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  As I spoke, I remembered that Queen Kumari had faded out of the cave. I glanced around, assuming that an exit would magically appear, but the ceiling continued to glitter with an unbroken blanket of crystals and the walls remained solid.

  “How did you get in here?” I asked.

  “Queen Patchouli’s magic transported me,” Kano explained.

  “Is she going to transport us out?” I asked.

  “No, we’re on our own.” Kano grinned with boyish enthusiasm. “It’ll be fun. Just follow me, and do what I do.”

  I didn’t understand, but I remembered Queen Kumari’s advice. Kano knew what he was doing, and I had to trust him. I gripped Takara, braced myself, and then screamed.

  Kano had turned into a snake!

  Horrified, I jumped back.

  The yellowish-green serpent with a black squiggle on its back raised its broad head. “Ready?” the snake asked in Kano’s voice, and looked at me with Kano’s very human eyes.

  I was still in shock, but it was too late to back out. The tingling in my fingers and toes became an intense buzzing that spread through my veins like molten metal. My body felt as though every muscle had fallen asleep, the way my foot does when I sit on it too long. Then my bones cracked, and I screamed again.

  “Relaxxxx,” Kano said. “Morphing issss painlesssss.”

  “Sheasy fo’ ’ou t’shay!” I couldn’t talk. My teeth and tongue were changing shape in my mouth.

  “Don’t fight it, Ssssumi. Your body will automatically copy whatever form I take.”

  That didn’t make me feel better. I was turning into a snake, and there was nothing I could do about it. Plus, I looked completely ridiculous, while Kano’s shift from boy to reptile had been quick.

  I had no conscious control, but my body seemed to know what it was doing. Slowly and awkwardly, I began to transform. My head flattened, and my shoulders shriveled. Takara fell on the hard floor when I lost my hands.

  “Careful!” Kano slithered over to the heirloom.

  “It didn’t break,” I said. “There’ssss no glasssss.”

  My face had completed the transition into the head of an ugly snake. I assumed I had human eyes and looked just as repulsive as Kano. But at least I could talk again.

  “Sssstill, you shouldn’t be sssso carelesssss with your family’ssss mosssst treassssured posssssesssssion,” Kano said. His eyes narrowed with disapproval.

  “You should have warned me I wouldn’t have fingerssss to hold it,” I hissed, and flicked my forked tongue at him.

  “Okay, you’ve got a point,” Kano admitted. “But from now on, just usssse the magic phrasssse Queen Patchouli gave you.”

  I had forgotten about the fairy queen’s first gift, but I hadn’t forgotten the words. When I said “Takara’ssss truth,” the hand mirror disappeared in a flash of golden light.

  Finally, I felt that the shift was complete. I curled into a coil and drew back as though to strike, testing my new form. I didn’t have to concentrate on what I was doing; the movements came naturally. I still had the thoughts and emotions of Sumi Hara the girl, but physically I was a snake.

  And I was mad.

  There were billions of creatures in the waking world and probably in Aventurine, too. I suspected that Kano had picked the horrid reptile because he knew I would hate it.

  “Why did you turn ussss into ssssnakessss?” I asked.

  “It’ssss the only form that can leave the cavern without fairy help,” Kano said.

  That made sense, I guess. I felt bad for thinking the worst about Kano’s motives and was glad that snakes couldn’t blush.

  I uncoiled and moved toward him. By flexing my body from one side to the other, I created a wave motion that pushed me across the uneven rock floor.

  “When did I become a shape-shifter?” I asked.

  “You’ve alwayssss been one,” Kano said. “Everyone in the Yugen Lineage issss a shape-shifter.”

  “But I can’t shape-shift at home,” I said. Changing clothes and hairstyles probably didn’t count.

  “You’ve alwayssss had the power; you jusssst didn’t know how to usssse it. The cake gave you the nudge you needed,” Kano said. “And I provided the pattern.”

  I couldn’t frown, so I twitched the end of my tail. “Doessss that mean I’ll turn into whatever nassssty creature you choosssse?”

  “Yessss, until the cake wearssss off and you learn to control the ability,” Kano said. “You’ll be ssssafe if you copy me.”

  As I slithered behind Kano toward the cave wall, two things were on my mind: I had to do what he said until I figured out how things worked in Aventurine, and learning to shape-shift without help was my first priority. The sooner I could change back into my normal self, the better.

  5

  Slither and Puff

  Being a snake wasn’t as icky as I first thought. Most of my overlapping yellow and green scales were dry and smooth. The rough scales on my underside gripped the rock floor, which helped me move and control my direction. My belly was also supersensitive to vibration. I could feel Kano moving ahead of me. Even better, I could tell if something snuck up behind me. At the moment, we were alone in the cave.

  “Did you eat the cake so you could shift, too?” I asked.

  Kano paused at the wall and raised his head to look back. “No, I jusssst like cake. I’ve alwayssss been able to shift.”

  “Issss that why Queen Patchouli picked you to guide me?” I asked.

  “A shape-shifter wassss required,” Kano said.

  If Kano were a natural shape-shifter, I began to wonder if his real form was the hot guy or if that was simply another pattern he had mimicked. He’d given me such a hard time about commenting on his looks, I didn’t want to ask point-blank. I tried to be sneaky.

  “Why do we have human eyessss?” I asked.

  “It’ssss the trademark of a shape-shifter. The one thing we can’t change,” Kano said. “No one knowssss why, but I’m glad that it’ssss sssso. Ssssometimessss it’ssss good to have a reminder of your true form.”

  That was a deeper response than I’d expected. It answered part of my real question at least, though: Kano’s gorgeous eyes were definitely real.

  I was quiet as I thought about what he’d said. Did shape-shifters ever forget that they were human? Is that what he meant about needing a reminder? When I was younger, I had dreamed of being able to change into any animal I wanted. What kid hadn’t? I’d always wanted to be a bird. Flying would be amazing! It was too bad we were underground and I was stuck mimicking Kano. How cool would it be to shift into a bird, just like my childhood fantasy? I guess I might love it so much, I wouldn’t want to change back. That must have been what Kano meant about remembering our true form. If so, this power was totally awesome and a little scary.

  Kano’s tongue flicked constantly as he moved. So did mine. The nonstop slurping in and out was irritating until I realized my tongue was also my nose! Teensy bits of everything in the air collected on my tongue. Receptors in my mouth analyzed the chemicals so I would know when food or enemies were nearby. I sensed traces of cake and icing along with dirt, microbes, seaweed spores, and Kano’s soap.

  I realized something else about snakes. They ate mice by swallowing them whole. I almost puked.

  “I don’t want to eat any little furry thingssss,” I said.

  “We’re black rock ssssnakessss. In Aventurine, the only furry thingssss we eat are fungussss and mold.” Kano stuck his head in a small hole in the wall for a few seconds. Then he continued around the base of the cave wall.

  I froze, completely grossed out by a mental picture of fuzzy blue-green fungus on crackers.

  “I can’t eat mold, either,” I said.

  “I chosssse thissss form for a lot of reassssonssss,” Kano said. “Black rock ssssnakessss don’t have fangssss or venom, and they eat plantssss.”

  “Plantssss can’t grow in cavessss,” I said. “No ssssunlight.”

  Kano made a hiccup
ping hissing sound. He was laughing. “Anything can happen in Aventurine. Thesssse cavessss are full of thorny toadsssstoolssss, lichen, and algae. Yum!”

  “I’ll sssstarve,” I said.

  “You won’t be a ssssnake long enough to sssstarve.” Kano turned to check out another hole.

  Now that we were close to it, I could see that the cave wall was riddled with holes of different shapes and sizes. Most of them were too high to reach or too small for our foot-long snake bodies. The one Kano was investigating looked large enough, and it was only four inches up from the cave floor.

  “I think I’ve found our way out,” Kano said.

  It suddenly occurred to me that Kano didn’t really know where we were. “What if it issssn’t?” I asked.

  “Then we’ll keep looking. Or we’ll morph into rock wormssss and make our own tunnel. Their accccid eatssss through rock.” Kano didn’t wait for my response. He slithered into the hole.

  When the tip of his tail disappeared, I rose up and peeked in. The round tunnel was barely wide enough to slide through. A few scattered crystals shed dim specks of light, but I could see Kano in the dark.

  “You’re lit up like an orange lightbulb!” I exclaimed. The effect was totally cool and reassuring. I wouldn’t lose track of a guide who glowed in the dark.

  “You have infrared vissssion,” Kano explained. “Your eyessss ssssee my body heat.”

  “I thought we were cold-blooded,” I pointed out.

  “Thissss issss Aventurine …!” Kano’s voice trailed off as he sped away down the passage.

  I slithered into the hole and hurried to catch up.

  I’d never been claustrophobic, but the barely-big-enough tunnel put me on edge. I wished I knew where we were going and how long it would take to get there, but I didn’t want to drive Kano crazy with too many questions. I just followed the orange glow and hoped we would arrive soon.

  I spent the time thinking more about my new power. It still blew me away to think that when I learned to shape-shift on my own, I could be anything I wanted. The possibilities were endless—and not just for animal forms. I could see how I’d look with short hair—without having to cut a single strand! If I broke a nail, I could grow a new one. If the sensational shoes I just bought pinched, I could make my feet smaller. I could even age myself to see what I’ll look like when I’m twenty-one.

  Even better: What if I could morph myself wearing different clothes? Seeing how my designs looked on a real person would be priceless.

  I mentally played with that idea until the narrow passage opened into a wider tunnel with more crystals and brighter light. Ahead of me, Kano continued moving forward without pause. My relief at leaving the tunnel didn’t last long. The corridor smelled like something had died in it, and I could track the movements of strange creatures on the rock around me.

  Glowing red rock worms wiggled in and out of small holes, eating light crystals and leaving acid grooves in the rock. I hoped Kano didn’t really expect me to change into a worm if this path didn’t take us out. White speckled round things covered with tentacles grew in clumps on the ceiling and walls. Slimy blue slugs with six feelers and twelve legs munched on the round things. Large, flat amoeba-like creatures clung to the rock like transparent splatters.

  I watched in morbid fascination as one of the flat amoeba creatures suddenly engulfed a blue slug.

  “I’m glad we’re not thosssse thingssss,” I said.

  “Sssslickerssss are too sssslow,” Kano explained, flicking his tail in dismissal at the amoeba creatures.

  As we moved on, I wondered what my friends would say if they knew I was slithering through a cave in the body of a snake! Hisako and Eiko used to be part of my make-believe games when we were little. We had a lot of fun pretending to be ponies and other cute animals. Nobody ever pretended to be a snake.

  I was jolted out of my daydreaming when the rock wall seemed to come alive. A lumpy head with snapping jaws popped out of the wall. It grabbed a slicker and sucked it down like a noodle. When I looked closer, I realized that dozens of holes in the wall had the creatures camouflaged inside.

  “Watch out!” I called to Kano as he neared the large colony. Three heads emerged but quickly ducked back in as he passed by.

  “Don’t worry!” Kano called back. “Grabberssss won’t bother ussss.”

  Although the rock creatures shrank back from me, I stayed alert. I didn’t want to be surprised by something worse.

  As we slid deeper and deeper into the rock, the grabbers and other life-forms began to thin out. Eventually, they were gone, and I noticed that the walls were damp and slick water covered the floor. The slippery surface made us move even faster.

  At first, sliding through the tunnel was as much fun as the huge slides at a water park. The passage twisted and turned, and I sailed over bumps and down inclines. But when the tunnel leveled out, it began to fill with water.

  “Turn back!” I shouted as I thrashed, trying to turn around. “We’ll drown!”

  “We won’t drown!” Kano sounded exasperated. “Black rock ssssnakessss can breathe underwat—gurgle—blub!”

  I struggled not to panic when the water covered my head. Kano was my guide. He wouldn’t deliberately do anything to harm me, but he should have warned me. Still, I was actually more annoyed at myself.

  I’d always been a take-charge kind of girl. This might not be my usual cup of tea, but I had to stop acting like a helpless wimp. I waited until breathing through my gills didn’t feel strange. Then I whipped in front of Kano and charged ahead.

  “Let’ssss go, sssslowpoke!” I yelled. Now that we were both submerged, we could talk again.

  “Wait!” Kano shouted.

  “No!” My underwater snake laugh sounded like boiling water. “Catch me if you can!”

  The speed was exhilarating. I was enjoying myself so much, I didn’t see the circle of gray light ahead until it was too late to slow down or stop. I shot out of the large tunnel into deep water.

  And promptly began to sink.

  In my mind, I paddled furiously to swim back up. In reality, I didn’t have arms or legs, and my wiggling made me sink faster.

  “Kano!” I tried to get a look at the bottom of the water, but it was so deep, I couldn’t spot it.

  “Shout when you can ssssee me!” Kano called out.

  I caught Kano’s movement as he arrowed down through the gray water.

  “I ssssee you!” I yelled.

  Kano continued to plunge toward me. When our eyes locked, he suddenly transformed. One second he was a black rock snake. The next he was a round yellow puffer fish with spiky skin, a tiny puckered mouth, and green eyes.

  “Fugu!” As I shouted the Japanese word, I began to change. The process wasn’t quite as clumsy as the first time, but it took me more than a few seconds. When I finished, I sank down below Kano again.

  “Are you okay?” Kano yelled as he drifted down.

  “No, I’m fugu!” I joked as I waved my tiny tail and fins and rose to meet him.

  “What’s a fugu?” Kano asked.

  “A Japanese delicacy,” I explained. “It takes a lot of training to make, and very few chefs get a license.”

  “What’s a license?” Kano asked as we continued swimming upward, side by side.

  It was cool being the one answering questions and not asking them. “It’s a paper you get after you prove you can do something. Like drive a car or be a doctor. So other people don’t get hurt,” I added.

  “Why do you need one to cook?” Kano asked.

  “Because puffer fish are superpoisonous,” I explained. “If fugu isn’t prepared exactly right, it can kill you. People die every year.”

  Puffer fish only have one expression: a puckered mouth. I could only tell Kano was amazed by the sound of his voice.

  “I don’t understand why anyone would eat a fish that might kill them,” he said.

  “I don’t, either.” I would have grinned if I could. We agreed on some
thing!

  “Aventurine puffer fish aren’t poisonous,” Kano said.

  “We aren’t very good swimmers, either.” I was moving my fins back and forth like crazy, but I just waddled through the water.

  “I puffed up so you wouldn’t sink so fast.” Kano spat out a huge amount of water and instantly deflated.

  I copied Kano, but being flatter didn’t make much difference. Our spiky skin and tiny fins just weren’t very efficient. That’s why puffer fish blow up like balloons. They can’t swim faster than a predator, but nothing wants to eat a poisonous ball of spines. Still, I wished Kano had picked a faster fish that wasn’t so ugly.

  We were getting along, and I didn’t want to spoil it by questioning his judgment. I phrased my next question carefully. “Do you like being a puffer fish?”

  “I’d rather be a silver sliver fish,” Kano said, “but then we’d be stuck in this cave.”

  I was surprised to learn we were in another cave. I couldn’t see the walls in the grayish water. Then I got nervous. “Why would we be stuck?”

  “You’ll see when we get to that ridge,” Kano said.

  The rock ahead was a blur that slowly came into focus as we approached. The cave wall wasn’t solid. A three-foot-high opening broke the face of rock as far as I could see in both directions. Kano and I hovered just outside.

  Crystals embedded in the ceiling lit up the interior of the huge horizontal crevice. A wavy blanket of purple, gold, green, red, and brown sea urchins covered the entire floor. Most of the urchins were smaller than an inflated puffer fish, and all of them were covered with spines. There were thousands, and the unbroken mass stretched into the distance.

  “See that dark hole in the rock behind the urchins?” Kano asked. “That’s the only way out.”

  I gasped. There wasn’t enough clearance. A deflated puffer fish couldn’t fit between the rock ceiling and the sea urchins.

  “Do these things sting?” I asked.

  “Yes, but they don’t like puffer fish spines.” Kano inhaled water until he was round again.

  I hung back as Kano swam forward. As if by magic, the spiny round urchins rolled out of his way. I inflated and followed slowly, giving the little creatures time to clear a path. Halfway across, I saw a glint of light.