Aurelia, the middle child of Septimus and Petra, sister of Tercius and Leo, was a girl over six cycles old. The three siblings had a lot in common regarding physical features. Their hair color was in the darkest shade of blood red, to some eyes almost black. Their green eyes, warm, yet sharp. Finally, all three of them were unusually tall, for their age. These characteristics were rare in these parts of southern Sogea, and even wider. So even when by themselves, let alone when put together, these three siblings stood out of the masses.

Two siblings now, Aurelia reminded herself. Big brother is not here. The thought brought a wave of sorrow and left the lips of the 6-year-old girl quivering.

Since Tercius left for this Academy, almost two months have passed. The day he left was something of a blur, Aurelia had to admit. But she still remembered that day when the news about Tercius’s departure reached her. At first, when Mother explained it to her, she truly did not understand what she was saying.

"Honey, Tercius is going to an Academy, and might be gone for some time," her Mother said to her, as she gently brushed her hair, in the way Aurelia always liked. While her Mother was sitting on her bed, Aurelia had placed her head right in her Mother’s lap, and her long hair spilled all over the sheet.

Too content to even think about something she found aggravating, she said, "So? Tercius is always going with Grandfather on some job," One time they left for three weeks! Without her! It was not fair. She had to convince Father to take her to them, and it took days until he finally relented and took her to see them.

"Honey… this is like that, but a bit longer," her Mother said, averting her eyes. That was the first time something seemed suspicious. Her Mother was hiding something, Aurelia was sure of it.

She squinted one eye, just a bit, and asked, "How long?"

Mother always answered her questions before, but now she kept quiet. Finally, after Aurelia opened both her eyes and looked at Mother’s own pair, Mother gently said, "6 cycles,"

Aurelia knew what a cycle was and she knew that each was 365 days long. Some even had a day more. Her brother taught her this. A week had 7 days, and a cycle had 52 weeks, in 6 cycles there would be… 312 weeks, but… Tercius can’t be… what? Something in her ears started drumming. "I don’t understand,"

Now, two months later, she did understand but she wished she did not.

Aurelia cried for days after Tercius left, but those tears eventually dried up. Now in her mind she only had one wish, to find out why this Academy attracted her older brother so. It took her some time to come up with a plan, and then some more to actually do it. What Aurelia was planning was something she was ashamed of, something her older brother was sure to be cross with her about. Yet it had to be done.

Tercius always told her about respecting someone's things and space and asking before taking, but he also told her that in a case of an emergency this could be voided. In her mind, this merited an exception. With a small prayer, just like she saw her Grandmother do on occasion, Aurelia finally decided to go to his room intent on searching everything, just like those detectives in her brother’s stories. Somewhere in that room was a clue, that would lead to Aurelia solving this mystery.

The room in question was at the end of the hall, and Aurelia took great pain in making sure no one saw her. After all, she knew, if her brother did not know that she did it, he would not get angry at her. Her Mother was at her shop, Father was with Leo downstairs and Grandmother was doing some pruning on the plants in the garden.

She was, however, unable to find Grandfather.

It turns out she shouldn’t have even searched for him, for he was ahead of her.

When she opened the door, her Grandfather was sitting in Tercius’s chair, looking across the bed at the book collection her brother owned. She should have known that she would not be the only one who was interested as to why Tercius decided to do this.

When her Grandfather finally noticed her, he was a bit startled, so she hurried to let him know his secret was safe with her. "Don’t worry, Grandfather, I am here for the same thing. I won’t tell anyone. Promise,"

Grandfather merely nodded with a large smile, and she felt a bit relieved. He always seemed so sad these days, so whenever she could she tried to get him to smile more.

As she started going through papers her older brother kept on his desk, she imagined herself like the leading detective and her Grandfather like a sidekick. She was not quite sure what a sidekick was, but in her older brother’s stories, a detective always had a sidekick. She thought of a sidekick as someone in whom a detective placed his trust in, so now Grandfather was hers.

Together, Lead Detective Aurelia and her trustworthy Sidekick Grandfather, would solve the mysterious case she named, in her mind, 'Why Tercius decided to become a mage and leave her behind.'

Lead Detective Aurelia was willing to admit that the name could use a bit of work.

Eventually, she found a paper in one of the bottom drawers of her brother's desk and she managed to read a small note at the corner that said, '... next time at Perdinar's try to find out more about the Pyramid...'.

Lead Detective Aurelia knew that her first clue was in her hand. With a triumphant expression on her face, she turned to her Sidekick, only to find him fast asleep.

Keeping her mouth shut, she went out, closing the door quietly behind her. Aurelia heard of this Perdinar, and she knew that her brother left for this Pyramid, so now she knew where her next clue was.

Now, she only needed someone to go with her to this Perdinar, and Aurelia knew just the person. Since her current Sidekick was tired and needed some rest, she would get a temporary one.

Going downstairs, she found her Father and Grandmother while they combed the house for Leo. Somehow her little brother developed a skill for stealth, and now if they lost sight of the two-year-old, even for a moment, they had to lock all the doors.

Lead Detective Aurelia would lend her expertise to this new case, and when she solved it, then maybe someone will agree to take her to this Perdinar.