Becoming Yuki’s true partner came with its own load of heavy secrets, the first of which was his ability to hear the thoughts of those around him. This not only meant that he had been listening in on hers all along, but that he could speak directly in her mind. Yuki could answer her every worry before she even voiced it. This did make all of the effort they had put into hunting traitors feel like a waste.

“It wasn’t a waste,” Yuki assured her, “Alvis says that hearing thoughts isn’t enough proof on its own.”

Then there was that. Cassandra was already beginning to despise the phrase ‘Alvis says’. Yuki seemed to live by Alvis’s every word, and Cassandra couldn’t even argue since the things Yuki repeated were always right. She had to be careful what she even thought about now since Yuki was always eager to give her answers.

“Unless someone is a traitor or planning to harm us, don’t tell me their thoughts,” Cassandra told the fox, “If I need to know more, wait until I ask.”

“I will try,” Yuki promised, but his eagerness to help would probably still become a problem later. Cassandra didn’t mind it too much since he was trying his best, but the sudden flow of secrets he dumped on her was a bit overwhelming.

“Is Alois back?” she asked one of the servants.

“Not yet,” he replied, “We were told he might be late tonight.”

“He is in a secret hall,” Yuki supplies, “Is tracking location bad too?”

“That’s fine,” Cassandra answered to both, “I need to speak with Keane anyway.”

Keane was far easier to locate as he rarely went anywhere. Cassandra wanted to consult the Records to see if what Alvis had told her was the truth. She couldn’t trust his every word just because he was some kind of immortal founder. If the records really could reveal the past, she could learn the truth about the founding. There was always the chance that Alvis could influence the artifact since he had all but claimed he had created it, but Cassandra figured Yuki would know if he did.

“Isn’t today supposed to be a rest day for you?” Keane accused as she entered his lab.

“You as well,” she pointed out.

“This is how I relax,” Keane replied, “Doing nothing makes me anxious.”

“Exactly,” Cassandra agreed.

There was a long pause of silence as she stared him down. “Fine,” Keane relented, “This is about the Records, right? What did you need me to find out?”

“I just need you to look into the founding of Tethia,” Cassandra answered, “I met with Alvis today and I need some answers.”

“You met Alvis?” Keane repeated, “Was he just as slippery as he seems?”

“He told me some things, and I just want to know if he was telling the truth,” Cassandra explained, “If he was, I will share that information with you.”

Keane frowned. “Alright. I’ve locked it up somewhere safe, so I’ll have to go get it.”

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Just as he moved to get up, Alois slipped into the room. “Keane, I need you to look into the founding of Tethia. Something about it has been kept secret from us,” he demanded, then spotted Cassandra, “Hi, Cassandra. What brings you here?”

“The same thing, apparently,” she told him.

“Got it, the founding of Tethia,” Keane said, looking between the two of them, “Once of you just met the first headmaster and the other our current. This definitely seems suspicious.”

After sharing that thought, Keane led them to his room where he undid a complex set of enchantments to retrieve the Records of Tethia. It was such an impressive sight that for a moment Cassandra forgot why they were there. Alois, on the other hand, grimaced slightly at the display. He seemed unusually tense.

“The eye is hungry,” Yuki supplies, carefully avoiding sharing any actual thoughts.

Cassandra frowned at that idea. She hadn’t even considered that the artifact could think. Then again, Alois had supposedly negotiated with it and it had to be able to feel to be the representation of greed. She was glad when Yuki assured her it had a lower intelligence and lived on instinct.

“What?” Keane muttered, returning her focus to the task at hand, “This is bad.”

“What happened?” Alois asked and moved to peek over his shoulder.

Cassandra did the same and the problem was made instantly evident. Rather than the information Keane had requested, the open pages of the Records bore a message from Alivs.

“Dearest Inheritor,

Have you forgotten who I am? I am the founder of the precious knowledge and secrets of Tethia. However, I have no intention of allowing you to use the records of that knowledge for such a frivolous purpose. If your comrades deny my words, they must find the information they seek from another source.

Regards,

Alvis.”

The flowing script suited the Alvis perfectly, as did the demeaning manner of speech that left the reader feeling foolish. Cassandra truly did feel foolish. Alvis had given her every answer she asked for, yet here she was trying to use the artifact he created to try and confirm them. Alois, who knew none of this, was bewildered by the message.

“I haven’t denied anything,” he protested, “I just came back from Osmond giving some insane apocalypse prediction as his excuse for betraying us to Gaia. All I wanted was to see if he just lost his mind or if there really is a dangerous curse on the line of headmasters.”

“I’m sorry,” Cassandra told him, “This is my fault. That message was definitely left for me.”

“Alvis always has a reason for denying knowledge,” Yuki supplied, making both Keane and Alois jump. Had he spoken so everyone could hear him this time? Cassandra couldn’t tell at all. “If he mentions finding another source that means you have another way to find what you need.”

“Do you know now?” Alois asked Cassandra a bit warily.

“That is why Alvis sought me out, I think,” she explained, “He wanted to warn me since it seemed no one else would. He also told me some other things to try to scare me off. He claimed that Tethia was founded almost completely by himself and everyone else just followed along.”

“Another source, huh,” Alois muttered, “Since Yuki seems so attached to you we should believe his words, but where else would we find accurate information about the founding? The history books only have those vague legends. Can you tell us, Yuki?”

“Sorry,” Yuki replied, seeming truly ashamed, “I slept through most of it. Sometimes Alvis would have me help with things, but that’s all I know.”

That took out the option of the other immortal founder. Alvis had told her that he slept all the time. Who else could possibly have information that no one in Tethia knew? It suddenly hit her. A summon! One summon in particular came to mind.

“Alois, can you summon Michelle?” Cassandra asked, “I know she is Osmond’s summon, but she might be able to tell us what is really going on. Even if she can’t tell us the past she might be able to tell us about the future.”

“Of course,” Alois realized, “I think I might be able to, but we would have to do it in the Pavilion.”