"Research?" Kokoro blotted at her eyes as she looked to Baron for an answer.
"Yes, research," he said, seating himself at his desk again. "When coming up with the best strategy, you must know your enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Since we all know next to nothing about the fairies and their queen, we can't help you very well, now can we?"
"But how are we going to learn about fairies?" Toto questioned, looking down at Baron.
Baron smiled. "I was thinking on paying another visit to the Kingdom of Cats."
"What?!" Muta roared, jumping off the couch and turning to glare at Baron. "Oh no, you aren't dragging me to that place again!"
Baron rubbed his chin. "I wasn't planning on inviting you Muta." Muta looked shocked, then offended. "Actually, I was going to ask you to stay here and watch Miss Kokoro while I'm gone."
Muta folded his arms over his chest and scowled. "I'm no baby-sitter. I'm not watching some loony girl while you run off."
"Baron, do you really want to leave that fat fleabag in charge of another life?" Toto asked, staring pointedly at the fuming Muta.
"At least I don't have a birdbrain!" he hissed.
"Now, now, you two, you're upsetting our guest," Baron said, looking at Kokoro. Both animals looked at her and cringed.
Kokoro looked surprised, then touched her cheeks. They were startlingly wet. She hadn't realized she was crying again.
Muta slumped his shoulders. "All right, all right, I'll be the babysitter," he said, defeated. "But you owe me Baron!"
Baron clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! Toto, I'm going to need you to come with me."
"What for Baron?"
The cat walked over and removed his hat, coat, and cane from the hat stand. "King Lune gave me a device so I can enter the Cat Kingdom anytime I wish, but I'll need a ride back. The tower still isn't rebuilt from when their previous king destroyed it," he said.
During their entire conversation, Kokoro sat on her trunk and looked utterly confused. What on earth are they talking about? she wondered. "What's the Cat Kingdom?" she finally asked, embarrassed that she couldn't be included in their conversation.
"It's another dimension inside this one that is ruled and lived in exclusively by cats," Baron explained as he pulled on his coat. "I believe the current rulers are King Lune and Queen Yuki."
"And I thought a fairy kingdom was weird," she murmured.
Baron adjusted the hat on his head before spinning around, strolling back over to his desk, and opening a drawer. He withdrew a gold fish with a purple crystal eye strung on a chain, which he carefully looped around the handle of his cane. Then he disappeared outside.
The other three looked at each other before Toto hopped out the balcony doors and Muta rushed through the main ones, Kokoro following behind. When they all got outside, Baron was standing twenty feet from his house and mumbling something. He then tapped his cane three times on the cobbled street and took several steps back. As they all watched, a giant hole opened in the middle of the road, the energy emanating from the hole causing Kokoro's hair to dance around her face.
Baron turned around and gestured to Toto to come forward. The crow hopped forward, and Baron swung up onto the bird's back. He then turned and waved to Kokoro. "I'll be back soon, and then we can deal with your problem properly," he said. "You can stay the night here, so as those fairies don't come and steal you away while we're gone."
Kokoro smiled. He really was a gentleman. "Thanks Baron," she said gratefully.
"Oh, and Miss Kokoro?" She looked at him. "Keep that stone with you at all times. If we lose it, and those fairies find you, you could be in danger."
He then turned to the grumpy cat. "Muta, please help her get comfortable. Oh, there is an angel food cake I just made this morning in the cupboard. Share it with her."
Finally, he looked back at the hole. "All right, I'll be back as soon as I can!" he yelled, then Toto jumped into the hole, and in a burst of vibrant blue light, they were gone.
~*~