26 Jade Rabbit

The rabbit's beady red eyes followed Arthur silently. It just stood there in the store quietly until it spotted the Book of Thoth that sat on the counter. Then, its ears perked up and it started to make its move.

Arthur stood behind the counter and was about to flip the Book of Thoth open to check on possible update when a ball of white flashed before his eyes. He jumped back from the sudden fright and when he came to, Arthur saw the rabbit sitting on the counter, putting its weight on the Book of Thoth.

Arthur was impressed by the strength in the creature's hind legs, he did not even know rabbit could jump that high. He wondered if that was possible for all common rabbits or specific only to mythical ones.

He went back to the counter and try to reason to the rabbit, "Hey, can you please move away? I'm just trying to help you. I'm not going to harm you."

Arthur tried his best to ease the rabbit away from the book but it was to no avail. 'The rabbit was being so obedient earlier so why did it suddenly become so stubborn?' the young man asked himself. The rabbit refused to budge, if Arthur wanted to take the Book of Thoth back, he had to take it back by force but he did not want to harm the poor creature.

While Arthur was contemplating what to do, he realized the rabbit was not sitting on the book idly. It had maintained a similar pose since the beginning, the rabbit kept both of its front paws on the crescent icon that was imprinted on the cover of the Book of Thoth.

It was then that it hit Arthur, the rabbit was probably doing this on purpose. It was trying to tell the young man something!

Arthur tapped his chin as he tried to connect the dots. He uttered his speculation out loud so the rabbit could confirm whether his train of thought was going the right way or not, "There has to be a reason you're doing this and I don't think you're that concerned about the book."

The rabbit nodded.

"In that case, you're referring to the symbol, the crescent. Is the crescent of any significance to you?" Arthur asked. The rabbit nodded.

"Good, this is going nicely. Okay, does the shape of the moon play any part? Must it be a crescent?" The rabbit shook its head. "So, just the moon in general."

Arthur was reminded of the weird phenomenon that he observed earlier outside the Midnight Emporium. As preposterous as the question sounded in his mind, the young man asked, "Are you the moon?"

The rabbit looked at Arthur with its head titled to the side like it was staring at a dumb person before shaking its head vehemently.

An embarrassed Arthur chuckled to himself. "Of course, you're not. What was I thinking?" After the awkwardness tided over, Arthur continued, "If you're not the moon, then you have to be related to the moon?"

The rabbit nodded.

"So... A moon rabbit. That sounds mythical enough." Arthur told the rabbit to wait as he took out his phone. "Let me see if I can find anything online about that."

The search result came back more conclusive than the young man anticipated. He read the result aloud.

"The moon rabbit is a character from Asian folklore. The mythos originated from China before spreading to other Asian countries. Also known as the Jade Rabbit, it is often described as a pet companion to the Moon Fairy who resided in a palace on the moon."

By then, the rabbit was hopping up and down the counter. It was safe to say Arthur was right. However, to be safe, he asked, "So I take it you're the Jade Rabbit?"

The rabbit nodded in quick succession. "But what could you be looking for? Let me see if the internet can provide me with more information."

Arthur scrolled down the online article and continued to read.

"In these folklore, the Jade Rabbit is commonly depicted as holding a mortar and pestle, pounding medicinal pills and elixir for its mistress. Wait a minute..." Arthur thought back to the game of charade they were playing earlier and things became startlingly clear. "You're looking for your missing mortar and pestle!"

The rabbit nodded in affirmation. Finally, they were making some real progress but another question from Arthur stopped that progress right in its tracks, "Then, do you have any idea where your mortar and pestle currently is?"

The rabbit hung its head as if in shame.

"So you have no idea where it is either, huh?" Arthur thought about using the internet but he doubted he could find such specific information online. His next available option was the Book of Thoth but the book had proven to be less reliable than the internet time and time again so Arthur believed it would not be any different this time.

Arthur leaned against the counter in thought. According to Chinese folklore, the Jade Rabbit uses its mortar and pestle to make elixir of life that can cure all illnesses and even grant immortality.

'Wait a minute, I've heard that similar story line quite some time ago!' Arthur used the internet to log onto the satellite map. He looked for Armana's Third Street and changed into street view.

He turned the screen to face the Jade Rabbit as he panned down the street. "Does any of these building mean anything to you?" Arthur asked.

The Jade Rabbit was confused by Arthur's gesture but it looked patiently at the phone screen as the scenery changed. When the view reached the end of the block, the Jade Rabbit suddenly perked its ears up.

It pointed its furry paw at the abandoned double-story building repeatedly. Arthur turned the screen back to himself. "This does look like the place those young men were describing... Are you sure this is where we might find your mortar and pestle?" Arthur looked up from the phone and there was only Book of Thoth sitting on the counter.