Please scroll down to the next post for part one!!! The chapter happens to be just too long~!

Chapter 40: Moments Defying Reality [Part Two]
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The wind beat strongly against Tiadora’s face, but she liked the feeling of her hair flying from the helmet. Jason knew that he was going faster than the speed limit, but first impressions, always count.

Unfortunately, the traffic in front was of no help. There were cars pilling up to a junction across three blocks away. Jason veered the bike to the pedestrian walkways where he carefully sped past people harmlessly. He felt Tiadora’s grip tighten around his waist, but instead of slowing down, he increase his speed higher. Soon, the bike bolted out of the town, and they were driving alone in a wide highway.

By this time, Tiadora was more than confused to where Jason was bringing her too. “Uhh, where are we going?” Tiadora tried saying from behind, her tone was a mixed of fear and uncertainty. “This is like a road in between thick forests.”

“We’re almost there! Woohoo!” Jason yelled as he did a sharp turn to the right and charged right through the forest. Millions of trees started to pass by in seconds. The road ahead was crowded with many plantations, but Jason managed to dodge every single tree perfectly.

Before long, the motorcycle slowed down, and eventually, Jason brought the bike to a halt. “We’re here,” he exclaimed and descended from the bike. “Love the ride?”

“It was rather…wild.” Tiadora gave an innocent smile as she scanned her surroundings. Everywhere were trees. “Can we not do that again?”

He sighed and apologized, “Sure. I’ll go slowly later on. Come. I want to show you something.”

Tiadora took his outstretched hand and too, descended from the bike.

For about five minutes, Jason pulled Tiadora deeper into the forest. Tiadora was really confused, but then she started to notice that the section of the forest that they were in was much less dense. There were fewer trees, and more ground. That was when they reached a cave. It looked like the dark abyss inside. “What I’m going to show you is much deeper in this cave,” Jason turned back and assured. “And we’ll get wet.”

“I don’t understand,” Tiadora admitted when Jason started to walk inside, still holding her hand.

Jason just winked with a smile, “Trust me.”

As they walked inside, Jason balled his right fist and flames blaze from his hand, lighting the way in the narrow cave. The stony ceiling was grey, filled with vines and even insects crawled aimlessly. By the state the walls we in, Tiadora didn’t dare look at the floor. Soon, Jason stopped and placed his hand on the side of the wall. A tiny section of the wall sunk in, and on the left side, the wall twisted a full hundred and eighty degrees, showing an opening. Jason smiled and entered the opening. Tiadora followed slowly.

But it was only after ten steps; Jason stopped again and turned back to Tiadora and urged her to seeing what he was pointing at. What Tiadora saw was…nothing.

The ground that they were walking on, didn’t continue from where they now stand. It was just an empty void. “I want you to hold my hand tight,” Jason tighten his grip on her hand and gave a reassuring smile. “When I give you the signal, take a deep breath and jump with me.”

When Tiadora nodded, Jason positioned himself at the very edge of the ground and swayed his hands. “1…2…” Jason huffed. “And jump!”

Although unsure, Tiadora jumped into the black void, and water hit her in the face.

Underneath, was all water, and Tiadora froze in shock, looking around. The water was of a distasteful foggy green colour. It took her quite some time to get her bearings right but Jason tore her from her trance and started swimming north. Tiadora tried paddling and held onto his hand.

Leading the way, after swimming upfront for a couple of seconds, Jason dived in far down. With the blurry vision, Tiadora realized that there was a wall blocking their way like a dead end, but as Jason swam downwards, she could see an opening at the bottom. Jason swam through the opening and before long they reached another spacious water area.

Unlike previously, the water felt fresher, crystal clear blue, and cold. It was a freezing cold sensation that itched her body and she also realized that it wasn’t as spacious as she thought. Tiadora could see the ending walls not far away from her position, and unlike the ones from just ones which were grey blackish walls, the water cavern was pure white.

While gripping onto her hand, Jason swam upwards and finally, Tiadora broke to the surface. Jason quickly urged Tiadora to grip onto the floor and get out of the water. Tiadora held onto the surprisingly smooth floor and willed herself out of the cold water. After she was out, Jason, too, emerged from the water and sat on the floor beside Tiadora, both soaking wet.

Tiadora was still facing the water, and this time it looked like a large pond. The walls were white and clean, almost as if it was glass. Even the floor she was sitting was white. The place had a cooling ambience, a totally opposite feeling with the interior of the cave. “Where…” Tiadora panted from the swimming. “Are we?”

“Look behind you,” Jason stood up, guiding Tiadora along with him and turned around.

And when she did, Tiadora laid her eyes on the world’s shiniest objects. Engraved high above the walls were crystals, lots of crystals ranging from all types of colours and irregular shapes. There was even another opening that led to another enclosed white room full of crystals. From the bottom of the walls to the dome-ceiling high above were covered with nothing but all the colourful crystals. Tiadora stared in amazement as each crystal shone brightly, “Wow! There’re more crystals here than from my own treasury chambers…How…how did you find this?”

“Oh yes, I forgot that you were a real princess,” Jason chuckled, and sucked in the cool air. “It was entirely by accident.”

“By the obstacles and the underground river…” Tiadora asked, still admiring the crystals. “How can it be accidental?”

“I took my bike out one night last year,” Jason folded his legs and sat down in the middle of the room. “In fact, it was also a same Monday night that I landed myself here. I needed some fresh air so I drove down the highway very late at night. All of a sudden, my bike went out of control and it veered out of course all the way inside the cave until I crash inside. I had a cut on my knee…”

“The same cut from when you fell down from your bicycle and met Mrs. Hermoine?” Tiadora raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

But Jason just shrugged. “Yeah. Funny, ain’t it? The very same knee too. When I tried to stand up, my hand rested on that small patch and the wall turned. It wasn’t that dark since my bike’s lights were still working even though it fell, so I could see the opening. Then, I heard a gush of water coming from inside and I thought, maybe I could use that to clean my wounds.

“But as I walked down, I didn’t see the hole and fell in straight into the water. At that time, there was a strong current. The whole water stream actually leads all the way to the sea near Kadic. The waves pushed me all the way until I smash into the wall in the water. I was trying to swim back but the currents were too strong and my knee hurt a lot. Eventually I found the hole on the wall and with the help of the current, I landed here.” Jason told the story, stood up and stood beside Tiadora.

“In the 21st Century…” Tiadora started to say. “Cornelia mentioned that you and your family are very wealthy?”

“Well…” Jason ruffled his hair, unsure of what to reply. “Yeah, well my parents are. After this, it is just inheriting…”

Jason stopped his words short, because he knew reality didn’t foretold it that way. He cleared his throat and continued, “I mean, after this, it is just being independent.”

Tiadora giggled, “You’ll be even richer with this abundance.”

“No. To me, nature should stay where it is. I have not taken any one of these crystals before,” Jason placed his hand on a black-coloured gem. “These are all gemstones. Not exactly crystals. This one is an opal, considered to be the most valuable black gem in the world. I can name mostly all.”

“I’m impressed,” Tiadora said as she drew her eyes to a red one. “You sure did your research. What about this one?”

“Ruby,” Jason whispered the word in her ear, making Tiadora jump. “I do recall that on your birthday, two of the knight-guardians gave you a Sapphire Crimson?”

“Sir Arthur and Sir Galahad made it themselves from nothingness,” Tiadora clasped her hands, remembering the moment the knights presented it to her. “Sir Galahad elevated the Earth element, and together with the freezing of water from Sir Arthur, they transformed the earth into the Sapphire Crimson.”

“I want to try it out too.”

Tiadora looked back at him. “You would need David’s help.”

“No no. Look around you,” Jason spoke and spread his arms towards the many gems. “Choose one, and I’ll use fire to shape it for you.”

“What about letting nature stay where it is?”

“This is a lil’ minor exception,” Jason winked and gave a sly smile. “I’m only going to use a bit only.”

“You sure?”

Jason nodded, and Tiadora started to gaze upon every gem. It was not that long until she pointed to a dark red gem that was a feet away from her head position. “Why that one?” Jason wondered aloud.

“It’s…hypnotizing and its red is so intense,” Tiadora stared at the gem as she said. “What is it?”

“That is a Red Obsidian,” Jason reached out towards the gem with his right hand. When his hand made contact with the stone, he concentrated about cutting a portion of the gem. A thin yellow line formed across the stone and the section free from the wall, came off as a clean-cut gem. “An Obsidian is normally black in colour, but there are red, pink, dark green and yellow ones too. It is a gemstone from the Stone Age.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Tiadora asked as she looked at the Obsidian mesmerizingly.

“What shape do you like?”

“Ermm…” Tiadora brought her fingers to her chin and thought for a while. “A tear drop, but can you do it in a way that reminds me of you.”

“Me?”

“Once the Veex is over, people who have escaped Veex will vanish back to Anastasia at that moment,” Tiadora’s tone became sad and regretful. “I’ve grown to really love the 21st Century, and I’ve even found you, someone I really love. But then, it is inevitable that I will disappear back. And if I disappear at an unexpected moment, I’d like this to be proof that I have met you in my life.”

Jason gave a small encouraging smile and answered back, “I would really hate to see you go when I’ve finally found someone that actually fills my heart with content. But if that is what you wish then…”

He held the Obsidian in his hands, and closed his eyes. For a while, nothing happen. Then, the sides of the Obsidian slowly melted away. An aroma arose from the burning, but it was like paper burn. It had a nice smell to it. The gem continued to decrease and eventually Tiadora could see the tear drop taking shape. Finally, Jason opened his eyes, held the modified gem in one hand and dug his other in his jean-pocket.

Whatever he took out, Jason balled in his hand, not showing to Tiadora. Carefully, he clasped both of his hands together, mixing whatever was inside as he shakes his hands. After five seconds, he presented her the gift.

The tear drop shaped Obsidian was not a thin like paper and it had a nice round spherical shape that eventually ends at the tip. There was a long chain that made an irregular oval on Jason’s palm. That’s when she realized why he made the shape small. It was a necklace.

“Look closer at the Obsidian,” Jason held onto the chain, letting the Obsidian dangle as Tiadora looked at the gem carefully. Inside the gem, there was a flame, a speck of intense fire that blazed inside of the Obsidian. Although it was burning brightly, it was visible unless she had seen it closer, and the flame made the whole gem even more beautiful than it already had. “Here, I’ll help you wear it. Lift up your hair.”

He went behind Tiadora, and waited as she curled her long brown wavy hair into a bun. When she was done, Jason slung the gem gently around her neck, and secured the chain in place. Tiadora let go of her hair and turned to face Jason and she looked down to her new necklace. “Thank you. This is very beautiful,” Tiadora caressed the gem lovingly. “I’ll never take it off.”

Jason chuckled, and suddenly realized that Tiadora was still carrying her bag that she brought from the academy. “I am very curious,” Jason brought his hands to his hip. “What is in that bag?”

This time, it was Tiadora’s turn to laugh. She unstrapped her bag and unzipped it, before taking out an item that was too large for even the small haversack to fit. Dressed in a familiar outfit, the item portrayed a very handsome face, but Jason just bend down until it was face-to-face with the item and frowned. “Does my hair really look like that?”

Both Tiadora and Jason broke into laughter as Tiadora hugged the Jason-doll to herself and ruffled the blond hair. “Today, I’ve receive two things that will make me always think about you,” Tiadora patted the doll’s head gently.

“How did you…?”

“I knew everyone wanted your doll,” Tiadora admitted. “So when they crashed into the cafeteria, I simply made it teleport to my room through the electricity cables.”

“Huh?” Jason was confused. He found that a little funny as normally it would be Tiadora who would be confused.

“Remember that my element is energy,” Tiadora talked as she twirled around happily. “And in class, I have just recently realized that electricity is a form of energy, so I just made use of it.”

Jason snickered proudly, amazed with Tiadora’s adapting to the 21st Century. He caught her in her dance and brought Tiadora closer to him, with the irritating doll in between. Jason bent down nearer to Tiadora’s face, “You are always full of surprises.”

“I think you’re gravely mistaken,” Tiadora touched the Obsidian hanging from above her chest. “It is you who is full of surprises.”

And with that, Jason reached in closer, whispered to Tiadora to close her eyes and kissed her tenderly.