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Description
August 26, 1883; Ketimbang, Sumatra

The siblings crawled out of the water and onto the wet sands of the beach. They were both coughing brutally as they got the burning salt water out of their lungs. They barely had the energy to crawl all the way onto the beach. They turned over on their backs in ankle-deep water, thankful to finally be out of that storm and to have easy access to air.

They both stood after a couple minutes, still huffing and puffing.

“Sialan…” Apsarini mumbled. “Sialan…”

She turned to Jaga. “We have to find Boumeester,” she said. “We have to find him now!”

“Just… just a moment…” He supported his arms on his legs, still a bit winded.

“But Jaga we have to stop him! He still has the Piece of Eden! We need to figure out what he did so that we can stop it!”

“I understand, little sister, but he could be anywhere right now! And he'll be surrounded by guards when we do find him! Whatever he triggered will already have happened by the time we-”

He paused. Something didn't feel right. Apsarini tossed him a confused look, but then she felt it too. The earth was shaking again, harder and harder. The siblings looked at the little fishing village around them. Animals were howling and squawking and running out of control of their masters. Ornaments jangled on the huts and houses, many falling to the ground and shattering. People were scrambling to get everything back in order.

“Jaga…” Apsarini said, worried.

“I… I don't…”

There was a tremor, a large rumbling bass of a boom that resonated through the ground. It sounded like it was coming from the sea. Apsarini felt water rushing past her legs all of a sudden, as did Jaga. They looked down and saw the tide receding, ripping away from the beach at speeds that didn't seem natural. It just kept going. The kids that were playing in the ocean watched in awe and went to pick up the flopping fish that got left behind. A fishing boat farther out found itself stranded in wet sand as the tide pulled away. Apsarini felt her stomach drop. This… this could not be good…

The waters washed out further, and the Earth stopped shaking for just a moment, a deafening silence. Apsarini looked out at the ocean, in the direction the water was pulling and slowing. She noticed the three cones of Krakatoa smoking, turning the sky above it a deep black. Another low rumble resonated through her feet. Her eyes bulged in realization. The rumbling got louder, and louder, and harder, and harder. She turned towards the village. She shrieked at the top of her lungs.

“Hit the deck!”

And then the volcano blew.

The top of the island exploded into a hellish hail of bright orange molten rock. The noise carried all the way to the shore. It was deafening. The sheer force of it sent Apsarini and Jaga tumbling backwards onto the sand. Apsarini’s vision blurred and spun. She tried to get back up, but it was too hard. The only sound she could hear was the shrieking ring in her ears. She was able to make out the villagers screaming in pain and terror and fleeing inland, but she couldn't hear them. She realized her hands had instinctively gone up to shield her ears. She pulled them down, and though they were shaking violently and her vision blurred, she still saw the blood that had dripped onto them. Her whole body shook. The ringing wouldn't stop.

She felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Jaga dragging her off of the beach and forcing her to spring alongside him into the village. He looked terrified. The ringing wouldn't stop.

Apsarini managed to look behind her, and what she saw immediately kicked her flight or flight instincts into full gear. The water that had receded earlier was now barreling towards them in a massive wave, pushed forwards by the shockwave, and showed no signs of slowing down. She ran like hell.

She and Jaga ran alongside all the screaming civilians who were clutching their children and pets and getting the hell away. Many were not lucky. Many got smacked by the force of the waves and drowned immediately, their bodies getting swallowed by the water.

The sky turned pitch black as smoke from the volcano filled it. Hot ash started raining down, pelting the land and bringing more and more people to their knees. Apsarini’s hearing started fading back in, and oh how she prayed that it wouldn't. Because she heard the screams. She heard the agony and fear as loved ones got burnt to the ground or swept up behind them in a watery grave. She heard the village homes behind her getting shattered into splinters. She heard the terrifying crunches and shrieks of destruction and agony. The sights of death and fire literally rained down around her. She could barely see, the ash rain was getting so dense. She started coughing violently as she ran, as did Jaga. It was slowing them down, but they knew they couldn't. Or else…

Suddenly, a massive hunk of flaming ash came crashing into the Earth in front of them, sending them flying backwards into the blackened ground. They coughed and winced in pain. Jaga gasped when he looked behind them and saw the wave barreling forward, coming straight at them. He grabbed his sister and pushed her towards the nearest tall house, urging her to climb up as fast as possible. They scrambled to the roof, and didn't even have time to stand up before the wave smashed its way past. It was shallow enough to just miss the roof, but the sheer force of it made the entire house crumple beneath them. Apsarini screamed as her chunk of roof cracked off and thrust forward into the unrelenting current. Jaga lunged forward and grabbed her hand.

“No!” he shrieked. But she was already caught in the current, and she accidentally yanked him along for the ride.

They both got pulled under, their bodies getting tossed around like ragdolls in a dog's mouth. Apsarini gasped for air, but she and Jaga only managed to get short, wet puffs before getting forced back down. Debris and dead bodies smacked into them as they were carried. Apsarini’s cuts and bruises stung like fire in the salt water. She still heard the screams and the destruction. It wouldn't leave her ears. She still heard Krakatoa exploding in the distance. The sheer force of the lava flow must've been ripping the island into pieces. The ash still fell, the bodies still barreled along, and Apsarini’s scars just kept building up.

Jaga managed to grab hold of a knotted rope loop hanging on a sturdy tree, and he grabbed Apsarini the second he did. He pulled her in hard against the current, looping both their arms into the rope and holding on for dear life. Apsarini screamed in fear and agony. She still heard the screaming everywhere. Armageddon just kept coming down harder and harder. It refused to stop.

The two of them just held on, shutting their burning eyes and clutching each other for even the slightest trace of hope.

After what felt like hours but could only have been a matter of minutes, the current finally slowed. The bloody waters settled at last, and a layer of ash started building up in it alongside all the tangled bodies and jagged debris. The siblings didn't let go. They were both shaking hard from trauma. They slowly lifted their heads and looked around. The destruction and death assaulted every single one of their senses. Apsarini was crying. The two managed to finally let go of their safety line and clumsily swam to the edge of the flooded valley. They dragged themselves onto the mud, shaking and breathing in ragged spurts of air. They found themselves at the base of a cluster of Dutch mansions that had been touched by the waves, but only took the weakest and final hits. They had already been abandoned. Apsarini rolled onto her knees and coughed up water that was not a color she wanted to think about. She felt her stomach churn, and she threw up. She did it twice and thrice before finally dragging herself over to Jaga and hugging him painfully. They both looked out on the destruction wrought by the eruption. They saw the island in the distance. It spat fire still, and the smoke billowed out until it claimed the heavens above. The sun was a distant memory. Ash came raining down on them still, choking the local plants to death in almost an instant. The siblings coughed and cried and winced and wept.

“H… How could this have happened…” Apsarini sputtered, trying and failing miserably to ignore the mutilated bodies of innocent men, women, and children that were washing up. “Oh God… Oh God why?!”

Jaga hugged her tight as she wailed into his shoulder. The screams of the people still echoed around them. Little patches of flames licked the ash-coated. Hell had broken through.

“Quite the sight, isn't it?” a voice called down to them. Apsarini immediately turned furious. She grit her teeth and jumped away from Jaga. She yanked her mandau out of its sheathe and turned to face the man standing on one of the mansion balconies.

“You did this you bastard!” She shrieked in anger. “I'll tear your stomach out and feed your intestines to the dogs, Boumeester! You hear me?!”

“Not today, I'm afraid. I've got a good decade left in this vessel, Ms. Rajawali. And even when it's gone, I'll still be out there, waiting and searching.” He spread his arms to indicate the mayhem. “This was only a taste of what's to come! I've much bigger plans for when I find it, and there is literally nothing you can do to stop it!”

“How bout I just send you straight to hell right now?”

Boumeester smirked. He held the Key in his hand. It glowed bright. “Very well then,” he said. “I could use the entertainment.”

He held the Key high and it glowed brighter. Apsarini and Jaga looked in surprise when the air next to Boumeester seemed to warp and jumble, like a paint splatter when water is dripped on it. He stepped into the blotch in reality, and he disappeared as though he had just walked through a doorway. The portal disappeared, and it reappeared again on ground level. He walked out, sword drawn. Jaga rushed to his sister's side and drew his kris. Boumeester wouldn't stop smirking. Apsarini thought of all the different ways she could hack his lips off his face.

She charged.

With an animalistic cry she swung her blade up to meet his sword. The sound of ringing metal mixed with the roaring flames and flurrying ash. Sparks went flying as they struck, again and again and again. She ducked and dodged and swung as he swished and slashed and dipped away. Jaga lunged into the fight, but even two against one didn't seem to slow down Boumeester. He kept that wicked, arrogant grin on his face the entire fight.

Apsarini swung her mandau at his head, but he blocked her blow and knocked her knife out of her hand. He kicked her to the ground and whipped out his revolver. He shot Jaga right in the abdomen, causing him to shout in pain and fall to the ash floor clutching his stinging wound.

“No!” Apsarini yelled, tears falling down her eyes. Jaga held up a hand to indicate he'd survive, but Boumeester stepped in front of her and blocked her view. He picked up her mandau and, showing no mercy, jabbed it hard into her side. Apsarini shrieked in pain. Boumeester leaned down close to her.

“Get away from her you Templar anjing!” Jaga shouted, trying desperately to crawl his way over to save his sister.

Boumeester ignored him. Apsarini could smell his rancid breath he had leaned in so close.

“See kid, there's really nothing you can do,” he mocked. “I've accounted for everything. All your efforts to stop me are in vain. I will find what I seek and then you'll know what hell really feels like. So you, granny, you might as well just stay here on your islands and weep in the shadows.” He paused. He held up the Key again. “And as for you, Ava. Consider this a parting gift, from me to you. Until we meet again.”

Apsarini tried to struggle away, but the knife held her in place as Boumeester jabbed the Piece of Eden into her wound. Apsarini shrieked and wailed. A surge of energy reverberated throughout her body, assaulting every nerve. She felt her body spasming out. She heard the machine beep in alarm and watched the world around her twist and glitch.

“Crap! Her readings are going off the charts! Oh my God!”

“Pull her out! Pull her out!”

“I miss father, mama!”

“I'm trying, Ben!”

The voices roared in her head, mixing and jumbling with one another as her body twisted and jerked. She watched Boumeester stand with with Piece and open up another portal and disappear through it, leaving his prey to bleed. Apsarini painfully tried pulling the knife out.

“Why couldn't it have been me to die?! Oh Eleanor! Why?!”

“Revolution! Revolution! Our islands shall be reborn in the blood of our enemies!”

“Ruby hurry!”

“I'm trying! We're losing her!”

“She's spasming out!”

“You think I can't see that?”

Jaga limped over to her and they leaned on each other's shoulders. They had to get away from this place. They had to escape the ash and smoke and find somewhere to heal their wounds. Everything hurt so much. They could still hear the screams. Ava could still hear the voices. They wouldn't be quiet. She couldn't even tell who was who anymore. The world around her shattered into digital chaos. Flashes of lights and landscapes tore through her head at painful speeds. She felt like screaming. Everything hurt.

“No Connor please don't go! You're my world, mentor! What will I do with you gone?”

“Ruby please!”

“I am sorry, Meeaquous, but your father didn't make it…”

“Ava stay with us!”

“I know what he is, Kiki. I was one of his kind once! It's a dangerous life, sweetheart.”

“Champ!”

“Are you proud of this Trail of Tears you've founded, Jackson? Are you? You Templar bastard!”

“Ruby we need to do something!”

“I'm gonna do something stupid…”

“Just do it!”

“We need to hunt down Boumeester, Jaga! His tyranny won't stop until he's dead!”

“She's not gonna make it!”

“I am with you until the end…”

“No!”

“Oh Priscilla… I'm so sorry… losing a child can't be easy…”

“Call Chelsea! Quick!”

“Find me… in the Darkness...”

“Ava!”

There was a deafening ringing in her head, and a loud pop of electricity. Her body jerked and went still, and everything went dark.

The screaming stopped.

The voices stopped.

Everything stopped.

Description
August 26, 1883; Ketimbang, Sumatra

The siblings crawled out of the water and onto the wet sands of the beach. They were both coughing brutally as they got the burning salt water out of their lungs. They barely had the energy to crawl all the way onto the beach. They turned over on their backs in ankle-deep water, thankful to finally be out of that storm and to have easy access to air.

They both stood after a couple minutes, still huffing and puffing.

“Sialan…” Apsarini mumbled. “Sialan…”

She turned to Jaga. “We have to find Boumeester,” she said. “We have to find him now!”

“Just… just a moment…” He supported his arms on his legs, still a bit winded.

“But Jaga we have to stop him! He still has the Piece of Eden! We need to figure out what he did so that we can stop it!”

“I understand, little sister, but he could be anywhere right now! And he'll be surrounded by guards when we do find him! Whatever he triggered will already have happened by the time we-”

He paused. Something didn't feel right. Apsarini tossed him a confused look, but then she felt it too. The earth was shaking again, harder and harder. The siblings looked at the little fishing village around them. Animals were howling and squawking and running out of control of their masters. Ornaments jangled on the huts and houses, many falling to the ground and shattering. People were scrambling to get everything back in order.

“Jaga…” Apsarini said, worried.

“I… I don't…”

There was a tremor, a large rumbling bass of a boom that resonated through the ground. It sounded like it was coming from the sea. Apsarini felt water rushing past her legs all of a sudden, as did Jaga. They looked down and saw the tide receding, ripping away from the beach at speeds that didn't seem natural. It just kept going. The kids that were playing in the ocean watched in awe and went to pick up the flopping fish that got left behind. A fishing boat farther out found itself stranded in wet sand as the tide pulled away. Apsarini felt her stomach drop. This… this could not be good…

The waters washed out further, and the Earth stopped shaking for just a moment, a deafening silence. Apsarini looked out at the ocean, in the direction the water was pulling and slowing. She noticed the three cones of Krakatoa smoking, turning the sky above it a deep black. Another low rumble resonated through her feet. Her eyes bulged in realization. The rumbling got louder, and louder, and harder, and harder. She turned towards the village. She shrieked at the top of her lungs.

“Hit the deck!”

And then the volcano blew.

The top of the island exploded into a hellish hail of bright orange molten rock. The noise carried all the way to the shore. It was deafening. The sheer force of it sent Apsarini and Jaga tumbling backwards onto the sand. Apsarini’s vision blurred and spun. She tried to get back up, but it was too hard. The only sound she could hear was the shrieking ring in her ears. She was able to make out the villagers screaming in pain and terror and fleeing inland, but she couldn't hear them. She realized her hands had instinctively gone up to shield her ears. She pulled them down, and though they were shaking violently and her vision blurred, she still saw the blood that had dripped onto them. Her whole body shook. The ringing wouldn't stop.

She felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Jaga dragging her off of the beach and forcing her to spring alongside him into the village. He looked terrified. The ringing wouldn't stop.

Apsarini managed to look behind her, and what she saw immediately kicked her flight or flight instincts into full gear. The water that had receded earlier was now barreling towards them in a massive wave, pushed forwards by the shockwave, and showed no signs of slowing down. She ran like hell.

She and Jaga ran alongside all the screaming civilians who were clutching their children and pets and getting the hell away. Many were not lucky. Many got smacked by the force of the waves and drowned immediately, their bodies getting swallowed by the water.

The sky turned pitch black as smoke from the volcano filled it. Hot ash started raining down, pelting the land and bringing more and more people to their knees. Apsarini’s hearing started fading back in, and oh how she prayed that it wouldn't. Because she heard the screams. She heard the agony and fear as loved ones got burnt to the ground or swept up behind them in a watery grave. She heard the village homes behind her getting shattered into splinters. She heard the terrifying crunches and shrieks of destruction and agony. The sights of death and fire literally rained down around her. She could barely see, the ash rain was getting so dense. She started coughing violently as she ran, as did Jaga. It was slowing them down, but they knew they couldn't. Or else…

Suddenly, a massive hunk of flaming ash came crashing into the Earth in front of them, sending them flying backwards into the blackened ground. They coughed and winced in pain. Jaga gasped when he looked behind them and saw the wave barreling forward, coming straight at them. He grabbed his sister and pushed her towards the nearest tall house, urging her to climb up as fast as possible. They scrambled to the roof, and didn't even have time to stand up before the wave smashed its way past. It was shallow enough to just miss the roof, but the sheer force of it made the entire house crumple beneath them. Apsarini screamed as her chunk of roof cracked off and thrust forward into the unrelenting current. Jaga lunged forward and grabbed her hand.

“No!” he shrieked. But she was already caught in the current, and she accidentally yanked him along for the ride.

They both got pulled under, their bodies getting tossed around like ragdolls in a dog's mouth. Apsarini gasped for air, but she and Jaga only managed to get short, wet puffs before getting forced back down. Debris and dead bodies smacked into them as they were carried. Apsarini’s cuts and bruises stung like fire in the salt water. She still heard the screams and the destruction. It wouldn't leave her ears. She still heard Krakatoa exploding in the distance. The sheer force of the lava flow must've been ripping the island into pieces. The ash still fell, the bodies still barreled along, and Apsarini’s scars just kept building up.

Jaga managed to grab hold of a knotted rope loop hanging on a sturdy tree, and he grabbed Apsarini the second he did. He pulled her in hard against the current, looping both their arms into the rope and holding on for dear life. Apsarini screamed in fear and agony. She still heard the screaming everywhere. Armageddon just kept coming down harder and harder. It refused to stop.

The two of them just held on, shutting their burning eyes and clutching each other for even the slightest trace of hope.

After what felt like hours but could only have been a matter of minutes, the current finally slowed. The bloody waters settled at last, and a layer of ash started building up in it alongside all the tangled bodies and jagged debris. The siblings didn't let go. They were both shaking hard from trauma. They slowly lifted their heads and looked around. The destruction and death assaulted every single one of their senses. Apsarini was crying. The two managed to finally let go of their safety line and clumsily swam to the edge of the flooded valley. They dragged themselves onto the mud, shaking and breathing in ragged spurts of air. They found themselves at the base of a cluster of Dutch mansions that had been touched by the waves, but only took the weakest and final hits. They had already been abandoned. Apsarini rolled onto her knees and coughed up water that was not a color she wanted to think about. She felt her stomach churn, and she threw up. She did it twice and thrice before finally dragging herself over to Jaga and hugging him painfully. They both looked out on the destruction wrought by the eruption. They saw the island in the distance. It spat fire still, and the smoke billowed out until it claimed the heavens above. The sun was a distant memory. Ash came raining down on them still, choking the local plants to death in almost an instant. The siblings coughed and cried and winced and wept.

“H… How could this have happened…” Apsarini sputtered, trying and failing miserably to ignore the mutilated bodies of innocent men, women, and children that were washing up. “Oh God… Oh God why?!”

Jaga hugged her tight as she wailed into his shoulder. The screams of the people still echoed around them. Little patches of flames licked the ash-coated. Hell had broken through.

“Quite the sight, isn't it?” a voice called down to them. Apsarini immediately turned furious. She grit her teeth and jumped away from Jaga. She yanked her mandau out of its sheathe and turned to face the man standing on one of the mansion balconies.

“You did this you bastard!” She shrieked in anger. “I'll tear your stomach out and feed your intestines to the dogs, Boumeester! You hear me?!”

“Not today, I'm afraid. I've got a good decade left in this vessel, Ms. Rajawali. And even when it's gone, I'll still be out there, waiting and searching.” He spread his arms to indicate the mayhem. “This was only a taste of what's to come! I've much bigger plans for when I find it, and there is literally nothing you can do to stop it!”

“How bout I just send you straight to hell right now?”

Boumeester smirked. He held the Key in his hand. It glowed bright. “Very well then,” he said. “I could use the entertainment.”

He held the Key high and it glowed brighter. Apsarini and Jaga looked in surprise when the air next to Boumeester seemed to warp and jumble, like a paint splatter when water is dripped on it. He stepped into the blotch in reality, and he disappeared as though he had just walked through a doorway. The portal disappeared, and it reappeared again on ground level. He walked out, sword drawn. Jaga rushed to his sister's side and drew his kris. Boumeester wouldn't stop smirking. Apsarini thought of all the different ways she could hack his lips off his face.

She charged.

With an animalistic cry she swung her blade up to meet his sword. The sound of ringing metal mixed with the roaring flames and flurrying ash. Sparks went flying as they struck, again and again and again. She ducked and dodged and swung as he swished and slashed and dipped away. Jaga lunged into the fight, but even two against one didn't seem to slow down Boumeester. He kept that wicked, arrogant grin on his face the entire fight.

Apsarini swung her mandau at his head, but he blocked her blow and knocked her knife out of her hand. He kicked her to the ground and whipped out his revolver. He shot Jaga right in the abdomen, causing him to shout in pain and fall to the ash floor clutching his stinging wound.

“No!” Apsarini yelled, tears falling down her eyes. Jaga held up a hand to indicate he'd survive, but Boumeester stepped in front of her and blocked her view. He picked up her mandau and, showing no mercy, jabbed it hard into her side. Apsarini shrieked in pain. Boumeester leaned down close to her.

“Get away from her you Templar anjing!” Jaga shouted, trying desperately to crawl his way over to save his sister.

Boumeester ignored him. Apsarini could smell his rancid breath he had leaned in so close.

“See kid, there's really nothing you can do,” he mocked. “I've accounted for everything. All your efforts to stop me are in vain. I will find what I seek and then you'll know what hell really feels like. So you, granny, you might as well just stay here on your islands and weep in the shadows.” He paused. He held up the Key again. “And as for you, Ava. Consider this a parting gift, from me to you. Until we meet again.”

Apsarini tried to struggle away, but the knife held her in place as Boumeester jabbed the Piece of Eden into her wound. Apsarini shrieked and wailed. A surge of energy reverberated throughout her body, assaulting every nerve. She felt her body spasming out. She heard the machine beep in alarm and watched the world around her twist and glitch.

“Crap! Her readings are going off the charts! Oh my God!”

“Pull her out! Pull her out!”

“I miss father, mama!”

“I'm trying, Ben!”

The voices roared in her head, mixing and jumbling with one another as her body twisted and jerked. She watched Boumeester stand with with Piece and open up another portal and disappear through it, leaving his prey to bleed. Apsarini painfully tried pulling the knife out.

“Why couldn't it have been me to die?! Oh Eleanor! Why?!”

“Revolution! Revolution! Our islands shall be reborn in the blood of our enemies!”

“Ruby hurry!”

“I'm trying! We're losing her!”

“She's spasming out!”

“You think I can't see that?”

Jaga limped over to her and they leaned on each other's shoulders. They had to get away from this place. They had to escape the ash and smoke and find somewhere to heal their wounds. Everything hurt so much. They could still hear the screams. Ava could still hear the voices. They wouldn't be quiet. She couldn't even tell who was who anymore. The world around her shattered into digital chaos. Flashes of lights and landscapes tore through her head at painful speeds. She felt like screaming. Everything hurt.

“No Connor please don't go! You're my world, mentor! What will I do with you gone?”

“Ruby please!”

“I am sorry, Meeaquous, but your father didn't make it…”

“Ava stay with us!”

“I know what he is, Kiki. I was one of his kind once! It's a dangerous life, sweetheart.”

“Champ!”

“Are you proud of this Trail of Tears you've founded, Jackson? Are you? You Templar bastard!”

“Ruby we need to do something!”

“I'm gonna do something stupid…”

“Just do it!”

“We need to hunt down Boumeester, Jaga! His tyranny won't stop until he's dead!”

“She's not gonna make it!”

“I am with you until the end…”

“No!”

“Oh Priscilla… I'm so sorry… losing a child can't be easy…”

“Call Chelsea! Quick!”

“Find me… in the Darkness...”

“Ava!”

There was a deafening ringing in her head, and a loud pop of electricity. Her body jerked and went still, and everything went dark.

The screaming stopped.

The voices stopped.

Everything stopped.