Sariel tipped his head. “Thank you, Mr. Ricci.”
“So, uh, what’s the Inro look like?”
Seymour pulled it from his back pocket. “Like this.” He gave it a shake. “It was a demon torture lookin’ box before. Now it’s this.”
Day meowed, making grabby paws at the Inro.
“Here ya’ go, lil girl.” Seymour gave it to her. He figured if anyone knew how to work that darn thing, it would be her.
Day traced her paw over the edge of the landscape painting in a specific, practiced pattern. The Inro immediately broke apart, shifting into a cube once more. She touched it again, and it turned back to the porcelain landscape.
“Nice!” Seymour grinned. “You are such a smart girl. Yes, you are.”
Day purred, her double-tail swishing away. She nodded her head to the counter and meowed.
BRING THE INRO HERE
“Are you sure that’s what she said?” Seymour set the Inro down in the middle of the counter. “It wasn’t to grab a bunch of tacos?”
The counter trembled.
“Sheesh. Take a damn joke.”
Day hopped off Seymour’s shoulders, landing beside the Inro.
Neil hovered close. “Look, are you absolutely sure about this? I still really think we should wait for Lou and the others.”
IT IS SAFE!
“You didn’t sound very sure a minute ago!”
“I will protect Seymour with all the power available to me,” Sariel said firmly. “He has been entrusted into my care, and I will not let any harm befall him. His safety is absolutely paramount to me, I swear to you.”
Neil stared at him, gawking.
“What?”
“That is literally the most I’ve ever heard you speak at one time.”
Day meowed, holding out a paw to both Sariel and Seymour. Once they accepted, she closed her eyes and meowed softly.
Seymour probably should have been unnerved by the fact he was about to enter another world, but he was quickly growing desensitized to the rampant madness.
Dragons getting coffee, vampires trying to hypnotize him, talking chicken leg houses being salty.
At this point, Seymour didn’t think he’d even bat an eye if the Loch Ness Monster came strolling in to buy a corsage.
Seymour reached for Sariel’s hand, giving it a big squeeze. “See you on the other side.”
Day closed her eyes, purred, and the flower shop vanished in a flash.
They were now standing at the edge of the Inro’s mountainous landscape, as if it had been magnified a gazillion times and then plopped right in the middle of an eerily calm ocean. The water was black, endless, and the only light came from the lanterns scattered along the tiny path leading up the mountain.
The ground was weirdly slick beneath Seymour’s boots, and it was then he realized everything here was made of porcelain. He could see seams in the various pieces around him, just like in the Inro, and the only thing that appeared to be organic was the water this monstrous place somehow floated on top of.
Day meowed and pranced up the path, waving for them to follow.
“We’re comin’, lil girl!” Seymour took a few careful steps forward. “Oof, this is weird.”
