9/3, Saturday

Something was very wrong with Gempa, was the first thing that came to Api's mind during breakfast.

The second was, Damn, I would kill for this cocoa.

Admittedly, waking up and seeing Gempa and Taufan in the kitchen was a sight to behold, only because Api had never seen the two doing anything remotely that was considered normal, considering their horrible work-life balance. Even the mere sight of the pair dozing off at a dining table was a whiplash by itself.

A burning smell wafted throughout the kitchen. Gempa nudged the wind elemental, who was dozing off by the table. "Tau, the pancakes..."

Taufan snapped awake, drearily blinking as he wiped drool from his chin. "Oh, the pancakes." In a whirlwind and a storm, a flash of blue sped towards the stove, screaming bloody murder as the almighty wind elemental was bested by inanimate pastries.

It was actually quite mystifying how they had so much energy after all that. Maybe it was years of hardened battle that led to their inevitable fits of paranoia-induced energy, or they had finally succumbed to their demons and was in the process of taking out all their stress on their culinary skills.

"You can head back to sleep, you know," Gempa said, sitting down with half a dozen of half-burnt pancakes on his plate. "There's no reason for you to be up this early."

Api shook his head. Years of private schooling had hammered the rigorous schedule into him, and now the early mornings were ingrained in his daily routine. "I'm more of a morning person." He briefly thanked Gempa when the older slid him his share of pancakes. "Besides, there's no way I could sleep with all the noise."

Gempa grimaced. "Surely, it wasn't that bad?" he quizzed, genuinely confused, if not a bit disturbed by the own commotion he was capable of causing.

Api shrugged. He may be overreacting—seeing as the others were still knocked out like a light—but it was no hidden secret that he was a notoriously light sleeper. The fact by itself made a frustrating combination when he's paired with Air for their sleeping arrangements, who slept like the dead.

"We'll try to keep it down," Gempa promised, but Api wouldn't hold his breath. "Do you have anything you want to do for the day?"

The fire elemental thought for a while. "I still need to get a new phone." Life wasn't the same without one in his pocket at all times. In addition to that, he still wanted to score a few punches at that Adu Du guy when they met again for stealing his stuff. "Maybe walk around the island a bit. There's not much to do."

Taufan slid back onto the table, bringing along a fresh batch of steaming pancakes for himself. "I know, right?" He picked up the bottle of maple syrup, then promptly decided to drown his pancakes in them. "It's nice and all, but it's just so boring. The city is better, since they have way more entertainment and shops and all, but nothing could beat the thrill of punching out someone's teeth in when your life depends on it."

"You're supposed to be an field Lance Corporal," Api muttered, unamused. He had respect for Taufan, he really did—but sometimes there were just moments where he couldn't for the life of him fathom how this man even became his superior in the first place. "Now you just sound like an adrenaline junkie."

Taufan hummed, not refuting the fact. "I only joined TAPOPS for the adventure," he confessed, finally capping the half-empty syrup bottle. Api could have sworn on his grandmother's grave that it'd been full a moment ago. "The position was an afterthought. I just happened to be good at the job."

Api narrowed his eyes. "I thought you joined TAPOPS to help people. You even said it in our official Instagram."

Gempa coughed into his palm. "That was me," he piped up, swallowing the food in his mouth. "When I was young, I always wanted to protect people. Then came the alien invasions, then TAPOPS... Well, they gave me a chance, and I took it. Not much to say about it."

Then his eyes bulged. "Wait, what official Instagram?"

A quick social media refresher and dozens of pancakes later, the clock struck 6. Gempa and Taufan bid Api a quick goodbye, then swiftly followed their grandfather out the door to start their days. Though, with how absentminded Gempa appeared to be, Api prayed to whatever immortal deity would listen that he wouldn't end up six feet under... or thousands of feet, for the matter.

Seeing that the sun has yet to rise and there wasn't anyone around, Api returned upstairs, the floorboards creaking under him as he ascended the stairs, navigating his way through the darkness.

The hallway hadn't changed a bit since the first day they arrived. It was still the same, bland boring walkway with a peeling wallpaper and deteriorating paint.

It was quiet, as he would expect in the mornings. Only Cahaya's loud snores permeated through the rooms, but they were more than accustomed to his sleeping habits in the time they've spent together. Other than that, it was normal, unassuming. Nothing like the spacious, bustling hallways in the station where cadets would be running around every second of the day.

Api didn't know how to feel about that. Sometimes, the silence was uncannier than a raging battlefield itself.

No, his mind supplied, the tips of his fingers twitching, this isn't quiet.

There was no noise, but he was hearing something. Something beyond his physical form and comprehension. As he watched, the dark hallways contorted and spun, filled with a cacophony of senseless notes as one of the doors hung ajar, light spilling from the meager gap within.

He put a hand on the wall beside him, balancing himself as the door slowly opened. Halilintar's door.

An oppressive aura washed over Api's form, crashing into him like waves engulfing the earth. Api's mouth dried up, tongue tasting akin to sandpaper. His knees wobbled like jelly, eyes transfixed at the moving door, unable to turn or move away.

From the lit room, a boy stepped out. Not Halilintar. A boy. A boy who couldn't be older than Api—perhaps even younger—emerged, freshly awoken in a white shirt and shorts rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes.

The boy lowered his hands and stared at Api. The moment their eyes locked, the dark atmosphere dissipated almost instantly.

"You're awake," said the boy. He didn't sound like anyone Api knew. Then again, he hardly knew anyone on planet Earth. He had hardly any friends and the people he could consider knowing on a personal level are the kids he pushed in lockers or shoved their heads into toilets.

Api, after a few seconds of stunned silence, nodded stiffly. There were so many questions running through his head right now. Most of them consisted of: what, who, how, huh, why, HUH?

The boy tilted his head, turning to look at his palms. "If you're awake," he whispered to himself, "am... I...?"

A bloody line formed along the boy's torso, starting from his neck and making its way down to his pelvis. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, leaving only bloodless whites behind. His skin darkened to ashen gray, black ooze dripping from split lips.

Then a clean cut sliced through his neck, and the boy's head collapsed on the floor. It rolled and rolled down the hall, leaving a trial of bone, flesh and gore behind, until it reached Api's ankle.

A bloodcurdling scream had everyone fumbling from their beds in an instant. In a split second, doors were slammed open, each revealing his disheveled friends, and a sleep deprived Halilintar with his hand on Api's shoulder, already working his way to calm the flames that burst from his head.

"Who's screaming? What happened?" Daun demanded, pillow in hand for self-defense.

"Api?" Air slurred, squinting past his bleariness. "Why'd you scream?"

"T-that kid!" Api cried, covering his face. "He looked fine—but then he just decapitated himself? Look at him!!"

Cahaya scoffed. "What kid?" he quizzed. "Have you gotten enough sleep, Api?"

"What are you talking about?! His head rolled down the place like some bowling ball—"

Halilintar's hand on his shoulder tightened. The flames died down, but Api was still as distressed as before.

"You weren't supposed to see it," Halilintar rasped. Api froze, brain running a hundred miles an hour as he tried to process what the older had said. "How did you even..."

"You know him?" Api jumped, hands jerking away from his face. He looked past Halilintar's shoulder and onto the halls – the clean, untouched and dead-kid-less hallways. "No! I know what I saw. He was right there—I'm not crazy, damnit!"

Halilintar rose to his feet, expression unreadable. "Go back to sleep," he said firmly. "You have better things to worry about."

Api almost broke his fuse a second time hearing him. "What wasn't I supposed to see?" he shouted. "Tell me!"

"Nothing of importance." Halilintar's signature glare returned, his patience running thin. "Nothing you need to know."

"What?!" Api exploded, nearly jumping on his feet now. "You—" Air pulled him into their room before he could continue, effectively shutting him up as the door was shut between them. He spun to glare at the water elemental, who obviously couldn't care less as he was already retreating into his duvets.

"I saw it," Api fumed, glowering at the door.

Air yawned into his palm. "Maybe," he mumbled, shuffling in the bed, "but he was right, you know."

Api remained silent. They wouldn't believe him. (Of course they wouldn't.)

"Whatever happens here isn't our business," Air continued, voice trailing off. "We're not in a position to bother, anyway."

He was quiet after that, presumably already fallen back asleep. Sometimes, Api really hated Air's ability to fall asleep at the drop of the hat.

Air might be right. This wasn't his home, and it may not be his place to care. However, Api had a feeling that they were merely cogs in a bigger machine; a dandelion in the face of an oncoming storm.