Memories of a Thousand Years
Surprise

Danu and Rinaya are preoccupied with playing archery. Sometimes Rinaya asks Danu to accompany her to practice the sword. Only by using a wooden sword. Danu happily complies with all her wishes until the sun is tilted to the west.

"You're so great. Balapati Wiriya's student."

"Miss. I think you're better."

"Haha what's that word also you learned from it?"

"No. It's just me."

Someone ran from the end of the road. Hurried and breathless as if chased by something very terrible. "Lake. Something happened in the village." He screams still in his flight.

"Tio. Why such a hurry. What happened?" ask Danu Wonder.

Tio "I asked Balapati to ask you to take her friend there and see the situation."

Rinaya "What's up?"

Tio "As per the direction, we checked all the wells. We found something in it. You better just look there."

Not yet finished he spoke Rinaya had already run towards the place where he intended to leave them both.

Tio "And is he that important to Balapati? He looks just like us."

"We'll never know what Balapati thinks. Already have. Let's go there." Answer Danu

***

Pradhika Wiriya was with the residents surrounding a well. Cadaver lay stiff. With a character that is not foreign to him. Haris saw that. So did Mr. Baskara Wiriya. Dhika looked at him more thoroughly. The body is not intact. It looks so horrible. It even stinks around it. Haris was gone from there. Don't want to see her again. That horrible thing might have been expecting.

"Let's talk to the others." Said Mr. Baskara.

But Dhika's still there. Someone broke through the crowd. "Excuse me. Please give way."

Dhika knew that voice. Rinaya's.

"What's going on. Balapati?" Rinaya asked after seeing something lying there.

"As you may have guessed. There's something in the well."

The stinging smell was still circling the corpse. Rinaya. Black people. Red eyes. That feature is still visible from him. Some body parts have disappeared from it.

"Dhika, this feature.....??" Rinaya looked at Dhika who was staring there.

"I wish all your guesses this time were wrong." His eyes vibrate. He realized something. Things he's been meeting with all this time. And some of the theories Rinaya once spoke of made him even more confident in one guess. Someone is opening a hole that has been buried many times.

"I hope so, too." replied Rinaya.

Danu just arrived with Tio. Instantly Danu was pensive to see something terrible. He just kept silent not daring to ask.

"I'll discuss this with the others. Danu, stay with him."

Danu nodded. His forehead is still folded. "Miss, what's going on?" He whispered. Rinaya didn't answer that. He was still rolling his eyes looking for something he might have missed.

A wooden bucket filled with murky well water. He approached her seeing the bucket stick. Something is still swimming among them. "Andu, have you studied the science of falsehood?"

Danu nodded "It's over."

Rinaya "You can put your energy in your hands?"

Danu nodded again. "Of course it can be "

Tio "That kind of question. Of course we can do it. That's the basic science that must be learned from the beginning to enter the field." The learning system at the Wiriya school was already implementing it early on. No wonder these people become great people. Moreover, Dhika knows very well the history of why the science should be studied.

"Andu, give me your hand" cried Rinaya.

He took the bucket and poured it into Danu's hand which formed a bowl. "Eeeeuhuhh....Do I have to do this."

Rinaya just kept observing the water. "Try to flow your energy to this water."

Danu did all his orders. Slowly the murky water changed slightly in color. The black maggots that really disappeared for a long time. Fused with water and then vanished.

Tio "Lohs... What happened to the water. Why is it like that?" In wonder Tio looked at Rinaya who was still thinking about something. Rinaya didn't answer that.

Rinaya "Tio's. I'm giving you a job. Let's just say this is the job of balapati. So you have to do it."

Tio "Ha??"

Rinaya "Check all the wells in this village. Do something like that. See if there is a difference or not. Yep!!. I leave it to you." Immediately and without explanation. Rinaya left that place.

Tio "heh where are you going? I don't want to do that. That's so gross." He shouted as Rinaya ran away from the place

Danu "Tio's. Better follow his orders. I think balapati believed it because of that." Sure oes. They saw it too. Without a long time Rinaya can find something that others may not know. Danu goes after Rinaya.

Rinaya walked quickly towards the mountain slope. Where the springs flow. Although it's quite far. He has to go there and make sure of himself. Danu was still following from behind. "Miss. What are we looking for here?" Danu asked shortly after arriving. But Rinaya didn't hear that. He turned his head in every direction looking for something that might be suspicious.

"And you see anything strange here?" Rinaya asked still looking over here and there.

"No. It's very clean here. Even ants are invisible."

"Yes, that's a weird thing for me."

Something looks yellow. Just a little. A paper overlaid on a rock is quite large. Rinaya was curious about that. He lifted the stone. Something is written in paper. He didn't recognize her. Can't read it. "Lake. Lookatthis. Do you know what this writing is?"

"It's some kind of spell paper. But I don't know what the spell is. I just saw him for the first time"

"Paper spell?" Rinaya thought of a few things. He's seen something similar to this. Like something stuck to a sacred tree. And the one that Bayu had brought. "Wood??"

Rinaya immediately ran back to the village hall. He quickly entered the treatment room. There was only one patient and one nurse who was pacing back and forth with her busyness.

Rinaya approached one of the sleeping patients.

Danu "eemm... What exactly are you looking for, miss?"

Rinaya took off the patient's sleeve. Ensure something. Some visible lumps. Like a skin disease. He also examined his body, neck and opened his eyes. The color of his eyes does not look healthy. It was natural but it felt strange to Rinaya. The patient's tears are not as clear as usual. It should not be affected. This is really a strange thing. Rinaya was more and more convinced by his conjecture.

"And you, flow your energy into this patient. I want to see his reaction."

Danu did as he ordered. Holding the patient's arm and draining that energy. Slowly the energy is like propagating into the patient's arm. Rinaya continued to pay attention to the exama. Somethinghappened. The lump on the patient's arm slowly shrinks. But still not lost.

Rinaya stood up and called for a nurse. "Ah. Pee, excuse me."

A nurse looked over. He was feeding other patients. "Yes sir?"

"Can I ask for help? I want to borrow the patient's medical records. About symptoms. Physical and other signs."

"Sorry sir it's not allowed to outsiders."

"But this is an order from the physician and balapati. They must be waiting for me for that note."

Danu frowned. He knew Rinaya was lying. Balapati didn't ask for that. And the physician. He hasn't even seen her again. But Danu was silent.

"Good sir. I'll get it first."

"Eh tea. Rinaya pulled the nurse's arm. Which kitchen is next door? I'd like to check the food and water used."

"On the left of the south gate sir."

"Thank you. Take the notes there. I'm waiting there."

"Good sir"

Rinaya immediately ran into the kitchen. Danu is still following. Rinaya checked all the food and water there.

"Hm... Missy. What exactly are you looking for. And... Why did you lie."

"Lake. Did you see anything weird here? Help me find him."

Danu did that immediately. Although the question was never answered. He can only trust her.

"Miss! Right here. There's more spell paper." Danu tilted a large pitcher filled with a little water. The bottom of the jug was attached to a yellow paper inscribed with something. Rinaya. Take a little water it "Give me your hand" he told Danu as before. Rinaya poured the water into Danu's hands. "Do it like that."

"Eh. Nothing happened. The water remains the same. Clean. It's even very clean." Danu said after doing his orders.

Someone came into the kitchen. Rinaya is still sculpting. His mind is still on. "Sir" exclaimed a nurse who had just entered. Instantly he realized that

"This is his note" he handed Rinaya a book. Then get out of there.

Rinaya opened the book and sighed. "I don't understand the writing"

"Hm. Ms....? Aren't you going to answer all my questions?"

"Lake. I need your help. Let's find a comfortable place. My head is churning."

***

Rinaya and Danu return to where they all live in the village. Dylan was seen in front of the house. Sit on a bench. Folded hand. He lifted his head to the sky. I don't know what he's thinking.

Rinaya joined sitting there. So is Danu.

Dylan "Where have you been. Just like a ghost. Suddenly appeared suddenly and suddenly lost."

Rinaya "I am a ghost. What are you doing? The village is in an uproar you're daydreaming here."

Dylan "cz. Who do you think invented that before them."

Rinaya "Come. I don't care."

Danu "Hmm Miss...."

"I'm not sure yet. You'll know later. I'm sure you're starting to expect it." Rinaya's answer to Danu. Danu has not finished his sentence.

Danu "Is this so bad?"

"Of course." Answer lightly. "Please read the note." Continue to Danu. "Find out the origin. Early symptoms. Next symptoms. The action used."

Danu started to open and read the notebook. "The outbreak of the disease has been known since a month ago. When one of the wells starts to look cloudy. Symptoms of dizziness, nausea, vomiting."

Dylan "It's like regular poisoning."

Danu "a week later saw a rash all over the body. And lumps whose size varies. It feels itchy and hot."

Dylan "is like a skin disease caused by water fleas or something."

Danu "citizens stopped using well water and started using the water in the slope springs."

Rinaya "That's according to the orders of the Physician."

Danu "what do you think this doctor master is doing, Miss?"

Rinaya "There are things I don't understand. My guess was immediately fixed on something. But why didn't he realize this?"

Dylan "talk what you're talking about. I don't understand."

Rinaya "does someone who is already an expert in the science of bath can easily eliminate that ability?"

Dylan "The healer does he not have this knowledge?" Dylan doesn't know who he is. Neither Rinaya nor Dhika had told him. They keep on playing and call the baby 'master healer'.

Danu "oh I've never seen who he is. Missy. Who exactly is he?"

Rinaya "Jawab used to be my question."

Danu "Theoretically it might have happened but it couldn't have disappeared entirely. It can be learned again even with more effort."

Rinaya "then why did she only use spell paper. He even kind of missed this one thing."

Dylan "cz. You always talk about things that only you can understand."

Rinaya "Dylan I asked. Did you ever investigate a case of a dead village on the Sunda-Mataram border. Reportedly one village died due to the plague. I think it was about fifty years ago."

Dylan "of course I know. I've been investigating this with Balapati."

Rinaya "Is there anything in common? With what's happening now."

Dylan was pensive. "The information about it is very confidential. Not many people know. Only me and Balapati managed to figure it out. And... There are similarities."

Rinaya "what's it like?"

Dylan "Polluted water, poisoning, skin diseases. And there's a note I don't understand. But Balapati like know the contents. He never talked about it with anyone. Including me."

Rinaya immediately ran away from the house. As powerful. The village road is quite crowded. Many people came from other villages to help. But that's not what stopped Rinaya from taking her step. His head turned. The surrounding voice increasingly noisy disturbed his mind. People passing by made him dizzy. Something called him again. "Nirmala! Rinaya! Princesses!" The longer it gets louder and the more it sinks into a state. He held his head and lowered. Sitting there. The sound of that voice still did not go away. He closed both his ears. "Don't bother me!"

"Don't bother me!" The anxiety did not go away either. He should see Balapati soon. He's standing right there. Don't mind all that. Trying to focus. But he lost his way. Everyone looks scary in his eyes. That guy's guy. Those who have died. As if present and blame him for their deaths. A familiar face. Starting with his family. Grandpa Sapta. Wijaya Family. Halimun and, Mr. Budhi. All of them appeared with blood on their bodies. Rinaya knows this is just an illusion. But he's hard to get rid of. Her tears are flowing. He just wants to see Dhika. He kept trying to run.

Dhika appeared in front of him. Stand up without expression. He was relieved to finally be able to meet Dhika.  But Rinaya momentarily realized. Blood slowly came out from Dhika's eyes. His clothes slowly changed color like streams of blood flowing from his body. It's still an illusion. But this is the most horrible thing for him. He could not imagine Dhika would experience that. He didn't want Dhika to experience that. He was afraid something was really happening to him. His sight began to fade. Slowly it gets dark. That last sighting left him unconscious. Rinaya is drowning.

Danu who had been chasing since then immediately supported Rinaya's body. Everyone on the street looked at him with a strange look. Like seeing someone lose their mind. Screaming themselves. Groped itself. Crying themselves.

***

In a room in the village hall. Pradhika Wiriya, Baskara Wiriya, Galih Wijaya, Haris Wijaya and a village chief there discussed what they found in the well. The village chief didn't know that. Even he was terrified hearing that. Something must have been intentional.

Haris "From the features we see no longer wrong. They still exist. But why only appear now when we've been in a scene with the girl's presence. Don't let this have anything to do with it.

Baskara "we came here to help the people. Another is the next priority."

Haris "Of course. That is the word that will be approved by Balapati Wiriya.  But to me, everything is my priority. I can't let the same thing happen again.

Dhika just shut up and listened.

The village chief "What this master sir means I don't understand."

Dhika "My village chief apologizes, I'm worried that even this matter is much bigger."

The village chief "What does that mean?"

Dhika "Given what Mr. Wijaya said. It may have something to do with Nirmala but. For the past fifteen years I have always investigated similar cases like in this village. Our country has been hit by several outbreaks of disease, some of which cannot be cured. In the end one village became a village to die for it. Do you all remember anything? There's one village on the border that's going through the same thing?"

Baskara "Dhika is impossible......"

Dhika "Because of the bodies we found. Looks like, we should investigate this further. Worrying will be like the village before.

Galih frowned. Balapati does not usually speak at length. The few times he had met her before he had never been like this. Something related to Nirmala, she always raised her voice and spoke in more detail.

Someone knocked on the door. Danu came in and looked down respectfully at everyone. Then whispered beside Balapati's ear. Dhika's face instantly turned anxious. But of course only Mr. Baskara can see that.

Dhika "Excuse me." Without saying a reason. Dhika just left. Haris who saw that grew suspicious. Ask her what she is hiding.

It's dark. Rinaya is still lying on the bed. Danu was still accompanying him, as were Dhika and Dylan.

Dylan "What is he really sick?"

Dhika "Danu, what happened to her earlier?"

Danu shook her head "I don't understand either. He ran. Suddenly stop. And look around him. His face looks scared. Then he he yelled yelled someone was bothering him. After that he was unconscious."

Dylan's "'madman' disease' he's referring to is this?"

Dhika "Andu made her some warm tea for her to drink. I think he needs that drug."

Dylan "hm... That's why he insisted he wanted the cure back?"

Slowly Rinaya opened her eyes.

Dhika "You okay?"

Rinaya "This room is full of fireflies. My head feels heavy."

Danu brought a tray of warm tea for her to drink. Rinaya sat on her bed. Something in his shirt bag. Taking some of his medicinal pills. And lean there.

Dylan "you're crying?"

"Ah. I think I'm dreaming." Answer Rinaya

Dhika "Dream about what?"

"The past."

Dhika "when have you been like this?"

Rinaya "What's it like? Like a madman? Haha"

Dylan "Everybody's worried about you and you can still laugh."

Rinaya "a. I'm fine. No need to worry."

Dhika "you don't want to answer that?"

Dhika was sharply staring at Rinaya. Makes him feel uncomfortable. "Since I woke up in the hospital. I don't think it has anything to do with you guys. No need to worry. I have a different world. Some things I can't forget. Makes me a little depressed."

Dhika "can it be healed?"

Rinaya "Of course. Time will answer all of that. Uh. H-have you seen Master healer and Jaka?" Where are they going?"

Dhika "they disappeared. There's no where."

Rinaya pouted "are they not worried about me? It sucks."

Someone knocked on the door "Sampurasun" Tio's voice sounded from behind the door.

Dylan "come in."

Tio opened the door and entered. It was amazing to see so many people in there. "Did something happen here? Why so many?... Balapati" his loud voice suddenly dimmed while seeing Balapati's figure there.

Dhika "What's up?"

Tio "That was, this afternoon He asked me to ascertain the state of the entire well in the village. I've done it and want to talk about it."

Rinaya "You found something??"

Tio "All the same. Water and the reaction. Nothing was different from that."

Dhika looked at Rinaya "What are you investigating"

Rinaya "It's like someone intentionally did this. All water sources are polluted. But one thing I realized. The creature is in the water. "

Dhika "That thing?"

Rinaya nodded "Look like a maggot. But it wasn't. You remember that village case??"

Dhika nodded. Sure oes. He just talked about it with the others. Rinaya is talking about it too.

"Andu, give him the note."

Danu took the notes he borrowed and gave them to Dhika. Dhika read that carefully. "Dhika, are there any similarities?"

Dhika nodded.

Rinaya "Is there anything else you know?"

Dhika "I found a note with a foreign language. The letter you used. It contained that after they gave up treating the patient. A few days later the patient was transformed into something else. Not detailed but my guess might lead there."

Rinaya's eyes started to turn. Remembering everything he's been doing all day. "How long have they changed? A month? Two months?"

Dhika "Just two weeks. From the beginning the symptoms are visible."

Rinaya started to glass. "When we are in a village full of danger."

Dylan "What does that mean?"

Dhika "Maybe this is different. Hasn't it been past a month there's no such sign."

Rinaya "It's because she expected this."

Dylan "He?"

Rinaya "Master of the Physician. He knew water could not be used. He knew there was something about this disease. He knows how to reduce symptoms. Even he already knew that something had entered the people's bodies."

Dylan "Something?? Whatchu mean?"

Rinaya "I checked one of the patients. What is in their bodies is not a disease. But that creature. That black maggot. It's lodged in their bodies."

Dhika "But she didn't say anything."

Danu "Does that have anything to do with that question?"

Rinaya said, "I don't think he can use his spiritual knowledge. I'm sure something happened to him. He made some kind of spell paper to reduce the impact of the symptoms. He also knew that it could not be healed without that science."

Dhika "But why didn't she tell us?"

"Something's bound to happen. He doesn't want us to know."