Jenny, Erica and the man watched all this going on, curious as to what was happening. Finally after a moment the man spoke.
Looking down at the two anthropomorphic girls, he said by way of introduction, "My name is Maximus Spelstorm, the current owner of the manor before us and grandfather of Egon Spelstorm, founder and builder of the manor before us."
Seeing the confused looks upon the two foxes' faces, he heaved a sigh and said, "I suppose one must start at the beginning. If you two will accompany me, I shall show you to the drawing room. There we can take palaver and maybe learn a bit about what is going on and what can and mostly certainly will happen."
Erica looked at the man and then whimpered, "I want my mommy."
Heaving another sigh, Maximus explained, "She is not here at the moment and there stands to good reason that you shall be eventually reunited with her," and then reached down and offered a hand.
Both Jenny and Erica hesitated and then after full minute, both took the offered hand allowed themselves to be directed back to the manor, which they had no memory of. Through the front doors, past the foyer, down a hall and into a sitting room. Upon seeing the mess of the room, Maximus clicked his tongue and said, "This will not do."
Making a noise in the back of his throat, Jenny and Erica watched in wonderment as the room put itself back together. As the chandelier reattached itself to the ceiling, the sheets covering several chairs flew off. Dust vanished and several more seats appeared. This went on until the room resembled an auditorium waiting to be filled. Seeing all this, Maximus nodded and then led the two children to a pair of seats toward the front.
Sitting them down, he said, "Wait right here and I'll be back."
Turning, they watched as he walked into the hall, looked up and down it and then made another noise in the back of his throat. Suddenly four creatures, a mixture of some type of bird and human, appeared. Guiding the creatures in, he led to them to some seats and then returned to the hall.
All in all, he did this until the whole room was filled with the most imaginable creatures ever thought up. From Harpies to Basilisks, to Manticores and Therianthropic humanoid animals. Surprisingly, Jenny and Erica wound up sitting next to Tommy the Unicorn cheerleader, Sarah and Chad, and in the farthest chair was Sei. Afterward, Maximus mounted a stage that had formed in front of the chairs and was just about to speak when a voice rang out, "Daddy! What's going on?"
Peering over the crowd, a smile spread across his face and then he cried out, "Angela! How good it is to see you again. Please. Come up here. I see Brutus, my faithful butler and trusted friend is still acting as your guardian."
After Angela had joined her dad on stage, along with a man that looked like he was part Mountain Gorilla, Maximus turned to the audience, counted silently the amount of humans, people stuck between transformations and those that the transformation hadn't reverted on. Noted that some that had been changed never reappeared back at the manor, thought there was nothing that could be done and the called out over the din that was gradually growing louder, "I have brought you, those that are either human or close to human in appearance or thought, here because I think an explanation is in order."
He paused, looked around and then continued.
"My name is Maximus Spelstorm. My grandfather was Egon Spelstorm. This manor was built by him for his son, my father, Zacharias Spelstorm. Now, before I continue my story, is there anyone that has something they feel they need to say, because I don't want a whole lot of interruptions as I go."
Looking out at the audience, he waited.