As Troy reviewed his handy note of instructions-to-be-a-Knight, his eyes kept going back to the third note on the list:

“i pledj my life and loyelty to kronos, and to troy. i humbly request ur aid, so that in retern i may give u mine.”

There was something about line that kept ringing as ‘important’ to him, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what the hell it would do. What the hell would that mean?

“I pledge my life and loyalty to Chronos…,” he started mumbling. The words began to feel oddly familiar with each word uttered. “…and to Troy. I humbly request your aide, so that in return I may give you mine.”

In a flash, Troy teleported out of his bedroom and into the depths of deep space – far out to the Wonder of Troy at The Surrounding. It all came back to him at once – that was to be read whenever he needed to travel to his wonder, his wonder that he had not visited in so many months. It was a magnificent and fairly large stable with eight stalls, four on each side of the broad corridor, and a wash rack and tack room in the back. Already it looked out of shape and dusty, even though he was tasked to clean it up during his last visit. Tasked to clean it up by...

“Ugh, you again,” a deep voice groaned from the shadowy corner of the stable. “The imbecile. Why oh why must my descendant be such an imbecile?”

Oreius. The previous Troy Knight of Chronos, an ancestor of the current Page.

“Erm, sorry,” Troy apologized. “Do yer want me to go?”

“No, no, you moron, no,” Oreius snapped, emerging into the light, his ghastly figure suddenly mere inches away from the Page’s nose. “I have been waiting for you for a millennia, then you appear to disappoint me, then disappoint me greater by not resurfacing for months shirking all of your responsibilities like some kind of simple-minded fool. So, I do not want you to leave.”

“Oh,” Troy muttered, bowing his head down in shame. He was starting to get really angry with his ancestor – he hated when people pointed out his idiocy. Sure, it may be obvious, but some things don’t need to be commented on. He felt plenty stupid on a daily basis without it being rubbed in. “Stop callin’ me dumb.”

“Then prove yourself to be something more,” Oreius demanded.

“I ain’t gotta prove nuttin’ to you, I don’t even know who you really are,” Troy snapped back. “Why do I have to listen to you anyways?”

“You are not to refuse guidance from me, stupid boy.”

“Don’t call me that!”

He swung out a fist to his ancestor, but his fist went straight through as he stumbled forward. By the time he regained his footing, Oreius was several feet behind him. Instantly, Troy turned and full body-tackled his ancestor, once again leaping straight through him and nose-diving to the ground.

“Are you done yet?” Oreius asked flatly as Troy got up and swung again. “This could go on all day at your intelligence level, like a kitten and a hand-pulled string. Would you ever learn?”

“Learning ain’t my style,” Troy grumbled.

“As your ancestor, you make me so proud to hear you say that.”

“Shaddup,” he rolled his eyes. “Look, yer mad that I don’t come and yer mad that I’m here. What the ******** do you want from me?”

“I want you to get a simple sense of responsibility,” Oreius explained angrily. “Can you get that through your little brain? You are Troy, a Knight of Chronos. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Does that title have any importance anymore?”

“It does,” Troy insisted. “I jus’ don’t know what it means sometimes.”

Oreius shifted in his stance. “Well, that could be a long story.”

“I s’pose I got the time to hear it,” Troy shrugged, leaning back on a pillar in the stable. He was still frustrated with his ancestor, but if he was willing to help Troy get a better understanding of what he needed to do, perhaps that could be a good thing. It would make him feel that much less clueless when he was powered up.

“This place is your – our – wonder, the Wonder of Troy,” Oreius explained.

“Hey!” Troy’s eyes widened as an epiphany came to him. “My name is Troy!”

“Ugh,” Oreius’s palm met with his face. “Yes, outstanding observation.”

Troy smiled smugly, proud of his accomplishment.

“Do you understand what this place is?” Oreius asked.

“It’s some kind of barn,” Troy shrugged.

“A stable,” Oreius corrected him, a bit frustrated. “They are more properly known as the Stables of Troy, and they are our responsibility to protect it from forces of evil, forces of Chaos.”

“In my day, these walls were filled with life. The Stables of Troy were my responsibility to maintain, both the physical walls and the magnificent horses within them. I would spend years searching for the best horses on Earth…” He was beginning to ramble, and he sensed that Troy was losing focus. “Well, I can explain more about that another time.”

“So erm, I’m supposed to clean the stable?” Troy asked. “That’s what being a Knight is all about?”

“No,” Oreius said flatly. “Those glory days are gone thanks to Chaos. Your job is to not let the forces of Chaos win. You must defeat them so that they do not expand to The Surrounding, to your Wonder, and have it crumble.”

“I think I get it,” Troy nodded. The description followed suit with the rough idea of what he thought his responsibilities were – punch the guys who ‘felt bad’ with their Chaos auras.

“Good, maybe you aren’t a complete idiot,” Oreius smirked. “Now, please, clean up this filthy stable before you leave. Everything you need is in the wash rack, and try to come by at least once a month from now on. There’s more for you to know yet.”

With that, Oreius slowly faded away to complete transparency, leaving the Troy Page with a giant dusty mess to clean up.

“Aw, s**t.”