Mysterious Figure

Custom clothing. Which custom? His face is invisible. What mask is that? It feels like he's not an ordinary person. Jin? The devil? The devil? Strangely, I'm calmer and more comfortable now. It was like it never happened, it's gone. My body is light.

Elia looked around, she could already see the dining room of the Melianor Mansion as usual. The contents of the room were still the same as before, there was food on the table, complete with plates, and leftovers on it. The room was no different at all. Now, the effect is even more familiar, calm, and safe. There was no sign of a supernatural attack. Is this the devil's trickery?

Time seems to be at a standstill here, Elia's mind. Still in a sense of amazement, Elia stood with her legs that previously felt heavy as if restrained by hundreds of tons of chains with iron pendulums.

"It's okay if you think so," the voice of someone Elia had seen was surprising, this person is unusual-looking.

"Who are you?"

"People call me Dalang. You can also call me that," the voice spoke humbly.

Dalang? I've heard, but only heard. What is it?

Elia tried to search through her limited knowledge.

Does this mean that I'm getting karma because I don't care about traditional art?

Elia lowered her head. She tried to remember the meaning of the Dalang, somewhere in her knowledge dictionary. The name stuck very deeply in a place forgotten by her.

"It doesn't matter if you don't know what and who is Dalang. I came just to talk," said Dalang.

Dalang picked out a chair and told Elia to sit down with his hands. His subtle movements made Elia choke on her saliva because Elia felt a gravitational pull that she could not resist. If he's a devil, it seems like now I understand what the devil bondage that's talked about in the movies is, it's so riveting.

"Why is grandpa wearing a mask?" Elia asked after sitting in the chair.

"This is my favorite," replied Dalang without touching his mask. He folded his palm over his flat stomach. The polite attitude that Elia rarely encountered automatically made Elia clumsy and tried to find balanced modesty.

"Just sit back as usual," said Dalang without judging Elia.

As usual, what's that like? In front of him as if the decency I knew was meaningless, Elia awkwardly ended up remaining herself.

"Isn't the musical going to stop?"

Elia turned to the side of the empty room but it felt like there was a band of music players there.

"No, as long as I'm here Gamelan and Sinden accompany our conversation."

Dalang then explains what Gamelan is and what Sinden is to Elia for Elia to understand.

After hearing Dalang's reply, Elia felt an incredible awkwardness, rising to a dramatic level. The gap between them was not just a matter of age, but the wingit aura of the person in front of Elia made her unable to assess the situation she was experiencing.

Am I in danger or safe now? Why didn't there feel a threat from him, at the same time there was no doubt I believed him. Behind the mask, what was his real face like?

Even the way he walks, the way he moves his hands, everything is very... unusual. The softness was different from the tenderness I had felt all along. Is this a threat that doesn't feel like a threat? The real softness is a murder weapon?

Elia who was still confused could only lower her head.

"Why do you always think about murder?"

Elia stuttered with that sudden question.

Can he read my mind?

"I don't know why, I just remember a few horror scenes in the movies, after the sound of Sinden, there were usually demons that were after human lives."

Elia then shook her heart, I shouldn't be surprised if he could read my mind. The people here are not human.

"Then do you think the story in the movie that you remember is true?"

Elia's heart trembled and the nape of her neck got goosebumps.

"I've always doubted all that," Elia replied quickly as if she didn't want a sword to float out from nowhere and slash it or an arrowhead as in colossal movies, released by someone from somewhere in the distance like a sniper in modern times simply because the answer had insulted an ancestor.

"I don't know. That's why I doubt all the information in the movie. It seems that in the film no science can be applied in everyday life even though there are similarities with life," said Elia for the first time at length about her opinion about the film that she had been holding tight, it was because she thought people would have difficulty accepting her opinion. She will be attacked as a hater of A or B directors who direct horror film projects with local content but stray from history.

Why did he only see me through the mask's eye hole? I'm talking to ghosts. Is he a ghost? It's also strange. What does he want from me?

"What do you want from me?"

Elia stopped herself from asking emotionally. Elia was shocked to the point of covering her mouth with her fingers. She didn't want to be confined to the terror of Sinden's voice that was like sucking her blood.

Meanwhile, Dalang was silent. There was no sign of moving from his perfect attitude from the start. The only thing that was a sign that Dalang was still there was the sound of gamelan blasing faintly from the magical room. Elia took a deep breath and decided to get used to the incongruity.

Is he still breathing? Elia mischievously observed the masked face and Dalang's entire body. She noticed that Dalang's shoulders were not up and down like ordinary humans. So calm, that it was invisible how he took his breath, Elia's mind.

"What do you want in life, Elia?"

The question that suddenly came from someone who had previously been like the statue made Elia's consciousness fall. Elia's heart was unsustainable. The voice was like being asked from another realm, jolting all her life experiences.

"What do I want?"

Why is that question being asked? Why didn't he just answer my question? Elia was irritated inwardly but did not dare to reveal it.

"I'm not dealing with material desires. I'm just dealing with the one here," Dalang said with his index finger landing where the heart was.

What's he talking about? Elia asked herself.

"My life?"

Elia pondered, exasperated inwardly, but also sad. No one has ever asked like that before. Why should a stranger like him ask me?

"Just think carefully, don't get frustrated," said Dalang with no more inner voice, now becoming lighter like a friend. The change made Elia feel a feeling she had never felt before.

So far, no one can sincerely be considered a friend. Even if there were a few people nearby, they used to spend time alone, for fun, but deep down, Elia knew, Elia never felt a close connection with them emotionally.

Elia didn't care if they were just using her money or were being completely sincere with her. The fact is that more people talk to her, people who claim to be friends with her are never there when needed. They come when they need to. They tease her when they need someone else as the target of their dissatisfaction with their life situation.

Elia knew, sometimes she was the object of deflation. But, Elia also used them as a place of venting, so Elia thought it all broke even.

Now, in front of her, an unknown person whose appearance looked more like a magic trick asked about what she wanted to do in life?

The figure who claimed to be named Dalang also spoke in a friendly tone, a tone that may have been sorely missed by Elia all along, which was stored in her subconscious.

That tone stunned Elia. This was the first time Elia had seriously thought about the question posed to her. Normally, she would be indifferent, flip the body and leave the person asking like that. For her all this time, things related to the philosophy of life were not important. One only needs to live life every day, there is no need to think about the purpose of one's existence. For what? Sooner or later it will die.

Elia played her fingers on the table. She glanced at the fruits that were still intact on the table. They invited her.

"Can I think while eating?"

Dalang simply moved her hand to allow Elia to do what she wanted. Elia jumped slightly in her chair. She picked up an apple.

"Are you my guardian angel?"

Elia became more relaxed now when she could move an apple paring knife and think a little in a positive direction.

Dalang did not answer.

"If you weren't my guardian what does that mean to a supernatural guide? I've watched youTube talk about this. That's the term, ah forget! What's that like? I've been here a few days and have experienced some strange events, so am I dealing with my guide?"

Elia asked like that while cutting an apple, taking a piece, and chewing it. Until Elia finished eating one apple, Dalang still did not answer Elijah's questions. Elia took a short breath and exhaled it quickly.

"So who exactly is all of this? What do you want from me? Why ask what I want in my life? What if my answer is just want money, wealth, and fun?!"

Elia said everything at a fairly high volume. After that, Elia felt somewhat regretful. You shouldn't speak in a high tone to a newly met person. Is he the teacher I forgot?