"What if Elena did the same?"
Professor Eternalis frowns.
Her ancient features shift through confusion as she processes implications she apparently didn't expect me to reach.
She bangs on the invisible wall.
"We have no time for this!"
The declaration carries desperation that her usual composure doesn't permit—urgency bleeding through whatever mask she's been wearing since the day I met her.
"You need me to get through the final year!"
I giggle.
The sound surprises even me—light and amused and carrying the particular delight of someone who has finally assembled puzzle pieces that others thought they'd hidden successfully.
"Why would I need the female version of Elena coming with me to the final destination?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even the lava seems to pause in recognition of revelations that change everything.
Professor Eternalis remains frozen.
Her ancient features lock into expression that speaks to shock so profound that even millennia of existence haven't prepared her for it. Her eyes widen with the particular horror of someone whose deepest secret has just been exposed.
That's when I grin.
Wide enough that I wonder if I look like the manic smile that Koishii likes to express—the particular expression of someone who has won and wants everyone to know it.
"Wait... what?"
Atticus's whisper reaches me from behind—confusion and concern mixing in words that he probably didn't mean to say aloud.
Zeke chuckles lowly.
The sound carries the particular satisfaction of someone who has been waiting for this moment, who has known or suspected and has finally seen his theories confirmed.
"Finally," he whispers. "The truth is coming to the surface."
I let my attention return to Professor Eternalis—to the being who has been manipulating us since the beginning, who has been wearing a mask that I've finally seen through.
"The one thing I remembered and kept pretending was wrong," I reveal, "was the name Eleanor."
The name lands with weight that makes her ancient features twitch.
"A female name known for today," I continue. "But in the legends, that name was one of the most popularmalenames in the history of royal Fae history."
I let that information settle.
"Even better," I add. "The second most popular name amongst Fae?"
I pause for effect.
"Eternalis."
