"This is where we part ways," Purnama said, his voice steady. "The day hasn't turned in Rona yet, which means the entrance and exit are still linked. You'll arrive back at the Cirque on Earth."
Suria glanced up, a flicker of concern crossing her insectoid features.
"How can you be sure the day hasn't changed?"
"When the cycle ends, that rainbow will vanish, replaced by holographic stars. Those little leprechauns will disappear one by one, giving way to shimmering fairies. That's the signal."
"So, how do we get back before then?" Riang asked.
"Head back to your entry point. You'll find a lake nearby. Jump in. It'll transport you to an in-between dimension where you'll regain your true forms. Once you're human again, use your Dykin seeds."
"Gotcha, Purnama!" Riang chirped, her tail swishing. "I remember a crystal-clear lake near the tree I was galloping around. I can't wait to have hands again!"
"I'm sorry I can't show you more of this place." Then, Purnama's voice dropped an octave. "The other reason I need to find Belang is your kris, Suria. There's something wrong with it."
Suria's hand instinctively reached for the gummy, translucent sword at her side. She frowned.
"You noticed? It feels… hollow. That Darkseed did something to the edge."
"Belang will know how to fix it," Purnama promised. "Go. The longer you stay in Rona, the harder it is to leave. Good luck."
With a final, lingering look, Suria settled onto Riang's back. The donkey-girl shot off like a creature possessed, her hooves pounding a cheerful rhythm against the soft earth as they headed South.
Purnama watched them disappear before turning East. His destination: Le-Dang.
The path to the city was a sprawling marvel. Houses were woven into the canopies of ancient trees or hidden behind the silver veils of cascading waterfalls. Some even floated on shimmering clouds. It was a chaotic blend of organic wooden arches and sleek, futuristic metal facades, all connected by bridges made of pure, shifting light.
Driven by a mounting sense of urgency, Purnama pushed his genie form to its limit, trailing black smoke as he sped toward the metallic heart of the realm.
He arrived in Le-Dang to a cacophony of industrial progress. Giant, brass-plated gears whirred on the sides of buildings, powering clockwork mechanisms that birthed massive airships into the sky. Networks of copper pipes snaked along every wall, venting rhythmic puffs of scented steam that twisted into animated shapes above the streets.
Belang's residence sat on the outskirts—a sturdy, double-story igloo of wood and brick. Atop the main door sat a stone statue of a man with a striped beard and aviation goggles.
Purnama knocked. Silence. He knocked again, harder. When no answer came, he tried the knob. The door creaked open, unlocked.
Inside, the house was a wreck. Furniture was overturned; shattered vases littered the floor. The air hung heavy with the scent of a struggle.
"Belang?" Purnama whispered.
He flew to the bedroom, shoved the heavy bed aside, and ripped back the carpet. A hidden trapdoor lay beneath. He descended a narrow staircase into a basement filled with the hum of interconnected tubes and gleaming valves.
Amidst a jumble of steampunk devices, he found a sack of Dykin seeds on a cabinet. But it was the glint of gold on a nearby table that drew him in. Encased in glass sat a small, intricately crafted chest.
"You fool..." Purnama muttered, his fingers trembling as he looked at it. "This is the only reason he'd be wanted."
He wrapped the chest in a soft cloth, tucked it under his arm, and grabbed the seeds. He knew exactly where Belang would be taken.
Now certain of Belang's location and his course of action, Purnama launched himself toward Santu-Bong, taking the northern route through Le-Dang.
The path led him across a wide, open desert, where massive, gnarled, and ancient tree roots clawed skyward from cracked earth. Their surfaces, hardened like petrified wood, formed natural, arching bridges in places. The sand underfoot crunched with an unnatural, almost metallic echo, revealing veins of embedded obsidian shards just beneath the surface.
Strange, geometric rock formations and towering, angular cacti broke the monotony of the dunes, casting long, sharp shadows. Emerald hills flanked the trail, home to those who had escaped the bustling life of the cities, their slopes dotted with crystalline springs that pooled into impossibly clear, vibrant oases.
Despite its remoteness, trade persisted, with weather-beaten stalls and makeshift shelters serving weary travelers, their campfires casting dancing light against the stark, alien landscape.
He felt the realm's magic shifting his form again. This time, he transformed into a pink, marshmallow-like cloud with spindly limbs, a pinwheel hat, and oversized red boxing gloves.
He didn't waste time. He ran, passing through a bizarre Dessert Cave where miners chipped away at blocks of fudge, and stalactites dripped liquid caramel.
At the end of the cave, the path diverged. To the right lay the Sky Theme Park. Straight ahead was the mist of Santu-Bong. But Purnama turned left onto a path that only appeared when the laws of Rona were broken: The Prison of Needed.
He was stopped by raven guards clad in black armor and wielding spears, who stood at the prison entrance. Purnama opened the gold chest he had brought and showed its contents to the guards.
"I'm going to return this to where it belongs on behalf of Belang. Please let me see him before I do that," said Purnama.
After inspecting the chest's contents, the guards granted Purnama permission. One of them guided him to an interrogation room and left him alone there. The prison was dimly lit, with only a flickering light illuminating the area.
Chained hand and foot, Belang was a grotesque figure—a man fused with the red chitin of a grasshopper. Four raven guards, their faces sharp and dark like the birds they resembled, marched him from his cell to the interrogation room and secured his chains to the table before Purnama.
The guards then left.
"And who might you be? It's not easy to get permission to meet me after what I've done," Belang asked while looking at the pink cloud before him.
"It's amazing seeing you remain in the same form from when I left Rona. I thought you were wiser than me, Belang," Purnama remarked, dropping a hint at his identity.
"Huh...? Wait... is—is that you, Purnama?" Belang questioned. "H-How did you know where I am?"
Purnama placed the miniature gold chest on the table in front of him. Upon seeing the chest, Belang's face contorted in fury.
"Purnama, why would you bring it here?! I left it there for a reason!"
"Whoever made you steal this... is not worth it. And for your sake, I'm going to return it," replied Purnama.
"Don't!!" Belang pleaded, his antennae drooping, and his usually vibrant red skin darkened. "I helped you before, Purnama, for the same reason!"
Purnama narrowed his large eyes, gazing intently at Belang.
"...And losing you in the process? Remember your own words, Belang."
Without any further conversation, Purnama rose and took the chest. Belang lowered his head in sadness.
"Purnama! You! You, of all people, should understand!" Belang shouted, seeing Purnama walk away with the chest.
Clutching the chest tightly in his thin hand, Purnama paused briefly before making his way out of the prison.
"Purnamaaaaa! Damn you!!" Belang's furious shouts echoed through the prison, reverberating off the stone walls like trapped birds.
As soon as Purnama stepped out, the prison was bathed in the natural light from outside. His memories returned to haunt him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rona, Years Ago...
A blue-skinned lizardman burst into Belang's workshop.
"Belang! You have to help! She's dying!"
A cyclops dwarf in a cowboy hat shook his head.
"No, Purnama. That's final. The land will not only curse you because of that, but we should never interfere with the gods' will!"
"Where is your heart, Belang? She took care of me here in Rona. Because of her, I came back to my senses from the horrors of the White Hell! She just wanted to return to her family on Earth—that was her wish—but she's dying here!"
"Forget it, Purnama! The last person who stole it vanished, seen neither in Rona nor on Earth!" Belang replied.
"Then I'll do it myself. I need your tools to retrieve the particle. I can't leave her like that," explained Purnama, shaking Belang's shoulder.
Belang brushed Purnama's hands away.
"You want to turn her into a Celestion? Are you crazy?! Is that your plan all along?! Do you even have the slightest idea about the consequences of doing that?!" Belang's anger flared.
"I'm very sorry, Belang... but I need to borrow this."
Purnama knocked out Belang, took a rod with delicate gears and a glass chamber on the top—built by Belang—and walked away.
Belang, lying on the floor, looked at Purnama in disappointment.
"Why... why does he have to be a tough lizardman today...? I would have taken him down if he were a bug or something tiny... urghh..." he sighed.
According to legend, powerful particles lingered in Rona, hidden beneath the city's monument. Meant to remain hidden, they could unleash chaos in Rona if placed in the wrong hands.
Those who died in this mystical land became one with the particles that energized it. They were reborn into an entirely new existence, living for eternity without any memory of their past. Purnama, however, intended to keep the woman alive and bring her back to Earth—a clean break from the eternal fate Purnama was determined to prevent.
Upon arriving in Le-Dang, Purnama searched a narrow alley near the monument for the right spot. He waited for the right weather—dark clouds and purplish petal rain—to conceal his actions. He waited patiently, watching as purple petals rained down.
Making sure nobody was around, he used the transparent, elongated rod to reach the top of the World Tree monument. Holographic beetles, butterflies, and bees buzzed joyfully around the tree of life, which pulsed with a swirling white aura that was visible even in the dark.
Extending the rod to the top of the monument, Purnama pressed the button on the handle. It released a puff of steam, and a holographic gripper emerged from the glass, passing through the World Tree and sinking deep beneath the monument.
Like fishing, Purnama felt the rod snag a catch. He rolled the gear on the rod, pulling out the particle and encasing it inside the glass chamber.
As the particle was removed, the tree monument wilted, and all the holographic life disappeared.
DUNG! DUNG! DUNG!
A big bell began to ring loudly in Le-Dang.
Purnama rushed back to Belang's lab to make use of the particle. Unbeknownst to Purnama, because he extracted the particle, a new place magically appeared out of nowhere: The Prison of Needed.
Purnama arrived back at Belang's house and went to the basement, where he placed the orb particle in a machine Belang had built to extract energy and produce potions. Belang was already seated in the basement, watching as Purnama arrived.
"Whoever she is, it's not worth it," said Belang. "I don't even know if this is going to work or not. If anything happens to her, it's on you."
The particle floated between two mini turbines. The gears moved, and the particle vibrated as it extracted power. A yellow drop dripped into the smaller tube in a few seconds, indicating a positive reaction.
"Never did I doubt you, Belang. You're a genius. I owe you one," Purnama said. "Once I give this to her and bring her back to Earth, I'll be back to return the particle."
After thanking Belang, Purnama took the potion and headed toward Santu-Bong.
Belang removed the particle and placed it inside a miniature gold chest on his desk to contain its power. He then brought it to the living room above, waiting for Purnama to return.
Beyond the Dessert Cave lay the entrance to Santu-Bong, a settlement on a verdant plateau where many florists lived. Purnama climbed one of the houses built into a spiraled giant beanstalk and gave the potion to the mysterious, ailing woman.
As she drank the potion, she woke up in a healthier state.
Purnama hurriedly took the woman to the lake on Santu-Bong's eastern side, where he'd first entered Rona. At that moment, Purnama didn't know the gateway would transport him to a different location on Earth.
He didn't know that by saving her, he was starting a chain of events that would lead Belang to a cage...