My eyes blinked a couple times at Erhi's explanation. In a way, she was being blunt about it, but I could see why.
"Poor Ava," she said.
"What?"
"You must miss that someone so much, right? You came here for him."
I took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm searching for him." Erhi didn't answer immediately. I sat next to her as she stared at me.
"Why do you look different now?" She asked.
I frowned. "Not you too."
Erhi pulled at her oversized jacket for it to wrap around her body. "Someone else mentioned it too? Then, you must have changed somehow."
"Huh?" I narrowed my eyes at her and then raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand. What's different about me?"
Erhi put her hand at her chin. "Er, you have a lighter aura about you? I don't know how to say it myself."
"Oh . . ."
Not that I understood what she meant by that statement. Perhaps a sense of friendliness rubbed at the rebels without me noticing. Even if that was true, I was merely waiting right then, since going straight to the capital city was not a wise option.
And The People's Light was in Khovd, so getting my hands on a few of them would help me a great deal.
I was not in a rush. Hope allied with The People's Light for my sake. Actually, that was selfish of me. It was for both of our sake. However, he didn't give me a proper explanation for what he did. I wanted to hear it directly from his mouth.
My heart thumped faster. 'I also want to see him again, to embrace him,' I thought.
"A-Ava," called Erhi.
I looked at her and she grimaced. "D-Don't hurt me! You seem to be thinking about something, so--"
I waved my hand at her. "It's fine, really."
She breathed a sigh. "Oh, okay."
"You said that I'm like you, and there's someone you miss."
Erhi's eyes widened. "Ah, y-yes."
"If you don't mind I ask . . . Who's this person that you miss?"
Erhi bit her lip as she darted her eyes to the cement.
Knowing my question seemed to dig back her bad memories, I waved at her nervously. "Er, when I think about it, there's no need for you to answer my q-question." My mouth curved into a smile I thought was an honest one.
Erhi looked back at me. "It's okay. I feel like I should be sharing this with you." She paused. "My dad died fighting off the military coup. You know, the Great Corporate United's own coup?"
I adjusted my posture and listened to her intently.
She continued, "My father was a good person. He helped me overcame my dark times, you see. My mom on the other hand always tried to pick a fight with him. Even if that matter was a trivial one, and can be brushed off without her having to do anything . . . But he just smiled over it. He never said bad things to mom."
She closed her eyes. "Now that he's gone, and I'm with Enkhtuya, my depression keep getting worse." Her head drooped, where she buried it in that blue jacket.
From what I understood, her father had helped to bring happiness in her life. Without him, she was back to being the person in front of me.
I could see where Erhi was coming from. Hope was also a figure in my life that I deeply treasured. However, losing him made me hated everything. My goal all that time was to find him, as the means to fill the emptiness he'd left inside me.
However, Erhi couldn't get her father back, and that was worse. I was certain if she had her hands on Aegis, she would have aimed to take revenge on the Great Corporate United. And I doubt the members of Enkhtuya cared about the state she was in.
I rubbed my hair and looked at her. "Erhi."
"Hmm?" She said as her head was still buried in her jacket.
I took a few deep breaths. "You can ask me anything, Erhi. If there's something I can do to help you, then I'll be willing to do my best to get it done."
It took a while, but she finally raised her head and looked at me. Her eyes glinted at my offer. "R-Really?"
I nodded.
She proceeded to ponder. After some time, she pulled out a locket hung loosely on her neck. The gold locket had an intricate wavy design on its lid. "This is my father's gift to me when I was twelve years old. That's roughly five years ago."
"Oh, oh! I'm twelve."
Erhi's mouth curved into a thin smile. "Can you keep this for me?"
"What?!"I shook my head. "No, no. It's yours. There's no way I can take it from you."
She lowered her head. "You see, Ava. There's no way someone like me can survive through this. I'm weak, and weak people don't come out unscathed in the end."
I grabbed her shoulders and she almost jumped from it. "Even strong people have the same chance as those who are weak, Erhi. There's no telling when something unexpected might happen. Anything can happen to anyone. I may appear strong to you, but I'm actually weak. I let my emotions control what I do each time . . . And I hate that. I made stupid choices most of the time, and what do I get in the end? Suffering. People I care for is affected by those stupid choices I made. You can't say for sure, that someone with great power doesn't have an equal chance as those who aren't in something. There will be consequences in everything we do, Erhi. I, myself, am guilty of that."
I let go of her and she just stared at me. After a few minutes, she finally spoke.
"Ava, you have to admit that your power allows you to do what normal people couldn't. You can stand against the army by yourself. I can't do that," she said.
"Erhi, everyone is different. I might be able to use Aegis, but there are others that can also use it. Some of them are more powerful than I am and can do a lot more. I mean, even normal people can affect things as much as Aegis Users can."
She raised her eyebrows. "Such as?"
"Ignorance, Erhi," I said. "Strong people sometimes look down on those who are weaker than them. In a way, that alone gives you a great advantage. Let's just say, I fight another User by myself, and you're there with me. Does the other User look at you with a second glance?"
She shook her head. "No."
"What if you put a knife in his or her back? That will distract the User and I can deal the final blow. There's a lot of things that normal people can do, and us Users, cant. We stood out more in the face of a great foe."
Erhi's eyes widened. After that, a sigh escaped from her mouth as she pulled back her father's locket inside her jacket.
"There's a bunch of things that I can do, that the others couldn't," Erhi mumbled.
"Everyone is unique, Erhi. You are unique too. There must be something you're good at."
She gaped. "I'm good in IT. You know, computers and stuff. Back home, I used to train myself, practicing each day to get good at it."
I smiled. "What about now?"
She clenched her fists. "I still am. The other members might not see this as useful, but that's them. If I can get myself a laptop, or even a phone, I might be able to contribute more to saving Mongolia.
"I thought this rebel group only wants to help the citizens in this city?"
"That's because they think they can't do more. I . . . want to save Mongolia. I don't want my father's sacrifice to be in vain. I want to make him proud of me."
Erhi's eyes beamed with determination. Her serious expression caught me by surprise.
"I'll help you, Erhi," I said.
She nodded. "Ava, you're strong. That aggressive demeanor of yours helped to keep the other members from getting in your way."
I winced. "E-Er, what? Aggressive? Well . . . I won't deny it. In fact, I'm quite aware of it myself."
Erhi leaned towards me and I kept a distance away from her. Although we were sitting right then, I realized the cold cement didn't bother me that much.
"Ava!" She called.
"Er, y-yes?"
"Teach me."
I blinked a few times. "Teach?"
She proceeded to make a deep bow and I stood up, shocked by that.
"Ava, please teach me how to become like you!"
"WHAT?!"
Those words of hers were something I wouldn't expect to hear from someone in my entire life.
'Now, what should I do?' That thought passed through my mind.