Chapter 5:

The Greatest Treasure in the World

My Grandpa Disappeared Into the Infinite Hole, So I Followed Him With a Girl in a Wheelchair and Her Cat

For a moment, I just looked at him. Maybe somewhere beneath everything Alzheimer's had taken from him, a small part of Grandpa still remembered me. I wanted to believe that.

But if the stories were true, there might still be a way to bring all of him back.

“Grandpa, have you seen anything strange here?”

He looked around.

“Everything here is strange.”

“Fair point. I mean a Treasure. Something different from all the others.”

He thought about it.

“There was a ball.”

Claire and I froze.

“A ball?” I asked.

“A pretty little thing. About this big.” He made a circle with his hands. “Glowing.”

My heart nearly exploded.

“WHERE?!”

Grandpa scratched his beard and looked around.

“I don't remember.”

Of course he didn't.

The only man in human history who had apparently found the greatest Treasure in existence had Alzheimer's.

“Think, Grandpa. Anything. What was around it?”

“There were flowers.”

I looked at the thousands of blue flowers surrounding us.

“Excellent. We've narrowed it down.”

“And water.”

There were waterfalls coming out of half the floating islands.

“Even better.”

Grandpa smiled.

“Oh! The water was going up.”

Claire and I looked at each other. That was something.

It took us almost four hours.

Eventually, we found the upward waterfall.

It climbed from the clouds below into the ruins above, beside a circular platform surrounded by broken white arches. At its center floated a tiny sphere of light.

The Treasure.

Or at least, it had to be.

Between us and it, thick silver vines covered the narrow bridge leading to the platform.

“Of course.”

I dropped my backpack and pulled out my ceramic knife. Claire stared at it.

“You brought a knife?”

“I came prepared.”

“You almost got seduced by a necklace pretending to be a pop star.”

“I came physically prepared.”

I started cutting. The first vine snapped. Then the ruins began to hum.

My hands stopped.

Golden light appeared behind us. Five Celestials descended onto the path.

“Lo...”

“I see them.”

Their eyes passed over Grandpa without stopping. Then Mochi.

Nothing.

Six golden eyes settled on me, and the rings began to spin.

Of course.

But then their eyes moved.

To Claire.

She went pale.

I finally understood. They weren't protecting the Treasures from intruders. They were protecting them from people who really wanted them. And now Claire wanted one too.

I cut through the last vine.

“Get on my back.”

“What?”

“Your chair won't fit through there.”

“Lo—”

“Claire!”

She looked at the Celestials. Then climbed onto my back. I stood. Or tried to.

“Ouch! You're heavy.”

“So, put me down.”

“I didn't say too heavy!”

“You said it like you were dying.”

“I'm being supportive!”

Golden light exploded behind us.

I ran.

Claire's arms tightened around my shoulders as another blast tore through the bridge.

“Lo, your grandpa—”

“Your wish can save him too.”

“What?”

“You want a world where nobody gets sick. I wanted Grandpa back and a Japanese pop star to fall in love with me. I think it's obvious which wish is more dignified.”

“That's an incredibly low bar.”

“JUST TAKE THE COMPLIMENT!”

We reached the platform. Only a few more steps.

“If only one of us gets a wish,” I said, “it should be you.”

Claire went quiet. Then something slammed into my side.

I hit the ground.

Claire fell from my back as pain shot through my shoulder. The man from before ran past us, followed by the woman with the wooden bow and the boy.

“The Treasure!” the boy shouted.

A Celestial landed between them. The woman fell.

“Help me!”

The man looked back.

Then at the sphere.

He kicked loose a section of the broken bridge. White stone collapsed into the endless sky, leaving his companions trapped with the Celestials. And he kept running.

I tried to stand. My shoulder gave out.

Claire dragged herself toward the sphere.

Too far.

The man reached it first. His friends screamed behind him, but he only smiled and extended his hands.

“Finally. Now I can have everything.”

Something white walked past him. I blinked. No.

“Mochi?”

The man looked down as Mochi casually walked between his legs and approached the sphere. She stopped right in front of it, tilted her head, and watched the glowing little ball with unmistakable curiosity. Then one of her paws slowly lifted from the ground.

My blood went cold. I'd seen that look before.

“Mochi.”

Tap.

The sphere rolled away.

“What the—?!”

Mochi's ears perked up.

“Mochi, don't.”

She pounced. The sphere rolled across the platform. The man threw himself after it.

Mochi was faster. She trapped the greatest Treasure in existence between her paws. Then opened her mouth.

“MOCHI, DON'T YOU DARE—”

CHOMP.

Everything turned white.

“Lo?”

I opened my eyes. Grandpa was standing over my bed.

For several seconds, I couldn't breathe. Not because he was there. Because of the way he'd said my name.

“Grandpa?”

He frowned.

“Who else would it be?”

I threw myself at him.

Grandpa laughed and hugged me back.

“What's gotten into you?”

“The Infinite Hole. Do you remember it?”

His smile faded.

“The what?”

“The place you disappeared into two years ago.”

Grandpa looked at me like I'd invented the words.

“Lo, I've been right here.”

My stomach dropped. I ran downstairs. Mom was in the kitchen.

“Mom! When did Grandpa come back?”

She frowned.

“Come back from where?”

Oh no. I grabbed my phone. Thirty-seven confirmed appearances. Ten years of reports. Newspaper articles. Witness accounts. Missing persons. I searched for all of it.

Nothing.

Infinite Holes didn't exist. Or maybe they never had.

“Claire.”

I ran.

I reached St. Marianne's completely out of breath.

I didn't even know if she'd be there. Maybe in this reality we'd never met. Maybe Claire didn't remember me. Maybe there wasn't even a reason for her to be at the hospital anymore.

Then I saw her.

She was sitting outside near the entrance. Not in her wheelchair. In a normal chair. Mochi was curled comfortably in her lap.

I stopped.

Claire looked up. For a second, neither of us said anything.

“Lo?”

I almost cried.

“You remember?”

We both pointed at each other.

“YES!”

Mochi opened one eye. Apparently, our reunion wasn't interesting enough to justify waking up. I hurried over.

“The Infinite Holes are gone.”

Claire nodded.

“I couldn't find anything about them.”

“Grandpa doesn't remember disappearing.”

“Nobody remembers.”

I looked at her legs. Claire noticed.

“Don't.”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You're staring.”

“I stare when I'm confused.”

“That's not better.”

I smiled. So did she.

I still didn't know what Mochi had done. Maybe nobody got sick anymore. Maybe reality had changed in ways we'd never know.

Then I noticed what Claire was holding.

A small packet of cat food. Mochi lifted her head immediately. Claire squeezed some onto her finger. Mochi licked it clean.

“She's been eating this since this morning,” Claire said.

“Okay?”

“Lo, I've emptied it at least twelve times.”

I looked at the packet. It was still full. I looked at Mochi. Mochi looked at me.

Claire squeezed out another serving.

“No way.”

Mochi ate it. The packet remained full.

Grandpa was back, apparently without Alzheimer's. Claire wasn't in a wheelchair. Infinite Holes had apparently never existed. And Mochi had an infinite packet of cat food.

Of all the mysteries I'd spent two years trying to solve, somehow the answer to the biggest one was sitting in Claire's lap, licking chicken paste off her whiskers.

I narrowed my eyes.

“You did this.”

Mochi meowed. I pointed at the packet.

“And you gave yourself infinite food.”

Mochi immediately looked up. Claire and I stared at her.

“Oh, so that one you understand.”

Mochi meowed. Claire squeezed out another serving. I crossed my arms.

“Unbelievable. You get one chance to rewrite all of reality, and somehow you still find a way to make it about food.”

Mochi ate happily.

I sighed. Then something occurred to me.

“Wait.”

Claire looked at me.