This Isn't Your World

Chapter 8

Daun would smack her brother upside the head if she could, but someone else got to him before her. She followed the signal and she found her older brother unconscious in an alleyway, where it seemed to be the only area secluded from the battle.

Waking him up wasn't difficult. All she had to do was summon a chili pepper and shove it in his nose. He woke up screaming and suffering to a burning-blocked nostril.

"Where were you?" Daun demanded.

Angin glared at his sister. What kind of a cruel joke was this? He cinched his nose in agony, waiting for the worst to pass. Daun just crossed her arms, glaring down at him as she waited. How can someone so innocent look like the devil itself?

Eventually he regained his senses and majority of the pain subsided, though he still felt like he was breathing mints with none of the chilly freshness.

"I saw Petir," he blurted out, sitting himself on the floor. "And maybe Cahaya."

Daun frowned, her fingers curling. "But they're dead."

"I saw them—"

"They're dead," she accentuated, voice steely.

She turned around, back slightly hunched over. She didn't want to hope anymore. It's so tiring. Things aren't meant to end happily, and she wished she'd accepted that fact earlier.

Angin stared at his sister's silhouette, his heart aching. Why?

Why can't they just be normal? Why didn't Daun tell him about this earlier? That she was hurting?

He stared at his own hands. Maybe it was time for him to accept reality as well. They couldn't be alive. Not anymore. Things can change, and so do emotions. It was time for him to wake up from this stupid fantasy.

Standing up, he put his hand on Daun's shoulder and stuck his right hand into his pocket.

"Let's go home," he breathed.

* * *

"She said he passed out in a corner," Air relayed to Api, who was trying to drive straight. Air's hands were blistered from shooting, and she had to trust Api temporarily with the wheel.

She just hoped that he wouldn't drive them into the ocean.

"I have my driver's license for a reason. Jesus fuck, relax." Api glanced at her accusingly.

"I said nothing," she deadpanned.

"I can sense your distrust."

"I can also sense your incapability to cook every single time and call takeout instead and tell me that you can."

"Was it really that obvious?"

Air shrugged and brushed her bruised waist. She would have to get that checked out later. Judging from how Api's posture was tensed, he hadn't walked out unscathed either. The attack was totally random, and they hadn't figured out the mastermind behind this. They would have to inspect it after their situation stabilized.

Their healing factors would kick in soon, but they'd expended too much energy. It would take longer, but the maximum time given would be a day or two. At this point, she didn't see how they would be able to get away with this. If it wasn't for Tanah covering up the evidence, they might be exposed already.

For someone who could barely stand the sight of them now, Tanah was still great help, even if his personality had flipped like a coin.

"Do you think Starbucks is still open?" Air murmured.

Api whipped to her, hands still on the wheel. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Incoming."

Api swerved, narrowly missing the lamp post. "Goddammit! Thank god everyone's evacuated this stupid island."

"Don't think they'll return soon. We'll have to keep a low profile."

For the next fifteen minutes, the journey was silent. Normally they wouldn't spend so much time navigating from the city to their apartment, but it was a pain to avoid collapsed buildings.

A familiar scenery caught both their eyes. Instinctively, Api stopped the car.

The hospital had been destroyed.

* * *

They tried.

They really did.

No matter how painful it was, no matter how exhausted they were, they never stopped looking.

They failed.

* * *

Petir stared at the two walking in front of her. It was silent, with only the echo of the forest and the occasional electronical beeps from the tracker. They were walking side by side, but the atmosphere was strained. It was like they were trying to start a conversation but failing to locate mutual ground.

She kept her eyes on the ground, the shame, guilt and emptiness nearly overwhelming her. She supressed them. How can they still look at her the same way? She wasn't human anymore. She tried to kill them.

Why was she even alive?

She hadn't met Daun personally. The fiasco on the building didn't count. She'd even rejected Angin's request three years ago and destroyed his dream at that tournament. She was rude to Api and Air.

Why would they care for a monster?

She fought back tears. She'd shed enough tears already.

Cahaya stopped in his tracks. Tanah and Petir halted simultaneously, and they followed his gaze down to a ravine. There was a chunk of rocking sticking out by the sides, leading in to a cave underneath.

The three exchanged glances by the cliff, then Cahaya and Petir stared at Tanah.

He scowled. "Really?"

He knelt down and punched the ground. An uneven wall rose from their side of the ravine to the cave below, bridging the two together. Carefully, they trudged to the opposite side and into the cave.