Kenton had been at the Stable, finishing his duties and task. The excitement from his time still made him feel weak. It certainly had nothing to do with the strangely appeared blue box that floated in his peripheral vision and came forward when he thought about it.

The System is here to help you get stronger! ♪ I am to comfort and equip you to face your fears! ♪ It doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can face their fears and grow stronger. ♪

He shook his head, and looked at a drawing of his beloved to calm himself. Sarah Beth wearing her white summer dress and her blue shawl and her golden hair, with her engagement brooch.

It didn't have the desired effect, as he remembered the...monster thing that had taken on the form of his fiancée.

Maybe he'd go visit her. Skip work until this entire Game situation had ended. He hadn't taken a vacation in years and years...

Then he remembered Elswith, and he knew he couldn't leave the boy to himself.

Player: Kenton

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"No." he told the System. It had been trying to get his attention ever since he first acknowledged it.

At least the bright screen faded when he didn't want to look at it anymore. Standing from his chair, he stood and stretched, planning to leave for the night. He had waited until at long last, when he was certain that all others in positions of authority had gone away, and therefore there was no more risk of being interviewed, again, about what had happened. He couldn't believe the Dungeon was so close. And that it had chosen...Elswith. What to do tomorrow, when Elswith came again? Should he make sure the boy had a key at all times? Should he just follow him? That didn't work, because Kenton had been with Elswith when the Dungeon grabbed him the first time!!!

He sighed, and reached for his coat...

Only to have the Stable move...while he had been standing there.

Bad. Very bad.

The Stable was always most dangerous at night. Why had he left wishing to avoid confrontations with management keep him here! Especially after today.

He felt his body shiver, and he wished he'd looked at the picture of Sarah Beth one more time to calm his nerves.

There was an off-tune whistling approaching him.

Kenton felt his heart rate increase. It went faster and faster.

He felt the little golden key around his neck. Was he in the Dungeon...no. This looked like the Stable...

There was a splashing sound, and Kenton abruptly realized he was in the Hippogriffs room, with the cheery little terracotta red tiles and the large but shallow pool. This room was never used, as it had been something of an insult.

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The room was warmer, and he realized someone had messed up the setting to make the pool water as hot as boiling soup.

The whistling sound continued, and Kenton wished he had a place to hide. He thought about darting behind some of the large decorative pots...but they were too small to hide him completely.

Better to face whatever terrible dangerous thing head on.

He raised his fists upward, drawing on his very small fighting experience. He could box...right? He remembered certain fights as a child.

His tension ratcheted up and up and up as the footsteps drew closer.

Finally, as the last note of the whistling hit a long, warbling note...

A skinny redhaired girl appeared. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel with little sprigs of red poking out, and she was wearing pajamas, a bathrobe, and slippers. She looked...almost like she expected to see him there. "Are you the lovable mentor?" she asked.

"Who are you? Are you...bathing here?"

"Here? No, of course not. I just had a fantastic Epsom salt bath over in the guest quarters and overnight place. Great amenities."

"There are no guest quarters in the Stable..." he hedged, realizing he was talking to what appeared to be an ordinary girl. Probably a servant...though, what servant would be bold enough to be here so late at night?

She made a face, and looked upward. Kenton could just barely see embroidery that read 'Guest Quarters and Overnight Stable Services' on the towel she had her hair wrapped up in.

Kenton felt lost for words. If she was joking, that was a lot of dedication merely for a joke.

"Look, miss. It's dangerous here at night. Seriously, you need to go."

The pool, which was turning and boiling, made a popping sound. Kenton didn't realize it went that high. Honestly, despite working in the Stable for so many years and decades, he didn't realize that the pool could change temperatures at all.

The redhead went over to the side and pulled out the tool used to clean leaves and whatnot from the surface of the water. Kenton thought it was called a skimmer. She stuck the net end into the water, almost expertly, and was clearly looking for something...

"So, I don't think you are the mentor, which is good for your longevity in general. I don't know what role you have though...let me ask you some questions, if you don't mind."

"Um...Miss, I think I should leave you to your own devices..." Kenton had made it so long by avoiding drama.

"Okay, so...you are cautious...the unlikely hero, maybe? I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure out why we bumped into each other at all. Because the Stable is up to something..." she looked him over, from head to toe...

Kenton realized he had not tucked his golden key back under his shirt collar when her eyes lingered around his neck.

He darted to hide it, for whatever good that would do him, but she smiled and almost danced excitedly. "Hey, look, we have the same necklace!" she said, almost dropping the skimmer as she freed one hand to reach and pull out the end of a necklace that ended in a small, golden key.

"What...How did you get...that..."

Because that looked exactly like his golden key. Which was a rare, and almost priceless artifact. It was his, as he was a retired mapper. But should he leave the employment of the Stable entirely, the golden key would stay behind.

"I would like to say I got this easily, but actually I walked through three deserts, two jungles, and four city blocks looking for this. And then I had to work customer service too. Which felt like the hardest part, honestly." She tucked her key back under her pajama top, completely not disturbed by being found by a strange Fae. "Then I had to rescue over a hundred Dalmatians too...but that's beside the point." she returned her other hand to the pool skimmer.

She hummed a moment, before continuing to express her first thought. "So...Why has the Stable, which has been a very accommodating host thus far, want us to meet?" she mused. Her skimmer found what she was looking for, and she made a pleased wordless sound. "Gacha." she said, and after a moment of precise movements, she lifted the pool skimmer up and outward. In the net end was a small doll, craved from marble, white, with blue seriations.

"It took a lot of work to wash away all the mean, loose dirt, but now look at it."

"What is it?"

"I don't know. But this was the thing powering the Golem. They tried to pull it back. Too bad I have a smattering of training in Steam Engineering."