Mokuzai peaks in holding his box. He quickly turns away and starts waking back out. Im not being sacerficed to the bloody Aztecs over here.
Jeff sees him. “Wait!” He calls. “You’re here because of your Conduit, right?”
Elizabeth’s jaw drops.
“Okay, wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
He stops “I’m here because this box lead me here and I got super lucky and got here.” He rambles on
“The box will stop tugging like that when it goes over that circle, which’ll also unlock some neat powers about the gem inside.” Jeffrey tells him.
Elizabeth glances at Jeff. “You didn’t see that?” Her voice peaks in excitement, and her grip tightens around the pendant.
“Oh, I saw it.” He said to her. “It was awesome! I know that’s what the old writings said it’d do, but it looks so much cooler in person!” He says, fiddling with his ring.
“Does your ring do something, too?” She leans in closer, bringing her hand and the pendant closer to her chest.
He points it at her. Yes. He says to her telepathically.
She flinches, having expected something a bit more physical. “You… you can’t hear my thoughts, can you?”
“I…I don’t think so?” He says, questioning that himself. “Either way, I’m not going to try it on you. That’d be an invasion of privacy.” He says. “If it even works. I mean, the way they described what jade can do was vague, to put it lightly.”
She nods in relief. “Okay. Thank you.” She sighs, then perks up again. “Wait - who described that?”
“The ancient kingdom that used to reside in eastern Europe. The one from the Story of the Crown. From my research, I believe it was referred to as Helmitki Kunin.” He explains.
Elizabeth raises an eyebrow, looking down at her necklace with new eyes. “But that’s a myth. Fiction.”
“So are gemstones that shoot lasers.” Jeffrey reminds her.
She lets go of the gem with a chuckle. “You’ve got me there.” She points across the room, focusing on the opal once more. Sure enough, the rainbow beam lances into the opposite wall. Her hand falls back to her side.
“Either way, there’s more of these Conduits out there. I was wondering if you’d help myself and some others that came here like you to find them before any less…savory people do.” He request of Elizabeth. “And also your name. That might be helpful.”
“Oh! I’m Elizabeth.” She offers him a handshake.
He takes it. “Would your last name happen to be Schuyler?” He jokingly asks.
“Er… no?” She seems visibly confused by the reference, which is probably better than if she had understood. The handshake is quick and light, and she folds her arms afterwards.