A/N; Happy Halloween!
Chapter Twenty Six: Anything Else
Sometimes the best way to figure out who you are is to get to that place where you don't have to be anything else.
-Unknown
xxXxx
"My lady? Wake up, we're in Lycea. Come now, or I'll lick your face," Baron warned, already busying himself with the intended threat.
Bearskin took in a deep breath and stretched happily as she opened her eyes. "Wow, I haven't slept that well since I was a child! No nightmares, even!"
"That's wonderful to hear. Now, shall we pay our respects to Lune?" he asked with a grin.
She grinned right back, gathering him in her arms as she eased out of the small space and walked up to the deck. "Good morning Toto, Muta!"
Muta blinked in surprise as he tied up a few more supplies. "Wow, that's a change," he muttered, taking a brief break to ruffle her hair. "Put the girl in a voluntary coma and she comes out more chipper than a bird."
"Maybe I should start doing that to you every now and again," Toto threatened as she helped him set up the gangplank to a lonely beach. The forest beyond was ridding itself of the last of the snow to make room for spring flowers.
"Maybe we should save the banter for a more convenient time," Baron interrupted with a soft glare, although he was taking deep happy breaths of his homeland. "We have a mission to conclude, remember?"
"Two," Bearskin corrected as she walked off the ship with an armful of rolled-up tents. Then she about slapped herself and slipped them into her satchel. "First we break your curse, then the imposter."
"Can't do the second one, Chicky," Muta warned as he followed her with the last of the supplies. "Whoever he is, he committed treason. That makes him Lune's responsibility."
"What if I ask nice and get him to let me break the imposter?" she asked impishly, making the three men laugh.
"Wait a moment. I forgot something below," Toto managed to say between his chuckles, running back on board.
"Hurry it up, it's only a day's journey to the palace from here!" Muta roared after him.
"Already?" the trapper couldn't help but ask, catching Baron when he hopped at her arms.
"Yep! Man, I can't wait for Lune's reaction to this!" Muta gloated, rubbing his beefy hands together in anticipation. "What do you think he'll do to the imposter?"
"Death is the punishment for treason," Baron said simply, rubbing his face against his keeper's arm. "Public hanging, most likely. Lune never cared for beheading or burning."
"It does kind of add insult to injury," Bearskin couldn't help but agree. "Even if Louise and the imposter richly deserve it."
"And then some," Muta growled, cracking his knuckles ominously.
"I got what I needed," Toto called out as he ran down the gangplank, sending a black mist over Muta to change him into a cat. "If we hurry, we can get there tomorrow!"
"Then let's get going," Bearskin replied, watching him once again melt into a crow in order to pick up Muta and then soar above the trees.
"That reminds me," Baron realized, sending a glare up to Bearskin as she began running. "You visited nearly the entire continent before coming to Lycea and I have a suspicion that you would have passed through completely if not for my letters. Why?"
She shrugged while dodging trees and rocks. "Lycea didn't need my help, save for you. I'm guessing it's because Lune's really good at his job."
"He is," Baron assured her, rubbing his face against her arm as she ran.
ooOoo
"You're sure about this?" Bearskin asked worriedly.
"Completely," Baron assured her.
"Why does this palace have them too?"
"They're considered a standard in royal architecture. Royalty tend to lead nervous lives, so it never hurts to have an escape plan just in case."
"Couldn't we just take the front door?"
"Where would be the fun in that?" Muta pouted like a child.
"Besides, the fact that we came through the secret passages will help Lune believe us when Baron tells him who he is," Toto explained as he and the doctor pulled overgrowth out of an unused cave. "He made a promise to not even tell us about these things."
"Couldn't you just use something from your childhood together to convince him?" she asked while readying a small torch.
"I assure you I have a full arsenal of incidents to unleash if he has any doubts. Besides, he knows I like to undermine the more boring aspects of a politician."
Bearskin held the torch ready as the last of the underbrush was tossed to the side. "Lead the way, my friend."
He nodded and strode into the cave with her closely behind. "Also, I think he will pay attention to a talking cat."
"Most people would. Where does this one end?" Muta asked as he and Toto followed behind Bearskin.
"Do you recall the painting of Lune's aunt in the throne room? There's a sentry's post there, but it hasn't been used for years. That was one of our favorite spots for hide and seek," Baron added with a reminiscing sigh.
"So that's why I could never find you," Toto grumbled under his breath, making the trapper fight back a giggle with one hand against her mouth.
But that didn't stop Muta from snickering. Which led to Toto 'accidentally' stepping on his toe. Also to Muta nudging him hard with one elbow.
"Not here!" she hissed, catching Toto's fist before it could hit Muta in the face. "There will be time later!"
Toto gave a glare to the doctor, but thankfully heeded the warning.
"Overgrown children," she muttered under her breath.
"Stick in the mud," Muta retorted.
"Blowhard," she snapped.
"Party pooper," Toto chimed in with a childish grin.
"Sparkles," she replied sweetly.
"Sp-Sparkles?" he gasped in horror.
"What, no one used that one before? Because that's what your magic looks like when you-"
"Oh no, not another one," Baron moaned, stopping in order to glare at her. "My friend, do not join in with them. I am begging you. Two is bad enough. Please don't make it three."
"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly, gesturing for him to keep going. "I doubt there's room for a trio, anyway."
Muta exchanged a look with Toto. "We could make room-"
"No, no room!" Baron insisted with a glare over one shoulder. "Absolutely not. Now please be still. We're getting close and there's usually a good amount of people in the throne room about this time. My lady, if you would douse the torch?"
Fighting back the unseen blush, she immediately used a wet rag to put out the modest flame and left the torch on a pile of rocks. Thankfully, a small amount of light was slightly distant, so they were able to softly make their way closer and around the bend.
The light revealed itself from what appeared to be stiff painted fabric. Bearskin stepped closer, squinting through the portrait, where shadows were walking by and talking on the other side.
"Muta, ease the painting aside by three inches," Baron whispered, pointing at the side he wanted the doctor to move.
Bearskin had to slip out of the way, since the opening was a bit small, but Muta was able to discreetly move the portrait just enough to see Prince Lune holding court.
Bearskin judged him to be in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties. His hair was a strange pearly black and, even from this far, one could tell that his eyes were blatantly mismatched. She couldn't tell the color of one eye, but the other was so vibrant a red that it was impossible to overlook.
Despite the fact that he was prince regent, Lune didn't seem to have that 'better than you' aura that almost every other person with power she had seen. The trapper could easily imagine him walking along a street in the capital.
Even the way he was sitting was humble. Instead of on the throne like a proper monarch, he instead was sitting in an ornate chair to the right of the throne, looking like he would have liked a desk to rest his head on. But despite the fact, he was still holding his head up and even semi-interested in what the courtier in front of him had to say.
"Psst, you're staring," Toto whispered while poking her in the back.
She started guiltily. "Sorry." A sudden need to explain herself was sharply repressed as she looked down at the cat wiggling his way out from behind the portrait.
"Just wait here for now; I have a plan," Baron whispered, using all fours to stealthily move around courtiers and to the throne.
Lune was tapping his thumb absently against the armchair when Baron suddenly hopped onto his lap. He looked down in surprise, but smiled as he scratched one ear. "Hello there," he greeted, cutting off the current aristocrat with an appeal. "Who let you in here?"
Baron nonchalantly licked one paw. "I let myself in, actually. It's good to see you again, Lune."
The prince regent gaped as the nearest courtiers gasped in shock. Then he raised the cat to his level, looking deep into his eyes. "Baron?"
"In the flesh. You weren't fooled by the usurper, were you?"
"L-Lies!" the other Baron spat, looking nervous as the other noblemen took several steps away from him. "That thing is obviously a witch's familiar, spelled to discredit me!"
The real Baron rolled his eyes. "If that were so, I wouldn't know about the time twelve years ago when Lune slid down the banister and right into a butler carrying a rather large cake-"
Lune hurriedly covered the feline's mouth with a panicked expression. "There's no need to finish that sentence. Guards!"
Uniformed soldiers immediately marched forward from their various stations around the room. The courtiers, Bearskin noticed, were content only to withdraw further from the imposter, who was looking around with a scowl.
But he did not stay still for the guards. Flicking his wrist, the guards were thrown away from him as if by a powerful wind.
Most of the courtiers seemed bent on proving their uselessness, because they were screaming and fleeing the throne room. Some of the slower guards tried to surround the prince in a protective circle, but a similar flick of the wrist made them fly against the wall behind the throne. There were a few of the nobility that stayed and tried to attack the man, but they were thrown back just as easily as the soldiers.
Intricately weaving his fingers, the doppelganger made a long dagger as he ran forward.
Lune swiftly slipped off his chair just before the first strike, using it to distract the imposter while keeping Baron in one arm. But the prince regent was without a weapon and the guards couldn't move in fast enough to help.
Bearskin shoved the portrait aside as her grandfather's blood resurfaced with a vengeance. Swiftly retrieving one of her shuriken from the satchel, she threw it as hard as she could as the monster raised his arm for a killing strike.
It landed squarely in his hand, halfway severing it in the process. He screamed from the pain, dropping the dagger as he doubled over.
Even as the people still in the room gaped in surprise, she ran up to the imposter and forcefully crushed the wrist of the untouched hand, since they seemed to be the secret of his power.
The man was in agony now, but she wasn't finished yet. Without another thought, she grabbed the collar of his clothes and ripped it open. An emerald amulet was now in her fingers, pulsating like a heart through the torn cloth.
With a great deal of satisfaction, she crushed the gem between her bare fingers, the echo of it whispering from behind her. The imposter's appearance faltered and then dissolved into a lithe young man that might have been handsome if he weren't a monster. Baron's clothes were now hanging from his scrawny frame with almost the same flair as robes.
To be sure that he got the idea, she heaved him off his feet with one hand and looked him straight in the eye. "If you ever threaten him again," she snarled while shaking the imposter like a rag doll, "I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish! Understand?!"
The man nodded as though suffering from a seizure and a rancid smell was made present as he wet himself. The picture was made even more pathetic by the fact that he was still crying like a child.
She threw him to the ground, glaring at the guards that had managed to get to their feet. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
They were staring at her in complete shock, but at least one younger soldier was able to step forward and take the broken man into custody.
Another headache pounded against her skull as her grandfather's blood fell silent, making her wince and hold one hand to her forehead. Bearskin slowly turned around to ask if the prince and Baron were okay. But before she could utter a sound, the tall man had leapt from behind his fallen chair to actually pounce on her! His grip was strong enough to make even her berserker side take notice as he held her in a possessive embrace.
Her jaw dropped. No one, and she did mean no one, had ever hugged her like this before, let alone at first sight without so much as a hello or an exclamation of 'Bearskin'. Over one of his shoulders she could see a human Baron smiling in approval. Even if he was more or less hiding behind the throne. His lack of a shirt told loud and clear the reason why, even if he was holding his broken necklace in one hand.
"You… you came home," the prince regent sobbed, rubbing his salty cheek against hers. "You came. You finally came home!"
"H-Home?" she stuttered, her mind going completely blank.
"Home," he asserted firmly, still hugging her tight. "We've been waiting for you."
We've been waiting for you. The words she had been longing to hear since she was a child. Was it really possible?
Not giving a care about the reason why, she returned his embrace harder than she had ever dared to before. Dang, but it felt good to hug like this! It was as if a great weight was finally being lifted from her tired shoulders. The sensation was so real, that she started feeling dizzy, but thankfully not enough to think about throwing up again.
There were several people gasping and whispering by now, but she couldn't bring herself to care as she and the prince reluctantly ended the embrace. But she was still bracing herself by his arms when she looked into his eyes.
Then she blinked in surprise. "Wasn't one of your eyes red a few seconds ago?" she couldn't help but ask, forgetting to use her man voice.
The now blue-eyed prince gave her a huge grin. "Weren't you as white as snow at about the same time?"
She gaped at him and quickly looked at her arms. They were still white, but only over her many scars. Where there were no scars, her skin was now a healthy pink!
Hold on… where were her gloves? Her sleeves?
With horror, she realized that for the first time in her life…
She was in a dress!