The next thing I knew, a cloud of white smoke began wafting out of the box!
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It was almost like it was filled with dry ice or something.
“Oh? I guess it makes a magic smokescreen, then,” I said to myself.
The smoke vanished in no time at all, but it still struck me as a fun little trick. It seemed like something a bored kid in a museum would get a kick out of. Not that I have any right to criticize, since I’m the one who got bored in a museum and got a kick out of it just moments ago…
Anyway, I knew the others would make their way here eventually, but since I’d found something sort of fun, I figured I might as well go tell them about it. I knew museums weren’t a place for people to run around having a blast, but it still seemed like I was the only one who felt out of place here, and I wanted to be at least a little more involved with the others. As I turned away from the hands-on section, however…
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…a very strange sensation came over me.
What is this? Why do I feel so stiff all of a sudden…?
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That box didn’t put some sort of petrification curse on me, did it? On second thought, maybe I should actually warn everyone not to open it. But then again, there’s no way they’d put something with that dangerous of a magical effect in a hands-on section, would they…?
Thankfully, the stiffness wasn’t bad enough to keep me from moving around. I was relieved to realize it probably hadn’t petrified me after all, though that raised the question of just what it had done to me. If there was a curse that made its target feel vaguely out of shape, I’d certainly never heard of it.
“Hey, Falfa, Shalsha! I found something interesting over there,” I said, only to be surprised by my own voice. It sounded weirdly strained and quiet.
Am I talking quietly on reflex since this is a museum? I’m not sure my voice would change quite that much if that’s all there was to it, though.
Just then, Falfa and Shalsha turned to face me.
“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!” Falfa screamed at a volume that was most definitely not museum-appropriate. Shalsha didn’t say a word, but she did take an immediate step backward away from me. A distinct shade of unease crept across her expression.
Okay, that’s not the reaction I was expecting!
“Huh? What…? Is there something weird about me?” I asked.
This is starting to really freak me out…
“You mean you can’t tell, Mommy?” asked Falfa.
“Can’t tell what? Did something happen to me? Don’t tell me I grew horns or something…?”
I patted my head, but nothing seemed out of place up there. The worst I could say is my hair felt a little dry…maybe? There wasn’t a good way to get around that when you rode Laika somewhere, though, thanks to all the wind.
Falfa and Shalsha took a moment to confer with each other, then reached some sort of decision and exchanged a nod. Shalsha turned around and went off somewhere, while Falfa took my hand.
“Let’s go out to the museum garden, okay, Mommy?”
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Falfa pulled me outside. The garden spanned the circumference of a large lake, and she led me straight toward it.
“What’s going on? Do you think water would help? I’d really rather not take a bath in a lake, honestly…”
I remembered this one comic I’d read in my past life that featured a character who changed sexes when doused in hot or cold water. I didn’t think that was what was going on with me, though, and even if it was, I wouldn’t have wanted to jump in that lake. I hadn’t even brought a change of clothes with me!
“No, that’s not it,” said Falfa. “You’ll understand when we’re a little closer. Just look in the lake, Mommy!”
I did what Falfa asked me to, but it looked like a perfectly ordinary lake to me—no different than the ones you’d see in any other garden. Its most notable feature was a turtle swimming around a ways farther in.
“It looks like a normal lake to me,” I said. “Is there something special about the water in the demon lands, maybe?”
“No, Mommy! Look at the surface!”
Once again, I followed Falfa’s lead, gazing at the surface of the lake.
Is something right beneath the water, maybe? No, that doesn’t make sense—it’d have nothing to do with me. So maybe she wants me to use the water’s surface like a mirror, and look at my own— Ah!
✦ ✦ ✦
STARING UP AT ME WAS AN ELDERLY VERSION OF MYSELF!
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“Gaaaaaaaaah! What the heck happened to me?!”
My hair’s gone gray! I’m not quite wrinkly enough that I can’t tell it’s me anymore, but I definitely look old enough to be a proper witch now! I can still see traces of my seventeen-year-old base form through it, though—which makes me look like a sixty-year-old using rejuvenating makeup in a really uncanny sort of way!
Apparently, the box in the museum had been like a treasure chest straight out of old Japanese legends: It aged whoever opened it in an instant.
That’s sure to astonish, all right… What am I supposed to do about this?
I had to do something to fix myself, that was for sure, but as I inspected my reflection in the water’s surface, a wave of lethargy washed over me. I really didn’t feel like moving around anymore if I could help it. It was like I’d come to the subconscious conclusion that if that’s what I looked like now, of course I didn’t have much energy.
“Not to mention the shock factor…,” I muttered to myself.
While I gaped at my aged reflection, Shalsha joined back up with us.
“Shalsha spoke with the museum’s curator, who said the chest Mom opened makes smoke that temporarily turns anyone it touches into an old person.”
“Why would you put something like that in a hands-on section?! Well…at least it’s temporary, I guess.”
Thinking things through again, I realized that even if there was a spell that could permanently age someone that dramatically, it wouldn’t be a simple enough incantation to be activated by just opening a box. A spell like that would be incredibly advanced magic, after all. Plus, it would make the box in question into the sort of incredibly valuable artifact you’d never even consider letting people touch freely. I figured its effects would wear off within a half hour to an hour at most.
“Did they say anything about how long this would last, Shalsha?” I asked.
“Approximately one week.”
“That’s kind of a long time, isn’t it?!”
I guess a week’s just a drop in the bucket from a demon’s perspective. Still, though, you’d think having to take a week off from work because you checked out the wrong exhibit at a museum would be a huge pain, even for a demon. It’s a massive pain for me, that’s for sure! If I’m stuck like this for the next several days, then I’ve got no choice but to go back to the house in the highlands! I don’t even want to think about all the ways everyone will end up teasing me!
“The curator said nobody had expected anyone who’d be affected this dramatically would ever come visit the museum,” Shalsha added.
“Oh, so it wouldn’t do this to most demons? I guess it’d just be harmless smoke to them, then.”
I figured it was probably put on display to show off the smoke, with the aging effect being considered a non-factor. It sure was a big factor for humans, though! Apparently, I’d had the misfortune of deciding to visit after they put up the new signs, but before they’d thought to rework the exhibits for the safety of human visitors.
“In the curator’s words, ‘I understand now that simply providing translations is not always enough on its own. This was a very valuable learning experience, and I intend to make this a museum that human guests will be able to safely enjoy and appreciate in the future. Thank you for teaching me this lesson.’”
“I’d prefer a solution for this mess over a thank-you, personally!” I don’t wanna be stuck like this for a whole week!
“‘The box’s effects are temporary and cannot be dispelled through magical means. Furthermore, those subjected to the box’s effects will find themselves unable to magically transform until the spell runs its course. There’s no choice but to wait it out for a week,’ according to the curator.”
“So much for solving this quickly…”
“Shalsha did receive something helpful, though.”
Now that she mentioned it, I realized Shalsha was indeed holding something.
Oh, good. Maybe this will be the solution I need!
“They gave us free tickets as an apology. The next time we come here, we won’t have to pay for entry.”
“That’s not even a little bit helpful!”
I think I’ll let the museum fans in the family use those tickets.