This Isn't Your World

Chapter 19

If Tanah had one regret, it's that everything that led up to now was his fault. He was the one that dragged Api into this. Him hiding his elemental powers was what dragged Petir into this mess.

And now he dragged Air down. She was making the mistake that he once did. A mistake that urged him to abandon everything he once cared for: his friends, his school, his sister...

He wouldn't let Air make that same mistake, because he knew how the power felt; how the temptation of the darkness was compellingly numb.

Behind him, Cahaya struggled to keep up, weighed down by his untreated wounds and aches. But Tanah daren't stop, pushing his legs as fast as he can, pushing past crowds, leaping over running cars and ran up the stairs, until he reached the door that led to the room that belonged to Api and Air, only now he noticed the frost seeping from the cracks.

Without a second thought, he threw his body onto the door, causing the hinges to break and the wooden door to splinter. The chunk of wood fell to the ground, shattering into pieces as he nearly tripped on his own footing, clothes covered with wooden splinters.

The floor was scattered with everlasting fractals, spreading out from another room. The air was cold, seething into his lungs like ribbons of thorns.

Warily, Tanah balled his fists as he swung the room to Api's door wide open, expecting to see a battlefield.

He saw Api strangling Reverse Ais instead, holding her against the wall. In his free hand, he was holding a knife ablaze with wielded flames, pointed to her exposed stomach. Reverse Ais's face started to turn purple, her hands clamping around Api's, frostbite sizzling painfully on his skin.

"What are you doing?" Tanah demanded, face whitening. His eyes fell onto their features, but only Ais's hair and eyes were changed. Api, however, remained the same, which meant that he hadn't been overpowered by his reverse form.

He lunged at Api, struggling to separate him from his twin, which he reluctantly released her neck and she fell to the floor, gasping greedy breaths. Tanah shook Api's shoulder, screaming in his face: "What happened? Why is she—"

Api's head was hung low, his hair covering his gaze. Tanah clenched his teeth, chiding him out, but failed to notice the harsh glimmer of ice released, close to spearing his back—

A beam of light shattered the arrow into thousands of shards, catching sunlight and showering them in a snow of ice and light. Tanah turned around, alarmed, to see Ais nocking more arrows into her bow as spikes of ice grew around her footing.

"Watch your back," Solar panted, leaning against the door, out of breath.

Tanah gritted his teeth, turning to Ais sharply. His hair faded to stark white, eyes turning blood red, matching the same shades of Ais's deathly makeover. For a moment, they looked so much alike, especially the look of murder in their eyes.

"I don't want to fight you, Ais." Reverse Gempa's voice was firm, though it wasn't hidden that he was struggling against his darker intentions. "Stop. Whatever you're doing. You can't defeat me."

Reverse Ais rose to her feet, the bruises on her neck turning creamy white, as if she's never been wounded. She raised her bow, now lined with dark blue, arrows glacial white, and aimed it straight towards his head.

"I don't, either."

She aimed her bow to the ceiling and sent the room crashing down.

* * *

I'm tired.

I'm tired...

I'm... tired.

... I'm tired.

... I'm tired...

I...

Want to start again.

Api uncovered his face, surprised that he was still alive. Covered in dust and concrete powder, but he was still breathing. Shocked, he turned towards Reverse Gempa, who was holding his palm up, and the ceiling responded to his call.

Despite his brave and firm demeanor, he could see his arm shaking, back moist with sweat, mixed with dried and fresh blood.

Api looked up, and the ceiling had cracked and the debris mashed together like a frustrated puzzle, but they weren't collapsing. Reverse Gempa was keeping them alive.

If this room collapsed... Api sweated to continue the thought. It would bring this whole building down. Hundreds of innocents would die. Families would die. Friends will be separated permanently. Especially those poor goldfish trapped in their little glass bowls.

"I'm going to tell you one more time," Reverse Gempa said, his voice deathly soft. "Detransform. Now."

Reverse Ais's apathic expression didn't waver, but the bow in her hands shattered into a million shards, disappearing before they reach the ground. Her hood and cap faded into her usual shirt and jeans, but her hair and eyes remained the same.

Reverse Gempa closed his eyes. Grunting with concentration, Api watched as the debris began to meld each other back, sealing and reassembling their cracks like a video in reverse, then it restored to its pristine state, as if nothing ever happened.

"Let's talk," Reverse Gempa said coldly, turning back to Tanah. He turned to Api, his expression distrustful. "This time, try not to kill each other." He swiveled to the door, though his posture slouched over and softened. "You will live to regret it."

Api swallowed, almost forgetting how fearsome Tanah can be. However, Air, now reverse, displayed no emotion, and glanced at Api with her cold, red eyes.

Pathetic, she mouthed at him.

Api's heart clenched. It wasn't just her appearance that changed. It was everything about her that changed drastically.

He looked away, pretending not to be affected by her statement.

However, deep down, he was fighting back tears.

His confidence was being shattered by the one who had built it up.