The Supreme Power

Satya sat with a slightly stiff attitude because he only used the long batik cloth to cover his body, from his waist to his knees. He sat on a rock, in front of the hut, close to Lathifa.

There was no good table there except a piece of wood that was wide enough to become a table that separated the two of them. On the table was an earthenware teapot from which thin steam gushed from the mouth of the teapot, and a plate of grilled taro.

The hut itself is on the bank of a very shallow stream with a white sandy riverbed. The stream connected to the shore, the same river where Lathifa found Satya unconscious yesterday.

On the left side of the front of the hut, there is a series of clotheslines made of bamboo. It was on the bamboo sticks that Lathifa dried clothes after washing, including Satya's pants and underwear.

"So," said Lathifa, "you have no idea what happened to you?"

Satya took a deep breath. "This is something beyond my knowledge. The moment before I was still in the living room, in my house, suddenly a light appeared from a wall covered in carvings, the next second… what I felt, I was pulled by a great force, after the light disappeared I realized that I was at a height, and plunged into the sea."

"Hmm… that sounds really weird," Lathifa frowned with pursed lips.

The expression on the girl's face provoked Satya's smile, the man almost laughed because of it.

"Hey," said the girl with wide eyes looking at Satya.

Satya also glanced at the girl.

"Are you a wizard? The one who can spell magic?"

The man frowned and shook his head. "Are there still people who believe in mystical things like that in this day and age?"

Again the girl pursed her lips, her eyes narrowed at Satya. "You speak as if you are from the future."

Satya just chuckled at the girl's words. It doesn't make sense, he thought. Traveling through time and dimensions is just a work of fiction and scientific hypotheses, nothing more.

"Hmm, are you from a faraway land?"

Again, Satya frowned upon hearing Lathifa's question. "I don't understand what you're asking."

Lathifa pointed at Satya's pants and underwear which were drying.

"When I found you," said Lathifa, "you were just wearing those weird pants."

"Weird?" Satya tries to find out where the weirdness of his pants lies. And that made him feel even more confused about the girl. "It's nothing out of the ordinary," he said, "it's just the normal pants that most people wear, especially those who like hiking."

"That's the weird thing," said the girl. "I've never seen pants like that before, too many pockets, and too short in size."

Satya smiles in his confusion. The name mountain pants aka cargo pants are indeed synonymous with lots of pockets. What's so strange about all that? After all, Satya's typical pants can indeed be separated into shorts because two connections are using a zipper, on the thigh, and the calf.

"You think so?" said Satya who was slowly thinking about what Lathifa had said about him from the future.

Is it possible for this to happen?

The girl nodded. "Also, those little pants," she pointed at Satya's underwear.

The man cleared his throat, looked down, and smiled with a slightly flushed face.

"What kind of pants are those anyway?"

"Ermm… how about yourself?" Satya deliberately diverts the girl's question.

What do I expect? Lathifa might have lived in this remote place all her life. So, well… maybe she doesn't know that there are many types of modern clothes in this world with the fact that she still uses traditional kemben for her clothes.

"You mean?"

"Well," Satya stretched out his hand, pointing at the hut and the condition of the environment itself. "Since earlier, I haven't seen anyone here except just the two of us. Don't you have any relatives?"

The girl smiled faintly, in Satya's eyes that smile seemed to be shaded by such great sadness.

"Sorry," said Satya, "if you mind, just forget what I just said."

Latifa shook her head weakly. "My father and mother are dead."

"I'm so sorry," Satya bowed.

"They were killed by someone with his gang."

Satya lifted his face, looking deeper at the beautiful face which was now covered with a cloud of sadness.

"You mean," Satya gulped, "you were robbed by a gang of criminals?"

"No, it's not like that," Lathifa took a deep breath. "It's okay, just forget it. After all, it was a long time ago. And yes, I live alone in this hut."

"I'm truly sorry for making you remember something so sad for you."

"No, you don't need to apologize, it's not your fault."

"How old are you anyway?" asked Satya.

The girl smiled, glancing at the man with her clear and beautiful eyes.

Satya laughed silently. "Don't think bad of me first," he said. "I'm just in awe of you. You look very young, seventeen, I think. And you are very brave to live alone in this wilderness. If it was me, I might have gone crazy from loneliness."

"Thank you," said Lathifa, "I take that as a compliment. But, you're wrong, Satya. I'm not a seventeen-year-old girl anymore."

"Do you?"

Again Lathifa smiled sweetly. "I'm twenty-five."

"What?!" Satya's eyes grew bigger and bigger. "You're not joking, are you?"

Lathifa giggled sweetly while covering her mouth with one hand, she shook her head lightly.

"No, you're not joking," said Satya. "Wow…! How can you still look like a seventeen-year-old girl? I mean, your face, your shape—sorry…"

Hearing Satya's words, Lathifa suddenly remembered something unusual in the man's crotch. Her face became flushed.

"Hey," Lathifa said shyly, "I should be the one asking you this and that because you're a weird guy, not you."

Satya looked down, chuckling softly. "You're saying I'm a weird guy again."

"Of course," Lathifa said, straightening her back, and taking a deep breath.

What Lathifa was doing made the shape of her breasts grow bigger, Satya saw that, and again he gulped. What's more, at this time Satya was not wearing underwear behind the batik wrap around his waist, just a little friction would make his pubic shaft lengthen and enlarge, especially with the sight of the girl's cleavage being so tight.

Satya tried to think of something else so his genital could calm down.

"You seem to be from a faraway land, but strangely," said Lathifa, "you speak the same language as me."

Something's not right here, Satya thought. He took a deep breath.

"May I ask?"

The girl smiled and slightly shrugged her shoulders.

"What is the name of this land?"

"Artapurana."

"Huh?!" Satya frowned, he had never heard of a region named like that.

Then, where is this exactly?

The girl looks very similar to indigenous Indonesian girls, her beauty, her language, and even the kemben she wears as her clothes are the hallmarks of Indonesian culture—especially Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese.

What's really going on here? Where am I now?

"Hey," Lathifa frowned when Satya suddenly fell silent, lost in his thoughts. "You okay?"

"Aah, yeah, I'm okay," said Satya, clearing his throat. "What did you say the name of this land, again?"

"Artapurana."

"Artapurana?" Satya tried to remember the names of the regions in Indonesia he could think of while scratching his head.

Why is the name of this land quite similar to the name of the old kingdoms that once existed on the land of Nusantara?

"Then," said Lathifa, "Which country are you from?"

"Ermm, before I returned to my ancestral house, I used to live in Jakarta."

"Jakar–what?"

"Jakarta," Satya found confusion on Lathifa's face. "Why?"

"Is there really a country named like that?"

"Huh?!" this time, the confusion moved to Satya's face, he scratched his head. "You don't know anything about Jakarta?"

Latifa shook her head. "Don't know, never heard of."

"Oh, Great Goddess…"

"I'm just telling the truth," said Lathifa. "This is the first time I've heard of a country called Jakarta, and even," she pointed to Satya, "I think that the country uses the same language as me."

"Of course!" said Satya half holding back his laughter. "We both live in Indonesia, of course, we have the same language, Lathifa."

"Indonesia?" The girl's brows furrowed again. "Which country is that anyway?"

"Oh, Gods…" Satya lowered his head, shaking his head weakly. "This is really weird, something is wrong here!"

"You're the weird one," said Lathifa. "Since earlier you mentioned the names of countries I don't know, I've never heard of them."

"What about Bali?"

"Bali?" Latifa repeated. "Hmm, did you mean about gods and goddesses?"

"Huh?!" Again Satya frowned, getting more and more confused about the girl.

"Well, you mentioned bali," said Lathifa, "in this land, bali means the Supreme Power which belongs only to the gods and goddesses."

"Bali is an island, Lathifa," said Satya. "The island wherein one of the high areas is where my ancestral home is located, it is in that house that I experienced this series of oddities in the first place."

"Bali is an island?" Lathifa frowned again.