The Eternal Fragments of Moonlight
Chapter 30: Laras's Reason (Part III)

When I reached the south entrance of the main temple, Laras had already greeted me there with a bright smile. Using traditional clothes typical of the courtier of the temple, he stood on the porch on the top step of the stairs, right in front of the lips of the temple entrance. He always stood there to welcome me

“Thank God, as promised, you finally came too, Aji.” The face of Laras sparkled when I learned of my arrival.

“Gue,” my word. “Just think about it. Ras, do you ever feel bad waiting for me there? Every Wiwitan Day that we have passed until now, do you have more important work than standing there, huh?”

I thought I would look back at Laras who was flabbergasted after hearing my question like he was in my room two days ago. But what I found from him was a calm answer that even made myself uncomfortable.

“Yes are not stupid. I just wait here when I know for sure that you will come here.”

He also went down one by one stairs in front of the main temple entrance. It makes him come closer to me. With a slight chuckle he continued his words.

“Lo think I don't have a more important job? Than waiting here? Pfft, as long as you know yes, on Wiwitan Day, I am always busy with the very important business that I have to do.” He bit his lower lip as he continued walking down. “Dan... you know what important business it is, Aji?”

After he was right in front of me, he brought his lips to my ear and whispered.

“Gue stalking elo.”

I saw a satisfied grin on his face, then I naturally took two steps back as if all the nerves in my body were warning me that I should stay away from him.

“Oh Aji, why are you so afraid? It's no secret that I know everything about you. I know all your actions even I can also guess with certainty what you will do.”

I saw him put his index finger under his chin and looked up at the sky.

“Hmm, after all... Besides I stalked you on Wiwitan Day, I also stalked you when you thought you were alone. Ah shit! Doesn't that mean every day? Ahahaha.” He looked up as if he was enjoying his time.

“Lo...” I said while stepping back. “Sick.”.

Laras was suddenly silent and immediately he put on his cold face. At the same time, two middle-aged women who were also wearing the same clothes as those worn by Laras were seen crossing the temple foyer while carrying piles of food on a multi-storey tray.

The two bowed slightly to Laras and greeted him with the title that had been pinned to him by the courtiers. Baras never liked formal things like this, at least that's how he always looked in front of me. He only replied with a nod of his alakadar and a smile that was very clearly forced.

Then Laras walked past me giving me an eye gesture to follow him. I answered his instructions immediately by saying.

“Nggeh, Gusti Raden Ajeng.”

Hearing I imitate the two courtiers of the temple that passed in the portico earlier, Laras also became very upset. He stamped his footsteps as he walked, to the point of making our way filled with the boisterous sound of his wood-pumped jolt colliding with the cobblestone streets.

Finally we arrived at a small roofless temple that we always make a place to perform rituals to restore the flow of time. Laras told me to enter first while he held the trellis fence at the entrance of the temple and was about to close it back.

She said. “There's something I need to take care of, you wait here!”

“What!? Eh Ras, you promised I would know about the reason you did.”.

“Because the day there is no death of Mira that makes the whole temple frenzied, I need to arrange many things so that no one looks for me until the lunar eclipse comes.”

I was also surprised by what he said. While he just stared cynically at me who was stuttering.

“What? I told you I'm always stalking elo.” He also chuckles. “Ya arguably, today is your best action so far, Aji. You can be proud of yourself lo now.”

While still smiling cynically, Laras also closed the trellis fence at the entrance of the temple and then padlocked it from the outside. And I can only be pensive. After hearing the words of Laras, I immediately remembered Mira. How much time is left until his destiny comes?

***

At 21:31 pm when I checked the watch I was wearing. Soon I also contacted Mira's mobile number while hoping very much not to get an answer from there.

Yeah, I wish I didn't get an answer. Because this is the reason I stopped at the Kalawar River bridge to get Mira's phone out of her bag, put it in silent mode, and put it back in Mira's pants pocket.

His goal? Especially if not to make sure that Mira stays asleep when her destiny comes to pick her up.

I've called Mira's phone seven times but still no answer and when I look at the clock on my phone, the time has gone to 22.11 pm. I decided to call him one last time.

After adjusting the breath while continuously praying in my heart, I finally pressed the call button on my phone.

One by one the ringing of the call notes echoed in my ears and after a few seconds passed finally the call tone ended. Turned into a notification that the number I was aiming for didn't answer. I breathed a sigh of relief while smiling, offering gratitude as sincerely as I could. Before then…

Booms!

The sound of fireworks coming back and forth surprised me. It made me look up to see the night sky filled with scattered flakes of lightning.

For the first time I felt a spark of happiness where finally my efforts could bear fruit. My hope has been fulfilled. I leaned against the stone wall behind me and enjoyed the light of the fireworks while imagining that Mira could be with me at that time.

However, when I unconsciously lowered my gaze back. Because I found the phone in my hand ringing! There's a call coming in there. Nothing but Mira's cell phone.

“No... No way!”

I still had time to see the clock in the upper corner of the phone changed to 22:13 and at that time I felt all the joints in my body as if they were all gone.

My phone fell to the floor and still showed a call coming in from Mira. There is a picture of him turning his body. Looking at me from his stool that was right in front of my stool when we were in tenth grade.

I kept looking at him but the call did not end!

With the horror that enveloped my feelings, I hoped that my phone would stop ringing immediately, and when it finally stopped completely, I realized a reality. That the time I spent in my time travel this time, all of it, was just a useless failure.

Even just to make Mira not suffer at the end of time I was not allowed.

I screamed, howled, wailed. I turned my eyes in all directions, not knowing what to do.

Then when my gaze reached the entrance of the temple, I found Laras who was standing there while covering his mouth. Was he there and noticed everything I was doing? I don't know. I don't give a shit.

“What's elo crying, huh?” I still sob. “Not this you want?”

For a moment Laras was silent, but finally he came back crying even louder. Bad one.

“Already Baras, enough.” I said as I let go of her hugging hand. “We've done all this..”

“No!” He hugged me again very tightly. “We have to re-do the timeline!”

“Lo want what else, huh? Did seeing Mira suffer all this time not enough for you!?”

I forced her to get away from him but she didn't give up. He tried to put his hand on my body. Until when I gave up all the remaining energy I had, then finally he crashed.

“Betting Barrel! I'm tired of all this! I will never come back to see Mira..” I covered my face and started to continue crying.

“Aji... what do you think... hiks, I'm glad to see Mira like this?”

“Terus what?!  Elo sad now, huh? Da? Then why don't you try to kill yourself so you can feel what Mira feels! Nonsense Laras elo never..”.

Plaque! He slapped me very hard.

“Why...lo talk like that..”.

I don't know because I regret slapping me, now I see Laras as very scared. While shaking, he held the hand that had just landed on my face.

“Pull again your speech, Aji! Now too!” Eventually, he lost control.

With her sobbing voice she kept yelling while beating my chest with both hands. I tried repeatedly to stop him by talking and holding his hand, but to no avail.

“This is the reason why I keep repeating the timeline! Elo ngak can. Hiks. You can talk like that!”

“Laras, stop! Hey!”

“No! You have to pull your words now! Before it becomes a reality!”

“Wait, what!?”

At that moment, her teary eyes were staring at me. He covered his mouth and while continuing to shake he retreated slowly. Like he was so sorry about what he just said, Laras looked at me with a guilty face.

"What does Laras mean? What will become reality?"

He did not answer me at all and just fell silent biting his thumb nails while continuing to have an anxious face. For a long time he was silent, until I finally approached and forced him to talk.

“Gue has no choice..”. “If I don't keep repeating the flow of time, it's not just Mira who died. BUT ALSO ELO!”

I was dumbfounded too. Can't believe what I just heard.

“Lo's satisfied now, huh?! Is this what you've been wanting to hear all along? About the reason I repeat time? All this I do for you, Aji! Everyone!”

He sat down and drowned his face in the palm of his hand. Crying so badly. I can only watch it like that because I don't know what to do. After trying to calm down, Laras continued talking with his breath still stinged.

“When we all saw the lunar eclipse over your loft, I saw your primbon, Aji. That's why I do all this.”

I looked at her teary face. I've never seen him this broken before.

“There is for the first time I know that Mira's lifeline is soon coming to an end. Of course I'm sad, Aji! I'm sad! But how else, I can't do anything for a life that's destined to end. But when I look at your life line, that line is different, Aji. Your lifeline was cut off.. not ended.”.

“Ma, means?”

He also threw away face. “That means...lo himself who decided to end his life lo.”

I was shocked too, not knowing what to say. I really, really love Mira. But I had never before imagined in my mind to end my life because of his passing. Just as I never imagined how I would continue living when I could no longer meet Mira in it. Ah, thinking about it makes me wonder if maybe what Laras said was true. Maybe, if I had met the time where Mira had really left…

“Gue aware.” Further. “Every time Mira has to face her destiny over and over again, every pain she feels when she takes a life,  I realized that it was all a heap of great sins that I will someday have to pay.”

He also returned sniffling.

“But how else, I have to choose.. Do you know where the place where the man who ended his own life will end? That's the worst place to come back, Aji.”

“Ta, but... why did you tell me about this from the beginning?”

“Believe it or not, I've done that before, Aji.” He looked me in the eye. “How many times have we repeated the time flow?”

“Four.” My answer.

“Not, now is our sixth time travel.”

I was back stunned to hear his words.

“In the previous two time trips, which you absolutely can not remember, I reveal all my reasons since the beginning of the journey and you know what you do?”

I also shook my head while remaining dumbfounded.

“Lo ended your life even before Mira came to her destiny. Since then, I assume that revealing the reason from the beginning will only provide shortcut ideas that you have actually never thought of before.”

Hearing that, my body went limp and just collapsed desperately staring at the stone floor in front of me. I never thought that everything he had done so far, everything was in my interest. And of course, I never thought that I would ever dare to end my own life.