” Evie said, almost pityingly. She was obviously not on board with Juniper’s theories.

“No, no. It’s fine.” Juniper rose, walking brusquely to the door. She stopped, turning to face Evie one more time.“ It’s fine. I appreciate your concern, really–but I’ll figure it out on my own.”

She closed the door behind her with a little more force than she’d intended, then sat down against the wall, releasing a long sigh. Her roommate clearly thought she was going crazy which was… not ideal.

And she was not. She was stressed from working all the time, that was true, but that was also proof she hadn’t lost her memories or anything like that–Juniper was meticulous about keeping track of time. She’d have noticed any missing time.

She retrieved her pocket watch from her pocket and pressed it against her forehead. It was one of her few items of any value, and the cool bronze on her skin soothed her.

She could have been subconsciously writing herself notes–but then, she’d probably have actually written something on them. As it was, there was no message from an alternate Juniper telling her to take a chill pill or anything of the sort.

Not that she’d have listened.

It could have been enemy action. If someone–another student, maybe–was trying to get under her skin, they were succeeding wonderfully. If they’d gotten a real practitioner to curse her, or place a geas on her, she’d have been none the wiser. But then again, she could see no point in doing this. If they wanted to overtake her in the rankings, improving themselves was a much better use of their time and resources than having someone sabotage her.

Unless they hated her personally. A shiver ran up her back. If someone had learned about her background…

She pushed the thought aside. If they had, there was nothing she could do about it.

Or, perhaps, it was something more esoteric. There had been rumors around the Academy, of the ghosts of former students still haunting the grounds–the Academy was almost ancient, so even if students only very rarely died, it created an environment ripe for ghosts to linger.

If they even existed, that was. The rumors were only that–rumors. No one had been able to prove whether they existed or not over the years. Most considered a them a fun idea to prank their juniors with.

Now, why a ghost would pick on her of all people–unless it was just trying to communicate?–she didn’t know, but she marked the idea on her mental list.

Juniper closed her eyes, letting her head come to rest against the wall with a soft thud. What was she even on about? Ghosts? Curses? Why did a few stupid pieces of paper elicit such a strong reaction from her, anyway?

Maybe Evie had been right. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks.

Not that she’d go back and admit it.

Sighing, she picked herself up from the floor. The timepiece showed that it was only half past four, so Juniper had plenty of daylight left to burn.

Psychotronics was the last exam before the break, and though Juniper was confident she could get a good grade, she still wanted to revise some more. Even though she didn’t care much for the disciplines, she still wanted to put forth her best showing–at the end of the year, the students with the best scores received treasures, aids and resources, and of high enough quality that few could afford.

She’d left her notes on her desk, but Juniper didn’t feel like having to face her roommate again, after her dramatic exit. Instead, she went the other way, out of the dorms and into her favorite building on campus.

The Skystrall Library loomed over the Academy the way a mountain loomed over an anthill. Its marble pillars rose high into the sky, enough that from the ground, it was impossible to see where they ended. Its walls were more stained glass than brick, with murals depicting the annals of Lord Skystrall, the Fifth Gate magus who had founded the Academy thousands of years ago.

It was an imposing sight, the library, though Juniper dearly wished they had toned down the murals. While the light show its myriad colors created on the interior was deeply impressive, it also made it difficult to find a spot in the library where it wasn’t incredibly distracting. The interior was organized radially, with rows of stacks–each split into multiple sections–starting near the center and continuing until they reached the walls.

With the entire fourth year occupied with the Graduation Tournament, the library was less busy than Juniper was used to. By now, she knew the library like the back of her hand, so she quickly made her way to the parapsychology section.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

An older copy of the Psychotronics textbook was easy to find, though she’d already memorized it cover to cover–despite the librarians’ evident disapproval, it was an accepted practice that students would leave notes on the sides of books. They weren’t always correct, but often enough they were a handy source of extra insight.

She passed on a few books that she’d already read, then paused as her attention was drawn to a large tome at the edge of the shelf.

On Poltergeists, Apparitions, Spectra, Daemons and Other Disembodied Consciousnesses was a mouthful of a title, but one that Juniper instantly locked on. A conflict instantly arose in her mind–she really didn’t have time to go researching ghosts, no matter how much the subject tickled her interest.

On the other hand, the subject was tangentially related to Psychotronics–she’d found it in the parapsychology section after all–so she’d still be studying, for some definition of studying. Sure, it was most certainly not going to be on the exam, but Paths weren’t constrained by what they were tested on, and she still hadn’t picked hers.

Flimsy excuse in hand, Juniper added the book to her small pile, ignoring the pinpricks of guilt poking her that she was wasting her time. Soon after, she found a cramped nook somewhere out of the way, where the stained glass didn’t bother her.

And where any passer-by couldn’t judge her for her selected texts.

Juniper cracked open the class textbook first, her face cracking into a grin as she looked at the treasure trove before her.

Score, the thought as she leafed through the thick book, taking in the hundreds of notes in dozens of different inks on the sides. The book was at least a few decades old, if not longer, and had gone through many hands before reaching hers.

Juniper spent the next few hours going through these notes, separating the valuable ones from the stuff she already knew–and from the obvious bullshit. Of which there was a lot.

Then she did another pass, further removing the more subtle bullshit, until she was completely sure everything she’d copied down was correct.

At one point, a shiver had gone up Juniper’s back, and she got the distinct impression that she was being watched. A quick glance around the area, though, showed nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for Varis, Esau, Gelling and Byrne sitting together at a table at the other end of the section. It surprised Juniper to see the four lordlings studying–and then she grimaced, mentally smacking herself. As sons of the High Nobility, she’d always viewed them having had everything handed to them, but apparently even they needed to keep up with the coursework if they wanted to maintain their rankings.

Juniper stared at them for a little bit, but they seemed to pay her no attention–if they even noticed her at all. She was used to being snubbed, especially by Varis.

The feeling of being watched came and went again, but the lordlings hadn’t moved a hair. With no one else around, Juniper chalked it up to stress.

She gave the Poltergeists book the side-eye.

Or perhaps it was ghosts.

She picked up the Big Book of Ghosts, as she’d begun to call it in her mind, and began to flip through the pages–and immediately ran into her first problem

The tome was dense, and not in the condensed text sense–though it was that as well, and trying to make sense of the letters was threatening to bring back Juniper’s headache.

The problem laid in the language–the book was several centuries old, and language had drifted away from the verbose style that had been popular when the book was written.

As much as she would have liked it, Juniper would not be able to learn anything meaningful from it in an evening.

Undaunted, she began the long task of deciphering the old book.

***

Juniper breezed through the Psychotronics midterm, passing the last of this session of testing with flying colors.

At least, she was pretty sure she did–they wouldn’t get the results of any of the exams until after the break, but Juniper had no doubts about any of her answers this time around.

The library session had actually helped her a lot in that regard–the woman who thought this class, Professor Laria, absolutely loved trick questions, and someone had left notes pointing out the kinds of concepts she might target.

If she ever discovered who the mystery student had been, well, Juniper owed them one.

She walked through the hallways with a spring in her step, until she reached her locker. She pressed her palm against the grooves in the door, the soulbound lock unsealing itself with a soft click.

As she opened the door, a piece of paper dislodged itself from between her books, taking to the air as it fluttered in front of her.

Juniper only froze for a brief moment before snatching it from the air.

She didn’t need to open it to find out what was inside.

***

“I think you might be right,” Juniper said, almost forcing the words out of her mouth.

“That goes without saying. I’m always right,” Evie said, her lips curling in a slight smile. “What am I right about this time?”

Juniper grimaced, looking away as she retrieved the new note from her pocket, and waved it in front of Evie.

Evie sucked in a breath, barely loud enough for Juniper to notice. “Again?”

“Yeah,” Juniper said, still looking away. “But there’s more. I found this one in my locker.”

“Juniper…” Evie said softly, her brow furrowing.

“I know.” Juniper sighed. “There’s no one else who can open that except for me.”

The ghost theory was still up in the air–no one had proved ghosts couldn’t go through soulbound wards.

But then again, no one had proved ghosts existed in the first place.

She wasn’t entirely giving up on that idea, but it was time to come to terms with the possibility that Juniper was indeed going insane.

Evie took a deep breath, steeling herself, then looked Juniper straight in the eyes. “Okay, so, listen to me. You probably won’t like what I’m about to say, but I need you to listen anyway. Alright?”

Juniper gave her a slight nod.

“A family member of mine went through something like this not long ago.” She’d hesitated a bit on ‘family member,’ and Juniper got the hint that the afflicted was closer to Evie than she wanted to admit. “He thought he was being followed–was sure of it, actually. My family convinced him to see a thought healer–”

“I can’t afford a thought healer,” Juniper said reflexively. If there was one thing she knew about thought healers, it was that they were ridiculously expensive. With all her hard-earned money going into advancement resources, there was no way she could save up enough money for even a single session.

“Just listen, alright?” Evie said with a scowl. “The healer helped. And I know you can’t afford it, but–” Evie reached over to her nightstand, ripping out a piece of paper from her journal and scribbling something on it. “–just go. It’s already paid for.” She held out the piece of paper.

Juniper looked at Evie in shock, her eyes flickering from her friend’s face to the piece of paper and back. It was…

Probably the most valuable gift anyone had given her. Enough that she couldn’t comprehend.

“But why?”

“Because you’re my friend, you idiot,” she said, gesturing with her still outstretched arm. “And don’t worry about the money. My family’s paying for it.”

Juniper took the piece of paper. On it was a name, an address, along with a list of hours. She recognized the address–it was one of the more exclusive parts of the city. The guards would need some cajoling to let her in.

“How did you convince them to do that?” As far as Juniper knew, Evie’s family didn’t care much for their daughter’s orphan roommate.

“I told them I was afraid my roommate would turn psychotic and murder me in my sleep,” Evie said with a smirk.

“Hey!” Juniper exclaimed, outraged.

“Just kidding!” Evie laughed. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them anything. We have the thought healer on retainer, after last time. You can just go right in, and tell her I sent you.”

“I don’t know what to say.” She was wavering between thankful for the gesture and outraged that her friend thought so poorly of her that she’d need help for her mind–

But her friend didn’t think poorly of her, did she? If Juniper had broken her leg, and Evie had taken her to a healer, Juniper wouldn’t have thought twice about the gesture.

This wasn’t any different.

Juniper found the thought very difficult to swallow. She still didn’t think there was anything wrong with her mind.

Still, it didn’t hurt to check with a professional… they’d probably just give her a clean bill of health and send her on her way.

“Well, most people would say thanks,” Evie said.

Juniper let out a breath. “Thank you. Really.”

She’d still think about the offer before going–if she went.

Evie smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Just, you know, don’t murder me in my sleep, alright?”

Juniper snorted. “Can’t promise anything, but I’ll let you know if I do.”

Evie threw her pillow at Juniper.