The High Prophecy

Chapter 5: Lost Soul

Chapter 5: Lost Soul

Two small bells ring as a door brushes through them, slowly opening and closing again. A couple had just left what seems to be a small jewelry store, rings and bracelets and necklaces and all the different shapes and colors of expensive jewelry being held in cabinets and shelves.

Jon is speaking on the counter with the jeweler, a slightly dark-skinned short man, with a small bowl hat on his head covering his short black hair, wearing a fair-styled black coat.

"I don't know what you think you're doing here, Mr. Jon," says the man, in a very broken English, with an Arabic accent, "this ring is worth nothing!"

"You buy this stuff, right? Bracelets and earrings and... y'know, rings?" says Jon, holding up the dirty ring he got from the frog caves much earlier, showing it to the man. "Just take it, for two coppers or something, I dunno."

"Mr. Jon, I am jewelry dealer, not trash dealer! You want to sell your ring, you sell it to trash dealer!" says the man.

"Two coppers? You can't even do that?" says Jon.

"I don't deal in copper, it is beneath me." says the man. "The ring is worthless."

"It's not worthless, I got it from a guy in some frog caves who said that it was a gift from the uh, the God of Fate, or something." says Jon.

"You don't want it, you throw it in the trash, Mr. Jon!" cries the man. "I am not the trash, Mr. Jon!"

"I don't f- I don't want to throw it!" says Jon. "What if it's really a gift from the God of Fate? I mean... I don't believe that, but... On the one percent off chance that it could be... Will I really face the God of Fate and tell him that I threw his gift away?"

"How is it better to tell him you sold it for two copper?" says the man.

Jon stands still for a moment, thinking.

"... I guess when you put it that way..."

The bells ring once more. The jeweler looks at the person who just entered, attentively and suspiciously. Jon turns, and he sees a woman in a dirty cloak, covering her face. He stands, watching her closely, until she looks at him. He recognizes the woman, shocked, it is the same woman who was fighting Tiab from earlier. Her eyes meet his, desperation and fear clouding over them, he can clearly see a small cut on her face, she once again covers her face and walks into a corner of the store, behind some cabinets.

The jeweler scooches a little bit to the side to be able to see her. The woman gives Jon another very quick glance and looks away again. Jon hesitates for a moment.

"I'll be back, you better take my fucking ring." Jon tells the jeweler, before he starts to approach the woman. She glances at him once more as he comes closer.

"I know who you are." says Jon, giving her a concerned look. She stays silent, looking back towards the jeweler and then to the ground, still hiding her face. Jon feels regretful, he takes a deep breath, looking away.

"I'm sorry. I tried to help you but I couldn't." says Jon. "I should have stepped in but..."

"You are the only man who tried." she finally says, in a broken, tired voice, that almost seems like it is about to break into crying. Jon turns to look at her. She moves her face even further away, shameful.

"Let me help you." says Jon. "What do you need? I'll do it, I'll make it up to you, I promise."

She stays silent for another moment, thinking. The jeweler bends on his counter, eyeing them both attentively.