Chapter Eleven: Fathers' Legacy
Haru quirked an eyebrow, then nodded.
"Sure; it's a good possibility, with your features."
He leaned a little closer to her, his eyes glowing.
"Please tell me about the Cat Kingdom."
"You mean Muta hasn't?" She glared at the large cat, who just humphed at her and took a whack at Toto again.
"What's to tell? It's a nice-looking place that softies go to when they get sick of this world."
"There's a little more than that, Muta," the brunette said in an irritated manner. Toto stopped flying around to rest on the priest's shoulder so that the large cat could rest. The fat feline smirked at the girl, looking her over.
"Oh? Have you ever been there, Chicky? You don't look like you have."
"I haven't, but my father did once, many years ago. That's why I can talk to cats, he almost didn't make it out in time."
Baron was staring at her like she was speaking a different language.
"Please tell me everything you can, Haru," he asked, although his eyes were begging.
'A man ready to hang on my every word? Must be close to the end of the world.' "All right; the Cat Kingdom is a bit of a dangerous place for humans to be in. If one happens to get into the kingdom, they will start changing into a cat. If they don't leave by the next human sunrise, that person will be stuck as a feline. It's nearly impossible to tell when sunrise happens, because it's always noon in the Cat Kingdom. It's a feline paradise."
Baron nodded, memorizing her words.
"Why did your father go to the Cat Kingdom?"
"He saved the Cat Prince's life, before he married my mother. Apparently a human nobleman visiting this area tried to cut off the prince's head over some small slight, and Father managed to steal him and whisk him away to safety. The prince was grateful, but the Cat King was even more so. He took Father to the Cat Kingdom, and showed him around. When he started changing into a cat and began understanding what the king was trying to say, the king offered him his own daughter in marriage, to show his gratitude. But Father was deeply in love with Mother, and told the king so. The king understood, and allowed Father to return home to Mother. It was just barely sunrise when he made it out. After that, he could always understand cats, and that's why I can too."
Maybe that was why her new friend's appearance wasn't all that disturbing to her. Baron blinked twice at her. The story seemed too incredible to be real, but considering his own unique form, he had no place to talk about what was or wasn't possible.
"How does one get into the Cat Kingdom?"
"That depends. For the royal family, they just make a portal. If a human wanted to get in, they would have to travel to Cat's Paw Lakes, which is located on the other side of the Chateau Forest. One would have to jump into the main lake on a night of the full moon in order to reach the kingdom, and they have this huge maze and portal tower you have to climb in order to get back out."
Baron leaned back in his seat, completely stunned.
"A passing nobleman…" he whispered. Father Hashio looked at him sharply.
"Do you think… your father?"
Baron nodded.
"If a Cat King can reward a man for rescuing his son, surely he can punish one that tried to kill him."
"But you didn't do anything, Baron."
"Neither did the prince. With how Mother described the man, I could believe that he would try to kill something as defenseless as a cat, if attempting to do the same to his wife and newborn child didn't faze him."
Haru's eyebrows shot up, and a soft gasp escaped her throat.
'Is his name his true rank?' "I guess… that's why you're here?"
Baron nodded firmly, lost in thought.
"I wonder if there's a way to fix this…" he mused aloud. Haru bit her lip nervously.
"I could ask one of my friends to pass a message to the king. The prince my father saved is probably in charge now, and might be able to come to an understanding."
Baron looked sharply at her, completely astounded.
"You'd really do that for me? Just like that?"
She smiled and nodded.
"Why not? You could clearly use a little help, for the next time you try to sneak out."
The father coughed pointedly, glaring at his surrogate son. Baron blinked, and coughed politely.
"I don't think I'll be sneaking out for a while, but… if you could find a way to fix my appearance…"
She could clearly hear the naked longing in his voice, even if she somehow couldn't see it in his amazingly green eyes.
'He's even more invisible than I am, but it's a disguise he must wear, if he wants to live. How sad, that day at the festival must have been the first time outside that he could remember. How could he have gone for so long without fresh air?'
She grinned and nodded.
"I'll try to send the message along as soon as I can, since Muta here apparently doesn't deal with the kingdom."
The white cat started snickering evilly.
"Oh, I dealt with them, all right. I wonder if they've managed to replace the damage I did yet."
Baron looked at the cat quizzically.
"Muta, what did you do?"
The cat didn't answer, but Haru suddenly became very interested in just how fat the cat was, and the color of his fur.
Without warning, she started laughing her head off, horrified and amused beyond words. Baron and Father Hashio looked at her.
"What ails you, child?" her old friend asked. The brunette kept one hand to her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles.
"They're still rebuilding what you did… Renaldo Moon."
The white cat grinned at her.
'Well, we knew she was sharp.' "Sorry to say this, Chicky, but I don't think you'll have a lot of luck with the current Cat King. His crown's a bit crooked, and so is he."
Haru sighed while Baron translated for the priest.
"Still, it couldn't hurt to try."
The cat laughed at her again, although his eyes were turning dark from unpleasant memories.
"I wouldn't count on that, Chicky."