The Time Stone Crystal

Chapter 30 - The ring

"Bull's eye!" Jigger shouted.

“Great! That's just one shot, and you hit the target right away.”

"Maybe it's just my luck," she replied.

“You are easy to learn, Miss Weng. Next time, we will teach you how to do horseback archery,” said Thiara.

“Horseback archery? Is there such like that thing?” she wondered.

“Yes. Horseback archery has become very popular, especially among warriors like us. Do you want to try?”

"Uhm, sure!"

"That's enough!"

They looked behind them, and Kairo was already there.

"Kairo..."

He walks towards her and then glanced in Thiara's direction. “I will borrow your trainee first. We're just going for a walk.” He turned to her. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Just follow me."

KAIRO took her to a town that full of all kinds of goods. It was a faraway part of Israel, but they used to divert energy to get there.

"Are we going to shop?" she asked him.

"Choose what you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Will I take you here if I don't?"

"You're started with your sarcastic tone of voice, Kairo."

"I am not. Let's go."

They were confused by the number of traders around and what they were selling. On the other hand, Weng was amazed at what she saw because they were ancient things that she had not seen in her time.

“Wow! These are gold porcelain vases!” She was amazed at what she saw. "Is this real gold?"

“Hadha dhahab haqiqiun, sayadtay. Nahn la nubie almuntajat almuqaladat huna. (That is real gold, Lady. We don't sell fakes here,)” said the male salesman.

"Kairo, what is he saying."

He whispered to her. “He said it is real gold, and they do not sell fakes here. But I know those are fake and just gold coated. Do not be deceived by what you see.”

She nodded. “Oh, is that so.” She turned to the salesman. “Thank you, Manong.”

“Come with me, and I'll show you something.”

“Alright.”

They walked again into the middle and came into the hidden store. There weren't many people there because, according to Kairo, those insides were very expensive. She instantly saw the name of the store. Jewelry shop? Is there a jewelry shop nowadays? I guess so.

“Come in, my dear customers! We have a lot of new jewelry, gold, and diamonds. Just choose!” said the man. It seemed to be the store owner with plenty of jewelry hanging around his neck.

They entered a beautiful store with gold-plated designs. She also saw around the jewelry glowing in gold, and she could now understand the man’s language exactly unlike the others. Probably a lot of them have become foreign customers, so they already know the word she speaks.

"I want to see your rings," Kairo said to the man.

“No problem, Sir. I have a lot of that.” He put the box on the table of different kinds of gold and diamond rings. “Here are the rings that I often sell cheaply if that is precise in your budget for the beautiful lady with you.”

She wondered. Will you buy me a ring, Kairo?

The young man glanced at her then turned to the man. It seemed to read her mind, so he looked at her.

“I didn't come here to look for something cheap. Take out your most precious ring that was hidden thousands of years ago,” he said.

“But I don't sell it, Sir. That is important to me⸻”

“You'll sell it to me.” Kairo stared at the man as if hypnotizing him.

After a while, the man moved and entered a room as she walks near to Kairo. A few seconds later, the man returned with a box just the right size and gold in color. This era is rich in gold. I also need to buy to at least have a souvenir when I get back to my world.

"Here's what you're referring to, Sir." At once, it opened the box.

It exposed to them the gorgeous ring that was gleaming. There was a large stone in the middle that supposed to be was a diamond stone. It had small bars of stone around it and its gold ring with an alphabet written on it.

“This is a Graff Diamond Golden Ring that was sold to me by a trader back then in exchange for a gold circle. I just accepted because it looks more expensive than that.”

"Will try it to you," Kairo said to her.

"Huh? Ah, okay. No problem," she answered.

Kairo took the ring from the box and held out her right hand while carefully inserted the ring into her ring finger. She felt delighted again because she thought they were getting married, which was the sign of their love. She also dreams of marrying the man she loves so much. Oh, boy! What am I supposed to be grateful for like this?

The beauty of the ring rose even more when it was on her ring finger.

“It’s more shining in your finger, Lady.” The salesman was overjoyed.

"Yes. It has beautiful brilliance on my finger. What do you think, Kairo?” she asked him.

"Looks good. Did you like it?"

She nodded. "Of course!"

"Okay." He turned to the man. "I'm going to buy it."

"It's up to you, Sir." The man just smiled.

Kairo grabbed his pocket to pay for it and then laid it on the man's table. "A big gold circle for the ring."

She looked at what Kairo had laid on the table. Her eyes widened when the gold was as big as a tennis ball while the man had the same reaction as her.

“Wow! I have only seen just right now this kind of gold as I was exchanged for that ring before, but it is only small,” said the man.

"That's true, and I'm the only one who has it here in Israel even though Alexander the Great doesn't have that," Kairo said.

“Alright, and it's okay with me and my pleasure too. That ring is yours, Lady. You are lucky to have a man that came from a royal family.” The man still seemed very happy.

“Thanks." Kairo turned to her. "Let's go."

"Alright." I am lucky to have him; even he couldn’t buy me anything in this world. He will be enough as my lover.

They went out of that store again and walked around. They went to a lot of goods and bought some of them. The young man paid for all her choices, and she was pleased. The cloth bag that Kairo is carrying now is almost full as they walk out of that town.

Before they returned to Master Ali's house, they first sat on a hill where she found Stone and the angel sheep. She found out about the angel sheep from Kairo, and he already knew about what had happened. It was late in the afternoon, and they could see the sunset in the west.

"It's beautiful," she said. She focused her ring on her finger that covers the sun's rays in front of them and could see it more clearly because it was more shining.

"Take care of that," he said beside her.

"Thank you." She lowered her hand then glanced at Kairo. "Is this your engagement ring for me?"

He glanced at her. "No."

She winced. “Is that so? I thought it was.”

“It's a sign that you're the only woman I love, and it doesn't matter what it's for. Wear it while I'm with you, or don't take it off wherever you will go in the future. That will remind you that I am willing to give up everything for you.”

She blushed. She didn't think that Kairo was hiding his sweetness for her. He held her hand with the ring as she just stared at their clasped palms.

"I will love you forever," in his sweetness uttered.

“Kairo…” She glanced at him. "I love you too." At once, she leaned her head on his shoulder, but that was only for a moment because she remembered something. “By the way…” She let go of the clasp of their palms then grabbed her pocket. "Tadaaaannn!"

“What’s that?”

“Bangle. Give me your hand, and we will put these bangle.” She took his hand then gently put it on him. “I noticed this earlier while we were shopping. This is the only thing that is different from all the bracelets out there. I also noticed that it is also the same color as the ring you gave me. Don't remove that even if we are not together, and that will also be the sign that I love you. Beautiful, isn't it?”

"Yes, it's beautiful." Then he stared at her.

She moved to lean on his shoulder again. "Kairo..."

"Uhm?"

"After all this and we will succeed, what is your plan?" she asked. She wanted to hear his plans in case they would succeed in the end.

“A lot. Do you want to know?"

"Of course. I want to know your plans."

"I will first face the creator and ask him if I want to have a family with you."

"What if he doesn't agree?"

"I'll get along well with him, and if he removes my ability, it's okay as long as I'm with you."

"That a sweet one of you."

"When you will be my wife, you will give me much race.”

"Huh?!" She leaned out when she heard that from Kairo. "Much race? What do you think of me? A hen?”

He shook his head and then smiled slightly at her. “Silly! I just want more races from you. Don’t you like that?"

“It's not like that. How many? Three, four, five, and about six? ”

"One dozen!"

“Oh, my god! Are you kidding?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Kairo didn't sound like he was kidding to her, even her witty jokes she threw. He has always been serious at all.

"Whatever. Where we suppose to live? ” And being his wife is not easy as even as I know. Very wrong!

"In my palace."

“In the Dimensional World?”

"Where do you want?"

"Don't you like my world?"

"I don’t like your world. Your world is too chaotic. In my palace, it is quiet, and I have people I trust there. I am also confident that my future children will live there.”

"Well, it's up to you, Kairo."

“Good.”

"Do you want us to go back to Ali's house?"

“I still don't want to. I want to stay here with you first until the sun goes down in the west. You know, Kairo, in the world I came from then, I never even experienced it. I also don’t blame myself because I want to support my family, so I keep moving forward with my dreams. So I got to the age I hadn’t even experienced dating. Will you invite me for a date?”

"It wasn’t a date for you?"

"Is it a date for you?"

"What do you think? I bought what you wanted, we eat and take a walk. What you had chosen from the merchants are already has of those in my palace.” He said and sounds annoyed.

“I want a souvenir so that somehow I could say I travel back in time. I'm lucky to be here with you, you know.” She smiled. "When we have finished our mission, take me anywhere in the world."

"Where do you want to go?"

"In Europe."

"We're already from Europe."

“That was the 18th century! I want the current year 2020.”

"Don't you know anything about what happened in the world today?"

She was stunned. “Why? What happened to the world I came from?”

“Your world has now experienced a severe pandemic because everything has lost its balance. There was a virus that spread, and people got sick. Whoever is affected does not recover immediately or is quarantined or killed. I didn’t want to tell you, but it happened.”

“Oh no! My sisters and nephews!” she’s worried.

“They are safe, and everyone is making a plan to eradicate this virus. So we need to get the necklace from Hyperion to get it back to normal. Don't worry, and I can reverse what happened if I have the stone crystal in my hands.”

"Gosh!"

“Come on, and the sun is going down. I also want you to rest because we will face another adventure tomorrow.”

She just nodded in response then they left the place. She was worried about what he said, but she first thought about bringing back the half-stone crystal from Hyperion.