Chapter Text
Ivory was horribly injured, hanging by a thread as she limped back to the manor. Blood dripped from her hair, down to her fingertips as she limped through the gardens, right until she reached the door. Mister Hemlock was walking down the stairs, her ears filled with the sound of a record that was playing on a floor above to drown out the ringing. “There you are Ivory. I was just looking for you.” His eyes once calm changed into blood curling fear as they laid upon his maid. Quickly Pyro ran over, asking questions she couldn't process and fretting over her like a small child as he pulled her into a worried embrace.
She couldn't remember much after being led into a bathroom to wash herself. “I'm fine.” She had been saying that a lot lately, hoping it would be enough.
She was exhausted.
“Ivory, can you hear me?”
“Yes sir.”
Pyro's shoulders slightly relaxed. Div and Ross stood behind him, equally concerned. “Okay, the doctor is going to be here in about 45 minutes, okay?”
“Ok.”
“Do you um… feel like you're going to throw up or pass out?”
Her head felt heavy and light at the same time, lights moved around her vision like fairy's. She could only be honest. “I don't know sir.”
Pyro sighed. “Okay, well once you're done, Ross and Div say you can go rest up in the sick ward.” Ivory wasn't ready to leave. “They'll help you.”
“Ok.”
“I um…” Her boss hesitated. “I don't suppose you could tell me what happened, could you?” Her head sunk to rest on her knees. It hurt. She was hurt. “Sorry, I- I don't know if you said something, I couldn't- I couldn't hear anything.”
He was sad because of her. “I'm sorry sir.”
“It's okay Ivory.” He stressed. “I'm just worried, is all. I hope you aren't hurting too bad.”
When the doctor arrived he assured her that she was going to be fine as long as she rested and didn't move her head. Laying in bed while everyone else was working didn't sit right with her.
On the other side, Pyro informed his family of what happened. “She said it was the detective.”
“Wait… the detective?!” Asked Muu.
“Yeah! She said that he asked her to get in his car and that he… needed to ask more questions. And then he drove her out into the woods-” It was truly baffling to him that it was so simple to catch anyone unaware like that. Even more so that an abuse of authority happened right under his nose. “-and started attacking her.” Two of his siblings exclaimed in outrage. “I told her today not to get in anyone's cars.” A lesson that a child would understand. “But he's with the police and she probably didn't think that he would do that! I mean, I wouldn't either.” His brother swore. Pyro couldn't help but agree. “She says she doesn't remember that much before she blacked out. Only him just… attacking her.” His fist trembled as he held himself back from digging his own nails into his palms. “And then waking up, and it was evening, and his car was gone.”
“How's she doing?” Asked the youngest in the room. “Is she okay-”
“Yeah, yeah. I think she's better now.” He assured Vi. “The doctor said she had uhm, a concussion, and some other things I can't remember the name of. He said to give her the barbiturates and to let her heal.”
“Oh, is that why the doctor was here yesterday?” Asked his father.
Pyro’s jaw dropped. “Yeah, dad!” He internally scoffed. “She came home bleeding from her head and stomach.”
“Oh goodness…” his father looked away. He was so infuriating when he didn't care.
“That's actually criminal!” Izzy defends. “What is the police department doing?”
“Well it looks like they're setting aside some time to personally assault staff members. And also apparently, harass them as well!” A small wound formed at the scrape of his incisor that nipped too hard on the inside of his cheek. “I heard from Mr. Pierce that he's been here to confront our staff members behind our back and was just like… was fearmongering them!”
Through his outburst, Pyro learned that his father had been told about the detective causing problems. The man had the gall to say he didn't remember, as if the life of one simple maid was not of importance. It was only when he realised it happened in his precious home and his daughter had been approached that he even considered listening to Pyro and giving the staff their vacation.
To his horror, Ivory was up and working before she was fully healed. The memory of her being one foot in the grave was far too fresh. He took the tray out of her lightly trembling hands and led her back inside. All the staff were packing, mingling in excitement for their trip. He wanted Ivory to have fun with her co-workers for a little longer.
~~~!~~~
At last, everything Pyro had worked for was coming to an end. “Oh. Ivory, hey!”
He ran up to her happily, unintentionally causing her to startle a little at his excitement. “Hello sir.”
“Welcome back, how was the trip?”
A small smile graced her lips. “It was very nice, thank you so much sir.”
“That's good. And, don't mention it.” Pyro considered Ivory one of the bravest people he knew. With everything she had gone through it was surprising that she seemed unchanged by everything that had happened. Though he supposed he hasn't been around her long enough to know for sure. “You honestly deserve a longer rest.” He thought aloud.
“Thank you, is there anything you'd like, sir?”
“I'd like?” For a moment, he forgot about their standing. He was reuniting with a friend, not a boss greeting his maid. The reality crashed into him like a wave. “Oh from you? No- no, no. I just came to drop off the car so that some of you guys don't have to uh, walk back.”
Ivory glanced at the car and then turned back to him, her posture a little rigid but not tense. “Oh, thank you, sir.”
“Yeah, I was going to take a walk anyways.”
“Are you going to walk back to the estate?”
“Well…” The thought to lie to her crossed his mind. A tempting one, really. But not tempting enough. “No, not really. I am not planning on retiring for a little while. A month at most.”
“Oh.” Ivory’s eyes widened a fraction. “Would you like me to accompany you, sir?”
“Are you sure?” He asked. “Aren't you still resting?”
“I rested for the past week.” She insists. “I really am fine sir, I don't even need these bandages anymore.” To prove her point, she started to unravel them, Pyro was quick to stop her even though she once again insisted she was alright. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with this girl. “I just want to come along in case you need assistance and I…” she leaned in close like a child sharing a forbidden secret. “I don't want to take up more seats in the car…”
Pyro sighed, rearranging his plan in his mind now that Ivory was going with him sooner rather than later. “Well, I guess it would be nice company. Come, let's get your bags.”
~~~!~~~
“What was inside it?” Pyro asked as the carriage pulled up to their first resting stop. Ivory had her eyes fixed on the scenery moving through the windows. He had chosen the carriage intentionally, thinking that a car might cause a trigger like Mr. Peirce had.
“Nothing.” She said simply, then thought about it, then changed her answer. “Or… I guess I don't know. We didn't look… it was hard to see.”
“What?” He chuckled. “You could have found something, y’know, valuable in there.”
“They seemed to value going back to the group more.” She explained, ignoring his little scoff at how boring she was being. “So I went with them.”
“Well, I hope it was a lot of fun either way.”
“Yeah.” She smiled fondly. “It was fun.”
The next morning the carriage had left for the city leaving both companions in a dense forest where the trees towered over every landmark until nothing was in sight. “Mister Pyrosythe, where are we going?”
His eyes widened at the question, he supposed he never did tell her. “Ivory, do you not remember what we spoke about? Why would you come with me if you were unsure where we are going?”
The white haired woman looked away from the skyline. “Oh.” Her finger looped around a lock of her hair as she thought hard about her answer. “I just…” the top of her nose scrunched, she had already explained why she wanted to come along but she didn't think this far. “This is not a car and you are not a stranger, mister hemlock.”
Pyro huffed a sad chuckle. “It's alright, Ivory. We are going to a small town called Oakhurst. Father insisted I go scope the place out for uh, something.”
“Okay.”
“I hear it's a bustling civic hub, nestled in the pines and dark oak.” Ivory slightly nodded to show she was listening. “I heard that the cuisine is excellent as well.” He joked. “Only mushroom stew.”
“Should I ask the chefs to prepare mushroom stew for you when we return home, sir?” She asked earnestly.
He blinked in surprise at the question. “It's not my favourite dish.” He clarified. “It's not uh, something I really have an opinion of.”
“Okay.”
“And uh… drop the Hemlock.” He decided on impulse. “Just Pyro would do. I would like to enjoy this trip without my family name over my head.” Ivory looked at the window above him. He smiled at the upcoming question.
“Over your… head?”
“It's an expression, Ivory.”
“Oh. I think I understand Mister pyro.”
~~~!~~~
They traveled on foot for a while until they reached a lake with a tower standing on a lone island. The wind blowed through Ivory’s white hair causing her to shiver. “Right. Okay. So, a bit cold, a bit chilly.” Pyro observed. “Do you have your cloak Ivory?”
She opened the small bag she had on her, inside was a long dark cloak given to the hemlock staff. She settled it on her shoulders and wrapped it around herself as instructed. It felt a little odd wearing it over her black jacket but was pleasantly surprised that having the hood up reduced not only the frosty nipping feeling against her skin but also the sound of the outside world. The leaves no longer loudly rustled, the crows didn't sound so close anymore and the wind stopped roaring against her ears and instead passed by her head. “I'm done, sir.” When she turned around, mister Pyrosythe was gone. “Sir?” She didn't move from her spot, instead turning around in circles until she caught a glimpse of his brown hair on the island. His clothes were a little damp, he had swam over there.
“Ivory!” He waved at her from across the water. “Lights are on, someone’s home!” To her shock, he opened the door and marched right in. “Hello?!” Ivory once again looked around, this time for a more dry path over only to realise there wasn't one. It didn't seem right for the island not to have some sort of bridge. “Ivory! There is a ball of butter up here!” Her boss yelled from the top of the tower like a school boy finding an interesting bug. She walked over to the water, debating if her fear of it was more important than tending to Mister Pyrosythe. Pyro panicked, worried that cold water would aggravate her injuries. He would rather not have her push herself no matter how many times she insisted that nothing is wrong. “No need to follow me Ivory, I'll be back in a second. Uh, stay there.”
“Okay..!” Her throat hurt too much to yell. Speaking loudly was the only alternative to not cause a scratching feeling to appear in the middle of her throat as her voice would crack. Lucky for her, Pyro heard her and started walking down the stairs, out the tower, down to the shore of the small island and then swam back to her.
“The road is that way, I think- I don't think we should dilly dally.” He thought aloud. “I think I heard wolves on the way here.”
“Wolves?” Ivory asked with a tilt of her head.
“Uh, don't worry about it.” Pyro smiled unbotheredly as they continued up the path. “As long as we stay out of their way we should be fine.”
Ivory nodded “Okay.”
“The roads here are in dire need of repair.” He commented as he walked past a hole that was way too large to be on the footpath.
“This doesn't look safe, sir.” She commented while walking on the opposite side of the path a little too far away from the hole and technically not on the path at all.
“I agree with you. I should look into that when I get to town.” Pyro hummed, extending an arm for Ivory to take so she was no longer standing on the grass. She hesitated and just stared at the arm that had been offered to her, unsure of the next move to take and clearly thinking too hard about it. “Ivory?” Pyro questioned, snapping her out of the spiral of analysing the decision.
“Yes… um… which way is Oakhurst, sir?”
Pyro hesitated. The change in subject was a little abrupt but not unexpected. “Is there a map in the bag?”
A spark of relief formed in her chest at having something to do, even if it was a small task. The feeling slowly disappeared as she realised that they did not in fact have a map. “It- it should be fine.” Pyro assured her. “I'm sure it's at the end of this path, I-I'm sure.”
“Okay.” Ivory moved a branch away, the act revealed a light further up the path.
“Another one of these beacon.” Pyro observed. “This could be a land mark, maybe if we stand-”
A muffled voice came from below the ground. “Oh look at the U- look at the inventory!” Said the unseen woman.
“H-Hello?!” Pyro yelled through the trees.
“Hello?” The woman responded.
“Who’s there?”
“Who’s that?”
“That's what I'm saying.” Pyro looked at Ivory, trying to convey a silent question if she was also hearing the woman. Ivory did not give any indication she received the message.
“Who's that?” The woman asked again.
“I'm Pyro, where are you?!” He discovered that the unknown woman was underneath the structure after she told him to go up the stairs and fall down to meet her.
Ivory waited at the top for him to return. She always liked the woods. She couldn't explain why she often found herself drifting while in a land full of trees alone. She knew she was found in the woods in bad shape but the memory was unclear. The only thing keeping her from wandering deeper was hearing Mister Pyrosythe and the stranger converse underground until they both shot up the bubble column. “Oh good- some infrastructure they've got here, this is lovely.” Pyro chuckled as the woman with brown hair made passing comments of agreements. “They've got it all sorted out.”
“I need to clarify, who are you?” She asked.
“I'm Pyro, and this-” he then gestured towards his patient maid, directing the woman to look at her. “-is Ivory.”
The woman turned quickly, her eyes widened to the side of the plates in Whitepine’s kitchen. “O-oh, I'm Pearl.” The stranger finally introduced herself. “I didn't know there was someone else here!” She glared mock accusatorily at Pyro. “Why didn't you say anything?!”
“I just did!” Pyro defended.
Pearl clicked her tongue and walked right past him, lifting her arm in Ivory's direction. “Well it's nice to meet you Ivory, hope ya don't think I've been ignoring you.”
“No.” Ivory took the hand and let Pearl lead the shake. “You haven't ignored me, Miss.”
“Miss ay?” Pearl laughed. “Awwwe you're cute.”
Pyro fake laughed behind the girls. “We should probably get moving. Do you know where Oakhurst is?”
“You goin’ to Oakhurst?” Pearl grinned, tangling her arm with a surprised Ivory’s. “Well right on then, I'm headin' to Oakhurst myself!”
“Really?” Pyro asked in astonishment.
“Yeah!” Ivory thinks that this Pearl person was very friendly. She had hardly spoken a word to her and yet the forest felt less lonely than it was before just from her smile alone. She also could feel Pearl's muscles from their linked arms.“Let's find it together shall we?”
Pearl waited for Ivory’s response, her eyes sparkling brighter than the night sky. Ivory didn't know what to say to someone so bubbly and looked to the only person she knew for the answer. Pyro understood instantly. “Sure.” He held out a hand for Ivory who decided to hold onto his sleeve. “Three heads are better than two.”
“I've only got one head, sir.”
“It's an expression, Ivory. It means that more people working on a problem can solve it faster.”
~~~!~~~
Pyro lead Pearl back to the tower, he had mentioned it while scavenging for food and Pearl asked to have a look. “Did you investigate this tower and run that far?”
“I did.” He confirmed. “I investigated the tower, there wasn't a lot going on.”
“Wow!” Pearl exclaimed as she jogged down the hill. “Waste no time, huh? I think I spent that equivalent amount of time being scared about falling down a hole.”
Pyro laughed and both he and Pearl swam to the other side of the lake. “Is Ivory not coming? Hey! Ivory!” Pearl threw her hand side to side in a massive waving motion. “What cha doin’ there?!” Ivory said something that didn't travel over. “WHAT?!” Pearl yelled.
“----suppo—dry!”
Pearl cupped her hands around her mouth. “WHAT?!”
“—-supposed to stay—y”
“She's supposed to stay dry.” Pyro translated. “The water is a bit murky.”
“It is a little bit.” Pearl agreed.
“It's fine for us but Ivory is already sick. Best not to tempt fate.” At the corner of his eye he saw a strange man walking up to his maid. “Who's that?” He asked sceptically. “Hey, Pearl? Do you know the man across the water?”
Pearl walked out of the tower, sure enough there was a man on the beach. He was dressed in a brown waistcoat with white loose sleeves and his body was slightly malnourished. His eyes were sunken as if he hadn't slept in a hundred years and… well, his general vibe was off. “Well that's not creepy at all.”
“Has he been following us?” Pyro muttered.
“Are they scared?” Pearl asked. “Are they scared to go in water? Sir can you swim?!”
The strange man took Ivory’s hand in his and started leading her up the hill. “IVORY!” Pyro yelled, jumping into the water and swimming after her.
~~~!~~~
A stranger had walked out of the woods. He had an axe in his left hand and his right was clutching his clothes around his neck. “Are you here to see the tower too?” Ivory asked.
The man blinked in the way someone does after they've awoken from a long nap. “Uh, sure. I'm just not a fan of getting wet really.”
Ivory nodded at his words. “It's okay sir, I also don't like the water.”
“You don't huh…” he mumbled, shifting his axe so he had a better grip. “I could make us a boat to go over?”
“You would?”
The man smiled at her. “I'm a lumberjack, I'm no stranger to a little basic carpentry.” He held out a hand for her, she didn't know what to do. “It's okay, I won't bite you.” Ivory wondered why someone would bite her in the first place. “Let's just get you out of the sun while I chop down that tree, yeah?” The sun? The sun wasn't visible. She looked at his sleeve and grabbed onto one of the ruffles, she wasn't going far and the tree was in sight of mister Pyrosythe. If anything were to happen he would step in.
She didn't expect how right she was. Pearl and Pyro where both calling out to them, Pearl calling to the man and asking what he was doing and Pyro calling out to her. “I was mak- I was going to make us a boat to get across.”
“Oh, of course.” Pyro hummed sceptically. “It is a bit dark and dreary.”
“You can't swim?” Peal asked with little to no filter.
“I can but the water doesn't seem particularly inviting.”
“You were going to get in a boat with him Ivory?” The maid froze. “Okay, new rule. Don't go anywhere with another person without asking me first or having someone you trust with you.”
Ivory nodded. “Yes sir.”
The unknown man leaned over her shoulder. “What are you strangers doing here?”
Pyro tightened his jaw. “We were checking out that tower over there.” his nose wrinkled as the stranger's eyes lingered. “It’s so interesting.”
“Yeah.” Pearl agreed, taking a small step back to get a better look at it.
The stranger walked down the hill. “It does look… it does look peculiar.” the edge of his mouth twitched. “Hold on, let me-”
“I’ve already found some, like, weird dungeon thing and I got a Smite 1 book.” Pearl added. “I don’t know what the significance of that is but I found it, so…” Pearl stood on her toes as a light caught her eye, getting a slightly better angle to look over the trees. “And it kinda looks like there’s another one over there.” With a jump, she pointed in the direction of a small light.
It was shortly after that the man supplied boats for everyone. Pearl hopped in the boat with the man with the droopy eyes and Pyro rowed Ivory across. “What do you three want with Oakhurst?” the man asked.
“Well I need a new place to settle down in.” Pearl explained, walking up the spiral staircase. “I lost my entire family and I- I- you know, I need to start a new life, so…”
“I see. Wow.”
“Do you mean lost as in they are missing or lost… as in no longer with us..?” Ivory fidgeted with her dress as she left the stairwell. “I do not want to misunderstand.” She mumbled.
“My family is not dead.” Pearl shrugged, not too bothered with the question to everyone's relief. Once she got to the top, she saw what Pyro had discovered earlier. “Oh, it's a beacon.”
“Oh, interesting. I've seen one of these before." The strange man remarked.
“I thought it looks like- it looks like butter. It looks like butter in a glass case.”
“Butter in a gl-” The brown haired man scrunched his face. “What kinda-”
“Butter in a- wait.”
“Butter in a glass ca-
“This is what you call butter?”
Pyro blushed. “I mean it looks a little-”
“In what realm is this butter? What are you spreading on your toast in the morning?”
Pyro fumbled around for an explanation as Ivory tried to remember the brand that she saw the kitchen staff use. “Sir, the butter does not come with the glass dish, it was specially made to keep it nice.” She had asked about it when she first helped in the kitchens. She had never seen it preserved in such a way before.
“It's more like a tofu block I feel.”
“Eh~” Pearl moved her hand from side to side.
Pyro desperately wanted to change the subject, less so to cover for his own embarrassment and more so he could finally get to the town. “Look, I've been saying to Ivory earlier, about the wolves in the trees and we don't like the roads.”
“Yeah, these lands are dangerous to be in at this time of year. The wolves are migrating eastwards I think.”
Ivory stiffened. Pearl tightened her hold on her axe. “Okay well, I don't like the sound of that and I'm ready to go.” The others agreed. Pearl only got a couple of steps down the tower before she ran back up only to see the person she wished to question also walking down. “Hold on, I didn't really ask before- who are you?!”
The man startled at the question. “Sorry, my name is Owen.”
“Thank you.”
“I used to work in these forests as a lumberjack and um, I returned back. I figured business this time of year might be, uh, doing well.”
Pyro looked around at the looming trees shadowing themselves out of the fog. “Well you got a lot of business.” Ivory nodded in agreement.
“With the wolves?”
“Well, I've dealt with them before. It shouldn't be too bad. I believe Oakhurst is the opposite way though, around the side.”
Oakhurst was not in the direction that Owen had led them, there was only one road and it was in the direction that they were going in the first place. “Watch your step Ivory, the roads around Oakhurst there are holes under every foot. It's dangerous.”
“Yes sir.”
“It really prevents the uh- prevents the whole concept of, you know, people moving in and everything.” Owen explains. “It's a bit of a debilitated town I hear.”
“Someone needs to call the council.” Said Pearl.
“I don't think it's too long of a walk though.”
Pearl raised a judgemental eyebrow at the man. He did not seem to be the type for directions. As she called him out on her suspicions he didn't deny them. Ivory slowed her walking, letting Pyro and Pearl lead the way. Owen smiled at her, the skin around his mouth pulling like a healed scar. “Enjoy the woods, Ivory?” She nodded, the sound of the birds flapping their wings as they left the comfort of the branches and flying away through the trees reminding her of the forest of Whitepine. She remembered the pull towards it, the calling, the feeling that something was there. She wondered what it would be like to walk in both woods alone. Would it be just as enjoyable? Wooden walls emerged in the distance as the trees parted for a large clearing. They had made it to Oakhurst.