A/N: Nope. Read.
Disclaimer: I own the National Treasure Puppet Pals Riley doll. That's about it. Now go read.

Her words hung in the air; nobody spoke. Melissa and Abigail both turned slowly to look at Ben, or rather, what they knew was in Ben's jacket pocket. "Oh, come on, you don't think–?" he whispered, but he pulled the small box out anyway. He handed it to Abigail because if they were right, she was the furthest away from Kelsie, and because it was her ring.

They jumped when Larry cleared his throat, but when they glanced at him, he was staring pointedly at the designs on the tablecloth. Ben and Melissa scooted closer to Abi and peered over her shoulder. Abigail threw a quick glance at Kelsie, then carefully eased the small jewelry box open a fraction of an inch. The three of them – Ben, Abigail, and Melissa – all caught a glimpse of the faint green "aura" that surrounded the diamond in Abigail's ring before Abi snapped the lid shut, eyes wide.

"No way," Melissa whispered. "Could that really be, you know, Kryptonite?" She mouthed the last word as if she were afraid to say it out loud, even in a whisper.

At that point, several things happened at once. Riley, who had been gaping at Kelsie with some sort of wondrous awe, completely oblivious to the heated whisperings going on beside him, blurted, "I knew there was such thing as aliens!" At the exact same moment, Larry burst into hysterical laughter – but because of what he knew was going through Ben's, Abi's, and Melissa's minds rather than Riley's outburst. Kelsie began to giggle, but she was laughing at Riley.

"Oh, man," Larry gasped, holding up a hand for Kelsie to high-five. "That was brilliant. Perfect! You couldn't have done that better if you'd planned it!" He paused as a thought struck him. "Did you plan that?" he asked. Kelsie high-fived him and sat back down, but shook her head at his question, bewildered. The look on her face was clearly asking, "and how was that perfect, exactly?" Larry took a few deep breaths to compose himself, then pointed at the newly engaged couple and Melissa. "They think you're serious," he told her. "And, they think Abigail's ring is made of Kryptonite."

Kelsie's eyes nearly bugged right out of her head. "Wh-you guys believed me? I was kidding!"

"So, you're not an alien?" Riley asked.

"No."

"Oh. Well, darn." His face fell, and he looked like Kelsie had just killed Christmas.

"So," Abigail cut in, inwardly berating herself for being so susceptible, "if you're not an alien, and the ring isn't made of Kryptonite, then why is it sort of green? And why did you seem to get sick when I was showing it off?"

"I'll get to that, don't worry," Kelsie assured them. "But I think I should start the story at the beginning."

"Is this a history-type story?" Riley's question came smothered in a hint of a whine. He hated these history lessons; he got enough of them from Ben.

Ben nodded, smirking at his young friend's disinterest. "Yes, Riley. Pretty much any time a story is about events that have happened in the past, it's a "history-type" story."

Crossing his arms, Riley slouched down in his chair and scowled. "Whatever."

"I'll try to keep it exciting for you, Riley," Kelsie promised. "But please bear with me if I mess up some of the details. I never believed the story when I was little, so I never tried to remember it." She fiddled with her mug for a minute, trying to think how to begin. "Actually, I don't even remember where to start."

"Eistir, maybe?" Larry prompted. Riley, Ben, Abigail, and Melissa all turned to him, but he shook his head. "Her story, not mine."

"Thank you, Larry," Kelsie said, smiling nervously. "Um, Abigail?" she asked. "Do you think I could see your ring for a minute?"

Abigail nodded. "Yes, of course," she said, handing the box to Ben, who in turn passed it to Riley. But instead of giving the ring to Kelsie, he hesitated.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? What if it makes you sick again? I don't know–"

"Oh, calm down," Kelsie chided. She slugged him gently in the arm and pulled the ring box out of his grasp. Five people held their breath as the redhead opened the small box, expecting her to get sick again. But nothing happened.

Kelsie looked at the ring and saw the struggle within the stone. The clear gem wanted to be green. It knew its history and its purpose, and was fighting to do what it knew-as far as rocks can know-was right. Unlike her. Kelsie ran her finger over the jewel gently, almost reverently. It was then that she felt the connection. Kelsie closed her eyes as the images flooded her vision. Memories from the past – her own past, her mother's past, and all the way back to her. The girl, the one who was first involved in all this. The girl who this jewel originally belonged to, back when it was still green.

Eistir.

Kelsie opened her eyes and began to speak.

"A long time ago, a beautiful young girl lived in Ireland. Her name was Eistir Eily, which is Irish for Star Light. She was the Laird's daughter, and all the people loved her. Her favorite thing to do was to run around outside, soaking up the sun and marveling at all the beauty around her. The bright and beautiful colors of the Irish landscape fascinated her.

"For her 16th birthday, her coming-of-age, the entire loch banded together to present her with an exquisite necklace, rumored to be fairy-made. The chain was spun silver, and it held a beautiful locket imprinted with a shamrock design. One perfect emerald sparkled happily in the center of the design. Inside the pendant, however, held the real treasure: a rare four-leaf-clover was protected inside a glass disk, and fitted to the inside of the locket. The overall effect was gorgeous, and Eistir wore it proudly.

"The young girl grew to live up to her name, bringing joy and light to all around her. When her parents died, she inherited the loch, and continued to run the land in fairness, for she loved all who lived there. And they loved her in return, so much so that they asked her to be their queen. Eistir accepted, and with her grace and charm she smoothed out misunderstandings between neighbors and settled disagreements. No one argued her methods, and for many years the town lived in peace and happiness. Under her rule, even the colors of the land seemed brighter and happier.

"The people of the village talked about her to each other all the time. The magic folk who lived in the nearby areas began to listen, and heard some interesting things.

"'The light she brings is more lovely than even the faeries,' one of the ladies was heard to say.

"'Her beauty is worth more than all the ancient treasures of Ireland.'

"'She is bright and exciting and radiant, and she brings hope and joy when there is sadness, like a rainbow after the rain. In fact, I would say the rainbow itself is worth more than any pot of gold at the end of it.'

"Naturally, the faeries and leprechauns were upset by this. Faeries, by nature, are very jealous creatures, and the leprechauns were just plain offended. An optical illusion of light, worth more than their gold? Preposterous.

"As with all simple-minded people, even magic folk, the first thing on their minds was revenge. They didn't stop to think that the young lady had done nothing to them, they just wanted to get vengeance for their wounded pride. The faeries, being more manipulative and cunning, brought the plan to the leprechauns. They would drive Eistir out, or take away the one thing she loved most besides her people: color.

"As a warning, they took her necklace and drained the green from the stone in the center. They warned Eistir that she could either leave, or condemn all of Ireland to the same fate as that little stone. At first, she held back, but when the leprechauns drained the color out of the first rainbow of that spring, she realized how serious they were. She fled the little town, leaving those she loved behind.

"The little people rejoiced, though they may have been a bit hasty in their plans. They did not know the extent of the love the village citizens had for the young girl. They knew nothing of the plant inside the locket; if they had, they would not have tampered with it or its owner. The magical properties of four-leaf clovers are especially well-known to leprechauns. The locket was "linked" to Eistir, as was the pigment they drained from it. But the leprechauns did not know, and neither did the fairies. They locked up the color they stole, just to be spiteful, and soon forgot about the whole affair.

"The people from the loch eventually forgot as well. Oh, they worried and fretted enough. But time passes, life goes on, and people forget things. Save stories, Eistir was soon forgotten to all of the citizens. All except one.

"Seamus O'Keith was a longtime childhood friend of Eistir's. He vanished not long after she did, and was never heard from again. Some say he went after her and was captured by a monster; others say they disappeared because they eloped.

"So, yeah," Kelsie concluded. "The emerald is supposed to draw in any of Eistir's relatives. She ran her thumb over Abigail's ring one more time and set it in the middle of the table. "And I think this is Eistir's emerald."

"The alien explanation was so much simpler," Riley blurted after a minute. "And it would have been way awesome." Everyone rolled their eyes at that, but they all chuckled appreciatively at Riley's lame humor attempt.

Once everyone had processed this new information, the questions began. "If the emerald is supposed to draw you to it, why did it make you sick?" Larry wanted to know.

"I don't know for sure," Kelsie admitted. "I've spent my whole life repressing this part of me and not believing a word of it. Maybe my subconscious wasn't ready to accept it yet, and rejected something that proved the story true."

Ben nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed. "But, what I want to know is how Larry is involved in this. He seems to know what's going on, almost more than you do, Kelsie." Ben turned to the man and narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you know, Larry Daly? And, more importantly, how do you know?"

A/N: Well, sorry about the confusion with the end of the last chapter. It bothered a lot of people. I honestly didn't think anyone would take it so seriously. And I would just like to take this moment to say, I am open to suggestions from people. If you really have a problem, or just some advice, please, leave me a way to contact you! Of the three people who had issue with the "I'm from Krypton" thing, only one left me a way to reach them so I could clear up the misunderstanding. I am a very friendly person! I'm not going to yell at you if you flame me! Okiday, that's all on that subject.

I BROKE THE INFAMOUS "100" MARK! Over 100 reviews! You guys rock! Thank you all so much!

Now, I am also so sorry it took so long to update. I'd like to say it won't happen again, but I can't promise that. My senior year has been way more hectic that I thought.
However... I have been known to blow off AP Calculus homework in favor of a little writing spell. With enought incentive, of course. Care to throw some over? The little purple button is calling you!