~..So warm..~ (Fools gold x Reader)

Mrs Plinius wiped a single tear from her face using the handkerchief tucked away in her pocket before she spoke.

      "Well then., who's going next..?"

Orpheus stepped forward, nodding at Mrs Plinius softly before speaking. "I suppose I should go next."

"I said that I was here to gather material, and it wasn't entirely a lie, but the subject of the material is me. My father owned this manor before Manus did. He wad a kind and gentle ma  who loved art and doing charity work. Our family lived happily here, but his kindness did not receive the reward it deserved. The forest ranger we hired colluded with bandits. They killed my parents, and ransacked the manor.I managed to survive by hiding in the cellar. Later on, a relative of mine placed me in a nursery and sold off the manor to Manus at a low price. As for the bandits and forest ranger that destroyed my family, they've gone missing. I've been searching for them throughout these years..but i always come up empty. This went on until not too long ago, when the new owner of the manor sent me something and claimed to posses clues on the forest rangers whereabouts. And the clue is the games prize."

You tilted your head, question what he was given. "What did he give you?" Orpheus sighed. "A piccolo. It is what the bandits used to trick the guards inti opening the manors gates back then." Orpheus pulled out a small white piccolo. looking very old, but well kept.

"Alright Mrs Reporter, tell us your story."

You hesitated for a moment, wondering if you should really tell them your past. Just as you parted your lips to speak, you jumped at a knock at the door. The three of you looked at each other before you spoke up. "Come in..!" You called out. The butler and maid came into the room, carrying a tray of food.
"Miss, I've brought you dinner. Dinner is served for everyone else as well. Please enjoy your meal on the first floor." The butler gestured toward the door once the maid set the tray by your bed. you nodded at her with satisfaction as she nodded back. "Lisa will take care of Miss Y/N." The maid perked up at hearing her name, but smile and went back to placing your.food by your bed. "Mrs.Plinius spoke through the short lived silence, getting up from her chair abruptly and walking.l over to Orpheus, who looked sad to leave you. "Too many things have happened today. She needs rest and we can continue tomorrow." Orpheus nodded, wiping the frown off of his face and replacing it with a gentle smile. The two of them made their ways towards the door. Mrs Plinius left to go eat her food on the first floor, while Orpheus paused for a moment, looking back while he frowned slightly before leaving as well. You sighed, placing a hand at your temple once he left.

Running endlessly through a maze of stone, you could barely feel your legs at all. You panted, running out of breath as you looked back into the void, only to be met with a wall of black smoke coming for you. An explosion had gone off in the mines while you were inside, and you were forced to run from the smoke. You kept running, knowing this maze like the palm of your hand, and the way you were going..was a dead end. Tears fell from your eyes as you looked back once more at the speeding smoke. For a split second, all you could see was hands made of smoke black as tar reaching out for you. You squeezed your eyes shut, and as you opened them, you found yourself in a new setting. The manor you would visit often as a child, due to it being your friend's father's manor. You turned around, only to find that tje smoke was back. You ran through the halls, looking back at the formed hands of smoke reaching for you. They caught up fast as panic drove your legs to move. Though, just as one of the hands managed to touch you, you stepped onto a glass platform. You were wary, as you've had this nightmare before, and it never emds the way you want it to. You sighed softly, trying to catch your breath before the glass beneath you shattered, leaving you falling into an endless void.

You opened your eyes immediately, sitting up in bed as you tried to catch your breath. You placed a hand at the side of your head, trying once more to sooth the headache you had. Your breathing slowed as your mind began running. "That nightmare again. Maybe its a warning, a warning for me to finish this as soon as possible."  You sighed softly as you slipped out of bed and onto the cold, hard, wooden floor. You slowly made your way toward your desk, sitting down in the chair in front of the window, you pulled put your journal.
"In my colleagues and my investigation, the main characters in every story written by Orpheus has links to cold stories, and in the latest story..."I" am the character."
You wrote your every thought in this journey, until your wind wandered to what Orpheus has said earlier.

"Bandits, piccolo, forest rangers. Its obvious he knows the past very well. and his knowledge may even surpass the files I've read from detectives. He knows it so well that its suspicious. If he wasn't a participant, he must have been a survivor. To my knowledge, the only possible survivor of the incident is..a young boy you and your friend would play with It wasn't Norton, but instead a boy who wore a green hat. You read about the incident through the papers, and how your friend..what was her name?
You tilted your head, trying to force your mind to know your old friends name. But to your disappointment, it came up empty. You turned back to your journal, picking up the pen once again as you continued writing.
"Could it be him? But I feel like I've missed something in his story.."
The memory of what Orpheus had said earlier came back to you
"The forest ranger we hired colluded with bandits. They killed my parents and ransacked the manor. I survived by hiding in the cellar."

You got up from your chair, the memories of playing in these halls with your other friend filler your mind. Wait..Cellar? There wasn't a cellar. As far as you knew, the main building didn't have a cellar, at least, not before you left. Was it just a mindless mention?
You slid your journal back into the drawer you slid it out of, and picked up the pen with its cap, clicking them together in front of you. Placing the pen on your desk, you made your way toward your closet, dressing yourself appropriately. You went over to your desk, picking up the tall lit candle as you took a deep breath.

"There's still time before dawn. I can use this stormy night to restart my investigation."