Chapter 01 "A Mysterious Object"

Gray clouds were hanging in the sky, millions of raindrops are the first thing I see when opened my eyes. My body swung back and forth on the sea in a big storm, on the deck of a warship that will soon sink. The dozens attack of cannon finally able to destroy the bilge of the biggest and strongest warship across the ocean. The ship tilted 45 degrees to the left. Creating objects shifted to one side.

A wooden crate hit my head before finally crashed to the fence and plunged into the sea. My fate will end up the same if only the mast was not put a halt to my body. My breath is tight. This ship was on fire. Flames were everywhere. Burns anything that can be devoured. The heavy rain couldn't able extinguish it, it made even worse. An explosion can be heard again from the hull. The voice was deafening. It shook the entire ship. The thick smoke burst out following the direction of the wind, to the top of this deck.

If only my body can be moved, I'd do it before. But I can't. A stab wound on my abdomen kept me on this deck. Draining the blood, strength, and hope. Not to mention the bruises and other wounds that exist in my entire body. That just made me grateful to be alive until now.

The sound of cannons shouted to each other. Likewise, the metal clinking and thunder beam echoed in the air. The machine of warships was getting roaring tight. They don't care. They pretend not to see. Thousands of people were killed and wounded are ignored for the sake of winning each side. None of them are willing to surrender. Charge and win, that's on the minds of everyone in this ocean.

Including myself, who have failed for everyone's expectations. The pain from the wound starting to kill all my senses. I couldn't move. I can't hear. Plus, I can't see anything. All I could do was giving up to this situation. Drowned with darkness which has begun to wrap. This tranquility is the only luxury that I'd never felt during the war rages on. Somehow I remembered the memory of a few years ago. In the past, I'd felt this similar feeling. When my body floated in another dimension. Suddenly, I missed that past.

The time when I ... started everything.

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'Bald' is his nickname. Taken from his short hairstyle like an army. When his hair grows long, he would cut it with the same style. That's why the word 'bald' is always attached to him. However, only fellow contemporaries who dared to call him that. For those like us who are still new members, doing that is means looking for death.

"Hey, Midget! Give me that soy sauce!" He asked, sat across from me.

My hands were shaking after heard his surprising voice, I tried to give a bottle of soy sauce in a plastic bag. The light source in this darkness just from a campfire and incandescent lamps. When my hand wanted to give it, the mountain breeze suddenly blew. Plus, thanks to my less vigilant eyes, I dropped it accidentally.

"Hey, you're a fool! Give it carefully!!" He scolded me with a high voice.

"Y-Yeah! Sorry, Kak Indra!" (1)

My hands picked up the bottle again hastily, then gave it to him. In a moment, his eyes stabbed me deeply. I swallowed my saliva when observing his arm muscles that almost perfect form. With the background of large trees which illuminated by the glow of flames, his figure who was grilling fish similar to a soldier who was surviving in the wild forest.

Indra Pradipta or 'The Bald', now I'm dealing with a man who spent almost all his spare time to exercising and muscles shaping. No doubt, now her figure is not less than professional bodybuilders who often appears on television. With a posture like that, let alone a fellow student, I'm sure many adults are reluctant to him.

Compared with my thin and small body, I looked like gravel to him. So it's reasonable if I was a little afraid of him.

"Haha. Don't be grumpy like that, Captain! Pity him," said the girl who just arrived and immediately rub my head. Her hands had just picked up firewood in the forest, provide dust and soil debris on my hair. Then she put the firewood near a large tent.

"You are scared just like that? A man shouldn't be a crybaby!"

Right now I'm joining the inauguration of Tae Kwon Do new members club at the mountain slope. The place is far from the city and crowds, looked wild natural conditions, suitable for galvanizing mental of new members.

"Don't take it into your heart! His assessment was hard, but actually, he has a really good heart," said the girl.

"Y-Yeah!"

Shella Rinjani, a contemporary woman with Kak Indra, a senior who always encouraged and listened to the complaints of other people attentively. A type of sister who can be depended on by her younger siblings. With the beauty of an oriental face, made her popular among men. It seems that many club members who join this Tae Kwon Do club were after for her.

Well, but that has nothing to do with me, anyway. Rather than chasing a girl, I prefer to looking for ways to become more manly a hundred times than now. As I said before, I have a short and small body. Because of this, many people often make a joke on me and call me 'midget' or 'dwarf'. It was hurt at first. But because I used to hear it, It doesn't bother me anymore.

Frequent harassment and bullying that had in the past made my mental become mushy. By the time my dark periods in middle school, I always yielded when my classmates or seniors bullied me. They often did it to me, made me an errand boy, or tricked me out only to become a laughingstock when they're bored. Of course, this heart wants to fight, but I don't have the strength to do so. Because even though I fight back, with my strength obviously I will still lose in the end.

For that reason, I wanted to change myself when entering high school. I tried to get in the martial club that had never come to my mind at all. I obediently follow every instruction and the materials given by the coach. Of course at first, it was very difficult to follow this club because of this weak body and stamina. But I'm very grateful because all the members of the Tae Kwon Do didn't bully me. Instead, they always gave me the passion and drive.

I was grateful for the bitter experience in junior high did not recur any more.

"Where's Dimas? And the others too?" said Kak Shella who suddenly pat on my shoulder from behind.

It shocked me, my mouth was accidentally issued shrill cries like a woman. Kak Indra suddenly squinted his gaze. Perhaps he felt disgusted with my voice.

I decided to ignore it and look at Kak Shella, "I don't know about the others. But, Dimas went to the river. He said he wanted to wash his clothes because earlier he had fallen into the mud puddle."

"Hmm, I see. I want to ask him to prepare dinner. If I'm not mistaken, he promised that he would help me cook. But in fact, he could cook, couldn't he? Not just blabbering?"

"Of course, he could. He's a son of a restaurateur. No need to ask his cooking quality. I assure you it tasted delicious." It looked like my answers removed her doubts."Need me to call him?"

"If possible, It would help me so much," Shella replied with a grin.

"Well, then I'll go."

"Watch Out! Make sure you're not be swallowed by a crocodile!" Kak Indra shouted. The existence of that animal was nearly impossible to be at the shallow river downstream, especially in the mountains. But his face was too serious to be considered as a joke.

I was a little intimidated and just nodded without answering, and quickly went away. A soft voice of laughter owned by Kak Shella can be heard. And it looks like she was hitting the captain for made me scared before.

Ignoring those two who chortled, I immediately left. Armed with my phone flashlight, I stepped carefully. The surroundings around me were very dark, I had to pay attention well where I walk if I don't want to fall. Besides rocky, this path is also filled with the roots of trees growing on both sides of the road.

Wrapped by fear, my head turned reflexively from side to side when there was a sound. Sometimes there was the sound of birds perched on a tree branch above me, and several times my ears caught howling sounds like a wolf. My cowardice made me cringe every time I hear an unknown sound. But then, I decided to fight my fear and accelerate my pace to find Dimas immediately.

The more I walked, the more I clearly heard the sound of water gurgling. A cold wind blew on the sidelines of the trees' trunks then tickled me. I folded both hands to keep warm and then ignored that breezy wind.

When the sound of the water to the point where I heard it very clear, I arrived at the edge of the river which is quite large. The flow of water was not too heavy, caused a fairly mellow voice harmony in this evening. This was an amazing calming place in the middle of the forest, I thought.

Immediately, my ears caught the sound of unusual water flow. The sound was harsh and different from the natural stream river. I turned towards the sound source. I could find torrential water falling from a piece of clothing that was squeezing by.

"Dimas!" I said to the person sitting on a rock. It is not too far from the river bank where I stand.

Whether my voice was too small or he was too focus on washing his clothes, he didn't hear me. I couldn't speak louder, so I walked closer and greeted him.

"Hey!" I said while touching his shoulder that wasn't covered by clothes.

Dimas little surprised because of my sudden coming. His face showed a little annoyed, but he held it back when saw the person who surprised him was me.

"Damn you! I'm surprised, you know!" He blurted out and splashed the river water to me. My shirt around the left chest got wet. After vent his frustration, he smiled slightly as his return succeed.

"Hey, why did you do it? I don't intend to do it before."

"Accidentally or not, you still scared me," said Dimas. Knowing I wouldn't reply to his words, he continued, "what are you doing here? If you just want to bother me, you should go away."

"You promised to help Kak Shella cook the dinner, didn't you? She called you."

"Ah, that's right! I almost forget. Okay, but wait after I finished washing my clothes first."

That boy threw his shirt back into the water and rubbed it with a stone on the dirty part. Once clean, he repeated at the other dirty parts.

I sat on a rock located on the river banks and wait for Dimas. His upper body was not wearing anything, so I can clearly observe it from behind. He had good arm and back muscle, although not perfect as Kak Indra's, begun to form beautifully like an athlete. He had an ideal body shape that I greatly dreamed of.

Then I saw my own arm. Skinny, not muscular, even frail. It seems to chase him, I still have to through long and storied ways. Realizing it, made me laugh to myself.

"Hey ... you're crazy, huh ?! Why did you laugh to yourself?" Dimas sneered when he heard the sound of my laughter.

Slightly blushed, I bowed my face."No. I just laughed at myself."

That boy looked at me strangely. Then he burst out laughing and shook his head. Looked like I had to admit Kak Shella's words, Dimas was quite charming when he smiled. Although I'm a guy, I couldn't deny it. No wonder many women pursued him at the school.

Come up one point that I envied him. This person named Dimas Permana is actually my childhood friend. He had an oval face and a super sharp nose like an Arabian man. Maybe he inherited it from his grandfather who Yemenis. His height could be proud of for the size of teenagers who just entering high school.

He may be not so clever in the academic field. But when it comes to non-academic, he can't be underestimated. In the field of athletics and sports, he has always been a champion among the other students. Dimas also had qualified martial arts skills. He used to pursue pencak silat (2), then shifted to wushu, and now he trying to enter the world of taekwondo.

Suddenly crossed an idea that tickled my mind. If Dimas fight against Kak Indra, who will win, huh?

"When I first met you, I thought you were a strange child. But now I'm sure, you've got more strange today!" he said, laughing.

Although sometimes his words sound harsh, his heart isn't like that. I dare to say it. Because he always stands up for me when I'm being bullied. As for me, he is a superhero like in the movies.

"Let's go back! I want to change my clothes!" said Dimas after finished washing his shirt. "I hope this shirt could be dry tomorrow morning."

I nodded slowly. He went down from the top of the rock. His hands holding wet clothes that he had just washed. Then walked along the edge of the river with an open upper body. It's surely quite extreme when the wind blew with breezy. Not to mention the cold of the night at the mountains which always at a low temperature. That might not mean anything for Dimas. But for me, it was enough to make limp and lost consciousness.

Directly behind him, I walk carefully. The leg length difference between us, made our distance widened several times. Instead of asking him to adjust my pace, I would try to equalize the speed. A quick walk over small stones on the river bank was quite difficult. I almost lost my balance because of the stone that I step on, then slipped to the side. I purposely didn't tell Dimas so he won't consider me too weak. While at the same time trying not to worry him too much.

Suddenly, my eyes inadvertently caught a golden flash from the riverbed. Then I stopped and tried to observe carefully. Somehow I'm very curious about this. There's a possibility that was a light reflection from metal. But soon I get rid that thought. Although that was a metal, it's impossible to reflect light when there wasn't enough light source. The forest was quite dark. The lighting in here only from my cell phone flashlight and the dim moonlight, which I think was very weak to penetrate to the bottom of the river.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Dimas, noticed me who halted in silent. But I ignored him. A few moments later, the light was shining again. This time was quite bright and clear, to made me believe that it wasn't a mere hallucination.

"Hey! Did you see that light?" I said, pointing to the mysterious light that is now gone.

"Light!? Hmm ... no. I didn't see anything."

I could see the seriousness expression on his face. Dimas was playful, but because it has been a long time with him, I could tell when he was joking or serious. The light was once again sparkling, but still, Dimas admitted to not see it.

It was quite strange. Because I could see it very clearly. A second later, I don't know what's on my mind, I'm trying to get into the river after removing my footwear. By heeding the warning Dimas who kept yelling, it automatically brings me out from his liability if something happens. My feet feel the cold water of the river and the sharp rock surfaces at the same time. Gently, I keep coming toward the golden light which is glowing repeatedly.

The more I walked towards the middle of the river, the riverbed became deeper and starting to swallow me. The water was wetting my back and chest. I never thought about the river would be this deep. Curiosity helped me defeat my fears and made me go forward. Step by step, the distance between that glowing flash and I was decreasing. Looked like it didn't take a long time to—.

Suddenly, I lost my balance due to a miscalculation. I didn't think the next leg footing much deeper than before. Flows were quite heavy in the middle of the river, made me sank to the bottom. I tried flapping my hands and kicking the riverbed to get back to the surface. My breath was getting tight every second as if there was something choked my neck. At that time I just realized, I couldn't swim.

I kept trying and trying my best to get back afloat. But it was useless. At the time I thought that the riverbed was my deathbed, suddenly there was something that keeps me surviving for a minute longer. Just when I was at the bottom of the river, my eyes fixed on something. It was a shimmering golden light source before. The riverbed was so dark, I couldn't see anything other than the light. With some difficulty, I tried to bring my body closer towards the light.

But something was holding me to reach it. A large force pulling me up. When I reversed my body, I found Dimas who is trying to save me. That guy forcefully pulled me up. I gave a little fight back. It doesn't mean I don't want him to save me. However, it's because I wanted to get something that was almost accomplished with my own abilities. I reached my hand out to grasp the light. But not even slightest my fingertips reached it. Until the end, Dimas used all his power to bring me back to the surface.

"Hahh ... hah."

In a few seconds later, I'm breathing as much as possible after afloat to the river surface. Then Dimas dragged me to the riverbank in order to get away from the place that nearly lost my life.

I crouched on the ground and start coughing. But it's still better than got drowned forever in the dark riverbed. I was lucky enough to be still alive. If Dimas didn't help me, perhaps this time I—.

"You idiot !!! What do you think you did back there!!?" Dimas snapped with a loud voice. "Why did you challenged the danger? Did you think you have many lives? Or you think I will always be here for you and help you, huh? What if I was not here? You would already dead right now !!"

His remarks rattled my heart. But he was right. It's all my fault. I'm ashamed. So bashful and sorry to Dimas who was always good to me. Everything that happens made me bowed my head and could only say a word, "sorry!"

After that, no words come out from Dimas's mouth. He just looked at me with a look of pity. Then scratched his head and sighed. "Oh, whatever! The important thing is you're safe and sound now. Let's get back to the camp and dried off." He reversed his body while grumbling. "Damn! Not only clothes, but my whole body is all wet!"

When he walked away, I started raising my head. Honestly, I'm very grateful to him. Thanks for saved me before, and sorry for made you worry, I said.

After making sure the boy is a bit far away from me, I opened my hand. In the palm of my right hand, there was a polygon-shaped small object with an octagonal star carving. It has two opposite sides. One side was bulging part with such writing ancient characters. Meanwhile, on the other side was the flat part, where there was a small hook and a needle. Is this sort of a pin?

I observed it more carefully and summed up. No doubt, this is the source of the mysterious light that seen before in the riverbed. I'm very sure of that. Because after I took this thing, I don't see the golden sparkle from there anymore. It made me wonder, this thing was no longer shining after I lifted it to the surface. As if it gave a signal to me to took it out of the riverbed and made it mine.

"Really, what is this?"

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(1) In Indonesia, the word 'Kak' is used to refers to elder siblings. It can also be used to refers to seniors.

(2) Pencak Silat is the indigenous martial art of Indonesia.

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