Chapter Nine: Malgea's Remains

When Rosemary was solid once more, she stretched her limbs out and inhaled the fresh air greedily.

'Home.' She looked to her left, a little startled to see that Baron was now towering a good five inches over her, but Toto and Muta were at their regular sizes. The tawny feline looked around the tent they were in and nodded gravely.

"It looks like we're here." 'All right, Haru. Let's see what you've got up your sleeve.'

Rosemary nodded and opened the flap of the tent. Just outside, an elderly guard, who was a bit on the scrawny side and didn't really have the muscle to be of a real help in a fight, was snoring peacefully at his post. The princess coughed a little pointedly, making the guard wake up in mid-snore. His eyes widened at the Cat Creation as he saluted smartly.

"Highness!"

She laughed a little, and patted his shoulder affectionately.

"Please, Yarrow. Now is not the time to be caught unawares."

He nodded, still staring as Rosemary led the Cat Bureau from her tent, and down a small alleyway made by the twin rows of tents, each side bearing twenty structures.

"Is this a group of the survivors?" Baron asked softly, studying the worn and thin figures that peaked out to look at them. The princess sighed sadly.

"These are the survivors. We are all that's left of Malgea." She straightened a little, and made to speak, but then stopped herself. 'No, perhaps I should wait a little longer to say we have a seer again.'

Toto, perched on Baron's shoulder, coughed politely.

"Well? Aren't you going to tell us what we can do against Brimstone?"

The witch princess sighed, and leaned down in the soft earth, pressing one hand against it. The loose soil began to swirl around, until it appeared to make a three-dimensional map on the ground. Where the soil stuck up a few inches, Rosemary pointed.

"This is where we are right now." She took a nearby branch, and planted it firmly on the opposite side of a large flat space at the foot of the wrinkles. "Brimstone's palace is across the Great White Desert. We lost a third of our people crossing it."

Baron looked at the map grimly as Muta sniffed it.

"How long does it take to cross it?"

"By foot, two weeks. By horse or camel, one."

Toto sniffed.

"I bet it'd take me less than three days."

"Well, too bad we can't just ride you, can we Bird Brain?!"

"Well, I could take you. I bet you could crush every bone of Brimstone's body if I drop you over him."

"Take that back!" the fatso demanded. But then Rosemary slapped her hand over the cat's mouth.

"That's brilliant!" she crowed, looking at the bird. "I could enlarge you to take us to Brimstone's castle! Would you mind?"

"Not terribly," Toto said, looking at the white cat smugly. "Could we drop the fatso on the wizard?"

"Afraid not, his body's spelled to withstand such abuse. He was made to be invincible, save for a sword that my beloved ordered to be forged with his own blood. Brimstone took the sword into his keep, and has it under constant watch."

Baron nodded, memorizing the information.

"So our best hope is to get the sword back?"

Rosemary nodded, and bit her lip nervously.

"We'd also have to steal back Hatachi's heart from Brimstone… and fix it upon the hilt of the sacred sword. Thus can the dark wizard be slain, and order restored to the land."

Muta looked up, since the princess had never spoken in that lilting singing voice.

"What was that?!"

Rosemary blinked, and laughed.

"Looks like Haru's keeping her promise. That's-"

"The seer's voice," an old man whispered, coming close to the princess. His small dark eyes were overflowing with tears of happiness. "Highness, you found a new seer, didn't you?"

The princess nodded, since she was a terrible liar. A great shout of joy was issued to the survivors, who had long hungered for these words.

"A seeress, actually, but it amounts to the same thing. Everyone, this is the Cat Bureau. They are going to accompany me to take back our realm."

This gave rise to an even greater shout, although Baron was painfully aware that some were still staring at him, for his feline appearance.

'Now that we're in the book, am I still a Creation? Or a very odd half-cat? If I were to stay here, would I still be immortal?'

Rosemary turned to her companions, beaming.

"How soon will you be ready to leave? Would you like to rest first?"

The tawny lord sighed, knowing that the other two would stand by his decision.

"I believe we would all benefit from a rest before our journey. There is no telling what we could come across, and we will need our wits about us."

She nodded, and whistled twice. A young man came up to her, obviously a younger soldier.

"Yes, Highness?"

"Thyme, would you kindly let the Cat Bureau rest in your tent?"

The soldier nodded, although his eyes were a little anxious. He saluted once more to the princess before beckoning to the three newcomers to follow him. Muta followed without complaint, but Baron held back for a second.

"Rosemary?"

She turned in order to look at him, obviously about to head back to her own tent.

"Yes?"

"Will my companions and I be able to return to our world, after we help you?"

The raven-haired woman bit her lip nervously.

"I don't know, Baron. I had a similar conversation with Hatachi before he died, but he didn't know the answer either. I think it's a fifty-fifty chance." She smiled a little weakly before curtsying and running into her tent.

Muta had to scratch Baron's ankle to remind him to follow the adolescent to his tent, thanking him before entering it. Toto uncertainly landed on the ground, and prepared to change into his stone state.

"We should have probably asked that question before we left, Baron. Haru's going to be really disappointed if we never come back."

The tawny lord nodded, feeling too depressed to notice the evil mirth Muta was struggling to conceal.

"I know. I know." Before he could say anything more incriminating, he shifted into his wooden form and allowed his thoughts to run wild.

'I should have thought about this before accepting the job. But, how can I turn down a cry for help? Especially with Haru as the messenger? Please, let there be a way I can return to my world. I don't want Haru to exit my life.

'I don't want her… to forget about me.'