Chapter 5: First Person POV

I watched as the dark sky was adorned with beautiful stars, the night wind slipping through the window and brushing against my skin.

In front of me, a fire was blazing. Not too large, as it only served as a source of warmth. In my hands, the little turtle was resting comfortably.

I turned towards Syafina, who was now asleep in the corner of the room, her face appearing peaceful as she slept. It seemed as though all her stress had vanished with the setting sun.

I pulled my phone from my pocket; it was still in decent condition, though a bit cracked. It didn't matter, as long as it still worked.

I turned it on, noticing the time—11 PM. Time passed so quickly, a reminder that the world keeps moving, even during such destruction. It felt like yesterday was normal, and today had shattered everything.

I was reminded of the fire at my house. I wanted to believe that it never happened. That my grandmother was safe, and standing in front of me again.

But I knew that was impossible.

Still, a small part of me refused to accept this reality.

Losing someone is always heavy, even if they aren't a blood relative. Especially when that person is the only pillar you have in life.

I stared at the sword I had placed beside me. Its design was beautiful, with a carved wooden handle. It looked like a Kris design, except for the blade.

"Bayu,"

I quickly turned to find Syafina had woken up and was walking toward me. She sat on the other side of the campfire.

"Why?" I asked. Why had Syafina suddenly woken up?

"Not sleeping? It's okay, we can take turns. I've already slept, so you should sleep now," Syafina replied.

Oh, right.

I had forgotten that I hadn't slept at all. The fear of encountering a creature like we did earlier today kept me awake.

Right now, we were inside a building that still stood strong, but was full of cracks.

"Not yet, I'm not sleepy," I said.

"Okay."

I then glanced at the little turtle in my hands, amused to see it resting there. Was this turtle really the pet of the shop owner we encountered earlier? But isn't there a rule about keeping turtles in this country?

Ah, never mind, it's not my problem. But I still found it odd. Why would the owner leave this turtle behind like that?

Oh, what kind of turtle is this, anyway?

I carefully examined the small turtle, which I estimated to be a juvenile. I observed its shape and color.

"Elseya Branderhorsti."

I turned to look at Syafina, who had suddenly answered. "Elseya what?"

"Elseya Branderhorsti. They're commonly called Branderhorst's snake-necked turtles. They mostly live in Papua," Syafina explained before continuing.

"That's why I'm kind of confused why someone would keep this kind of turtle. They are a protected species. But, I'm not sure if this turtle is the one I mentioned, because Elseya Branderhorsti lives in water, mostly in Papua, not Jakarta. But it does have similar characteristics."

Wow.

No wonder Syafina always ranked high in school.

"You know things like this?" I chuckled, realizing how much I had fallen behind in knowledge compared to Syafina.

"I just read a lot of books," she said.

I nodded in understanding. The little turtle in my hands moved, seemingly waking up. It was funny how expressive this turtle was, almost like a human.

"Wait, is it sleeping again?" I muttered in surprise. The turtle woke up just to change positions, then fell asleep again.

"I didn't know if turtles could do that. But it's funny," Syafina said, watching the turtle.

Yeah, this turtle is cute.

"Let's just call it Bolang."

Syafina looked stunned, probably surprised by my suggestion for the turtle's name.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you said this turtle comes from Papua. But now it's here in Jakarta. So I named it Bolang. The Adventurous Kid."

Syafina still seemed stunned, but I guess it was fine.

Hmm, I suddenly felt like listening to some music. It's become a habit, I always listen to music before doing anything, except when sleeping.

I took out my phone and opened the music app. I glanced at Syafina, "Syaf, is it okay if I play some music?"

Syafina frowned but then nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. Play it, Bayu. It'll help us relax."

I finally chose a song called "Duka" by the Indonesian band Last Child. For some reason, this song felt perfect for the moment.

Even though the song is about deep sadness from losing someone they love, I wasn't feeling heartbroken. I had never experienced love, as I was too busy studying and forgot to socialize with the world.

The good side of that was that I didn't easily get swept away by emotions. The bad side, however, was that I became awkward when interacting with new people.

I closed my eyes, letting the lyrics of the song sink in.

After a moment, I opened my eyes again and saw that Syafina seemed to be enjoying the song too. That's good, I didn't have to worry about her being annoyed.

I sighed.

The song finished and stopped. I intentionally didn't continue to the next song because I just wanted to hear one song.

Besides, I had a bad feeling.

I put my phone away, checking its battery first before storing it. There was still plenty of battery, as I rarely used my phone.

Bolang, the turtle in my pocket, suddenly moved, and I could sense that it was startled by something. I didn't know what, but I could feel it.

[Warning, Bayu!]

I flinched. What's happening now?

I quickly put Bolang back in my pocket and stood up, grabbing my sword. Syafina, although confused by my sudden actions, stood up as well and grabbed her bow.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. Syafina's bow doesn't use real arrows. I was also confused, and Syafina said she didn't know how it worked. She said when she drew the string and shot, arrows just appeared.

It was magical, though a mystery. But it was really helpful.

"Syafina, did you get a warning message?" I asked. Syafina shook her head in response.

Okay, this is weird.

Why did I get a warning, but Syafina didn't?

Suddenly, the room we were in shook violently, as if it had been hit by something large. Syafina and I nearly fell to the floor.

I heard loud footsteps, quickly turning around. "Run! Get out of here!"

Syafina and I immediately started running to get out of the room. Just moments after we started running, the wall beside our campfire collapsed as it was hit.

A huge, terrifying creature—perfectly fitting the description of a monster.

"Shit!"

Syafina and I found ourselves at a dead end. The front of the shop was filled with the creatures we encountered earlier. There were too many of them, and we were outnumbered.

I turned to look behind me, watching the creature start to move.

Honestly, the creature was massive. Like an elephant, but without a trunk and with very strange eyes. It was tall, but not more than two meters.

Bolang moved in my pocket, and our eyes met. For some reason, I felt like Bolang was giving me encouragement and confidence.

I took a deep breath and then turned to Syafina. I saw her face, showing signs of fear and anxiety.

"Syafina," I called. Syafina turned to me, her panic clear on her face.

"Trust me. We'll make it out of here alive."

Syafina bit her lip, trying to suppress the doubts and fear that were trying to take over her. I understood, because even now, my legs were shaking with fear.

But my will to survive was stronger.

"Aren't you scared, Bayu?" Syafina's question made me pause for a moment, but I quickly snapped back to reality.

"Better to die fighting than die for nothing," I said, tightening my grip on the sword's handle. "Just like how the heroes fought for Indonesia's independence."

I turned to Syafina. "Your idols are Martha Christina Tiahahu and Nyi Ageng Serang, right?" I asked. Syafina nodded in response. "Now, imagine you're fighting for Indonesia."

Syafina stood still, seemingly processing my words deeply.

I turned to face the giant creature, preparing myself before charging forward.

I ran to the left, dodging the creature's attacks. Its arms were quite agile, meaning I had to be faster and more agile than the creature.

I leaped onto one of the shelves, cutting off one of the creature's arms that was reaching for me. The creature howled in pain, and it seemed that its weakness was its arms.

I kept running and jumping from one shelf to the next. Fortunately, the ceiling of this building was high enough that I didn't have to worry about hitting it.

I held my pocket, fearing that Bolang might fall out. I didn't know when it happened, but I had started to care for this little turtle.

I dodged, the creature's relentless attacks forcing me to jump off the shelves and run in a circle.

The sound of an arrow being shot briefly distracted me. Apparently, Syafina was helping. It seemed that my words had influenced her.

Oh shit—I was cornered.

I was stuck in the corner of the room, and there was no way out because the creature was blocking my escape. Was this the end for me? What about Bolang? Or Syafina?

In those final moments when I was ready to give up, a familiar voice echoed.

[Revolution successful, activating shield forcefully!]

A holographic shield suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking the creature's final attack that was about to kill me.

I jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of the shield. Where did it come from? What was that voice? This is too sudden, where did this come from—

Then, I heard the voice again.

['Wind Manipulation' ability gained!]

"What is—"

Suddenly, my body felt light, and in an instant, I was lifted into the air. Confusion and panic hit me as I struggled to understand what was happening.

"Eh, eh?! Hey, put me down!" I panicked, realizing that I could move faster.

Oh right, I almost forgot.

Another attack was launched at me, making me instinctively dodge. Amazingly, I was able to dodge faster, even though the attack was quick.

"Eh, ouch!" I hit the ceiling, making my head hurt. I quickly focused on dodging every attack that came my way.

Wow, this is awesome. Now I can fly.

Flying wasn't as easy as it seemed in movies, though. It was difficult to maintain balance while continuously dodging attacks.

"Bayu!"

I saw Syafina, looking shocked at seeing me fly. I could clearly see her shocked expression. This kid sure is expressive.

I signaled that I was fine before turning around. I couldn't let the creature target Syafina.

"Take care of Bolang for me," I said, handing her the turtle, who was still in shock.

I focused back on the creature. Okay, it's big, its attack speed is decent, but its movements are slow. A fatal flaw—if it were faster, it might be a different story.

I charged forward, dodging its many hands. I targeted its eyes, immediately thrusting my sword into one of them. Black blood splattered, and I quickly pulled back, not wanting to get hit.

The creature howled in pain. I pulled my sword out and retreated, not wanting to give it a chance to counterattack. I cut off its hands as much as I could. The lightness of my body helped a lot.

The creature howled in pain, and began attacking without direction.

Arrows shot towards it, hitting its other eye. As expected, Syafina's accuracy was amazing.

I didn't just stand there. I landed on the creature's head. With confidence, I tore through its skin, letting its blood spill out. I then stabbed it deep until my sword was almost buried inside it.

The creature howled loudly before twitching and finally going still. I pulled my sword out and jumped down, avoiding the falling body as it collapsed.

I was panting heavily, the proof that taking down this creature drained a lot of energy. I held my head, grimacing from the pain that was returning to my head.

I was shocked when Syafina suddenly grabbed me and started running toward the broken wall. "What's going on?!"

"They're chasing us, Yu!"

I turned to look behind me and saw that the creatures outside were trying to get in. It was clear they were targeting us.

"Run!"

Syafina and I ran aimlessly. We were clearly being chased. Well, we were being chased, to be exact.

The pain returned to my head, and I winced, unable to ignore the intense pain in my head. I collapsed to the ground, sitting and holding my head.

"Bayu!" Syafina stopped, turned around, and checked on me. "What's wrong? Can you still run?"

I shook my head. "Syafina, you should run. Just leave me here, hurry!"

"Are you crazy? There's no way I'd leave my own friend behind!"

The creatures were getting closer, yet we still hadn't moved. My body felt weak, my energy completely drained from the previous battle.

"Syafina, run. Don't worry about me, just go. Hurry, before we both die."

Syafina stayed silent, not responding to my words. Instead, she took a deep breath, stood up, and gripped her bow tightly.

"I'd rather die than live as someone who abandons others just to save myself," she said firmly, stepping past me.

"Syafina!" I turned my body toward her.

"I'm not someone who just relies on protection without giving something in return."

Syafina took a deep breath, then aimed her bow. Her eyes shut for a moment as if she was reciting every prayer she could.

Then, something happened.

A light emerged from the darkness of the night, descending from the sky and illuminating Syafina. Her white bow began to glow, and a crimson arrow appeared on its string.

She pulled the bowstring back, her expression filled with certainty. Then, she released the arrow.

It shot forward like a blazing light, burning like an inferno. The arrow swiftly pierced through the creatures in its path, setting them ablaze.

Their agonized screams and roars echoed painfully through the night.

Syafina didn't stop. She kept firing arrow after arrow until no enemies remained.

I stood frozen, mesmerized by what I had just witnessed.

What exactly was happening to us?