Vis spends the week reeling from Indol’s invitation to Suus, the island of his childhood. Fear of recognition and unresolved trauma—memories of his injured father and lost sister—erode his focus. Scitus reprimands him lightly for not meeting his potential, and friends notice his distraction. Vis clings to the approaching Festival of Pletuna, planning a secret meeting with Relucia in hopes she can persuade Ulciscor to excuse him from the Suus trip.

Two days before the festival, Aequa invites Vis to travel to Caten with Class Four. Scitus, listening nearby, subtly pressures Vis to accept, and Vis agrees despite the risk to his clandestine plans. Aequa shares that Feriun’s family has officially damned his memory; Vis offers condolences but privately remains unsure it was suicide. She then probes Vis’s movements during the Festival of the Ancestors, noting that the Magnus Quintus told her Vis was out in the valley during her visits to the Telimus crypt. Vis denies seeing Feriun and covers by calling the priest rude and forgetful, sensing that Aequa’s suspicions persist even as the conversation shifts to Labyrinth strategy.

Later, during a quiet morning in the Labyrinth with Callidus, the two experiment with the control bracer and discuss the maze’s mechanisms. They conclude that Will-locking and heavy Conditionals power the moving panels, but Callidus argues the system is wasteful and suspiciously complex for mere training. Their talk hints that the Labyrinth likely serves a deeper purpose. They note the next run is the day after the festival and that many upper-years—Emissa included—aren’t permitted to attend, even though the Academy allows it as a religious observance.

Callidus questions whether Vis should risk Caten at all, given the Anguis threat. Vis decides to go anyway, unwilling to keep hiding and determined to meet Relucia. They end practice, and Callidus asks for stories when Vis returns. The chapter closes with Vis heading to breakfast, then preparing to board the Transvect with the Fourths, already planning how to slip away to his secret meeting amid the chaos of Pletuna.