Nusantara Descend

The bright full moon shone through every house in the village, except one. On the edge was a dilapidated shack that a big, bad wolf could blow away. Inside that shack was a young man, absorbing the radiating light from his phone.

As he stared at the endless stream of videos, he stumbled upon one showing a man standing outside an eerie house. An odd noise was heard inside the house as the man spoke to the camera. Although most people would run to avoid it, the man in the video chased after it.

Entering the house, he was faced with a predicament. There were three doors, each leading to a different room. Not long after, the voice came from the one in the middle. He and his cameraman chased after the leftover echo of the voice and, at long last, caught up with the source. Unfortunately, it was from a screeching ferret roaming the halls.

The young man turned his head on his pillow and remarked, "Tch, all that for a rodent."

The conclusion annoyed him, so he skipped over the video. The next video garnered his interest. It was a livestream, and they were promoting a product called '100% Pure Holy Water'. The young man scoffed at the seller before scrolling past the livestream. When he scrolled, the next video talked about the holy water and its legitimacy, which he chose to ignore. However, another similar video appeared, weirding him out, yet he continued scrolling, only to have it appear again, annoying him this time.

"Fine! I'll buy it!" he scrolled back up to where the livestream was to buy the product.

"How much is it anyway?" he mumbled as he scrolled.

After a few seconds, he reached the livestream and spent a while reading the chat; they were all like him, very skeptical. He looked at the livestreamer's room and noticed a bunch of shrouds, usually used for dead bodies. When he realized, they were also selling the shrouds.

"Well, that's interesting. The holy water is how much?" his eyes glued to the screen.

"10 thousand for 10 milliliters?! That's a robbery!" his lungs soared into the sky.

"Ah man, I'll just consider it a donation," he scratched his head, lamenting the price.

After no consideration, he ordered a small bottle worth the price of three packs of instant noodles. He looked at his digital cart and confirmed his order, making it official. Tired of his ordeal, he turned his face around and decided to sleep it off.

A whole day passed with him sleeping, without a villager waking him up. They all thought that since he doesn't participate much in activities, what good would it be waking him up. Still, the knock on his door roused him.

"Excuse me! Parcel for Arjuna! Please confirm your order!" a husky voice was heard outside his door.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming," he reached for his door drowsily.

"Where do I sign?" he scratched his eyes and opened the door.

"Here," the deliveryman pointed to the corner of the paper.

"Okay. Here's your payment," he handed the deliveryman the money for the cost of the parcel and its delivery.

"Sir, you already paid," the deliveryman handed over the parcel and then flew away on his broom.

"Huh? I thought it was set on cash on delivery," he ponders as the deliveryman flies away on his broom.

Arjuna closed the door, clutching the small parcel in one arm. He grabbed the wand in his pocket and chanted a spell, illuminating the one light bulb in his shack. With the only light source on, it revealed his messy room, akin to that of a shut-in. He shuffled his way to the table in the middle of the room. With a glass of water he summoned, he set the package there.

"This better be worth three days of food," a piece of paper fell as he yanked out the bottle of holy water.

"Examples of usage?" In the paper, there are various ways to utilize the holy water.

The paper stated that the most common usage of the holy water is to purify an area. Drawing a magic circle on the paper and dropping the whole bottle can "purify" the village.

"Effective at night? I have to wait then," he read through the last sentence of the paragraph.

The sun quickly set on the village, and it was then nighttime. Arjuna headed to an open field. With the help of his wand, he followed the directions to draw a magic circle on the ground.

"I can be useful to the village with this," he smiled, drawing the magic circle.

"Now for the supposed holy water," he said, reaching for the holy water inside his pocket.

"How will I know it works?" the bottle dripped the holy water slowly.

When the last drop of holy water dripped, an explosion occurred, turning everything in the vicinity charcoal black.

Arjuna staggered back, eyes wide with disbelief as the explosion turned everything around him to charcoal. "What in the world...?!" he gasped, his mind racing.

Anger quickly replaced his shock as he cursed the seller for the defective product. Then, a being emerged from the ashes. They had a white shroud covering their whole body and face, devoid of life.

"Huh?" Arjuna stumbled and fell, his hand clutching the empty bottle.

It swayed uncannily, its head drooping from side to side. The white shroud fluttered, yet the wind was void. Its hollow eye sockets bore into Arjuna, paralyzing him in fear.

The creature hopped its way to Arjuna and said, "Damn it, I was having fun scaring kids."

"You! Where is this?!" the being locked contact with Arjuna and hunched over him.

"Ha-ha, no way this happened," Arjuna chuckled with a palm on his face.

"What's so funny, brat?" the being got close to Arjuna's face, exposing its pungent breath.

"I can't believe I summoned a spirit!" Arjuna got out his wand a second time.

"What is this brat saying—mmph!" multiple roots erupted from the ground, coiling onto the being's mouth.

"The ever-reliable bind spell. Now for the contract," Arjuna raised his wand high into the sky and chanted another spell.

Moments later, a book with a purple cover and the size of a house appeared behind the chained being. The book slowly approached the being, intending to encapsulate it. When the book closed on the being, the book disappeared.

"That was easier than I thought," Arjuna swished his wand, making the chains disappear.

"So? What kind of spirit are you?" Arjuna put his wand back into his pocket.

"I am a 'pocong,' feared by many," declared the being.

The pocong's hollow eyes darted all over, and surrounding it was charred ground from Arjuna's summoning. The night sky, however, startled it. Three identical moons, a huge one and two smaller ones, were located next to each other.

"Where is this place?! This isn't Indonesia!" the pocong exclaimed, its voice tinged with panic as its foul breath wrapped around Arjuna like a shroud.

"Where's that?" Arjuna equipped his wand, pointing it at the pocong.

With willpower, the pocong let loose its limbs, revealing just how grotesque its whole body was, its skin akin to that of a dried corpse.

"…this isn't Nusantara," Poci said, bewildered.

"This place is amazing, eh, Poci?" a voice ruffled through the leaves.

"The only one who calls me Poci..." the pocong saw a silhouette sitting on a thick branch.

"Heya!" the silhouette waved at the pocong.

"Kunti…!" Poci clenched his fist in disdain.

"Haap…!" Kunti hopped down from the tree, landing between the two.

 "Where are we?!" Poci pointed at Kunti.

"Welcome to another world, Poci!" Kunti pointed up at the moons.

"Another one?" Arjuna tightened his grip on his wand.

Kunti brushed the remaining leaves off her red kebaya and then turned to Arjuna with an unnaturally wide grin.

"You got yourself a nice catch here, boy," Kunti reached a hand out to Arjuna, tapping his shoulder.

"Don't even," Poci snarled, sitting cross-legged on the grass. "Why am I even here? Especially bound to this snot-nosed brat!"

Finally regaining composure, Arjuna interjected, "First of all, I'm an adult. Second, I didn't mean to summon anyone! I was testing out some... uh, questionable holy water."

"Shut it!" Arjuna raised his voice at the spirits; his voice trembled through the dense forest.

Poci was shocked that such a voice could come from someone so young. "Interesting," Poci muttered with his hand covering his mouth.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Arjuna tried to regain control of the situation.

"Let me get the facts straight!" he declared, his voice gaining strength.

"First, I am N.O.T. a kid! I'm 17!"

"Second, I didn't mean to summon anyone!"

"Then—" Poci tried interrupting Arjuna.

"Quiet!" Arjuna cast a spell that puts bandages over Poci's mouth.

"It was that damn fake Holy Water!"

"All I wanted to do was cast a protective spell on this village," tears started raining down from Arjuna's face as he looked down at the ground.

"Yeah, about that holy water—" Kunti interrupted successfully.

Kunti strolled away from the duo, making herself comfy on a nearby stump. She tilted her head, her short black hair reflecting the night sky. She looked at the duo with her glowing ruby eyes.

"Those 'fake' holy waters were by-products of a bigger problem. There was a cult that tried summoning a powerful demon to aid them. However, they failed. In return, they summoned powerful beings that originated from our homeland of Nusantara," Kunti waved to Arjuna, telling him to come closer.

"You're joking," Arjuna wiped away his tears, yet his mouth gaped open.

"Unfortunately, no," Kunti shook her head.

"However, there are others like you who accidentally summoned beings like us. Instead of lamenting, they're on the frontlines, facing the beings, with plenty already taken care of. Like them, you have the power to exterminate them," Kunti placed her hand on top of Arjuna's.

"R-Really?" Arjuna's eyes glimmered with hope.

"Yes! However, you'll need to follow me to the capital. We need to get you examined," Kunti brushed Arjuna's arm.

"But…" Arjuna hesitated.

"It'll be fine, I promise. The doctor summoned me," Kunti continued brushing Arjuna's body.

"I-If you're nice, then the doctor has to be super nice!" Arjuna shoved his face at Kunti.

"…Sure," Kunti said hesitantly.

"…I need to make preparations," Arjuna said as he stepped away from Kunti and released the spells on Poci.