When Motokis woke up, it felt to him as if someone had used his head as an anvil. He clutched it with a groan and shakily stood up.
"What happened?" he muttered to himself, then he noticed the other two persons lying on the sandy ground. "Do I know those two?" he wondered. "Of course! That's Ugasi!"
His gaze then fell on Minaket. "And if I'm right, this is one of the architects working under Mamoreas. I wonder why they're here..."
He then looked up at the tunnel entrance in front of him. "Wait a minute... this may be just a salt mine, but it's a mine nevertheless... Maybe this is where the Glowing Stone is hidden."
He decided to let the two girls sleep for now and entered the mine. After searching through it for a while, he sighed. "Well, so much for that. Seems like this mine is as big a flop as the others."
He turned around to leave... but then his gaze fell upon a big pile of salt crystals in one corner.
And in its middle, he saw the big, golden glowing stone. I looked similar to gold, but much, much smoother to the touch. Also, it's glow was much brighter than the faint glitter of gold.
"Unbelievable," he gasped. "I finally found it!"
In joy, he grabbed the stone, ran outside... and promptly fell on his nose, as he stumbled over a pair of slender legs.
Minaket shook her head. "Huh? Where am I?" She then saw the stone lying on the ground. "Hey! It's the Glowing Stone!" And she reached out to take it.
"Wait a minute!" Motokis protested and snatched the stone away from her. "I found it first."
"But I want to buy it," Minaket explained.
"Oh, really?" Motokis asked suspiciously. "How much?"
Minaket showed him the money Mamoreas gave her. The blonde merchant started laughing. "Hahaha, you'll need to give me much more than that. This tiny little stone can shine for 77.777 years... and if it's placed upon a torch, it will shine even brighter."
"Well, I still have to have it," Minaket insisted. "Mamoreas needs it."
"Wait... did you say it's for Mamoreas?" Motokis asked. Minaket nodded.
'Now what?' Motokis wondered. 'I still owe him plenty of money...'
He chuckled nervously. "Um, surely I would be honored to sell this stone to Mamoreas... that is, if the price is correct."
"I'm bidding 100 gold pieces for that rock," a third voice suddenly announced. They both turned around to see Ugasi, who had finally woken up.
"Really?" Motokis asked with glee. That was much more money than he was owing Mamoreas.
"Stay out of this," Minaket grumbled. "He already decided."
"Exactly," Motokis nodded. "I decided to accept Ugasis offer."
"Wonderful!" the female merchant gushed.
"W-what?" Minaket stuttered. "Hey, wait a minute..."
"Here you go!" Ugasi said as she gave Motokis 100 pieces of gold, right out of her purse. In exchange, he gave her the Glowing Stone.
"This isn't fair," Minaket whined. "I need it for the Lighthouse of Alexandria..."
"Oh, don't worry," Ugasi smiled. "This stone isn't for me, it's for Mamoreas!"
"Really?" Minaket and Motokis asked simultaneously.
"Of course," Ugasi said with a smirk. "And I'm pretty sure he'll like it."
"Oh well, all is fine then," Motokis smiled.
"But, be sure to give it to him before 8 o'clock tonight, understood?" Minaket told the pigtailed woman. "It's important!"
"I'll keep it in mind," Ugasi promised.
Later, when Motokis and Minaket had left, Ugasi returned to her own palace back in town.
"Teehee, those two didn't suspect a thing," she giggled. "They never suspected once that the Glowing Stone can do so much more than just shining brightly..."
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(Posted Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:08)
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