The hunt for the Seed Cache led Esther and Samuel back to the university's Faculty of Science not the botany department, but the architectural archives.
Esther remembered a peculiar detail from her grandmother's diary: a recurring, stylized sketch of the Senate Building, the university's main administrative tower, with certain structural lines emphasized.
"Grandmother wasn't just a botanist; she was deeply involved in the initial planning of the campus's construction," Esther explained to Samuel as they poured over dusty blueprints. "She ensured the Foundation Stone was perfectly centralized. I think she didn't hide the seeds in the garden, but in the building itself a final, architectural failsafe."
They located a set of early blueprints for the Senate Building's foundation documents that predated the final construction. The blueprints showed a massive, hidden sub-basement beneath the structure's central pillar, marked cryptically with the symbol of the Iroko Tree.
"The Iroko the Ancient Witness," Samuel muttered. "She put the seeds beneath the witness of the highest structure on campus."
The sub-basement wasn't accessible by normal elevators or stairwells. It was protected by a complex, centuries-old mechanical lock, designed to withstand both time and magical tampering.
As they examined the blueprints, they realized they weren't alone. A tall, impeccably dressed man in a dark, tailored suit walked into the archive room. He was a new face on campus, introduced only last week as Professor Onyeka of the History Department. He had sharp, intelligent eyes, a smooth, unctuous manner, and a faint, almost imperceptible scent of cinnamon and polished wood.
"Alpha Samuel, Miss Esther," Professor Onyeka greeted them with a cool, polite smile. "Fascinating documents you've found. The university's founding secrets are truly layered, aren't they?"
Samuel stepped protectively in front of Esther, his eyes narrowed, the pine scent rising slightly. "Professor, this is restricted access. Can we help you?"
"My apologies," Onyeka said, his gaze lingering on the intricate locking mechanism depicted on the blueprints. "I am simply tracing the structural history of the campus. I find the blend of Nigerian traditional architecture with modern engineering quite compelling. Especially the hidden elements, such as the Iroko-marked vault."
His knowledge of the vault's hidden symbol was an immediate red flag.
"That vault is a myth," Esther asserted, maintaining a neutral expression. "Just a discarded idea from the original design."
Onyeka chuckled, a dry, academic sound. "Of course. Just as time travel and divine intervention are myths. Yet, here we are, navigating the echoes of Ọrúnmìlà's latest intervention."
The temperature in the room plummeted. Samuel recognized the cold, sharp intellect of a master manipulator, one who understood the physics of their recent actions.
"Who are you?" Samuel demanded, the amber rising in his eyes.
"I am an architect of fate, Alpha," Onyeka replied, his smile widening into something truly unsettling. "Fortune was a chaotic fool, seeking to shatter the timeline. I, however, seek to refine it. I am the Chronos Shaper. I came back, not from the past, but from the future a future where the Golden Leaf failed and the Shadow conquered."
He gestured to the vault blueprints. "You see, Samuel, your ancestor's Àṣẹ sealed the past, but it left the future vulnerable. If I plant the Folium Aethel seeds in the present, then move them to the future, I can cultivate a massive Silver Bloom there and force a permanent, irreversible victory for the Shadow. And those seeds are beneath our feet."