28 Ceress story Part 3 (1/2)
When Ceres was twelve, Hippolyta finally unveiled the experiment she had been working on since before her marriage. She took Li Cheung and Ceres to a man-made cave she had sand blasted years ago and showed them what was inside.
Father and daughter saw an oval door made of some sort of metal so hard it was almost as hard as a rock but harder. The door was attached to some wires which was attached to a lever. The door emitted some kind of hum and tiny bolts of electricity seemed to be seeping from its base to its sides and back.
Li Cheung looked at his wife and didn't say a thing. Ceres curiously stepped forward and prodded the base with her heel. Li Cheung pulled her back before the foot could touch the hard surface and threw his wife a grimace.
”A large oven or something, Mama?” Ceres said, looking at the whole structure with a frown.
”No, no. It's an experiment for going backward to another time,” Hippolyta said. ”What do you think? Pretty awesome, huh?”
”Why do you need to go back in time for?” Li Cheung asked, looking suspiciously at his wife. ”I know battles have been far and between in this time but surely you've had enough of the carnage? You told me once you wanted to settle down and just live a quiet life!”
”I did but....”
”What? You're not happy with me anymore? You're bored, is that it? You want to go somewhere and leave us behind? Well, I won't allow it. Where you're going, I'm going too!”
”Husband, will you listen to yourself? You sound like a mad man.”
”That's because my wife doesn't care about me anymore. Don't lie. I saw you with that man the other day. You were practically flirting with him in front of me!”
”Man? Who is this man your father is talking about?” Hippolyta turned to her daughter and asked.
”Probably Trei. He was here to talk to you about his wedding to the village girl, remember? You were kind of very familiar with him, Mama. Father was incensed and wanted to shoot the guy but I stopped him. He had been sulking ever since.”
”Hmnn….” Hippolyta said, throwing her husband an amused glance.
”I was not sulking,” Li Cheung pouted. ”But must he look at you like you're his girlfriend or something? It's really irritating.”
”He looks at me like a sister who has known him since he was a baby. You're the one who looks at me like I'm your girlfriend rather than your wife. That's the root cause of all this unfounded jealousy. We're an old married couple. Stop looking at me like I'm still young.”
”You haven't aged a bit since we got married,” Li Cheung pointed out.
”So have you.”
”That's different. I don't look at other women but you look at other men.”
”As a potential enemy not a mate.” Hippolyta sighed. ”We're veering away from the subject in hand though. What do you think about this thing?”
”What are you using it for?” Li Cheung was curious.
”I was thinking maybe the three of us could visit other lands, you know. Sort of an educational thing not only for Tanya but us as well. Wouldn't it be exciting?”
”Does it work?” Ceres asked.
”I'm not sure. It's in its experimental stage just yet so I'm going to need more input before we try it out.”
”Ceres, honey, can you check if Yu Yan is home? I need to talk to your mother about inputting something in her experiment,” Li Cheung said, looking at his daughter with a smile.