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Return of the Great Cat and Mouse Chapter 25

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Chapter 25

The Vilhelm Case Part 3


"Well Basil, we checked every book on these shelves and still nothing. What will we do now?" Dawson said collapsing on his bottom on Prince Vilhelm's bed.

"This doesn't make sense. We would have found a book that would be useful by now, but each book has nothing to offer." Basil said frowning as he held his magnifying glass, while standing next to Dawson on the large bed.

Dawson sighed.

"I just hope Haru and Crisp will return soon. I'm starting to go a bit mad, I'm too famished." Dawson said looking up at the ceiling, which had been painted in a landscape.

Basil growled under his breath.

"Those two should have been back by now! Crisp and Haru probably got themselves lost."

Basil then sighed in irritation and headed to the headboard of the bed, walking between the bed's two pillows.

"We better go search for them."

Dawson got up slowly, and then followed Basil, who grabbed a part of the headboard and began to climb down.

"Be careful, climbing down." Basil said.

Dawson looked nervously at the headboard and reluctantly moved into position to climb down. However while doing so, he didn't get good footing,

Dawson exclaimed as he realized this and began to fall backwards from the bed.

"Dawson?!" Basil cried in alarm as he watched as Dawson land right on the edge of the bed’s foundation.

"Oh dear!" Dawson said peering down at the floor where his bowler hat landed.

Basil let go of the headboard and landed right next to Dawson.

"You alright?"

"A little startled, but fine." Dawson smiled bashfully.

Basil gave a relieved smile and turned to face the mattress only to frown.

"Say Dawson, there is something between the mattress and foundation."

Dawson directed his gaze where Basil gestured, and tilted his head.

"Yes it appears so."

"Help me pull it out."

Basil and Dawson reached between the furniture till they touched a solid object and began to tug at it.

Basil's eyes widen little by little when, the object they were pulling turned out to be a blue book with a blank cover.

"Peculiar. Let's drop it down."

Once they finally pulled the entire book out they let it fall to the ground with a thud, before climbing down the rest of the way to inspect it.

Basil opened the cover of the book to see the first page in a notebook format.

"A journal, under the Prince's mattress?" Dawson questioned looking at the blank lined paper with Basil.

Basil frowned and turned the page to see neat penmanship on the two pages that were open before them.

"My word. . ." Dawson said, before leaning down to look at the writing and reading it aloud.

"Once again, my parents gave me another broken promise.

They always tell me that we will do something and in the end they are too busy.

They always put their royal duties before me and never consider my feelings. I'm getting very upset about that more than ever now.

Archibald kept on scolding me that my parents are always hard at work to make their subjects happy. I understand that, but what upsets me is they don't put that same effort into making me happy.

I hardly see them anymore these days.

Ever since I turned 8, they put their complete faith in Archibald into taking care of me and teaching me things and focused solely on their work and forgot about me. They expect him to do the work a governess would do, but completely forgot that Archibald is just my tutor.

I miss the days when I was younger. When I was very dependent on my parents. Back then it seemed like we were inseparable. Now it seems like I only get to see them during dinner and bedtime when they kiss me goodnight, but they have been doing that less frequently and I think they aren't going to even bother telling me goodnight soon. I better prepare myself for that possibility. - V"

Once Dawson finished reading the paragraph aloud he looked at Basil.

"That initial, V. This is Prince Vilhelm's writing. It's must be like a diary to him." Dawson said.

"And from the way it's hidden between his mattresses I assume he wants it to be a secret." Basil said flipping through the pages to find more of his writing.

Dawson interrupted Basil's page flipping.

"Wait, look here Basil." Dawson said looking at another paragraph.

"Six months until the Offering Festival and already mom and dad are working harder than usual. Great. More time taken away of me not seeing my parents.

I was actually foolish enough to mutter to myself how I wished my parents never created this dumb festival, this afternoon.

Kunz, who was nearby when I said this, took me aside and scolded me on how the Offering Festival was a benevolent event that our Kingdom takes great pride having each year. He then told me we don't have time from my selfishness and walked off.

For a stuttering dog who is one of the shortest in the palace, he sure enjoys scolding me like Archibald. And remarks like that really don't make me feel any better. If anything they make me want to run away from these awful people. From the royal advisor, my tutor, the disapproving eyes of the maids and other servants, to my unloving parents.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't say unloving. . . They do show they love to me and always look so sad when they tell me that we can't spend time with each other alone. But they still don't bother to bend some rules for me and put of work, so they could spend even just a little time with their son. No, unloving doesn't fit, uncaring does however.

I wish I didn't think like this, but I do and no matter how hard I try, I can't remain positive in my situation. Everyone is right about me, I'm selfish, negative, needy, and not at all the right successor for my parents to rule this kingdom after they pass the thrown to me. My parents would be better off with another kid who is everything I'm not. But life wasn't fair for them sadly, because they had me. - V"

Dawson frowned at the last sentence.

"My, the prince obviously wasn't the most happiest prince. Offering Festival? I wonder what that is? Was this recent?"

Basil studded the words and nodded.

"It must have been. The ink looks more fresh from the previous pages and we still have yet to read the rest. And based on the extremely right slanted writing and the darkness and indentations left from the writing, I believe the young lad to be profoundly depressed and capable of very extreme and desperate acts."

Basil smirked.

"Dawson, I we finally found what we need. Clues."

OOO

Not thinking twice, Haru leaped off of Crisp, alarming him, and landing a bit hard on her feet.

Wincing back the pain, Haru bolted towards Toto's figure.

"Toto?!" Haru called out.

Crisp who broke out of his shock, wore an angered look, as he called down to Haru.

"Haru?! What are you thinking, jumping down from that height?! You could have broken your legs!" Crisp yelled at her, trailing behind her as she got closer to Toto.

Ignoring Crisp's outburst, she made it behind the large raven’s back who laid on his side and quickly ran around to face him.

"Toto?! Toto! How are-?! What's wrong?!" Haru cried crouching to cup Toto's face in her small hands.

Groaning, Toto slowly opened his eyes and gazed up at the brown mouse staring at him in horror and groaned out.

"Don't. . . drink. . . that water." Toto struggled to whisper as he extended his wing in the direction of the cart holding the water, before going limp.

"Toto?!" Haru cried frantically as she desperately tried to bring the raven back into consciousness, feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Crisp landed next to Haru and examined the larger bird laying in front of them and sighed in relief.

"He's alive. But definitely not okay." Crisp said frowning at his last remark.

Haru looked up at Crisp as she used her jacket sleeve to wipe her tears.

"B-But. . . he'll be okay, right?"

"I can't say. . ." Crisp said looking intently at the raven, before turning to the cart of water, nearby.

"Did he say anything before he passed out?" Crisp frowned.

"He said not to drink some water. . . " Haru said looking in the direction Crisp was peering.

"He must have been poisoned, by that water." Crisp murmured.

"But why?! Who would poison Toto?!" Haru angrily asked glaring at Crisp, demanding answers.

"How should I know?! We just got here!" Crisp exclaimed glaring back.

Haru's glare vanished as she put he hands to the sides of her head, and began to panic.

"Okay, okay, Haru. Calm down, calm down, Haru." Haru told herself pacing the ground, before turning abruptly to Crisp.

"We need to get help! We should also get Basil." Haru said.

Crisp frowned.

"Okay, but I completely lost track of the room we were in."

"That's okay, I'll go, I think I can find it." Haru said.

"Then we better hurry-"

"No! You stay here." Haru interrupted Crisp.

"Someone needs to watch Toto and make sure no one touches that water. You have to stay Crisp." Haru said.

Crisp slowly nodded.

"Right, come back fast." Crisp said.

Haru nodded and looked at Toto one last time before bolting off into the palace.

Crisp watched Haru go and turned to look down at the large bird at his side.

"Toto. . . Who's Toto? Does she mean him?" Crisp frowned in confusion as he stared at the unconscious raven next to him.

Haru ran down the large hall of the palace as fast as she could, her mind clouded in thoughts.

'Toto, he was poisoned. But why? Why would someone harm Toto?'

Haru ran down the corner of the hall into a foyer.

'But. . . what is Toto even doing here? Why is he here? Did he come alone?'

Haru's heart thumped at the possibility that a suave and gallant cat was somewhere nearby. But she quickly shook that thought from her head and fixed her gaze down the hall as she ran.

'Whether he's here or not, I'll find out soon enough. But right now, my priority is Toto!' Haru thought determined as she ran down another hall to a familiar staircase.

OOO

"Hope birdbrain made himself useful and figured some more things out." Muta grumbled as he and the others walked to the meeting spot.

Archibald shook his head in disbelief.

"I still have no idea how I'm going to break the news to Kunz."

Hound placed his hand under his chin.

"Indeed, we are going to have to find possible suspects and interrogate them, but that could be anyone."

Baron turned to look at Hound.

"Are there any suspects in particular in the Dog Kingdom that you have in mind?" Baron asked.
Hound smiled to himself.

"In a way. You recall Professor Moriarty? He could be responsible. However his motives for killing the King and Queen I cannot say, besides trying to gain wealth. But I don’t know how he would gain it by killing them. Luckily, Watson and I recently found his whereabouts and we could bring him in for questioning nevertheless."

Baron, nodded, remembering Moriarty from past cases with Hound and frowned.

"That still leaves everyone in the castle. We should gather suspects before, announcing the news to the kingdom of the King and Queen."

Archibald groaned and placed a paw on his head.

"I can't imagine what the kingdom will do when they find out the King and Queen were murdered. This kingdom hasn't harbored a murderer in the longest time, that the citizens may panic when they hear of a murderer who has the nerve to kill the royal family." Archibald said.

Muta growled shaking his head.

"Yeah, we better keep quiet for a while longer about this all. Because I don't want to be around when a bunch of dogs go insane-"

Muta stopped in mid sentence and halted in his steps, causing the others trailing behind him to crash into his back.

"Muta?!" Baron scolded while he, Hound, and Archibald rubbed their noses, from awkwardly crashing into each other.

"What's wrong?" Baron asked walking to Muta's side to see what he was staring at, only to freeze in place also.

Everyone stared at the area where they all agreed to meet earlier, and were shocked to see Toto laying on his side in a crouched position next to a green parrot, who was staring at them as well.

'. . . Toto, is he. . . ?' Baron thought his heart froze in fear.

Muta was the first to move, as he ran towards the two birds.

"Toto!" Muta cried as he ran beside Toto and quickly checked him over, before looking angrily over at the green parrot.

"What did you do to Toto?!" Muta hissed angrily at Crisp.

Crisp, who took a respectable step back, glare back.

"I didn't do anything. I think your friend was poisoned." Crisp replied calmly.

"Poisoned?!" Muta hissed in outrage.

Hound and Archibald ran up to them.

"Is he breathing?" Hound asked once they made it up to the group.

"He is, but barely." Crisp said.

Baron broke out of his shock before he silently made his way towards a weary Crisp and looked down at him, his emerald eyes flashing.

"Who did this. . . ?" Baron spoke in a low voice.

". . . I don't know. But before your friend passed out, he said not drink that water. I think it's what poisoned him." Crisp spoke slowly, gesturing at the cart holding the glasses of water.

Hound walked up to the cart of water and picked up a glass and sniffed it.

"This definitely isn't just water, however the substance I can't pinpoint it. Nothing ordinary that's for sure." Hound said setting the glass down.

"Oh dear. A dead King and Queen, a missing prince, and now we have tainted drinks. What's next that we need to look into?" Archibald cried in exasperation pacing, before slumping in a nearby chair.

"Indeed. . . now we have to find the source of these drinks." Hound said turning to Crisp.

"Do you happen to know who possibly gave the drinks to Toto?"

Crisp shook his head.

"No, like I said before, I got here the moment your friend blacked out."

Hound frowned.

"How long where you here?" he asked.

"For about maybe fifteen minutes, my friend Haru and I discovered him 10 minutes earlier before she left me to watch him."

Baron who was staring down at Toto's form intently, along with Muta, looked up abruptly at Crisp.

'His friend Haru?' he thought, his eyes wide.

Archibald looked at Crisp suspiciously from where he sat.

"Wait a moment. . . Just exactly what are you and this 'Haru' friend of your's doing here anyway?"

Crisp sweatdropped.

"Err. . . long story." Crisp said waving a green wing.

"Your friend Haru, where is she now?" Hound asked ignoring the unanswered question for the moment.

"She went to get some help from somebody." Crisp said.

Archibald stood up abruptly from his slumped state.

"She can't! We can't let others find out on what's going on!"

"Relax, her main priority was to get some friends of ours, but I can't guarantee she might get someone else." Crisp said.

"I can't risk it. You need to quickly go and get her and make sure she doesn't speak to anyone."  Archibald pleaded with Crisp.

Crisp frowned.

"Okay. . . I'll get her?" Crisp said eyeing everyone in confusion.

"I need to talk to Watson and Kunz. They haven't met us here, and we still need to tell them what really happened to the King and Queen." Hound said.

"Well I don't know who those people are, I can only find my friend Haru." Crisp frowned.

"Then Baron will come to help you look for them." Muta said.

Baron turned to look at Muta who sat next to Toto's form.

"Baron, knows Watson and Kunz, he should go look for them with you. . . while you look for your 'friend'. . . Haru." Muta said with a hidden meaning in his eyes at mentioning the familiar name, that Baron understood.

Baron nodded.

"I'll go with Crisp. Hound, Muta, and Archibald you stay here and look after Toto and see if you find any more clues about that water."

Everyone nodded.

Baron turned to Crisp.

"Let's go find them." Baron said heading towards the palace.

"Uh, right." Crisp said flapping his wings and giving the others a questioning look, then flew to fly beside the feline creation, who was already a good distance away.

As the others watched them go, Hound looked down at Toto.

"Poor Baron. He may not look like it, but he's an emotional wreck right now." Hound said leaning down to check Toto's breathing.

Muta tsked.

"Can't blame him, I'm kind of freaking out too." Muta said his ears slightly drooping while watching Hound check Toto over.

"I for one, want to have a better talk with this green parrot and his friend 'Haru' and their other friends. Why would strangers like them be here in the first place. For all we know they could be responsible for everything. And how did they get passed the castle's gate?!" Archibald frowned.

Muta shook his head.

"If this 'Haru' is the same one I know. . .ugh jeez. . . what’s going on here?" Muta growled in frustration, moving a paw to brush his forehead.

"I've noticed. . . the moment that quaker parrot mentioned the name Haru, you and Baron have been acted more strangely, even after discovering Toto."

Muta gave a harsh laugh.

"Well you see, the Cat Bureau has a friend named Haru, and lets just say, I'm completely doubting that this person that the parrot is trying to find can't be 'our' Haru for many reasons.

"Do tell." Hound said walking over to the cart holding the water and examined it.

Muta sighed.

"Well I guess I better tell you the whole story then. . ."

Archibald, moving away from Muta and Hound, went up to the water and picked a glass up frowning.

'Could it be?'

OOO

Once Haru sprinted up the stairs, she saw the familiar hall and gave a tired smile.

"This is it!" Haru said making her way toward the large door at the end of the hall, only for the two mice she was looking for to emerge.

"Basil! Dawson!" Haru cried, running towards them.

They both looked in her direction, with startled looks.

"Haru?!" they both said, and they ran up to meet her halfway.

"Where have you been Haru?" Basil asked staring down at her, as she rested her hands on her legs to steady her breath from running.

Dawson looked around.

"And where is Crisp?"

Once Haru breath became a bit more even, she looked up at them, causing Basil's eyes to slightly widen.

Haru's brown eyes, were red and puffy. She looked so worn out like she was about to collapse, her eyes also showed she was distraught.

". . . What happened Haru?" Basil said reaching out to cup Haru's cheek in comfort.

"Crisp. . . and I . . . need your help. . . we need to go. . . " Haru whispered between gasps.

Basil sighed and without thinking twice, sweeped a startled Haru in his arms and off the ground, cradling her against his chest.

"Explain on the way." he said as he began to walk, with an amused Dawson at his side.

"Oh, well. Crisp and I were looking for food, but we got lost." Haru said finding it easier to breath now, a blush tinting her brown furred cheeks.

"As expected." Basil smirked standing in front of the stairs, beginning to descend them carefully, holding Haru.

"Somehow or another we ended up outside and much to our surprise, we saw Toto." Haru said grabbing ahold of Basil's brown coat for a better grip as they went down the stairs.

"Toto? You mean your friend from Japan?" Dawson asked.

Haru nodded.

"Yes, the raven you met along with Baron and Muta, when you tried to get the Cat Eye of Miw from Ratigan." Haru said in confirmation.

"But why-?" Dawson tried to say but stopped, waiting for Haru to continue with her story instead.

Already guessing Dawson's question, Haru shrugged.

"I don't know why he's here. But, that's not my main concern. You see, when Crisp and I saw him, we noticed he was acting a bit weird. We didn't get a chance think about how and why he was acting strangely, because he collapsed immediately after that."

Basil and Dawson's eyes widen.

"Collapsed?" Dawson asked.

"Yeah. Crisp and I made it just in time, for Toto to warn us about not drinking some water, then he passed out after that."

Basil and Dawson didn't say anything.

"I was so frightened. I told Crisp to stay and watch over Toto, while I went to find you guys. I didn't know what else to do. I hoped that maybe you can help us figure something out, maybe even figure out what poisoned him, or even the person responsible for poisoning him." Haru whispered, looking up at Basil with hopeful eyes.

Basil sighed as they finally made it down the stairs.

"Don't worry Haru. We'll figure something out. But we better-." Basil stopped and quickly moved out of the way and gestured Dawson to do so, as they saw a tan dog with a pinkish cloak on, along with a blue furred dog in a dark colored suit, walked towards them.

"W-we better h-hurry to the meeting s-spot." said the tan dog.

"I know, but I still can't find Delmira anywhere. I feel bad, not bringing her with us." the blue dog said.

"D-don't worry. W-we'll tell her a-any news we find o-out, when w-we see her a-again. B-but we really s-should meet the o-others." the tan dog said.

The blue dog gave a reluctant sigh.

"You're right."

Basil, Haru, and Dawson watched the two dogs as they walk by them and further down the hall.

Dawson then turned to look at Haru.

"By the way Haru. We found a clue about the Prince."

Haru's eyes widen.

"Really?"

Basil nodded.

"Yes, we found his secret diary. You may be surprised at what we found in it so far. Apparently Prince Vilhelm isn't the happiest Prince. He wrote about a lot of dark and melancholy things, that we need to take note of."

"Where is the diary now?" Haru asked.

"We put it in a safe place, for the time being, before we decided to look for you and Crisp. Considering we can't carry a book almost as big as we are around" Dawson said chuckling nervously.

"Anyway. . . led us to Crisp and Toto, Haru. We need to check there first." Basil said continuing on down the hall, with Haru and Dawson.

OOO

Baron and Crisp went through the hall quietly.

'Why is it we keep hearing about a 'Haru'?' Baron thought.

'This all doesn't add up. We've been in different countries and we still hear mention of a 'Haru'. She can't possibly be here. She should be back home from her visit to England and safe and sound with her mother. Why on earth should she be here now? And yet, I hear about some ‘Haru’ that I'm possibly going to meet now. I need to meet her and end this impossible possibility. What's worse, Toto has been potentially poisoned. We also need to find an assassin and the Prince in order to find a magical stone, and keep it away from Ratigan before he does anything drastic with it. As if things weren't difficult enough. . .' Baron frowned.

Crisp, feeling awkward that the tawny cat kept silent this whole time, blurted out.

"Uh. . . so umm. I'm sorry about your friend. . . err Toto." Crisp said.

Baron broke out of his thoughts and turned to Crisp, who flew by his side.

"Thank you. I also thank you for watching over him, it means a great deal." Baron said giving Crisp a tired smile.

"So, do you have any idea who would want to poison your friend?" Crisp asked.

"No. He's only been here in the Dog Kingdom this once and he barely knows anyone to gain any enemies. My best guess it is the same person who killed the King and Queen. Who else could it be right now?" Baron frowned.

Crisp's eyes widen.

"I heard the King and Queen recently died, but didn't know someone murdered them. . ."

"We recently discovered that too, in fact we are the only few who know. Everyone else in the kingdom believes they are still gone on official business." Baron said then turned to Crisp.

"How do you know about the King and Queen being dead? Why are you here?"

"Err, that’s a story I'm sure my friends can tell better than me once we find them. And uhh, by the way. . ." Crisp asked staring at Baron.

Baron looked at Crisp for a response.

"What. . . exactly are you?" Crisp asked bluntly, frowning, as he looked Baron over.

Baron blinked and gave him a small smirk.

"What gave it away?"

"You may look like a cat, but you can't be. You don't have the posture of one, I should know, I used to live with a Himalayan and Maine Coon once. Also, your hands are shaped like a human's instead of paws, as well as your feet as far as I can tell. . . So what are you?" Crisp asked again.

"Well I'm Baron Humbert von Gikkingen." Baron said, introducing himself.

"Oh yeah, I'm Crisp." Crisp said realizing they didn't know each others names.

"I'm a creation. I'm a doll with a soul. I was created to look this way. So you're right, I'm not completely a cat, but it's safe to call me one, as much as you can call Toto a raven."

Crisp gave Baron a questioning look.

"Okay, okay. You mean you're a doll along with that friend of yours?" Crisp said frowning.

"Well, I can be called a doll, Toto however is really a stone statue."

"Riiiiiggghhht. . . " Crisp said frowning at Baron.

"I can see you’re confused." Baron chuckled softly.

Crisp then frowned.

"Wait a second. . . if your friend and you are 'Creations', shouldn't poison have no effect on him since he's made of stone?" Crisp asked bemused.

Baron then frowned.

"Yes, which is why I'm concerned on whether he is truly poisoned or not."

Crisp frowned.

"Creations can't get poisoned, we are sort of immune to poison, the only bad side of taking poison is it leaves a vile taste in our mouths. But we are never harmed by anything poisonous."

"Must be nice. . ." Crisp said sarcastically.

"Which is why, Toto's whole predicament puzzles me. Toto can't possibly be poisoned, it's never happened before." Baron frowned.

"Well! Things got a lot harder, huh?" Crisp said keeping his sarcastic tone, with a smirk.

"Hopefully Hound can figure out what's in the water. He might even have to go home and test the water with his chemist paraphernalia, if he has to. I just hope Toto can hold on long enough for-." Baron stopped dead in his tracks to look ahead of him and smiled.

Watson and Kunz just turned the corner into the hallway and smiled at them.

"Ah! Baron. We were just about to go to the meeting place." Watson said.

"Good, because I was looking for you. The others are waiting." Baron said.

"W-who's this?" Kunz asked staring at Crisp.

"This is Crisp, he found Toto before us." Baron said frowning.

"W-what?" Kunz questioned.

"Toto drank some poisoned water a while ago. He's not doing so well . . ."

Watson's eyes widen.

"What?! By some water?" Watson said alarmed.

Baron nodded.

"Yes, at our meeting spot; There was a cart holding glasses of water and Toto warned Crisp when he found him, not to drink it and passed out."

Watson walked backwards alarmed.

"But. . . that can't be. . . The water. . .  Delmira . . . gave it to us."

Baron turned sharply to Watson.

"Delmira? Who is that? Watson, do you know something?" Baron silently demanded to Watson.

"D-Delmira? Y-You mean the maid, r-right?" Kunz asked Watson.

Watson nodded in a daze.

"Yes. . ." Watson said, then shook his head to focus.

"Let's go to the meeting place, I need to see this for myself." Watson said, already marching down the hall.

Baron nodded and walked behind Watson and Kunz, before remembering Crisp and turned to face him.

"Crisp, I'm afraid I can't help you find your friends." Baron said with a bit of reluctance.

"But as soon as you find them, come and find us. We all need to discuss things."

Crisp nodded.

"Yeah, yeah."

Baron then turned and followed the two dogs away.

Crisp snorted.

"This whole thing has become like the game Clue!" Crisp said and went the opposite way Baron went and down another hall.

'Maybe it's not too late to turn back and go back home!' Crisp thought turning another corner.

'I could tell the others back in Rescue Aid that they found another means of transportation and don't need me any more!' Crisp said eyeing an upcoming open window.

'I could just go and no one would be able to catch me! I could just-'

"Crisp!"

Crisp eyes widen

"Damnnnn!" Crisp growled under his breath and looked down to see Basil, Haru, and Dawson.
"Oh thank goodness. We can get there a lot faster now." Haru said stepping down from Basil's arms.

Basil raised an eyebrow at Crisp.

"I hope you weren't planning to leave us, were you, friend?" Basil smirked slightly.

Crisp gave a smirk back.

"Why of course not! What ever made you think I was going to leave you three?" Crisp said landing next to the group, grinning.

"I see. . ." Basil said with a knowing smile, climbing behind Dawson and Haru on Crisp.

"Crisp we need to go back to Toto and why did you leave-." Haru said.

"I know. . . I know. You guys better hold on tight. The everyone is waiting and it would be better that we don't miss a single detail of what they say." Crisp said.

Haru frowned and turned to Basil and Dawson who also wore frowns.

"Everyone?" Dawson asked.

OOO

'It can't be? Can it?' Archibald thought eyeing the cart of water, while pacing the ground.

"I could scarcely believe the whole scenario of the Cat King kidnapping a human girl to marry his son. But really? Walking on a trail of crows with a human's mass, highly unlikely. . ." Hound said eyeing Muta, while wearing a small smile.

"By now, it's better to not question things." Muta said rolling his eyes and stared at a pacing Archibald.

"Will you stop walking back and forth like that? More of that and you'll make a rut in the ground." Muta said.

Archibald looked up and sighed.

"Sorry, just lost in thought. . ."

"Well, it's time to stop being lost in thought and start to talk. They're here." Muta said looking in the direction of Baron, Kunz, and Watson approaching them.

Hound looked up from his inspection of the water and smiled.

"You're back already? Where's Crisp and his friends?"

"He went to find them himself, after we ran into Watson and Kunz." Baron said once they reached them.

Watson immediately walked over to Hound, who stood by the water and then looked over at Toto's form that was now put on a soft cot nearby as he breathed shallowly.

"Is it true? Toto was poisoned by this water?"

Hound nodded.

"I'm afraid so, but what the poison is, I can't tell yet. . ."

Watson, put a hand on his face in disbelief.

"I don't believe it. . ."

Kunz looked over at Watson, reading his thoughts.

"S-So, Delmira did i-it. . ."

Archibald eyes widen, forgetting his thoughts momentary.

"Delmira! The maid? How on earth could she do it?!"

"Who's Delmira?" Hound asked raising an eyebrow.

Meanwhile Baron went over to Muta, who sat next to Toto.

"How is he?"

"Still in his same state, not getting better or even worse. But I still wouldn't hold our breath." Muta said frowning before looking up at Baron.

"Say. . . are you sure birdbrain was poisoned? Poison can't harm creations, right?"

"You're right, however I'm beginning to question that now." Baron said staring intently down at Toto.

"I guess you didn't find anything about this ‘Haru’, did you?" Muta asked suddenly.

Baron shook his head.

"No." he said placing a hand on Toto's chest to feel his uneven breathing.

"Everyone stop talking all at once! I can barely hear myself think!" Archibald cried out in exasperated annoyance.

Everyone turned to give Archibald their full attention, making the dog sigh in satisfaction.

"Now. . . before we all get into details. . . We need to explain everything as simply as we can to each other. Everyone has to tell what they know and not all at once. Time isn't on our side, so we all need to be thorough." Archibald said slowly, looking at everyone.

"Are we all in agreement?" Archibald asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Good, now. To explain about the King and Queen, we discovered. . ."  

Archibald stopped his speech and he and everyone else looked to see a familiar bird flying towards the large group.

"It's Crisp." Baron said.

Muta raised an unseeing eyebrow.

"But wasn't he supposed to bring some friends of his?"

Hound squinted his eyes to get a better look at the approaching figure.

"He did, there are mice riding on his back."

Everyone frowned.

"Mice?" most of the group questioned.

"Why mice?" Muta asked his nose wrinkled in confusion and disgust as he gave Baron a frown, who wore a expressionless look.

'Crisp's friends are mice. I suppose I should have known better. Their Haru, isn't the Haru I know. Their Haru is a mouse . . . not the human girl I miss. . .' Baron thought, his eyes showing sadness, once Crisp landing in front of everyone.

"Hey again. I brought the guys I'm with." Crisp said to everyone, leaning down in order for the three mice to climb down.

Basil and Dawson looked at the mostly wide eyed group, before their eyes wandered to Baron and Muta.

"They. . ." Dawson mumbled to Basil.

"It is them after all. . ." Basil said before looking slightly at the brown mouse who was standing frozen by his side.

Haru felt herself tremble looking at the two familiar faces, her eyes welling up with tears.

'So they are all here after all. Here in the Dog Kingdom. After all this time, I finally saw them again . . Toto. . . Muta. . .'

"B-Baron. . ." Haru whispered the last name quivering, staring directly at the Cat Creation.

Crisp, oblivious to the atmosphere waved a wing towards the mice.

"Tsk! And people say I don’t have any manners. . . Introduce yourselves." Crisp bluntly commanded.

"Oh! I am Dawson." Dawson said quickly, awkwardly tipping his bowler hat at the taller group in front of him.

"And I'm Basil of Baker street. However some of you may already know that." Basil said looking towards Baron and Muta.

"Hey. . .I recognize those two. They are the two mice who helped us back in London. But what are they doing here?" Muta said frowning.

Baron said nothing, but only looked at the unfamiliar brown mouse, who was noticeably staring back at him, her brown eyes wide.

Hound politely smiled at the mice.

"Pleased to meet you. How about you my dear?" Hound said looking toward Haru, who still staring intently at Baron.

"Uh, Ms. Haru?" Dawson whispered to Haru.

Basil frowned and gently elbowed her.

Haru broke out of her daze and with a disbelieving look and whispered aloud:

"Oh my gosh. . ."

Basil stared down at Haru, feeling a bit concerned for some reason.

"Haru, are you-?" Basil said reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder, only for her to bolt away from him and run in the direction that her attention was full on.

Smiling more happily than she had in the longest time, Haru felt her tears fly off her face as she ran towards a awestruck Baron.

"Baron! It's me! Haru!"

Baron watch the approaching mouse, his eyes widening the closer she got.

“H. . . Haru?”

Haru face lit up even more when he said her name, pleased beyond words.

As Haru was within feet of Baron, Baron subconsciously kneeled down and held a gloved hand out for Haru, who eagerly ran up upon it.

Baron carefully lifted Haru in front of him, to look her over in shock.

"Is. . . it really you?" he whispered.

Haru nodded, more tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks.

"Yes. It's me, Baron."

Using his other hand, Baron hesitantly raised a hand to touch her cheek softly, with one finger.

". . . Oh Haru. . . how could this be? You're a-"

"A mouse." Haru finished for him, giggling nervously.

"Hehe. . .Yeah, about that. . . would you believe that I'm in this situation, because I saved mice from being run down by a vehicle,‘again’?" she said smiling bashfully.

"Psh! It was my first guess!"

Haru turned to the familiar voice and smiled at a smirking Muta.

"Hey Chicky, good to know you haven't changed in this short time, err well. . . You know what I mean. Still a troublemaker, I see."

Haru raised an eyebrow.

"And you. Still a big marshmallow, I see."

Muta's smirk widened.

"Watch it Chicky. I might just eat you."

Haru and Muta burst into happy laughter, while Baron gave the two of them a small smile, his eyes filled with emotion as he stared at Haru.

Dawson and Hound smiled at the three, feeling happy that the friends have been reunited, meanwhile Crisp tried hide a smile as well.

Archibald, Kunz, and Watson stared at each other and shrugged, while they watched the newcomer be so familiar with Baron and Muta.

Basil wore a emotionless expression, not sure how to feel about the reunited pair, especially with the way Baron was looking at Haru right now.

Baron brought his hand closer, bringing Haru closer to him.

"Haru, why are you here? Why aren't you back home? Just, how are you involved in all of this?" Baron asked, his eyes still with indiscernible emotion.

"I-" Haru began.

"E-Excuse me. . ." Kunz said, interrupting Haru and Baron.

"I d-don't know what's h-happening h-here. B-But we really should h-hurry back to t-the discussion at h-hand." Kunz said softly.

Archibald broke out of his earlier confusion and nodded.

"Yes, Kunz is right. I'm sure there is a lot you guys want to talk about, but we need to bring the previous topic back into focus."

Hound sighed, wishing the situation was different for his friends and agreed.

"After this is all over, you all can talk to your heart’s content about your. . . situation."

Haru looked up at Baron.

"Later then?"

Baron nodded, his face serious.

"Later." he said firmly, as if it were a promise.

Haru smiled and affectionately hugged Baron's hand that was hovering next to her.

"I missed you Baron. . . "

Baron looked down at Haru affectionately, the emotion in his eyes becoming clearer to recognize to a certain mouse detective, causing the detective's eyes to widen.

". . . As did I Haru." Baron replied softly to her.

"As did I. . ."

Archibald then walked in front of everyone, getting everyone's attention.

"Now, let’s get to the bottom of this mystery, shall we?"
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