Mr. Lion

"Take her back to the zoo," the fox commands the jackals behind him. As expected, they follow his orders.

"No! I'm not going back!" I try to break free from their grip.

"Hands off her." Kayate points a gun, a handgun, at the fox.

"Kayate, what a surprise! It's an honor for you to be here. Why don't we all go back to the zoo without any violence, yes?" With a single hand motion, he signals his animals to release me.

"Mr. Fox, you know I won't do that."

"We don't need bloodshed. Bear with me..." He snickers. "Besides, if you kill me, you'd be wanted by the zoo too."

Kayate lowers his gun. "Fine."

At the zoo, Mrs. Lion was waiting at the entrance. "It was very naughty of you to run away from the zoo, Domino."

"My name is Precious..." I say, but it falls on deaf ears.

"Take the Domino to the main room while we wait for his return."

"Payment?" Mr. Fox stops her from leaving.

Annoyed, she hands him a carefully folded bag.

Mr. Fox snickers and leaves, leaving Mrs. Lion to continue leading us into the casino.

"I haven't been here in a long time." Kayate looks around.

"You been here before?" It makes me wonder about Kayate's past.

"For business purposes..."

And what is business? What business can you do in a casino?

Mrs. Lion stops at a room filled with casino tables and again, zoo animals playing dominoes. What's with them and dominoes?

In front us, doors bust open, and Mr. Hyena and a little chinchilla comes in through, but they stop short when they notice us.

"Mr. Hyena," Mrs. Lion starts. "Now that everyone's here... I have a few questions regarding our Domino's escape. And the first question I want to ask is how."

"... I escaped through the window..." I say. It's not really a lie. I actually did.

I catch Mr. Hyena's glance at me.

"Well, I found out that Mr. Hyena was caught by a zookeeper at around the same time the Domino went missing." Her attention was directed to Mr. Hyena, who chuckles at her.

"You have no evidence to prove that. You only know when I was caught, Princess could've escaped earlier and if no one checks, no one would know."

Mr. Hyena is... lying?

"Are you testing my intelligence, Hyena?" She's furious. "Where were you then when she escaped?"

"I thought it was obvious, I was outside on the outskirts of the zoo, lost track of time, and was caught by a zookeeper."

"And why were you there?"

"... I was out for self-reflection. You all may have this casino to rid your worries, depression, but my way is being outside for fresh air..." He crosses his arms.

Something about his statement made it seem authentic. The way he hesitated and avoided eye-contact... Is Mr. Hyena really depressed?

Mrs. Lion is actually believing it, and she's not too happy. "You and Ms. Chinchilla have returned, so you both successfully escorted his highness back here."

"Well... how can I put it... Mr. Lion is dead."

I could see the dread in her face with her wide eyes and trembling lips. "What!? I demand you to tell me how!"

"You see, his highness tried to-" Ms. Chinchilla is cut off by Mr. Hyena finishing her sentence.

"He tried to save Ms. Chinchilla. A zookeeper tried to harm her, but his highness sacrificed himself to save her. His death has not been in vain."

"A zookeeper? From this zoo?"

"No, from the zoo he was visiting."

"Where is he? Did you bring his body?" Mrs. Lion is freaking out.

"We were being chased by the zookeepers..."

Mrs. Lion stands there, looking at the ground. No one could read her expression. "You, morsel! He sacrificed himself to save you, yet you leave him there! His highness shouldn't have saved a lowlife like you!"

"Ms. Chinchilla is innocent, she insisted we bring him, but I denied..."

Mrs. Lion's expression doesn't change. "You should be punished! I don't want to see you..." She walks away.

Even after Mrs. Lion left, Mr. Hyena still looks solemn.

"It seems you're in a tight spot." Kayate decides to break the silence.

"We can't talk here." Mr. Hyena snaps out of it and tries to deliver a reassuring smile. "I have a secret place, we can talk there. Follow me."

Something about him was off. Could he be lying?

Mr. Hyena leads us down a dark corridor to a staircase, but we don't go up, instead, there's a door on the side concealed by the darkness. He retrieves a key from his pocket and unlocks the door. After opening the door, he gestures us to come inside.

The room is quite spacious and cozy, but it also had a mysterious vibe to it.

"Everyone, have a seat." He sits behind a desk which holds various artifacts and antiques.

I sit on the plush, brown sofa that desperately called out to me.

Kayate sits on an antique wooden chair.

Mr. Hyena kicks his legs out onto the desk.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hyena." I still feel guilty. "It's my fault you got in trouble..."

"What happened to getting to the train?"

I'm immediately stumped. "The train? Right, I was supposed to be getting  there... but what happened to stop me from getting there?"

"You don't remember? That's strange." 

Mrs. Chinchilla enters the room. "Her highness has sent personnel to find his highness." She approaches Mr. Hyena. "Why do you do that, Hyena?!"

"Do what?" He's rather calm.

"Defend me!"

"I didn't defend you. I made sure you wasn't going to make Mrs. Lion suspicious of us."

"You-!"

"Chinchilla!" He cuts her off, then he softens his tone, "we have guests. Save your curses, and I do expect better treatment, I saved your life. Twice." He looks out the window. "Unless.... you're telling me I should've left you there, with Mr. Lion, to die."

She huffs, crossing her arms. "Her highness praises me..."

"As expected! You're just not used to such status." He snickers. "Bear with me, mi chica querida, and we'll escape the zoo, no further animals involved."

"You'll escape the zoo. You don't belong here, I do."

"No animals belong in a zoo. And when I say 'we' I mean you and Precious. I can't leave until this cult is destroyed."