Bree walks across campus in a euphoric mood after kissing Nick. Nick has invited Bree to go out with him and the other Legendborn that night, and Bree calls Alice for best-friend advice. Alice teases out whether the group outing counts as a date and begins worrying about Bree’s outfit before Bree cuts the call short to meet Patricia.

Patricia meets Bree at the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery and explains that Patricia has decided to help Bree understand root. As Patricia leads Bree through the cemetery, Patricia gives the history of the burial ground: it began with students and faculty, expanded over time, and includes people connected to the university and town.

Patricia stops at an old stone wall and reveals the cemetery’s segregation. Beyond the wall are the sections where Black people were buried, including enslaved people owned by faculty, servants, and freed people. Most of the graves are unmarked, and Patricia explains that a later preservation study found almost five hundred unmarked graves; Patricia notes that a Medium could have known that already.

Patricia leads Bree into the grass despite Bree’s discomfort about stepping over graves. At an unmarked area, Patricia says two of Patricia’s ancestors are buried there. Patricia sets out stones, fruit, cornbread, and tea as offerings, prompting Bree to admit that Bree does not know much about Bree’s own ancestry beyond Bree’s great-grandmother.

Bree becomes overwhelmed when Patricia asks about Bree’s grandmother and extended maternal family, and Patricia guides Bree to breathe. Patricia then explains that root is an invisible energy known by many names, that the dead have the strongest access to it, and that Rootcrafters borrow root from ancestors through offerings rather than claiming it as their own.

Patricia admits that Bree’s family practice may be lost, but Patricia can teach Bree the truths of Patricia’s own family’s craft. When Bree asks what Rootcrafters do with root, Patricia tells Bree to take Patricia’s hands. Bree does, and the world twists and disappears as Patricia begins to show Bree root directly.