Chapter Thirty-Six: Tough
You try to be tough, but your armor's just not hard enough.
-Tamatoa, from Disney's 'Moana'
xxXxx
She truly was an enchanting sight on the ice. Granted, Baron was starting to believe she'd be an enchanting sight if she took over Louise' old job of birthing rabbit kits, but the point still stood.
Come to think of it, he had no trouble picturing Haru doing that. She may even be delighted to be covered in blood that wasn't earned from violence, for once.
Baron shook such thoughts out of his head so that he could continue to enjoy the dazzling show Haru was putting on for him as a music player blared out next to him to set her beat.
Ice ballet. Only humans could have thought of something so ridiculous, and yet entrancing at the same time. Last time he had seen a dancer move this smoothly, it had been on strings, and there were plenty of children sitting as close to the puppet theatre as they could get away with.
A bit like himself, actually. He was sitting on a tree trunk almost to the edge of the frozen lake, his entire body on the very edge of his makeshift seat so that he wouldn't miss even a single movement.
She spun, twirled, and slid across the ice so elegantly, it made Baron's heart ache. He let out a long, contented sigh as the song ended, and a more… rambunctious one took its place.
Haru noticed as well, and although she had on more than one occasion livened up her skating with a song this… um, well the beat was faster and the words were louder, at least. But she was smoothly gliding to him with that familiar gesture to turn it off.
Baron made sure to only press the button with the right symbol on it this time. He did not care for the loud 'static' that followed the time he pushed the wrong button. He looked up just in time to see Haru about to kneel and sit in the snow next to his tree trunk.
"You can sit on my lap if you'd rather," he offered while trying to keep the hope out of his tone. He even adjusted himself back onto the full of the tree trunk so that he wouldn't have to trust two inches to be enough for both of them.
A small corner of his mind said that he should just give her the tree trunk like a gentlecat, but… well, who could honestly expect him to be selfless all the time?
Haru gave a speculative look at his lap before raising an eyebrow at him.
"We both know you would knock me into last year if I were stupid enough to do anything you didn't care for," he added with a soft smile, holding his arms out to her. "Come on."
He was almost stupid enough to add, 'there's no one else around to witness this'.
Haru gave him a small laugh and smile before sliding easily onto his lap and wrapping one arm around his neck to help keep herself balanced. "So much for your skating lessons, huh?" she asked a little sheepishly.
"I don't mind, now that the swelling's gone down," he insisted, using the precious excuse to steal a hug from her and keep his arms around her. "How many lessons did it take for you to get that good?"
Haru blushed and started studying a tree on the other side of the lake. "… None," she admitted while keeping her eyes fixed away from him. "My birth family is heavily linked with snow and ice, been that way for millennia. I've never slipped on ice, even once."
Baron gaped at her in shock, even as his mind filed this away with the other tidbits he knew about her personal background.
"I used to really annoy my hometown bullies with it," she managed to add cheerfully. "Anytime during the winter when they decided it would be fun to gang up on me, I could run across any rough spot without a hassle, or even slide to the middle of the frozen creek bed. They'd think it was safe since I had no trouble." A devilish smirk crossed her lips then. "The times they'd spend recovering from a broken leg or such were the only reprieve I ever got growing up. They weren't exactly fast learners. I only started experimenting with fancy moves after Dad brainwashed confidence into me."
"They earned every break and sprain," Baron snarled, tightening his hold on Haru possessively at the thought of anyone trying to hurt her. "How many competitions have you won for skating?"
Haru smiled a little wryly, shaking her head to return to the present. "None. I try to keep quiet about this because I already have more trophies than I can count, and there are plenty of skaters that spend their whole lives fighting to get even one. It'd be awfully selfish of me to take that chance from them just because I have the right genetics to do it." She gave his neck a gentle squeeze before resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm having enough trouble convincing people I'm not perfect without them finding out about this, too."
'You're close enough for me,' Baron wanted to say, but didn't dare. It was still too soon to tell her he fully intended on carrying out her beloved true father's wishes. It was important to keep establishing his place at her side as trusted friend and confidant, since there would be time later to press his suit with her under more honest circumstances.
Baron smiled a little sheepishly as he thought of a somewhat new topic. "I must admit that when I believed those rumors, I was rather amused by the fact that not even a mermaid would look at Drac with interest."
Haru sniffed disdainfully. "He'd be good enough for a mermaid. But since all they care about is 'a good time', it's not like there would be a relationship for him to ruin." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Actually, he'd probably be happier with a real mermaid. They run in packs and are firm believers in sharing their 'toys'."
Baron blinked at the small admission. Haru hadn't spoken as one making a good guess, she spoke as someone with personal knowledge. As was usual when it came to the rare times she ever talked about mermaids. He almost opened his mouth to ask how a mermaid and a human could have 'a good time' considering the large difference in anatomy. But he thankfully shut his mouth before she noticed anything.
There was a good chance he was better off not knowing.
Haru sighed mournfully as she snuggled against him to fight the chill. "It's probably too much to hope that all this will be over before my birthday. Drac always ruins them when he's in town for one." Suddenly she blinked and sat up a little straighter. "I'm such a selfish brat. When's your birthday, Baron?"
He hadn't precisely been curving his body around Haru's in an effort to be closer to her, but such words made him sit up straight in a flash. "You are not a selfish brat!" he snapped without thinking.
"Down, Baron," she sighed while rolling her eyes heavenward. A few friendly pats to his shoulder assured him that it had been another joke.
"Find a different way to be humorous," he growled low in his throat before counting to ten, since it seemed to work for her the handful of times she came close to losing her temper. "The fourth day of the fourth month."
Haru's mouth fell open in shock, making her friend blink in surprise. "… How old?"
The feline lord cocked his head at her for the strange reaction. "I'll be turning thirty this year. What's wrong?"
Haru stared at him in disbelief for a whole minute, long enough to make him uncomfortable. "You were born the night I ran?" she asked in a tiny whisper.
Baron blinked. "As the clock was striking eight in the morning, actually."
Haru finally forced her eyes off him to stare at her own lap. "The time difference… it would have been about perfect. I left as the clock was striking midnight. Your dimension's time is the same as this time zone?" she asked while turning a little panicked.
He nodded, more than a little surprised at this revelation. "My part of it, at least." 'So. We are even more linked than I thought.'
xxXxx
Baron was still in shock the next day. His body seemed to move without needing him personally, taking the route it usually did through the castle. A distant part of his mind could acknowledge that his feet were moving faster than they normally did while he was thinking heavily like this but didn't bother questioning the reason why.
For she was waiting for him at the usual intersection of corridors where their paths always seemed to intersect on the way down for shooting.
She was beaming happily at him but took in a deep breath. "Because I left you alone with Drac, how about I spare you having to say anything you wouldn't of your own volition? We both know I won't believe it, and the real point would be to drive a wedge between us." Noticing that he was still worried, she placed a gentle hand on one furry cheek. "It's too soon for us to really talk about it, so would you mind waiting until after Drac's out of the picture?"
He shook his head to assure her he understood completely, and if it hadn't been for what he had witnessed after hearing what he had been desperate to know for months, he probably would have exclaimed with joy. "There won't be shooting today, or tomorrow. Drac has already informed the others via text."
Haru started in surprise. "After all that fussing and screaming about how 'my' temper tantrum put us months behind schedule? What's that rat up to this time?"
Baron couldn't repress the shudder that wracked his body. "I am bound not to divulge any such information," he recited without any emotion except terror, but not for himself.
He knew full well he should have been. Drac all but promised that he would be killed for the kiss he had stolen from Haru, and yet his only concern was for Haru. For him, no matter how long his death took, it would be over a lot more quickly than the torment that monster had in store for this sweet, unassuming true lady.
Haru looked at him, her eyes narrowing as she took in all the little signs that Baron was nervous, scared, and straining against invisible shackles for the chance to do something about it. "…Let me try again," she offered in a soft whisper while looking up into his eyes with what he privately referred to as her 'deadly serious' expression. "If I knew what you knew, what do you think I would do about it?"
"You would send Yuki, Toby, Hilary, and the Moon siblings to Sonya immediately, and for the undetermined future," he responded gratefully. "She'll know how to keep Drac from-mmh!" Blast it! He couldn't give hints about his contract! Drac had really tightened his grip on him since the next few days were requiring the ex-human to go into hiding.
For new clothes that fit, if nothing else. The feline lord had no idea what Drac had told his personal tailor to justify them or the new measurements.
"Harming them?" Haru offered, touching his shoulder sympathetically. "The way he's harming you?"
Baron nodded, completely thrilled that she was getting the gist of it. "Also, double whatever weapons you're carrying on your person at all times, even in your bedroom. Especially your bedroom," he added without trying to hide his disgust.
Haru nodded without surprise or question. "Anything else? Say 'no' to any suggestion you make that's outside the norm?"
"Within the norm is ill-advised as well. And don't drink any more of my tea until we're confident this is over with him. If I start blinking a lot, don't trust my actions or words." Baron wracked his brain, trying to think of anything else that would give her an edge on that… thing! "Please know that I will hold no grudges whatsoever if circumstances force you into knocking me out to focus on one opponent at a time. I'm afraid what happens from here will depend on your ability to be completely unpredictable, especially to him."
Haru gave him a gentle smile and leapt up just enough to wrap a hug around his neck and press a gentle kiss to one furry cheek to nearly make him swoon. "Just trust me, Baron," she whispered, giving him a grim smile. "Releasing unjust prisoners… is my ultimate specialty."
Baron blinked through the loving daze, since his reading through her fan files hadn't really spoken about that in more than a metaphorical sense. He didn't want to be metaphorically released from his contract; he wanted it shattered so that he could kick the pieces into even smaller ones and maybe get out a few good stamps over the overgrown brat while he was at it. He'd been bound for a little over a year now, and he was ready to be done with it all.
Haru patted his cheek with a smile that hinted she could read his troubled thoughts. "You'll find out soon enough, my friend. Before the week is out, if his scheme's finally coming to a head." Then she blinked and briefly looked down at his arms, hanging limply by his sides despite their twitching with the desire to hold her.
"Is that another one of Drac's orders?" she sighed in resignation, but no real surprise.
Baron nodded miserably. "But he said nothing about accepting affection," he added with more than a little bit of hope.
Haru smiled and increased her hold on him, even nuzzling his neck with her head to make the hug bigger with only her effort. Baron closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to cement her unique scent into the vaults of his most precious memories. He absorbed everything he could of her, storing the strength away for when he would need it the most.
ooOoo
Haru brushed her hands over her daughter's soft hair and pressed one more kiss to her forehead. "Now, remember to be good, and to give Sonya my apologies about doing this without notice."
"She's been expecting something like this for months," Aunt Hiromi assured her concerned friend before stealing a hug of her own. "Don't worry about a thing. She more than understands that Drac is not a threat to be taken lightly."
Haru smiled a little grimly as she released her friend. "Neither is the chance he will use my loved ones as blackmail. You be a good boy and help protect Yuki, okay?" she cooed while rubbing Toby's tummy.
He wiggled with appreciation, but there was a small whimper to his throat, like he knew trouble was on the horizon.
"I know, boy. I hate flying blind," she agreed, giving him a few more scratches before straightening enough to give a fond look up at Muta. "So, you big softie, think you can take them from here?"
He grinned at her, confident enough in their friendship to tug her into a warm hug. "Only if you take Drac from here."
"Invest in a mop," she retorted softly, clearly not looking forward to what she could sense was coming.
Yuki snuck in one more hug, clinging to her mother's waist around Muta's thick arms. "He's been the one pushing this, Mom. It won't be your fault."
Haru smiled down at her, but still with a trace of sadness. She took that hug as well but forced herself to also take a deep breath. "All of you had better go before we drag this on for the next two days. I'll escort you to the front doors."
Hilary immediately flinched since all they needed was the mirror hanging not five feet behind her. "Actually, Haru, I know a secret way out of the castle. The less obvious we make our departure to Drac, the better."
Haru didn't give it much thought before nodding with approval. "In that case… be safe?" she pleaded, stealing one last hug from everyone before forcing herself to march out the door Harold was holding open for her.
This time, unlike the others, he let himself into the room before closing and locking the door. Yuki came forward to add the hair chain she had made months before to make it even harder for anyone to enter the room again and find out what they had done.
While they were doing that, Hilary released the spell that made Yuki's room seem as normal as ever. Books on the shelves rapidly returned to a thin layer of dust. The wardrobe that always looked like it was on the verge of exploding open from all the dresses within obediently gave a groan, and the grain seemed to relax inward from the lack of pressure. Even the treasured photos and leash on the nightstand wavered and faded away until the only sign left that the room had been occupied recently were the relatively fresh sheets and the surprisingly little amount of dust or clutter.
"All right, Yuki. You first," Hilary insisted, holding out a hand to help her tiny niece onto the vanity and through the mirror.
Once on the other side, the little girl straightened without a problem, turning around and grabbing the leash Hilary passed through to her. Toby was used to this method of travel by now, so it didn't confuse him at all to suddenly be back in the royal palace within the royal suite.
Nathaniel was waiting for them, ticking off every name on his checklist as the cats came through, one by one. Julia was after Toby, and Renaldo used his older brother rank to make Harold go before himself.
Once Hilary was through, the advisor smiled thinly and lowered his clipboard. "Then all are accounted for, save for Baron and the lady. And Thomas, of course."
The young noblecat nodded worriedly, drawing her niece into a possessive embrace. "They'll be along soon," she stated, trying to project the confidence that she didn't quite feel.
It wasn't like her brother to keep secrets this big to himself.
Something was wrong.
ooOoo
Those two days felt like the longest in Yuki's entire life. Even more than the years before meeting her beloved mother, since she had no idea there would be an end to those dark days. She could just see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it was perhaps the most beautiful thing she would ever see.
Coming clean to her mother. The transformation that would allow her mother to finally 'grow up' enough to make a big sister out of her beloved daughter. Get the chance to see her mother's wedding to Uncle Humbert and having the beloved woman present at Yuki's own nuptials. Sonya and Aunt Hiromi were already putting their heads together for the details, and Yuki strongly suspected that the best seamstresses in the land were already hard at work on the perfect dress for her mother. Uncle Humbert would probably be relieved to not relive doing that, and her mother would be moved to tears that people loved her enough to take care of the planning without a thought or even waiting for an opening to volunteer. Sonya would make sure that things wouldn't go overboard, which would be the only thing that Uncle Humbert would beg for.
Yuki tried not to prowl the castle like a starved wolf in search of a bite, but she couldn't help it. Every fiber of her being was on edge, almost to the point where she could feel individual blood cells flow through her veins to accommodate her constant exercise. She pulled out the pocket watch with her birth mother's picture to check the time again.
Not even evening of the second day. The little kitten growled in frustration, shoving the pocket watch back into the invisible pocket of her dress.
Muta was staying close to her, of course, but Lune was striving to stay even closer. The only one closer than the prince was a worried Toby, who did his best to comfort Yuki by attempting to rub his body against her leg as she marched from hallway to garden to pathway in no particular order or rhythm.
The prince wracked his brain for something that would at least pass the time. Distract her from the inevitable even if it was just for a little while.
"You know, we could always have you go through the ritual and restore your true appearance so that you won't need at least one of those amulets," Lune tried helpfully, but the white kitten shook her head.
One hand was near her throat, almost thoughtlessly playing with both the amulet that made her look like a cat, and the one Sonya had given her to ensure that Drac couldn't trap her like he did Uncle Humbert.
There was a matching one for Hilary.
"I want to go through the ritual with Mom," the white kitten explained firmly as they continued their march through the latest garden. "We've never done things separately when we can do them together. She really is going to love it here," Yuki sighed in longing. "Visits to Uncle Bruce are probably going to be the only reason she ever wants to visit the Human World again." Then she suddenly gave the prince a smirk not unlike her uncle's. "Besides, your father will probably want to make a big occasion out of the ritual. Trumpets and fancy clothes with a nice long speech, a big celebration afterward that lasts at least twenty-four hours…"
Lune sighed tiredly at the predictable list. "You're probably right. If Mother let him plan anything without restraint, he'd probably outdo your aunt."
Yuki shuddered in horror, remembering her birthday celebration all too well. Noticing a stone bench they were approaching, she decided to sit and enjoy the scenery for a while.
It wasn't until Muta collapsed in front of it that she realized she had been driving him a little too hard.
"Muta! I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hurt you," she apologized, kneeling at her bodyguard's side and touching his heaving side out of sympathy.
Toby didn't have any to give. He just plopped down next to Yuki and stayed there while whimpering about his throbbing feet.
"W…We're… worried… too," the giant cat was able to pant between attempts to catch his breath. A hand wandered down to the water skin he had thoughtfully tied to his belt when Yuki had insisted on a walk… that had started three hours ago.
Lune hadn't been with her for the entire time, but even he was gingerly setting himself on one side of the stone bench with a wince. "No one is… blaming you… Yuki," he managed to agree while fighting off a dizzy spell.
Yuki gave him a helpless look, gathering Toby into her arms in order to claim half of the bench. "It's… just… we've never been separated longer than a few hours! This is worse than torture; I want her here, right now. I miss her hugs so much! I just want that rat to disappear so that the rest of us can move on with our lives and not have to worry about if he's going to mess things up, again!"
Toby did his best to comfort her, now that he was provided with the soft comfort of her satin-covered lap. He licked one hand until it started playing with his long ears in both distraction and affection.
Muta still couldn't say anything. He was busy trying to gulp down water between his gasps for air.
Lune desperately wanted to put an arm around her, to tell her that everything was going to be all right. But it was hard not to let everyone else's anxiety get to him, especially when he was always so worried that one wrong move or word was going to permanently ruin his chances with his future wife.
At a loss for anything better to come to mind, he slid closer to her and offered a hand for support. She gripped it without question, even as the other hand stayed preoccupied with rubbing Toby's fur.
ooOoo
"What are your friends doing?" that familiar voice snarled.
Baron forced the mirror to turn to where his sister and niece were having dinner with the royal family. He cheered up slightly at seeing the protective charms on them but was careful not to be obvious about it.
"They are in my world, waiting for time to pass," Baron's lips unwillingly reported, even though it did his heart good to see how far his king and queen were willing to protect his family. "They have no inkling of your plan."
Even if the royal family had personal reasons to want to keep Yuki safe, that was more than enough for him.
"Will they be able to cross your barrier again?" that harsh voice demanded.
"Not from that side. I am now the only one that will be able to cross or open the barrier."
A low grumble tried to pass itself off as a purr. "Excellent. What is Haru doing?"
Praying that she was decent, Baron switched the mirror to focus on the lady's bedroom.
The keeper of his heart was performing stretching exercises in her normal clothes, her sweet face grim and determined as she flicked her new blades between her fingers with a practiced ease. One could tell at a glance that if her planned moves didn't kill, they would at least permanently maim.
"Preparing herself," Baron reported, unable to keep the relief from his tone.
Behind him, a shadowy figure chuckled as he lounged on his favorite thinking chair. "It will occupy her until tomorrow. Such a shame that it ultimately won't mean a thing."
'Come on, Haru!' the feline lord thought desperately. 'Shock him! Shock me! Shock everyone, but don't let his plan work!'
"Why don't you call your feathered friend and send him to your world as well? I think your friends forgot to take him home," the ex-human sneered out of nowhere, more than smug that he hadn't forgotten the troublesome crow.
'Forgot, was hoping you'd forget so that Haru could get some unexpected assistance again. Does it make a difference? I should have known he'd remember.' Baron kept praying for a miracle as he left the room to find Thomas.
If he was going to be forced to send this little spark of hope back, he'd rather do it as a gentlecat than allow Drac the chance to make him handle the crow harshly.
'Please, Haru…'
ooOoo
This was it. The day of judgement. No matter how things ended, it would end today.
Yuki was sitting in the throne room, on the ornate chair next to the thrones that was usually reserved for the truth seer in training. She could see Lune looking at her worriedly from the corner of his eye but could do little more thanks to custom. Her aunt was standing as close to the ornate chair as propriety would allow for the moment, giving them the window of opportunity to pass each other encouraging smiles. Muta was directly behind her, also dressed nicer for the occasion, and not looking all that happy about it.
"Will it really be appropriate for Duchess Yuki to witness the proceedings, your majesties?" Nathaniel inquired while giving her a worried look of his own.
Sonya gave him a soft glare. "Appropriate or not, I believe she has more right than the entire court to know how her mother will handle the latest mess that rat's planning to saddle her with."
"Never mind the improbability that you will find a sturdy enough dungeon to hold me," Yuki added with only the touch of iron in her tone. "Toby is with Julia, and he would create a lot more trouble than me."
Nathaniel knew better than to question further, although there was more than a touch of disapproval to his frown as they all stared at the marble floor, which had been changed into a giant looking glass in addition to the large mirrors stationed all around the throne room so that there would not be a single occupant without a view.
Only the mirrors had been used in the fight with the hydra, but now that the feline court were aware that Haru's vocal abilities were merely the tip of her iceberg, no one wanted to miss a thing.
Yuki impatiently tapped her claws on the polished wood of her armrest, not so much wanting the show to start as much as she ached for it to finally end.
After the king finally gave the signal, all the curtains were drawn against the morning sun to make the images more vivid, and the connection was made.
Yuki could only sigh in longing as her mother appeared, looking almost like the court was observing her through a glass floor that Haru was too preoccupied to look up and notice.
She was in the peasant brown dress again, though one could see here and there the slight bulge of weapons against her limbs and torso under her dress as she unsteadily made her way through a dark corridor under the castle.
Human ears have always proven to dull to hear it, but Yuki recognized the familiar static of spy cameras lined on both sides of the long stone walls.
If not for all the obvious hints, she would have wondered why Drac was bothering with spy cameras again instead of camera men. The white kitten gripped her cushioned armrests harder, barely alert enough to appreciate that despite the number of cats in the room, a dropping pin would have been the loudest sound on this side of the dimensional barrier.
Haru tried to keep her movements light and fluid as if her character were sneaking around like a thief inside a forbidden castle, but a trained eye would have noticed how every muscle was like a coiled spring, only waiting for the trigger.
At the end of the long stone corridor was a thick heavy door with an impressive lock, flanked with a single torch burning in its ring on the wall. Haru looked at it carefully before extracting a long brass pin from one sleeve to poke and twist at it experimentally, casting an occasional wary glance behind herself until the lock finally clicked for her. Brown hair just barely flowed over her shoulders with every head movement, now that Yuki's haircut had grown out a bit.
Everyone on the cat side of the barrier could sense the small tendril of magic that had really opened the door, but Haru smiled in satisfaction before slipping the brass pin where it had been hiding and had to heave on the door to get it to swing slightly open.
All that was immediately present through that darkness was a set of stone stairs. Grabbing the torch, Haru managed to slip through and walk down them.
'A real thief would have left the torch and closed the door after going through,' Yuki knew in a heartbeat, and she knew for a fact that her mother knew that.
But she also knew that the movie was… low, on the list of her mother's priorities. That open door might prove to be a key factor later if she and Baron needed to escape in a hurry.
Besides, it wasn't like the ones within didn't know she was on her way.
These were the dungeons. Every castle worth the building had at least one. Important ones even had two types; the cellar ones for the common enemies, and the comfortable ones in a tower or other easily guarded structure for ones of political or personal importance.
Most of the cells had their doors left open so that Haru could look into them with no difficulty, but there was never anything more interesting than a rusty chamber pot or broken furniture. But there was another cell at the end of this depressing corridor as well. It was mostly closed, but the thin strip of light around the cracks said that someone was waiting within, as silent as the grave.
Haru broke character long enough to roll her eyes heavenward, almost loudly enough for her daughter to hear her think 'could he get any more clichéd than this?'
Yuki raised one hand to her mouth to cover a smile. How did her mother always know how to insert humor when it was so desperately needed?
Haru rested one hand on that door, mentally stabilizing herself against whatever was to come. She squared her shoulders, took in a deep breath, and gave that door a harsh shove as well.
There was a table in the immediate view of the door. A single white candle was burning on an intricate candlestick, one that was too fine to be normally found anywhere near the dungeons. A plain note with a wax seal was patiently waiting next to it.
Rolling her eyes yet again, Haru came forward, pointedly waving her torch around the room as she went, most certainly not stupid enough to just walk into a room without checking to see if someone was waiting to slam the door shut as soon as she was within their grasp. Keeping one hand on the torch, she managed to break the seal against the edge of the table with one hand, then unfolding it for the message.
Since she knew the majority of the feline nobility couldn't read English, Yuki accidentally spooked most of them by reading the note aloud since her mother wasn't doing it.
You followed me,
I followed you,
We were like each other's shadows for a while.
Now as you see
This game is through,
Your destiny is to walk down the aisle.
"But not to you," Haru muttered under her breath, feeding the note to the torch without so much as a twitch.
Drac materialized behind her, more than likely with Baron's help. But it was not a Drac that anyone was expecting.
Even Yuki couldn't help but gasp, getting a good look at her mother's stalker as she distantly heard the other members of the court also exclaim and begin talking; some in surprise but most with disgust.
"SILENCE!" Queen Sonya commanded to make sure that nothing would be overlooked as attention returned once more to the image on the floor and mirrors.
There was no other way to put it; the strangely proportioned human was now an even more strangely proportioned giant rat. He seemed almost bigger than life itself, his top hat nearly touching the ceiling of the slightly larger cell as he smirked, looking at the back of his intended victim up and down before opening his mouth for a retort. Likely something cheesy along the lines of 'that's what you think!'
Before he had the chance, Haru turned around and gave him a bored expression. Almost like materializing out of thin air was no big deal to her. "I knew it, I knew you were going to do a cameo. I already told you, Drac, you're no ninja."
The giant rat blinked in shock. "Is that all?" he demanded, holding his massive arms out to make sure she could see every inch of him as his naked tail curled up by one side. "Notice… anything else?!"
"A new tie," her mother responded indifferently, flicking a tiny bit of rock out from between two stone slabs in the nearest wall. "Pink and purple have always been your favorite colors. I never knew why you bothered denying it. You know, this isn't enough lighting. This will never show up on the cameras, you sure you don't want this reshot? I mean, I did break character." She turned her body toward the big door she had entered through, still holding up the torch to light more than her path and possibly in case she needed it as a weapon.
Drac gave some anguished snarls that made it clear that he would have even preferred hysterical screaming to her indifference.
She looked over at him, pausing right before the exit. "I hope you know that if this is how you're planning to end the movie, it won't make a lick of sense, and it'll cost you any chances you had of a theater release."
"Oh, shut up! I'm not releasing this movie!" Drac yelled at the top of his lungs, snapping his fingers to make the thick door slam shut and lock itself.
An identical sound from the other side of the door screaming that the other door she had opened was now similarly blocked off, doubly trapping the occupants.
Both times, Drac's magic wasn't the one responsible.
"I was going to, but now it's just loose ends!" He marched up to her until she had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact. "I sent all the crews packing last night! Didn't you notice that no one was around but that note by your door?! Or in the halls? The kitchens?"
"I'd have been stupid not to." She crossed her arms, still holding the torch with one hand just right to keep it from burning her hair off. "Is this really where you want to end our disagreement, Drac? I'd have thought the battlements would have been more dramatic, and the accompanying music would-"
"Didn't you hear me?! This movie isn't for the public!" the rat screamed, almost beside himself with fury from getting no reaction from her at all. He tried to grab her chin, but an upward jab with her own hand made him take a few steps back and shake his hand while giving what had clearly been a minor injury an incredulous look, like he couldn't believe she would have dared to do such a thing.
Despite the fact that he should have learned to expect it by now.
Haru gave the rat monster a very direct, piercing look. "Would you like to know why your appearance doesn't shock or surprise me?" she asked in a calm tone that seemed wildly inappropriate considering the amount of danger she was in.
He looked up, almost surprised that she had noticed, after all.
"It's because this," she gestured to his giant rat body as if she saw this sort of thing every day, but never enjoyed it. "… Is precisely how I've always seen you." Her smile turned decidedly chill as his fury grew. "You've been very naughty, haven't you, Drac? Playing with things you don't understand? I bet it hurt like the dickens." She even had the audacity to make a tsking sound with her tongue and waving the torch in a 'no no' gesture. "So sorry to disappoint you but running and crying to me won't do a thing. The change you brought on yourself has no reversal. By refusing to renounce me, you have renounced your humanity and all chances to live unmolested in this world without staying in the shadows."
It was only here that there grew a touch of sympathy in her large brown eyes. "Tell me the truth. Was getting rejected by me a handful of more times, this time in favor of someone that's as close to perfect for me as you can get, actually worth it?"
Drac was literally shaking with rage by now but forced himself to calm down. After a while he was even able to smile at her, though there was no warmth in the gesture. "This is probably the only thing Baron and I will ever be able to agree on, Haru. Getting to be with you is worth everything."
He snapped his gloved fingers one last time.
It was a surprise to no one that Haru had come armed to the teeth for this final showdown. She knew better than anyone that even the tiniest blade might help if her bare hands wouldn't do the trick.
Unfortunately, Drac was counting on her wearing that much steel.
Everyone in court could see the flare of Baron's magic as it briefly turned the dangerous objects into a smooth silvery liquid, ran out over her limbs and to the ground before turning solid enough to force Haru to sharply cross her arms over her chest and her legs to become tightly bound together in under the space of a second.
Even as she cried out in surprise, the torch accidentally went flying, though Drac was able to catch it without much effort and slip it into one of the usual iron rings hanging from the wall for just such a purpose.
By the time he turned around to smirk at Haru again, the liquidated weapons had the woman pinned tightly in place by the metal as it finished solidifying into its original strength, like she had been forged into the wiry embrace of an iron sculpture. She was struggling, naturally, but the one who had imprisoned her had been thorough enough to leave no openings for escape.
"Thank you for giving Baron so much material to work with," he sneered before looking over her shoulder. "That was very kind of her, wasn't it, Baron?"
The feline lord allowed his own invisibility spell to wear off, showing to the world that the previous twenty-four hours were the most miserable of his life. His eyes, which of late had sparkled with such happiness that he hadn't dreamed would be his again were now dull where they were not full of anger.
"She doesn't deserve this, and you know it," he snarled at the rat that had enslaved him.
Drac only gave a noncaring shrug while still grinning in triumph. "Then she should have accepted my first proposal like she promised to."
Now that Haru was sore from struggling, she glared at Drac while giving a sniff of disdain. "I never promised that, and I think the fact that you're willing to go this far says loud and clear that turning you down was one of my better life choices. So, what now?" Her scowl deepened. "If you tell me there's a bribed priest hiding in another corner somewhere-"
"All in good time," he assured her while gloatingly holding her chin so that he could gaze on his prize. "… and in a better setting than this. Because you were right about something else, Haru. I do miss Harry Jones terribly. Why, I'd do anything to get her back in my life. Absolutely anything."
In the Cat Dimension, nearly everyone gasped in horror. Even Yuki, who hadn't been told of such a spell yet, knew what that overgrown rat had in mind.
Haru gaped slightly before an unearthly rage filled her features. "You wouldn't dare go that far!" she snarled, tearing her chin out of his grasp with one head movement.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" he purred, knowing full well that she couldn't stop him now.
Haru desperately renewed her struggle now that she knew how serious her own peril was, but the metal vines were too many even for her strength. Drac did nothing for now, content with gloating that for the first time in months, he was in complete control of the situation.
Yuki crossed all the fingers she could, hoping that her mother could figure out a way out of this mess, just like all the others.
At long last, Haru hmphed angrily through her tired gasps. "Well, at least I'll have the comfort of knowing you'll never be able to make me sing like Dad could."
Yuki's eyebrows raised as a second gasp escaped her control. 'No, I heard wrong. Or Mom's trying to lure him into a false sense of security before dropping the bomb on him.'
If all it took to get the best of Haru Yoshioka was to bind her hand and foot, even her daughter knew that she would have died fairly early in her career.
"Of course I will," Drac assured her while insultingly patting her on the cheek. "We both know how far you'll go to please someone who loves you."
"That's why I kept turning you down, you blockhead!" Haru screamed at the top of her lungs, using his proximity to at least hurt his ears one last time. "You have never even once managed to convince me that you actually love me! Love is a partnership, and you only know how to be a master! This proves it!"
Drac sighed. "Why would marriage be a partnership when it's the man that's the head of the family? Ready the spell Baron."
The cat struggled desperately to disobey, and he did his best not to raise one hand or let it be filled with a grey mist. But he still drew closer, approaching the lady he loved from behind and raising that dangerous hand until it was mere inches from the side of her head. That poor hand was shaking terribly, but resistance was futile.
Drac's will would be done.
"F-Forgive me?" Baron choked through his tears.
Haru painfully turned her head to look up at him with a gentle smile that held no anger for him. "I never blame the weapon for the one holding it. I love-"
"Enough of that," Drac barked, angry that even in his moment of triumph Haru was forgetting him for his rival. "Baron, erase precisely the last thirty years from her mind. Immediately."
Still sobbing, Baron's hand slammed into her temple of its own accord, seeping the mist into her brain as she tried to angle her head away, but there was no escape for her this time.
Her eyes turned to blank silver as a result, and a terrible scream of loss and pain escaped her throat, filling the room and the hallway beyond with one last terrible song that was joined almost immediately with Baron's cry of despair.
Yuki's heart froze in fear as something far worse than even her darkest nightmare happened right before her eyes.
Her mother was very literally being forced to forget about Yuki's existence. She would be right back to the easily manipulated, scared little girl she had been before crossing paths with so much as Louis, never mind the man who adopted her and brought her talents to full bloom.
"No!" she screamed, trying to bring her power down on her uncle, to fling him away from her mother.
Baron would have more than forgiven her if she had been able to manage it… but she wasn't. Even with her great power, it wasn't enough to reach across the dimensional barrier her uncle had been forced to erect last year. Without another family member on the Human side of it to bring people over for help, Haru was on her own.
Drac had been clever enough to even use her mother's protective nature against her, simply letting her cut off her only chances for backup before proceeding with his own plans.
"Mom!" Yuki screamed as her mind seemed to shut down as the entire court also began screaming, some for the rat to stop his plan, and others for Haru to break free, or even for Baron to break free from the rat's terrible hold.
All those hopes were in vain. After what felt like eternity, Baron finally took his hand away from Haru's temple, and she sagged against her metal bonds like a limp doll that had never known life.
Drac excitedly moved forward to grab her around the restraints. "Release her," he commanded Baron, who was still weeping as the metal seemed to turn the consistency of water, running off Haru's limbs until they solidified into a large puddle on the stone floor. It almost looked like a misshapen mirror, but there were other things to worry about just now.
The rat's face had turned surprisingly gentle as he cradled the slender woman between his large arms. "The best part is I won't need an obedience spell to control her. As far as Harry Jones was concerned, she already has one."
"Monster," Baron snarled, in the worst agony as he was forced to watch the rat take his first kiss from the unconscious woman.
It was all the onlookers could do to keep their breakfasts as Hilary started trying to step through a window to get at the creep!
"Fiend. Snake. You'll regret this, I swear!" Baron stated, his every muscle twitching with the desire to move forward and rip the rat's head off. But a previous order was obviously holding him fast.
Drac looked up with a bit of annoyance at being interrupted. "Ah, yes. Business before pleasure." He walked Haru to the farthest corner of the room and laid her down as if handling a sleeping child. "How long will that spell knock her out again?" he asked while running his fingers through her soft brown hair.
If thoughts could kill, Yuki would have happily claimed her first murder, there and then!
"Hours," Baron choked through his rage and grief.
Drac slowly turned around, his smile once again turning malicious. "Glorious," he gloated, daintily removing his tiny white gloves and pocketing them inside his jacket with all the relaxed ease of preparing himself for a round of poker and gin. He even set his top hat on the table and hung his coat on the lone chair to keep them from getting damaged. "Plenty of time, then… for this!"
With a bit of concentration, the rat was able to make claws flex out of the tips of his fingers, doubling their length when he was done.
Not even the slow approach of the gloating rat was enough to soften Baron's anger. He glared up at his 'master' defiantly, proudly.
"Hold still," Drac ordered quietly while raising one arm. "I want to enjoy this."
The first slash was terrible. So was the second. Renaldo rushed forward to at least cover Yuki's eyes from the third blow, but she had already seen enough to haunt her for years if her uncle's screaming couldn't do the trick.
"NO!" Hilary wailed, breaking right through the window in her efforts to break through the barrier. "We were promised this wouldn't happen! Humbert!"
"Muta," Sonya choked through her grief. "Get Yuki out of here. She shouldn't see this."
Yuki couldn't believe it was ending like this! It couldn't end like this! Not when Grandpa had promised so bright a future for all of them!
She didn't give up as her protector grabbed her by the arm and began trying to drag her out of the throne room. She fought back with her power, running forward to start stomping on the mirror floor as if she could break through the same as if only glass were separating them. "MOM! MOM!"
xxXxx
A/N; Drac's note contains partially faithful lyrics from his second song from The Great Mouse Detective. This last scene was what I was working on before my father's heart attack and my grandfather's passing.