Chapter Text
Servais doesn't think too kindly about Kurt, but if nothing bad has happened yet, then he supposes there's nothing to worry about.
There are always rumors circulating in the manor about its residents; rumors about unsavory things that certain people have done, right within the alley of murder through adultery. However, everyone acknowledges that everyone else who is present at the manor is there for one reason or the other. The residents try to mind their business as best they can save for the occasional gossip.
Servais may or may not have overheard a little tidbit of gossip about the Explorer while strolling through the halls. They say that he's not right in the head; always making up stories about "his" adventures, and on particularly bad days, he's prone to psychotic episodes.
Kurt hasn't done anything to harm his peers, he tries to stay far away from the crowd, with his face buried in his worn and well-loved print of Gulliver's Travels. For now, however, Servais decides to be cautious around him. It's best to not get too friendly with just anyone at the manor.
The Magician strides through the corridors, making his way to the dining room. He has been selected again to participate in the baron's "game" of sorts, along with three other survivors. Servais takes a seat at one of the ends of the table, with his wand box in clutch. The outside of the box is made of leather, and lined with red velvet on the inside; it fits three trick wands perfectly and makes a pleasing click when closing.
On the side of the dining table are Victor and Demi, they're discussing tactics to use when being chased by the hunter. "When you get cornered, maybe make a sharp turn behind the hunter." "Maybe I should start by hiding a bit better towards the beginning, I'm not a strong kiter." Servais tunes out their conversation and looks a little bit further down the table.
Ah. The Explorer.
Kurt has his hand over his book; leather bound with gold embossed letters on the front. From across the table, Servais can see how yellowed the pages are. He doesn't doubt that the book is precious to him. Despite the signs of age, he could tell that Kurt tries to make sure it's in proper condition.
Speaking of the book, Servais thinks about the other times he was paired with the Explorer. How peculiar the book is, and even though he hadn't read Gulliver's Travels, he knows it's about a man who travels to a land where there are tiny inhabitants. He has seen Kurt in his normal stature turn into a little Lilliputian, by simply reading the print. Even in his current world, living in the manor and playing the baron's games, he has seen some very strange things. The ability to shrink and grow with a simple book, however, fascinates the Magician (though he wouldn't openly admit it… at least not yet).
For half a second, they make eye contact. Servais didn't mean to get caught staring and quickly averts his eyes away the moment they meet. Staring can mean a sign of aggression, and he would very much like to avoid any sort of confrontation with any fellow residents.
He puts his wand box into the inside pocket of his jacket, trying to appear as if it were an accident. A short while afterward, a haze starts to cloud over the dining room, and everything cuts to black for the chosen survivors.
–
A gasp escapes his mouth when he reawakens. Nobody has ever remembered making their way to their designated spots when playing the game; after everyone gets settled in the dining room, there are no recollections of how anyone got to where the baron has sent them this time.
"Urgh, I will never get used to that…" Servais looks around to where they have placed them in this time: The White Sand Street Asylum. It's not a common occurrence that anyone is placed in this location, so not everyone at the manor is familiar with navigating the halls. The Magician can navigate half of the map pretty well, save for the area around the northern exit. 'I will have to be cautious and use my wands sparingly,' he thinks to himself.
After surveying the area, he settles on decoding a cipher machine in the courtyard, deciding that the hunter must be far enough so that he could concentrate. A ring goes off in the distance, four more ciphers to go. Servias has just a little left to decode…
"Ack!"
The Postman is the first to be downed. Given the earlier conversation he overheard at the dining table, Victor isn't the strongest kiter. He can see through the grand arches of the asylum that Victor is being carried to a rocket chair by the Sculptor to where the hospital beds are.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees something small moving toward the cipher…. Kurt? The little Lilliputian grows to his full stature and proceeds to decode the rest of the cipher in an instant.
"I found a couple of password pages, I'll take care of the decoding. Go get Victor!"
Servais was taken aback by how commandeering Kurt was at that moment but obeys, nonetheless. Kurt has been relatively soft-spoken nowadays after the spread of rumors started channeling through the manor. He no longer tries to tell tales of his adventures to other survivors, afraid of being ridiculed again.
They both run off in opposite directions. Servais saunters up to the wall behind the rocket chair where Victor is bound. He can sense the hunter is nearby. Galatea, the Sculptor, is not a force to be reckoned with, especially in a tight area. He idles for a moment with his wand box in hand, trying to get the best momentum for the save, then… he runs.
As soon as he runs into the room of hospital beds, Galatea notices him immediately and summons her sculptures for an attack. Servais pulls out a wand, and at the right moment before the sculptures trample him, he conjures a decoy. While Galatea is busy with his copy, Servais unties Victor,and they both run off into the courtyard.
"Thank you! You're a stupendous magician," the Postman quietly exclaims. "Thank me later, the Sculptor must have caught on to my trick." Servais looks back to see if the Sculptor is on their trail. She wheels out of the room. Enraged eyes bore daggers into his, as she slashes her chisel in the air as a threat.
Oh, she is pissed.
"Go hide! I'll try to keep her busy," Servais shouts. Victor quickly limps his way out of the courtyard. The Magician taunts the hunter, running among the boxes and pallets; a couple more rings go off in the distance, only one more cipher to go. Galatea growls and summons more of her pawns after him. He very narrowly dodges a couple of them. Luckily the courtyard is spacious enough for him to run around the moving sculptures. However, the hunter is quickly catching up to him as he starts to run out of moves. Servais quickly drops a pallet to put some space in between them while he thinks of the next area to go to.
"Arf, arf!" Ah, it's Wick! The Postman sent his French Bulldog out for a delivery: an urgent letter. He quickly pats his head and takes the letter from his mouth as he continues running with a bit more haste. The chase continues into the cafeteria. It is a lot more narrow than he would like, but Servais works with what he has and runs to the furthest end of the row of tables.
Galatea moves to the opposite end of the row, copying the Magician's moves as he attempts to trick her into going one way or the other, like a game of cat and mouse. Her expression is tainted with fury, and impatience takes over. She decides to move to the left of the tables, slashing at every opportunity. Servais drops another pallet right before she could get near and gets his box ready in his hands. 'If everyone has been focusing on decoding, hopefully the last one should be done at any second…'
Galatea is relentless, breaking every pallet he throws down, summoning more of her sculptures. Servais has been giving her quite the chase, but frankly, it's starting to wear him down. 'Please… any second now….' The siren goes off. With whatever might Servais has left, he picks up the pace into a sprint, and expertly performs his disappearing act in the middle of the passageway to another room, leaving a decoy blocking the entrance.
He races to the northern exit, but as he makes a few turns, Servais realizes how unfamiliar he is with the layout. Out of desperation, he continues running. The hunter might not be far behind and he can't risk it… only one more wand is available in his box. Servais blindly turns a corner-
"Oof!" The box in his hand flies out as he crashes into someone. They both land on the floor, Servais's skewed hat briefly blocks his view for a second. The person across from him groans in pain as he fixes his hat to see who it is. It's Kurt again. Propped up on his knees and rubbing his shoulder, he reaches out for his book, which also fell during the impact.
"Oh, Kurt, I'm very sorry. Please let's hurry, I have Galatea on my trail." Servais dusts off his clothes as he stands up, and offers a hand to help the Explorer. Kurt, in turn, looks at the offered hand as if it were a foreign gesture, but very softly places his hand on top of the other's. A feeling of dread suddenly washed over both survivors; the Sculptor has caught up to them, with rage clouding her vision.
Servais quickly pulls him up and picks up his box from the floor, ushering him to start running. "Quickly! Do you know where the northern exit is?" Kurt stammers out of shock, "J-just take a left and go straight!" Servais takes him by the wrist and pulls him through the hallways. He can see Demi finish decoding the door, which opens impossibly slow. Galatea is slashing the air, quickly closing in on them. "Victor took the other exit. Let's go, we're almost there!" Demi exclaims from across the hall.
The Magician has one more trick up his sleeve; he plans to use his last wand right before the Sculptor goes in for a strike, making her hit his decoy instead. He pulls Kurt to run in front of him while he prepares his last trick. They are several feet away from the exit, but Galatea is inches away. He pulls out his box…
Wait a minute. The box feels strange in his hands; it's not smooth and familiar, and there is no pleasant click when it's opened. It sounds papery and foreign. He opens the object in his hands and catches a line of text: "The tiny Lilliputians surmise that Gulliver's watch may be his god, because it is that…" Oh, sweet Jove, he picked up the wrong thing.
When he reads the line in the book, the world around him suddenly begins to grow bigger. He escapes Galatea's strike. Kurt, however, does not and is immediately downed. With an expression like winning the grand prize at a carnival, she hoists the Explorer up to take him to the nearest chair. Demi quickly approaches a dumbfounded Servais, who grew back to his normal stature. "We can't save them all. It would be smart if we left before Galatea targets us as well, we still win either way."
Servais looks at Kurt being taken away as Demi leads him to the exit, still processing what happened. Everything starts to feel hazy as they go farther into the exit, then everything cuts to black.