This Isn't Your World

Chapter 13

What did they do to you?

I'll get you out of here.

ANSWER ME.

Why did you agree?

Was everything a lie?

...

It's my responsibility.

* * *

The room was dark and cold, almost similar to the night's atmosphere beyond these whitewashed walls. Silent breaths of air were barely audible, the elemental's chest barely moving, her lips were pressed into a thin line, eyes serenely closed. Her right hand clasped a golden device, laying outside the blue cotton sheets on her abdomen.

Air's tired eyes were laid upon her.

Even unconscious, she wouldn't let go. The shade of gold reminded her of someone she barely knew. Someone she was aware of his existence, but never interacted directly in the past.

She rested her head on her palm, her elbow planted firmly on the wooden desk.

The day's events had left them bamboozled. Taufan and Thorn managed to get them out of plain sight, but it was still a huge surprise when Air showed up in her doorstep with Petir in her arms, with Api greeting her while he was drinking scalding chocolate. Fortunately he had mastered sufficient self-control to not spit on them.

It never ceased to amaze her. The fact that someone who she was afraid of, who she admired, was smaller in size than her. They had aged and moved on, but Petir did not. She never had in these three years, and correspondingly, Air had taken more responsibility than she should've.

And she thought she was the lazy one.

Sighing, Air laid her arm on the table, her limb pillowing her head delicately. Her silky hair ran down the table, dangling off the side in a fluid grace. Staring at the electric elemental's sleeping form, her eyelids drooping, the world before her vision blurring, her consciousness fading into haziness.

Her eyes closed gently, and she allowed the bliss of long-awaited slumber to overtake her, unconsciously wishing for a dreamless night.

* * *

The first thing she noticed was the darkness. The next factor was the stiffness of her right hand, her fingers cracking as she released the device from her grip. Her back was cold against the soft mattress, despite the warmer under the cotton.

Petir felt as if her body was on fire. Her condition was perfectly fine, yet she envisioned a world of fire. Her reality had burned down right in front of her, just like that.

People said that victims from a coma would struggle to recall the events that occurred, but she had no trouble. Every single detail of their sacrifices was laid out for her in screaming colour. It was like she was still there, witnessing the deaths of Tanah and Cahaya again, again and over again.

She laid there, dejected. Her eyes were fixated on the blank ceiling, blurred to black due to the absence of illumination.

Despite her chaotic mind, her thoughts were drawn to a blank. Everything seemed to be in a soundless movie, moving in high definition and accentuated emotion, and she was trapped, forever reliving the same moment.

Cahaya's final words were burned into her mind. I can't let you fall in danger. She would rather face a hundred Bora-ras than allow this to ever occur. If she had a choice between facing a fate of their deaths or remaining under Bora-ra's eternal manipulation, she would have chosen the second option millions of times to come.