Chapter 28: Nightmare Birds

Sleep didn't – wouldn't – come for Haru. The moment slumber lured her in, she felt the Raven's presence tug at her mind, longing to be free. She continued to be pulled back to the awake to ensure he didn't escape her control. Instead she only dozed fitfully; sleep being interrupted every few minutes. The dawn came grudgingly over the horizon, reluctantly stirring the night sky and shedding rays of sluggish sunshine over the town.

The new day however brought no changes for Haru. The ravens outside hadn't moved; if anything their numbers had increased. She was aware of a dreadful, discordant cawing coming from her window. Growling, she roused herself and snapped the windows open; momentarily startling the ravens and causing them to flap off. However they returned to their previous posts just as quickly.

"Go, already!" she screamed, uncaring to the fact that it was barely dawn and few others were already stirring in the town. "Leave! Leave me alone!" She threw her arms and attempted to bat them away, but to no avail. Eventually she just felt her feet collapse beneath her as she saw her efforts were in vain. She was physically shaking with exhaustion.

"Please... just leave me alone..."

"Haru?"

"I said leave me alone!" Haru started as she saw a crow standing on the window sill; somehow different from the others. "Toto... I'm sorry, I just..."

The ravens must have considered the crow one of their kin, for they made no move to drive him away.

"I understand."

"I thought Baron said he was going to send you to check on me ages ago." She didn't mean it accusingly, but somehow it came out that way.

"It took him a while to track me down. How are you?"

"Sick," she answered truthfully. "Well, I feel sick anyway. And these infernal creatures..." She waved tiredly at the ravens, unable to put much more energy into the movement.

"Everyone's worried for you, but they're giving you peace like you asked. Are you sure you don't want company?"

"And have them all looking at me as if I was about to attack them at any moment? No thanks."

"It was just a thought."

"Sorry. Thanks for thinking of me." Her head lolled forward, half supported by her hands, and she tried to beat off the pull of sleep. Tiredness from the lack of sleep and weakness from the Raven's occupation of her made her close to fainting, but she managed to remain conscious. Just.

A tugging in her mind told her the Raven was trying to break free again. And this time she caught a few of his thoughts.

'Another Creation... If I can just...'

Haru's head shot up; and she held up her hands before her to stop Toto coming near her. "Stay back! I think the Raven wants to use you as a host!"

The crow stopped and regarded her. "What?"

"You're a Creation... If he didn't change you like he changed Baron, you would be able to house him without harm..." Haru knew enough to understand that. "He would be able to control you fully like Baron too. Stay back."

Toto nodded and stayed by the window, prepared to fly off at a moment's notice.

"In fact, perhaps it might be for the best if you left..."

Toto made a harsh sound in his throat. "There should be someone here to keep an eye on you. And Baron made it perfectly clear that if anything happened to you on my watch he'd have my feathers for stuffing."

"Did he?"

"Yes." Despite Haru's previous warning, Toto hopped down and glided over to the table. He was careful that he was out of her reach though. "He cares for you greatly."

"I know." She hadn't meant for it to sound bitter, but the undercurrent tone wouldn't leave.

"Whatever falling out you've had..."

"What makes you think we've fallen out?" she snapped.

The crow cocked his head at the brunette. "Fine. Have you fallen out?"

She, in turn, only shook her head, but it was as if to clear her head rather than to give an answer. "I don't know. I just don't want to talk to him right now. It's just..." She hadn't realised it before, but she had been wringing her hands as she sought the right word. At this point though, they clenched and then splayed themselves on the table. "Why couldn't he have said anything earlier? Why only now; why only when everything is falling apart around us?" she demanded angrily. "Why when it's too late... much too late?"

"Haru, try to see it from his perspective–"

"Try to see it from mine!" she retorted. Those maple eyes flashed angrily. "I know I've been falling for him ever since we first met, but I know it'll never come to anything. He's not human, he's not mortal and he barely comes up to my knee! And yet I still fall for him! Not only that, but then I go and discover that he has a long-lost fiancée and that he was controlled through the entirety of our time in the Cat Kingdom together! Now you tell me what I'm meant to think!"

Suddenly ashamed of her outburst, she turned away, running a stressed hand through her hair. "Sorry; I didn't mean to shout like that. It's just... I know Baron didn't – couldn't – harbour any feelings for me during the Cat Kingdom adventure." Her voice was quieter now, subdued even. "Shizuku wrote him to only 'admire' the character of Takara. At the time, he only saw me as a client, so I had no reason to believe that..."

"That his feelings had developed into anything more?" Toto supplied gently.

Haru nodded; her face turned away. "Sorry," she repeated. "You probably think I'm extremely selfish to always be thinking about myself. Here I am, stuck with the problem of the Raven, and all I can do is cry over spilt milk when I should be trying to work out the solution."

"Has it occurred to you that maybe there is no solution to this problem?" the crow offered quietly.

"Many times," Haru answered truthfully. "But you've forgotten something."

"Oh, and what is that?"

The brunette smiled humourlessly. "If this has now become a story, then there must be a way out of this. And this is the kind of story that ends with a bang – not the fizzle of the Raven dying by a means so mild as his host dying, no."

"I think you're taking this whole story business thing too seriously."

"No, I'm getting the hang of it," Haru insisted. In the back of her mind, clogs were furiously turning. "This... this whole place, this whole affair became involved in a story as soon as Fakir started to write; and it was fortified when I also wrote," she said, becoming more confident with every passing word. "And in the background we've had Drosselmeyer pushing us all into place, like pawns. Like..."

"Marionettes?" Toto suggested dryly.

"Yes."

"Haru, Drosselmeyer cannot write anymore..."

"No, but he has his descendants in the town. Don't you see? Even if he cannot affect me by writing – not that he can write anyway – he can still manipulate me by his words. Like he did," she added, momentarily subdued by the shame of her rash actions. She picked herself up a moment later. "Drosselmeyer likes tragedy, but he likes it to be grand, too. You think that simply my death would be enough?"

"Please, Haru, don't refer to your death being so little," requested Toto, cringing.

"But it is a little thing to Drosselmeyer," insisted Haru. "Underneath it all, this is a Drosselmeyer story – he didn't write it, but he has been in the background, carefully manipulating his pawns all the way through this game. Ergo; there is a way to bring this to a greater finale, a way to bring the battle of good versus evil to a grander scale. And that probably includes an actual battle."

"Maybe that is so, but perhaps you should talk this over with everyone else before you start scheming. What do you even suggest? You don't even have anything at your disposal, apart from one mob of ravens and your Wildcard status..."

"Ravens..." Haru's head snapped up and she looked to the foreboding birds that lingered at her window. The birds that wouldn't leave, no matter what she did.

Without a word to Toto, she drifted over to the window and leant out. A surprisingly capable smile slipped onto her face.

In contrast, the ravens suddenly became nervous, as if sensing her change in mood.

To her side, Toto hopped over. "Haru..."

"Thank you, Toto!" she suddenly exclaimed. "You. Are. A. Genius!"

This exclamation, however, did nothing to mollify the crow's nerves.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, I'm sure you should wait until the others turn up," he finished tautly.

"And let them talk me out of this?" she responded. "Thanks, but no thanks."

Irritated with the lack of sensible response, Toto glided over to the window. "Haru, just stop and think about whatever you're thinking about. Don't you think you've already done enough damage already?"

This made an impact; Haru flinched. Through haunted eyes, she stared down at Toto. "This is my mess. I should be the one to fix it. Like you said, Toto, I have two assets to my disposal; my Wildcard status, and one mob of raven. And I can make something of that."

"Haru..." warned the crow.

"Like you said," she repeated, "I've already done enough damage. But this time I can change the cards. Perhaps I can make it so that no one has to die. Perhaps I can bring about a happy ending of sorts. Finally," she added tiredly. She ignored whatever protests Toto still had and reached out to grab one of the nearer ebony birds. She held it tightly with her hands covering its wings as she'd seen bird keepers do. Unprepared for the sudden human contact, the raven fought against her hold, but she had caught it good and proper.

"Haru..." repeated Toto cautiously. "What are you planning on doing?"

The brunette spared one last grin to the crow. "This." Somehow she just knew what to do and within seconds, her hands were glowing a ruby red. The misty red substance transferred from her palms and entered the struggling bird, which didn't cease its resistance. On the contrary, it fought all the harder. When her hands were drained of the strange crimson essence, she jumped back and released the raven. It took immediately to the air and escaped from the restricting room. Haru, meanwhile, stumbled back, gasping, but an ecstatic grin was present on her features.

"It worked... it worked, I really did it!"

Toto, however, wasn't so quick to rejoice. "What worked? What did you do?"

Still a little breathless, Haru sat down against the low table, running feverish hands through her hair. "He's gone. I forced the Raven to take one of his own minions as a host."

This did nothing to soothe Toto's nerves. "You did what? Haru, if he's free, he can take someone else as a host; he could return to full power..."

"No he can't," she told him. "That's the beauty of it. I'm a Wildcard, remember? He couldn't control me as easily as he would Baron, or even an ordinary human. If anything, I had a little power over him. I bound his magic, Toto. He can't take any other host; he's doomed to stay in that raven form until it kills him."

"He can't use his magic at all?"

"Well..." Here, Haru hesitated. "His presence in the raven might alter it slightly... The raven he is using as a host might become larger, stronger. He can't use his magic, but it's still present. Its presence could change the host."

"How long do you think the bird will last?"

"A few days, maybe..."

Toto's beak curved downward. "Then he'll be looking for revenge while he can still get it. We need to warn the others."

"Okay." Haru jumped to her feet, but found that she was still weak after the Raven's occupation.

"Haru, you should stay here. I'll go and warn the others."

"I'm not going to stay up here like some damsel in distress," she protested.

"Fine. Make your way to Charon's place; I'll be already there and hopefully will have explained the situation. Don't hurt yourself!" Toto cried as Haru clumsily rushed out of the room. Shaking his head, he took to the skies and sped across the town.

Like Toto had predicted, he was already there by the time Haru arrived. She fell into the room, heavily out of breath, to see her friends and family crowded round the table in a heated discussion.

"What's wrong?" she asked hoarsely.

Naoko turned around and, on seeing her adopted daughter, ran to bring her into an embrace. "Thank heaven; the bird was right! You're back to normal!"

"Yeah, I know." Haru gave in trying to get out of the woman's embrace, but let her eyes wander around the other occupants of the room. Her eyes rested on Baron; she sent a watery smile his way.

"Naoko, this is all very fine and dandy," Charon said curtly, "but the matter still remains of what is to be done now. We cannot allow the Raven to roam freely, even if it is just for a few days."

Now Haru took it to be a good time to slip out of Naoko's hug and join in the conversation. "I doubt you'll have to go looking for the Raven. I believe he may be planning to wreak revenge on those who thwarted him before."

"And now you're on that list," Baron added. There was worry traceable in his expression.

"So are you," she replied.

"The only course of action I see would be if we brought the fight to him," Fakir said.

Ahiru didn't look too pleased about the decision. "Fakir..."

"I know, Ahiru. But don't you think writing is what got us into this mess into the first place?"

"Perhaps it could also fix it," she suggested. "You tried last time the Raven attacked the town."

"And look what help that did!" the youth snapped. His face fell and immediately he regretted his hasty words. "Look, if you want, I'll write, but I really don't know how much good it'll do."

"Who's going to take on the Raven then?"

"I will." Both Charon and Baron spoke up at the same time. They looked over at each other, as if surprised by the other's offer.

"Baron," Charon said, "see sense. You are in no condition to take on the Raven. You are still weak from earlier."

"And when was the last time you wielded a sword?" Baron returned. "I have more experience in this field, and my feline senses are far superior to a human's."

"While that may be, it is my adopted son and his family that are under threat."

Baron started to reply, but no answer came to mind. His eyes flickered to Haru, who met his gaze. She looked like she was waiting for his reply with baited breath. "They are my friends too," he eventually answered in a gentle voice.

"You can work together," Ahiru put in, unwilling to see the disagreement go any further. "After all, won't you be twice as strong if you work in a team instead of separately?"

Baron had to agree with the wisdom of the once-duck's statement. "Indeed we will."

"The only problem is it will take Lohengrin's sword – the Prince's sword – to kill the Raven," Fakir commented.

Charon sighed and retreated into the workshop. He brought back a sheathed blade. "This sword, you mean?"

Fakir stared at the weapon. "Yes, but... but I thought Mytho – Siegfried – took it back with him."

"Not exactly. He returned it to me. I didn't tell you because... well because I thought you might want to be getting on with other matters instead of getting wrapped up in the Knight business again. I just wanted you to have a normal life."

Fakir glanced round the table, which included his rearranged family and the half-cat. He chuckled dryly. "Well, good luck with that." Immediately he returned serious. "But if that is the only sword that can slay the Raven... then you've only got one sword between the two of you."

"One can work to distract, the other to deliver the fatal blow," reasoned Baron calmly.

"Who's going to have Lohengrin's sword then?" Naoko asked after a pregnant pause.

The two regarded each other, each unsure about laying claim to the right.

"It is Charon's," Ahiru eventually put in.

"Yes, yes, of course," Baron quickly agreed. "Therefore it would make sense if he wielded it, I understand. Can I borrow another blade though, in order to be a sufficient distraction?"

"Of course."

Haru watched unhappily as the two of them retreated to Charon's workshop to pick out another sword for Baron to handle. Fakir came beside her, already a few sheets of paper and a quill in his hands.

"There's one other thing you should know," he said quietly.

"Will it make me feel any better about this whole fiasco?" she asked tiredly.

He paused. "Perhaps."

Trying to quell the uneasy butterflies in her stomach, she turned away from where she'd seen Baron go and turned to her brother instead. "Okay, what is it?"

"Do you know what happened after the Raven was defeated last time? After the story finished?"

"Everything went back to normal, didn't it?" Haru tried to recall Baron's explanation of the town's strange history. "The story had twisted reality to the point that when the story ended, everything snapped back into place. People lost memories, it was as if it never happened."

"Yes. Did anyone ever tell you about a particular teacher by the name of Neko-sensei?"

Haru paused, then shook her head. "No, not really. Who was he?"

"He was a teacher that was... well, to be frank, he was a giant cat. No one thought it was strange at the time, because it was in the story," Fakir quickly added before Haru could say anything. "But that wasn't my point. My point is that when the story ended, Neko-sensei became a cat once more. An ordinary, normally-sized cat."

"And your point is?" Haru pressed.

Her brother's eyes flickered nervously to where Baron had disappeared to. "Think about it, Haru. This story has also been twisted out of reality. When Baron was a Creation; fine, he fitted into an acceptable category. But now he's just a giant cat. When this story ends – if we defeat the Raven, which isn't a certainty – what do you think will happen to him?"

Now, Haru understood. "You think he will return to being a Creation?"

"I don't know. When the story ends, reality will change him into something recognisable. Something... well, something other than a giant feline. Yes, maybe he'll become a Creation once again, but he might become an ordinary cat or... I don't want to get your hopes up, but maybe he might become a human..."

"A human?" Haru found herself whispering the word, as if afraid that if she spoke too loudly, it would shatter all hope. "Why a human?"

"He was given a soul by a human; he thinks like a human, I assume... he is human sized right now... I expect he is as mentally human as either you or me. But it's not a promise; it's a thought. He might be returned to being a Creation, but I'm not sure about that. That would involve making him immortal and wooden again... which is more complex than turning him into a human or cat."

"Which do you think will happen?"

"Truthfully? I think he'll become an ordinary cat. All that would require is shrinking him down to size."

"Oh." Haru tried – and failed – to hide her disappointment.

"Hey," Fakir said quickly, "I'm not sure. But if it helps, if reality bases its decision on his emotions and mental state... he'll become a human. If it takes into account matters of the heart, it would be no contest."

That same watery smile returned to Haru's face. "And I suppose you knew what Baron's feelings for me were a long time ago too."

"Sorry, yeah."

She sighed. "Why did I have to be the blind one?"

Fakir returned the smile. "I guess it comes with the role of being in love."

Charon and Baron emerged from the workshop; the latter having found a blade to his liking. Before she could think about what she was doing, Haru started towards them.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to do something I'll probably regret," she answered to her brother, "but it's something I'll certainly regret not doing if this story ends in tragedy." A foolish grin slipped onto her features and she ran over to Baron, slipping her arms around him and, before she could allow her mind to keep up, she gave him a swift kiss. Drawing back, she had to resist a giggle at the dignified red flowing to Baron's cheeks beneath the fur.

"You make sure you come back alive," she whispered, the blush settling happily over her own cheeks. "Or I'll have something to say about it."