Chapter Text
Force is the product of mass times acceleration. Gravitational acceleration on earth, in the absence of any air resistance, at sea level, is 9.807 meters per second per second. The universal constant of gravitation, G, is 6.6743 times ten to the negative eleventh. Ringo has always taken pride in her near-eidetic memory. She often astounds others with her ability to recall events in perfect detail, even years after the fact. She’s always done well in school, and she’s never missed a birthday or anniversary. Ringo always thought that this memory of hers was her greatest blessing.
That is, until Ecolo arrived. The first time Ecolo showed up, they threw her life into utter chaos. Skeletons roamed the streets, slime fell from the skies, and a bizarre bunch of sorcerers, warlocks, and magicians began roaming her normal, unremarkable world. Ultimately, Ringo was able to set things right, with the help of her friends, and some new magician friends she met along the way. She even picked up a few otherworldly skills for her efforts. Her world returned to normal, and the evil defeated, Ringo hoped that her life would return to the quiet simple one she knew. Of course, as she’d soon find out, things aren’t so simple. They never are, not when Ecolo is involved.
As soon as Ecolo left them alone, Ringo’s friends could hardly remember the hard work that they put in to set things right. They remembered visiting the 7 wonders of the world, but not why they did it. They didn’t recall being sucked to the edge of the world to battle Ecolo, or even who Ecolo was. They hardly had any clue how they came to meet Arle and the others, for that matter. Even Arle himself was oblivious to the fact that he had ever been possessed.
Ecolo, as Ringo would soon find out, is one stubborn fool. They would continue meddling in the affairs of other worlds, both Arle’s and her own. Even when they aren’t the cause of this week’s madness, Ringo can always count on finding them at the heart of the confusion, reveling in the chaos. Time and time again, Ringo, Arle, and the others would solve the problem, and time and time again, Ecolo’s involvement would conveniently erase her friends' memories of the events.
These insane events have become more and more frequent with the passing of time. First was Ecolo’s invasion of her world, then the time Ecolo dragged her to Arle’s world, then the time that starship crashed near the school, and then the incident with that book.
Ringo has tried time and time again to help her friends remember anything about Ecolo, or Tee, or Ally, or any of their adventures, but time and time again, they are simply incapable of recalling anything more than vague memories of going on some adventure and popping puyos. Over time, the confusion started to weigh heavily on her brain. How sure can Ringo be that her memory is as eidetic as she believes it to be? Without a soul to corroborate all of the outlandish things that have happened to her in the past year, how can she be sure that they are real?
She’ll prove it. Ringo will find a way to prove that her memories are true if only to herself. She’ll create some physical, immutable proof to corroborate the surreal experiences in her recollection. And so, here Ringo sits, hunched over her desk, scribbling furiously into a journal. Every person, every conversation, every minute detail of each fantastic escapade is documented in detail.
She’s tried drawing pictures and writing stories before, but it didn’t do anything to bring back her friends’ memories. She isn’t naive enough to hope that this will be any different, but at the very least, it is reassuring to be able to confide so completely in something that wouldn’t judge her for spouting nonsense.
By the time she’s finished writing the last of her notes, the first early beams of sunlight begin to shine through her window. Ringo groans. She was a fool to take on such a project on a school night. She tucks the journal away onto her shelf, and crawls into bed, praying that she’ll be able to catch at least a few hours of sleep before she’s forced to wake up for school.
As she drifts off, her mind is plagued by visions of that contemptible slime. She floats helpless in the empty vastness of space, as their amorphous figure floats just above her. “Ringo dear~” Their voice echoes, “ I’ll never forget you~ As long as I liiiiiiiiive!” They bring their face closer to Ringo’s and she can make out bubbles forming in the fluid making up their body. Ringo attempts to push them away in disgust, but her hand simply sinks into their face. At first, the sensation is ice-cold, and then her whole arm goes numb. She withdraws her hand from the slime, only to find that it has become translucent, Ecolo’s grinning face now visible through her palm. Ringo tries to cry out, but in the vastness of space, she cannot make a sound. “Come with me, Ringo dear~” They continue, sneering, “Just let all those rotten, pitiful worlds forget about us~ All we need is each other~”
“CAN IT!!” Ringo cries as she rises with a jolt. “Stay out of my dimension!” She appends, before regaining some semblance of composure. Breathing unsteady breaths, she lifts her hand to her face, opening and closing it a few times. Satisfied that she’s still corporeal, Ringo glances at the clock and sighs. Just ten minutes until it’s time to get up. She contemplates going back to bed and trying to steal back just a few more of those precious minutes but thinks better of inviting that apparition back into her mind. She sits up on the edge of the bed and sighs.
Well, since she’s up early, she might as well check the notebook, she figures. She rises to her feet and wearily lumbers over to the bookshelf. She inspects the journal and begins to flip through the pages. She is almost shocked to find that all of her writing is exactly how she left it. Every detail of Ecolo and Ally that she had painstakingly written out, her encounter with the Keeper of Dimensions, all of it was written exactly as she recalled. There was no sign of the ink on the pages magically rearranging, nor fading. She can’t help but smile, despite her weariness. Finally, she’s found something she can confide in that won’t be inexplicably erased by some pandimensional phenomenon.
She moves to return the book to its spot on the shelf, but stops herself. She could be summoned into some new whacky adventure at any time. In fact, Ringo reckons it’s been a bit too long since the last Arle sighting. This journal has got plenty of empty pages to fill, and that slime is going to show up again sooner or later. She tucks the journal into her bookbag; she can keep it safer if it’s on her person. Besides, her account of the events will be more reliable if she writes it as soon as possible. Not to mention, that special ability of hers can—
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING
“GHYAK!” Ringo shrieks as her thought process is cut off by her alarm clock finally ringing. Ringo frantically stumbles across the room to turn it off, breathing a sigh of relief once the noise stops. Pandimensional record-keeping aside, Ringo still has school in this dimension.
Putting the matter of the journal and her memory aside, Ringo groggily tidies up and begins her morning routine.