The sides of the box came apart and then several more pieces unfolded. The porcelain segments came together to create a beautiful miniature landscape scene of a tall mountain and little trees. Seymour didn’t know about art, so he couldn’t even take a guess as to the particular style, but there was a tiny sign by the base of the mountain.
????
“What does that say?” Seymour squinted. “What is that? Chinese? Japanese?”
“I do not know.”
“You can’t, like, use magic to translate it?”
“I am an angel, not a linguist.”
“So, uh, guess that means you’re not acunninglinguist either?” Seymour teased.
“I did just state that I am not a linguist, so that would mean I am also not a?—”
“Got it. Never mind. You ruined it.”
Sariel frowned, clearly distressed.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t ruin nothin’, I promise. Just a dumb joke.” Seymour pushed the box toward Sariel. “Here, have a possibly cursed fuckin’ puzzle box.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Sariel stared at it as if he didn’t know what to do with it.
Seymour didn’t know what to do with it either, and he sighed as he poked one of the little trees. “Okay, so it’s pretty. It was definitely well hidden and all secret stashed away. But what the fuck does it do?” He picked up some of the other papers on the desk. “I don’t see anything about a puzzle box thing on Norbert’s list of bling.”
“Perhaps it is this?” Sariel pointed at a sketch of a small, flat square box with a familiar landscape drawn across it. “Hisan Inro?”
“It’s close.” Seymour frowned, comparing the picture and the box. “The design in that picture is pretty much what that box turned into, so?—”
“Meow?”
Seymour turned around. “Oh!”
There was a cat a few feet behind them.
“Fuck! It’s just a cat.” Seymour blinked slowly.
The cat was quite large, stood on two legs, and wore a dress.
Seymour stared. “Well, maybe not.”
The dress was a silk kimono with a vivid purple-and-green print. While very beautiful, it seemed to be several sizes too large. The cat was a calico with bright green eyes and a long tail. About halfway down its length, the tail split into two. The cat had a very pretty face, sweet and round in a way that made Seymour think of a teddy bear.
There was a definite intelligence to the cat’s gaze, and it meowed again, more desperately, as it waved a paw.
“Uh, hi.” Seymour waved back.
The cat yowled and lunged forward. It ran up Seymour’s legs in a single leap and promptly wrapped itself around his neck.
“Oh, oh! Uh, hey!” Seymour cradled the cat and gave it a gentle pat. “Hey there, kitty kitty.”
“How curious. It appears to be a nekomata.” Sariel looked back at the papers. “Oh! She!”
“She what? Huh?”
“She is a she. I believe she is the spirit we were meant to find.” Sariel pointed back at the picture of the box, gesturing to rows and rows of notes. “There is a great deal of information here.”
“Hit me with the highlights.”
