***
Guntur is leaving the cell halways when he meets Bunga by accident. The person he wants to avoid the most is freezing like a statue in front of him. Both are on the hallway leading to the dining room. No one is there because it is currently passed lunch time.
"What..."
"What am I doing here?" Guntur finished Bunga's sentence.
"Y-Yes. What are you doing here?"
Guntur lets out a long deep breath before answering his once best friend,"I am on a mission. So, please do me a favor and don't tell anyone."
"How am I supposed to not let anyone know about you being here, Guntur? Everyone was talking about you. You are considered a a traitor!" Bunga's voice grows higher and higher even though she tries to keep the volume down, resulting in a hissing kind of sound.
"I know. I am a traitor. But I am doing this for us, Bunga. I am doing this for Rama," said Guntur.
"How could you possibly do it for me or Rama? You kidnapped the prince!"
"He just happened to be there in the room! He was not supposed to be kidnapped! We had no choice!"
Like Bunga, Guntur raised his voice in frustration. He did not mean for this to happen either. But it was his mission to retrieve Ara and the prince was accidentally there with her. The crew had no other options but to take him or the Neo Renegades as a rebellion army would be in danger. Guntur wipes his face down in an attempt to retrieve his calmness back.
"You kidnapped Ara."
"I don't think kidnap is the right word."
"Then how are you going to describe it?" Bunga's demand for answer continues as Guntur begins to panic.
There is some sounds of footsteps approaching from the male cells. He quickly grabs Bunga and drags her into the empty dining hall before anyone could see him. Bunga resists but Guntur covers her mouth while pulling her into the nearest dining table.
"Why would you do that?" Bunga scolds him once Guntur lets her go.
"I would get in trouble if anyone sees me. They will kill me if they hear our conversation!"
Bunga sighs. She has become speechless, not knowing what to say to Guntur. Her best friend is gone. Regardless of him being punished by the kingdom or not, he is dead to her. After a while, she braves herself into looking at him in the eye.
"Why did yo do it?"
"Do you remember our home in Rama? Do you remember how the condition was? We were hungry and miserable. Yet these people living so comfortably just because they are born into royalty! How is that fair?"
"The world isn't fair, Guntur! That is just the way it is. You cannot be mad because somebody else has greater luck than you. You can only try your best in life. Why did you have to turn into a bad person?" answered Bunga in despair.
"No, you don't understand. You are blinded by this royal family because you are so fond of them. I, on the other hand, want to fight to give our people a chance of success. I want to give them food, better education, and a chance of better fate. 'Takdir' placement that we all looked forward to is a scam. It is basically just a ceremony to have us signing into slavery!"
"Then, why are you back here in Garuda? What is this mission that is so important that you are willing to leave behind your dream life with your rebellion army?"
Guntur is surprised by Bunga's change of demeanor. She used to be so sweet. She is still calm and gentle; yet, her words are sharper than blades. He realizes that he has made her extremely upset with what he has done. He sighs and leans forward to get closer to Bunga.
Whispering, he said,"I am to guard my friend. He is giving an important message to the King. It is our key to victory."
"What is the message about?"
"I have not heard or read it. But I am sure it has something to do with Prince Surya."
"You should go."
"What happened to you? We are comrades! We are both from Rama. We are brother and sister!"
"I don't want to be seen with you. I am not a traitor. But I don't want to fail you either. So, please just leave and I will pretend that this meeting never happens."
Bunga turns her face away from Guntur, unwilling to see him any longer. To his surprise, Guntur is actually deeply hurt by what Bunga said. He strongly believes that what he is fighting for is the right one. But why do his best friends no longer want him? They are throwing him away like trash; both Ara and Bunga did.
"If that's what you want."
Guntur leaves in pain. He proceeds to the bottom area of the ship where Topan promised to meet him. He struggles to find the duffle bag containing their diving suit so he waits near a wall to steady himself. The wave is felt more strongly in this area of the ship. He waits and waits but nobody came. After a while, he realizes that maybe Topan had left without him.
He stands up and looks for his diving suit again. Luckily the duffle bag is still there. It had moved because of the strong wave but luckily has not fallen into the sea. Guntur opens the bag and find that there are still two diving suits in there.
'Topan hasn't left,' he thought.
But knowing that he does not have much more time, he decides to leave. Rather than risking his mission-and also his life-by staying in this ship any longer, Guntur will just wait for Topan in the submarine. At least he will have Petir that can tell him what to do should Topan does not return. After zipping his diving suit and putting the helmet, Guntur is ready to jump. He looks behind one more time where the duffle bag is. He contemplates if he should throw away the duffle bag so that there will be no evidence of their presence in Garuda. But then he remembers that Topan needs the suit.
After jumping into the water, he instantly feels her whole body tightening due to the cold water and the anxiety. A glimpse of that giant monster apepars in his brain, telling him that he should go back up or get eaten. His grasp on the anchor chain tightens. He looks around to ensure that there are no creatures around him before slowly lowering himself to the submarine, which is still waiting where it anchored it self an hour before. He speeds up once he becomes more comfortable with the water.
After knocking on the submarine, the diving area is opened for him to enter. Guntur lowers himself into the diving area and knocks the wall again as a signal to Petir. The chamber is closed and water height slowly comes down to Guntur's feet and the chamber becomes dry.
"PETIR!!" Guntur yelled after removing his oxygen tank and helmet.
"I hear you. Wait a second!" Petir's voice can be heard loud and clear from inside the submarine.
Soon afterwards, the door that separate the diving area with the passenger's area is opened. Guntur storms out of the diving area and into the passenger's seat. He throws himself there and cocooned into a fetus position.
"Dude, you good?" asked Petir to Guntur who is now rocking himself in that fetus position, trying to calm himself down.
"I can't find Topan."
Guntur's whisper does not come to a suprise for Petir. He calmly sits next to Guntur. Patting him on the back to help the kid shake off his anxiety. Guntur is still trembling with fear, thinking that by him leaving Topan there, he has also left him to die. He is a traitor. He betrays his friend again.
"We will wait another hour. But if Topan does not come then, we will leave."
"D-Do you think they have killed him?" Guntur asked in a meek voice. All those manly voice filled with bravery is gone without a trace. There is only a scared little boy in that submarine now.
"We will never know. But we can assume that he is either captured or has escaped if he does not return in an hour. We cannot stay here for long, kid. This submarine needs fuel. If we stay too long, we will not make it back."
Guntur nods. He stands up and takes off his diving suit as the toxic water has started making his skin burned. As he lets down the suit, he can see that his whole body has been covered in red rashes, some oozing with clear liquid. It has become irritated so badly that the skin ruptures. Guntur quickly pours clean water on himself and dries the skin with towel, being more gentle near the wounds.
The submarine is filled with nerve-wrecking silence as Guntur and Petir wait for Topan's return. But the man never comes back. An hour has passed and they both know that Topan is gone. Without saying a word, Petir goes to turn on the engine. They went to Garuda as a group of three and return with only two.