Rumble!
Thunder roared in the skies of Far Far Away as a heavy drizzle poured over the royal city.
Everyone ran to their homes, the streets emptied while streams of water flowed along the roads.
That was when, in the empty streets of the city, a black horse appeared, galloping at full speed.
The sounds of its hooves smashing against the ground and the puddles echoed through the streets, while its rider, a tall man in a black leather trench coat, was whipped by the wind and rain.
The man reached a stretch of road and suddenly pulled the reins of the horse, which immediately skidded to a stop, its hooves slipping on the wet ground.
"Neigh!" The animal snorted, exhausted, as its body came to a halt.
The man then jumped off the horse, revealing just how tall he was—over two meters.
Under the gloomy weather of that day, he walked to the closed door of a shop and pushed it open without hesitation.
Ding-Ding!
A bell rang as he had to stoop a little to pass through the door without hitting his head.
Above him, at the entrance of the establishment, there was a wooden sign with embossed words:
[ Sir Googles' Maps Store ]
The large man entered, his coat and black hat dripping water onto the store's wooden floor.
He calmly removed his round prescription glasses, pulled a dry cloth from the inside of his leather coat with his other hand, and gently cleaned his glasses.
The old and short Googles, dressed in colorful clothes and with his long white beard, was at that moment sipping a hot coffee from Farbucks, sitting at his desk while reviewing some information sheets.
Upon hearing the store bell, he looked toward the entrance and saw an old acquaintance.
Quickly standing with a smile, he walked over to the tall man, who had just put his glasses back on and turned his gaze toward him.
"Ohh! I wasn't expecting your visit today. After all, our information delivery meeting is still a month away! So, did you bring me something good?" Googles grinned brightly as he stood before his large friend, who only made him seem even smaller by comparison.
The arrival of this old friend always meant new information, and he loved new information.
"Googles," the man greeted first, his deep, raspy voice cutting through the silence as he nodded. He then reached into his coat again and pulled out a large stack of papers.
Googles didn't hesitate for even a second before leaping up and snatching the pile from the man's hand with a wide grin, rushing to his desk.
"Come, come, Mr. Incognito, sit while I take a look at the intel—like always." Old Googles chuckled, not even turning back to speak to him, already flipping through the information.
The man, now recognized as Incognito, was used to this and walked over to Googles' stool, turning around and sitting down calmly.
But his butt kept lowering, and the stool didn't seem to arrive.
Only when his knees were nearly reaching his chin did he finally sit on Googles' tiny stool.
He sat there quietly, waiting, the high collar of his black trench coat almost completely covering his face, revealing only the black hat and the round black-rimmed glasses.
Googles flipped through the new compiled intel with interest, and when he reached the end, he stopped. Instead of more papers, there was a sealed black package.
On the package, there was only a white strip across the middle with the words [ Incognito Browse Mode ], which immediately made his face go serious.
"...Incognito Browse Mode... It's been a while since I've seen those words. And whenever they appear, trouble follows. Incognito, you know it's not wise to accept these jobs—whoever can afford them usually brings problems to our intelligence network." Googles looked heavy-hearted as he turned to his friend.
Incognito just shook his head.
"I know... but they gave too much," the man spoke simply, raising three fingers of his black leather-gloved hand. The sound of leather moving was clear in the quiet shop.
Googles was surprised by the amount, already understanding exactly what he meant.
"That much? Sounds like a tough job..." he murmured, turning his gaze to the package, growing curious.
Upon opening it, the first image that appeared surprised him.
In the colored photo, an orange cat with a hat, boots, cape, belt, and sword looked at the camera with a charming smile.
'Puss!' Googles was shocked that the new job was related to the little friend he'd met a few weeks ago.
Incognito, seeing him staring distractedly at the photo, calmly began to narrate in his deep voice.
"The request came from Spain. Since it's an Incognito Browse Mode, we don't know the identity of the requester. According to the mission, this cat in the photo is a boy named Puss in Boots, an outlaw in Spain who appeared overnight under suspicious circumstances. The client assures us there was some kind of scheme against the lad and that he's innocent. What they want is for us to find out who's behind this and report back," he spoke calmly and slowly, recalling the details of the mission.
Googles moved the photo aside and read the rest of the file as he listened.
"The client provided some information that could guide our search. Puss in Boots, according to what we were told, is very wealthy and is connected to the company Hum&Puss, apparently being one of its founders," Incognito revealed, intertwining his fingers and resting his elbows on his knees in a thinking pose.
The problem was that his knees were nearly at chin level, so his interlocked fingers ended up above his head—making him look more ridiculous than thoughtful.
"Nobles. And powerful nobles..." Googles narrowed his eyes with a cold light, realizing that someone had felt threatened by the boy's influence—and only they had the power to turn someone into a wanted criminal overnight.
"That's what the client believes too. But he wants names." Incognito nodded, thinking the same.
The old Googles kept searching through the files, reviewing information, Puss's wanted poster, and finally, he saw another photo that caught his attention.
In the photo, several children were smiling and making faces for the camera, surrounding a woman with a gentle face in the center. In front of her was Puss, smiling charmingly at the camera, and beside him, there was a strange cutout in the photo.
"What's this, why is there an oval cutout next to Puss?" Googles asked with doubt, puzzled by the seemingly meaningless cut.
"I don't know. The client didn't say, and since it didn't seem important, I ignored it." Incognito adjusted his glasses and didn't seem to care much, before getting to the heart of the matter. "Well, that's all we have. I haven't accepted the job yet. I'm waiting for your answer before I take it on and begin," he revealed, looking at the short old man with a questioning gaze from behind his glasses.
Googles looked at the photo of Puss and remembered the boy who had come into his shop the other day, and who believed in his dream the moment he spoke about it.
He considered himself a good judge of character, and he could tell the boy had a very good heart—and now that he knew about his situation, he didn't want him to remain unjustly treated like this.
His eyes became resolute, and he made his decision.
"Alright, I accept. Mobilize all our information channels in Spain—I want answers and proof within a year at most."
A small smile appeared on his old face.
"Let's blow things up..."
…
In the dragon's tower, Puss knew nothing of the discussion that had taken place about him.
At that moment, he was gently stroking the dragon's face, who had cried herself to sleep.
She still had a few traces of tears in her eyes, and Puss wiped them away softly.
He didn't know what had happened to her, or what she had remembered. He wasn't even sure if she was the blonde princess, or if the princess was just related to her past, and remembering her brought up sad memories.
The only thing he knew was that he was the one who had triggered those painful memories. And as a man, he couldn't just make a girl cry and leave her behind. Even when that girl… was a giant dragon several meters tall.
So, he stayed by her side while she slept, never leaving, no matter how curious he was to see Fiona.
It wasn't because of something magical, like a sudden love he felt for the dragon, that he stayed there caring for her—but out of responsibility, pity, and guilt.
So he waited for a few minutes, until he felt her stir a little and open her eyes.
Seeing Puss still there, taking care of her and gently petting her, a strong and unexpected shyness bloomed in her heart, reflected in her beautiful, large green eyes.
"Hrrmm..." she growled softly and affectionately, rubbing her large draconic nose against him.
"Haha! Easy, easy!" Puss laughed, being lightly pushed back as the huge dragon rubbed her head against him.
He gently patted her while smiling, giving attention to the lonely girl.
After playing with her a bit more, he stroked her nose and then decided to move on.
"Girl. I want to get you and the girl in the tower out of here. Are you willing?" he asked gently, looking directly into her eyes.
Aurora froze upon hearing that, and her gaze became a bit complicated.
After so many years as a dragon, she had completely gained control over her violent impulses, just as her father had managed—so much so that he fell in love with her mother, a human.
Of course, she was no longer that innocent, kind, and pure princess she had been centuries ago.
During her long years, in which she forgot her true identity and let herself be guided by her draconic blood, the number of knights she had slain while they tried to kill her was countless.
She was still kind, especially now that she remembered who she truly was and had control over her dragon self.
But she still feared going outside, being hunted, causing fear, and receiving hatred wherever she went.
Puss seemed to notice her worries and looked at her with steady eyes.
"Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you. I'll be with you," he said with a serious gaze.
"Hrrmmm..." Looking at the confident Puss in front of her, she only grew more shy and smitten with the only man besides her father who had ever treated her with such care and gentleness.
So she gently nodded her head, agreeing to go with him.
Puss smiled brightly when he saw her agree.
"Good. Let's go see Fiona now, before we leave." He winked charmingly at her and turned, walking toward the tower.
The dragon followed him happily, wagging her tail from side to side, almost skipping with joy, which greatly amused Puss.
Climbing the stairs and walking a bit, soon a long black tower slowly came into view, with only one window at the top that had a bit of light coming from it.
Puss knew this was the right place.
"The highest room of the tallest tower..."