Welcome Foolish Mortals! (A KH/Haunted Mansion RP)

[Organization_42]

"Welcome Foolish Mortals!"

Story:

The RP takes place during Roxas' time in the Organization. After Xemnas discovered the Haunted Mansion, he decided to strike a deal with its ghostly residents: Constance, the Black Widow Bride, and her butler, Ramsley. The duo would trap people in the mansion and gain their souls, while their hearts would be transferred over to Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts. Now, whenever a person enters the grounds of the Mansion, he or she is incapable of leaving by any means, including dark corridors, unless they have the permission of Constance or Ramsley.

Xemnas didn't think this was going to be a problem. He had it all worked out. What he hadn't counted on, however, was Demyx getting his mission mixed up and going to the Haunted Mansion instead of Halloween Town. Having figured out the mistake, Xemnas is now sending Roxas and Axel to the Haunted Mansion to explain things to Constance and retrive their friend.

There's only one problem: Constance and Ramsley don't feel like cooperating. Nobodies may not have hearts, but they have souls, and the ghosts are determined to keep the trio in the Mansion...for eternity!

Meanwhile, Xemnas has learned that Namine escaped with Sora through the help of DiZ, Riku, and King Mickey. In order to get them out of the way, he drops hints about his plans for Gracey Manor, hoping that they'll try to stop him by going there themselves and getting trapped...leaving Namine and Sora wide open for recapture. DiZ takes the bait and sends Riku and King Mickey to check it out. Will he be able to stop Xemnas on his own? Can the mansion's newest guests escape with their lives, or will Constance and Ramsley succeed in gaining some new residents?


One thing's certain: it's going to be a wild night at Gracey Manor!

***

- The Castle That Never Was -

Most normal people were happy to hear about getting a day off, and enjoyed the chance to sit around and do nothing. Not Roxas. He lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling bored out of his mind. Sure, it was nice to have that rare occasion when Xemnas gave him a break from the constant Heartless battles, but not when his friends weren't around. Roxas checked the clock again. It was late afternoon, which meant it was getting closer to the time when he met Axel for ice cream (and maybe Xion too) but not late enough. If he left for Twilight Town now, he'd still be waiting.

Maybe Demyx is back? he thought. There was a pretty good chance of that happening: Demyx was supposed to go to Halloween Town today, a world that glorified scaring people of all shapes and sizes. Roxas liked it, but he knew that his friend did not. Demyx was more easily frightened than the other members, and he was also known to bail out on an assignment if it became too much to handle. Roxas was actually surprised and annoyed with their Superior's choice to send Demyx to a place that was very likely to frighten him. It would've been better if they'd sent me. Then I'd have something to do and Demyx would have a whole day to play on his sitar.

With all this in mind, Roxas got up and made a portal to the hallway outside of Demyx' room. He knocked, but there was no answer. "Hey, it's Roxas!" he called, "Are you back yet?" There was still no answer. Wow...he didn't bail. I'm impressed, thought Roxas, Guess I'll just have to find something else to do...

[madammina]

Constance Hatchaway lay back in the large red chair in the Study of Gracey Manor. She ruled it. She spent her entire life trying to get wealth like this, forever. And now she had suceeded! She had the indignity of being done in by her own husband though... In a fit of anger, she threw her crystal wineglass across the room.

"RAMSLEY!" She bellowed before storming out of the room in a fit of anger. "I need something to distract me." She stopped for a second to look at her reflection. Brown hair, green eyes, five pearl necklaces... all there. "RAMSLEY!" Her butler didn't appear. What was with him?

"Um... Miss?" Constance whirled around. A sandy blond with blue eyes and holding a large guitar looked shyly at the ground. He had Xemnas' robe.... "Is this Halloween town?" Constance grinned. This would be interesting...

[The Future]

Mickey woke up with a headache, he was sleeping under an apple tree and 2 apples bump him on the head, he picked one up and started eating it. Then he heard a noise come out of the forest, what was it? Mickey grabbed the Inverse Kingdom Key. A creature all in white jumped out of the forest. Mickey quickly dodged it's attacks and defeated it with ease. "What was that thing?" asked the king. "A dusk my friend" said a man behind Mickey. A guy in black was on the top of the apple tree. "Who are you?" asked Mickey. "My name is of no importance your majesty" replied the man. Two other men came out of nowhere standing on other trees. Mickey quickly ran up the apple tree and tried to attack the first man but he disappeared. "Oh darn, I wonder who that was though?" asked the king.

[Organization_42]

- Gracey Manor -

Ramsley watched with satisfaction as several glowing hearts flew up into the sky and disappeared, while their corresponding souls went into a small hand mirror that he used for spirits that annoyed him in particular. Well...annoyed may have sounded like the wrong choice of word when compared to the punishments that he often afflicted on said spirits. But in his mind, they deserved every last bit of it.

The offenders in question had started out as a fairly typical bunch: a group of teenagers who had dared each other to enter the old Gracey Manor. Ramsley hated that type the most. But then things turned REALLY sour when one of them started playing with the dining silverware and another accidentally smashed a window. Immature, irresponsible, with no respect whatsoever to this work of art! he thought indignantly as he gazed around at the once-beautiful mansion. It had been in the Gracey family for more than a century, with Ramsley's family loyally serving them as the staff.

His death hadn't changed much about his work as a butler, except that he got around the place much faster.

"RAMSLEY!"

...and he no longer served the Graceys. At least, not a blood relation. Constance Hatchaway had been courting his master, Edward Gracey, before their simulanteous and untimely deaths. Now she ruled over the mansion, but Ramsley didn't mind so much anymore. She had proven to be a capable mistress, and above all else, she was very supportive of his methods for dealing with living intruders.

"RAMSLEY!"

With a roll of his eyes, Ramsley disappeared from the kitchen and appeared in the study, right behind her. "You called, Miss Hatchaway?"

[madammina]

"Now don't close your eyes...." NO! NO! Xavier slammed his hands on the large keyboards of the organ in front of him. For two hundred years he had been trying to play a wedding march. He had driven himself to exhaustion trying to play it, but after he died he seemed incapable to play anything other than this song.... He took a brief break and lay his forehead on the cool ivory. He couldn't leave, not now. Not until he got this together.

What about Constance? Would she still want it? No, after 200 years he would play this darned song. Even if he had to continue beyond the end of time to play this song. Why? he had heard this catchy song coming in, and now he couldn't escape it....

"ORGANIST!" A dancer shouted behind him. "Back to work!"

"Sure... whatever..." he grumbled. The Banshees were settling down, trying to comfort him. "It's alright... Let me just get back to this...." He adjusted his purple cloak and settled back down. He rested his hands on teh keys, and tried yet again, only to switch two notes in.

"When the tombstones quake and the spirits wake...."

[The Future]

~The Castle That Never Was~

Xemnas sat in his chair thinking of a way to get even more hearts for his Kingdom Hearts. "That boy, uh, what's his name? Sora! Yes Sora, his Keyblade releases the hearts of the Heartless, as long as he keeps destroying them I will get more hearts!" said Xemnas to himself. Xemnas called Luxord into the room. "Get me a status report on how Kingdom Hearts is Luxord" said Xemnas. "Yes sir" replied Luxord. Xemnas put his hand on his chin and started to think of other ways to get hearts. He jumped out of his chair and went through a dark portal that he created. Xemnas came out of the portal and was on the top Memory's Skyscraprer. With his back against Kingdom Hearts he said "All worlds shall fear Organization XIII once Kingdom Hearts is fully restored, fear us!" yelled Xemnas.

~The Forest~

Mickey searched the whole forest looking for those men in black but he couldn't find them. "I'm starting to think those were Heartless" said Mickey. "But... they can't be Heartless because they took the form of a person, but... Ansem was a Heartless" said the king. Mickey kept walking along in the forest. Mickey tripped on a twig and fell down, then two of those creatures in white came out of the woods and attacked the king. Mickey grabbed his Keyblade and quickly defeated the enemies and kept on walking. "Those things sure are strange" said the king.

[Hikari]

Xion was elated that Xemnas had finally given the Organization members, who weren't out on missions, a day to wind down and relax. She sometimes enjoyed the quiet, but then again sometimes doesn't mean ALWAYS. She sat in her room for a little while and occupied herself with flailing her Kingdom Key about, making new moves and casting spells. She constantly summoned, and de-summoned her Kingdom Key to see if it would do her bidding.

It had been several weeks since she had seen that silver-haired teen; Riku. The last time they saw each other he questioned the truth behind her Kingdom Key, he had claimed it to be fake since she had failed to summon the Key to her side. She the left the scene with Keyblade enraged (or as close to 'enraged' as Nobodies could get) without a single word spoken to the silverett.

"Next time I see him I'll show him that this Keyblade is NOT a fake! I'll summon it with ease and he'll take back what he said!" She summoned her Keyblade into her hand for the millionth time already. "Yeah!" She said with a triumphant grin.

~*~*~

Desiree almost dropped her paper fan when she heard the echoing shouts of Miss Constance Hatchaway. The paper fan fumbled about in Desiree's translucent hands, but she stood viotrious when she claimed control over it.

"RAMSLEY!" Constance shouted. Desiree sighed and wondered what the mistress could ever want. She knew that Ramsley would appear by her side to speak with her and assist her in whatever she needed so Deseree proceeded out of the "garden" (or whatever it was now, since most of the plants were dead) and into the Manor itself. Upon entering she heard the Organist still trying to play that simple song 'Here Comes the Bride'. He paused for a moment and one of the Ballroom Dancers called out to him to continue playing. He continued on with the song, which wasn't 'Here Comes the Bride'.

"Poor man," Desiree said to herself. "He doesn't know how to play one of the simplist songs known to man." She snapped her fan shut and made her way over to the Organist. "Excuse me?" She began. "I've noticed for quite a LONG WHILE now, that you've been trying to play 'Here Comes the Bride'!" She sang the title of the song and continued on. "Well I'm sure I can help! Its not that hard once you've heard it a couple of times! So what do ya say?" She bated her eyelashes serveral times while awaiting a response.

[madammina]

"I've HEARD Here Comes the Bride" The Organist growled. He looked at this girl. Murdered, but good looking with brown hair and blue eyes. She looked she was a dancer too. "I know it by heart, but when I walked into this mansion, some quartet was singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" and now all I can play is that!" He Slammed his hands down in an impromptu recreation of Beethoven's fifth. "YOu can sing it if you want... but I think I'll be stuck playing this for all eternity." His Banshees, so keyed into his feelings, started to shriek.... He had to TRY to be friendly. What was the use of living to eternity if you had noone to share it with?

"My name's Xavier. People call me THe Organist, but you can call me "X" if you want."

~~~~
"You called Miss Hatchaway?" Ramsley appeared right behind her.

"Thank you, Ramsley. Get me some wine please, I broke that last glass, and tell me what you think about this young man." Constance gestured to the the quivering man before her. "He lacks a heart but has a soul. Think we should keep him?" She gave a grin. "We're very full now, but there's always room for one more..."

[Organization_42]

- Gracey Manor -

Ramsley took the broken glass without a word, trying not to think about how many Constance had broken over the last century. Those were priceless artifacts! And what did she need wine for anyway, when she was dead? But Ramsley still held his tongue; he'd gotten used to following orders without question over the years.

Then he looked over at the young man on the floor. He was an interesting-looking fellow with dirty-blond hair that he wore in a strange style, one that Ramsley found distasteful. It reminded him of the immature young people that were always trespassing near the mansion. The boy's clothes, however, reminded him of someone else...the man who had visited them only last week...what was his name again? Ramsley frowned for a moment, and then he remembered: Xemnas! More importantly, Xemnas had not had a heart either; that had been his purpose in coming. He had struck a deal with the butler and Constance: they took the souls of anyone who came to the Manor, and Xemnas would get the hearts. I wonder if this man is associated with Xemnas? Though judging from the expression on his face, he seems to have no idea what he's doing here. And if he doesn't have a heart, that Xemnas fellow would never have to know that he was here...

After giving the young man a menacing stare, Ramsley turned back to Constance. "Do whatever you wish," he said, "You know how much I despise intruders..." With that, he turned on his heels and vanished. He knew that "whatever Constance wished" was NOT going to be pleasant, and though he didn't care about what happened, he wasn't very interested in watching either.

[MelodiousNymph]

"Do you really have to go?"

She sighs and looks at him intently, shaking her head. "Demykins," she begins, slightly caressing his cheek, making him feel warm on his face (Nobodies can't blush). "You know I don't back out on missions. I can't leave this one either, you know that."

He sighs too and takes her hand from his face. "I know, but . . . I just don't trust the people you're with in this mission, y'know? And also, the Keyblade-Wielder, you might--"

All the girl does is laugh. "You mean Pink-Hair? Pfft. Please, like anyone trusts him most of the time. Also, about the Keybearer - I can handle him. There's no way some stupid brat with an oversized key can defeat me. You have seen me fight Roxas, right? If I can handle him, I'm sure I can handle the Keyblade kid, too."

The lad nods sadly, then gives her a smile. "Oh right. Hehe, sorry Larx, I was just worried that I wouldn't see my best friend again." He grins a bit stupidly, causing the girl to laugh. There is a moment of silence before she turns and goes to leave his room. But just as she nears the door, her companion suddenly bolts from the bed he was sitting on and from behind wraps his arms around her waist.

"I'm going to miss you," he whispers, holding her closer to him. The girl sighs again, turns around and faces him, a calm smile on her face.

"Well, don't miss me then," she replies. "Because I will be back. I promise that."

He nods. "Alright." As she goes for the door again, he suddenly grasps her hand, as if to tell her something else.

"Um, Larxene?"

"Yeah?"

"I, um, I -- before you go, I want to tell you something."

She turns to face him again. "What's that?"

The boy takes in a deep breath, and looks at her intently. He takes note of her face - lightning-yellow hair with an antennae-like hairstyle (which he actually found cute, not weird like the other members found it), skin as white as snow, and a pair of dazzling apple-green eyes. She's smiling at him -- darn it, why must she be so pretty and cute when she smiles?! He feels his face go warm all over and he struggles with what words he should use to tell her what he feels without making himself look like a total idiot. Just tell her, man, just tell her!

"Um, I, uh, I just wanted to say, ah--" He feels the words get caught up in his throat. Why can't he just tell her?!

"What?"

"Uhh, well, I just--" He pauses, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, he sighs. "I just want you to be safe, that's all." Darn my cowardice!, he thinks to himself.

She stares blankly at him for a moment. "O-kay," she mutters out loud, then she smiles at him again. With that, she lets go of his hand and summons a portal. "Bye, Demyx," she tells him, giving him a small wave before disappearing into the dark portal, leaving Demyx alone in his room.

"Bye, Larxene."

He never got to tell her that he loved her.

===*===

How did I get myself here again?

Demyx mentally slapped his forehead at his situation at the moment. The Superior had ordered him to go to Halloween Town to kill off some other oversized Heartless again. This really didn't go down with him. 1) Oversized Heartless weren't exactly fun to fight (He should know -- he had scars); and 2) Xemnas knew he was a coward, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to survive in a world where it's official motto was 'We scare the heck outta people!', so why'd he send him there? Sometimes, Demyx wondered if Xemnas knew what he was dong or not. Axel and Roxas have told him, however, that Halloween Town wasn't very scary ('Not scary enough,' Axel once assured), so that gave him some courage to go through with it.

But what was this? This place definitely wasn't a town -- it was a mansion. And a creepy one at that. The place was dark even if there were some lights, the walls seemed to live, the objects seemed to be staring at him (especially some busts and pictures in the corridors), and there was a generally eerie feeling around the place. Was this also part of Halloween Town? Demyx growled to himself as he realized that it might be so. I'm so gonna kill Axel and Roxas for this.

Sooner, he found himself wandering into a room where some wealthy-looking lady was seated, calling for some Ramsley guy or something. She looked friendly enough, so he asked her if this was Halloween Town. This apparently amused the woman, and when a butler by the name of Ramsley came in, she started talking to him about something.

"He lacks a heart but has a soul. Think we should keep him? We're very full now, but there's always room for one more..."

"Do whatever you wish. You know how much I despise intruders . . ."

At this Demyx cocked his head confusedly at them. What do they mean?

===*===

"Pru? Prudence, are you there?"

The boy pokes his head into the corridor, and looks around. Seeing as there wasn't anyone there, he slips in and goes on walking.

"Prudence, where are you? I found Mr. Teddy! He told me he misses you!"

A creak is heard. He freezes in place, nervously looking around with merely his eyes. What was that? A shadow looms over him. he turns to look, and gasps in horror--

BAM.

[madammina]

Constance pushed the boys head up. "What's your name?" The boy looked scared, anxious...

"Do you want me to Kill you?" She asked. She held her right hand out, and an Ax appeared there. "I could behead you... and you can live here... FOREVER." she grinned omniously.

Before he answered, she straightened up and walked out of the room. "Follow me, we are going on a tour."

[Hikari]

"I've HEARD Here Comes the Bride" The Organist growled.

Desiree simply sighed, and in a sense, knew that was the way he would respond. She whipped out her fan once more and waved it, causing air to blow onto her translucent face. She closed her golden eyes and said: "I'm sorry, Sir. I just wanted to help that's all." When she opened her eyes again she noticed that the man began speaking again, and so she listened intently.

"I know it by heart, but when I walked into this mansion, some quartet was singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" and now all I can play is that!" He Slammed his hands down in an impromptu recreation of Beethoven's fifth. "YOu can sing it if you want... but I think I'll be stuck playing this for all eternity."

"Well not with that attitude!" She chirped cheerfully. "I'm sure I haven't met you before," She smiled at the man and continued. "My name is Desiree Barron, and you are..."

"My name's Xavier. People call me The Organist, but you can call me "X" if you want."

"Xavier's a nice name." She bated her eyelashes once more. "I hope that you'll finally master 'Here Comes the Bride'! I'm sure you can do it!" She turned to leave, but before she walked away, she looked over her shoulder and called out: "Toodle-Oo!"


As she walked further into the mansion's interior she heard voices. Although she knew that it was nothing out of the ordinary, she decided to go investigate. The closer she crept towards the voices the more she distinguished them to be Constance and Ramsley's voices. "I wonder what they're up to?" Desiree said to herself. When she peeked around the corner she took sight of Constance, Ramsley, and some new stranger. He had sandy blond hair styled in a mulet (as some would call it) and he wore dark robes, identical to the robes that silver-haired stranger Xemnas wore when he visited the mansion.


Unlike Ramsley and Constance, this new stranger was alive. He seemed very confused and Desiree took notice. "Hm, maybe the young boy needs help or something. I could be of assistance!" She said a little bit TOO loudly. She quickly covered her mouth and hoped that no one heard her thinking, although the chances of that were slim. Next thing she knew, Constance was walking right towards her. Desiree was panicing not sure of what to do. She tried to leave, but before she could, Constance was standing right in front of her.

"Eheh, hello Miss..." She waved her hand sheepishly, while the other was hidden behind her back.

[MelodiousNymph]

"What's your name?"

Demyx didn't answer.

"Do you want me to Kill you?" Demyx's eyes widened at this and they widened even more when she suddenly summoned a hatchet out of nowhere. "I could behead you... and you can live here... FOREVER." He yelped. Arrgh, what did I get myself into?!, he yelled mentally to himself. He shut his eyes, awaiting for the hatchet's blade to slice his neck.

Nothing happened, though. Instead, the woman stood up. "Follow me, we are going on a tour." With that, she left the room, and with no choice (unless, of course, if he wanted his head to be a fireplace ornament), Demyx followed her with a sigh.

The corridors of the Mansion were even scarier now. As much as he wanted to run, Demyx couldn't -- if he did that, he'd risk beheadment, and he certainly didn't want that. As they passed through more corridors, he could've sworn he saw a young boy wearing a long-sleeved shirt and suspenders, complete with hat, holding onto a teddy bear and calling out someone's name . . .

[madammina]

"You never said your name" Constance asked the man. He was just looking around. She turned to see what he was looking at. Jude. One of her VICTIMS....

"JUDE! Come over here and introduce yourself... I'm thinking about adding this man..."
~~~~
Desiree.... Interesting name. Xavier just went back to failing at his songs again. The Organ was so out tune. He needed to get fix it... but he can't take that long of a break... unless someone came by who knew music.

[Hikari]

Desiree heaved a sigh of relief when Constance had not took notice of her and continued on with her alleged "tour". Sadly, poor Jude could not feel the same. Constance took note of him and "introduced" the stranger to him. "Well that was close..." She proceeded past the threesome and down the hallway. But, in the back of her mind she knew there would be some information exchanged between the three. "Oh don't Desiree! Gossip is no good!" She said to herself. Still, she couldn't help but look back at the three and slightly lean in, trying to hear their conversation a bit better. "Well listening to a couple things won't do you MUCH harm. Yeah..." She proceeded to slowly make her way over to Constance, Jude, and the stranger. When within perfect earshot, she hid in a doorway and peeked at the three. There, she waited and listened as words were exchanged.