Chapter XI: Watching Movie in Very Dark Place

"Mr. Sudirman, son of Sekarmadji

I Marry off my daughter, Ayu, to you with the 100g of gold and 50g of silver, in cash"

A one man in black suit sitting across from you, wearing a glasses, shake your hand.

"I accept you daughter, Ayu, in marriage with the agreed upon, in cash"

You replied to what the man just said before.

"Did everyone in this room recognize this marriage?" said another man in black suit, on the right side of previous man with a black cap.

"We recognize it," replied everyone in the room.

A wedding celebration has begun. The moment of solemnization of marriage end, everyone claps their hands to congrats you.

You, on the other hand, turned to the woman you just married that her face has been concealed by a transparent veil. Put your hands on edge of it with your fingers, slowly pulled it up, and gently put the part which concealed the bridge face on her head.

Then you saw it, saw a face behind that veil is a beauty and gorgeous you find the most in your life.

She may not the most beautiful flower in village, nor she is an actress or celebrities. However, that woman without a thick makeup at your side, is the one you choose to become someone you dear most, your most precious one in your life. Her beauty is above anyone else in the world. That face before you bring lots of memories of the past real quick like a film-roll played in old cinema.

The memory of how you first met her, the memory of the first time you talked to her; the first 'hey' you ever said to her. The memory of first time you ever take her to some place for a date, to the moment you finally proposed to her; inviting her to your life and want to invited to her life.

You touched her face, hold your cries and kissed her head and chick. No, not the lips, you can save it until both of you have your 'private' time and place. The time that should not showed whether in any books nor any movie. The place that you could make it more romantic with more money or just a simple room where you were alone with her.

She then kissed your head and chick too as a reply. Then you hear, "I promise to have and to hold you, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part,"

"I too promise to have and to hold you, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part," you promised to yourself to her that you'll keep this vow until the end of your life.

After that, you turned your face to a man and woman at your right side that you hug and kissed their hands as a sign of respect and gratitude. A sign of respect and gratitude to the couple who gave birth to you and has raised you with full of love.

"Congratulation my dear son, my dear son. You have found a love of your life, a very gorgeous woman. Don't ever let your love to her went missing," said the mother, very proud of you.

"You've heard your mother. But, I too have an advice for you," he stopped, look into your eyes deeply, "I'll say this once, if at certain point your marriage is not going smoothly as you thought. You and your wife may one day got into fight for any reason.

The only thing this old man gonna says is, always and always remember how happy you are this day, on your wedding day. Don't ever let your ego control you and make you looking for another woman," he said it with serious glare in his eyes. At this point, you only need to nod and do what he said.

"Yes, mom and dad. I'll always dear her. Because she is my beloved wife," you replied to them.

Afterwards, as she gets an advice from both of your parent, a man with glasses who sat across you before, looked at you, "My son. Congratulation for marrying my precious daughter. I raised her with lots of love from the time she was born to this world to this time. I want you to promise me one thing, don't ever make her cry. Don't ever let one single drop of tear come out from her eyes,"

"I can't father. I can't promise you that. What I can promise is all the tear that come out of her eyes are tears of happiness," you said with the convicting eyes.

"Hahaha, I always like how you can stand before me and challenge me with those eyes full of confident," that man hugged you very tight.

Then the same silent he felt before coming, "but hey, are tears that came out of my daughter when you died in war are tears of happiness?"

Once again, you could see those dream again. A dream of how you and a woman visit a Carnival and a dream of a mother and child crying in a house. Then you wake up. Wake up in a dark, empty place.

***

Right after Felix woke up, he senses some unexplained taste in your mouth, the word 'disgusting' is not the right word. It's even beyond 'revolting'.

This "worse than revolting" shaken his body. Forced him to looking for some water in the unidentified black place. Then the woman in white dress with a long green coloured hair; as green as the colour of leaf in the forest, stopped you, hand you over some water in the glass. Without asking any question, he drinks the water.

On the other side, while the fresh water Felix's drank flowing through his oesophagus, the woman sitting in front of a big screen. The screen turned on by her hand movement, she watching something on it.

Felix coming close with careful, he wonders what its on the screen that make the woman smiled. He getting closer and closer until he heard it, the sounds he has been heard for every weekend. The sounds of festival!

The movie showed it to him. The movie told him with his screen, that in the festival, he not alone. Someone beside him enjoying the rides in festival.

"Ayu?" the name coming out from his mouth. In the screen, he saw how happy she was, riding Viking Ship, the Whirlpool, Rounding Plane, and a merry-go-round.

The woman saw him, watching the movie while standing up behind her, frozen, "Come. Have a sit," the woman invited him to sit to her side. Again, Felix sitting beside her without asking any question.

The woman takes something out from her back of neck, under her long hair. Its tow roasted cassava on her hands, "Want some?" she asked, handed over a one hot cassava to him. This time Felix answer by shook his head, refused her offering.

"Or maybe you prefer popcorn?" same as before, the popcorn taken from under her hair. Same again, Felix shook his head, "suit yourself," she said eating her roasted cassava. Ended her offering.

The movie continued. It's now the screen showing the moment they share meal together from food stand. Started with the most favourite, a cotton candy, to siomay, and various of satay with hot ginger tea, a wedang.

All life happily until the screen turned black, just the sounds out alone. The sounds with bam bam bam!

Felix recognized the sounds; this is the sounds he has been heard before. The is the sounds of bullet and projectiles shooting from a common gun at war, the war he just passed it, a rifle with 7.62x39mm type of ammo and an 155mm projectiles.

As he expected, it was the sounds of rifle and projectiles coming from the tanks. The saw it, a lots of lots soldiers died close to their trench while the opposite shooting at them, killing them without mercy.

Felix remembered it. That not just some random soldiers, they were his comrade from same battalion!

He just remembered how it ended very well for him and his comrade, how all the massacre happened. Just when they thought the enemy been cornered and planned to attack, the tanks that well-hidden shooting their 155mm projectiles at them, creating a horror and terror between the soldiers. The troops wanted to retreat to their trench but many and many of them failed.

"You all humans never changes. Always same wherever you are," the woman said with anger on her tones, while eating her roasted cassava.

The movie now highlights how brave is Felix or the lieutenant named Sudirman at that moments. Felix saw how he, as Lieutenant of Kingdom of Dipa, fought against the incoming enemy. He shots his rifle at them, thrown some grenade in his possession, and shooting again and again. The different is the screen used third-person point of view and what happened in battlefield, it showed them all.

Felix saw how all his comrade has died outside of trench, much more, more than what he saw with his own eyes before. He sank into silence. The woman beside him, enjoying her second hot cassava while witnessing how Lt. Sudirman killed one man, then got hit by the other man. Then see laughing.

"Wahahaha, you should have thrown some bomb like before. How stupid you are," the woman continued to watch, while Felix lowered his head, blamed himself and hold his anger, "hey look! I think his name is Airlangga, correct me if I wrong. Just when he does something stupid like tried to waking you up, he got shot in head. Bam!" what that woman said made Felix anger grew stronger and stronger.

"Hey, want to watch the rest of it?" she asked with amused tones.

"No, please,"

"But you might like it," she insisted, drew closer to him, "you might like to see how all your side slaughtered out," she whispered, a whisper in mocking tone.

Felt she in his range, Felix gripped her throat, then asking, "I said no?" his grip tightened. It became tighter and tighter until the woman lost her breath. That body that just lost it life, stopped moving her mouth.

But, as Felix loosens up his grip, the woman talks and smiling, "Do you have enough?" and in sudden, her body turned into a tree as high as Felix, making shocked him. At the same time, space all over him shaken.

"Did you put out all the stress and anger inside your body yet?" the woman voice echoed loudly all over the place, "or not? Or you need to be pushed little more, huh?" the shaking got stronger.

"Do you want to see how your comrade being massacred?" the screen turned on again, now it showing how enemy rifles, projectiles, and bombs killing one after one Felix comrade in the trench just like mouse in traps, or when they tried to run away from battlefield.

"Did you see it?! Did you see how their sweat became blood?!"

"Did you see it?! Did you see how your trench became a mass grave?!"

All the screen turned red little by little as because of the blood splashed to it while watching the soldiers lost their life.

"For what their sacrifice for?! It is for resource, what on, under, and above a single territory?!"

"No," Felix replied while close his ear as the woman voice became louder and louder.

"Or it is for some shitty leader who thought all the world is their property?!"

"No no," his eyes closed, stills remembered what he saw before.

"It is for some bullshit that said, your country is the best in the world and you took it too far?!"

"No no no no,"

"How about you thought you fought a holy war to convert everyone to your own religion?!"

"No no no no no no,"

"Or maybe, to get revenge because someone in someplace, far away from where you lived, killed by someone else just because he or she is the child of someone with a crown?!"

"No no no no no no no no,"

"Which one it is?!"

"I-I don't know!" he has enough. He doesn't remember anymore why they into war. All he knew was 'he is the good guy and the enemy is the bad guy', just like he been told by his upper man.

"Please tell me," her voice became sweet, it gets through his hand, reached the innermost part of the ear, "how about Ayu? Have you kept your promise to her?"

"Ayu?"

"Yes…. How about her? Did you keep promise to will definitely coming home?"

"Coming… home?"

"How about the promise to always there for them?"

"Always… there?"

"Yes… And how about her father? Did you just promised that all the tear that come out of her eyes are tears of happiness?"

Then the flashback coming, the house, the festival, the wedding. It all over his head.

"Yes, Ayu. I remembered it," he opened his eyes and ears again. Found the woman is in front of him, "I died, killed in war, could be there for her, and definitely made her cry,"

The woman smiled in silent. Waiting for him to continue.

"But, if I dead, how I in here? Why I lived with Karine and have to fight the monsters?" he turned to her. To smiling woman.

"Do you… want to know, Lieutenant?"