Erica was still confused, wether to talk or not, the first shot was not really effective. In front of the cracking fires of the burning wood of the campfire, she suddenly had her head an ache. Her stopwatch vibrated when that happened though.
"What's up?" Dighty finally asked, the dark creature had faded away
"Urggh, nothing, my head hurts, but it's gone." she said
Dighty just nodded, she didn't care anything at all. There was a complete silence that followed, they were both staring again on the campfire.
"I meant what I said you know?" Erica began to speak
"I kinda know that." Dighty said, awkwardness and silence followed afterwards, Erica's eyes were trying to reach out for her's but they can never make eye contact with each other.
"Sorry... I was just... Clouded, you know? Clouded by anger and anguish... It made me blind of things, which are worth fighting for... That was you."Erica said
"You don't need to explain Cang, I'm just... *Exhales I understand, I clearly do, but I just can't easily let you in inside my life, again? Probably." she said
"If you clearly do, understand. Then why won't you let me be your friend?"
"I'll be frank with you, I know that you blame yourself for everything... And it's ok for me, you're forgiven, probably. But we feel exactly the same, I just lost a friend... I blame myself of what has happened, she shouldn't have died for me... I... It keeps bugging me out... I, how can I say this? Look, I know how you feel, that's why... You're forgiven but not completely to the point whence you can enter my life just like that... Just like how I blame myself yet I know Nicole has forgiven me, but t'wasn't exactly enough... Forgiveness isn't enough." Dighty said with her eyes sparkling with tears in front of the camp fire
"Forgiveness is poison..." Erica said in all of a sudden
"What?" Dighty asked, curious of what she had just said
"Oh-uhh, nothing, by the way, I uhh, have to give you this." She stood up, giving Dighty the small ring which was also a watch, it had hands of the clock on it "please just take it... I have to rest." she then enters the mini hut, sleeping with her friends
Dighty was left, sitting alone on the log, she wore the ring, full of questions and thoughts flooding down inside her mind. While caressing the watch she somehow pressed something which was on the right side, the button went down, and popped out like a drawer, it was small and thin, the small drawer-like on the watch was as small as the button in the ring watch. It had a small rolled out paper, she then reached out for it and when she did, the hands of the ring watch was moving, revolving around it with haste. It began to glow with gold(because it is the color of the ring) and then Dighty's vision changed. The eye lenses turned into some incidents happened in the past, she felt like she was clearly running out of breath, she fell down the log shaking uncomfortably with her fist on her chest, she heard bells, hundreds of church bells ringing inside her head.
She was suffocating harshly, her veins and guts were trembling hard inside her. And then something changed and stopped. Her vision changed, she was seeing an orange cloud, well, not just the clouds but everything, like her vision was filtered with orange. She was home, from the first country where she was before, but it wasn't like it used to be. She began to walk, she tried to enter the very old house whence they had resided once. But before she did, someone so familiar and heart touching was behind her back.
"Let's move away, it might render danger to her." Her mother said to her father
She was shocked, astonished but at the same time, confused... They were both... Young.
"Mom?" Dighty said but it seems that she wasn't heard at all "Mom? Mom-*gasp?" she tried it again, this time, she laid her hand on her mother but it only passed through her body, like she was a ghost.
"I know, but look, our daughter is a unique fal'ian, just like you... You must atleast refrain from erasing her memories." her father said
"You don't understand, and so do I, but atleast provide safety to out child." her mother said
Dighty was standing right there, clueless of everything, she was standing there, with her face confused and broken like a bus-stop sign just recently kissed her face so hard. She was bewildered on everything, was she really what she thought she was? Or those were just lies to make her feel good.
"I guess... But atleast don't try to erase her memory with Erica." her father had said
"No... Even that, eventhough that kid also isn't aware of her race, she still needs to be forgotten."
She was shocked, surprised and touched by guilt... She really had forgotten Erica, her child hood friend... Not done by purpose, but for a purpose.
"Moooom!" she heard the most familiar voice of all
"Dighty! Oh honey!" her mother said and hugged her
"Oh Erica! It's good to see you!" her father said to a girl who was wearing blue shirt
"Tihihi, Dighty and I built a spaceship!"
She was left looking at the past, not knowing nor remembering if it was genuine enough, her head began to ache, then a strong wave coming from her head was shining its way out, bringing color to the sorrounding. The ring began to glow as well, she looked at it, like it was her first time to have or own a ring, then her head ached stronger than before, her pale yellow eyes turned jolly yellow, her brown hair turn completely blonde, she was grasping her head due to the pain inflicted. Everything came back, the laughter, the memories with her childhood, everything...
She was standing on their backyard this time.
"Dighty?" Erica said to her kid self
"Hello! Who are you?" Dighty saw herself saying that
"Dighty? I thought we were gonna fly up to the moon?" she asked her while pointing out the cartoon rocket
"What is that? What's your name?"
Dighty saw herself, clueless of who Erica was... She saw the kid version of Erica, piling up tears from her eyes.
"You... Don't remember me?" Erica asked
"No... I mean, we've never had met before." she said to her
Erica ran away, crying, covering her eyes. She wanted to follow her but she was disturbed by her own child self, her eyes were bright yellow, but it turned completely pale, then she saw herself falling down on the ground.
Her parents went out, checking her out. Instead of calling for help, they were relaxed.
"Surely, the spell won't be broken, she has to forget herself in order to know her better version." her mother said while caressing her hair "By the looks of it, the spell went right, look at her eyes and hair, it changed, it's the symbol." she added
"This isn't right hon..." her father said
"What choice do we have?" she said "Let her lose control over her dexterity and let the darkness recruit or kill her? I can't let that happen!" she added
Dighty, with her trembling feet, she watched her past, with her tears rolling down naturally. Everything she knew was just out of the box, not inside it... It was painful, for her.
"You... I guess, you are right..." her dad agreed
Then they carried her inside, a little weak and tired, the ring stopped from glowing for a while. She sat down, thinking of everything with her eyes completely trembling. It was an ordinary day, like she didn't even travelled back in time, watching the truth which lied in the ring which her forgotten friend had recently gave her. She heard conversations coming from the neighborhood, the usual car horns and engines starting up.
"Do you wanna go back?" she asked herself
"Do you need to?"A voice said
She was shocked upon seeing the person who spoke to her, she wasn't expecting that she would be here, standing in front of her, although she looked younger, she still looks very noticable.
"Probably, I-I'm sorry, you got killed because of me." she said to her
"No, it's ok actually, it's no big deal, anyways it was meant to happen."
The white pupils stared at Dighty for a long term of time. She didn't budge or do anything, just watch and stares at her.
"It is for me."
"Then don't make it as a big deal."
She stood up and hugged the person in front of her. As she did, the grass beneath them froze, blue and frosty flowers began to grow too, it was elegant and flawless looking flowers, it had a shade of white in the center and light blue on the edges.
"I missed you too." she said
"Nikhol..." Dighty said with a high pitch tone "I'm so sorry!"
"I... You need to go." Nikhol said
"What? Where?"She asked
"Back to the world."
"Why?"
"Look, I'll tell you what, this ring is the cloister of truth, it wasn't really your fault why I died... I said something to Erica, my prediction. I already disobeyed the rules of being an oracle before I told you... I knew that the spell casted by your mother can only be broken by that." she points the ring out "Don't blame yourself. Now, you need to go." she touched the ground and a long and huge pillar of ice grew beneath Dighty's feet, it threw her up to the sky, she was looking down at her, she reached out for her but her vision for her was getting smaller and smaller until she woke up finding herself lying on the ground.
The moon was standing above Dighty's eyes. She was deeply affected by what the ring had revealed, by what the ring had dispelled. The truth... She just laid her head down, watching the stars, thinking of all that has happened. She wanted to bring back what she and Erica had before, but she then remembered that Erica will die... Soon