As none of the other teens complained further, Zack and Jack took their silence as agreement with Jack's statement. They carefully approached the box of rings, and quietly discussed which of the 26 remaining rings they should pick.
There were at least two more mythical transformation rings and one more physical modification ring. The other four categories were a big question mark, as miraculously no one had selected a ring from those groups save Max. But, he had decided not to wear that wooden ring as it had the rhyme about traveling during life after people etched around it. What power that ring had, and which group it belonged to was anyone's guess.
Jack watched his twin, expecting Zack to grab one at random; he wanted to be a little more careful with the selection. "Which ring should we pick?" He emphasized 'we' when he spoke. "Um... we should agree on the same one since it will effect us both."
Zack formed a half-smile but did not look back at his twin. He had begun to raise his hand to grab one, but stopped himself when Zack had spoke. "Yeah... I know." Finally after a few moments, he continued, "How about one from the fifth column? Only one other was taken."
"Yeah... but that one was traveling during the end of the world." Jack stated.
"That makes it even more important to take one from that column. We can get a better idea of what those rings are supposed to do." Zack pressed his twin. "And, you can be the one to pick it out..."
"Assuming they aren't so mixed up..." Jack commented, remembering the words from the note. But even as he spoke, he moved his hand over the five remaining rings in that column. Zack must have known how eager he was to select one himself. Technically, that would be the first time he got to pick his own ring to try.
He stared at the rings in the fifth column. Many of them seemed to be carved from different types of wood, similar to the 'Life After People' ring. His gaze rested on a simple wooden white ring. "Birch wood?" he asked under his breathe, so quiet that Zack only heard a breathe of air leave his mouth. With two fingers he grabbed the ring. In spite him already expecting the ring to be light, it almost felt like he was lifting air.
They slowly turned back around toward their older brothers and friend. Zack had to stifle a laugh as his twin tried and failed to put the ring on a finger with only his one hand. "Want me to help?" Zack whispered. Jack sheepishly nodded his head, and handed it to his brother. Zack pinched the ring between his fingers so Jack could slip his ring finger through the opening.
Instantly, a pulse of energy seemed to pass from the ring, up Jack's arm, and across his chest. Jack noticed his twin jump slightly when the pulse passed the invisible line of sensation that separated them. "You felt that too?" Jack asked just to confirm what he already knew. His brother nodded in agreement. Jack stared at his brother, waiting for the ring's power to take effect. He was also aware that Mark, Max, and Luke were watching expectantly. However, nothing seemed to happen. "Do we look different?"
Max approached the younger twins. "No... There is only the growth between your heads."
"The What?!" Zack and Jack both exclaimed at once. The sly smile that Max had was lost on them. The twins whipped their heads around, in an attempt to see the 'growth', but ended up smacking their foreheads together. "Ahh!" Both cried out. Their legs tried to back away in separate directions, and their body fell backwards into Max's open arms.
Jack and Zack each rubbed their foreheads with one hand. "Very funny Max!" Zack complained.
Jack opened his eyes and gave their older brother a death glare. He was surprised to see them all staring, with mouths agape at Zack and himself. "What are you guys looking at?" Max was holding onto someone from under the arms, and all three of the older teens kept staring, speechless. It took several long moments for Jack's brain to process the scene in front of him. He realized with shock who Max was holding onto, them.
A seemingly unconscious Zack and Jack were lying down with their heads leaning into each other. But he and Zack were also still standing by the rings. That was when he looked down and Zack and himself. The only way he could describe themselves was pale, white and semi-transparent. They were also floating less than an inch above the floor. Jack took in a quick breathe of air.
"Are we dead?" Zack asked the question on Jack's mind.
Mark slowly approached, and seemed to be similarly pale. "I don't think so." He tried to put his hand on Zack's shoulder, but his hand passed through as if it were only air. He then waved his hand back and forth through their stomach.
"Would you stop that!" Zack complained. He swatted at Mark's arm, and surprisingly, his arm was pushed away, with more force than Zack had intended. Mark nearly fell backwards onto Max and the twins' limp body. "Wow! That was kind of cool. I did not even mean to push that hard, and you kind of were repelled back." Zack smiled.
"Are you guys ghosts?" Luke finally spoke up with a question. "You look like ghosts." The others seemed to gawk more intently, as if studying them under a microscope.
"Would you guys stop staring? Your making me embarrassed." Jack said. As he spoke, the older teens' mouths dropped open again. "Why are you still staring?"
"Your invisible..." Luke managed to say. "Or at least... half invisible. I can still see Zack."
Zack turned to look at his twin, but seemingly looked past him. He did not seem to be able to see Jack either. Zack then looked down at the rest of themselves. "I look like I was chopped in half."
Jack forced himself to take a deep breathe, and slowly he became visible again. "Okay, so this ring turns the wearer into a ghost?"
"I guess in the simple terms, yeah." Mark said as he shared a glance with Max. "Maybe it projects you consciousness into an ethereal body, a ghost-like body. Max and I have read books on astral and ethereal plane travel."
"Okay... but if this is a ethereal body for our minds, how come we are sharing one?" Jack questioned.
"Maybe you guys are closer than you think?" Max said with a sly smile. He slowly lowered the twins' unconscious body to the ground.
"Funny..." Zack and Jack both said at the same time.
Max then forced himself to straighten his face. "No, seriously. Joking aside, you two used to be the same person. With a combination of rings, you partially split into two different people." Max emphasized the word 'partially'. "When you took off the two-in-one ring, you were still sharing a body because you only had the one to begin with. But, I think this just highlights the fact that you guys share more than just a body, which isn't a bad thing. A lot of old stories tell how twins were believed to be one soul split in two. Maybe your souls are not fully split."
Zack and Jack shared a glance as a phantom shiver ran down their ghostly spine. "Okay..." Jack said, trying to change the subject. "How do we get back into our body?"
"Well, we're hovering right... Maybe we just need to will ourselves to move." Zack said. As he imagined moving forward, their ghostly body responded by hovering leftward."
Zack waved his ghost arm, as if trying to keep them balanced upright. "Hey, hey, hey... hold on." Jack yelled which stopped Zack from continuing to move them. "Our souls are connected, remember. We need to move together to get anywhere."
This time, they both focused on moving, and their ghost body floated forward. As they approached their uncurious form, both twins reach with their hands to touch their body. A moment later, they found themselves lying on floor, with a new welt each from when their heads collided. "Ouch..." Both complained as they pressed a hand to their foreheads.
Zack then helped his twin remove the rings from his finger. "Here." He handed the ring to no one in particular.
Luke grabbed it, and placed it on his bed with a note stating, 'Ghost'.
Max apologized for tricking his younger brothers, and helped them stand back up. "Okay, so now it is my turn."