Chapter 11
Solstices and equinoxes
After two gulps of the strong drink, Anemo finally came to his senses. He sat down on the carpet right next to the fur balls, keeping one hand on the white cat’s fur to make sure the connection stayed open.
"Agent 003.5, can you explain what on earth we have here? Because if you ask me, this looks like my dad’s random scribbles."
Aeolus cleared his throat, which he had almost lost completely from all the excitement. He spoke in the serious tone of a teacher explaining things to his students.
"The map, which the professor quickly copied onto this rough piece of linen, looks like a secret blueprint. It's geometric and mystical at the same time, mixing science with Ancient Egyptian cat magic. The Central Circle, also known as the Body of Nut: Right in the middle of the cloth, a large circle is drawn with a single stroke of charcoal, a bit lopsided because he was in a rush. This represents the belly of the sky goddess, Nut. In the exact center of the circle, there is a thick dot: The Eye of Ra, the feline gaze that watches over the timeline. The Sun Line: A thin graphite pencil line cuts the circle into four, marking the main points of the compass. Along this line, the professor quickly sketched tiny signs that show how the year’s energy moves. The Summer Solstice, South - at the top: This is a violent, almost black smudge of burnt charcoal. The professor pressed so hard he actually scratched the linen, drawing chaotic flames and the wild, angry profile of a lioness, Sekhmet. This is where the imbalance in the house started. The Autumn Equinox, West - to the left: This is the cleanest and most studied area on the cloth. With a well-sharpened pencil, the professor drew two perfect vertical lines, like a portal, and the elegant, sleek silhouette of a cheetah, the Goddess Mafdet. Next to it, a delicate scale is sketched, and the cats placed the Eye of Horus right over this spot. The East and North Gates, Spring and Winter: These are just rough sketches, barely visible. There is a tiny house cat shape in the East for Bastet, and a dark, circular vortex in the North made by smudging charcoal with a finger, representing the night of the winter solstice. The hieroglyphs and translations written by the professor along the edges of the cloth, mixed in with quickly drawn Egyptian symbols, are probably the key to reading the map. Next to the Summer Portal, Sekhmet: Under the hieroglyph of the burning sun, Ra, he wrote in tiny letters: 'The voice of the lioness roars at noon, the gods feel the boiling point of the underworld. The long day is a new beginning.'"
"Hold on a second. My head is spinning!" Anemo interrupted. "Does anyone actually understand these words?"
"Not me, milord," Mistral said in a serious tone, completely honest. "But I do know that Remi turned into a cat on the solstice, the exact moment she found the necklace... well, the collar of the two skies. She found the collar right here in the yard, not in Egypt, and not in some sacred spot in this huge universe. Sirocco had lost that collar more than two weeks ago. Nobody missed it, nobody looked for it, and nobody even noticed it hanging right where the kid found it."
"Miss Remi, I think that shiny little thing was waiting for you. The moment you showed up, it practically winked at you," Sirocco added.
"And what about the six-digit unlock code? How do you explain that, mon cher Aeolus?"
"Wait, what code are you talking about?" Anemo asked himself, still not sure if this reality was real or if he was just trapped in a dream.
"Miss Remi’s screen unlock code is the exact date of the solstice," Mistral explained flatly.
"Well..."
"Exactly, her six-digit code is like a prediction... an anomaly. These numbers show the date of the solstice: day, month, year... in that exact format. You have every right to have a headache."
"Do you want me to keep reading the map, or are we going to sleep?" Aeolus interrupted, sounding annoyed.
"Sorry, little mouse! Go on, tell us!"
"Next to the Autumn Portal, Mafdet - September 23rd: Under the symbol of the scales, Ma'at, and the sacred candlestick, the professor underlined the translation three times: 'Here, day and night are measured. At the equinox, shadow and light are equal. The moment when what has changed turns back into what it was... if you miss it, you might as well go back to purring.'"
Remi-Bise arched her back, stood up, and took a few steps across the map.
"This is giving me the chills!" she shivered. "If I miss the moment, do I stay a cat forever?!"
Anemo, suddenly disconnected from the "conference call," protested right away.
"If you want my help, I need to stay connected to this troublemaking collar! Don't move away!" He quickly reached out with one hand and pulled the white cat back close to him. "Keep going, Aeolus!"
"Next to the central Eye in the middle of the map, there's another note," Aeolus said. "'Time and space are not a straight line, but an eternal circle. The universe spins like a wheel with four spokes. There are four yearly gates through which you can travel between worlds and change your shape. Each gate opens for exactly 24 hours, from one sunrise to the next. Entering the sacred numbers into the heart of the gate opens the lock of time. If you miss those 24 hours, the door slams shut, and you stay stuck in your current form until the next turn.'"
Remi-Bise let out a long, terrified meow. Through her white fur, Anemo could feel the writer's heart ticking like a time bomb about to explode. A bestselling author, trapped in fur and whiskers!
"Four magical gates?" Anemo muttered, trying to clear his head and think like a grown-up, even at thirty years old. "Aeolus, can you translate this ancient Egyptian stuff, please? And what does this have to do with her unlock code?"
"It’s a perfect mathematical connection!" Aeolus explained, using his little mouse paw to draw a circle in the air above the map. "Time moves in a circle, and her six-digit code, 210626, is exactly June 21st—the day the first 24-hour gate opened, and she walked right through it... becoming a cat. Those numbers are a time coordinate, not just a screen password! But today is already June 28th, so the wheel of time has moved on. Chronologically, the next spoke of the circle is the West Gate: The Autumn Equinox."
"Mon Dieu, and what are we supposed to do at the Autumn Equinox so the young lady can get her feline silhouette... sorry, her womanly shape back?" Mistral asked. He elegantly licked a black paw with an aristocratic vibe, looking as if he had just strolled down the grand boulevards of Paris.
"That's the big problem," Aeolus said, resting his nerdy little mouse snout on the linen cloth. "The professor wrote clearly that the gates of the circle demand a perfect balance. On September 23rd, during those 24 magical hours, Remi needs to be face-to-face with the twin collar."
"What twin collar?!" Anemo gasped.
"The one under heavy guard in the main display case at the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt!" Aeolus said with a heavy sigh. "Only on that specific day will the two collars open the transformation portal."
A dead silence fell over the room. Remi-Bise looked down at her white paws. It was the end of June. Even though they had nearly three months until September, how on earth could a cat and a clumsy writer solve a problem this huge?
"W-what if we miss the window... I mean, if Miss Remi misses the window, does she stay a cat just like us?" Sirocco whispered.
"Ah, quelle catastrophe! The red one is right," Mistral added, rolling his eyes. "Bise the cat is going to need a passport and a microchip..."
"I absolutely have to call my dad! Only he can get us out of this mess! Only he can get us to the twin collar!" Anemo cried.
"Are we all going to Cairo?" Sirocco asked, bouncing with excitement. "I can't wait!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid! We aren't going anywhere, just them and Professor Simoon," Mistral said, cooling him down immediately because he just couldn't help himself. Then, with a long sigh, he left the meeting to sit on the windowsill and stare up at the sky.
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