Chapter Text
Everything was spinning, their vision blurry and a sharp ringing prevented them from hearing. Yancy was the first one to be able to see clearly and Illinois was the first to hear.
“They will need a moment.” Illinois heard someone say and Yancy saw the man from the desert. He was standing with a brightly colored dressed man, his hair a blinding pink.
“Illy?” Yancy stumbled the very short distance between himself and Illinois and grabbed his arm. They both used each other to stay standing as they finally were able to fully hear and see with no pressure or pain.
“You could have been easier on them.” The colorful man chuckled.
“I tried but they resisted.” The man from the desert scoffed.
“Do you really blame them?”
“What’s going on!?” Illinois demanded.
“Where are we!?” Yancy added.
“Who are you!?” Illinois kept the questions going.
“Why-”
“Alright, alright, enough.” The man from the desert held his hands up. “Wilford, explain while I go get Edward to properly check them.” The man walked out of what Yancy and Illinois soon saw was a living room-like room. Two couches, a love seat, and a few smaller chairs surrounded them and a quick glance behind them showed was a large TV.
“Feel free to sit down if you’re still dizzy.” The man, Wilford, offered. His voice was thick with a strange slur and gave off a feeling of joyful energy but something told them he wasn’t someone to mess with. “It’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you and I think that fellow really needs to sit.” Wilford gestured at Yancy, whose face had gone pale.
“Hey, hey, are you okay?” Illinois guided Yancy to sit on the closest couch.
“I’m...I’m gonna...I’m gonna hurl.” Yancy hugged his stomach.
“Oh! Not on that couch!” Wilford was suddenly gone and he appeared closer to the two, a bucket in his hand and he managed to get it into Illinois’ hands right before Yancy vomited into it. “That’s a new reaction.” Wilford clicked his tongue, perking up when the man returned with another. “He’s puking,” Wilford stated.
“Puking? The worse should just be mild nausea.” The other man wore what Illinois recognized as a lab coat.
“Tell that to the bucket, Edward.” Wilford gestured with a thumb. Edward went over to Illinois and Yancy, crouching down so that he had to look up at them.
“Is it just a nauseous feeling or do you feel anything else?” Edward asked Yancy, who just stared at him and shook his head. “I need you to talk to me, I’m just a doctor, I’m here to help.”
“Just nauseous,” Yancy whispered.
“What’s going on?” Illinois asked, rubbing circles into Yancy’s back.
“Dark’s teleportation of others cam sometimes mess with...oh how do I word this? Your bodies aren’t used to that so it’s common for it to react until it’s adjusted.”
“Dark?” Illinois glanced at the man from the desert. “You’re called Dark?”
“That’s my name,” Dark said in a flat tone.
“What the hell are you?”
“That’s something that’ll take a lot more explanation than a single sitting can take.” Dark turned to Wilford. “After Edward is done with them, show them to their rooms and if they are up to it, give them a tour of the Manor. I have instructed the others to remain in their rooms until the news ones have settled for the night.” Dark walked out of the room without missing a beat.
“Why are we here?” Illinois asked Edward.
“I can’t say.” Edward was looking over Yancy’s and Illinois’ bodies. “I’m just here to check on you two. Make sure there aren’t any injuries or anything like that.” Yancy spat into the bucket and straightened up.
“We’re fine.” Yancy almost growled.
“If you start feeling nauseous again, come find me. I’m usually in my office and Wilford will show you where that’s at.” Edward stood back up. “They’re all set.” Edward gestured towards the bucket. “I can take care of that.” Yancy and Illinois handed the bucket to Edward and he left the room as well.
“So...ready for a tour?” Wilford asked, flashing a smile.
“A tour of what?” Illinois asked as he and Yancy got to their feet; the nausea mostly gone now.
“Of our lovely Manor, of course.” Wilford chuckled. “You’ll be staying here from now on.”
“Why-” Yancy stopped himself, he was starting to get that those kinds of questions weren’t going to be answered when they asked. “How many people are here?” He asked, the two following Wilford when he started walking.
“Let me see…” Wilford counted with his fingers. “There are ten of us here and then there are seven more that live in a different place.”
“That’s a lot of people.” Yancy made a face as they entered what looked like a kitchen.
“It’ll be easy getting to know all of them, we’re all such characters.” Wilford started laughing at that. “As you can see, this is our kitchen.” Wilford switched his tone and gestured widely as he spoke. “You’re free to use whatever is in here unless it has a name on it and if there is anything specific you want there’s a board on the fridge you can use to write that down. Also, write down if we’re almost out of something.”
“A grocery list, basically,” Illinois said, his hands going to his hips while Yancy crossed his arms.
“That’s a good way to put it.” Wilford spun on his heel and lead them out of the kitchen and there was a split that became two different hallways. “The left is the rooms and ‘offices’ and the right is where the fun stuff is.”
“The fun stuff?” Yancy asked.
“We have a pool, tennis court, basketball court, football, soccer, any sport you can think of really but most of that is outside and we also have a nice gym.” Wilford chuckled when Yancy perked up at that. “It’s on the bottom floor so it’s nice and cool in there.”
“Bottom floor? How big is this place?” Illinois asked.
“We have an elevator.” Wilford tapped at his lip with a finger. “It’s called a Manor for a reason.” He added with a chuckle. “Let me show you the room hallway first.” Wilford went down the left hallway with Yancy and Illinois. “Everything is labeled so you don’t have to worry about memorizing which room is which.” Wilford pointed at the name tags on the doors. “There’s Edward’s.” Wilford turned and saw hat Yancy and Illinois had stopped at a set of doors.
“Google?” Yancy asked.
“Bing’s next to it.” Illinois titled his head. “Are those nicknames?”
“They’ll explain themselves when you meet them.” Wilford tapped Yancy and Illinois on the shoulders and guided them to keep going. “There’s a couple of empty ones in case we have company or more new people,” Wilford said, skipping ahead of them and facing the two. “These rooms right here are yours.” Wilford held a hand next to his mouth and leaned over. “We can always make it one room if you want.” He winked and was laughing once more. “Oh!” Wilford suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. “Ah, I’m being summoned. Feel free to keep looking around and Dark’s place is at the end of the hall so I’d avoid that if I was you.” Wilford shimmied and was gone in a blink.
“Do yous have any idea about what just happened?” Yancy asked Illinois.
“I’m just as lost as you are.” Illinois sighed.