The Eternal Fragments of Moonlight
Chapter 11: Eclipse (Part II)

After Laras called me, I immediately rushed back to Nitehake Temple. He said he would wait for me in front of the main temple entrance to the south that I knew that the door was the entrance of the temple that should not be passed by the visitors. Only officers and relatives of the courtiers of the temple guard can pass through the south entrance access.

Without thinking long I immediately slide there using my matic motorcycle which I used to deliver flower orders.

During the journey my mind was filled with all sorts of things. From what Laras said, Mira fell into a ravine located in the eastern courtyard of the temple which is a rocky road that is rarely passed by visitors. And when I thought about it, the area was located just a few meters away from where we parted.

Suddenly I was overcome with a great fear. Guilt and horror instantly possessed me. I'm constantly praying that Mira is okay. Because he was just talking to me. She still looked cheerful with her warm smile when we met.

At that time I still thought that everything was just a joke that Laras made for me with the aim that I make up with Mira. “Yes, this must be a joke that Laras and others prepared for me.” I kept saying it all the way.

Arriving at Nitehake Temple, I saw several people crowded around the entrance gate. There are also two police cars whose siren lights are lit without sound.

Before my brain began to digest what was going on, I immediately stopped it. Immediately I parked my matic in front of the gate to then run as fast as possible through the crowd of people who were there. Then when I reached the temple area, I found another unusual thing.

In the atmosphere it was already very quiet. There should be a lot of visitors at this time of day. Even until tomorrow, Nitehake Temple should still be filled with visitors who dwell to enjoy the lunar eclipse. I took a look at the clock on my phone. Time shows at 01:10 p.m. Seeing the awkwardness I also accelerated my run.

In front of the entrance of the main temple in the south, I saw Laras who used traditional clothes typical of the court guard of the temple. He stood on the top step of the stairs while biting his thumb nails. His face looked very serious and alert.

“Laras.” Call me.

Laras turned his head and gave me a sign not to make a sound. He then walked up to me while carrying something that had been beside him. It was the size of a pumpkin and was wrapped in silver silk cloth with batik motifs. Judging from the way Laras carried it, it seemed that it was quite heavy. He looked tired while occasionally looking to the right and left like he was afraid that someone would see.

“Ikut I Aji, we use this!” He said while whispering.

The barrel opens a bundle of cloth that covers the object it carries. Inside there is a statue that is round in shape with a concave surface on the top, like a bowl. Inside the basin there is a circular carving that if noticed the carving forms a circle like a wall clock. Then at the center of the basin there is a peg tied with a knot of gold rope.

After I remembered the object was carried by the Great Statue of Nitehake located on the altar of the main temple. It should have been placed in the lap of the Great Statue of Nitehake, but why did Laras take it?

“Wait, what is this? Mira, where's Mira? You said he fell into the abyss? It was just a joke, right?” I asked while slightly shaking his body.

“Listen Aji, now Mira is dead. Everything I explained on the phone earlier, everything really happened.”

“What?”

“Yes, Mira fell into the abyss.” Barrel pointed to his right.

My eyes widened, looking slowly at the direction that Laras pointed. There is only a stone wall there, which is part of the main temple fortress. But I know for sure, if it goes straight there then I will meet the court that has a deep enough abyss.

“No way, I was with him and.”.

“According to eyewitnesses who had seen Mira fall, it happened between ten to ten hours past five earlier.”

As if reading my mind, Laras told me when Mira fell into the abyss. And true! It was only a few moments after we separated.

“Ha, haha.. Lo joking right, Ras? You know, I like kayaking the most.”.

“Liat perimeter lo.” Cut it. “Today the Ngawiwitan Cultural Festival was discontinued. The cause, because there was an accident in the eastern courtyard of the temple that claimed the life of a girl. You think this is kidding?”

I felt a chill in my stomach. Now one thing has become certain. That what Laras said to me earlier was not a joke. My mind was working hard to digest something like this dream. Accepting all the words of Laras that the Mira I've known all along has gone, left me, forever.

The face of Mira who looked at me blankly before we parted instantly haunted my mind. Will that be his way of looking at me one last time? If only I had kept him from talking to me earlier, would none of this have happened?

“Mira... Miraaa!”

By itself my feet turned around. There was only one thing I wanted to do at that time. Meet Mira. Even if I only met her lifeless body, for the last time, I had to see it.

“Wait, Aji.” Laras stopped me who was about to run by pulling my hand. “Lo wants to see Mira again right?”

Confused, I looked towards him. “Is Mira's body currently inside the temple?” My friend in heart.

Then Laras took me to a small temple located in the corner of the outer wall of the main temple. There is a small space there, probably only half the size of the classroom. The small temple has a floor surface that is much lower than the surface of the ground so that its shape becomes scratched down. The roof itself, nothing. The roof went straight to the sky.

After the two of us were inside, Laras placed the statue that he had brought earlier on the stone floor there and told me to sit cross-legged near the statue. Then he looked out of the temple to make sure no one was around. After believing that there was no one there, Laras sat down in front of me holding a statue placed between us.

“We will go back to the past.”

“Huh?”

“This arc can take us back to the time where the previous lunar eclipse occurred.” Laras.

Hearing what he said made me think back that all this was just a series of silly jokes he was playing. The burden of my feelings became a little lifted and the hope that had been lost since then has now reappeared. But after seeing how serious Laras' facial expression was, I hesitated.

“Back to the past?” Ask me again to make sure.

“Yes! Now hand pinjem lo.”

The barrel removed the safety pin in the folds of her traditional clothes and then stabbed it into my thumb, spitting blood out. Then, he rubbed my bloody thumb against the engraving on the statue in a circle against the clock. His lips were constantly reciting something like a mantra that I could not hear clearly. After that, he did the same to himself. Stabbing his thumb and rubbing it.

“Now we wait for the whole part of the month to arrive at ‘umbra’.” He said as he looked at the moon that was increasingly covered in the eclipse shadow.

“Jam 01.58.” Answer me

“There are still 30 minutes until the total eclipse. Still got to.” He said while taking both my hands. “Now close your eyes, we start the ritual.”

“Wait. Ras, what are we doing? You think we have time for silly things like gini?!” I asked while moving. “Where's Mira? You said you wanted to take me to see him, right?!”

Laras only answered me with his “es” gaze that I already knew so well. If this is the case there is nothing else I can do but follow his orders. I also had to sit back.

“If you want to see Mira again, you better follow my orders!” Her speech. “Now close your eyes!”

Baras again grabbed both palms of my hands and placed them on both palms of his hands. Then he closed his eyes and began reciting studies that I thought were like prayer. There was not a single word I could understand from what he muttered.

“Close your eyes! I can't focus if you see it!” Her tears forced my eyes to close.

Long enough we both just sat there with our eyes closed. Sometimes I peek at Laras who is concentrating in front of me. I saw her as usual. Her hair, which was always pinched in two, was now left unraveled. His thin lips twitched about something I could not understand. His skin looks shiny bathed in moonlight, giving a different impression from the Baras that I have known is ugly and ferocious.

After a while passed, Laras ordered me to open my eyes. And when I opened my eyes, I found the statue in front of me giving off a dark green light on each carving like the color of an emerald. I was also surprised.

“I, this..”.

“The preparation is done. Moon also seems red-red again now.” The barrel looks up looking towards the moon which is experiencing a total eclipse.

“Aji, before we go back to the past, I want to tell you some things.” The face looks serious. “We will return to the day where the previous lunar eclipse occurred."

“That means... when we gather in the attic to see the eclipse of that time?”

“Ya, exactly six months ago, dated January 31.” His word. “One thing you need to keep in mind, Aji. We came back not to save Mira, but only to see her again.”

“Means?”

“There are three things we can't change. Life, soul mate, and death. So just think of this as your second chance to improve your relationship with Mira.”

“So, Mira will still die today?” My toot.

“Yes, we can't change it. That was already the deadline for the end of time.”

I was silent to the explanation given by Laras. So Mira has really left this world? Thinking about it made me realize my feelings were haunting. Everything I experienced that day, I still can't see it as a reality. It was just like a dream. But when my consciousness tried to accept it as something that was really happening, I immediately felt a deep bitter taste in my heart.

“Aji.” The voice of Laras broke my daydream. “When we travel back to the past, I want you to get out of all the lo squeezes that block this time. Pay complete all your regrets and guilt to Mira who you now feel. Don't let there be any left!”

Laras waited for a response from me for a moment before continuing. Then he put both his hands on my shoulders.

“Intinya, our final goal is to make you can let go of Mira with six months of time later. What do I mean, Aji?”

I just kept thinking about the various things that were on my mind at that time. Unmoved.

“Jawab Aji!”

The face looks very serious. I mean, from then on, he looked serious. But this time he seemed to want to affirm how important his words were.

“Ya.” Answer's short.

“Alright, if you already understand, we go back to the past now.” Further.

The barrel then placed my right hand on the statue. Then he went back to reading some studies and told me to repeat what he said. After that, Laras looked once more at the red moon above us, and said.

“When we return later, do not ever talk about this to anyone but me and if you have any problems later, always remember there is me who will help you lo.”

I answered him with a nod.

“Now, you notice the vortex that is in the middle of the statue and when I love you on cue, we pull this rope together.”

The barrel pointed the end of the gold-colored rope knotted on the peg in the middle of the statue to me so that I would also hold it.

“Lo ready? We pull together at the count of the three.”

“Ya.”

Then after adjusting his breath, Laras began to count.

“Three... two..”.

“One!”

Simultaneously we pulled the rope with all our might. The green light on the statue was flickering so brightly that it finally covered all my sight. The blood all over my body seemed to be flowing very rapidly. All the pores on my skin opened up, giving a very creepy feeling.

I felt my body tremble violently and then as if it was being pulled into the statue that was in front of me. The world as if twisting formed a vortex towards the center point of light. All I could see was a glitter of green, blue, and abstract jinga. Then I heard a shrill voice that deafened my ears and in an instant everything turned white.