{C-8-B}

“Where’s the closest bathroom,” Neko-chan says.

“You use a bathroom instead of a litter box?” you ask.

“No,” Neko-chan says, “We need a mirror if we are going to find the basilisk.”

The two of you follow the signs hanging from the ceiling to locate the closest bathroom, where you find a small, framed mirror hanging from a nail on the wall. You take down the mirror and head to the lizard cage.

You stand in front of a humongous cage, like a room behind a glass wall. Inside, there are different eco-zones marked out by plants, rocks, and other landscape features. Many types of baby lizards can be seen basking or scampering about.

“Would a basilisk be found in the desert like over there or the jungle over here?” you ask.

“I know that a basilisk can turn things into stone,” Neko-chan says. “So I would say that it is more likely to be found in desolate places, or it would just wither away all the plants in a jungle.”/

“You mean like that?” you say, pointing to a corner of the giant cage where all the plants are brown and withered. There is a small cave in the rocks in the midst of all the dead plants.

“I’ll be the bait,” Neko-chan says, “and you be ready to shove the mirror in its face.”

Neko-chan scrambles up the pile of rocks to the little cave opening before you have time to argue, and you nearly break the mirror, as you grip the frame tightly before you. A venomous hissing sound comes out from the cave, as a strange lizard-like creature strikes out at Neko-chan.

“Now!” the kitten cries, barely dodging the snapping jaws of the monster. Holding the mirror in front of you and closing your eyes tightly to avoid its gaze, the hissing suddenly stops.

“We did it!” Neko-chan says, and as you open your eyes, you see what looks like a little stone statue of the basilisk just on the edge of the cave.

You hear the lizard cage door slam and see the pet shop owner coming for you.

You say:

“There’s no time for us to hide, but hide the basilisk back in the cave.” {C-9-A}

“Let’s show him that we foiled his plan and already petrified the basilisk.” {C-9-B}