Investigating the Manor (Maxwell and Marmadue)

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

"It's just up ahead guys!" She called out over her shoulder as she stepped into the clearing in front of the mansion, the gate that once blocked entry now broken and hanging off its hinges. At least it made getting in a lot less of a hassle now. She stepped forward, picturing the heartless she, Oswald, and Charme, she could remember just how large and fierce it was. Thinking back it was a miracle that their small group survived the encounter, though that was thanks to the mysterious figure that showed up to rescue them. She waited for Maxwell and Marmadue to catch up, having rushed on ahead as usual. Once she saw them appear from the shelter of the trees, she turned and gestured to the center of the mansion courtyard.

"The heartless appeared right there, and broke through the gate- like it was trying to escape. It didn't even pay any attention to us until we attacked it." She stepped into the courtyard, continuing to explain as best she could, "We got a few hits in with some fire and lightning magic, but then it made this HUGE shadowy dome that trapped us here," She gestured wildly with her hands to try and show the size, but her arms weren't really long enough to demonstrate it properly, "And it hung from the dome's ceiling and was gonna unleash its final mega-fireball attack, but Oswald and I threw it off balance, and as it fell, that's when the figure appeared out of nowhere, protecting us all with this pretty barrier thing. The figure landed the killing blow on the beast and then vanished into a dark portal there. When she left, we found Artemicon's book on the ground with a weird note inside."

Avari crossed her arms in a matter-o-fact way as she concluded, "And that's... pretty much what happened." She smiled at the two of them before glancing around the courtyard, "I was thinking there might be some clues as to what the heartless was doing here, and why it had Artemicon's book. Maybe we'll even find out who that cloaked figure is!" She glanced back to her new friends, "Let's go take a look inside!" And without waiting for confirmation she turned and hopped up the steps and opened the door.

[Marmadue]

Despite his size and how each of his steps was much longer than Avari's, Marmadue often found himself falling behind the girl. It seemed like there was no end to her energy, running swiftly from place to place at a pace he couldn't even dream of achieving himself! Even now, the girl had already disappeared from sight, hidden behind the trunks and the foliage of the woods they had been led to. Certainly would have been a thing to be worried about, if Avari's voice did not carry over and lead him exactly where he had to go – slightly out of breath, having had to walk faster than normal.

Indeed, the trees soon gave way to a clearing, a large building that could have only been described as a mansion looming ahead. Luckily Avari gave them some time to catch their breaths, the Yuke certainly needing it as he used his thighs for support, leaning over as his shoulders heaved. The girl's story alone surely could have left him exhausted, sounding like a rather dangerous story of a battle against a Heartless… He couldn't say he liked it, these youths having to risk their lives against monsters. But honestly, it wasn't all that different from how things were, in his world…

Despite the state of the world, the wall that guarded the mansion still seemed to be in rather good condition – if one didn't take into account the vines that had crawled onto it, stretches of it covered in greenery. Marmadue didn't know how long it had been since this world had been driven into ruin, but it definitely seemed like it had been a long time since anyone had bothered to clean the wall, at least. The iron gate didn't look like it was in such a great shape however, having been struck off its hinges.

The Yuke followed the girl, entering the courtyard proper and taking a look at his surroundings. Broken pillars and stone littered the overgrown grass. He could even see the occasional shard of glass glistening in the dim light when he moved his head just right. Honestly, the shadowy, gloomy atmosphere gave him the creeps. He had heard the stories in his world, of a mansion overrun with monsters, ready to capture and eat up any travelers…

"Ah," Marmadue flinched, hearing the door creaking open and his gaze flitting towards the direction of the sound. Avari was already heading in! Having lagged behind slightly after taking a look around, he was forced to run the last few steps.
"Please, we should not be separated! If this mansion happens to be a monster's nest–"

Oh, why did he even have to bring that possibility up…

[Maxwell Tendas]

It had only been two days since his return to Twilight Town, and already Max had managed to get himself injured in a fight, albeit lightly. His sides in protested at the pace Avari was setting: he was certain they had been cracked, or at least bruised very badly, during his fight with the strange shadow-wolf just the day prior. It would take at least several more days before the pain receded, so for now he dealt with the pain and soldiered on as he always did.

To distract himself from the aching in his sides, he turned his thoughts to their tall, but strange, companion. Marmadue, as he called himself, was feathered like a bird, but a helmet and clothes (or was it armor? Max couldn’t tell for sure) obscured the rest of hs features so that Max couldn’t tell exactly what he looked like without them. He seemed jumpy, like he was always nervous and ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

As they came upon the break in the trees and in sight of the mansion gates, Max could see the gate hanging half off its hinges. The gates were constructed of thick black iron bars which had been bent and twisted from some great impact. The hinges were even worse. Only one was still properly anchored to the wall, though still bent terribly. Two others had nearly been ripped totally off and were hanging by just one or two screws. The fourth, though, had been ripped completely out of the wall, leaving a large chunk of stone missing where it had previously been anchored and that half of the gate sagging under its own weight.

As Max gave a long, low whistle at the sight of the gates Avari passed through them into the courtyard beyond. As she did so, she began shouting her experience with the large Heartless back to them, spreading her arms wide in an attempt to demonstrate its size. Max took particular interest from nearly the beginning of her tale, when she mentioned it wasn’t interested in them until they had attacked it. That was odd behavior for a Heartless. Normally they would just go after whatever hearts were nearest. The only time he had seen Heartless not act that way was if they were being controlled....

...Or if they were intelligent themselves, which was a troubling proposition. Intelligent Heartless were among some of the most dangerous beings Max had ever encountered. He shuddered at the thought that this was one such variety of Heartless. He looked around at the courtyard of the Mansion. The thought of fighting something so powerful and massive in such a small, confined space did not sound like an appealing option.

Max came out of his thoughts as Avari mentioned she wanted to look for clues about the Heartless, the book it had, or the black-clad figure that had saved them. Max definitely wanted to look into why such a heartless was here, or why it had been acting the way the girl had described. Before Max could respond to her though, Avari turned around and bounded inside. Marmadue stammered a warning about becoming separated as he began to run after her. Max kept pace beside their feathered companion, bounding up the steps and toward the doorway.

“I hope it isn’t. I don’t feel like a fight today,” Max said in response to Marmadue’s warning to Avari as they passed through the doorway...

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

The Mansion was about the only place Avari was unfamiliar with here in Twilight Town. It had been the only place locked down, at least until that beastly heartless tore through the gate. Avari would be lying if she said she wasn't interested in exploring the place; it had held the same sense of mystery as the castle back in Radiant Garden, where someone like her had never been allowed in. She felt excited to finally be able to at least explore one of those places. As they entered the room expanded into a grand foyer, with two sets of stairs leading up to a second floor balcony. In between the staircases was a double door made of dusty glass, and beyond that appeared to be a garden or courtyard of some sort leading back outside. To the right and left of them were doors leading further into the manor, and in the center of the room was a stand with what appeared to be a model castle, though covered in dust and some of the pieces had fallen onto the floor around the display.

Avari walked up and picked up one of the pieces to examine it. "Weird." She said as she set it on the display with the rest and wiped the dust off on her coat. "This place is huge! I wonder who lived here." As they stepped further into the space, Avari could see two more doors above on the second floor balcony, giving them a total of 5 possible directions to take; though glancing back at the doors on the ground floor, they seemed blocked up by some fallen rubble, so getting in may be difficult. She wasn't sure how much they would find out in the garden either, so one of the upstairs rooms seemed the best bet at the moment. Still, she turned to her friends and asked for their opinion, "Where should we look first?" Though it didn't appear anyone had been here for quite some time, considering the stranger in the cloak could transport herself through portal, there was still a chance of finding some evidence of her presence here. It was worth checking out as far as Avari was concerned, though she may have been a tad biased by how mysterious and cool this place was. She wanted to see everything the mansion had to offer.

"Maybe we'll find treasure while we're here! That'd be pretty cool, huh?" Avari said with a chuckle as she took a few steps up the stairs to get a better look around and keep an eye out for heartless.

[Marmadue]

Nervous, Marmadue was forced to step after Avari before she managed to somehow get separated from them – after all, none of them seemed to have any idea as to what might have been lurking inside! Already expecting the worst, his breath had stopped as he was greeted by… The smell of dust and stagnant air that might have been trapped in the room for years, followed by silence. Stepping inside, his own footsteps echoed in the building as his soles clicked on the stone tiles. And the room truly was massive! Far from what he had called home – and very far from what he was going to have to call home these days after coming to Twilight Town. The room was so big in fact, that the Yuke had trouble seeing where exactly it ended, as not much light made in thanks to the eternal night, despite the large window he could see up ahead.

But they didn't get attacked. That helped him ease up a little – but only a little, of course. Still, he preferred actually seeing something and so, a hand rose to hover over his other one, soon enveloped by a soft glow of white light. Despite the room's size, it felt rather… Barren, with not much in it. It didn't look like anyone had even been there in years, considering the layers of dust that seemed to have gathered on top of the various surfaces.
"I say," Marmadue agreed with the girl's observations, his own gaze slowly taking in the sights. Even the ceiling seemed to be so very far away above them, the designer of the house apparently having wanted a rather magnificent entryway. If one asked him, they had succeeded.

The Yuke was careful as he stepped around, as even the mansion hadn't managed to avoid whatever destruction the town had went through. The building had suffered some damage, rubble lying on the floor and seeming to block some doors – though perhaps those could be cleared, if one really wanted to. It did make one thing very clear, however: the structure itself might not be as stable as first assumed.
"Treasure? That – ah, please be careful with the stairs," he reminded the girl who was already going upstairs, as the stairs could give up underneath her. Of course, as the heaviest member of their little exploration team, he was the one who had to look out for that the most.
"I would be more interested in ah, more bedding. Considering that we are getting more and more refugees yet our supplies are rather limited… A new area such as this might prove to have more materials, if it has yet to be stripped bare," and it certainly didn't look like it… Unless the foyer used to have more things in it.

Marmadue walked after Avari, his hand glowing and providing light.
"A bedroom would sound like an ideal place for that. We, of course ah, do not know which ones of these rooms might be bedrooms, but them being upstairs would be more than a valid guess. So, ah… Going through them in order, then?"

[Maxwell Tendas]

Max followed Marmadue and Avari through the front door of the mansion. The transition from fresh to dusty and stagnant air stung his nose and he brought his sleeve up to cover his face in an attempt to keep the dust from his lungs, pain arcing up his sides in protest. He looked around once his eyes adjusted to the darkness inside. He had never seen a room so large that wasn’t in some sort of fortress or stronghold.

As Avari inspected the model castle, he walked over to the glass doors in back, wiping off some of the dirt and grime with his bare hand in order to peer outside. He could see nothing but the plants which had overgrown their beds and taken over the entirety of the garden. The vegetation was so thick and dense that it would take ages to cut through it all, ruling that out as an area to investigate.

Max moved back toward the center of the foyer as Avari asked them what they should do and climbed partway up the stairs. Marmadue responded by saying that they should begin by looking for more bedding in the upstairs rooms. Max looked around at the room they were in again, considering for several moments before chiming in.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t use the building itself,” he said, moving to stand beside the Yuke before looking up at Avari, “But first things first: let’s see if we can find some clues to this cloaked mystery’s identity.”

He motioned gently for Avari to continue up the stairs and gave a slight wince as pain shot through his ribs at the movement. He resolved to show as little as he could of how much pain he was in, however, and started up the stairs behind her...

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

"Oh, good idea. There could be all sorts of good stuff lying around!" She smiled at Marmadue, and then offered a curt nod to Maxwell as well when he mentioned looking for clues, "I dunno about setting up here though, I mean that big ol' heartless showed up here, there could be more hiding somewhere." She didn't seem to notice him wince, as her attention was more focused on their surroundings. Avari started up the stairs, glancing to her right, and then her left, "How bout this room first then?" She said gesturing to the door up and to their left. Though with the possibility of heartless lurking in the shadows, she was smart enough now to take her time getting their, being more alert than she had been outside the manor. Of course she had no problem taking the lead either, as she turned the knob on the door and pushed.

On the other side was a room completely bathed in white; the walls, the floor, even the furniture was a pristine white, and scattered all around were drawings of different people in what appeared to be different colored crayons. "Weird." Avari mumbled as she stepped forward, looking about the room before glancing back to the others. "What do you guys think?"

[Marmadue]

Marmadue stepped onto the stairs carefully, inspecting how they felt and sounded as he put more of his weight into them. They… Seemed rather sturdy, actually. Even if the mansion had suffered some, it seemed like everything in it was still made with good craftsmanship and materials, allowing it to stay in one piece despite everything that had been happening in Twilight Town. That certainly made this a lot more safer.
"Ah… This mansion does still seem structurally sound," he couldn't complain about that when it came to Maxwell's idea of settling the mansion, as it definitely was unused space the refugees could use. However… Avari had an excellent point about the Heartless. Even now the Yuke's heart was racing in his chest, expecting an ambush. Even if there were no Heartless there now, perhaps there was always a chance that they would return…

"But, ah, we should not make any rash decisions about settlement due to ah, those potential dangers," he continued as he climbed up the stairs, his hand still glowing and offering its light to push away the darkness of their surroundings. Perhaps they could find a use for the mansion, but they would have to make sure that it would not only be safe, but continue being safe. Especially when the mansion was so removed from the rest of the town and the people, meaning that help would take longer to get there.

Avari had decided on where they would start, and all Marmadue could really do was nod. He didn't know what was behind those doors until they were opened, so he couldn't say if it was dangerous or safe. He did walk behind the girl not only to provide light, but to also be there in case… Something happened.

But as the door opened, nothing jumped out – other than well, how strange it was compared to the rest of the mansion. The foyer had looked quite normal with a natural color scheme that was perhaps a bit on the less saturated side, full of warm colors. But this room? It was completely devoid of such color, of any color except white, as if it all had been sucked out. Or like someone just had way too much white paint and the need to use it. It seemed so bright, even without the light. With the light, it was such a shocking difference to everything else they had seen this far. It was surprisingly pristine, too, compared to the rest of the building. If it wasn't for the furniture that had been throw around, it almost looked like nothing bad had happened.

Though a closer inspection did reveal that not everything was white, as the Yuke stepped into the room cautiously, looking around with an uneasy feel in his stomach. There were… Pieces of paper everywhere, with colorful pictures someone had drawn. He bent over to pick up the one closest to his leg, but it didn't tell him much just like none of the other ones he looked at did. They were scenes, people and creatures he hadn't seen before. Whatever had happened in Twilight Town seemed to have at least affected the paper, their edges frayed and the colors having started to yellow and fade out slightly.
"The pictures almost suggest like there has been a child here," Marmadue finally spoke up, turning around to look at Avari,
"But the décor… Is certainly strange. Did something happen here…?"