Chapter Nine
“Here you go.”
“What’s this?” I asked, looking at the book that Eve placed on the table in front of me.
“A book about a Cat God named Phorus,” she replied.
I couldn’t help but be confused, “What’s this for?”
”You want to find a way to communicate with Anne, right?” Eve explained.
“Oh, right.” I said, “But how did you know that?”
Anne, the cat talked to me in my dream after I compel her with my theories before bedtime but we still got no way to talk to each other without the dream.
“Wait, did you overheard me when I talked to Anne? No, how much were you listening???”
“Not much, after you took your shower I guess.” Eve answer lightly.
“That means you heard everything!!!”
Bluuuuush….
My cheek starting to become red.
“… did you think I’m crazy? I mean, talking with her like that… but I can explain!” I put both my hands on my face.
“Actually, yeah.”
“Noooooooooooooooooo!!!” I start shaking my head.
“At first. But after I listen to your hypothesis, I feel like it is not as crazy as it sounds.” Eve replied.
“So you’re not thinking I’m crazy now?”
“A little bit.”
“Nooooooooooo!!!! Listen! I met her in my dream after that you know!!”
“…” Eve looked at me with a disappointed look.
“Fine!!! Let’s just read this book and find a way to talk to Anne.” I took the book from the table and start flipping through its pages.
“Where did you get this anyway?”
“In the town’s library of course.” Eve answered.
“I see… Wait, in the middle of the night? The library is open even at midnight?” I asked again while still flipping through the early pages.
“Of course not duh. The library opens only during work hours. Why would someone go read something in the library in the middle of the night, let alone this lonely port town.” Eve answered lightly.
“I see…”
“…”
“DID YOU BREAK IN??!!!” I closed the book so hard and glares in her direction.
“It didn’t count as a break-in if nothing is broken.” Eve still answers lightly.
“…”
“…”
“Nyaa~” Anne came to my side looking really interested in the book.
“Sigh…” I open the book again and start looking for clues. “Well thanks, I did want to try to look for a way to communicate with Anne. How did you choose this by the way? Checking them one by one and then pick the one you might think will work?”
“Don’t be stupid. Do I look like someone who was good with a book?”
“… No. Then how did you…” I started looking in her direction again. “Did you woke the librarian up and ask them?”
“Yes,” Eve replied.
“Did you do it nicely?”
“Why yes, of course, I asked nicely.”
“With a knife on their throat?”
“A dagger.”
“I KNEW IT!” I slammed the book again.
“Ahahaha… you are funny.”
“NO, YOU ARE!” I shouted in front of Eve’s face.
“Nyaaaaaa~” Anne begs me to open up the book again.
“… God, please bless that poor librarian…” I start reading again. The book is not the kind you would find on a heavy-duty library shelf. It was a picture book with a lot of pictures and less text. The thing you would find in the kid’s section. “This looks like a nursery rhyme,” I said.
“Is it? I better paid the librarian a visit.” Eve stands after hearing my statement.
“No, wait. It really did contain a way to communicate with a cat.”
“Really?” Eve sits again.
“Yes, if you look at this part onwards, the story tells about the goodness of a human in a village while helping an unfortunate cat.” I point at some pictures in the book and showed them to Eve.
“Hmm…”
“And then after he helped the cat, it turns out that the cat was a Cat God and the human was repaid in kindness.”
“Classic stories.” Eve snorted.
“Yep, but at the end of the story, the Cat God writes something on a stone and it makes the human understand what the cat thinks and thanked him.” I continue to explain the nursery rhyme.
“Then you think you could try that with Anne?”
“Here, look at this.” I show her again another part of the book.
“Is that… Runic letters?” Eve asked.
“Yes. It might look like gibberish to children but I think this is an actual runic letter embedded on the stone.” I replied.
“Heeee… Do you know how to read runes?”
“A little bit.”
“Woah nice! Let’s try it!” Eve looks excited.
“It seems that the Cat God needs some item when he made the runes, I think this is the man’s hair, the Cat God’s fur, a catnip, and… a brush?”
“Brush? why brush?”
“Hmm, it looks like the human was a painter of some kind. To me at least. So I think its probably your most precious thing?” I continued to decrypt the pictures.
“I see. So we need your hair, my hair, Anne’s fur, a catnip, and something precious to us? Dang, I hope I didn’t get cursed cuz this looks like one.” Eve replied.
“It would seem so.”
“Alright, let’s finish our breakfast quickly and then head to the market afterward.” Eve seems really excited for some reason. “And we also need to buy you new clothes.”
“Eeeeeeeeeh? You still on that???”
“Of course I am,” Eve remembers our first training yesterday.
In the afternoon, after my morning training, Anne, Eve, and I walked through the shopping district of PortHumming. The majority of the shops were closed, but a few were still open including a general goods store, equipment and weapon shops, and food supply stores. We visited each one, purchasing everything we needed, including some things I didn’t need.
As we walked through the streets, Eve spotted a cute white dress with frills hanging in a shop window. “Cyan, you should try that dress on,” she suggested.
Feeling a bit self-conscious, I reluctantly tried on the dress. To my surprise, it fit me perfectly and even brought out the color in my eyes. “It looks good on you,” Eve said with a smile. Anne meowed in agreement.
Feeling embarrassed, I could feel my face turning red. “I don’t know about this. It’s not really my style,” I said, fidgeting with the hem of the dress.
“Nonsense,” Eve replied. “It looks beautiful on you. Let’s buy it.” And so, I ended up buying the dress along with a straw hat to complete the look.
My cheeks are as red as tomatoes.
“Why do I need to wear these clothes…” I am now wearing a cute white dress with frills here and there.
“Why? Because it looks good on you of course.” Eve answered lightly.
“Nyaa~” and Anne sounds in agreement.
Truth be told, I really like the dress. Paired with a straw hat it really looks pretty for anyone but me.
“Thanks.” I blushed and look the other way.
I can feel Eve and Anne grin behind my back.
“Anyway! Did we get everything for the ritual?” I asked to change the subject.
“Probably. We even bought a brush just in case it really needed for the rituals. Let’s try it immediately after we got home.” Eve answered.
Once we returned to the inn, we quickly prepared for the ritual. I cut a bit of my hair and took off my bracelet, a precious memento given to me by my mother. Eve also cut a bit of her hair and some of Anne’s fur.
As we placed the items on the table, Eve said, “As for my most precious things… probably this.” She removed her necklace and placed it on the table. It was the same necklace she used to save me from the Tesák-Worm, and also the same necklace she used on her previous adventures with her party.
We also add the catnip on the table and I start copying the runic letter on the book to the biggest magic stone I have just in case it needed a lot of magical energy.
“I hope this would work,” I said while preparing the ritual.
“It better be,” Eve replied.
“Alright, come here Anne.” I then pick Anne up and put her on the table right in front of the magic stone.
I positioned the rune in the center of the round table and the other items around it making a full circle just like in the picture book. Eve and I stand on each side of the table making a triangle with Anne.
“Here goes nothing.”
I then enchant the rune spell written on the magic stone.
“”“…”””
Nothing happened.
“Did it work?” Eve breaks the silence.
“Hmm… I don’t think so”
I pick up the book again and see what I might miss.
“What was the Cat God's name again?” I asked.
“Phorus, it’s right in the title,” Eve answered.
“I think this part in the runic is misspelled. It said ‘Prus.’ Let me change the letter real quick.” After I change the letter on the stone, I tried enchanting again. The runic letters on the magic stone glow blue for a moment before it turns off immediately.
“Hey, it looked like it almost works!” Eve shout.
“It did. What went wrong this time? Hmm…”
“Maybe…” Eve then picks up another necklace from her pouch. “Maybe catnip is not Anne’s most precious thing.”
“Ah. It could be.” I answered.
The other necklace belonged to Anne. Eve keeps the necklace after Anne’s death, making it proof of a wonderful journey their party once had.
“Third time’s a charm.” Eve said while replacing the catnip with Anne’s necklace.
I then start enchanting the runic spell once again.
“Léif Aen déi sou vill gesinn.
Patten déi de rouegen Touch hunn.
Gnodeg Beweegunge beréiert mat Stolz, eng berouegend Präsenz vun eiser Ride. Dëst ass e Kaddo fir Iech, als Merci vum Phorus der Kaz.”
The rune letters shine brightly, followed by the magic stone. The two necklaces and my bracelet also vibrate wildly and the table starts to crack. The ground around us vibrates for a moment.
“What happened?!” Eve shouts.
“I think it worked!” I answered.
The light is getting stronger and stronger. Eve and I put our hands to our eyes, trying to block the blinding blue light coming from the rune. Only Anne stayed still looking directly at the stone, enchanted by the lights.
The lights bounce all over the place until everything was covered in blue. I can only close my eyes and wait for something to happen.
“My eyes are burning!!!” Eve shouts after the light goes off.
“Uhh…” I replied while rubbing my eyes.
Is it working?
“”!””
A voice I never heard before comes not through my ears but directly to my mind.
“Is that you Anne?” Eve asked immediately.
You can hear me, Eve?
“Yes!” Eve then immediately hugs the cat. Her eyes start producing tears, not because of the blinding light but because she could finally hear the voice of a dear friend once again.
to be continued to Chapter Ten
~Terti
