"Y-y-you know, we probably shouldn't be here," Duck stammered, awkwardly pressing herself against the side of the art building, standing on her tippy toes as if she were doing some sort of awkward releve-plie combination in her street clothes.
Chibiusa was more than pleased to be back in her usual sailor outfit, though it did make her stand out a bit as they attempted to sneak through the hallway. "I'm certain I saw Shobolan and Artis enter here. Something's really up with them. People don't normally flip personalities like that." Diana clung to her shoulder, peering around and keeping an eye out for things as they moved.
"This could be our first clue into who or what is spinning the story here," Fakir agreed, peering around the corner to the art building's entrance. He'd arrived in simple clothes as well, a quill and small pad of paper tucked into his back pocket. "The coast is clear."
"I've come across people who steal other people's dreams before," Chibiusa added, carefully following Fakir around the corner and into the building. "But they were defeated by powerful guardians in my world."
"Stories can come alive here at any time," Fakir pointed out.
"I'm not really sure they counted as a story, unless someone's been reading my picture diary," Chibiusa wrinkled her nose, still recalling the battle with Nehellenia. It was pretty grueling at times, working their best to help protect people's dreams. She couldn't have fought without all her friends and even Helios by her side. Here was a little different, but she still wasn't alone. Fakir had the power of a Spinner, but Duck? Duck was a bit of a mystery.
But nothing had truly prepared them for the sounds of yelling and fighting echoing down the hallway. It was in the distance, the halls warping the noise and scrambling the words, but it sounded more like animals fighting.
Duck didn't like the sounds in the distance. They were scary. "QUAAAAA-"
Fakir clamped a hand over her mouth. "Quiet. We don't want them knowing we're here. I bet they're in the art studio, since Crocodette mentioned they were both artists."
"This is really scary," Duck commented, inching down the hallway on her tiptoes.
"It really is," Chibiusa admitted, "but I've done a lot of scary things. We have to be brave so we can help people." She could feel her heart pounding in her chest so hard that she was certain the others could hear it. She peered down one of the hallways. "Hey, Fakir, Duck, look." Down the hall was a massive shadow in the shape of a giant rat. It appeared to be standing, shouting, then fighting something.
"QUAAAAA-" she cut herself off this time by clamping her hands over her mouth.
"I won't let you take my dream!" the voice echoed from somewhere. It was a boy's voice but not one that any of them recognized.
Suddenly several dozen black cats burst out of a nearby room, charging down the hallway. The cats didn't look like cats as much as they did ink drawings of one, moving as if animated by a series of pictures flipped one by one. The trio pressed themselves against the wall as the cats barreled past and towards the shadow of the rat.
Duck gasped as her pendant began to glow. "It's glowing again!"
Fakir stared at it as well. "It's like when we were in the bamboo forest before Chibiusa appeared. Perhaps your pendant can detect errant stories come to life."
"Errant stories?" Chibiusa echoed.
"I'm not really sure," Duck shook her head. "It's detecting something, and it lit up just like this before you showed up as if you were Princess Kaguya. Before it was able to detect heart shards but those are gone since that story has ended."
"Errant stories, huh," Chibiusa repeated, peering down the hallway, seeing the shadow of the rat attacked by something that didn't cast a shadow. It had to be the ink cats. That sounded very familiar, like she'd read about this somewhere before. "Wait, wait, I know this legend. I read about it in class right before I arrived here! It's called The Boy who drew Cats. It's said his drawings came alive one night attacked a rat demon!"
"That must be it," Fakir reasoned. "And that voice must be the boy from the story."
"Could it be Senior Artis?" Duck worried.
"We should check it out, Small Lady," Diana urged.
Chibiusa quickly nodded, inching down the hallway more quickly. She could still see the silhouette of the giant rat fighting something. As she approached, she could hear the noises becoming more human-like words.
"Stop being a fool and call off the cats!" the rat hissed. The rat flung several off, the creations flying through the doorway and dissolving into ink and paper as they hit the walls.
"Never, Shobolan!" the boy hissed at her. More cats ran down the hallway past the group outside and into the room.
Shobolan has become a rat? Chibiusa observed. She scooted close enough to peer into the room. That was definitely the mouse-bun girl now a giant rat. On the far side of the art studio stood Artis with a paintbrush in hand.
"You're trying to take my dream from me!" Artis shouted.
"It's a stupid dream!" Shobolan spat back. "No one wants hundreds of drawings of cats!"
"You always liked my cats!" Artis hissed.
This was worse than Chibiusa had imagined. Nothing was right here at all, between their fighting, Shobolan's transformation, and Artis weaponizing his art like in the legend. She scooted back a few inches and out of the view of the doorway. "This isn't right. This isn't right at all. Something's toying with their love and their dreams. We have to do something." She placed a hand on her brooch for a moment before looking back at Duck and Fakir. "Don't tell anyone what you're about to see."
"Wait," Fakir placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't do something careless and stupid."
Chibiusa shook her head quickly. "Let me show you the power I've got in my world." She held her hand up in the air. "Moon Crisis, Make UP!" A light emanated from her brooch. Pink ribbons poured out, changing the appearance of her clothes as she transformed into Super Sailor Moon. She hadn't used the transformation since she'd left for home after fighting Nehellenia. She heard from Usagi that a future form of herself had come to help Eternal Sailor Moon, but Chibiusa hadn't yet attained that Eternal power in her timeline. Even so, she still had the power of love and hopes and dreams that Helios had given her before.
"QUAAAA-" Duck cut herself off by clamping a hand over her mouth. Chibiusa was like her, able to transform into a heroine, but where did that leave Duck? The power she had before was given to her by Drosselmeyer to fulfill the role in the story, but that story had ended. She tapped at the gem. Could she even become Princess Tutu anymore?
"I am the sailor-suited guardian of hopes and dreams, Sailor Chibi Moon!" she introduced herself in the doorway. "It's time to stop fighting and remember who you both truly are!"
"Like hell you're a guardian of hopes and dreams!" Artis shouted. "You're just with Shobolan, trying to steal my dreams!"
"No, that's not it at all!" Chibi Moon protested. "I want to help you both! You shouldn't be fighting like this!"
"Nonsense!" Shobolan hissed. "Maybe I should take you out too for stupid dreams!"
Shobolan leapt forward, reaching out with sharp claws to scratch the pretty guardian and that hopeful look off her face. Chibi Moon dodged backwards, catching her foot on one of the ink cats and toppling to the ground. As Shobolan attempted to take advantage of the situation and claw at Chibi Moon, the pretty guardian summoned her glass kaleidoscope weapon to her hands, guarding against the attack.
"Listen to yourself, Shobolan!" Chibi Moon pleaded. "Miss Crocodette said you were always a nice and hopeful person! I want to believe that you still are, even transformed into a giant rat!"
Shobolan leaned closer, pushing the Chibi Moon Kaleidoscope closer to Chibi Moon. "Crocodette said that?"
"She was really worried about you both!" Chibi Moon added. "So was Miss Malen! They were both worried about you two and your hopes and dreams!" For a moment, Chibi Moon could see the real Shobolan behind the rat she'd become. But as soon as she'd seen it, it was gone.
"Small Lady!" Diana gasped.
"Chibiusa needs our help somehow! But how?" Duck worried, standing at a distance with Fakir. He didn't fight anymore now that he'd rescinded his role as the knight. But that left Duck without anything either. Her role as Tutu had completed. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Hey, Fakir."
Fakir frowned, watching Chibiusa attempt to help the pair. "Yes, Duck?"
Duck leaned against him, opening her eyes and peering up at him. "Can you write something about me?"
"I can still see it, that hope and love within you, Shobolan!" Chibi Moon insisted. "It's that pure love and hope you have with Artis. You both still have that within you, don't you?" She really wasn't sure how to do this. She didn't have the strong healing powers like Sailor Moon did, but there had to be someway that she could help the two of them. There had to be a way to return them back to their true selves.
"Lies!" Artis hissed, quickly drawing his brush across the easel. As he stepped back from his work, the easel began to bend and move, transforming into a giant inky cat. "I won't let you take my dreams from me!" The ink cat leapt forward, intent on taking both Chibi Moon and Shobolan out at the same time.
But as the cat leapt, a flurry of white and pink leapt over Chibi Moon and Shobolan in a grand jeté, intercepting the cat's approach.
"P-princess Tutu!" Chibi Moon gasped. She recognized the white and pink tutu, the little wings on the back and the orange hair with a feathered accents. It was just like the drawing from The Prince and the Raven but now really standing before her. "She's real!"
Fakir sighed in relief, sliding down the wall and sitting on the ground. He hadn't written that fast in a long time, but thank goodness he was still able to write about Duck, putting her hopes and dreams into words. Diana nestled up against him to ensure he was okay.
Tutu landed, raising her arms above her and intertwining her hands for a moment. "Won't you both please dance with me?" She opened her arms out, extending a hand to Shobolan and to Artis.
"Dance?" Shobolan stood up, releasing Chibi Moon from her grip. "I don't even know how!"
"Do not worry," Tutu offered gently. "I'll show you the way."
Almost hesitantly, Shobolan approached. From the other side, Artis did as well.
Chibi Moon sat up, staring at Tutu and the scene unfolding before her. She glanced back towards Fakir and Duck for some sort of explanation. "Wait, where's Duck?"
"Don't worry about it," Fakir shook his head. "Just watch. Whatever's controlling them, Princess Tutu can make visible with her dance."
"Wha...?" Chibi Moon was confused, but then again, she was in a world that still didn't make sense. Anything was possible. She never did read very far into The Prince and the Raven before disappearing into it. She knew nothing about Princess Tutu, just that she was very elegant and beautiful.
And sure enough, the dance of three now taking place in the center of the art studio was nothing short of elegant and beautiful, their hands intertwined and dancing as if they all knew the dance by heart.
"A pas de tois," Fakir noted, "a dance of three." He watched the trio intently. Where was the thing that was causing all the trouble? Just what was it? It couldn't be one of the prince's heart shards causing the pair to feel such strong emotions. That story had concluded, and despite Chibiusa's encounter with Edel in her world, the story hadn't continued. "Why isn't the culprit appearing?"
Chibi Moon frowned a bit. Princess Tutu couldn't keep the pair dancing forever. She'd have to do something to help even though everything was still very much a mystery. Rely on me. She hadn't heard that voice for awhile. It was the will of the Chibi Moon Kaleidoscope speaking to her. It had a will since Pegasus had gifted it to her, but it had mostly remained quiet, letting Chibi Moon's heart speak instead.
Taking a knee, she took the Chibi Moon Kaleidoscope in her hand. "Please, Kaleidoscope! Reveal what's destroying their dreams! Moon Dream Meditation!"
A rainbow kaleidoscope of light burst out from behind her. It was a warm and inviting light that flooded the hallway and the room. As soon as it had subsided, the magic had revealed strange leaves stuck to both Shobolan and Artis. Tutu plucked the leaves from them in an arabesque and the two immediately embraced each other.
"I'm so sorry, Artis!" Shobolan wailed as she returned to the girl with the mouse-ear buns. "I love your cat drawings! I want to line my dorm room with them all!"
"Me too!" Artis cried. "Let's never fight again, okay?"
Chibi Moon sighed in relief, dropping to her knees as the two returned to normal. That was intense. She was so used to having Sailor Moon and the other guardians there to help her out. She was now the sole guardian here, but she wasn't alone. She had Princess Tutu and Fakir to help her out.
Tutu glanced back over towards Chibi Moon with a smile. To think the mysterious friend that appeared through a bamboo stalk had magical powers as well, strong ones at that. They had some manner of Spinner on their hands now, but there were more to help solve the mystery. Chibiusa, Fakir, she could rely on them both.
But the source of the skewed dreams was nothing short of confusing. Leaves. Why leaves? She curled her hand around them. She'd keep them safe for now.
…...
Author's notes
The Boy Who Drew Cats is an actual Japanese legend and is sometimes called Picture-Cats and the Rat. I used both names as the names of the two chapters involving the story. The names are also symbolic.
Artis – artist in Indonsian
Shobolan – rat in Romanian
