Elements: The Ancient Tomb

Chapter 14: “Land of Gods"- part 2: "A surprise visit"

"It all started two months ago when Yelena was a trainee at the Pandora Institute of Archaeology. Before she could even think about getting a full-time job, she had to make a report. She was furious and flew to Hanoi - the capital of Vietnam one day after receiving a notice from her superiors. Right from the moment, she arrived in that Southeast Asian country, her story officially began...

...Time flew so fast, and the deadline for submitting the report was approaching. Excluding the time to get used to the new environment and establish relationships with members of the Institutes of Archeology in Vietnam, Yelena only had three days to complete the report. Aware that time was running out, she went to find documents from the city library, former employees of Pandora Institute, or through her other relationships. What the boss wants her to find out is the ancient tomb that existed more than 1000 years ago located in Thai Nguyen. That place is rumored to appear strange phenomena and contained a secret treasure, which was kept and left for posterity by the gods who ruled that place. Legend has it that whoever has it will possess a tremendous power that can change everything on earth.

"Whether I can be admitted as a full-time employee at the Institute or not is entirely up to this report. But if I keep snooping around like this, I'll be out of time. There are three days left for me to finish it. I miss America so much, especially my dear Massachusett. This trip I didn't even have time to travel in Vietnam because I was so busy with work."

'Any legend in this world is just a supestitute story' - Yelena mumbled to herself while in the library - 'If all the rumors were true, there would be giant footprints of 'Saint Giong' and the hoof prints of the horse he rode somewhere.'

'Don't judge a legend or rumor as myth or not based on the feelings of the individual or the majority, do so after verifying it yourself.'- Suddenly a stranger appeared in front of Yelena and said- 'There are some legends that the ancients transformed from real events.'

It was a girl around Yelena's age, slim figure, and beautiful appearance that made Yelena exclaim in amazement, 'Wow!'

'You are Yelena Karatini, an employee of the Pan … hm, what is its name? I don't remember very well...Ah, Pandora Institute of Archaeology, right?'- the girl asked.

'Yes, but you are half right. I'm just a trainee now." - Yelena replied, not forgetting to ask- "Who are you?".

With a personality that doesn't like roundabouts, that girl took a nearby chair and sat next to Yelena, and went straight to the point:

'I am Linh Dan, my English name is Lisa Dan Teller, an employee of Minh Vu Institute of Archaeology, who once worked in the US. I'm sure that you'll wonder: 'Wow, how did she know me?', right?"

"How did she know me? Oh shit!"- Yelena thought.

"I knew you would be shocked by the sudden generosity of a stranger like me. I have heard about you through former colleagues who have been asked by you and learned that you were very interested in 'that place'. I can give you more information, without any preconditions, of course...'

"Really?"- Yelena exclaimed before Linh finished.- "Impossible. This generosity makes me doubt. What do you want from me when you make that offer?"

"No, you can just consider it as my acquaintance gift.'- Linh continued- 'You know, someone who met you told me to enthusiastically help you, not only because I am knowledgeable about things you need, but also because of the deep impression you gave them. They like your personality. Enthusiastic, vivacious, intelligent, funny were what they describe you."

'Not to that extent. They seemed to flatter me too much'- Yelena said while scratching her head to show shyness- 'I help them with errands or make jokes to please them for the sake of work.'.

'Speaking of jokes, I heard about one of your jokes. Looks like it's about the lonely frog'- Linh said while smiling - 'In the end, the beautiful girl that the psychologist introduced to the poor frog works at...'

'...In the laboratory!'- Yelena said in delight. The two of them burst out laughing.

'So where should we start? Since this is our first meeting, we cannot fully understand each other. Or should you ask first?'- Linh asked.

Yelena was surprised and shy when sitting next to Linh, her hands were clasped under her thighs:

"I... I don't know where I should begin..."

Linh was quite comfortable, saying:

'It's ok. Because we just met for the first time, there seems to be little interaction and understanding. But I am an experienced person, the first time I saw you, I realized that you had a lot of unanswered questions. Hmm... You just don't know where to ask, right? All right!'

Linh stood up and held Yelena's hand, saying:

'Let's go out and talk.'

Linh pulled Yelena outside the library yard. Finding a stone bench nearby, Linh put Yelena down and said:

'You just sit here. I went to buy water from the vending machine over there. Don't leave until I get back.'

Yelena looked at Linh without blinking, then nodded and replied: 'OK, never mind, I can wait.'

Linh just smiled and left. Yelena watched Linh go away, feeling something in her heart that made her feel very familiar and comfortable with Linh.

'Maybe she's a good person,' Yelena thought. Then she prepared in her mind the important question to ask.

Two minutes later, Linh returned and gave Yelena a bottle of water affectionately, then sat next to Yelena and opened the water bottle in her hand, said:

"I think you knew what to ask now. Don't be shy, ask me."

Then Linh brought her bottle to her mouth to drink. Yelena suddenly asked:

'Do you… Do you have a boyfriend?'

This extremely frank and unexpected question from Yelena made Linh almost choke on water.

"Are you ok?"- Yelena asked.

Linh turned to Yelena with surprised eyes and rosy cheeks and asked:

'Why… why would you suddenly ask like that? Would that be a bit...'

'Oh, sorry, I don't mean anything bad. It's just that I feel that you're quite special and have something familiar, like a friend. So I was going to get to know what your personality is with that question. I'm a person who likes to associate with people I have good feelings for at first sight.'- Yelena's cheeks suddenly turned red when she said that.

'Oh, the same with me. I wanna tell you that I haven't. But I once had a male friend who was also a former colleague. Although he considers me just a friend, I consider him more than that, like my lover. Our relationship used to be good, we both helped and took care of each other like we were in love, but sadly, he left me because of something that shouldn't have happened. We have lost contact with each other for a long time.'

'Really? I'm so sorry. A beautiful friendship.'- Yelena said.

'Although we are no longer connected, he still has his image in my heart.'

'Well, once we women love someone, it will be difficult to forget the love that we both had together' -Yelena said.

'Yes. It was a heart-wrenching love affair. Luckily I found him already, and still watch him from behind, to make sure he's okay as a way to ease my nostalgia.'

'So let me ask, in the end, what reason made you two break apart? Usually, the majority of breakdowns come from men.'

'No. That's my fault. It's because my feelings for him are not strong and durable enough. Indeed, I found something even more important and important to protect than our friendship. Until now I still feel sad, but I don't regret it.'

'Perhaps I understand how you feel right now.'

'You could understand it, couldn't you? 'Don't you think what I did is wrong?'

"No. My motto is: 'To get what you want, there is always a trade-off for something, no matter how important it is, as long as you have a good aim and don't do anything against the law.'"

Suddenly Linh looked at Yelena with an attitude of sadness to relief, saying:

'Finally, there is someone who understands me. Thank god."

'Don't feel guilty if you don't do anything wrong. Talk about my motto, that's very normal in our society. I used to be like that, but I always told myself not to do anything against my conscience.'

Linh just smiled and looked at the water bottle for a moment. She put down the water bottle and cheerfully said:

'You were right. Okay, I feel much better now. Thank you.'

After a few minutes of fun chatting, Linh gave Yelena a business card and did not forget to give her phone number with a message before leaving: 'I have work to go to now. Here is my business card, with the name of the archaeological institute I work with and a cell phone number. Come find me in the next few days if you can. Don't be shy.'

Yelena in her heart still doesn't fully trust that open person, but her intuition tells her that she should follow Linh's words because it can help her achieve her goal of becoming an official Pandora employee.

'So when we meet there, will you tell me the legend of that ancient tomb?'

'My pleasure. Goodbye!'- Linh said. Then the two raised their hands to say goodbye to each other.