“Here, just call me Fleur. I’m sure some of you have questions, but for now, let’s show you around. Young miss, can you follow me to the room we prepared for you? The others can follow one of these three to your rooms and they’ll explain the basic layout and bring you back in a moment.”

The hero’s party look at each other and nod or grunt in affirmation before following the golems they selected. Fleur motions to the girl and gently grips her hand to guide her into the room.

“Your hands are surprisingly delicate. And warm!” says the girl in surprise.

“I would say it’s a matter of course, when the one who built this body has spent so much time putting organic bodies back together, but that must still not be the common sense out in the wider world.”

“Doc made all of you? Everyone looks so normal but different, so I thought he was just using golems others made.”

“Doc? Oh don’t tell me you’ve somehow fallen for that man, but yes, that was done intentionally in the off chance we need to be seen. He’s turned on all of the voice magics for us while you’re here, so he must trust at least one of you enough for that.”

“Well, he seems like a nice enough person despite what I’ve heard, but he’s a bit silly yes.”

“My dear,” says Fleur in a tone that one would expect a myriad of facial expressions to accompany, “silly may be putting it politely, but that’s distracting you from why I’m taking care of you tonight. Here, you see this part of the wall next to the doorway? Put your hand there like you want to push it in. That’s it.”

As soon as the girl touches the wall with her whole hand a purple light and a fwoom spring forth from where a door would normally be.

“That is a type of shield that will prevent anyone from moving into this room except for me, including things by spatial magics. Nobody can see in from the outside and nobody can hear if you want to cry until morning.”

As soon as Fleur mentioned crying, the girl’s face scrunches up and tears come to her eyes. Fleur opens her arms and the girl falls into the hug and begins bawling.

- - - - -

Back in the main room, the men have gathered after the golems showed them the beds, bathing area, and strange toilet, in each of their rooms.

“Men,” says a somewhat squat golem, “One last thing about your rooms as I saw you notice one room seems missing, but right inside the door is a wall stone that is a bit farther out than the others. That will activate a privacy barrier that only golems can pass so you don’t have to worry about your benefactor getting lost and surprising you. He laid out his ‘lair’ perfectly symmetrically and refused to put numbers or indicators on anything in this area. Whether or not he actually gets lost I’ve never been able to tell.”

“So,” says Ernest, “Rachel is fine, hasn’t been abducted to be subjected to torture or heinous experiments or anything right?”

“Are those the stories going around about him these days? No matter, but no, not by his or our intents or hands, though I can’t speak for your personal demons.”

“Is there anything else we need to know or can we get some more drinks to talk or something?”

“One last thing,” says the golem while approaching the pillar the altar is on and taps it in a peculiar rhythm. “Soul conversation restrictions release, level one.”

A clean click rebounds throughout the chamber, followed by a hundred crystals being revealed on the walls and voices yelling in excitement, “Sebastian!”

“Yes yes, I know you’re excited but it’s not my stories you get to hear today. Boss says it’s ‘Heroic tragedy protocol 2,’” Sebastian says, accompanied by several soft soul voices saying ‘Ah’. “So keep a lid on things unless they ask questions or want to tell you what happened.”

“Protocol 2?” asks Marvin with a skeptical look.

“Yes,” replies Sebastian, “But the real question you should have asked is ‘Why not protocol 1?’ I will be back with refreshments since at least one of you wants them, and you’ll like to talk yes? You should figure out where you want to be after you leave here. The other golems will be off to the side if you need anything in the meantime.”

“This has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve experienced,” says Ernest as Sebastian trundles off. “Hey, Rory, doesn’t he remind you of someone? It’s on the tip of my tongue.”

“He should, even if it’s a golem loosely shaped like him,” says Rory, the final companion of the hero. “His posters and entertainment acts were famous and the King at that time even had a post-mortem portrait installed in the palace library near the back wall. That’s probably Sebastian of The Golden Troupe, though we were all told they were annihilated when Strausberg fell during the Black Purge.”

“Well,” says Marvin with a grunt as he sits at the table, properly this time. “That being the case, ‘Where we want to be when we leave’ has more meaning coming from him then doesn’t it. They may be golems dressed as servants, but they have lived more life than we have. I made it back to the capital using a teleportation stone from an old gang boss in the sewers, and if what he was saying when I arrived was accurate we have options.”

By this point the other two sat down on their own sides and picked up the glasses they used previously.

“But why do we need options?” says Ernest.

“Are you saying we’ve been dead for a while, or that something else has happened?” replies Rory.

“Well, we need to piece a few things together, and this is the first time I’ve had since then to think properly. Whether he knows more than he lets on about the situation or just sees the flow of things, I’ve never known him to outright lie about a situation.”