Chapter Text
Mydei, Phainon, and Tribios found themselves standing in Aglaea’s office the next day. Tribios was the one to suggest that she tag along, in a concerted effort to be able to communicate better than her young friends what actions needed to be taken, and remembered to bring the tablet that Anaxa had been fidgeting with.
Anaxa had said “She’ll know the password if she’s the real Aglaea,” very quietly when Mydei had asked about it.
He didn’t press further. Clearly this was something that had been weighing on the ornery cat’s mind for an eternity.
She hadn’t been there when they arrived, so now they were waiting awkwardly in the office. There were only two chairs for guests to sit in, and Mydei demanded Tribios take one of the seats and Phainon take the other. They sat in relative quiet until Aglaea arrived, with a surprise guest in tow: the woman who had joined them on the trip to Castrum Kremnos.
“I apologize for the wait, I needed to attend to an important phone call.” Aglaea gracefully took her seat at the desk. “Now, I understand that you have some news regarding the Bough of Reason?” She leaned forward, elbows on the desk and fingers knitted together.
“Yes, Aggy.” Tribios smiled and reached out to Aglaea’s hands, to hold them in a comforting gesture. “I honestly didn’t believe it myself when I saw him!” She laughed. “But that’s besides the point, he sent us with this to both confirm your identity as well as to prove that he is who he says he is.” She placed the tablet gently on the table in front of Agalea.
“He said you would know the password,” Mydei said calmly. “That only you would.”
“That is reasonable of him to assume.” She agreed with the level of caution that Anaxa had applied to the situation. She roused the tablet from sleep mode and smiled when she saw through her blind eyes that there was a screen that required a very specific drawing to bypass. Aglaea drew on the screen without hesitation. The drawing had been complicated, and the rest of the room really wasn’t able to keep up with the strikes she had made.
The screen unlocking led to an audio file being pulled up.
Either the voice or the message nearly brought the woman to tears.
“Lady Goldweaver.” It was Anaxa’s voice, but it sounded different from what Mydei had gotten used to hearing. “Or should I say, Aglaea.” He coughed. “On this tablet you will find all the information I have gathered on this era’s variances, as well as all of the knowledge I have on Lygacurus, The Flame Reaver, Iron Tomb, and Cerydra. These children have convinced me to share this with you, and the fact that you unlocked this proves that you at least remember the bare minimum to qualify as the True Aglaea.” His tone was full of snark. “Unfortunately, until my curse is broken, I can not leave the Grove of Epiphany or else I will completely disappear, not just from this world, but from all of them, thus destroying any chance these children have of succeeding this time around.” There was a brief pause. “I have seen all of you die so many times,” his voice sounded slightly distant. “I have encountered so many versions of you that couldn’t see the Grove or the truth behind my… condition.” He scoffed. “This time we can take everything I have learned and actually bring around a good ending for Amphoreus. While we have access to the realm beyond the sky currently, we have still been locked in Iron Tomb’s program, and while the travellers from the stars managed to fix most of the shattered code in the Amber Era, we were faced with events that would never be recorded except in my own memory.” Anaxa’s tone was incredibly somber, but then he turned incredibly serious. “Cerydra has been manipulated due to the fractured code within Iron Tomb. The Imperator herself is against us. The only places I know that are devoid of Lygacurus and Iron Tomb’s will are the Grove, the Okheman Library, and your store, which was built on the remains of the old Okhema, and contains the last of Phagousa’s blessing from the Amber Era.” There was another pause. “I can’t confirm the next location’s safety, but I am sure that Castrum Kremnos was freed from Iron Tomb’s control upon the purification of Nikador. Thank the prince for that one.” They could hear a deep breath. “Please drop by the Grove at your earliest convenience, we have much more to discuss… and a curse to break.”
The audio clip cut there, and pulled up a ton of folders and documents that had seemingly been collected over hundreds of years.
“He really does like to just talk, doesn’t he,” Phainon said.
“Indeed.” Aglaea’s response was almost cold. “I haven’t discovered the location of the Grove, so how would I-”
“It’s the store.” Phainon cut her off. “It’s the Aedes Elysiae Bookstore.”
Aglaea looked straight at him, as if the concept was absurd.
“It’s true,” Mydei added. “Professor Anaxagoras has been living there this whole time.”
Aglaea seemed to hold back a laugh. “Wait, you actually call him by his whole name? He must love that.” She fondly touched the tablet. “I can’t believe that they hid the Grove in plain sight. No one would rightly expect that, especially not with that name attached.” She sighed. “My threads couldn’t access the Grove, and now I know why. I was searching for the wrong name entirely.” A small laugh escaped her lips. “How is he doing?”
“He’s a cat, for starters.” Phainon said the absurd truth rather flatly. “He’s a cat who has been tormenting me since I was a kid.”
Aglaea laughed louder now. “That sounds right.” She stood up slowly. “Take me to him. Please.”