Chapter Eleven: The Labyrinth
"Could you guys please start from the beginning? Like what happened sixty years ago?" Haru asked, slightly footsore by now.
"How do you know this started sixty years ago? Or our names?" Muta glared at her suspiciously.
"She met Freddy." Baron answered for her.
"Freddy? Your brother Freddy?"
"Yes. Apparently he's been searching for us ever since we disappeared from the human world." Muta snorted again.
"Bet he had fun with that."
"Um, guys?" Baron smiled at Haru again.
"Sorry, got off track there. When we first came ashore to Japan, Louise insisted on a tour."
"Translating into her looking through the stores that were available here." Muta muttered darkly. The orange cat ignored him.
"After an hour of running around behind Louise, we encountered a group of children that had started torturing a black longhair cat with a golden collar." Haru quickly looked up into Baron's understanding eyes.
"While I turned the children to a more entertaining pastime, Louise untied the cat, whom we had a bit of difficulty ridding ourselves of. Later that night, I heard meows from her room in the hotel." They had come to another dead end, and started back.
"So he dragged us along to see what was going on, since pets weren't allowed in the rooms," Muta added, his face grimacing at the memory. Toto continued the narrative, his wing clearly not bothering him as much as it had earlier.
"When we came to Louise's room, we could here her screaming, so Muta broke down the door to see a bunch of cats carrying her through a portal, and we followed." Baron picked up the story again.
"Since we had come through the portal a bit later than we should have, we were dropped off at a slightly different location than the cats that had taken Louise. We eventually came to the castle-" The white cat interrupted.
"Hey, you're leaving out the part where we started to turn into cats!"
"That was a bit obvious, Muta."
"It's still an important part."
"I don't know what you're complaining about; Baron needs to get to the part about shaving the Cat King." Toto started cackling. Haru turned again to her friend, a slightly evil grin playing on her lips as she struggled not to laugh.
"Sh-shaving?" Baron smiled a little wickedly at the memory.
"When we reached the castle, we figured out that Louise had been taken to be the bride of the Cat King, who was the black cat we had saved. I challenged him to a duel for her, and won." Muta and Toto started laughing with maniacal glee.
"I'll never forget the look on his face when half of his fur just fell off his body after Baron made one pass!" The white cat couldn't contain himself. For once, the crow didn't argue with him.
"Makes me wish we had a photographer with us, so we could treasure that expression!" Haru didn't bother to control her laughter at the scene created in her mind, and then calmed down enough to guess what happened next.
"Than you found out that Louise wanted to stay, and the three of you got cursed for defying and embarrassing the Cat King in front of his subjects?"
"That pretty much covers it." Baron's expression turned sad. Haru looked over her shoulder towards Toto.
"How come you were made into a crow?" Toto looked at her sadly.
"Louise and I never really got along-"
"Oh, and we do?" Muta interrupted. The crow glared at him.
"That's different! Anyway, she knew I had dreams of flying, so she suggested to the Cat King that the best punishment for me would be to have wings that I couldn't use, so he changed me into a crow gargoyle." Haru saddened, and placed her hand on the wing not bound by the sling.
"I'm sorry." He smiled the best he could with his beak.
"Don't be. Thanks to you, I'm able to move again." The cat-girl shifted her gaze to Baron as they turned yet another corner.
"Why-" she had started to ask, but was cut off by the swat cats that had jumped off the maze walls to surround them. They charged, only to be taken down by Baron, Muta, and even Toto, who pecked sharply enough to break a few bones. Muta leaned towards smashing the green cats against the walls and each other, while Baron beat off another group with his cane. Baron turned when Haru cried out, a swat cat pulling her by the arm. Before he could come to her aid, she pulled a small can from her pocket and sprayed its contents into the cat's face. He immediately let go of her and started rolling around the ground, mewing and screaming pitifully as he rubbed his face in desperation. The trio looked at Haru in surprise as she slipped away from the cat and pocketed the can. Toto was the first to ask.
"Is that stuff some fancy new perfume?"
"No, it's pepper spray."
"Pepper what?" Muta was eyeing her warily now.
"Pepper spray. The can's still almost full, since I only had to use it once before." Baron grabbed her by the paw and led the small group away from what remained of the guard cats.
"Who did you have to use it on?" The large feline asked; a trace of fear in his voice.
"A date that was feeling frisky. That was the real reason I bought the stuff, since I'm no fighter." Baron's eyes narrowed as they ran. He felt more protective of Haru than ever, and pulled her a bit closer as they lengthened their stride. They came to another dead end, and stopped to catch their breath.
"Now this maze is getting interesting," Baron muttered, noticing the latest of dead ends they had encountered. At this rate, Haru would have no chance of regaining her humanity. Turning to face her, he saw that she was studying another wall.
"Something's not right here," She said without a trace of doubt.
"You mean like the fact that you'll be a cat forever in about an hour?" Muta had come up next to her.
"No, I mean like this wall. See the top? All of the other walls are smooth, so why is there a jagged edge right here?" Seeing her point, Baron raced up and felt the wall.
"She's right, Muta; this wall is fake!" On 'fake', he gave the wall a hard kick, revealing that a cat had been strapped to the other side, and had fallen on another cat strapped to a similar wall. This created a domino effect that led straight up to the base of the tower, making a clear path. The cat-woman grinned.
"Told you."
"Nice work Haru." Baron was pleased that she had been able to see through the deception. From the direction of the castle, they could clearly hear a banshee-like scream.
"Sounds like Louise didn't appreciate that." Toto commented as they raced along the new path, ignoring the muffled meows from the other side of the stone slabs.
"Isn't that just too bad?" Haru didn't sound very sympathetic. They reached the base in no time, but the stairs snaking around the tower seemed more daunting than ever. They raced up anyway. Toto's wing seemed to get better every second, with him flying up the stairs in short spurts in order to keep up with the cats. Haru had to stop and bend over her knees when they reached the third story of the tower, gasping for breath. The others had stopped and looked back at her.
"Go ahead…I'll…catch up." She managed to say between unsteady breaths. A second later, a shadow passed in front of her, and Haru was swept into Baron's arms as he carried her up the stairs past Muta and Toto.
"Show-off," Muta muttered as they resumed their pace.
"You're just jealous." Toto snickered.
"Jealous of what?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Baron…you don't have to-" Haru tried to say.
"Don't worry." He held her close as he raced up the spiraling staircase.
Since it was so close to her, she stared at Baron's face. Fredrick wasn't exaggerating in the slightest! He's even cooler than I thought he'd be! Louise must have had a screw loose to let a guy like Baron go for riches, power, or anything else she apparently thinks could be more important. He makes a very handsome cat. This idea made Haru's whiskers grow longer.Baron looked down at her, so she turned her head in an attempt to hide the blush the once more decorated her face.
Snap out of it, Haru. The man's eighty-something, and you're checking him out like a crushing school girl! Need I remind you that he's old enough to be your grandfather?
Ah, another voice in her head interjected. But Grandpa couldn't do half of what you've seen Baron do, even when he was young.
It was strange, but ever since he took her hand back at the banquet hall, Haru's heart had been swirling around like a kaleidoscope. She had liked him plenty when she thought that he was just a cat doll, but now that he was alive, he had become much more likeable. He could make her blush even when he was wooden, but now he was doing it every two seconds. And what's more, he was forever holding her hand or herself close to him, but she never felt the need to object. Haru felt completely safe when he was near, even when danger stared them straight in the face. He also had inspired her to become more than what she already was, ever since she brought him home. The only other man that had ever been able to do make her feel remotely like this was her father. And even that felt different.
A door had come into their view, which opened up and starting spilling out more green cats. Baron regretfully lowered Haru to the step behind him and raised his cane for the attack. Just as the cats were about to jump him, however, the stairs underneath them collapsed, and sent them all falling down the side of the tower.
"If we weren't in such a rush, I'd laugh my head off," Haru commented as they edged there way across the tiny bit of stairway that still clung to the tower. Toto just flew over it as Muta chuckled.
"You'd think that they would have done maintenance repairs."
"Whoever said that cats have any sense? No offense, Baron, Haru…"
"Well I take offense!" (Two guesses on who said that line.) They had come to an opening in the tower, which just looked like an open room with a smaller tower over it.
"Hey, we're at the top!" Haru managed a half-twirl as the group entered it. From here on, the staircase spiraled inside of the tower.
"Not much farther now." Baron grinned, but the look faded as he thought about what waited them on the other side. He looked up the tower to see the human world's sky, which had the slightest tinge of red. Haru had said that her apartment building didn't allow animals, so she might not be able to shelter Toto and Muta the way she had with him. And would she still feel comfortable keeping him around her apartment, knowing that he was alive? His thoughts were interrupted by several loud explosions, which were followed by a lot of vibrations and groaning from the tower.
"Baron?!" Haru looked a bit scared.
"Brace yourselves!" Baron sandwiched her in between himself and a column as Muta and Toto clung to the other side. A split second later, the tower began to shoot down like a bullet. Toto was immediately blown away by the wind speed, and was almost joined by Haru until she grabbed the cane that Baron quickly extended to her. They could look into each other's eyes as the tower continued to collapse.
Poor Haru, she's so scared that she can't even scream. Not that he would have heard her if she had. When their section of the tower finally came to a sudden stop, the debris from the remainder of the tower flew from them like a dark storm cloud. In the distance they could hear the twin laughs of the king and dowager queen. Baron groaned. He had hit his head pretty hard on the floor of the open room, and he was having difficulty regaining his breath. Even his teeth were aching. Wait; there was still pressure on his teeth…
Haru wasn't feeling so good. She had never had a problem with heights, but she decidedly had one when there were sudden distance changes, like the tower explosion just then. She inhaled through her nose shakily, since her mouth wouldn't open. She had landed on something soft, something that had wrapped itself around her waist when she fell back inside the tower room. Opening her eyes to see what it was, she received the shock of her life. Not only had she landed on Baron, but she had fallen in a way that her lips were over his in an accidental kiss. And he was staring back at her like he couldn't believe it either.
Haru inhaled sharply and rolled off him, her face turning a shade of red that she had previously thought not to exist. Baron sat up and stared at her, a twinge of red noticeable underneath the orange marking of his fur. They stared at each other, not quite sure what just happened between them, or what to say about it. After a minute, Muta sat up groaning, breaking the spell of silence. Baron and Haru staggered to their feet to take a look at their new surroundings. She groaned.
"You're kidding; back where we started?"