64 – It’s a Cats’ World.
The couple bickered back and forth, teasing and taunting each other.
“Ahem,” I cleared my throat, getting their attention. “I'll leave you two alone now. While I killed the Demon, the possibility of another or more being around is still very real.”
The King nodded with a wince, “That is correct.”
The Queen sighed.
“I'll walk around the palace for a few hours to check and then spend the night here if you don't mind,” I offered.
“You're more than welcome to stay,” the Queen gave me a smile. “If I may ask, where could we find you if needed?”
I thought for as second and replied, “If I don't find anything, I'll be outside in the gardens.”
The two rulers shared a look and chuckled.
“I hope they make for good company,” the King gave me a mysterious smile.
I raised an eyebrow at that, “Okay?” Then walked backwards to the door but stopped, “Ah. By the way, I broke a wall and a bench. Nobody got injured.”
They nodded with impressed expressions.
“Less damage than what we accounted for, to be honest,” Gordon chuckled.
“Indeed,” Josalia agreed. “We even considered the destruction of half the palace at best, and the entirety of it at worst.”
I waited for them to say sike, but that didn't happen. A sigh escaped me and I turned to the door, “Well, see you later.”
Lapia bowed and said her farewells, and the rulers responded accordingly.
Once outside, we walked off to yet another unexplored side of the palace in search of any hint at another Demon.
We came across a library which I had access to thanks to my species but decided to not go into, a full-blown theater with five stories of seats in rows and a huge stage, several ballrooms of different sizes, more kitchens than strictly necessary, and a lot of people walking around the palace.
By the time one of the two suns hid behind the horizon and the day's last lights were being replaced by the many chandeliers inside the palace, we had explored the entire building. At least places where a Demon could have walked through. For example, we didn't go to the Throne room since the corridor leading to it had no scent of Demons.
In the end, I didn't catch the scent of another one. I came across a trail that led us back to the kitchens and the living quarters we had gone through earlier, but no new scent.
Thus, we went outside. The world was painted by the orange light of the sunset coming from one sun, and the light pink light of the other, making the clouds in the sky a breathtaking image.
The place came out to was a garden at the back of the palace with a decently wide flowerbed. An uncountable amount of different flowers of different colors, sizes, and smells were spread in front of us. Statues and fountains filled the spaces that had no flora and meticulously trimmed bushes lined the paths.
I looked around while the two of us walked, taking the scene in. I turned to Lapia walking next to me and stopped at the sight.
Behind her, a bed of carnations and camellias outlined her body from my point of view which made for an incredible sight.
I retrieved a sketchbook from my storage and a pencil, “Wait, Lapia. Stop for a second.”
The Elf halted and turned to me, “What happened?”
“A once-in-a-lifetime event is happening before my eyes and I want to capture it,” I explained while looking at what was in front of me. “Stand still for a few minutes, please.”
She turned to the flowerbed and chuckled, then looked back at me and gave me a nod, “I see. Sure, do your thing.”
“Okay, pose like this.” I touched my chin and looked up to the sky.
“Alright,” she nodded and followed my instructions.
I took extra time to make sure I captured every single detail. My soul cried at the lack of colored pencils and swore to buy the most high quality materials I could when visiting the market.
Adding some small notes for future me to add colors, I finished the drawing.
“Okay,” I nodded with satisfaction at the finished product, then showed it to my girlfriend, “Here, look.”
She took the sketchbook and gasped. Her eyes widened and her cheeks blushed, “Damn, you were serious about touching the heart of the audience with art.”
I nodded, “Thank you.”
We both giggled, enjoying the moment.
A meow came from a thick bush to the right, making us turn.
From between the leaves, a lithe cat emerged. Its fur was brown with white stripes, its legs were black from the first joint down, and its tail was gray. Its ears were tall and pointy with hairy tips. Eyes like ice looked into my own. It looked like a lynx similar to the ones depicted in the church's stained windows.
[Ancestral Animal – Tigir, Lvl 553]
After appraising the cat, a few things clicked. Alastor's comment of 'They'll come out soon', the King hoping for 'them' to be good company, and Lapia's statement that some countries took care of their ancestors made sense at that point. Still... to put water bottles on the fence around the palace should have been enough of a clue.
The cat sat and gave me a nod.
Please, don't start talking, I begged in my mind. The talking bird had been surprise enough. If cats talked as well, I'd go insane.
It meowed and stood up, then walked towards us.
A sigh of relief left my being and I looked away from the cat. I'm not a fan of them. They are too eccentric for my taste.
More meows followed and a pack of six cats showed up.
“Shoo!” I waved the closest one away with a hand. “Go elsewhere! I don't have catnip!”
Lapia turned to me with an amused smile, “They don't understand you, you know?”
I clicked my tongue and ignored the cats, then took Lapia's hand and walked away from them.
Unfortunately, the cats followed. The meows, purrs, chitters and more echoed in the garden as more and more showed up from who knows where. Some came out of bushes, others climbed down the few trees around, and others just showed up from behind statues.
We arrived at a small paved area with a fountain and sat down on a bench facing the structure.
“What's catnip?” Lapia tilted her head.
“Something cats liked very much in my previous world,” I explained with a wince. Earth wasn't a topic of much interest to me. “I think it was like a drug or something to them.”
“I see,” she nodded.
I looked around at the army of cats that approached, “What are they doing?”
Lapia shrugged, “No clue.”
One of them, a black cat that reminded me of Lady Dabrak, approached me and jumped to the spot next to me on the bench, then stared into my eyes like a psychopath.
I pointed at it with a finger, “Do all felines on Galeia descend from these?”
“No. Only Tigea,” Lapia replied.
The cat put a paw on top of my pointing hand, then meowed at me.
“I see,” I pulled my hand back and raised an eyebrow at it. “So Untu and other felines don't share a common ancestor?”
“Some do,” Lapia replied. “The four races of Tigea come from the animals in front of us. Lumin Kingdom is one of two Tigea countries, and both house ancestral animals.”
I nodded and distanced myself from the cat, “What about Elves?”
She chuckled, “Elmari Elves have Uuruhk, we Domi Elves have Maaruhk, and Faeton Elves have Akuuhk. Ancestral Foxes went extinct a long time ago.”
“I see,” I tilted my head, “What about Tulmi Elves?”
She let out a heavy sigh, “They chose to remain tribal so they live in the depths of the Cradle of Life.”
“Hooh?” I was a little surprised. “That sound-”
A new cat jumped up to my shoulder, where it sat down as if it was its house.
I took a deep breath and turned to Lapia, “Do you happen to carry a cucumber with you?”
She arched an eyebrow, “No, why?”
I clicked my tongue, “Felines are instinctively afraid of cucumbers. They run away from them like someone would from death. If I throw one to the ground, these annoying animals would go away.”
She bit her lips and fought back laughter, “Natasha... these animals are as important as the Royal Family. I don't think it's a good idea to scare them like that.”
The cat put a paw on my head and began licking my hair.
“Okay,” I reached for its neck and gently pinched the skin behind it, then lifted it off of me and brought it forward.
It stopped moving.
“Heh,” I smirked. “Works wonders.” I put the cat on the ground and patted its rear so it would run off. “Shoo!”
It sat down and stared at me.
I stared back and sighed, “I forgot what I was going to say. Ah! What do the names of the Elven countries mean?”
Lapia hummed, “Uuruhk means High Land since its on a flat, tall hill. Maaruhk means Low Land since it's next to the sea. Akuuhk means Sky Land since it's a group of floating islands to the south.”
I nodded. So 'uhk' does mean land, go me.
A pair of cats jogged to me and climbed up my legs and sat on my lap.
“Nooo!” I groaned and put them down, then turned to my girlfriend, “I think geography could have been a better starting point for the learning program.”
Lapia stifled a laugh and shook her head, “I disagree. If I tell you of floating islands first you'd be confused. You need to understand how things work before I tell you what is out there.”
I nodded in understanding. If she told me of Luzo that could swim in lava it'd be pretty damn hard to believe.
More cats approached me and I let out an annoyed sigh, “What's the deal with these animals?”
Lapia laughed, “Maybe they recognize your species?”
One of them climbed on my lap and meowed at me.
I picked it up and stared into its eyes, “You mean like 'Hey, Alek! This is one of those who made sure we could become people back in the day. Let's annoy the shit out of her!' then another replies with 'Oh, yeah! That sounds like a purrrfect plan! You're a genius, Feliks' or something?”
The cat put a paw over my mouth.
You little shit, I scowled at it.
“HAHAHAHA!” Lapia bent over and wheezed.
I noticed the cats didn't approach her. Instead, they were all looking at me as if I was a catnip plant.
I'm sure this would be heaven for a cat lover, I lamented my circumstances.
Lapia recuperated enough to formulate sentences, “Why did you give them names? And what's with the high pitched voices?”
I shrugged and put the cat down.
At that point, some fifty or sixty cats had gathered and were staring at me.
I felt a creepy vibe run up my back.
Footsteps from behind the fountain made the cats run towards me like a horde of possessed creatures. Their meows and hisses grew in volume behind me, where they chose to hide for some reason.
A dandy, worn looking Tigea appeared from behind the fountain. He was wearing tight-fitting leather clothes and was carrying a long stick. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed me and Lapia, then sighed at the sight of the army of cats behind me.
He looked to be around sixty years old by the wrinkles on his face.
“Your Excellency,” he curtsied and approached us, then gave Lapia a respectful nod, “Lady.”
“Hello,” I gave him a nod.
Lapia was still fighting for her life with the laughter so she simply waved at him.
The Tigea gave me a full-body look and nodded, “So you were the reason they rushed here. Makes sense.”
I tilted my head in confusion, then appraised him.
[Shishi Tigea, Lvl 382 Custodian]
Holy fuck! I screamed in my mind and raised my eyebrows. What even is that class? Which path does it even follow? Cleric? Warrior? Scout?
He looked at the cats and clapped twice, “Alright, you lot! Let's get back. Don't bother other people.”
The cats hissed and yowled at him.
“Don't give me that,” he warned them. “Come now, let's go.”
The animals slowly walked to him, yowling and hissing.
“You take care of them?” I gestured at the cats.
He nodded, “That, I do. Best job in the world, if you ask me.”
“I don't know about that,” I chuckled and gave him a nod. “You're pretty high in levels.”
“Not as high as you, I'm not,” he smirked.
“May I ask your age?” Lapia joined the conversation.
“One thousand, six hundred and thirty two,” he replied with a straight face. “Caretaker of Ancestors for the last eight hundred years. André Lavigne at your service.”
The thick crack on my sense of reality widened at his words.
“Impressive,” was all I could say.
“I appreciate the compliment,” he whistled and turned around. “Was nice meeting you. Have a great day.”
“Same,” I replied and leaned back on the bench.
“This is the first time I meet the caretaker of any ancestral animal,” Lapia said in a quiet voice. “That was impressive. I couldn't see his level.”
I turned to her, “Is it okay if people talk about others' levels?”
She nodded, “It's public already, so yeah.”
“He was three hundred and eighty two,” I nodded, looking at the man guiding the army of cats.
“That's... really high for a Caretaker,” Lapia sounded amazed. “Makes sense with his age.”
I hummed, “It does.”
A different set of footsteps came from where we had arrived. A butler-looking fellow showed up from behind some trees blocking view of the path, then approached us.
He bowed and spoke, “I was sent by Their Majesties to inform Your Excellency of the room that has been prepared for the night.” He straightened up and gave me a polite smile, “I can show the way if that is welcomed.”
I turned to Lapia, “Do you want to go inside?”
She nodded, “Sure. It's getting late anyway.”
We stood up and I gave the butler a smile, “Alright. Lead the way, please.”