Neko Monogatari

Chapter 3- Lost and Found

Cloe rushed out of the palace when Maora finally got her to react, not minding to tell her father she was going out. He had given her permission to go out to town for a few hours after she turned ten, but that was it. That time, he had told her not to go beyond the entrance of Ding Dong Dell, which led out into the wilderness, and King Tom had been serious about the whole thing. The first, and only, time Cloe had actually tried to go out her father had grounded her with no dessert for two days.

The cat princess ran through the passages and paths carved with fish drawings and painted cat paw steps, present since Ding Dong Dell's first founding, looking through the small ponds and water channels for the red herring, but finding no trace of it. If her father found out (if he hadn't already), he would probably fall into depression or worse, considering that the fish was a memento of his beloved wife. Eventually, Cloe came to the Swift Solutions building, knowing it had a giant pond where any fish would be easy to spot, especially certain scarlet-colored fish.

As Cloe ran towards the pond, she noticed something strange… a boy a little younger than her was trying to regain his balance atop one of the poles that stuck out of the water, near a small dock (her father had ordered some of his guards to build it since she had a tendency to swim in there) looking around the crystalline waters, as if looking for something… On the dock she spotted a… moving plush? No, it looked like one, but it was not a plush toy. She had a hunch of what it was, but… could it really be.

Flicking her tail, Cloe slowly walked closer to the moat, but just as she was about to take a peek at both the pond and the small creature, her ears twitched to a sound… a splash, and looking up, she spotted her father's beloved fish swimming away.

… Unfortunately, in her surprise, she didn't realize she had walked too close to the edge of the dock, and was she tried to follow the red fish's disappearing colors, Cloe fell headfirst into the moat, startling the boy and causing him to lose his balance, falling into the moat like her.

"Ah!" Drippy cried as he glanced into the moat, looking around for the two, "Ollie-boy! Cat-girl! Where are you?!"

Seconds later, Ollie emerged from the waters, coughing and trying to regain his lost air while looking around for the cat girl who had fallen into the pond alongside him. Cloe almost immediately emerged from the waters, and surprisingly, she didn't need to swim to keep herself above the surface as before. The last time she had been there, before her father changed, she was much shorter.

"Hey!" the boy's voice reached her ears, "Are you alright?!"

Cloe coughed a few more times before she and the boy swam towards the edge of the dock, barely managing to climb without slipping off, and the plushie creature hopped closer to them. Cloe took a look at his face and realized he had a long snout, with a small lantern hanging.

"Are you two alright? For a minute I thought you were goners!"

Almost immediately, Cloe's childish side got the better of her.

"Aw! A fairy!" she quickly picked the fairy up and started examining him, despite his protests, "He's so cute! I've never seen a fairy! Not this close, at least! But he doesn't look like the fairies in the books."

"Excuse me, Cat-girl!" the fairy protested, struggling to get free form Cloe's paws, "I'd thank you if you put me down!" he noticed the boy was giggling, "Don't laugh, Ollie-boy! Help me!"

"I'm sorry!" Cloe put the fairy down, stood and shook off the water from her fur and dress, but her entire body puffed afterwards, earning a few more laughs from the boy and the fairy. The cat princess blushed as she attempted to brush her fur back in place with her paws, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," the boy smiled as he stood up, not minding his dripping clothing, "I'm Oliver, and this is Mr. Drippy."

Finally having managed to put every hair in her body back in place, Cloe smiled and introduced herself, "I'm Cloe, nice to meet you."

"Excuse me, you two," Drippy pulled Oliver's pants softly, "I hate to interrupt, but our fishy friend got away."

Cloe's smile vanished and her fur bristled in horror, "What?!

"You were looking for the king's red herring too?"

"Yeah, I…" Cloe hesitated for a minute, "I'm… one of the servants working in the palace, and I'm supposed to take the fish back." She didn't like lying to her new friends, but people spoke more openly when they spoke with others of their same social position.

"In that case, how about we stick together for a while until we find it?" Drippy suggested, pointing at the path heading towards the palace, "I think he went off towards the palace! After him!"

The trio ran through the pathway, and Cloe was thankfully Oliver and Drippy didn't notice how the residents they passed by bowed as she passed by. But suddenly a question popped in her brain.

"May I ask why are you looking for my fa- the king's red herring?" she inquired

"It's a long story," Oliver replied as they ran, "We need a wand, and Mr. Drippy said the king knew some magic."

"You're a wizard, then?"

"Well, not exactly… I'm still new at that stuff…"

When they reached the main square, Cloe motioned for a different pathway with large fish statues (like the ones in her father's throne room) leading away from the square. There was a possibility that the fish swum all the way there, considering the place at the end of that passage was filled with water.

"Over there," Cloe pointed at the stone pathway, "There's a moat filled with water, it's possible the herring is there."

Oliver nodded, and the trio crossed the stone pathway, climbing a short flight of stairs, and at the summit of the hill, there was a sight that made Oliver gap in awe. It was a large moat, even bigger than the one near the Swift Solutions building, and surrounded by trees and bushes, and water lily pads, fallen leaves and a few flowers, making it look almost look like a moat in a mystical forest. On the middle of the moat was a small hill in which bright green grass grew, rising out of the water, and on the exact middle of the small island there was a tall tombstone… a tombstone Cloe knew too well.

In the middle of the short stone bridge which led to the island, the red herring was hopping helplessly, attempting to return to the water after realizing the boy from before was back. Oliver softly walked closer to the fish and picked it up, "So this is the king's favorite fish, huh?"

"Tidy! That's a red herring if I ever saw one!" Drippy commented, taking a look at the fish, "Now we can get ouerselves an audience with the King! Let's head back and see that palace guard, shall we?"

Cloe didn't listen to what they said, her eyes were fixed on the tombstone. After a few seconds, she heard Oliver calling her name.

"Cloe! Are you coming?"

The cat princess gave the human a small smile, "I'll catch up with you later, Oliver. I have to do something first."

Oliver nodded, before he and Drippy disappeared through the stone stairway, knowing the red herring needed to be returned to its tank before it died of dehydration. Cloe sighed sadly as she walked closer to the tombstone, getting her feet wet again, but she didn't mind. She sat on her knees a few steps away form the tombstones, and was able to read the words carved on it clearly.

Here lies Queen Cleopawtri

Beloved wife and mother.

"What a coincidence, isn't it, mom?" Cloe smiled sadly as she ran a hand through the cold stone, "Your fish came all the way here and became stranded, just like when you and daddy first found it."

Indeed, Maora explained to her once that King Tom had buried Cleopawtri precisely in that place because it was reminiscent of the edge of the lake they had found the red herring, and because he knew she loved whatever had to do with nature. Cloe often went there when she wanted to be alone, but her father and Maora already knew that if she was not in the palace or in town, she was surely there. Her father visited the moat in an almost daily basis, but he spent almost all day there in the day of their wedding anniversary.

The first time she had been there she was only four years old.

"Daddy, is mommy sleeping there?"

"She is, Cloe."

"When will she wake up?"

"I'm afraid… she won't. She's in a better place now, my little pumpkin."

The few times she had snuck out of the palace before she turned ten, when she was six, she had come to her mother's tomb, and talked to it as if she thought her mother was listening. She would fall asleep at the end of the day, and Maora or her father would go to pick her up to take her back to her room.

Cloe stood up and walked away, not before leaving a water flower right next to her mother's grave. When she walked down the stairs and emerged into the main square, she spotted Oliver and Drippy next to the statue of her great-great-great-great-great grandfather, but she noticed their joy was gone and they had worried looks on their faces.

"Hey, guys!" she called out as she ran towards them, "What happened with your audience?

"Something wasn't quite right about ouer royal friend, cat-girl," replied Drippy as he hopped on the edge of the fountain, "Brokenhearted he is, or I'm brokenheaded."

Oliver gasped, "The King is-?"

"Lacking enthusiasm, it looked like. And because he's brokenhearted, the whole kingdom's being dragged down with him…"

"What are we waiting for?" a look of determination appeared on Oliver's face, "Let's go find the piece of heart he's missing!"

Cloe's eyes widened in wonder. "Wait a minute… You mean you can cure him? Get him back to normal?"

Drippy gave the cat a reassuring look, "Of course, cat-girl! All we need to do is find another person with get-up-and-go aplenty! IT's a sleepy old place, but there's bound to be someone somewhere!"

"Enthusiasm, you say…?" Cloe thought for a moment, and a grin appeared on her lips a few seconds later, "I know just the right person."

Maora knew when one of the guards came to fetch her that Cloe was up to something, but she had yet to discover what. As she stepped out from the palace bridge, the old woman looked around the main plaza, and tried to spot a certain white-furred cat princess among all the citizens hanging out, either talking about simple things or children played around. Finally, Maora spotted Cloe's familiar white fur and as she walked towards her, she noticed she was accompanied by a young boy, the one King Tom had seen a few minutes ago, and… fairy?

"Cloe, dear," she spoke when she got closer to the trio, "Who are these young gentlemen? I have not seen them around these parts in my entire life, are they new?"

"Maora, I promise I'll explain you later, but right now we need a favor." Cloe replied, making the old woman narrow her eyes playfully and grin.

"I knew you were up to something, young one. What is it you need?"

"See, Miss Maora," Oliver gathered the courage to speak, "We were hoping you could lend us a bit of you enthusiasm. King Tom seems to be really short on enthusiasm right now…"

"Me?" Maora raised an eyebrow in confusion before turning to look at the cat princess, "Are you sure, dear? I'm not sure about being so enthusiastic… At my age, there's not much I can do…"

"Don't say that, Maora!" The cat princess took the old woman's hands, "You're one of the most enthusiastic people I know. Nothing can stop you! You're always eager to help me, no matter how hard or ridiculous it is! You never get laziness get ahead of you! In fact, I've never seen you neglect your work once!"

"That sounds like a very enthusiastic woman," Drippy commented as he hopped next to Maora, "That's why we need you, Lady! You seem to have loads of the stuff. IF we gave some of it to King Tom, the whole town would sort itself out quick sharp!"

Oliver gulped, "So… we were wondering if you could share of your enthusiasm with us?"

Maora thought for a moment before sighing in defeat, "Alright, if it means the King will go back to normal, you may have as much as you want."

"Thanks, Miss Maora!" Oliver thanked the old woman as he got a want, or stick, it seemed, from his belt and Cloe was amazed as he used it to draw a symbol with the shape of a heart with a line across it. And a greenish, shining light emerged from Maora's chest and floated into the locket around the boy's neck.

"My god, you're a wizard, aren't you?" Maora inquired as she took a hand to her chest, "I though all wizards abandoned magic after the Dark Djinn banned it."

"At least there's someone here who has been keeping herself informed!" Drippy commented.

Cloe spoke, "So Da- The King will be alright now, right?"

Maora was confused as to why Cloe referred to her father like that, but she guessed she still hadn't told her new friends she was King Tom's one and only beloved daughter.

"That's right, and once he is back to normal, everyone will return to their normal selves," Oliver replied, "Why don't you come with us, Cloe? You can come too, Miss Maora."

Maora smiled, "You don't have to use formalities, young wizard. You may call me simply Maora, I don't mind."

"I'd like to go with you, guys, but there are some things I must do-"

"Come on, Cat-girl! I bet he'll give you a rise if he sees that you helped us restore his missing enthusiasm! He might even get a crush on you!"

Cloe bristled inwardly, although she knew he said that because he didn't know her blood relation to King Tom. Defeated, Cloe walked behind Oliver and Drippy as they made their way back to the palace.

"Hm? Mmmyoh… You two again. One is becoming rather tired of these constant interruptions," King Tom yawned in irritation as he noticed the boy and fairy from before walked back into his throne room. Just as he was having a good dream… He noticed Cloe and Maora were with them, but Cloe had an anxious look on her face, for some reason.

Oliver gulped the lump on his throat, "S-Sorry, Your Meowjesty. It0s just, we have something for you…"

"Yeah, we picked it out especially for you, Catface!" Drippy continued, "It'll get rid of that tiredness of youers in no time! Give you new lease of life, it will! Strong teeth, glossy fur-"

"Well, I think Maora and I will make sure the red herring will not try to escape again!" Cloe interrupted the fairy as she softly dragged Maora to the room where the red herring was before waving back at Oliver and Drippy, "See you later, guys."

The cat King just watched as his daughter led Maora away; since when had she become so attached to the red herring, anyway? But back to business…

"Mmmyohhh! That sounds just the ticket! This accursed fatigue will be the death of one. Dealing with all these visitors has taken its toll…"

Drippy spoke, "Not to worry, Youer Meowjesty! A little bit of enthusiasm is all you need, en't it?!"

Oliver took his pathetic excuse for a wand (as some children had put it when they saw him pass by for the first time), and cast the counterpart to the spell he had used to take a little of Maora's enthusiasm. The same green light from before emerged from the locket and flew directly into the cat king's chest and illuminating apparently the whole room before disappearing.

Oliver whispered to his fairy companion, "So, do you think it worked?"

King Tom felt a mysterious warm, funny feeling inside his chest when the light came into him; his fatigue and tiredness soon started to vanish into thin air, and he could feel energy rushing back into his body, until finally he snapped back to reality.

"Hm? What the devil was one up to?" was the first thing he said as he jumped to his feet on his throne's cushion.

"Your Meowjesty!" the guard standing next to the throne said hopefully, "Please, tell us you're back to your old self!

"Why, one if ten times more energetic that one has ever been!" King Tom stepped down from his throne, refilled with life once more, "But one feels… different, somehow…"

The guard looked towards the duo standing at the end of the stairs, "This is your doing, is it not? Then you must be rewarded!" the guard looked back at the Cat King, "Your Meowjesty, it seems that these brave adventurers have lifted the curse that was placed upon you."

"What?!" The stout cat turned around to look at the guard in surprise, "Is this true?"

"Yes, your Meowjesty! It appears that you were cursed with a lack of enthusiasm."

King Tom set his eyes on the two travelers as he regained his composure, "Mmeow, is that so? One certainly didn't feel oneself for a while there. It seems one is in your debt."

Maora and Cloe simply stared at the red herring as it swam around its tank, this time they had made sure that it had no way of jumping into the moat for a second time. Although Cloe's fur and clothing had already dried from her little accident back in the pond, her fur had gained a more grayish tone, making her fur look less silky than it actually was, not to mention she wasn't able to completely brush it back to normal. Her dress had tiny spots of mud in a few places, and her beautiful tail look a little skinnier.

Cloe had explained to Maora what had happened when she left to look for the red herring, to the pond incident, to finding it in her mother's grave.

"Dear, I still think you should take a bath before your father sees you like this," Maora suggested as she looked at Cloe's current appearance, "You know he doesn't like to see you like this."

"Come on, Maora!" Cloe smiled, "I'm not five anymore! Besides, I don't look that bad!"

"Cloe!"

Both Maora and the cat princess were surprised when they saw King Tom walking towards them with a grin on his lips, and Cloe was caught off guard when her father picked her up and held her close, like when she was little.

"Cloe, my little pumpkin!" he spoke eagerly, "One's back to normal! What have you been doing today?"

"Daddy…" Cloe could barely speak; unfortunately, although she loved her father's hugs he was much larger than her, "I can't breath…"

"oh, one's sorry, Cloe…" the cat king put his daughter down, and noticed her rather messy appearance, "What in the-? Cloe, what happened to you? You look like you were playing in the mud!"

"It's a long story, daddy," Cloe sighed, "One which involves me falling into a pond while trying to recover your red herring."

King Tom smiled as he ruffled Cloe's fur, "Well, since one's full of energy, we can go and do something together, like you suggested one in the morning. But first, there's something one must do."

As her father walked away towards his bedchambers, Cloe couldn't describe the happiness she felt when she saw her father back to his old self. She had missed that part of him very much, and it was back.

"Well, while you father finishes his business, why don't you go and check on your new friends, dear?" Maora suggested.

"Well, now that I think of it, I think daddy might take a while in finishing his business, so I guess you're right. Care to tell him I'll be back later?"

Maora nodded, "Of course, dear. You can go and have fun with your friends meanwhile, but I think you should tell them the truth."

Cloe's smile faded away and she sighed sadly, "I guess you're right. They'll find out anyway."

The cat princess waved at her nanny and walked away, towards the throne room. Once there, she noticed they were not there, and guessed they were outside. With little else to do, Cloe walked down the hall, twitching her tail in thought, a trait she inherited from her father. How was she supposed to tell Oliver and Drippy that she was a princess? Would they be angry at her for lying to them?

As she walked into the plaza, she spotted Oliver's familiar face returning to the palace, Drippy running alongside him, and surprisingly she noticed it didn't take him much effort to keep up with the boy.

"Hey, Cloe!" Oliver waved at her as he and Drippy ran closer to her, "What happened? You left out of sudden."

Cloe shuddered, but tried to hide it, "I'm sorry, I just was afraid the red herring would run away again. King Tom loves it very much, it is a memento of his late wife…"

"Oh…" Oliver looked down sadly, "No wonder why everyone was so worried…"

"Listen, There's something I have to tell you, guys…"
"You can tell us later, Cat-girl!" Drippy interrupted her, "Right now there's a wand we need to pick up from His Meowjesty!"

Cloe was rather surprised; her father would actually give away his wand. He cherished it very much, it had been in his possession since his kittenhood, and Maora had told her he had been very naughty with that thing in paw. She never thought he would actually part with it..

"Well, I guess I can tell you later." Cloe smiled, back from her thoughts, "I can accompany you if you want."

As they were crossing the bridge, Oliver spoke to the fairy, "Drippy, why didn't you tell me the King's wife was dead?"

Drippy shrugged, "Cause I didn't know, Ollie-boy! I knew he had married, but I didn't know the Queen had died. I did know that before she died, a little bundle of joy came into their lives.

Cloe felt her heart accelerating its pulse.

"Y-You mean…" Oliver connected the dots, "They had a baby?"

"A healthy, pretty baby girl! Too bad we didn't get to meet her!"

"Guys, I really need to tell you something…" Cloe whispered, her ears flattening against her head.

"Princess Cloe!"

Cloe smacked her forehead as the guard from before ran towards her and her companions, making both Oliver and Drippy stare at her in amazement.

"You're a princess?!" Oliver could barely recover from shock, "That means… King Tom is your father?"

"Yes, he is." Cloe sighed in defeat and embarrassment.

"Well, don't take it bad, Cat-girl, but you take more after your mother. I can't see much of ouer royal friend in you." Drippy commented before the guard arrived.

"Something terrible has happened!" he announced in alarm, making the trio gasp in shock.

Drippy cried out, "Flipping heck, mun! Don't tell me old King Tom's gone and got his heart broken again?!"

The soldier shook his head, "No no, His Meowjesty's heart is in good working order, as far as I know…"

"As far as you know?" Oliver inquired

"After you restored His Meowjesty's missing enthusiasm, he was determined to find his old wand, so that he could give it to you by way of a reward." The soldier looked down, "So determined, in fact, that he said he would go and look for it himself…"

"Well, that's good, en't it?" Drippy said, "What's all the fuss about?"

What the soldier said next almost gave Cloe a heart attack.

"His Meowjesty had disappeared!"