85

Ashton and Jin had returned home after a whole day at their favorite Chinese Food restaurant. They walked home together, with their hands around each other, laughing. Jin cackled as they both blabbered.

They entered the house, with bulging stomachs as if they were pregnant. Sylvia looked them over as they entered the house with smiles on their faces. She rolled her eyes. She had been meaning to ask Jin to go somewhere as well. But Ashton had used up almost the entire day.

She quickly remembered that Ashton was a great friend to Jin and she had to respect that. She was not even deemed a companion, much less a friend by Jin. So who was she the spend the most time with him?

She sighed. Nothing ever went her way. She should be at her little brother's side—not at this house. She did fear her little brother a lot, but it was still her job to protect him. Why was she even at Jin's place? And why couldn't she leave yet?

"What a darn day," said Ashton, placing a hand upon his stomach after plopping down on the couch.

Jin plopped down after him, right beside Sylvia. "I think I might explode if I eat as much as a single cherry. We ate far too much noddles, Ash." his tired eyes were kept to slits, and he leaned over—elbows on his knees while sitting.

Sylvia felt utterly uncomfortable. Jin was far too close to her. She hadn't ever been this close to him. It wasn't entirely bad. The one problem was the fact that he smelt like Chinese food.

Jin burped. "Excuse that. Can't hold them back from coming out;" his stomach growled at him, and he quickly placed his hand atop it, "I think I'll have to take a dump in a while as well."

Ashton heaved. "If only Dobby was present today with us. He would have enjoyed himself. We should totally do this again. Your grandma did quite enjoy Chinese as well, didn't she, Jin?"

Sylvia furrowed her brows surreptitiously. Why would Ashton suddenly bring up something as traumatic as that? Couldn't he see that Jin had changed because of that event?

Usually Jin would become infuriated upon hearing mentions of the great betrayal, his lost family, or him being a murderer. And that was why Dobby found it much more harder to continue their friendship.

Jin forced a smile. "I doubt Benjamin wouldn't have eaten it, regardless if he liked it or not. If Benjamin ate anything that could've have fit in his mouth, what's Chinese food, huh?"

Ashton giggled. "But Jin. A dog? Eating noddles?"

"Sure," Jin said. "Why not?"

Ashton looked ahead again. "Well I do suppose everyone likes noodles, so Benjamin might not have been an exception. Again, even Miss Pierce liked it.

"Remember the good old times with her, Jin? She bought us stuff. You were always embarrassingly kissed at middle school—in front of everyone—when she was the one dropping you off. Remember those days, Jin?"

Jin hadn't said anything. His facial expression had just softened. But then he came to his senses, and said, "Yeah." That's all he said—nothing more.

"What was your favorite thing about Miss Pierce?" Ashton asked.

Sylvia cleared her throat. "Ashton, I think you're blabbering a bit too much about the woman."

She grimaced. 'What is Ashton thinking? Talking about Jin's grandmother like that, as if she wasn't killed recently? He didn't do this yesterday—he didn't do it at all for that matter. What makes him think it's okay now?' she thought to herself.

Jin looked at Sylvia, smiling. "It's fine." His smile seemed genuine to Sylvia's eyes.

Her lips parted, as he tossed her elegance her way. He seemed bright in that instant as if he really wasn't becoming evil anymore. For a second … she almost believed that the healstones had actually eradicated the negative things about Jin.

He continued smiling heavenly at her, and he said, "Oh and … I forgive you. I've forgiven everyone. Even Flint and his gang. I no longer want revenge. And I accept you as a friend of mine. My new goal is to seek strength to protect my friends and the people I love."

Jin slowly stood. "I'll be in my room should anyone need me." He walked off.

Sylvia was left speechless. Her attention shifted to Ashton. It was quiet for over three minutes until she had decided to question Ashton about Jin's apparent change in demeanor.

"What was all that about? I thought Jin was all bad and gloomy now," she said, grimacing.

"You're wrong," Ashton responded, "Jin's his old self again. He's still sad a bit, but he's forgiven everything. That's the effect of the Healstone. Jin told me that Cliff told him the Healstone had forever erased the negative side of him."

"When'd he tell you that?" Sylvia raised a brow.

"Today," he said, "at the Chinese restaurant. By looking at him, I knew he was telling the truth. Ever since today, it's like I believe everything that comes out of his mouth. It's amazing. I've never had so much trust in someone before."

Sylvia averted her eyes, and sat straight, confused. What was Ashton talking about? When did he find Jin this admirable? From giving him the "bad-eyes" behind his back, to loving him as if almost romantically. What was going—

Suddenly Ashton gripped Sylvia's hand. She quickly looked at him, and furrowed her brows. "What are you—"

"It's okay," he said, "I'm trying to console you. All is well. Jin's changed forever—not for the three days—and it's all because of the Healstones. I'll find more of them myself to ensure he doesn't revert to his old ways."

Ashton held Sylvia's other hand. And suddenly, his eyes glowed green, and a surge of energy channeled through his body and passed on to Sylvia's.

Sylvia's widened eyes glowed for a brief moment. She was just like Ashton. It was all possible since she had one bit of belief that Jin was really going to be different from now on.

Jin came out of his room at the same time; going to the kitchen. He saw what had happened. And when he focused on Sylvia. A new system screen manifested before him.

[Effect: Deceptive Delusion]