Chapter Text
Kurt looked around the manor with big eyes. He had never been inside a manor before! It was like a castle but more house looking, if that made sense, and less royal too. Stupid way of describing it, but that's all Kurt could think.
The main entry way had a double-sided grand staircase. The statue of an unknown roman man, with a table in front of it. It was a very fancy place, but also looked a bit old.
Kurt smiled excitedly and walked to one big door he hoped would take him somewhere for him to explore. Oh boy he was going to love explore all this place! He could even find some secrets... No way a place this big didn't hide any secrets.
Kurt opened the door and was met with a large table with many chairs, some glass cabinets and a long room that surely would lead to even more rooms.
He didn't notice it but a girl peeked from behind a wall and sighed relieved.
Kurt noticed her after some seconds and he tensed up a little but then forced himself to relax.
The girl had brown hair tied into a bun that was covered by a straw sunhat. She also had freckles on her face and green eyes. Her clothing style reminded Kurt of a gardener, since the last time he saw one it was in his parent's house, and her clothes looked very similar to them.
"Hi! I'm Emma!" She waved at him and smiled politely. "You must be the new guy!" She giggled.
"Yes! My name is Kurt Frank and I'm an explorer!" He introduced himself and smiled back to her. So far that girl was very polite... Emma, he would have to remember that name.
"Oooh cool! I'm a gardener, nothing fancy but here in the game, I can break chairs-" She stopped herself when she realized he would not understand what she meant.
"Game? What game?" Kurt lifted one brow and crossed his arms, curious.
"Oh you see... There's the survivors side, which is our side! Then there's the hunters, which will hunt us down when we play a match... A match has four people in it and we have to decode ciphers-"
Emma and Kurt talked for some solid 30 minutes and Kurt didn't mind it all, in fact, he quite loved it! The more Emma explained, the more Kurt wanted to know about this so called "game" and the hunters. It was also lovely to talk to someone who would listen and answer back!
"We don't know what you are yet, so you could be a kiter like me, I'm good at making the hunter lose time!" She giggled proudly. "Or you could be a support like Emily, she's the doctor around here! She takes care of us when we are hurt too badly... Oh! She needs to teach you how you should heal yourself and then others if you get hurt in the match-"
"Good morning miss Woods... What- who are you?" Kreacher appeared and frowned looking at the other guy, internally jealous he got Emma's attention.
The other man had a slim build with a peach skin tone. Short brown hair, which extends to a beard that covers his lower face. And he used a funny hat! His eyes also had different colors and Kurt found that very pretty, but he wouldn't comment it.
"I'm Kurt Frank! New guy around, and an explorer." He puffed his chest with pride by saying his title and the thief nodded.
"N-Nice to meet you. I'm Kreacher." He said a bit dryly then he shook his head feeling irritated with his stuttering. "Miss Woods! I've been looking for you all morning, I wanted you to show me how to take care of the garden!" He grinned with his hands behind his back.
Emma's shoulders tensed up and Kurt analyzed the other man. Kurt himself admitted he was a bit naive at the times, but he also had to admit that was the lamest excuse he ever heard, that Kreacher guy was lying probably. And Emma's reaction told Kurt he was not... A good guy. That's what he got for now, he could be wrong but he would trust his instincts.
Kurt cleared his throat and smiled politely at Kreacher. "Miss Woods promised me she would show me my room and take a tour in the manor! You don't mind it do you?" He said politely and still smiling.
Kreacher was silent for a moment then he opened his mouth to speak, but Emma interrupted him with a laugh.
"That's right! I promised mister Frank! I'm gonna help you later mister Pierson." She gave off an apologetic smile.
"Well-"
"Let's go! I want to explore everything!" Kurt started walking and Emma followed behind him shortly.
Kreacher scoffed looking at the other two go away and he grumbled curses under his breath as he walked away to distract himself. Maybe irritating the stupid lawyer would help.
Emma showed Kurt his room then left him alone for a moment so he could have a moment alone while he got accostumed with his new place.
His room, according to Emma, was pretty much like the other ones in the manor, but for Kurt, his room looked awesome. Was it simple? Perhaps a little bit, but at the same time gave off a cozy ambiance which Kurt promptly embraced. It was not that simple, it had the fancy but simple feeling in it and Kurt just- just loved it!
He had a big bed for himself, a window that gave him a clear view from the outside, a big wooden table with a chair, a closet on the other side of the room, a small table near his bed, a carpet in the middle of the room near the bed and- this was everything he wanted.
It was much better than a small room with white walls and almost no furnitures in it. This room was everything he had wished for in the past.
He grinned and shoved the bad memories away. This was a day to celebrate! He had an optimistic feeling this manor was going to change his story for good.
Kurt stayed in his room for some time, putting his backpack in his bed, his books in the big wooden table and then sat down in his bed.
He looked at the table and along with his books in there, a diary provided by Emma was also there.
She had explained she had no idea where it had came from, and just like all others diaries from the others, it just appeared for them in random places in the manor. So this was a mystery! Kurt could investigate and find something out later if he explored around.
She had also said he had to write in the diary everyday, be it a small text, big or medium, the manor's rule was clear, you had to write it down whatever you wanted. Kurt didn't understand it, but he would obey, he didn't want problems so soon and he didn't see any problems obeying this simple rule.
The other rule was that he couldn't go away. But Kurt wondered why would he want to go away in the first place. It was a lovely manor, with good people in it (as far as he had analyzed).
So far, he wanted answers from this mysterious place, and he would look for it! Would he find it? Who knew? Maybe yes, maybe not! Anyway everything left Kurt in a happy state he didn't feel in years.
This was all new to him, it was... An adventure! One he always dreamt of. Full of mysteries, action and magic. And this manor weirdly enough seemed to provide everything he wanted. He didn't know the magic part but he believed with all this heart magic would show its face around some time.
He got out of his room with his book after some time thinking by himself and he was walking the hall when he saw someone passing by. He didn't want to get lost so soon, so he called out for the said person.
"Hey! Hey you! Wait!" He ran to the person and saw it was another man he didn't meet before.
The man had brown combed hair and weird pangs on his forehead that reminded Kurt of cockroach's curled antennas. He used a white office shirt, a pair of blue jeans, brown shoes, a brown belt, and a red tie. What called Kurt's attention was the rat teeth and the annoyed look in the man's face.
"Who are you?!" He asked quite impatient and Kurt internally shrunk.
"I'm Kurt Frank! An explorer." He said a little less excited than the other times he had introduced himself to the others. "I'm new around here, i don't want to get lost so could you maybe get me to the dinning room or the garden?" Maybe Emma would be there and she would keep him company.
"Hm." The lawyer rolled his eyes when he gave his back to the explorer and continued walking.
Kurt accompanied him in awkward silence, making him sigh quietly. He didn't want to get on the wrong foot with anyone here so he would be friendly as possible. For now. He would let no one make him a fool as well.
"You didn't say your name." Kurt said after some time, having a serious expression in his face.
"Freddy Riley." The man said dryly. "Lawyer." He added some seconds later.
"Cool! I didn't expect a lawyer to be here! How's a lawyer's life? Is it hard? Have you ever got big crimes before to-"
"Why do you talk so much? And yes, i got some big cases before but they were nothing i couldn't handle." The lawyer smiled with arrogance.
Kurt rolled his eyes with what the other said and by the tone of his voice. He was a very arrogant guy by what he could see. Impatient, arrogant and cold, he wasn't bothered at all with the way he was talking to the explorer! It made Kurt irritated.
So instead of answering like he normally did, Kurt ignored the other man all the way they walked together and when they finally split ways, Kurt angrily glared at the direction the other man had went to. He wanted to punch that guy.
He scoffed but then heard a laugh.
"He's very impatient but don't mind him, he's harmless." A woman's voice was heard and Kurt turned around.
He saw a woman with dark brown hair tied up into a bun under her nurse hat, as well as brown eyes and pale skin, wearing a typical clothe you would expect someone from the medical area. This must be the doctor.
"Hello! I'm-"
"Kurt Frank, Emma told me about you." Emily smiled and extended a hand. "Pleasure to meet you! I'm Emily Dyer, doctor around here."
Kurt got her hand and shaked it while he smiled too. So this was the doctor. He had the impression he had seem her before... But where? "Emma mentioned you had to teach me how to take care of myself in the matches if me or the others get hurt." Kurt remembered that and it seemed very important.
"You're right, I'll teach you how to use a syringe and bandages, but that will come later. Let's eat something." Emily suggested politely and Kurt nodded.
"'Can I ask some questions?"
He had a lovely conversation with the gardener and the doctor that afternoon and he loved it. He couldn't wait for the matches and the game to finally begin. He didn't know what waited for him.