Lyra reaches the north point house just before sundown, deliberately refusing to rush despite suspecting someone is trying to unsettle her with the earlier notes. She treats the apparent sabotage as a mind game and focuses on staying composed rather than being manipulated.

The house appears rustic and churchlike from the outside, with a silver door etched in geometric designs. Inside, Lyra discovers that the house is built into the cliff: the foyer is actually on the third story, and a white spiral staircase leads both upward and downward from an obsidian floor.

In the foyer, Lyra finds seven silver trays labeled for Odette, Brady, Knox, Lyra, Savannah, Rohan, and Gigi. Most trays are already empty, leaving only Lyra’s key and Gigi’s. Lyra takes her bronze key, notices an infinity symbol in its design, and reads the engraved instruction: every story has its beginning, and each player must take only their own key.

Just as Lyra realizes the game is beginning in earnest, Gigi bursts in at the last moment. The silver front door slams shut and locks automatically at sunset, confirming that the deadline has passed. Gigi asks about Knox in her own vivid way, and Lyra confirms that Knox’s key was already gone when Lyra arrived.

Gigi quickly claims her own key, notices the same engraved words, and flips over her name card. Lyra follows suit, and both find identical instructions: they must find their rooms, use their keys, leave the card visible, put on a costume and mask, and be ready because the ball begins at quarter past.