Chapter 16
On Monday morning, June 29th, Anemo and all his furry companions were gathered in the backyard around the wrought-iron and glass table, sitting in front of his laptop and his familiar coffee topped with whipped cream and pink salt. They were on a video call with Professor Simoon, who, despite being in London, was doing everything in his power to help.
“Anemo, my son, pay close attention to me,” the professor said. “I have studied the map and consulted with my colleagues.”
“But we have the map here, Father!” Anemo replied, thoroughly confused.
“I have a picture of the map on my phone! There are two options... at least two acceptable ones.”
“Go on, Father, tell us! We are all ears here.”
The kittens and Anemo were huddled together as if posing for a group photo: Mistral was perched on the fence in perfect balance, Bise sat on the left armrest of Anemo’s chair, and Sirocco rested right on the writer’s right shoulder. Aeolus, being the smallest of them all, was on the table, pressed right against the laptop keyboard.
“For the first and closest portal, we must take Miss Remi to Cairo,” Professor Simoon explained. “This involves paperwork, microchipping, vaccines, and being present with the collar next to its twin in Cairo during the twenty-four-hour portal window of the Autumn Equinox. I have contacts who can secure our entry into the museum.”
“And the second option?” the white cat asked, shuddering at the very thought of microchipping.
Anemo, fully aware that his father could not hear Remi, repeated the question.
“And the second option?”
“For the second option, there is no need to travel to Egypt.”
“Wow, that’s great!” Anemo exclaimed.
“We won’t even need the twin collar; we can stay right here in Ireland. The portal will open in the Cave of the Cats...”
Sirocco leapt onto the table, feeling it was his duty to cheer for his new friend.
“That’s amazing, Miss Remi! That means we can come with you to the Cave of the Cats too! How wonderful that we have a cave of our own!”
Mistral jumped down onto the grass to examine his claws at his own leisure and felt compelled to chip in.
“Calm down, kiddo, things aren’t as simple as you think! Listen to what Professor Simoon is saying!”
“...the portal will open in the Cave of the Cats, in County Roscommon, but not until the Winter Solstice,” Professor Simoon continued, his voice echoing flatly through the laptop speakers. “That means December.”
Anemo felt his breath catch in his throat for a second. He looked to his left, at Bise. The white cat had frozen on the armrest, her pupils dilated with a mixture of shock and panic.
“December?!” Anemo repeated, staring at his father on the screen. “Father, it’s the end of June! That means nearly six months of waiting! How can Remi stay trapped in a cat’s body for half a year?”
“I know, Anemo, it is a significant amount of time,” Professor Simoon said, rubbing his temples. The exhaustion was clear in his eyes, but so was that sharp, analytical desert glint that defined him. “But listen to me carefully. The Cairo option, though faster in terms of time—since the equinox is in September—is a bureaucratic nightmare. The animal quarantine regulations in Egypt are extremely strict right now. If a single paper in Miss Remi’s export file isn't stamped correctly, they will block her at the border. We risk losing the twenty-four-hour window of the equinox just waiting in airport lines.”
Bise let out a sharp hiss, glaring at the screen with an icy gaze. She radiated pure defiance towards Anemo. The thought of being poked with needles for a microchip, vaccinated like an ordinary feline, and then locked in a travel crate to Egypt terrified her just as much as the prospect of facing the Irish winter on all fours.
“On the other hand,” Professor Simoon resumed, shifting his gaze to the maps hanging behind him, “the Cave of the Cats, or Oweynagat as the locals call it, is a native Celtic portal. In mythology, it is considered a gateway to the Otherworld. At the Winter Solstice, when the night is longest, the energies reverse. We won't need permits, we won't need visas. We just need her to be there, in the heart of the cave, at midnight.”
Anemo took a sip of his coffee, letting the salty-sweet taste settle his thoughts. The options were on the table. Remi was the only one who could decide which risks she was willing to take, but he wanted to reassure her that he would stand by her side no matter what.
“Well, what do you say?” he asked her gently.
Remi-Bise took a deep breath, rubbed her head against Anemo’s palm, and then, looking straight into his eyes with her electrifying blue gaze, spoke with courage.
“I choose the vaccines and the microchip. Thank your father for standing by us, and let’s make a list of everything we need for the journey.”
“Remi,” Anemo said softly, feeling his heart take a strange leap in his chest. He looked into those incredibly familiar blue eyes, searching past the white fur for the little girl with scraped knees he had grown up with on the very same streets. “Our literary rivalry was just foolishness. You know you have an ally in me.”
“It’s a matter of lo-yal-ty! Mistral, did I say it right this time? Loyalty! Loyalty! I’m learning more and more every single day!” Sirocco added, highly proud of his achievement, before rushing off to his usual dragon-fly “hunt” in the flower bed.
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