PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XI Part I

As his eyes came to focus, he quickly realized Dell was just aside the bed, covering her mouth with a paw, lightly nibbling on some of the short fur there.

"Hey," she meekly said. Despite the dark fur around her face, it could still be seen how her visage sagged from lack of sleep.

Patches rubbed his sore eyes, thankful for the lack of light in the room currently. "Ugh, what time is it?"

"8:22," Dell responded, gesturing for Patches to take her paw so she could get him up.

"Pff! I slept for twelve hours?!" he sputtered out, refusing the paw and merely shifting his weight to get out of the bed rather than bend his back. He was up in an instant, spotting his vest and tie on the desk and quickly squeezing them onto himself. "I can't believe I wasted so much time- I could've... Aghhh!" Patches was punching himself for not waking up earlier- if he had, the wand might have been his!

"H-Hey, it's alright," Dell said, turning her paw so she could nibble on a claw in between words. "I said goodbye to dad just a little while ago- he made food for me, but I'm not hungry."

Patches picked up on the hint and twisted his anguished frown into a hesitant smirk. "How kind of you. Let's make sure to whip up lunches for ourselves and stock up on things before we get going, alright?" he said, still silently screaming at himself.

"Oh, em... About that. Where are we going?"

Patches brought a paw to his muzzle, scratching at the underside of it. "Well, we're going to have to use everything we have to our advantage; we know there'll be people looking for us, but the town's students are going to be busy until school lets out-"

"Yeah, but how are we going to get back here at night?"

"Oh don't worry about that. If we succeed today, there'll be nothing to worry about anymore. You see, we need the crystal ball Mitt has hidden away. I pocketed their keys, but it's very likely they'll just move it around so we won't be able to find it... We're going to need to figure out where it is."

"Well, where safer than in a house full of witches, in a town full of cats?"

"Good question. Though, I'm betting at this point they've gotten their parents involved, which is going to be a huge problem..."

Dell's eyebrows scrunched up in thought. "Maybe... Maybe not."

Patches looked up at Dellanor, waiting for her to continue.

"Back when I had Mitt, Coco mentioned something about Mitt lying to her about being able to use the crystal. I... think it might be broken."

The duo remained silent, the passing of cars being the only sound in the room as they deliberated.

'That would explain why Mitt didn't bring it, and why they haven't used it against us yet...' Patches thought to himself.

"But, uh... I don't know. All I know about that thing is that we need it to fix everyone's memories- but, I'm not sure if..." Dell let the word linger as she looked to Patches.

The dalmatian crossed his arms, keeping a neutral face.

"You... Used the crystal to fix everyone, didn't you?"

Patches nodded. "Yes, I did." He said matter-of-factly.

"You lied to me."

Patches sighed heavily and pinched the top of his muzzle. "Now when did I do that?"

"You told me it was used to change people's memories, but Coco and Mitt had a talk; Mitt said something about being able to bring Brownie back even if she died, and Coco didn't believe her. That's the same thing you did with... me, right?"

Patches looked to the floor. He was sullen at Dell's words, but a resoluteness was still in his eyes.

"Why... Why do you need the crystal?"

Patches paused, looking at Dell and folding his paws behind his back.

"To fix my mistakes, the same as you."

As far as she could tell, Patches was telling the truth. A few hours ago, it seemed like he was either a snarky sadist or a charming samaritan with absolutely no in-between. However, when she looked at him now, his eyes were filled with guilt and shame; it instinctively made her feel a little pity for the dog.

"... I'm not mad at you, incase you were wondering, I just wanted to know why."

Patches rolled his eyes and began pacing towards the door.

"Let's go eat something. Now that they know you're with me, we have no way of getting close to them without causing problems. But, we have a wand now, so taking on some of the dogs looking for us should be a piece of cake- I might even be able to go home!" he said with a smile.

"Alright." Dell said in lukewarm agreement.