Mystical Portal

Even though his ancestral house is actually an old house that has existed for hundreds of years, Satya is a little proud because the concept of the house itself looks like the concept of a modern house divided into several rooms.

The living room even has a bedroom for guests on the right side, then a large living room, two bedrooms, one of which will be used by Satya, a dining room separate from the kitchen, the kitchen itself, then the bathroom located outside, and a simple toilet separate from the bathroom.

No, my ancestors weren't stupid!

Satya smiled as he leaned back on a rattan chair in the living room. In his right hand, Satya is holding a piece of copper that he previously got from one of the classic drawers in the living room. A large, round piece that had various engravings on both sides, like a medal but very old.

While fiddling with the copper medal with the fingers of his right hand, Satya's eyes were fixed on one wall in the living room, the one facing north.

That one wall is quite unique, filled with all kinds of carvings, and it always makes Satya think a lot about it—ever since he was a kid. The carving seemed to be carved directly on the entire surface of the wall.

There is an engraving of a girl in the middle, possibly depicting the figure of a king's daughter, though Satya himself never knew which princess from which kingdom it was. The girl's carving is complete with clothes that show traditional Balinese clothes, like dancing with her slender fingers, with a fan in one hand.

Then there are animal carvings which are more dominated by bird carvings. Maybe it's the Bali Starling, thought Satya. Also various types of plants, flowers, and carvings of trees that are close together like a picture of a forest.

It is the background of the carving that often makes Satya wonder. The carving of a beautiful dancing girl with the background of a large building—perhaps a palace, Satya thought all this time—only that it looks different from the shape of the palace he has ever known, nor is it like the usual temples throughout Bali. Also, there are carvings of terrible figures.

The carving of a strange and creepy creature always makes Satya feel that there is something wrong with the carving on the wall.

It's like the head carving of the Balinese Barong, but… it's a little different, and Satya doesn't know why, but for sure, he always feels something is wrong with the carving like the Balinese Barong.

The carvings similar to the Balinese Barong which become the background of all the carvings on the wall seem to depict a figure who is evil, cruel, and seems to want to dominate the dancing princess, as well as all the things around it.

"This is so weird," Satya scratched his head non-itchy. "If not Balinese Barong, then what creature?"

The problem is, that Balinese Barong is the embodiment of mystical creatures such as a red-headed lion who is believed to be a protector, not a threat or something scary as depicted in the background carving on the wall.

And there is one other thing that has always been a mystery to Satya, which has always made him curious about the carving on the wall, a sentence in the ancient Balinese script.

The engraving of the writing was unreadable because many of the letters had been eroded. Maybe his parents had put a chair or table, or any piece of furniture near the wall, and that made the writing erode. Satya is not sure about this.

But for sure, the writing is indeed difficult to recognize again.

The engraving was right under the foot of the carving of the princess who was dancing with a fan in her hand.

The only word that can be read in one line of the engraved sentence is the word 'destiny' which is in the second line at the end.

That was all Satya could recognize. However, as a child, Satya often learned ancient Balinese scripts from his father and mother. So yes, he can read the ancient characters.

The night continued to creep higher and later, but Satya was still sitting in the chair looking at the carvings on the walls, especially at three things. The carving of the dancing princess, the background carving that looks like the Balinese Barong but with an evil form, and the engraving of writing in ancient Balinese script that is no longer legible.

Is all of this normal?

Over and over again Satya thought about the carving on the wall. In all his life, Satya had never seen or heard of anyone owning a house with only one wall carved.

Indeed, quite a lot of houses have carvings on the walls, but it is usually on the front of the house, on the roof, on the pillars, or in the sitting room, or a special room of worship. And usually, also equipped with certain statues.

Then, his ancestral house only has one carving on one wall, and that is in the family room without any statues.

This is a little bit odd, he thought. Then, for what purpose the carving was made?

Satya was sure enough that the carving had a specific meaning or purpose that his ancestors preserved the carving, as did his grandparents, and in the generations of his father and mother. Meanwhile, Satya himself thought, wouldn't it be better to just remove the engraving?

Satya took a deep breath, the sound of the night bugs outside made him realize that he had been sitting in that chair for a long time dreaming of looking at the carvings on the wall. His gaze was fixed on the large medallion in his hand.

He took a closer look at the carvings on the copper medallion, only an engraving of the Pepatran type, a Balinese carving that accentuates the concept of plants and flowers.

Satya turned the medal over and looked at the engraving on the other side. The surface of the medallion on that side is a bit blurry due to some rust.

The man didn't know for sure, but there was something he felt in his heart that prompted him to observe the engraving on the side of the copper medallion.

Then he reached for the coconut oil lamp on the table, lifted the lid, dipped one finger in the coconut oil, and ran his finger over the surface of the copper medallion.

Little by little, the surface of the medallion on the side became cleaner and clear to Satya, he wiped it with a patch of cloth.

On that one side, on the copper medallion, was an engraving of a man and a woman sitting side by side with their hands clasped together, more like an engraving of a happy couple than an engraving of a king and queen. There is no luxury in the figures' carvings.

Then, Satya found that there was a line of sentences written in a circle at the top of the man and woman. He rubbed the medal again to be able to recognize the type of character used.

Similarly, the sentences on the copper medallion are engraved in the ancient Balinese script. Satya smiled, he could recognize the characters, and he could read the lines.

'Because there is a mission, destiny is created'

Satya took a deep breath, then suddenly he seemed to be snapped out of his thought. His gaze returned to the engraving on the wall, to the line of words that had been eroded.

Sensing that the words on the copper medal were similar to the words on the carvings on the walls, Satya got up and approached the carvings on the walls.

He crouched in front of the carving on the wall, rubbing the part of the writing that had been partially eroded. And he became convinced that in fact, the words on the engraving on the wall were the same as the words on one side of the copper medal in his hand.

What does it mean? Satya asked in his heart while rubbing the writing on the wall.

By following the pattern left on the engraved sentences in each of the characters, the tips of Satya's fingers seemed to find the truth of the actual sentence of the engraving.

"Because there is a mission, destiny is created," said Satya.

Yeah, that must be the full sentence engraved under the dancing princess' feet, thought Satya.

He stood, observing the carving of the dancing princess, and without realizing it, one hand reached out to wipe the face of the princess carving on the wall.

Just as his fingertips touched the face of the carving, Satya gasped because suddenly and very strangely, the carving of the princess on the wall came to life, moving in the rhythm of her dance, followed by the movement of every object that was part of the carving on the wall.

Of course, Satya got choked up, he even shifted backward. He was confused and at the same time very scared. How could the carvings on the walls come alive? This is not a cinema screen!

In an instant, just a few seconds after the carving on the wall became lifelike, from the four sides of the wall covered with carvings sparkling light flashed, and it made Satya even more afraid of something he didn't understand at all.

However, even though Satya was frightened, he even found it very difficult to move his feet, to move away from the wall. He couldn't move his legs even for an inch.

The light that flashed from the four sides of the wall was rapidly getting bigger and blinding the eyes.

Satya crossed his arms in front of his face, and while protecting his eyes he screamed.

And as if there was one hand with unseen immense power, Satya was pulled very strongly towards the wall.

In a matter of seconds, the light that emerged from the four sides of the carving-covered wall disappeared, and at the same time, every carving that had been moving was back to its usual silence.

Only, there is no longer Satya. The man disappeared along with the light that appeared quickly and disappeared quickly as well.

Satya opened his eyes, he felt like he had just had a strange dream that made him shudder. However, before his thoughts returned to his full consciousness, the bed he was lying on suddenly vanished, turning into a thin puff of smoke that made him shriek.

The man felt he was falling from a height with a speed that could sting every inch of his skin with a slap of air.

He continued to scream in a position that was falling in a wild circle, he was reaching out to find something he could hold on to stop his fall.

Splash!

Satya was hit against the surface of the water so hard that he felt his back hurt so badly, that he almost fainted in the water.

For a while, Satya was still floating under the surface of the water. Then, his eyes opened, and he realized that he was in the water, so he quickly swam toward the surface ignoring the pain in his back.

Arriving at the surface, Satya inhaled as much air as possible. He looked around.

"Sea?" he said. "Daylight? Where am I? What is going on?"