15. May Part One

The castle, built of white stone, stood on a plain in the middle of the night. The night was not dark, rather it had a faint tinge of blue. The palace had three floors, but the light was only on the first floor. If one found a long staircase, climbed it and looked out of the window, one could see two couples. In one pair the young man was dressed in a dark grey suit and had a dirty blonde hair colour, his partner was dressed in a blue dress with a puffy hem, her hair was snow white. In the other pair, the young man wore a blue suit, more like an officer's suit, his hair was black and his eyes were blue, while the girl had brown hair and a simple white dress. Both couples danced and looked only at their dance partner. Nothing seemed to be able to disturb this idyll.

Suddenly the castle began to shake,

All the walls collapsed, Haru bounced back in time, pulling the young man away from the flying slab of ceiling and what had been the floor of the third floor a couple of minutes ago. Gasping for dust, in a panic they started looking for their friends, they were on the other side. Just as the girl was about to approach them, a voice rang out.

"Soon, very soon the planet will be mine and you will die," the voice was nasty and ear cutting.

"Who are you?" - The brown-haired girl asked with a note of fear in her voice.

"Your death," and the voice laughed and the girl began to fall dramatically.

Haru jumped up abruptly on the bed, covered in sweat, trying to catch her breath. But that terrible laughter echoed in her head, she looked at the clock, it was still only midnight. She was afraid to close her eyes again, she didn't want to go back to her nightmare just yet.

Nothing makes her feel better than a cup of tea, the taste of which, thanks to blending, is never repeated twice.

The thought brought a smile to her face. Standing up, she made her way to the kitchen and put on the kettle. After making the tea, she decided to go upstairs and drink it in her room. Bringing the cup to her lips, she froze as the familiar words rang in her mind.

"Haru, when you really, really need our help again, then the doors of the cat bureau will open again, be it day or night."

But Haru only shook her head, for nightmares, in her opinion, were not the purview of the bureau. After drinking her tea, Haru calmed down a bit and decided to try to sleep, she didn't want to go back to the old Haru. She even managed to do so.

But at the other end, in a secluded lane, the small house was not so quiet. The lights were on, as always, though the doors were locked. Outside, an argument could clearly be heard between two people. These voices did not belong to the raven and the cat, they were not even arguing today, just listening to another argument with bewilderment.

"You must not interfere," said the first voice.

"But that's what we were sent here to do, that's our mission," the female voice objected.

"Yes, I know we're here on a mission, but we've just met and I don't want to lose you," the voice trembled visibly.

"And I don't want to either, dear, but I guess that's our fate," the woman also spoke in an almost weeping voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm selfish," the gentleman replied sadly after a while.

"No, you're not selfish, and never have been. You just waited a long time for me, and now that I'm in front of you, you just don't want to go back to what you knew before," the girl reassured him.

"Yeah, you're probably right, sorry to see me like this," the young man replied nervously, which was very uncharacteristic of him.

"Stop apologising, let's better think about how we can find her," the girl's voice said sharply.

"Her?" - he asked in surprise.

"Yes, don't tell me you forgot?" - The girl was a little surprised.

"I know our purpose is to find something and protect it at the cost of our lives, but for it to be a girl, I don't recall that," the first voice explained.

"Perhaps your memory has been deliberately blocked by someone so that the past doesn't interfere with your mission," the woman focused on something.

"That seems quite reasonable, given the situation" - the man agreed - "Do you remember what she looks like?" - Put a hand on her chin, thinking.

"No!" - The woman shook her head, which was not in keeping with her demeanour - "I only know that when the forces of the planets come together, then they can find her."

"Until then, there is no way to find her" - curiosity and a desire to wonder about other matters took over the worry that lurked within.

"No, because, in the Queen's mind, it was supposed to protect her from evil."

"But she did not envisage that evil would be like the plague, and hearts would quickly be covered in darkness."

"No, she didn't."

"But we have to start somewhere," he asked his interlocutor.

"I think we should start with the patroness of the planet Luna," the girl suggested.

"Though wasting precious time, I think I'll do my research in the cat kingdom," the gentleman finally pronounced.

"Me too, I have a plan," came a heavy sigh that did not bode well.