Chapter 67: The Golden Gem

The yellow object sat in the center of Gene’s desk.

Morning sunlight streamed through the library windows, causing the object to gleam softly.

Now that they could properly see it under decent lighting, the mystery item was no longer a mystery.

It was a gem.

A beautiful one.

Unlike the other gems they had collected so far, this one wasn’t transparent.

Its interior looked almost liquid.

Golden currents flowed beneath its surface like molten sunlight trapped inside crystal.

Gene poked it.

Nothing happened.

Selene poked it.

Nothing happened.

Gene poked it again.

“Gene.”

“What?”

“You already poked it.”

“I just wanted to make sure.”

Selene sighed.

The gem continued being a gem.

⸻

The library table had become crowded.

The blue gem.

The purple gem.

The yellow gem.

Several notes.

The egg box.

And Selene’s newly acquired necklace.

The hidden golden key inside the necklace had only deepened the mystery.

Gene had spent most of breakfast staring at it.

Unfortunately, staring had produced no answers.

Only a mild headache.

So they had decided on a more reasonable approach.

Research.

⸻

Their first destination was the underground facility.

Athena opened the laboratory doors automatically.

The sterile white hallways contrasted sharply with the dark atmosphere of the hotel above.

Gene and Selene eventually found the scientist couple hard at work.

 Victor was hanging upside down from a maintenance ladder.

Helena was welding together something that probably violated multiple laws of physics.

Neither looked surprised to see them.

“Morning!!!!!”

Victor waved happily.

A wrench immediately slammed onto his face.

“Ow.”

Helena didn’t even glance up as she lowered her hand after throwing the wrench at him.

“Good morning you two. Sorry, Victor’s shout almost made me mess up my work.”

Helena took off her goggles and affectionately patted the heap she had been working on.

Gene placed the yellow gem onto a workbench.

“We need answers about this gem.”

Both scientists immediately perked up.

⸻

The analysis took nearly an hour.

Advanced scanners.

Magical resonance testing.

Spectral imaging.

Mana conductivity measurements.

Several tools Gene couldn’t even identify.

Fluffy was even brought in to do a sniff test.

Eventually the results appeared.

Doctor Helena adjusted her glasses.

“Hmh.”

Gene leaned forward.

“What?”

Victor looked equally confused.

“That’s very unexpected.”

Gene hated hearing that phrase.

“What is it?”

The scientists exchanged glances.

Then Helena pointed toward the display.

“This isn’t a mana crystal.”

Silence.

Selene blinked.

“What?”

Helena nodded.

“It definitely contains magical energy.”

“Lots of it in fact.”

“But that’s not what powers it.”

Gene frowned.

“Then what does?”

The scientist tapped several glowing symbols.

The display shifted.

“Emotion.”

Silence.

More silence.

Then:

“It runs on… Emotion?”

Helena nodded.

“Specifically it requires hope.”

⸻

The room became quiet.

Gene stared.

Selene stared.

Victor stared.

Even Athena seemed interested.

The yellow gem slowly glowed on the table.

Soft.

Warm.

Comforting.

Like sunlight.

Like safety.

Like home.

Victor rubbed his beard.

“Fascinating.”

Gene crossed his arms.

“Explain please.”

The scientist immediately complied.

“The blue gem appears to be linked to knowledge.”

“The purple gem seems connected to sacrifice and perseverance.”

“The yellow gem…”

He tapped the crystal.

“…appears connected to hope.”

Selene looked thoughtful.

“Hope?”

Helena nodded.

“It gathers strength from positive emotions.”

“Encouragement.”

“Trust.”

“Friendship.”

“Determination.”

Gene immediately pointed toward Lilith’s cookie jar sitting nearby.

“Could Lilith and her love of cookies power it?”

The scientists paused.

Then Helena sighed.

“I mean these days anything is possible.”

⸻

Further testing revealed more information.

The gem naturally generated magical energy.

Slowly.

Steadily.

Not enough to power kingdoms.

But enough to sustain itself indefinitely.

The energy produced was remarkably stable.

Unlike most magical materials.

Unlike cursed objects.

Unlike horror summons.

The crystal generated clean magical power.

Pure magical power.

Gene immediately became suspicious.

Nothing in his life was ever that simple.

⸻

After several additional scans they received a final report.

Golden Gem

Classification: Ancient Relic

Elemental Affinity: Light

Emotional Affinity: Hope

Magical Production: Moderate

Special Property:

Strengthens nearby allies.

Weakens despair-based effects.

Resists corruption.

Possible Role:

One of the Seven Prophecy Gems.

Gene stared.

“Okay. NOW we are finally getting somewhere.”

⸻

Their next stop was the Seventh Tower.

Specifically Moira’s office.

Because when dealing with ancient mysteries, Moira was basically a walking encyclopedia.

The archivist nearly dropped her books when she saw the gem.

“What did you do now?”

Gene pointed.

“Found some treasure.”

Moira pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Of course you did.”

⸻

An hour later they sat around her office.

Books covered every available surface.

Ancient scrolls littered her desk.

Several stacks looked moments away from collapsing.

Moira dug through records at alarming speed.

The yellow gem floated slightly above the table.

Eventually she froze.

“Umm..”

Nobody liked that tone.

Gene immediately sat up.

“What?”

Moira slowly turned another page.

“I found it.”

⸻

The ancient text they had found were damaged.

Incomplete pages.

Old…

Very old.

Even translating the language, was difficult enough that even Moira needed several minutes to translate.

But eventually the meaning became clear.

The prophecy gems had names.

Titles.

Purposes.

The mysterious yellow gem was known as:

The Heart of Dawn

The title alone sent chills through the room.

Moira continued reading.

“The Heart of Dawn was said to be carried by the first guardians.”

“It represented hope.”

“Unity.”

“Defiance.”

“It was supposedly created during the first war against darkness.”

Gene frowned.

“The Hollow King?”

Moira nodded slowly.

“Seemingly.”

The room became quiet.

⸻

The more they learned, the stranger things became.

Each gem appeared tied to a concept.

Not merely power.

Meaning.

Ideas.

Emotions.

Stories.

The prophecy itself suddenly made more sense.

These weren’t just magical batteries.

They were symbols.

Living pieces of something far older than most could even fathom.

Something important.

Something powerful.

Gene looked down at the yellow gem.

The crystal pulsed softly.

Almost like a heartbeat.

For a moment he wondered what would happen once all seven gems gathered together.

Then he immediately decided he wasn’t emotionally prepared for that answer.

⸻

By late afternoon they returned to the hotel.

The entire journey home Selene remained unusually quiet.

Gene eventually noticed.

“What are you thinking about?”

Selene smiled.

“A terrible idea.”

Gene immediately approved.

“Sounds fun! Tell me.”

She laughed.

“No.”

“Come on we all make dumb ideas.”

“Probably.”

Gene looked suspicious.

“What kind of a terrible idea, that even I would turn down?”

Selene hesitated.

Then:

“I want to try to make a horror summon.”

Gene nearly exploded with giddiness.

⸻

The silence that followed lasted several seconds.

Then:

“You?”

Selene nodded.

“Me.”

“The fantasy princess?”

“Gene! Be serious.”

“I’m just making sure.”

Selene crossed her arms.

“I merged my world with yours.”

“True.”

“I live in a horror hotel.”

“Also true.”

“I’ve watched you summon nightmare creatures for months.”

“Fair.”

She smiled and blushed.

“Maybe I want to try.”

Gene couldn’t stop grinning.

This was going to be amazing.

Or catastrophic.

Possibly both.

⸻

That evening they found themselves back inside the summoning chamber.

The ancient machine waited.

Runes glowed softly.

Selene stared at it.

Gene stood beside her.

“You already have an idea?”

She nodded.

“A little.”

“What kind?”

Selene thought.

Then smiled.

“I don’t want something evil.”

Gene nodded.

Reasonable.

“I don’t want something cruel.”

Also reasonable.

“I want to try something scary.”

Gene approved.

“Starting off scary ahh.”

Now they were talking.

Selene stared at the summoning machine.

Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

The same excitement Gene always felt whenever creating something new.

Something unknown.

Something impossible.

The machine sensed her intent.

Runes slowly began lighting up.

One after another.

The summoning chamber filled with golden light.

Gene smiled.

Selene smiled.

Neither of them noticed Athena quietly recording everything.

Or the yellow gem softly glowing inside Gene’s pocket.

As if it approved.

As if hope itself was curious about what kind of monster Selene would create.

And somewhere deep within the ancient prophecy—

The pieces continued moving into place.

One gem at a time.

One summon at a time.

One story at a time.