The academy had always been a place of silence.
Not peace.
Control.
Lyra and Juno walked its halls like sparks in dry parchment.
The thread burned in Lyra's palm.
The truth burned in her voice.
The Confrontation
The headmasters sat in the Circle of Thought.
Seven chairs. Seven minds.
Each stitched with authority.
Lyra stepped forward.
Juno placed the sealed tome on the table.
No words.
Just the stitched spiral.
The headmasters flinched.
The Accusation
Lyra spoke first.
"Aurex Vell was not a founder. He was a stitcher."
Juno followed. "He built the towers to erase magic. Not protect it."
The headmasters remained silent.
Until Headmaster Solen whispered, "You've seen the Archive of Unmaking."
Lyra nodded. "It marked me."
She raised her palm.
The broken spiral glowed.
The Denial
Headmaster Vire stood. "That archive is sealed for a reason."
Juno's voice was ice. "Because it holds the truth."
Headmaster Elenor hissed, "Truth is dangerous."
Lyra stepped forward. "So is forgetting."
The tome pulsed.
New ink appeared:
> "The stitched ones are not weapons. They are warnings."
The Fracture
The Circle of Thought began to tremble.
Not from magic.
From memory.
The stitched spiral on the tome unraveled.
Threads floated into the air.
They wrapped around the chairs.
The headmasters screamed.
Not in pain.
In recognition.
The Revelation
Lyra's book opened on its own.
A new page appeared.
> "The academy was built on a lie. The towers were built to bury it."
Juno whispered, "Cassian is the stitcher."
Headmaster Solen gasped. "Then the loop has begun."
Lyra's voice cracked. "And we're already inside it."
The Choice
The threads tightened.
The Circle fractured.
The tome burned.
Not with fire.
With memory.
Lyra turned to Juno. "We can't stop it."
Juno nodded. "But we can choose what's remembered."
Lyra raised her hand.
The broken spiral pulsed.
And the academy began to forget.