Feeling alone and abandoned, Daniel wandered the hallways of this twisted space.

The Phantom no longer called after him. The lighting rod overhead would brighten as Daniel walked underneath, but then darken after his quick steps took him away. It produced a globe of light around him, but it also threatened to blind him to dangers that lurked in the corners of this back room.

As he traveled, he thought of the strange blue Phantom. Although, he supposed the Phantom not a Phantom but a Construct; a very complicated spell programmed to respond to certain stimuli. Wizards and Magic users sometimes had them, but they were normally meant for calculating and mathematics, not answering conversations, and not formed in the shape of a lady. Someone had too much time on their hands to create such a construct.

A sound echoed from further down the hall, and Daniel shifted his stance, flower ready to use if he needed it. But he did not need it. All he saw was the same, dreary tried yellow room he had passed earlier, with the table and identical chairs. This room had murky, beige carpet that seemed almost sodden. The only thing that had changed was that the chairs, which before had faced the center of the table, were now all facing toward him.

Daniel moved along, fire flower ready. Phantoms hated fire. That was one of the best advantages of the Red Sword. It would cut through anything, regardless if it was intangible or even if it was physically material. But he had no elemental fire ability, even at the height of his powers. Now...he had to rely on garden clippings.

Daniel looked back the way he had come. Perhaps he was being unwise to leave the guidance of the Construct. But he could not blindly trust again. Not when his allies abandoned him with nary a single sign or gesture of their support. Not when the only nod of acknowledgment had been from his old and faithful steward Matheus that morning when Daniel was first assigned his duties of the day. And that was barely a nod.

Kindness and bland positive relations were not enough to offer even a hint of loyalty. Allies, servants, stewards, knights, all suspect.

Daniel touched the wall, confirming his suspicions that it was paper. He wondered...what would happen if he punched through it? It seemed dry, like a very uniform plaster. If he had a hint of earth elemental abilities, he would have been able to see its construction more clearly. But considering the dangers of things hiding in walls...

He had a memory of his first time in the O'Tells' House.

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"Why do you think there's a treasure?" Little Lordling Elswith asked his new friend.

Little Lordling Orville was a little bit taller than him, but he was also rounder around the middle. Elswith had not been allowed to play with other children very much before, and he was worried that he would do it wrong.

Little Lordling Orville sighed, squinting a bit, making wrinkles across his nose. "Cause Mother said never to mess with these walls. I heard her and father talking about it. That there was an ancient secret in the walls, so ren-no-vey-sens can't happen until we find a strong enough wizard."

Little Lordling Elswith had never been together with his mother and his father at the same time. He hadn't realized that other children had both together at once. He kicked at the sagging wall in the servant's passageway. If a normal child would think treasure existed in the wall, he didn't want to stand out. He was finally old enough to meet the beginning of his 'Circle'. Matheus said they would be his bestest allies. And an ally was like a friend.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Little Lordling Elswith clinched his little fists tight into balls, still feeling like poking a hole into a wall was a bad idea. But he wanted a friend a lot. "Let's try."

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Standing in the dim, flickering hallway, Daniel removed his hand from the yellowed patterned wall. He would not try to see what was inside. Not yet.

He had learned that opening things sealed sometimes brought more trouble. Who knew what was sealed, and what should remain secret? He rubbed the bandaged cut under his long-sleeved shirt. The long-sleeved shirt that was now mended by the gentle laundry maid that he would have to retaliate against later. If he managed to get out of there.

He started walking, feeling more confident about his direction. He noticed the materials changed as he drew further away from the construct. He hadn't noticed it before, but everything got...thinner, the further away he got from the construct. The floors had changed in quality, newer and stronger toward the room hosting the blue creature, and likewise becoming more broken and crumbling the further away he came.

If the trial was unavoidable, then it was unavoidable. But he would not blindly follow a Construct of unknown origin. Perhaps agreeing to the Trial trapped one inside this place. Whoever the Construct's Master was, Daniel had no desire to meet them.

Daniel paused as the lights overhead flickered. There was some noise about him now, from the different rooms. Quiet, like it was still appraising him, but the flickering light overhead seemed to hush the noise. As long as that light was on, the noise...and the things that made the noise, would be held back.

He hurried along again, gaining speed.

At last, he reached a place of decision. Along the way he had come, he saw a branching path. He had not seen this way before, given the angle the branching path took.

One way was the way he had come from. He recognized his earlier footprints, where his steps had slightly broken the fragile flooring.

But the other path led to some placeg he recognized.

That looked like the hallway to minatoal turtles. Not exactly alike, as the materials were different, and there was no access hatch to the tunnels. But that was the same sloping floor and the same octagonal arch. The yellow pattern on the wallpaper also appeared less vivid, more of a vague blur than a detailed, if boring, repeating mural.

Was this place...a copy of the Stable? Was this a construct, much like Blue Phantom? That existed side by side with the Stable, built in its own most unique design. For what purpose?

This 'Dungeon' as the Construct had called it, even though it was lacking even the basic of prison cells, may have been some kind of failed building project. Some sections were half walls in a cube shape, dozens of them next to each other. Perhaps it was some kind of psychological prison?

Perhaps this was why the Seelie Court had stopped adding room and rooms. He had not recognized many of the rooms though. If everything was directly lifted from the Stable...perhaps they had come from some deeper place inside the Stable.

Or maybe...what he was seeing was an overlap, where the Stable and this other place were more intrinsically linked.

The buzzing sound from the flickering lights overhead grew louder. He should move on.

The hallway branched, and Daniel chuckled darkly. "A Branching path. How appropriate for Servant Branch," he told the air. The Law of Fae was not present to enjoy his insight.

Daniel looked around, one more time.

The only thing that made him hesitate was that the lightning up ahead was dimmer, and there was that strange, slightly damp beige carpet in that direction.

He had the fire flower, and he had several. He had already searched where he was before. He needed to find a place where the realities were weak and get back to the Stable. Get back to the Stable, back to the Game, and away from the madness that surrounded this place.

He took the new path.