Plot

The first Thursday that the Mysteries of Ames class meets.

The first Mysteries of Ames Friday "lab"/"recitation."

During a Friday lab meeting, Darcy leads the class to a remote and mysterious fairy ring, referred to in local legend as the "Circle of Woe."

Darcy tries to listen in on a conversation between Uncle Jules and Tanner Addison. The very fact that they are associating causes her trust in Jules to falter, and she grows wary of him, leading the rest of the class (minus Rex) to grow *less* wary of *her.*

Laurel asks Page to get coffee with her to "catch up" before a Friday lab. She is acting very strange. There is something she wants to tell Page, but she's having trouble getting it out. She asks Page to meet her by the woods the following day, and says she knows it sounds strange, but to trust her.

Page has followed Laurel's directions and met her by the woods. Laurel leads her to Maplewood, where she is introduced to her dryad family for the first time and told the truth about her mother.

There is an unassuming Addison R&D satellite trailer close to the quarry and away from the other lab trailers. Darcy has gleaned from snooping on Jules that this trailer is significant to a shady Addison operation, and she telekinetically pickpockets Rex in class on Thursday in hopes that one of his keys will give her access to it (it is strange that he keeps a very full keyring when he lives in a newer dorm that is unlocked with a swipe-card). Instead of completing their scheduled Friday lab, Darcy asks the class (minus Rex, who has been skipping labs for "frat meetings"/parties for a few weeks now) to come with her to examine. She makes it very clear that Dr. Devine Does Not Endorse This.

...And Laurel enlists Page's help.

After what they saw the night before, the class has lost all faith in Dr. Devine. They are fairly convinced that Mysteries of Ames itself is connected to whatever Addison is doing in that trailer, and that there's much more to this than they know. Page confesses to the class that she knows more about the dryads, and tells Laurel about what she saw. Later, Laurel takes the class to Maplewood and explains the prophecy to them.

Under mounting scrutiny from both Dr. Devine and the Addison corporation, the crew has resolved to retrieve the armor crystals for the Maplewood Dryads so that they can defend themselves against Addison Co. without depleting their magic. They stay this first night in Maplewood.

On the way, they search for the Oakwood crystal in and around the abandoned factory built upon what once was Oakwood, but they find nothing.

With the quest becoming more and more perilous, the journey home takes a while.

At about 2 in the morning, Page, August, and Jesse have just settled down after hours of talking and drinking to ease their nerves. After the boys have dozed off, Page gets a nearly incoherent text from Darcy, who is asking for help. Page begs her to either tell her where she is or share her location, if she can manage either. Darcy manages to convey that she is in Devine Hall, and Page throws caution to the wind, immediately leaving to get her.

The Mysteries of Ames class, the Maplewood dryads and family, and the visiting Magnolia devise a plan to lure the Addison forces back near campus in an attempt to expose them, for disproportionate violence if nothing else. They resolve to leave the (steadily depleting) safety of Maplewood in the wee hours of the morning, laying low (but not too low) in unprotected forest until the horses arrive.

A break of dawn showdown at the edge of the forest near campus, a few hours long, between the Addison squad (gray mages, skeleton horses, poisoned dryads, and college-aged family friends of the Addisons) and the Maplewood Alliance (aided by sympathetic students, though few are back on campus yet).

Ames is still dealing with strange publicity and even more rumors than usual after the battle. The ancient, ineffectual Arnie Gladwyn serves as interim president while the Board of Trustees selects a new leader; unfortunately, Addison's influence over the school (even in relative disgrace) means that it will be one of his shills. Maplewood is impenetrably fortified and safe now from wrongdoers, but at what cost? Maple herself is still declining, and her sister and daughter are dead. As the main five and their close friends struggle to readjust knowing what they know, the Spring Gala approaches, and they manage to put aside the existential weight of what they've participated in to engage in some good old-fashioned interpersonal angst.