“Carmine, this is my brother,” I say. “Kirin, meet my friend Carmine.”
Kirin bows, but Carmine’s eyebrows jump. “Xing Kirin? The kickboxing prince? You’re real?”
My brother and I change confused glances. “What is…kickboxing?” Kirin asks.
“It’s like…combat with kicking, moving your legs in self-defense. Like martial arts.”
“Ah,” my brother nods and limps forward. “I am…nothing like that. I am second in line, and I certainly cannot move my legs well.” He lifts up his robe to reveal his deformed ankle, an affliction he’s had for years. “At least not in a martial arts way.”
Before I can say more, Carmine dashes behind the partition to the bed. “Brother, I knew you had secret affairs, but in broaddaylight?” Kirin mutters as he sits on a chair. “What if Father catches you?”
I frown at my brother. He’s been supportive of my secrets, but he’s right to chastise me. Father would not approve. Still, if Carmine offered to take me to a time and place far from here, I would do it. Because last night was beyond special.
“Kurun…get over here,” Carmine whispers. I walk behind the partition to see him scrutinizing the artifact he almost died over.
“What is it?”
“This orb…it healed me. And, I need it to fix my scanner.” He taps it to the device on his wrist. “I have a hunch it can help your brother, but…sadly, the orb isn’t working at all.”
“Hm, let me see,” I say, taking the object from him. The moment I hold it, I sense a burning sensation on my hip.
“What the…?” My words are cut off by the sphere in my hands glowing bright, like green fire. It doesn’t burn, but merely shines. At the same time, the scar on my hip tingles, and I pull up my robe to reveal the mark on my skin. Indeed, the hexagon has an identical glowing shade as the artifact. In my haste, I nearly drop the orb, but Carmine catches it. When he holds it up, we both watch in awe as his wrist device reforms, from melted metal, to clean and smooth.
“Oh my stars,” Carmine mutters. “This is it!” He beams at me. “You’re the key! Your presence is needed for the Astral Jade Sphere!”
“What is going on?” Kirin asks. He hobbles in, and, before Carmine can say a word, I take the orb and bring it down to Kirin’s ankle. “What are you…oh!” The three of us startle as the scarring on his ankle disappears.
“I…I feel…” Kirin drops the cane and hops up and down. “I feel amazing!” The three of us laugh in joy as Kirin kicks his leg up and down. “I am healed! How did you…is this sorcery?”
Carmine shakes his head and takes the artifact from me. “It was…nothing. Forget you ever saw me.” With that, he dashes away, down the stairs.
I take a moment to exchange a grave look with my brother before I chase after him.
In a corner by the barn, Carmine is using his wrist device to map blue moving pictures again. “Carmine?” I ask.
He looks up at me and takes several deep breaths. Nodding, he says, “I…need to go.”
My heart sinks, even though we both saw this coming. “To your time. Of course. I knew you needed to leave me, I just…”
He frowns and swipes his finger through the device. “Unless…” he says, with mild hope.
“Hm?”
He clicks and shows me the glowing image. “History tells of Kirin the Kickboxing Emperor, but nothing of you. My job is to remove that which doesn’t belong in time.” He gazes at me, beautiful green eyes inches from my face. “Kurun…what if you belong in my time?”
My heart freezes at his words. “For real? Are you…asking me…?”
He grins. “I know we just met, but you, Kurun, are intrinsically linked to the Astral Jade Sphere. It sounds wild, but like…” He powers down his devices and runs his fingers through his luscious hair. “What if…what if we do this?”
“Huh?”
He smiles. “What if you come with me? My scanner can take us both on the return trip. You wanted adventure, right?”
I nod and gasp lightly. “More than anything.”
“I know this is really short notice…and a huge deal…not to mention a big breach of protocol, but…” He takes my hand and squeezes it. “Every moment with you has been a leap of faith.My future needs you. How about you join me in my time for the biggest adventure of all?”
My heart flutters, and I know that this is what I’ve been looking for. Carmine nods and says, “You can take some time to—”
