"We'll be able to hide here for the time being," Fakir invited the group to sit around the large wooden table in Karon's smithery.

"Do you really think that's going to work?" Autor criticized.

"Not for long," Fakir shook his head. "I have instructed Edel to cause some mischief around town. The spinner is already very aware of her presence. The Autor I've been talking to since this story began has been an impostor, the real one here stuck in the library the entire time."

"He is likely aware of my presence as well," Helios reasoned.

"He knows more than he really needed to," Fakir frowned, "and I fed the information right to him." He hit the table with his hand in frustration. "He was so convincing as Autor I had no idea the spinner was standing right in front of me."

"And the fake Fakir was totally unconvincing," Duck pointed out.

"I had reasoned that the spinner was in the story recently, but I still couldn't figure out where he was or how he got his information so easily," Fakir added, "until I ran into Edel in the library. Then it hit me. Edel isn't part of his story. She's part of Drosselmeyer's. When the spinner tried to revive his story, Edel came with it, acting as a free agent."

"That's why she felt like the same Miss Edel as before!" Duck realized. "She is the same!"

"Is that why she pulled me into the story?" Chibiusa wondered.

"I can't exactly tell. She's not the best at giving direct answers," Fakir shook his head. "However, when I realized that she was freely moving around the story, I wrote her her own part. Because it was to help Duck, I was able to spin her own story."

"The koi necklaces," Chibiusa pulled the charm from her shirt.

"I told her to protect you both in any way she knew how," Fakir informed them. "Seems she's still giving people gems."

"She also told me not to lose hope when I couldn't find Tutu in the lake," Chibiusa added. "Kinda indirectly, but it still worked."

"She plays the part well," Fakir nodded. "I get the feeling the spinner is really irritated with her right now, but it'll keep him distracted. Which gives us time to figure out who or what the spinner is."

"I think I know," Chibiusa admitted.

"What really?!" Duck pushed her shoulder excitedly.

"When Miss Edel mentioned 'beware the shapeshifters', I thought she meant the koi from the story," Chibiusa informed them. "But the spinner seems like a shapeshifter too. There's a legend back home called The Tanuki and the Teapot, which tells of a tanuki that can shift into a teapot. Tanuki're also associated with leaves."

"Well that would match up to what we've seen so far," Fakir agreed, "and why every legend that mentioned tanuki and kitsune was ripped out of the library books. But what even is a tanuki?"

Chibiusa considered describing them, but she had a better idea. "Do you have some paper?"

"Yeah." Fakir stood up, rummaging through the drawers to find a fresh pad of paper and a quill, handing it to her.

She quickly began to scribble. It had an anime look to it, but she quickly doodled a tanuki and a kitsune. She turned the drawings around to show them group.

"Wait a second," Fakir stared at the drawings. "Back when we were saving that sparrow, I saw a raccoon and a fox."

"They look pretty similar," Chibiusa nodded. "There's legends surrounding both. They're both tricksters, but the tanuki is said to be better at it. Both can take human form."

"Can they actually write?" Autor didn't seem to buy the idea just yet.

"There are legends about entire tanuki societies filled with samurai and ninja and lords and ladies, so I'd imagine they could," Chibiusa nodded.

"I do wonder why one would go to such elaborate lengths to spin such a story filled with both Japanese and German legends," Helios pondered.

"There's something here we don't know," Fakir reasoned, "something the tanuki wants or that its not working alone. Or perhaps it's part of a legend itself."

"It would hardly be the first time when someone has attempted to pull Maiden's power from her," Helios recalled. "Perhaps the tanuki seeks power in both Chibi Moon and Princess Tutu. He has attempted to kill both while he only imprisoned the two of you."

"That's a good point," Fakir agreed. "He also told me I was interesting, which leads me to believe he was toying with me so he could get to the rest of you. But then Helios interjected into the story."

"So he had to resort to Drosselmeyer-like measures to get what he wanted," Autor reasoned, recalling the spinner's disregard for life within his stories.

"And he attempted to make Chibiusa's death look like a result of the story," Fakir added. "Then spin Tutu off and drown her in a pond. Any stories you can think of that might explain what he's trying to do?"

"There is Society of the Tanuki, but I hadn't finished that book yet," Chibiusa frowned. "Something about betrayal and honor and samurai ideals."

"What if he's acting out two stories too?" Autor suggested. "You mentioned that the stories became intertwined. What if he's become part of the story just as we have and he's lost control? Or he's started the story with one thing in mind but got tangled with another?"

"That could explain why the legends are getting mixed up and changed," Fakir agreed. He glanced down at the paper on the table. "There's something that's been stuck to my mind, the way Chibiusa described the life literally being pulled from her. There's one ballet I could think of that involves pulling life force: Coppelia."

"Coppelia?" Chibiusa repeated.

"It's a ballet about a doll maker, Dr. Coppelius," Fakir explained. "He wants to bring his doll, Coppelia, to life so he has Franz fall in love with her and tries to steal his life force to make her real. It doesn't turn out well for Coppelius, though. His workshop and dolls are destroyed in the process and his plans ruined."

"But if the previous time this town has spun into a story tells us anything, the stories can be changed," Autor pointed out. "It could be that the tanuki, or perhaps Coppelius, wants to change the ending. We're working on theories here."

"How does his workshop get destroyed?" Chibiusa asked.

"In the ballet, it's because Franz's girlfriend, Swanhilda, poses as Coppelia when Franz is kidnapped," Fakir recalled the storyline. "While posing as the doll, she destroys the shop."

"There was something odd I noticed when we flew over the city," Chibiusa recalled. "Most of the people didn't notice us. What if we're in the shop and Duck and I are Franz? Maybe you both are Swanhilda, trying to keep us from getting lured in by Dr. Coppelius. I mean, that's pretty crazy, but I've been through some really crazy things. Helios can agree."

"That is pretty accurate," Helios agreed.

"That... That actually makes sense," Autor pushed his glasses up his nose, feeling almost offended that some small child figured it out before he did.

"And Dr. Coppelius, the tanuki, is trying to make you two stronger by throwing you into legends until he can have a legend kill you in the process, make it look like an accident," Fakir reasoned. "It's all an elaborate cover."

That sounded about right for the situations Chibiusa had been pulled into. The last one was a spiteful lady stuck in a mirror and angry because she didn't get invited to a birthday party. This one at least made sense. "So how can we, as Franz, handle the end of this story without ending up a victim?"

"Because Swanhilda is a spinner," Fakir pointed out with the analogy. "All you two need to do is find him and challenge him. That's going against how the story actually plays out. We'll support you so you won't fall victim to the trickster."

...

Author's comments

There are a few times where SM seems to imply that Chibiusa is a bit more academic than Usagi is. Perhaps she inherited some of Mamoru's smarts. And having her figure things out before Artor probably would piss him off