38

Kuro couldn't stop laughing when Lucien broke the news. 'So,' he said, barely holding back, 'You're saying a mushroom's going to get you to Earth? Really? You're this desperate now?'

Lucien clicked his tongue impatiently as he withdrew seven to ten books and lay them out on the library table. 'Really, Kuro! You're so unscientific! What do you know about the properties and abilities of complex magic?'

'Unscientific? Me?' said the cat incredulously. 'We're talking about a mushroom, Lucien! A random thing you found in your yard!'

'It's not just any mushroom!' said Lucien earnestly, flipping through a fat book. 'It's the thousand-year mushroom! It's so rare, hence the name!'

'Well, I think we're getting ahead of ourselves, even if there is some kind of magic mushroom out there. How are you so sure that what you found is that one, and not some random fungi that got cosy near you?'

'Because, this!' said the demon, pointing triumphantly to a tiny sketch in the corner of a page.

'What does that prove?' said Kuro. 'It's just a lousy black and white picture of a mushroom that even a five-year-old could draw!'

'Ahh, there's a diagram here that says the stalk is yellow and the centre is green!' said Lucien frustratedly.

'Well, why did they bother with the sketch, then?!' said Kuro, looking intently at it.

'Look, this book is six hundred years old, okay? Art was like this back then!'

'Phew, looks like you could have made a career in art back then!'

'Kuro, will you let me concentrate, please? I'm trying to figure something out!'

'Sure, go ahead! Let's see if this mushroom is all it's rumoured to be – I say, what is it rumoured to be? I mean, how does it act as a portal?'

'Not a portal! A conductor for portal travel!'

'Meaning...?'

'Meaning you can just built a rudimentary portal frame, and it can conduct it and make it actually take you to wherever you want to go.'

'I hope,' said Grace worriedly, 'that the portal isn't hard to build – and doesn't require anything brutal like souls or whatever...'

'As if!' said Lucien, shaking his head. 'Really, human! I would never do something horrid like that! And portals can be built from legitimate stuff too – depending on your intentions and where you want to go.'

'That's good. So, what do we do now?'

'I need to chalk out a plan,' said the demon, looking up and taking out another book. 'And until then, neither of you disturb me, please! Out, both of you!'

'Oh, he's in mad scientist mode again,' grumbled Kuro, walking out. 'Let's go, human.'

'I'm called Grace, you know,' said Grace, as she walked down the hallway with Kuro. 'Why do you two still call me "human"?'

'It's kinda affectionate by this point, really,' said Kuro. 'Though Lucien calls you that a lot more than me.'

'It sounds nice despite it being a little strange,' laughed Grace. 'So, what are we to do while Lucien's shut in with his books?'

'Let's have a game of cards and see if you remember what I taught you last time,' said Kuro.

'All right, bring the pack to my room; it'd be nice to have a change of scene...'

'Good idea,' said the cat approvingly. 'I'll get the cards.'

'Oh, and Kuro?' said Grace, going up the stairs.

'Yeah?'

'Prepare to lose! Haha!'

'Ugh, Lucien's rubbing off on you. Just you wait, human!'

*  *  *

'Wow, you're good!' said Kuro approvingly. 'A draw! I'm impressed! Looks like you're ready to learn whist next!'

'I'd love to,' said Grace, trying to shuffle the deck, 'but first, I want you to learn one from me!'

'There isn't a game I do not know,' said the cat proudly. 'And besides, you said you never played cards before?'

'I said the only game I ever played was snap,' said Grace. 'And judging by how you reacted, you've never actually played it.'

'Well, it's not a real game—'

'Erm, yes, it is? Unless you're too scared of losing to me in it...'

'Hey, who's scared? Bring it on!'

'All right, let's go! Do you have your snap voice ready?'

'What's a snap voice?' said Kuro in surprise.

'You'll have to yell "snap" really loudly when our cards match,' grinned Grace.

'Like I said, it's for kids!'

'It's fun.'

'We'll see.'

'So, we each have a card stack,' said Grace, splitting the deck into half and laying each one on their respective side. 'We take the top card and put it face up. If the two match, the first one to say "snap" gets the cards. The one with all the cards at the end wins.'

'That's all?'

'Hehe. That's it, partner.'

'Hmph. Child's play.'

'Let's see how you fare...' said Grace, with an alarmingly confident smile that detered Kuro somewhat, as he realised that he may have entered a zone where, for a change, she was the one with the advantage.

Of course, he didn't show it, but smiled back, albeit with a glimmer of nervousness passing in his eyes that Grace caught and grinned at.

'Ready?'

'Ready!'

'SNAP!'

'What, already?!'

'You've got to keep your wits about you, Kuro!'

'Yeah, yeah!—'

'SNAP!'

'Huh?!'

'Hehe.'

'Oh! Sn—'

'SNAP!!!'

'HEY, I said it too!!'

'Well, I'll let you have it if you like, you poor cat, but you know I said it first!'

'Nah, I don't need you to let me, thanks! SNA— oops.'

'They don't match every time, genius.'

'Gosh, this game!'

'Told you. It's fun.'

'Yeah, whatever.'

*  *  *

It was almost midnight. Lucien's eyes widened as he finished making his notes at last and had a striking realisation at the same time. He dashed out into the yard and inspected the mushroom. The yellow part was fading and the green was growing stronger; it had already spread across wider than the last time they had seen it.

'Like I thought,' he said in alarm, looking up at the sky once before nodding with determination.

He raced into the parlour, only to find it empty. 'Huh...? Oh, they must be upstairs! They'd better not be in my room!'

As he approached Grace's door, he was about to reach out for the handle when he heard a deafening shout that made him jump in the air in alarm.

'SNAP!!!!!!!'

'What the hell?!' he said, opening the door, only to find Kuro and Grace looking intently at deck of cards, as one of them slowly placed another one on the pile before they yelled again, simultaneously—

'SNAPP!!!'

'SNAP!!!'

'I SAID IT FIRST!!'

'No, I said it!!!'

'I saw it first and— oh, hi, Lucien!'

The demon looked at them in surprise before breaking into a hearty laugh. 'Is this some new game? I like it! It's totally my type! You could have taught me this one, Kuro!'

'Oh, erm, actually...' said the cat sheepishly. 'It's Grace who taught me this one. It's kind of silly, really, but—'

'But it's our seventh game this evening,' said Grace. 'In his defence, he did win one!'

'Wow, I'm impressed, human! Years of losing to that cat seem to be regained after hearing this!'

'Oh, great,' said Kuro, rolling his eyes. 'Well, I suppose it is fun...'

'Told you so,' grinned Grace, before looking at Lucien. 'So, how did it go?'

'Ah,' said the demon, his face serious again. 'So, friends, I've worked out everything. How to use it, what to do, what to say... there's just one little thing that puts a tad bit of pressure on us...'

'And what is it?' enquired Kuro, looking interestedly at him.

'Well,' said Lucien. 'It's got to be done tonight. Or else, by the time the dawn breaks, the mushroom will begin to die. It's midnight now, so... we have only four to five hours if we want to do it.'

'Tonight?' said Grace in surprise. 'Four to five hours?'

'And the whole ritual will take four hours to complete, by my estimations,' nodded Lucien. 'So we'll barely make it – if we even do.'