Chapter Fourteen

MR. V

Two full weeks of all the Recruits being within the Anti-Castle went relatively smoothly and no one has managed to kill one another; yet. Much to Mr. V's surprise, they're all acting normal and even friendly with one another, well, for the most part. Some of them already seemed to be friends with each other before they arrived, but many of them have already branched out and started making friends with the others. Adam Appoi and Jane Hock are the only two that haven't seemed to have bonded with the rest of the group, but the two of them get along just fine when Jane is sober. Jack Heart and Dalmatia caused as much ruckus as Farja and Jamilia and when the four of them were together they were loud giddy school children that needed to sit in separate corners; not that it did any good. Veil and Ember got along better than expected and Mr. V could not help but notice how they influenced each other. Ember was actually helping Veil find her voice or at least trying to anyway. Eight Foot Joe was rarely to be seen, he was almost as bad as Adam and Ember, where he was one of the first to leave and the last to return. Malfie often roosted himself in a nook somewhere in the library and actually allowed Dalmatia to sit with him while he read. With daily reports from the Staff informing the Hosts of any strange happenings among the Recruits, things have managed to stay stable and no one has tried going against the rules.

On this dreary Tuesday everyone, except for Mr. V, all sat and ate breakfast, chatting away happily about what their day was to be like and what they wanted to accomplish on their missions. Mr. V stood like a gargoyle on the second floor just watching from above at their interactions with one another. His fellow Hosts, Mr. Po and Ms. Villa were deeply engrossed in some sort of conversation and going over something in a journal while Ms. Villa scribbled things down on her clipboard and tried to maintain order over the Recruits; which was most amusing to witness. With each passing day of the Recruits staying within the Castle, it felt more like a Villain daycare the way Ms. Scatter would go about, unsuccessfully at times, trying to make them behave or follow orders. They all relatively took correction very well, though Jamilia would burst into tears a lot of times and would take the consoling of Farja and Ms. Villa to get her to stop. In a way that only Ms. Scatter could manage, she has successfully taught Jamilia most of the English language in writing and has successfully ridden the field journals of any animal feces she should pick up along the way. For as scatterbrained as Ms. Scatter was, she handled most things better than others; most not all things. She still had a knack for breaking things, forgetting things, or even not doing things, but the things that she did do she was always successful in. Best of yet, her eyes hadn't flashed gold once this past week. It was rather odd, actually, he had seen that golden flash so many times last week and now she was as calm as ever with those pretty brown eyes.

Beside him a small puff of smoke billowed about and the flicking of a fluffy tail showed him that Varuo decided to grace him with his presence. "How are the kids looking?" Varuo asked and sat on the railing. He looked down upon the Recruits that bickered and laughed with each other over breakfast.

"Kids are rather stretching it, don't ya think?" A smirk played at the corner of Mr. V's lips. "They're all young adults."

"They are all sad children trapped in adult bodies." Varuo rolled his eyes before he licked his paw and rubbed his face. "They congregate and act like children and experience a small touch of friendliness that they lacked in their childhood. Since they have gone back to that childish stage, they are kids."

"If you say so." He frowned and looked back at them all. He hated the fact that the cat was right, though he shouldn't have been so surprised since they were all brought up by Villains.

"I do." Varuo stretched before sitting perfectly straight. He let out a yawn and looked at Ms. Scatter. "She's doing better."

"Well, I have made sure she has avoided the Wardrobe," Mr. V nodded his head in agreement, "as well as avoided mentioning anything about the Fantasia Realm."

"She can still react even if you don't bring those things up." His tail flicked irritably against the floor. "I know you've been snooping in the library at nights."

"I don't know what you mean." Mr. V kept his face blank and kept his eyes trained on the chaos below.

"Don't even play koi with me, Valentino." Varuo cut his big green eyes at him. "Just because you leave an empty coffee mug on your desk does not mean that you are not working elsewhere." Mr. V gripped the handle of his cane tighter. "And if you keep this up, she will discover what you're up to sooner rather than later."

Mr. V raised a brow as he looked down at the cat. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Snooping thieves always get caught. They're like lies, the truth always comes out when it is least convenient for them." He turned his head entirely to him now. "There's only so much you can learn from that dust pile you call a library. Her Realm has been undone and is on a long hiatus. It will be a while before any new information will be put back in any library about her Realm."

"What do you mean exactly by undone?" Mr. V tilted his head in curiosity. The cat was correct in the fact that he was doing more research outside of the library as well as the Castle trying to get some sort of an answer to his questions without having to directly talk with Ms. Scatter. However, there is still nothing to be found on this alleged Fantasia Realm. "And does that mean that this hiatus will come to an end?"

Varuo rolled his eyes and his ears flattened, "Why do you humans never learn?"

"Varuo." Mr. V snapped in warning.

"This is not a place to have such a conversation about." Varuo walked past him, completely ignoring the warning in his voice. "Although she has ten children to deal with and your other two Hosts to take care of, she can still hear you and I and this very conversation we're having if she actually decides to pay attention to us. If she finds out about this discussion, she will flash gold again."

"Do you really mean that?" He glanced back at Ms. Scatter. She finally sat down and was laughing about something with Villa. It was good to see her smiling and looking relaxed again, he could hardly believe she could hear them all the way down there. "Or is that your cat way of trying to get out of this?"

"Yes." Varuo merely chuckled and disappeared into the shadows. It took everything in Mr. V not to throw his cane into the shadows after that damned cat. Always leading things up, making them interesting, then leaving him on a cliffhanger and making him think of more questions that wanted answers – he would make an excellent writer as well as a vicious one. With a groan Mr. V rubbed his eyes and tapped his cane and appeared outside of the dining hall. He glanced in the side hall mirror, adjusted his attire, walked into the room, and claimed his seat beside Ms. Scatter. Neither Mr. Po or Ms. Villa offered a greeting to Mr. V as he took his seat as they were too involved with the books they were pouring over. Ms. Scatter's hair was pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head, though with the stress of taking care of the ten Recruits she was slightly disheveled. "Glad to see you finally decided to join us," she huffed as she adjusted her glasses on her face.

"It was a long debate." He shrugged and poured himself a cup of coffee. "But I figured you'd need me for something around here." He gestured to the lot of Recruits in front of them. "Though, it looked as though you had everything figured out here."

"Of course, I did!" She slapped her bagel with the cream cheese and butter knife, "No thanks to you, I might add!"

"Well now, no need to get testy," he teased gently and lifted his pinky in the air. "It is because you are so capable of taking care of these things that I knew that I could take my time."

She waved that butter knife covered in cream cheese rather dangerously close to his suit. "That is a load of bull-"

"Now, now, Ms. Scatter." He tutted playfully. "That language is most unbecoming of a lady such as yourself."

"Don't give me that horse shit this early in the morning." She smoothed down some of her fly-aways. "I got up early to work with Jamilia."

"How's that coming?" He poked his omelet with his fork. "I've noticed that the field journals are. . . Cleaner."

"She doesn't like to be reprimanded about anything," her eyes were wide as she cut her bagels into fourths. "I have had to approach her most delicately with some things, but once she realized that she wasn't in trouble and just needed to adjust her way of doing things – " She popped a slice of the bagel in her mouth before continuing. "She was as happy as ever. She is quite a quick learner and listens very well, despite how she may seem."

He chuckled and rested his fork beside his plate "And that is why you are taking care of her."

"How is the Faerrie Script coming along?" She tilted her head to the side as she examined his face. The smile instantly fell.

"I'm still learning letters." He groaned and rubbed his face. "They're so tiny and too many of the letters look the same. I don't know how you have managed to learn that language."

"It is much easier to learn when you speak it rather than when you read it," A proud smirk played on her lips as she took a bite of that bagel, "which is the opposite for most ways you learn a language."

"I stayed up most of the night trying to figure out what the letter 'A' was." He cut a small corner of the eggs and nibbled on them. "I would be totally and utterly lost without you, Ms. Scatter."

"I know," there was a soft giggle in her confidence that it shocked Mr. V. He was glad she was confident in her abilities, but she rarely let it show this much.

Off to his right he could feel holes being burned into the back of his head from his fellow Hosts. However, he decided to ignore them as he was engrossed in a much different conversation. He hadn't informed them of anything involving Ms. Scatter's outburst the other night, and though they were waiting for some sort of explanation, they would have none until he had his own answers. Resting his chin in his hand he kept his back to this fellow Hosts and his eyes on Scatter. "How's my schedule looking for the rest of this week?"

"Mostly empty, actually." She pulled her clipboard out from under her plate. "Most of the Villains that you wanted to originally meet and speak with all went out of town for some sort of con or group meeting in the House of Mouse."

The House of Mouse, one of the few thresholds where the Villains could see for themselves what happened on the surface. The House of Mouse, as Mickey Mouse so graciously dubbed it, was more a nightclub with decent, though lacking, entertainment. It was notorious for housing parties, cons for fans, as well as book clubs, though he could hardly fathom why so many of the Villains scheduled time to be there. Something big had to be happening. Mr. V's brow furrowed. "Is there a special speaker there?"

"From what I've gathered around town it is supposed to be a welcoming." Ms. Villa chipped in. "News has fluttered all over the Anti-Realm about it."

"You mean gossip." Mr. Po snorted and Ms. Villa quickly swatted at him in response. "We've been trying to figure out if there's any sort of clues in the papers or magazines, trying to see if they're the next hot fashion icon."

Ms. Villa's magenta hair whipped around as she scowled at Mr. Po, "Which they will not be."

"A welcoming?" Mr. V nearly choked on his food. "Here in the Anti-Realm?"

The last welcoming they had was for Dr. Facilier, and that was over a decade ago. There weren't any new Villains added to the scene, and most everyone was already established. There was always more room within the Anti-Realm to allow newcomers in, however there hasn't been a real classic Villain to be added to the collection of Villains. Sure, the Villains were getting their own backstories and their own movies, but there wasn't anyone really new. Just who could be welcomed to the Anti-Realm? And how has news eluded Mr. V for so long?

"It would appear that this is an old friend to many of the Villains who has suddenly made an appearance after being gone for so long." Ms. Villa answered with great excitement in her voice. "Even the Horned King, Lady Tremaine, Narissa, and Yzma are going to go and meet this long-lost Villain."

"Who is it?" Mr. V needed a name. As the current ruler of the Anti-Realm, it did not sit well with him to only now come to this information.

"I have no idea." Mr. Po shook his head with a shrug. "We've been scouring over books all night trying to figure out who this new Villain is."

"When did this news of this reappearing Villain come about?" Mr. V frowned.

"About two weeks ago." Ms. Villa poked her cheek thoughtfully. "In fact, I think it started right around the time things were finally starting without a little Recruit program."

"Don't call it little, Villa." Mr. V pointed his fork at her. "It took a lotta time, effort, and work gettin' all those Villains to agree to the program, let alone gettin' them all in the same room with me."

"Don't point your cutlery at me." Ms. Villa snatched the fork from his hand and pointed it back at him. "It's rude!"

"Darling." Mr. Po casually yanked the fork from her hand and put it as far away from her as he could. "Let's not start anything."

"I'll show you – " She chuckled with a smirk and tried reaching out for the fork again all the while Mr. Po kept it from her grasp. While the two lovebirds flirted with one another, Mr. V shook his head and turned his attention back to the quiet Scatter.

"Well, since none of us know anything about this Villain," he held her gaze as she looked at him curiously. "Would you like to go and discover for ourselves who this mystery Villain is?"

"I beg your pardon?" Her face flushed a deep hue of radish red. Both Mr. Po and Ms. Villa froze and stared at Mr. V.

"Would you like to come with me and go downtown to discover who this Villain is?" He repeated and could feel the room growing quiet around him. "It could give us a potential Recruiter if this Villain will fancy our services well enough."

"Really?" Mr. Po hissed, and Ms. Villa slapped her hand over his mouth as she continued watching Mr. V.

"Oh," Scatter sighed a small relief, but looked still flustered. "Why, of course, I'll join you."

"Excellent." He smiled and continued to eat his eggs. "We will leave around five or so, pick up a bite to eat, then waltz our way downtown. Sound nice?"

"Yes," she stuffed another bagel bite into her mouth. "That sounds very nice."

"Ah, I should let the others know. . . " He looked around the room and pointedly ignored the gawking gaze from his fellow Hosts. They would no doubt divide and conquer and try to get information out of them later, for now Mr. V only wanted to focus on the Recruits. He could either let them stay out as late as they wanted to this evening, or he could have them do their usual schedule and leave Varuo in charge. Part of him liked the idea of leaving Varuo in charge, maybe it would cause the cat a little trouble and strife having to put up with them all, then again, he'd turn the situation around and use it in his favor and against Mr. V. No, it would be better to just let them do as they wanted this evening that way they could get as much field mission work done as possible, and maybe make some sort of development in their stories.

"All right, everyone." The Recruits were all excited in their conversations; they were paying very little attention to them until he tapped his cane three times and all eyes were on him. "I have an announcement to make."

"Are you retiring?" Ember asked while eating a bagel.

"No." He glared at her across the room and many snickers echoed. "This evening, you may stay out until midnight."

The room was deathly still and ghostly quiet. The Recruits all looked from one another with confused faces and furrowed brows and mimicked the gawking gazes of the Hosts behind him. Ember looked greatly disappointed, as if the curfew never applied to her anyways, and went back to eating her breakfast. Hushed whispers peppered the room and Mr. V could only sigh as he knew questions were bound to pop off. Adam pushed his breakfast aside and crossed his arms, "And to what do we owe this privilege?"

"Ms. Scatter and I have a few meetings that we must attend to this evening," he hoped it sounded as professional as it did in his head, "and we will not be back until late." Looks of disbelief and smug smirks told him that the Recruits and the Hosts did not take his words as professional, but as an excuse for something more personal. Mr. V pulled at his necktie and felt uncomfortably warm, "Instead of rising the chance of you lot destroying my castle while I'm gone, I'd rather you cause a little more trouble in your own Realm." Eight Foot Joe snorted and rolled his eyes. "You must all be back by midnight this evening, however. I shall have the Staff waiting for each and every one of your arrivals, so please make it easier on the Staff and do as you're told."

There were no complaints and in an odd sort of fashion they all dismissed themselves from the dining hall to go and prepare for their days. The Staff followed after their assigned Recruit and soon it was only the four Hosts remaining in the dining hall. Mr. Po and Ms. Villa were deathly silent, as if they were afraid to say anything and ruin whatever spell had some over Mr. V. It was terribly unnerving, and he knew better than to look at them or else the spell of their silence would be broken. Instead he turned to see that Ms. Scatter's mouth was open in shock as she watched the Recruits all file out of the dining hall. She then looked at him with those big brown eyes, they were so warm, especially under that pinkish flushed glow on her cheeks. She pushed her glasses back on her nose and shook her head slightly in disbelief, "You cannot be serious."

It caused his heart to flutter in happiness to see the faintest shade of pink dust her cheeks that he almost didn't catch what she said. "What?"

"You're really going to allow them to be out until midnight?" She spoke slowly, as if to reason him out of his decision. "Just so we can go and scope out this new Villain?"

"Hey, they've been here this long." He nudged her with his elbow. "The children should be allowed some responsibility every now and again, don'tcha think? It will only be for a single evening, Scatter."

"I find that I quite agree!" Mr. Po suddenly snapped back to his usual self and broke the spell of silence. Mr. V scowled as he turned and saw a dangerous spark in both Ms. Villa's eyes and Mr. Po. They were already planning things.

"And to ease your own worries, Eito and I will stay behind." Ms. Villa smiled and waved her hand to dismiss any worries that Ms. Scatter should have. "We will make sure that things run like normal!"

"We'll collect the field journals, make sure everyone will be accounted for." Mr. Po listed off. "Heck, we'll even make sure they brush their teeth and go to bed!"

"Really?" Ms. Villa's nose wrinkled. "Even that is a bit much for me."

"I don't think that will be entirely necessary," A smile curled on Ms. Scatter's lips, but she tried to cover it with a bagel that she nibbled on. "But it does ease my worries about this decision."

"Then that is all that matters." Ms. Villa clapped her hands together before rubbing them together. Mr. V could already see the wheels in her head turning as she was plotting something for them.

Mr. Po waggled his eyebrows at Mr. V as he leaned across the table. "So, what time do you two plan on heading out?"

"What does it matter?" Mr. V frowned at both of them. They were acting like teenagers plotting a wild party once the parents were away. Although they were able to dissuade Ms. Scatter's worries, Mr. V found that many worries were growing within him. Perhaps he really should leave Varuo in charge.

"Valentino." Ms. Villa chirped. "We need to know what time you two plan to go out on your little escapade so we will know when we need to pick up the slack."

"That's not very reassuring." He snorted in disbelief. "I may have to allow Varuo to oversee the two of you if you keep acting like children."

Both of the fellow Hosts frowned and grunted complaints, but Mr. V didn't catch what they were saying because he could only hear Ms. Scatter's giggle. Ever so slightly he turned an ear towards her just to catch her saying, "You sound like Varuo."

He dropped his fork and it clattered against his plate. "I beg your pardon?" Both Mr. Po and Ms. Villa silenced themselves and watched. That uncomfortable warmth returned to Mr. V's neck and he was regretting wearing a necktie today.

"Varuo says that they're like a bunch of children too." She laced her fingers together and rested her cheek on her hands. "He's right about that, wouldn't you agree? It's like we're parents of this big adopted family."

"If you're the parents then that means we'd be the aunt and uncle." Mr. Po chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.

"Which is for the best." Ms. Villa nodded and leaned into his shoulder. "I wouldn't let any of my children dress the way they do; I'd make sure they looked better. The best I can do is act like the cool aunt and give them fashion advice." She crossed her arms and scowled to the side. "Not that they'd listen to it. . ."

Mr. Po snorted and kissed her temple and managed to turn the scowl into something softer, though not quite a smile. Against his better judgement Mr. V couldn't help but agree with their words. He never had a family of his own, none that he belonged to and none that he was a part of, and was an orphan for as long as he could remember. He'd seen what it meant to have a family, all the crazy in and outs of it, the different walks of life that can come from the same set of parents, and that small attachment they held when the family was strongly united and the thin thread when there was no bond. From Tiana's father he saw what love and trust did for a family, while he saw the ugliness and manipulation from Dr. Facilier when he decided to take him under his wing.

He couldn't help but wonder just how many of the Recruits were in a situation like him. Sure, he had files on each and every one of them as they were registered in the Anti-Realm as underlings for their Villains, but that didn't explain anything about their situations or their stories. How many were that lost soul taken under a misguided wing? How many were kidnapped or forced into a life of villainy? Just how many of them knew more of an ugly side of what it meant to be part of a family? There could be love, trust, and a sense of security or there could be hate, skepticism, and a constant sense of danger where they heavily relied on their fight or flight instincts. A few of the Recruits seemed to be treated well, but most of the others did not have a good sense of what it meant to love and be loved, to trust and to be trusted, or even what it meant to be safe and have a sense of security about them. The whole Recruit program had been revamped to give them all those things and more, and more importantly a second chance for a better life than the one they lived. Until each and every one completed their own individual stories, Mr. V would leave the doors of the Castle open to the Recruits so that they always had a place of security and safety to return to; he only wished they believed him.

"Quite a family we are." Mr. V toasted his coffee to the empty and bare table before them. Down the long table were empty dishes and plates with scraps of food remaining. "We're Villain Recruits with ten psychopathic children."

"Hear, hear!" Mr. Po held his own mug of coffee to the toast and received a jab to his ribs from Ms. Villa's elbow.

"You know what I mean." Ms. Scatter nudged him back. "It is rather nice to think that even though we're here in the Anti-Realm, I like to think that we can do some sort of good in the world. . ."

"Don't hold your breath, Scatter." He sighed and set his coffee down. "Hope doesn't survive in this Realm of Darkness for long."

"It's just the Anti-Realm, Mr. V. " She crossed her arms. "There are other Realms where things are much worse." There was a little tension that instantly built up at the mention of Realms, but Ms. Scatter continued before questions could arise. "Besides, hope thrives in the darkest of places."

"You sound as though you're going to start an uprising." Mr. V smirked and earned a smile from Ms. Scatter. She pushed herself to a stand and stretched her arms over her head.

"Well, it is those who have hope that start uprisings, Mr. V." She turned on her heel and began to walk away. She smirked over her shoulder as she walked past him. "You should know a little something about that though."

"An uprising?" Mr. Po chuckled as both he and Ms. Villa hopped out of their seats and followed after them.

"What story is this?" Ms. Villa cackled as she saddled up next to Ms. Scatter.

"No story." Mr. V twirled his cane on his fingers and followed after Ms. Scatter, but none of the other Hosts were really listening to him.

"Would you like to explain what you mean by that, Ms. Scatter?" Mr. Po asked as he looped his arm through Ms. Villa's as they walked with Ms. Scatter.

"Mr. V has ever so quietly started an uprising with our Recruits." She stopped and spoke matter-of-factly to him.

"Hardly an uprising." He scoffed.

"You're giving these Recruits a second chance." Ms. Scatter quickly turned on her heel and pointed her pen at him "That provides a giant weed of Hope in the Anti-Realm; and you're doing it here in the capital no less."

"Well strike me down," he chuckled and stood. "I suppose you're right. Not that I haven't said that this was all for their chance at life from the beginning."

She smiled behind her clipboard while the other two Hosts rolled their eyes with disappointment. He smiled down at her but frowned almost immediately when he saw Varuo rubbing his back on her calves. "Hello, Varuo," she smiled, and his wispy shadow-ness swirled up to sit on her shoulder. He purred and nuzzled his face into her neck. "What are you doing?"

"The Recruits are all gone." He yawned and rested on her shoulders. "I highly doubt that any of them will return this evening; not even Jane."

"You don't have to sound so excited about it." Ms. Scatter frowned, and he merely yawned again. "They're not that bad."

"Don't lie." His nose wrinkled and his brows furrowed. "They're all loud and they hardly listen to anything."

Mr. V nodded, "I do have to agree with the cat."

"You two are killing me," she rolled her eyes. "They're not that bad."

"This is coming from the woman who had to explain to Jamilia not to include feces in her journal." Varuo hopped down from her shoulders and stood in between them.

"Varuo, I don't like your tone." Scatter frowned, and Varuo yawned. Mr. Po coughed to cover up the laugh and Ms. Scatter's frown turned to him. "All right." She pulled up her clipboard and clicked her pen. "Mr. V, don't think you're getting off the hook. You've got appointments with Yzma, the Evil Queen, and Maleficent today."

More coughs of laughter bubbled from the other two Hosts as Mr. V's mouth dropped open. "Why am I meeting up with them?" He blinked in surprise. "I understand Yzma since we're always open to new Recruits, but why Grimhildes and Maleficent?"

"Did you forget?" She smirked. "You have to meet with the Original Villains to give them weekly updates."

"Weekly?" Mr. V sputtered. "I thought that I had agreed to monthly!"

"And you have no idea how persistent the Evil Queen and Maleficent are." She huffed and pushed her glasses on her nose. "So, while you deal with the Original Villainesses, I'll be going through the files and seeing what books will help you in learning Faerrie Script."

With a cute little smile and a pep in her step, she turned and went over to the elevator. "I'll see you tonight" she called over her shoulder as the elevator doors opened. After Ms. Scatter left and the other two Hosts turned their heads with cheeky grins at Mr. V. He narrowed his eyes at them, but they seemed undeterred by it.

"Scoping out the new villain, huh?" Mr. Po prodded as they came closer to Mr. V.

"Yes," he nodded his head in confusion. "That is the full intention of this evening.

"There's nothing more . . ." Ms. Villa hinted, "personal behind it?"

"Personal?" He scoffed. "I am the current ruler of the Anti-Realm and I should be the first one to be made known when we've got newcomers; I was the last to find out. It is personal in that regard. Why hadn't either of you said anything to me?"

"We assumed you knew." Mr. Po shrugged. "Neither of us thought to ask you about it."

Mr. V frowned at this news. If they didn't bother to ask him or inform him of this news, just what else did they unintentionally keep from him in his assumed omniscience?

"You really have no other intentions this evening?" Ms. Villa pressed, completely ignoring the frown. "You're just going to see who this new villain is?"

"Yes." Mr. V's brow furrowed. How could she not understand him after he told her so bluntly. "I will also see if they have someone we can possibly recruit to the programs."

Out of frustration Ms. Villa made some unintelligible noise and threw her hands up in the air before storming off to the elevator. Mr. Po was close behind her, saying something in a language that Mr. V did not understand before they disappeared behind the doors of the elevator. While the two Hosts disappeared, Varuo reappeared and lingered by Mr. V's ankles. Varuo sat and looked up at Mr. V. "Faerrie Script, huh?"

He sighed and gave a curt nod. "Malfie writes it."

"It makes sense since he is Faerrie." Varuo licked his paw and groomed the top of his head. "More dragon in him if you ask me, he's got a thing for gold and blondes."

"Are you snooping through his journals?" Mr. V couldn't help but smirk at the implication of a crush the boy was developing for a certain sleeping maiden.

"Nope." A mischievous chuckle rolled in his voice. "He has no idea that I can talk. He just talks to me."

"You're terrible." Mr. V barked a laugh and Varuo did not look guilty at all.

"You have your ways of entertaining yourself, and I have mine." He shrugged with a proud purr. "He and Joe might be the only ones to actually get a Happy Ending. Those two are very different from the others."

"You can't be serious," Mr. V scoffed and put his hand on his hip. "Do you even know of the improvements that Adam has made? That Jane has made?"

"True." Varuo stretched as though he were bored. "But we already knew that those two were going to struggle, possibly the worst, of the entire Recruits. They have the worst upbringings, so to speak, then the others."

"None of them were really given the best upbringings." Mr. V snorted.

"Oh, please." Varuo rolled his eyes. "Adam was created from the Black Apple Poison recipe because the Evil Queen dropped the heart of her lover into the pot and Jane was kidnapped from Wendy as a child. Those two only know of abuse, pain, suffering, and probably worse. They weren't given comfy beds to sleep in or an actual meal like the others; they were thrown into cells and lived off moldy breadcrumbs!"

"For a cat you certainly have quite an attachment to them. . ." Mr. V mused, his smirk growing bigger. "You might make Scatter jealous."

"Oh please." He rolled his eyes at Mr. V. "I am Ashe's cat, she is my person, thanks to Astaroth."

"Astaroth?" Mr. V tilted his head to the side. Varuo went rigid upon the name and his eyes dilated into slits. "Who is he?"

"Don't say his name." Varuo's back arched as he let out a most evil hiss. "If you say a demon's name too many times you invoke their presence!"

Mr. V was taken aback by the rather feral tone in Varuo's sudden change in attitude and there was a part of him that knew that name had something to do with Ms. Scatter. "There's a story there. . ." Mr. V pointed out and watched as Varuo's fur stood on end.

"No, there is not, Valentino." Those glowing green eyes were in thin slits. "You will drop this and not bring this up again."

He buzzed his lips and crossed his arms. "Touchy."

"There are just some things you don't need to bring up, Valentino." He sat back down, but his hair still stood on end.

There was definitely a story there, the fact that Varuo was so demanding about his silence on the matter only proved it. It only scratched his curiosity more and made him want to investigate more. Mr. V cleared his throat to change the topic, "You were talking about Scatter?"

"As I was saying," he huffed and began to groom himself. "I chose her, regardless of the fact that she almost went for that white cat. She is my person, and nothing will change that."

"Then this attachment for the other Recruits?" He hummed in amusement.

"Cats choose people, people don't choose us; they think they do, but they really don't." He began to calm down as he groomed himself. "Some people are easier to deal with and put up with better than others."

"So," he hinted with a smirk, "you've decided to claim all of the Recruits?"

"No." He said flatly and stood up again and began to walk towards the library. "Just a few of them."

Mr. V followed closely behind. "Which ones?"

"Malfie would probably be my favorite or the boys.'' He said. "Even though he's a Faerrie, he treats me with more respect than the others. Veil is my favorite of the girls, she's quiet and she tells the most interesting stories."

It eased some of his worries to know that the Recruits were opening up and adapting to their new life, even if they were confiding in a cat. "Watch it," Mr. V teased, "or that fluffy coat of yours will get fluffier."

"Jamilia, Farja, Dalmatia, and Jack are my least favorite; they're too loud." He groaned. "It doesn't matter how well I hide in the shadows, Jamilia will always find me with that nose of hers. Farja is too loud, and Jack pulls my tail when he's green and blue."

"Green and blue?" He looked

"Ah, clover and spade thing." Varuo turned into the library. "Wonderland thing, something you shouldn't think about unless he is ever either of those and not the red heart when he returns to the Anti-Realm."

"Curious and curiouser," Mr. V mused as he rubbed his beard. "I may have to pop in and see the Queen of Hearts some time."

"Well not today," Varuo shook his head, "there's supposed to be a big trial and execution going on today."

"You certainly have a lot of knowledge about things that go on in their lives without being attached to them." Mr. V pointed out.

"Have you ever thought about how Ashe suddenly knows how to talk to them?" He snapped and looked over his shoulder. "I go out on the field and get her the intel that she needs to know how to properly approach the Recruits."

"That explains the fast improvement. . ." He mumbled with wide eyes. "But I thought you stayed and sat outside the Wardrobe waiting to clock them when they got back?"

"You really think I would waste my time doing nothing, waiting literally hours for them to come back just to write their times down?" His tail flicked.

"Well, yes, actually."

"Ugh, you're more human than Shadowman." He turned his nose up at him. "I'm so disappointed in you."

His grip tightened on the handle of his cane. "I should swat you with my cane."

"Do it and I'll tell Ashe and she'll give you a schedule that is worse than that of in the Underworld." He had a smug and evil grin on his face. "Trust me, Ember Hades can come up with a schedule that is worse than any of your nightmares."

"You go to the Underworld too?"

"It's part of the Demon Realms" he stretched. "Just like home for me."

"Huh, so all cats do come from hell, then?" He chuckled and Varuo only rolled his eyes.

"Only the best of us do." He curled up in a ball and looked ready to take a nap. "Ember isn't too bad, she's interesting to be around. She acts mature, but she has immature antics at times."

"How often do you follow Jane and Adam?"

"Adam when he's in the Apfel town or mountains, and only whenever Jane is on the mainland." His fur poofed in agitation. "I will not be used as crocodile bait."

"Has she before?"

"No, nor will she if she gets the chance."

"Interesting." Mr. V looked at all the bookshelves around them and wondered if there was a book that Varuo wanted to share with him. "Is there any reason you led me here to the library?"

"Not at all, actually." His ears bent back as he laid his head on top of his paws. "This just happens to be one of my favorite places to nap."

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes at the cat, "Nothing at all here?"

"I already told you not to be sniffing around." He cracked one eye open to glare at Mr. V. "Even though you're a Shadowman and can mostly conceal your presence, I know you've been coming to the library during the afterhours; even though I told you once to stop."

"And you're not the boss of me, cat."

"I'm doing this for Ashe's sake, not yours." He growled. "The more you dig, the more things will come to surface."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Before Varuo would ignore him and not answer him anyways, the intense clacking of heels on the wood floors interrupted the ending of their conversation.

"Mr. V." Yzma screeched out. "Mr. Valentino, where are you? I do not like to be kept waiting!"

"I'm coming, Ms. Yzma." He groaned and met her out in the grand hall.

Author's Note:

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