Chapter Four: The Creation Refuge
Rosemary's jaw dropped.
"Wait… you know what Creations are?"
Haru nodded while circling the girl, inspecting her from all angles.
"An object that was given a soul because its creator poured his or her heart into it." Done circling the girl, the brunette carefully picked up the manuscript and started thumbing through it. "Granted, you're the first female Creation I've met, but meeting three within a lifetime isn't so bad."
Rosemary stared at the human girl, completely speechless.
"Who are the other two?"
"A crow gargoyle named Toto, and a cat doll named Baron Humbert von Gikkingen."
The raven-haired beauty whistled.
"What a mouthful."
Haru quelled the seed of anger, knowing that Rosemary meant no ill-will.
"I know. He answers to Baron, usually." Haru's eyes finally rested on the last page that had been written in. "It looks like Hatachi wasn't able to finish your story. How can you be walking around with an incomplete ending?"
Rosemary coughed a little.
"I started visiting Hatachi when he was writing the third chapter, when I met my beloved Rowan." She sighed at the memories. "I was so surprised, finding out that my world only existed because of a lonely old man. But he was a good one, and he enjoyed my company immensely. I loved him as a father, I truly did." Whipping her hand around, a lacy handkerchief appeared so that she could dry her eyes into it. She took a few steadying breaths as Haru eased her into the only seat in the room.
"As you can read from the last line, Hatachi wasn't able to write of Rowan's defeat of Brimstone. That accursed wizard tore our Creator's heart out of his chest, and left him to die. He still carries it, since the one who holds it controls the fate of my kingdom."
Haru cocked her head.
"Your kingdom?"
"Yes. Did I neglect to mention that I am a witch princess?"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
At the Crossroads, a ridiculously fat white cat yawned lazily.
'No one again. Not even Chicky.' A little disgruntled, the cat curled up on its chair again, trying to return to his catnap. The day wasn't quite over; he could afford to stay a little longer.
Suddenly, someone started scratching his ear. The fat feline began purring, recognizing whose touch it was.
"Hey, Chicky. This is a surprise."
The schoolgirl leaned in close to the chair while scratching his ear.
"I know. It's a bigger one for me. Can you take me back to the Refuge, Muta-san?"
He lazily opened one eye to look at her, an evil grin taking over.
"What? Feeling lonely for Baron again?"
The brunette blushed deeply.
"No, nothing like that. I think I found a new client for the Bureau."
The white cat got onto his paws and stretched leisurely while looking around.
"Oh, and where is he?"
"She," Haru corrected, looking around. No, there were people here. "Look, I can't show you here, but I can at the Refuge. Come on, I'll make you a whole cake if you'll do it."
The glutton started salivating.
"Angel food cake?"
"With whipped cream, if you want."
He started purring and hopped off his chair.
"And it's Moon versus Yoshioka, Round Two!"
Haru giggled and started running after him.
She hadn't told Muta this, but she had been exercising more since her adventure at the Cat Kingdom. The fat cat was quite surprised that he couldn't manage to get more than ten feet away from the girl at any given moment, when she had been a block behind him at times during her first run with him.
Haru gasped a little, resting in the small alley that led to the Creation Refuge.
"Should you really be promising him whole cakes, Haru? I thought he was a big fluffy cushion when you approached him."
The brunette giggled.
"Same here the first time I met him, but I have a healthy recipe."
Muta turned around, now standing on his hind paws.
"A healthy recipe for what, Chicky?"
She turned a little pink.
"Um, never mind. Just thinking out loud."
He eyed her suspiciously, but walked into the Refuge to look into the little mailbox. He pulled out a tiny newspaper and looked inside the box again, looking for something else. A little disappointed, he shut the metal contraption and slunk down in the lawn chair to start perusing.
"So where's the client, Chicky?"
"Do you usually let him call you that? It's most disrespectful."
Haru burst out laughing.
"Believe me, getting called a babe by a Cat King was worse."
Muta looked up at her.
"Um, just wondering, but did you happen to hit your head today?"
"No, but I came close. Rosemary, did you want to come out first or wait for Baron?" she whispered.
"I think I'll wait for the lord."
"She'll be coming soon enough."
Muta growled, folding his newspaper up and glowering at the window behind him.
"Just come out, Baron. Maybe Haru will tell you what's up."
The brunette's eyes flicked to the doll through the window, making her heart skip a beat. Although she was still close to the opening of the Refuge, the schoolgirl could still see the glow of his eyes.
A bit of light began to tug at the edges of her eyes and then erupted into a river of brightness that flooded the Refuge before centering on Baron's home.
"Not too shabby,"Rosemary approved. Haru giggled her agreement as Muta hit against the glass with his fist.
"Knock it off with the lights, already! Come out now!"
The light faded, although it lingered a bit on the one window that the fat cat was standing next to, perhaps to mock him. Muta grumbled as the inner lights of the residence turned on, and the double doors opened to reveal a figure that the human knew well.
Baron Humbert von Gikkingen was just as dashing as ever, walking up to the girl and holding his top hat to his heart as usual. He smiled warmly up at her.
"Good evening, Haru."
She bowed respectfully, silencing her wild heartbeat.
"Good evening, Baron. How have you been?"
He chuckled a little while returning his hat to its perch.
"Oh, fair. And yourself?"
Haru was about to answer, but then realized that she didn't have one that would convey her feelings.
"Okay, but I met someone today that's kind of in deep trouble."
His eyes sparked worriedly.
"And where is this friend?"
The schoolgirl opened up her book bag, and took out the worn manuscript.
"Rosemary… if you can hear me, we're at the Refuge."
The book immediately started to glow and a willowy figure rose from the pages in order to stand next to the brunette. As the light faded, the raven-haired beauty curtsied charmingly for the Cat Lord.
"A pleasure to meet you, Baron. I didn't expect to ever meet other Creations."