This is the longest chapter yet of Snowbound: Volume 1. I'm aiming to make them even longer than this, but, for now, this is what you get.
I'm so excited, too. This is the first chapter of a new arc in the story, one I've been looking forward to writing for some time now. And if anyone wants to chat with me on Discord, just follow the contact information on my profile page.
I'd love it if more of you would leave a review on this story. I've only gotten twenty so far, and I'd really like to hear what more of you think. Even one word is fine.
Finally, there is no author's note on the end of this chapter. I just didn't want to ruin the ending. Enjoy!
LUCAS ENFIELD
We landed on the roof of the manor, as that was where the helipad was. I was still a little annoyed with Angelina for not waking me up as we were flying over the mountains, but I was going to let it go. That really was the best thing to do.
Chances were, we were going to be spending a lot of time with each other over the next few days, weeks, or months...however long we ended up staying at the manor. Therefore, it wouldn't do to hold a grudge.
Just then, I saw a man walk up to the roof; I saw that there was a circular stairwell, much like a fire escape, that led up to where we were, and that was how the man had gotten up here.
"Hey, Thomas" said Mr. Granby. "I've come bearing two passengers, who will be staying with you for a little while".
I don't know why, but something about the word choice Mr. Granby had used there felt just a little demeaning. We were living beings, not just passengers. However, I wasn't going to argue with him; that would only serve to make things more awkward during our stay at the manor.
Angelina and I got out of the helicopter and made our way over to the man. He was fairly tall, with graying hair, and I guessed that he was maybe in his mid-fifties. He shook both of our paws, but, in light of what had happened to Angelina, I made sure not to scratch him with my spike.
"Well, I'm Thomas Kemp" the man said. "It's nice to meet you".
I nodded in response. "It's nice to meet you as well". I often get nervous when I meet new people, and this was no exception. I knew that I had no other option than to trust this man, though, so I was determined to be as polite as possible.
"Do you want to head inside now?" he asked me and Angelina. "Or do you want to admire the view a little more?"
I didn't even hesitate before responding with, "I would like to admire the view more".
Mr. Kemp nodded. "Okay then. I'll be on the ground, at the bottom of the fire escape. Come meet me when you are ready for the tour of the manor".
I barely even registered the man leaving the roof, or Mr. Granby piloting the helicopter back towards Pastoria City. I was too fixated on the view from here.
It was quite something, I'll tell you that. The lawn of the Kemp manor seemed to go on for a very long distance, and it was surrounded by a steel fence that was roughly ten feet tall. I could see a gate in the distance, and I wondered if Mr. Kemp would allow us to exit it and explore the forest some more.
There was something about this forest and these mountains that were calling out to me. As a human, I hadn't gone outside too much; I just didn't spend too much time appreciating the great outdoors. And you can criticize me as much as you want for that, but it was still true.
I remembered hearing something about Pokemon being more tuned into nature than humans, probably from middle school biology. If that was indeed the case, it was being proven true right here.
I could see the limestone cliffs in the distance, with grassy paths leading up them. The forest went on for miles and miles, and there were a couple of rivers winding their way through. There was even a crystal-clear lake at one point.
All that is to say that my surroundings were quite gorgeous. It had been quite an adventure to get here, and I looked forward to hopefully getting to explore the area.
"Mr. Kemp's probably waiting for us" Angelina said eventually. "I hate to get down from here, but we should probably see the inside of the house. I don't want to get lost later".
"I know what you're saying" I replied. I didn't have a watch, but I knew that it was late afternoon by now, judging by the position of the sun. "Let's go".
We made our way down the fire escape, and, at the bottom, there was Mr. Kemp, exactly where he'd said he would be.
"You guys ready for the tour?" he asked us. "We've got a lot of ground to cover".
Both of us nodded.
The front door of the Kemp manor was made out of red oak wood, with a golden lion gargoyle knocker. However, it was clear that nobody was home, judging by the fact that all the lights were off. Therefore, Mr. Kemp didn't knock on said door.
Instead, he typed in the passcode for the door, which appeared to be a long one. Either way, I wasn't paying attention to what it was, because it was impossible to with the sheer speed at which he was punching the numbers in.
Eventually, he opened the front door of the mansion, and we stepped inside.
The interior of the manor looked old-fashioned, but also comfortable. It wasn't too fancy, but it was clearly just fancy enough for Thomas Kemp.
And I could appreciate that. Most rich peoples' homes I had seen, either in pictures or in person, had appeared very fancy on the inside. The fact that this one wasn't was more than a little refreshing.
The front hall was situated in between two stairwells that both led up to the second floor. From the second floor, there were additional flights of stairs leading up to the third and highest floor. The floor was made of dark brown linoleum, but there was also a rich red carpet with golden trim running up both stairways, much like a crimson river.
In front of us was a large grandfather clock that stated that it was 5:23 PM. Unless we'd literally been admiring the view for forty-five minutes, that meant that we'd arrived at the manor a little behind schedule.
Oh well. It doesn't really matter now.
Hanging from the ceiling was a wooden chandelier that looked rather old-fashioned. It was clear to see that this house had been built a long time ago, because it sure looked ancient.
Mr. Kemp led us down the hallway to the left, and pointed out the kitchen on the right. It was situated next to a dining room with a table so long that, if two people were seated on opposite ends, one would have to shout for the other to hear what they were saying.
"Wow, that's a big dining table" I said. "That seats sixteen, if I am not mistaken?"
"Indeed it does" Mr. Kemp replied. "But it's usually just me there. I live alone, you see, and I seldom have guests".
"You live alone?" Angelina asked. Scratching her mint green chin, she eventually said, "Don't you have a wife or something?"
The man shook his head. "That's all I'll say about my personal life for now" he replied. "I live alone, and have for fifteen years. And I don't foresee that changing any time in the near future".
It was then that I started feeling sorry for Mr. Kemp. He was very, very rich, and yet in spite of that, or maybe even because of it, he didn't have that many friends. Nobody to share this large, luxurious mansion with. He'd made it clear that he was closed off, at least for now, to questions about his family, so I decided not to press him further.
After the kitchen, I saw what appeared to be a statue of Sir Aaron. It was six feet tall, so roughly life size, and he was holding his staff, which was also made of stone.
"Is that a statue of Sir Aaron?" Angelina asked Mr. Kemp.
"Yes, it is. The first known human aura user. He's one person I greatly admire, and that's why I have a statue of him in my house".
Well, it's good to have people to look up to, I guess. Although that IS a weird way of showing your admiration for a historical figure.
The statue was admittedly very impressive, albeit not as much so as it would have been to see Sir Aaron in real life. Of course, that wasn't possible anymore; he'd been dead for centuries upon centuries.
We followed Mr. Kemp further down the hallway, and he showed us the house's living room, which looked pretty much like a standard living room, even if it was a little more upscale than most.
There was a stone fireplace on the edge of the room, which presumably led upwards towards the chimney on the roof. There were a sofa and two armchairs on opposite ends of a colorful rug, made out of some material that tickled my feet. Stacked on top of the fireplace were photographs that looked extremely fragile.
"This is my living room" he said unnecessarily. "Sometimes, when I do have friends and other researchers over, I invite them in here for cheese and crackers. But it's not a room I use often, because, like I said, I don't have guests very much".
He then showed us the second floor of the house, and I randomly thought of another question for him.
"Mr. Kemp, do you have any servants?" I blurted out. It was probably a rather insensitive thing of me to say, and I had to resist the urge to put my paw in front of my mouth; that had been so stupid.
"Yeah, I do. They live in a guest cottage that's on the other side of the property".
I wondered how I could have missed that as we were flying in on Mr. Granby's helicopter. Most likely, that was because the other sights were so grand.
I was, however, relieved that Mr. Kemp didn't seem too mad from me asking the question. I'd intended for it to be a relatively casual one; I'd assumed that all rich people had servants, or at least most of them. But sometimes I just can't keep my mouth shut.
"This is where you two will be sleeping" said Mr. Kemp, pointing out the room. "So drop your bags here, please".
I should probably mention that, for the whole time I'd been walking around the mansion, I'd been carrying my duffel bag with me. Fortunately, due to its lack of articles of clothing, it wasn't very heavy. Not only that, but my physical strength as a Lucario was far greater than it had been as a human.
Our bedroom overlooked what I clearly saw was the guest cottage now. It had to be, because it didn't look like a garage. The guest cottage was roughly fifty yards away from our window, and beyond that there was the stream that I'd seen earlier.
This place could grow on me. It could.
The beds themselves were fairly simple. They were both twin beds, not the fanciest thing in the world. Clearly, they'd been intended for children.
It seems like he'd been planning on having kids, once, I thought. This time, however, I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut, and able to control my impulse to ask about that.
It might have been rather simple, but I wasn't going to complain. After all, Mr. Kemp hadn't had to provide us with housing. He could simply have refused to take us, and there were worse places to be.
Like in the hands of a couple of poachers.
There was a dresser and a closet, but I didn't pay attention to anything that was in either of those two places. I just didn't concern myself with them, and I didn't want to invade Mr. Kemp's privacy further.
"I'll show you the servants' cottage now" said Mr. Kemp, gesturing at us to follow him. He'd been standing in the doorway the whole time that I'd been admiring the room with Angelina.
"I'm liking this place so far" Angelina said, almost as though she were reading my thoughts. "I've never gotten to stay at any rich person's house".
Mr. Kemp chuckled. "I don't know if I like the term rich. Maybe well-off or well-to-do would be better".
"Why is that?" I asked him. "There's no shame in being rich; hell, I wish I were rich".
"I just find the word so shallow. It implies that I'm snobbish, which I really do my best not to be. In any case, come with me".
The servant's cottage was a lot smaller than the main house, and it only had two floors. The front door of this cottage was also a lot simpler; it looked like the door to my parents' garage at home.
Almost immediately at that thought, I felt as though I were on the verge of tears once more. My homesickness had temporarily disappeared, but now that I was on a tour of this unfamiliar place, I felt it return.
My sense of homesickness was further exacerbated by the fact that we were visiting a servant's cottage. The idea of having servants cook meals for me and clean my house just seemed so foreign compared to anything I was used to.
Mr. Kemp didn't knock; he simply entered and turned on the light.
"David?" he announced.
A man in his late twenties with curly auburn hair, who had evidently been lying asleep on the couch in the living room of the cottage, sprang into an upright position like someone who had been hit with defibrillator paddles. He then stood up, raising his hand to his forehead like a soldier would do in a salute.
"Yes sir" David responded.
"I'm just showing these two around my estate, but will you please cook dinner for us? It's their first night here as guests, and I want everything to be perfect, okay?"
David nodded, looking rather fearful of his boss. I felt a slight flash of contempt for Mr. Kemp in that moment, because I don't think that it's right for bosses to make their workers feel fear of them. But that's just me.
"What should I make?" David asked Mr. Kemp. Despite having only woken up not one minute ago, he looked perfectly alert and ready to cook dinner for us.
"This is an extra-special one, so make grilled chicken, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and apple pie for dessert".
I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until Mr. Kemp listed the dishes he wanted prepared, and that's when my stomach started growling like a caged lion, demanding food.
"Okay, sir. It'll be ready as soon as possible".
It was unbelievable, as though David had been programmed to do this...like a robot, almost. I found that rather creepy, but I didn't ask any questions. I didn't think that would be a good idea right now.
I watched David make his way to the main house, and, even though I did feel somewhat bad for him, as well as guilty that we were profiting off of a servant's labors, I was very grateful for what he was doing. I felt as though I could eat a Ponyta right about now.
Mr. Kemp showed us the second floor of the servants' cottage, but there really wasn't that much to see. There was only a bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet.
"That's about all there is here" he said, echoing my thoughts. "Now let's get back to the main house. There's still more to see".
He led us back down the stairs and to the manor once more. The door, even if it had seemed impressive the first time, seemed even more so this time, perhaps because I'd just seen the far less impressive servants' cottage.
"So does David do everything for you?" Angelina asked Mr. Kemp as he was entering the passcode to unlock the door again. (I presumed that it was the kind of door that automatically locks behind you after you close it).
"He's actually only my cook. I couldn't cook to save my life, ever. The housekeepers come once a week, every Monday".
Of course he has housekeepers. This guy is loaded.
I shot a glare at Angelina, but only for a moment; I couldn't afford for her to get too mad at me, or to get too mad at her; after all, we'd be living together for an indeterminate amount of time. Still, I was more than a little annoyed with her for saying that.
"I see" Angelina replied.
Mr. Kemp showed us the basement, which was my favorite part of the house, even though it didn't have views of the outside world at all.
What it did have was a flat-screen TV with several video game consoles plugged in, a home gym with a treadmill, exercise bike, weights, and a bench, yoga mats, bean bag chairs, a small home office, and a pool table.
Oh yeah...and the guy had an actual pool, too.
It wasn't an Olympic-sized pool, but it was still a good size for one that you'd have at your house. In my own hometown of Gardenia, it was only a lucky few who had pools at their homes, and neither I nor Angelina could count myself among them. What a pity.
"Before we go to dinner, I want to set some ground rules for your time here at the Kemp manor. These aren't the same rules that you are used to at home, but this is my house, so you'll have to follow my rules".
I gulped. The way Mr. Kemp had said that, he sure sounded stern. That is the type of person you do not want to cross, no matter if a plane were to fall from the sky and leave a hole of indeterminate size in the surface of the Earth.
"First of all, you may go outside whenever you wish. However, no matter what, you are not to venture beyond the fence surrounding my house. The roof is fine, so are the little woods inside the perimeter, but everything else is off limits".
"Uh, why?" I asked him. "I'm eighteen, Angelina's seventeen. We're practically adults now, we can handle this".
"I'm sorry to do this, but it's for your own safety" Mr. Kemp replied tersely. "You're safe inside the perimeter of the fence; outside of it, you are not. This is how it is and this is how it goes".
I didn't know precisely how he knew that, but I didn't ask him about it either. It was simply something that couldn't be questioned.
"The next rule is, tread very carefully around this house. There are so many things that are fragile in here that you're bound to break something if you don't stay on your toes, quite literally in some cases. Some of them are family heirlooms; I really don't want them breaking".
Both of us nodded at that. That seemed like a simple enough rule to follow; besides, it was common sense here.
"Finally, and this is an important one, the storeroom in the attic is off limits. You're not allowed to go in there, nor are you allowed to speak of what might be in there. It's simply taboo, okay?"
I wasn't completely sure of this, but I thought I saw a tear form in his eye when he talked about the last rule. It could have been just me, though.
"Those are the rules you must follow when you are staying at my house. Are they all perfectly clear?"
"Yes" Angelina replied, and I nodded as well. Mr. Kemp seemed rather intimidating, even though he was also supposedly a nice man, in spite of the way he treated his servants. We were both determined at this point not to annoy him.
"In any case," Mr. Kemp said, "dinner's about to be ready pretty soon. I think we should hang out in the living room until it is".
Wow, David really cooks quickly, I thought to myself. I sure hope that it's properly cooked, the food is.
I shook that doubt out of my mind. If David didn't cook the food to the point that it was safe for consumption, Mr. Kemp would have fired him long ago. I knew that I shouldn't worry so much; that just wasn't going to help matters in the least.
As Angelina and myself sat down in armchairs in the living room, I watched a fire crackle in the fireplace. I wasn't sure who'd started it, but it was rather comforting all the same. It reminded me of some winter nights I'd had with my parents at home, when we'd read stories and play board games next to the fire.
Ugh...why did I have to think of that NOW?
My homesickness had returned in full force. Indeed, I figured that that was going to be a pattern here. I'd be able to distract myself briefly, but then it would come back, the same way it always did.
The only way to fix that would be to go and explore the forests and mountains in the distance. Somehow, I felt like that was a second home to me now that I was a Lucario. I could look for wild Pokemon in the woods, swim in the crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and go picking for Oran berries.
And then I remembered Mr. Kemp's first rule, the one that stated that Angelina and myself were not permitted to leave the gates surrounding the manor under any circumstances.
Oh, Arceus, you've consigned me to a very cruel fate indeed.
ANGELINA HAWLEY
I thought back to the last time I'd eaten dinner with Lucas, back at the steak house in Pastoria City.
It might have only been a few days ago, but it felt more like a few lifetimes ago. So many things had changed since then, never to be the same again.
I'd been quite ashamed of the way I had conducted myself at the restaurant. Never had I known myself to eat that much, that quickly. Normally, if I had tried that, I'd have a major case of the hiccups, or else throw it all up right afterwards.
But no, somehow I was able to manage it. It was a day I was eager to put behind me, to be sure.
However, now that we were going to be having another very nice dinner with Mr. Kemp, I couldn't help but let my mind wander. I had a flashback to that day.
I felt the scratch as Lucas reached forward at lightning speed in order to catch my glass. It didn't hurt too much; I think I was more shocked than anything.
Taking a quick glance at my bleeding hand, I saw that it was healing up very quickly. A lot faster than it should have been, and that made me wonder if there was magic involved somehow.
Don't be silly, Angelina, I told myself. Magic doesn't exist.
Then again, we did live in a crazy world, a world full of Pokemon. Anything could be seemingly possible with the proper technology.
"Sorry" Lucas said, holding his paw up to his mouth, looking very guilty indeed. "Didn't mean to scratch you right there".
I wiped some of the lemonade off my shirt and responded with, "Don't be. It's my own damn fault for being such a clumsy ass".
There was a very long, awkward silence as I tried to clean myself up. It was no use, though; my shirt seemed to have absorbed the lemonade, and it wasn't going to get off.
After that, I felt as though we were getting far more looks than we had before. This was saying something, because being in a fancy restaurant with a white-furred Lucario already attracted a lot of attention.
It was then that my stomach gave an extremely loud growl, and yet I was sure that I was the only one who could hear it. I didn't have the slightest idea why.
Fortunately, not long after that, the waiter came by with our orders. We'd each gotten sixteen ounces of filet mignon and a truffle cheese baked potato. I dug in almost immediately, eating my food greedily.
I saw Lucas pick up his glass of water and tip it down his throat, but I barely paid it any mind. I was very embarrassed at how quickly I was eating. By the time he was halfway done with his steak, only a quarter of mine remained on my plate.
"Angelina? You there?"
I snapped out of it and saw that Lucas had tapped me on the shoulder.
"Yeah" I replied. "Just thinking about our date the other day".
Lucas gave me a strange look. "You're calling it a date? I guess it is, then. But I'm not...we're not…".
"I know. It was just a casual date that friends go on" I said, trying to sound as even as possible. In reality, I could feel my mint green face blush slightly, and I was sure that Lucas could see it.
"Enough sentimentality, guys" Mr. Kemp said. "Here we are".
Just then, David came in with the food. He carried in a large platter of grilled chicken, a large bowl of Caesar salad, and a plate of garlic bread. He somehow carried all of this at once, without dropping anything, like he'd been doing this for years. Which, of course, he probably had.
"I hope everything is up to your standards, sir" David told Mr. Kemp. "I do my best every time, and you know that".
"Indeed you do, and I expect that this time will be no different" our host replied. "All right, guys, you can dig in".
Now that I was a little more used to being a Lucario (although I say that very lightly indeed), I no longer felt the same desperation to eat as quickly as I had at the steak house with Lucas. Instead, I was a little more careful with the way I chewed, trying not to be too loud or too fast.
The chicken was pretty good. It was covered in this orange sauce that appeared spicier than it was. That said, it did have a slight kick to it, and I found myself taking sips of my water glass after every few bites.
Using a fork and knife in the same way that Mr. Kemp did, a lot more daintily than I had even as a human, was difficult for sure. It's one thing to learn proper posture and table manners as a human, but it's another thing altogether when you are a Lucario who was once a human.
As for the Caesar salad, David had done a pretty decent job on it as well. It was the same with the garlic bread. It was pretty good, but not spectacular.
Even if the food had been world-class, something you'd find at a five-star restaurant, it would still have been a poor distraction from the thoughts that were swirling around my head.
Hiding away in Mr. Kemp's mansion might be a temporary solution, but it wasn't a permanent one. Sooner or later, I'd have to leave; if nothing else, for my own sanity. I knew that Lucas would want to go with me too. I wanted to figure out the mystery of how I'd turned into a Lucario, and how Lucas's transformation had started everything.
Unfortunately, that was going to be difficult if we couldn't leave the manor grounds...which Mr. Kemp forbade us to do. He said that we wouldn't be safe on the other side of the fence.
And that added a new question to my mind, bouncing around like a table tennis ball inside of my brain.
Why?
