Orientation was shorter than Cassandra had expected. After finishing off signing up for classes they had the option to join a tour or simply enjoy the rest of their day. Cassandra had already spent the day before exploring, and the rulebook came with a map. Besides, the tour involved all courses and she had already heard a sparkly fae Heart was going to be joining. She had enough to think about without Maximus at the moment.
What she really wanted to do was visit that fox again, but it seemed wrong to bother it without some sort of offering. That was how Cassandra ended up in the special library on the fourth floor for apprentices. The immaculate and extensive library reminded her in full force of the special treatment apprentices received. Then again, once someone gained an apprenticeship they were practically royalty so it made sense.
Just to be sure she had a wide range of material to work from, Cassandra made sure to choose books on regular foxes, magical foxes, and records of the first archmage and his own fox. The records on Yuki were scarce, but Cassandra found herself taken in by the tales of the founding archmage instead. She took her collection of books to a cozy looking nook complete with a fireplace and let herself sink fully into the first book of her collection, ‘Rumors and Particulars of the Founding Archmage’.
It was certainly an enjoyable read, but rumors had definitely been an apt title. Most of the stories explored in the book were ridiculous. The few that mentioned his fox, Yuki, were even more so. The most believable being that Yuki was secretly the archmage, and the least involved the fox being a world destroying, man-eating monster. However, there was one common thread in all of these mentions of both the first archmage and the fox. They loved cozy things and sleeping.
Perhaps she could find a nice cozy pillow to turn into a fox bed? She would have to have it enchanted against dirt or weather, though, and that would take quite some time. For the time being, she should look for a more realistic gift. Next Cassandra looked through the fox portion of the almanac of magical creatures.
This proved to be more informative as there was a whole page on Yuki, though the almanac listed him as if he were his own species of fox. Nothing else like him had ever been seen. Cassandra had to agree that none of the other magical foxes in the book looked anything like the fox she had found in the center of that maze. They were either too large, too colorful, or even too aggressive in traits. Not a single one could be found peacefully sleeping under a weeping willow tree.
Could it be that it was an ordinary fox after all? Cassandra found it hard to believe that it could be the same species as the mysterious Yuki. Surely another one would have been discovered by now if they just slept out in the open. This was somewhat disappointing, but Cassandra turned to the book on normal foxes to see what she could learn about a fox’s diet.
The door to the library suddenly burst open and Cassandra heard a few people enter. She couldn’t see them because of the bookshelves blocking the view of the reading nook she had found. However, this meant that whoever they were could not see her either. She was about to reveal her presence when a voice she recognized spoke.
“Alois, is this really a secure place to talk?” Keane questioned, “Who knows what might be hiding in these bookshelves.”
“No apprentice is going to spend their precious time in the library this early in the year,” Alois assured, “The library here is special. The whole room is completely soundproof so no one will be able to follow us and eavesdrop from outside.”
What about someone who was peacefully reading inside before they barged in? Cassandra felt less and less like revealing her presence as they spoke. It might be for the best to just wait for them to finish and leave and pretend she never heard anything in the first place. With that in mind, Cassandra turned back to her book and tried her best to ignore them. However, that instantly became impossible when she heard the third voice speak.
“Can you explain what is going on now?” Caleb demanded, “What was that eyepatch? Why does it have such powerful restraint magic in it? Are you trying to seal a demon?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Alois scoffed, “Demons don’t exist in Tethia, and no one would be stupid enough to summon one. The thing I am trying to seal might be worse than a demon.”
“Did the headmaster set you on this mission?” Keane asked. He tried to play it off as simply curiosity, but Cassandra could hear the sharpness in his tone.
Alois sighed. “No. He doesn’t know about it, and it would be better if it stayed that way,” he refuted, “This is a personal problem.”
“If you want our help you are going to have to explain what is going on,” Caleb told him, his own voice threatening and grave.
Should she reveal herself after all? Cassandra couldn’t shake the feeling she was about to hear an extremely personal and private story. Better yet, was there a way to leave the library, or at least earshot without them noticing? She looked down at the mess of books around her. There was no way they would miss the sound of fluttering pages in this charged silence and she had no confidence in being able to silently set them aside.
Using magic also wouldn’t work because she was sure that between Keane and Caleb they would be able to sense it in an instant. Keane especially gave off the impression of magic sensitivity. Cassandra didn’t really know much about Alois, but it certainly seemed like she was about to.
Alois gave up on his silence just as Cassandra gave up on escaping the situation. “Fine. I don’t know why that is in the form of an eyepatch,” he admitted, “But it is the best shot I have of sealing an illegal and dangerous artifact my family has been hiding for generations. I have to take care of this before I graduate.”
“It’s only your second year,” Keane pointed out, “Why the rush?”
“You know Nobility has never been a set number of years,” Alois replied, “You graduate when whoever you are apprenticed to says you are ready. I am the apprentice of the headmaster and he has the opportunity to observe my progress up close and personal. I need to take whatever chance I can get.”
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Just like Maximus, it seemed that Alois regretted his apprenticeship. Cassandra was glad she had taken Ophelia’s advice to wait and think things through. Rosalind had been excellent to be apprenticed to so far. She represented the balance and partnership between queen and archmage that Cassandra had always looked up to. She was trying her best to pretend she didn’t hear anything about ancient illegal artifacts being deliberately hidden. Alois already seemed to have a plan to take care of things as well.
The problem was, Cassandra had been writing Princess Rosalind reports on various artifacts and magic tools ever since she became her apprentice. She had also been researching the laws about reporting and hiding artifacts. Could she really just stand by after she heard Alois actively admit to his family breaking those laws to hide a potential danger? If things took a turn for the worst it could be taken as treason against Tethia.
“How exactly are you going to use an eyepatch to seal it?” Caleb questioned.
“I don’t know,” Alois admitted.
“Why don’t you ask the person you got it from?” Keane suggested.
“I can’t,” Alois said with a sigh, “I was given this by someone I have never met, and they don’t know they gave it to me yet.”
“So you stole it,” Caleb surmised.
Cassandra barely held back a surprised laugh from the deadpan statement and the flustered noises Alois made as he tried to explain something he could not really explain. If he had gotten it from someone he hadn’t met and who didn’t know him could it be a summon?
The nature of summoning magic had always been an unusual concept to understand. There were local summons which brought powerful beings or monsters that already existed in the world to the summoner. This was the most common and easier type of summoning magic. However, powerful summoners could summon beings from other worlds. When a being came from another world things became a bit strange.
The main reason for this oddness was the way it messed with the concept of time. Time in the same world was constant and linear, but time was not connected in the same way to another. In fact, time was not connected at all. A summon that you summoned for the first time could be older than the next time you summoned them and remember nothing. This gave summoners the unique experience of being able to know snippets of their own futures if they were able to communicate with those summons.
Then again, if it was just a gift from a summon, Alois would have been able to explain that rather than feel any need to become uncomfortably flustered. Would stealing an odd eyepatch artifact be considered a greater or lesser offense to hiding a dangerous artifact for generations? Did the nature of both crimes change if one was perpetrated to prevent the other? There was also the matter of provability.
“Forget about where it came from,” Alois finally huffed, “I just need to know if this eyepatch could seal an artifact that can absorb anything.”
“It depends on which one is stronger,” Caleb replied after some time to consider, “If the eyepatch is absorbed before it can seal it, everything will be for nothing. Is there any way to delay or control this artifact?”
“There might be, but it will be dangerous,” Alois replied.
By this point, Cassandra’s legs were starting to fall asleep under the heavy tomes. Did it really matter if they found out she was there? At this point it was impossible for her to not get involved with whatever this was anyway. She slammed the book on her lap shut and set it to the side as the three boys scrambled to find where the noise came from. In a few moments they had joined her in the reading nook.
“Hello, gentlemen,” she told them, “Shall we talk about your use of the apprentice’s exclusive library as a secret meeting place?”
“How long have you been here?” Alois asked. Perhaps he was trying to sound threatening but his confusion and surprise won out.
“Since I finished orientation,” Cassandra replied.
Caleb looked over the books she had collected and nodded in understanding. “Are you looking for a fox?”
“I was, before I was interrupted,” she answered, taking the opportunity to stretch, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but the contents of your discussion were hard to ignore.”
Alois ran a hand through his long crimson hair in frustration. “What can I do to convince you to keep this from Princess Rosalind?” he asked, “If I succeed, Tethia will be better off, and if I fail you can tell whoever you want and destroy what is left of my family as you please.”
In other words, he wasn’t in on whatever his family was planning with that illegal artifact. “How about you finish what you were going to say earlier,” Cassandra decided, “How can the artifact be controlled and why would it be dangerous?”
“It isn’t pleasant,” Alois warned, “My family’s records state that the artifact can be controlled for a time after it is given a sacrifice.”
“What kind of sacrifice?” Cassandra questioned.
For some reason, Alois seemed taken aback. “I hadn’t considered trying other kinds of sacrifices,” he admitted, “but it will still be dangerous.”
Cassandra scowled. “Don’t tell me you were planning to sacrifice yourself to that thing for no reason!” she demanded.
“Of course not,” he denied, but his guilty expression gave away his intentions. If not himself, he must have been planning to use one of his enemies as a sacrifice instead.
“That is murder,” Cassandra reminded him, “And the artifact should be reported before anyone resorts to that.”
“Alright, alright,” Alois surrendered, even holding up his hands, “Actually, I have another idea. What if I only need to sacrifice part of myself? After all, this thing is called the Raven’s Eye and I happen to have a pretty nifty eyepatch.”
==========
The years went by so quickly, it was hard to believe it was already orientation day again. Osmond closed his eyes for a moment to reminisce about his own first experience with orientation. That was the first time he had summoned her. She had been beautiful from the moment Osmond had first met her, and she remained beautiful no matter how many times he summoned her.
Every year on orientation day, he always made sure to summon her in the safest and most special place to ask her if she had any news he needed to prepare himself for that year. These conversations were what was expected of a headmaster with a sentient summon from another world. Hopefully this year as well she would have nothing of consequence to tell him. He did not want their rare conversations to turn into work.
It only took a few moments for Osmond to find his way through the blackstone maze to the arch the founding headmaster had left them. It was far less showy than the arch he could summon which made it more convenient for secret meetings. Osmond paused as he saw something white move from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there. Not even a single bird or squirrel had ever dared to enter this space.
He pushed the nonexistent white animal out of his mind and stepped into the Pavilion of Eternal Dusk. The endless purple skies greeted him as Osmond relaxed. Perhaps it was only natural that the headmaster should consider this place a second home. Maybe she considered it hers as well?
“Michelle,” he called, his voice echoing softly in eternally empty space.
As he spoke her name, the summoning magic triggered and a second person appeared in the pavilion. She was wearing the same odd clothing as usual, but it seemed she was slightly older than last time. Her mousy brown hair was frizzy with bedhead and she looked around with deep confusion.
“Oh! Ozzie!” she exclaimed, “It’s been ages! I missed you. Are you here to tell me stories again today?”
“That’s right,” he confirmed and made a bench rise from the floor of the pavilion for them to sit on. It was for the best that she never knew the stories he told were real. He didn’t want to put the pressure on her of relying on her for snippets of the future.
As he talked about the latest promising stars among the students he eyes suddenly lit up. “Cassandra is here now?” she asked, “I can’t wait to meet her! Has she met all of her friends yet? Does your apprentice have his eyepatch now?”
There went the idea of everything being a story. “You are going to meet Cassandra and my apprentice?” he asked.
“Of course I did,” she said, “Cassandra, Alois, Keane, Maximus, and even that grumpy Caleb are the heroes of Tethia. There was also the adorable Autumn and the studious Wayde. I know you aren’t supposed to choose favorites among heroes but Cassandra always gives me cookies and Autumn always lets me pet his cute little head.”
Osmond was bewildered. Why was his summon so familiar with a group of new students? His apprentice was one thing, but he knew very well that the boy’s secrets and weaknesses made him no hero. Unless this all had everything to do with the eyepatch she mentioned. He would have to keep a closer eye on the boy.