(Chapter Thirty-Seven: Secret hideaway)
The crew walked on; when they had returned to the more populated area of the metro it was blatantly clear that they were being followed once Julia and the others were noticed.
She wasn't sure why they wouldn't follow her and the others to more secluded areas when she was talking with Tie earlier, but perhaps they were scared that they'd get caught?
Do they believe she'll kill them and hide their bodies for no one to find?
That's… a rather morbid thought.
Did she look that scary?
"Green part of the metro, this was the place…" Julia muttered.
Zephyr took an unnoticeable glance back and saw that they were still being watched by three masked cats. "What are the odds that this area was more monitored than the others we've been to?" He asked.
Julia hummed and remembered how much the Empress disliked the color green. It just makes her think, how have the rest of Jack's crew not been caught yet? Was it because the Empress had taken care of the old leader that they believe things will be easier?
"Things will be a lot harder if they follow us…" Julia said, walking forward at a leisurely pace.
"Shall Zephyr distract them for you?" He slightly bowed, a hand behind his back and signature smile.
The woman looked back at him with a face that read: 'this better not involve stabbing them.'
"Fret not! Fret not!" Zephyr laughed at her as they all stopped, "Zephyr is a fool, after all, we may be skilled with knives but there are other tricks we can do."
"I find it hard to believe you have any tricks that are… 'Safe'." Julia folded her arms at him.
There was a moment of silence as Zephyr raised his head, "Go." he whispered, "I shall deal with them." He held a finger to his mouth with a mischievous smile.
With realization, Julia slowly nodded, waiting to walk into the back routes with the others.
Zephyr carefully walked up to an open area with a merry smile and kind eyes. Something no one ever thought to see with true intentions.
"Greetings, greetings! One and all, my name is Zephyr! I dance with blades, sing merry songs, and entertain all who are entranced!" He twirled around and bowed to the group of cats that worked for the Empress, blocking their view from his group. "I am a performer of many acts, but for tonight I'll do a simple thing for all you cats!" At first, it was odd seeing a man wearing a suit doing little magic tricks, but they were also stunned at how well they were done.
Jumping onto a bench he called out "A coin, a coin! Doesn't matter what kind! Gold, silver, or copper will suffice!" He held a hand out, successfully grabbing their attention and excitement along with a few pedestrians.
Oh, he wished he could strike them down now, such a wonderful opening. But alas, his sister has ordered him not to. For once, he plans on listening.
Julia, Kero, and Bonnie all booked it down the hall, turned some corners, and eventually found themselves alone.
Saying she was worried about Zephyr being alone was an understatement, but… she did want to have more faith in him. There were rare occasions where Zephyr referred to himself as a single entity.
Taking a moment to breathe, Julia and the two children looked around the low active area and the woman remember what she was supposed to ask "But… where are we supposed to ask for playing cards?" She mumbled out loud.
Bonnie and Kero noticed immediately that Julia had frozen up after she had mumbled, and a voice quietly hushed them. "Don't clench your hand, and calmly follow me." It said.
The two kids looked at each other and they watched Julia try and not to sway her hand around as if someone was dragging her along. To say the least, they were confused, but Julia knew right away that what was holding her hand was a cat that was able to turn invisible.
Exactly like those Alpine Skyline cats.
"We're almost there." The cat whispered.
They were being led to a bar, Julia noticed. When she moved her hand to open the door, a little bell chime signaling their entry. It was… it looked like a normal bar. Pool tables, seats to eat and drink at, and the main reason why the place was called a Bar; the shelves were fully stalked up with all kinds of drinks.
The place was dimly lit, and it seemed like the windows were tinted darker than most of the places around here.
The invisible cat had let go of the woman's hand and from there on she couldn't figure out where they had gone.
The bartender, a golden cat with blue eyes, side glanced at them as they cleaned a glass cup. A couple of other cats playing at one of the pool tables stopped to look at the new folks that walked in.
The two children grabbed a single leg on Julia as she straightened up and looked back at everyone. She nodded her head at the bartender and immediately asked once again "I was told to find some 'playing cards'… have any here?"
Julia honestly didn't know what to expect when she had walked up and asked that, these kinds of stuff would only work in the movies, but she had gotten a reaction from the tall cat.
"We've got a shop in the back," he pointed down a corridor "stay as long as you like to find the purrfect set." And continued cleaning before the nighttime gathering started.
She looked over to the corridor, then back at the cat, and nodded. Slowly Julia made her way and found out that… there was a shop filled with custom-colored playing cards and gambling games.
"I- uh…" she scratched her head "this… this is pretty literal."
"Welcome! Are you here to find a 'Jack of all trades' kind of set, or something else?" A beautiful cat, a little young than the bartender but similar in fur color. She had green eyes and a beautiful cherry blossom kimono.
Julia's mind was running low from being sidestepped by literacy that she wasn't paying attention to what the lady had asked her. However that same voice from earlier piped up.
"Madeline, come on! Don't you know who she is?" The invisible cat reviled themselves; a rather tall calico cat, bigger than most, with green eyes and a green bandanna around their head. "It's her, Jack found her!"
The cat named Madeline gasp "the movie star!?" Then looked over at Julia and squinted "she looks so different now…"
"I wouldn't be surprised, it's been a handful of years." The mystery cat said, shrugging.
"At least you didn't call me a bozo." Julia managed to say.
The mystery cat just laughed, "Was that why he was freaking out when he came back to base? Hah!"
Madeline just sighed, shaking her head. "Come now, this way. Before there's a bigger commotion." She stepped off of a rug and moved it, revealing a large metal trap door.
"Whoah…" Bonnie looked with amazement.
Opening it, the mystery cat looked back with a smile
"Smart…" Julia looked down at the long ladder "that's why the Empress's goons couldn't find you guys…"
"So, you are workin' for her, huh? Heh, just be careful down here." The cat looked at her before getting ready to go down "a lot of folks lost some good people, homes, just because of the big bad."
"Understandable, but I'm not truthfully working for her; we want to get our belongings, and maybe kick her hind side while I'm at it." Julia nodded making the two cats smile.
"Something tells me you're not just a movie star." Madeline smiled kindly at her then watched everyone else descend the ladder. Once there was space for Julia she carefully closed the metal door and covered it with the same rug.
Red lights were the only thing illuminating the long stretch down, but once the ladder finally ended it seemed to open up to a forgotten part of the metro. Julia could tell this line doesn't work anymore with the lack of power lighting the place up.
Boards cover up the gaps where the cars would run to make a flat space, tents and little makeshift shops made up the community here.
"This reminds me of a video game I used to watch my cousins play…" Julia mumbled, remembering a certain apocalypse game.
"Welcome to Forgotten Space! Eh… title still in the works… as well as our gang name too…" the cat said gesturing to the place, scratching their head. "Name's Meko, but something's telling me you already knew that." Pointing to a small piece of paper sticking out of her coat.
Julia took out the papers and handed them to him, not a single emotion on her face, Meko smiled, looking down at the wanted posters and whistles. "Man, haha! These are old!"
"I can't believe I looked this young!" His piercing eye lighted up with delight.
Julia didn't quite have a grasp on cat years, or how fast they grew. Saying nothing on the matter, she was just boggled to hear that this picture was considered old. She guesses they were telling the truth about hiding for a long while.
"Meko… why don't you and the other cats just leave when the Empress came?" Julia looked at him, then off at the civilization.
Still looking at the posters, Julia noticed that the older cat's grip tighten "we were giving a chance to… when it began." He said in a low voice "but what would you do, if a stranger came barging into your home and saying… 'this doesn't belong to you anymore?
"This place… this place was more of a home to me and my brother than the skylines were." He looked up to her, ripping the papers to shreds "Ace made sure of that for us! Us! Petty thieves. Even though we weren't metro cats like him and Jack…"
Julia smiled at him, her kind smile made him drop every piece of paper he had clenched in Meko's hands. "I understand that wholeheartedly." She said.
"You'd do anything to fight for a place that brings you happiness, even sorrows because that's where you feel like you belong." Julia held her chest, gripping at her heart "and in the end, it's still worth it no matter what happens."
Julia feels the same, but to this world entirely. Her home was a lot bigger than an underground metro. Mafia town, the studio, even Subcon. She'd fight time anomalies all over again with Hat if she could.
"Take me to Jack, it's time to brainstorm." Julia motions for the cat to lead her and the children. Meko smiled brightly.
Jack was currently sobbing his eyes out, and Julia looked down at him as she was currently trying to keep herself balanced. The boy had deliberately latched himself to her when she had entered the large tent and thanked her repeatedly. To others, this sight would be rather comical and heartwarming; it was natural to feel emotional in front of your idol, for they have changed your lives in little and also big ways.
Others have different ways of showing that appreciation. This was Jack's way.
"Jack! Your claws!" Julia yelped, tempted to shake him off, but realized that might not be a wise idea since the cat's claws were pinching her.
Immediately Jack hopped off realizing what he was doing and panicked "Sorry! I'm sorry! I can't control them when grabbing!" he looked at his claws and made sure to relax his hands.
"so that's how you got those wholes in your pants..." Bonnie smiled, trying to laugh as she looked at her pant legs.
while Julia was distracted by Bonnie and the other cats, Kero looked around inside. This tent was bigger than the others he had seen walking down the boardwalks of the forgotten metro line, and It seemed to have a chalkboard with ideas that had long since been erased off. A rectangular table with a few chairs where ascue but only one pushed in. Hand-drawn posters tapped to the canvas tent about how bad the Empress is with crudely drawn pictures.
Then... something had caught the boy's eyes.
A figure, as tall a Julia, but feline qualities. Thin in shape and Kero almost mistook it for the Empress, but then realized... It was a male... ghost.
The figure turned to look at the boy but Kero quickly looked away, frightened that this was the first and only ghost he had seen down in the metro. Not wanting to start a scene the poor boy walked over to his mother and held onto her hand. Julia looked down at him a little worried but Kero just shook his head and said in a whisper "I'll tell you later."
The ghostly figure came closer, and Julia now realized why it was suddenly so cold here. Not turning around, she guessed the others couldn't see it as she and her boy could. "We'll deal with it later, but for now, try not to pay it much mind." Julia whispered back "If it knows we can see it, I might cause problems."
With that, Kero nodded.
So there was the next chapter! I honestly couldn't figure out what I wanted to name this new area I had made, but I hope you guys thought the idea of it was neat! If I'm thinking correctly, the next and the one after should wrap up the metro and near its final but I've been wrong before with my planning... But here's hoping!