The Time Stone Crystal

Chapter 4 - The Reason Behind

Another morning, Weng woke up feels comfortable. She carefully got up and sat on the edge of the bed. She still remembers all that happened to her in that place and the man who saved her life. I need to get back into my real world. If this is a dream or another world, I will try to get back home. I know my siblings are worried about me, and I got involved in a car accident. She noticed that the necklace was still on her neck. She gently touched it. If you have anything to do with everything that is happening to me, I beg you to bring me back to my world.

"You will never return to your world."

"Huh?" she quickly turned her back. She saw the young man who saved her and was already standing behind her carrying something.

It was Kairo Middlestone. Her knight in shining armor in the bizarre night but also a stranger. 

He slowly lay the seemingly clothes on the bed. "Use these clothes temporarily. Later, my caretaker will come here to take care of you." He showed no trace of emotion.

She stood up and faced him. "Wait! What do you mean I can no longer return to my world? I am awake now, and maybe you will tell me who you are and what kind of world it is."

He just stared at her intently. "Fix yourself first before we talk."

She was slightly stunned by what he said. She glanced at the young man. He wears long white clothes with blue horizontal fabric, wearing gladiator sandals, and a gold wreath headband on his head. He looks like an ancient Greek throughout. She was confused again because he was wearing something different the last time they had met. But she still needs to know the truth from him.  

"Tell me first who you are and where I am? I have the right to know where I am. If it is the other world, could you just tell me right now? I almost don't⸻"

"You are here in Italy, 14th century. I have thoroughly examined your background and your involvement in changing the course of time and space dimensions. I will explain to you how all this happened. I am a guardian of dimensional time and space and, I also keep the time balance of mortals and other creatures. I own a stone crystal that is now on your neck. It split in two when Hyperion planned to take it forcibly from me and, we had a fight with each other. We arrived at your place near your grocery store. Hyperion is a guardian of the soul dimension. But he is cunning and, he wants to rule all the dimensional worlds. After that battle, I could no longer find the other half. The other half also is in the hands of that beast.

"When our paths met in a war of the Thermopylae 480 BC, I saw the necklace you were wearing. I used to ask myself how it all got to you. I did not ask you first and let you rest until I discovered a car accident that happened to you in the current world. The stone crystal is still capable but only half of its strength. It is the reason why you are still alive but in a different person. Yes. You heard me. You are still alive after that bloody accident. It's just that you don't have your old body anymore. The stone crystal may have something to do with why you still remember everything. I still do not know enough about that body of yours. Hyperion may be able to answer you because he has many wild souls abscond from his unsuited punishments."

She was shocked. She could hardly believe what she heard from Kairo. "It means…does this necklace that I found in my grocery store have anything to deal with it? That it has a connection with my resurrection? Then I do no longer exist, and I am in a different body? No!" she screams. She quickly ran towards the large mirror attached to the wall. Her eyes widened when she saw her reflections in the mirror that she could no longer on her real face anymore. Her dark hair was long, she has a fair complexion, and she had thick and long eyelashes, a heart-shaped face, and red lips. In short, she has stunning beauty. Trembling reached her chest when she realized that what the young man was saying to her was true.

The young man slowly walks behind her. "See? This scenario happens many times, but your case is unique."

She remained facing the mirror. She slowly caresses her new face. "Oh my god! I can't believe this!" She continued to caress her face. No matter where she looked at herself, she doesn't want her new look. She quickly confronted the young man. "How can I get back to my old body? How can I return to my world? Is there still a way to get everything back to normal? It is not me. I should not be affected by what you have here!" she was hysterical.

"Hey! Please calm down! There is nothing you can do about your hysterical moment. As I said, there is nothing that can be changed right now. Well, if you give me that necklace, I might be able to do something else."

She stared into his golden eyes. She must have believed him only because of his strange eyes. She knew that the man in front of him is different. He is a kind of magical creature; a deity might be. After a while, she slowly took off the necklace and gave it to him. If he owns it, it will help her out of this chaos. 

After she took off from her neck, she gently handed it to the young man. "Here. I do not own this necklace. And if you own it, can you help me back to my world and my body?"

He stares deeply at her. "I will," he said directly.

The young man slowly handed the stone crystal from her. Gradually, she began to feel the heavy force around. When Kairo reached it in between, the necklace was gleaming. Unexpectedly, the sudden energy force pushed the hands of Kairo away from the chain. There seemed to be a vital spark happening as it causes him to step backward. She was shocked again and saw the queer energy from the stone crystal.  

On the other hand, Kairo feels those sparks in his hand, so he immediately pulled himself away. He even wonders what happened to his stone crystal as if it repulsed him.  

"Huh! What happens? What kind of magic is that?" she asked him.

"I don't know."

After a while, Kairo tried to touch the necklace again and then released subtle blue energy. The energy flows towards the stone crystal, but still, it doesn't work. 

"Why can't you handle it?" she asked again and seemingly wondered. 

Kairo took a deep sigh and staring her again. "I guess I don't own it just for now."

"Huh? How did that happen? You said earlier that you own this? It should belong to you, right? Maybe you don't own it, do you?" she's confused.

His forehead wrinkled. He gives the woman a massive look before he walks towards the closet and opens it. "If you have any doubts, you can talk to the stone crystal. It has an energy life. As of today, you are the new owner." He took some more clothes inside and laid them on the bed.

She followed him. "Huh? Shall I talk to this magical stone? Maybe I look crazy if I do that. If I am the new owner of it, does that mean I can use the stone power? Can I go back to my world in that case?"

"Well, let's try."

"But as I remembered, because it's only half, maybe it can only give me fifty percent of its capability, right?"

"Yes."

"I need the other piece from Hyperion to fully use its huge imminent. So, I can go back to my world and rebirth?"

The young man faced her again. "Exactly. And since you already own that, you have to find the other half of it. But I am wondering of all the mortals living at peace, and the stone crystal chooses you. We need to know the real reason for this."

"What? I mean, we are both together in restoring the time stone?"

"You heard me, mortal. I had to take the time stone from you and eliminate Hyperion's dark will. If we do not restore the time stone in its true form, the world of humans, including your family, could be in danger."

"What?" she was terrified. "No! My siblings and nephews ⸻ can't ⸻" She thought again about her family. If she does nothing, she has only a chance to choose but between life and death.

"Fix yourself first. I'm just waiting for you downstairs." He turned around and then walked towards the door, but the young man just pierces there.

Her eyes widened as she could see the man passing through the closed door. She just sat on the side of the bed while trying to understand everything. Later on, she saw the clothes which the young man had taken from the closet. She took it and looked closely. It is a long dress with a difference in style that only ancient people wore. She remembered what the young man said that she was in the 14th century.

"I look like Cleopatra," she contorts. Whatever! I have to go with the flow to solve these mysteries. I need to find my plans on how to escape from this dilemma.

She laid the clothes on the bed again and stood up. She went to the bathroom to take a bath and at least will refresh her mind. Now that she knows what happened to her, she will prepare herself.

IT WAS uneasy for her to wear the dress given to her by Kairo. She does not prefer to dress up like a normal woman. Well, she was dressing up like a lassie. She prefers to wear simple shirts and ripped jeans. As she faced the mirror, she could not help but be annoyed with herself. She wanted to put it away, but she had no other clothes to wear. She has no choice but persevering.

"This is life! How do people in this era think about these kinds of clothes? Aren't they having a hard time?" she nodded.

"Vuoi aiutarmi? (Would you like me to help you?)"

She was shocked by then when turning her head behind. She saw a young woman who has a different nationality. It was beautiful, has a white complexion, with a strange costume like her, her burgundy hair was curly, and her eyes are green. She smiles at her glance. The woman seems in the mid-twenties.

"W-who are you?"

She slowly walks towards her. "Ti aiuterò a sistemare I tuoi vestiti. (I will help you to fix your clothes.)"

"W-what? I don't understand you! Will you please speak English, please?"

Without any reply, the woman took the strap of her dress and adjusted it. There she thought she wanted to help her to fix her clothes. She was also confused about her and did not even knock on the door. Where did she pass? Does she also pass through the closed door like Cairo? Like a ghost? She's slightly frightened. Maybe, she's the caretaker of the mansion, as Kairo said earlier. Maybe she is. While she was in front of the mirror, the woman also carefully fixes her hair. She was looking into her self-reflections that were different from the old ones.

"Puoi scendere e il Maestro Kairo ti sta cercando, (You can go down, and Master Kairo is looking for you,)" the woman said after.

"Sorry. I don't understand you, Miss." 

The woman quickly grabs her then they walked out of the room. Then she realized that the woman wanted her to come down. Lord, what place did you bring me? Am I an unkind person, and you punishing me? She still mumbles on her mind as she might be going crazy. After all, her journey has just started.