Six Years Before, Gay Ever After

Chapter 3

Okey I'm very sorry but i suck at writing but thank you all for readingggggg, I promise Namaari would be coming up in the next chapter (spoilers heheh) but I said at the start it's every detail right? So ye the process is pretty slow 😩✋🏼
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*3 days later*

"Finally!" Raya heaved a sigh of relief when she wrote the last word on the piece of paper. The paper was now scribbled with words, little notes written at the corners, and a tiny drawing of Sisu at the bottom.

Tuk tuk looked up from his cloth of berries spread in front of him. He has been saving it very carefully, not wanting his favourite snack to be gone. The duo ate quite little during the four days, about one to two meals a day.

On the second day, Raya was busy sweeping up the dust in her room to make things a little better. So far, they only had one encounter with the Druun.

They slept most of the time, to save energy and food. Sleep turns off Raya's hunger, and her worries. "Goddamn, if we don't get out of here fast and find Sisu, we are gonna be trapped here for months...," Raya complained on the third day, she was tired of translating. Actually, Raya was surprised she found the right scroll to summon spirits on first try, after translating the title of the chant.

"So, the words are. Suvaa de draa sim. Mandra de draa lim. Bavaa de draa. Tomben. Sound easy to me, but how the heck did I take so long to translate this?" Raya read in amusement, she then read the instructions on how to prepare the prayer. Many things to bring with me I guess, she sulked. That meant she must find some kind of vacuum packed food, flat enough to squeeze at the sides of her bag.

"Okay Tuk tuk, we gotta go find these things. Two lamp pots, candles, lots and lots and lots of matches, a mat, flowers we can find them easily outside, aaaaand food, okay let's see if I can even cook," Raya dragged her voice on the last item, she never tried cooking before, and the food she was supposed to make were rice dumplings wrapped in a banana leaf, something like a tiny ketupat. Cooking, how fun, she sighed, regretting not listening on how to wrap the rice dumplings. It is one of the things she was taught in class (private lessons). But one thing in particular Raya didn't like was when people call her a princess.

Raya didn't like being called a princess, technically she is a princess of Heart. But the word 'princess' just sounds girly, not who she is, or her personality at all. Raya considered herself as tough, with her Ba, they are the 'two baddest blades of all the lands'. She liked that name, she liked that she ain't forced to do any princess-y things like wearing makeup and corsets, or curtsying and walking gracefully. Nope, she hates those things, like learning to cook, or sew, Raya always found ways to excuse herself halfway those lessons, using her clever brain.

Raya walks like any typical Southeast Asian, sits like a Southeast Asian, and talks with a bit of slang, like a southeast Asian. It's just her being her, and her father loves the way she is anyway.

Walking to the kitchen again to get fruits, she passed by the Ballroom, near the door, she saw the plate of rice, that bowl of tea she was sharing with Namaari days before. And the dragon scroll.

Memories came rushing to her again.

"WILL YOU JUST STOP?!!" Raya screamed out in frustration. She was just so mad, she was forcing herself to forget about that fucking binturi, and now those stupid memories of spending time with her came back like. Tidal wave. Tuk tuk was startled, his big brown eyes staring at Raya in concern. Was she mad??

Raya saw Tuk tuk's shocked face, her anger washed away and she quickly whispered an apology, "Damn, sorry Tuk tuk, I just... don't know hat to do. It's like, the whole world's safety is on my shoulders, and sometimes I can't help but just think why does Namaari-" she winced when she heard herself say that name-" wants to break the world like this... It's thousands of lives..." Raya looked sadly outside at the bridge, spotting her father's small stone figure. It as all grey, and no movement at all.

Why does Ba want to leave me alone? Couldn't he have jumped too?  It just made no sense to her. She remembered the words before her father pushed her into the river, "You are a Guardian of the Dragon Gem. There's still light in this, there's still hope."

"I love you, my Dewdrop."

"Ba?"

Raya blinked back tears, what her Ba said, she couldn't understand the meaning behind it. There's still light in this, there is still hope. Those words rang again and again in her ears. She didn't understand what her father wants, but she does know what her father wants very very much.

"There's still hope, Tuk tuk. We are gonna bring everyone back. Bring back Kumandra," Raya told Tuk tuk confidently. They were now on the bridge, staring at the chief of Heart, now in stone. Yes, she is going to save the world. But that didn't mean she was going to forget who broke Kumandra, she isn't really gonna think of what happens to her. She was sure there is some hidden meaning behind her wise father's words, but she couldn't find it.

It's not like she cared. If the Druun got Namaari, I'm not gonna care. Let her die.

But her heart felt differently.