After everything that had happened the night before, Cassandra was happy to finally be able to focus on normal things like her classes. Now that it was the second day, classes began in earnest leaving Cassandra little time to think about anything else. Her first class in particular left her feeling exhausted. She even found herself relieved to delve into the complexities of etiquette and politics.
Cassandra now understood perfectly why the midday break was two hours rather than one. At least there wasn’t homework to worry about. Perhaps that was just a concept from her previous life. Hopefully no one would be foolish enough to introduce it here. One rejuvenating lunch later, with a side of cookies, Cassandra was ready to tackle her magic classes. Would she be asked to summon Yuki again?
Luckily this class went over the theory and consequences of contracting summons. Summons would still be their own beings at the end of the day, so they would only listen to their summoner if they wanted to. That was why it was recommended to be particularly close to one summon rather than taking the risk to summon something new in a pinch.
The teacher warned against telling the name of your summon to others. There was always the chance they might be able to summon it as well. There were the rare magical beings that only answered to someone they acknowledged as their partner. This was why she also warned against attempting to summon someone else’s summon. There were plenty of cases where the summon had become angry and volatile.
Cassandra had actually begun to wonder if Yuki was not the first archmage’s pet, but his summon. Perhaps that was why she was able to summon him by name but he seemed to have no particular attachment to her. Time was different for summons from other worlds, but that didn’t explain how Cassandra had met him in the maze.
The remainder of her magic classes contained a lot more practice and a lot less mind boggling mysteries. Cassandra was able to relax a little, but she still wanted a nap once they were done. At long last, her day of classes ended and she headed straight to her room stretching her arms along the way.
When she got to the third floor hallway she saw someone waiting right where her door was. It was one of the personal servants of the headmaster. Was this about the night before? Once she got closer, the servant locked eyes with her.
“Cassandra Tear, Headmaster Osmond has called for you,” she announced, “If you would allow me, I will guide you there.”
Cassandra got the feeling that refusing was not an option, but did at least drop her things off inside her room first. “Lead the way,” she replied. Was that the correct response for a student addressing the headmaster’s close servant?
As they walked, the path began to feel suspiciously familiar. Were they heading to the labyrinth? Did he intend to interrogate her at the scene of the crime? She did note that the servant took her down a different path then she usually followed, but they still made it to the center. That must mean there were multiple paths. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost.
There was more than just the headmaster waiting by the archway. Cassandra recognized all of the students, each brought by their own servant. There was Alois. He looked much better than the night before and was wearing his new eyepatch properly. Caleb and Keane were also there. However, that was not all. Maximus, Wayde, and Autumn were present as well. Was this not about their night adventure?
Osmond waved his hand and all of the servants quickly left the maze, leaving them alone with the headmaster. There was an awkward silence as they wanted to find out why he had called them there. Out of all of them, Alois seemed particularly tense.
“I have gathered you here due to a rather unique situation,” Osmond began, “My summon has requested to meet all of you.”
His summon? It wasn’t surprising that the headmaster had a summon, but why would that summon want to meet them? Especially all of them so specifically. It was good that he wasn’t there to reprimand them for last night, but this was nerve wracking for other reasons.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Osmond ran his hand down the pillar of the arch, summoning the entrance to the Pavilion. Before she stepped through, Cassandra did a quick glance around for Yuki. As expected, he never showed up when other people were around. Cassandra had no time to think about why that might be as she had another summon to worry about.
Once they had all stepped through and were trapped under the endless skies at dusk, Osmond turned to face them. “Before I summon her, I want you all to swear to secrecy. You will not divulge her name or appearance to anyone outside this place. Do you understand?”
“Of course,” Cassandra promised, hearing everyone else give similar promises. Alois did not, but Cassandra got the feeling he had met the headmaster’s summon before.
Osmond’s gaze swept over them one last time before he turned to the center of the Pavilion and whispered a name. Cassandra could almost make it out. Shell something? It was probably better if she did not think too deeply about the name, especially if he wanted so badly to keep it hidden.
Magic gathered and converged right in front of the headmaster, and it turned into a woman wearing clothes that were all too familiar to Cassandra. At least, Cassandra had never seen jeans and hoodies anywhere near Tethia before. Not to mention tennis shoes with a familiar brand logo. Her had was pulled back with one of those toothy looking hair clips, and she pulled an earbud out of her ear once she realized where she was.
“Ozzie?” she asked, then spotted the rest, “Cassandra! It’s so nice to see you! Those cookies you recommended last time were amazing… You don’t know me yet, do you?”
Cassandra slowly shook her head. “Not yet, but it seems we will become quite close in the future.”
“We will,” she replied with a bright smile, “All of you lovely heroes are here. I don’t suppose you would let me hug you, Autumn?”
“Sorry,” Autumn told her, drawing back, “Maybe another time.”
“What did you mean by heroes?” Keane broke in, immediately locking in on the important information.
Osmond was the one to reply this time. “Last time I summoned her, she mentioned you by referring to all of you as The Heroes of Tethia,” he explained, “Today I was hoping we could all get some answers on why that is. She even specifically mentioned Alois’ eyepatch.”
“So that’s what that was all about,” Alois mumbled with a sigh, “So why are we heroes, exactly?”
Everyone looked to the woman who tilted her head in thought. “I’m not really sure,” she admitted, “A lot of things happen and all of you are involved, but a lot of other people are also involved and they aren’t called heroes.”
“Is there something else we all have in common?” Cassandra suggested.
“There was one thing,” she said as if realizing something, “All of you have memories of another life.”
“Michelle?” Osmond asked, a bit stunned, “What do you mean by that?”
“It means they were reborn or returned or reincarnated,” she explained happily, “Then at some point they started to remember things about a world that doesn’t exist, or one that hasn’t come to pass yet. It’s a popular genre I read all the time.”
“All of us?” Maximus spoke up, “Does that mean everyone remembers the war with Gaia?”
“I do,” Alois volunteered, “But I wasn’t really involved.”
Caleb frowned at this new information. “I don’t know about any wars or things that have to do with this world. The world in my memories is quite a bit different. It is something difficult to convey without the telepathy we used to communicate.”
“Telepathy,” Keane mused, “A convenient and dangerous ability. You would have been sought after in the world I saw. Tethia, and even Gaia, are paradise compared to that place. There are no such things as allies when everyone is your enemy.”
That left Wayde, Autumn, and herself. Cassandra already knew about Autumn but wasn’t sure he wanted to share in front of the headmaster. Then an idea suddenly struck her. She turned to Michelle. “Did you happen to have anything to do with a romance game about Tethia?” she asked.
“I did!” Michelle admitted proudly, “It was my masterpiece! The Heroes of Tethia were the perfect leads for a fantasy school romance game.”
“A what?” Alois asked, seeming somewhat affronted, but not as much as Autumn.
“You mean you made me the heroine on purpose?” he demanded, “Even though I am a boy?”
“The character in the game is a girl, so it’s fine,” she assured, “The game is just based on you, it isn’t actually you. Besides, heroines are supposed to be cute and I can’t think of anyone cuter.”
Keane nodded. “This is true.”
Autumn melted with embarrassment as Osmond observed them. “So the both of you came from the same world as Michelle,” he surmised.
“I think so,” Cassandra confirmed.
Wayde sighed as all attention turned to him instead. “I remember the war with Gaia. Maximus and I were partners in the future from my memories.”
It was a bit shocking that they all remembered a future or a world that they had never seen, but how did that make them heroes? Unless it was because of their efforts to change that future. Like the fact that Alois knew far too much about that suspicious artifact or how he had received the eyepatch from someone who he had never met.
After everyone finished explaining their past, Michelle suddenly vanished. As she did, Cassandra remembered that every word had been heard by none other than the Headmaster of Nobility. There was no way he would be keeping such vital information to himself.
“Interesting,” Osmond said as he took in the new information, “Thank you all for humoring my summon. I am sure all of you are destined to go far.”
The archway reappeared, showing them the scene of the tranquil willow tree and the spring. There would be no way to avoid the change this would bring for them.