The Arkana: The Demon Hunters
Sun Sanggar

Amidst the dim light of neatly arranged candles along the side of this old art gallery, a group of children were seen excited to perform traditional dances. Even though tonight there is no moonlight due to cloudy clouds accompanied by drizzling rain that falls slowly. They were still burning and training late into the night.

A girl stood in front of her friends. With a gentle gesture, the girl started a dance move and her friends immediately followed each step by step.

However, the more the night they practice, the atmosphere feels more sinister and gripping complete with an atmosphere of increasingly heavy rain. Though they live in the sanggar and have been accustomed to practicing until late at night. It's just, tonight feels foreign. Although they try to stay focused on the dance, there is a disturbing sense of anxiety.

The girl leading them felt that there was an odd presence behind her while she was spinning in her dance moves. For a moment he stopped and turned around, but nothing seemed strange. The tense atmosphere was mounting, but they decided to continue the exercise, still thinking that maybe all those feelings were just their imagination.

However, when the dance reached its peak, something terrible happened. The girl suddenly lifted up from the floor and was thrown into the air. His friends screamed in fear seeing the girl thrown to the ground helplessly. Blood flowed from the girl's head as a result of the impact with the floor.

"Quiet down! Relax!" exclaimed an adult man who was the head of the dormitory guarding the old sanggar.

Just as he was about to help the girl lying on the floor, suddenly the closed door suddenly opened by itself, making the front floor of the room wet due to the storm that broke through from behind the door.

Amidst that tension, the lights suddenly went out, making the children scream hysterically out of fear. However, the dark atmosphere did not last long. In an instant the lights came back on. Instead of feeling better, they think that dark is better than what they are seeing right now.

Sanggar room that should only be filled by dance members, now filled with a lot of pale-faced strange people.  In the midst of the tension, the girl who should have been lying on the floor, was now in a standing position with empty eyes. The sound of gamelan in the rain. The girl slowly began to dance slowly following the gamelan, but her movements looked stiff and inhumane.

The head of the dormitory walked towards the girl, trying to help the girl who was currently possessed. However, one of the pale-faced people grabbed the man with cold hands, as if blocking him. When the man was about to break away, he suddenly bounced against the wall and was unconscious.

Gamelan, which was previously melodious, has now changed the tempo to a song that is disturbing and sounds scary, as if implying another presence that dominates the sanggar. The voice of the possessed dancer sang strange words that made the atmosphere even more gripping.

The hangar door suddenly closed, leaving the screams of children trapped inside. Merely, the thunderous roar made the cries of the children sound futile.

...****************...

This afternoon Bowo was training his left hand by drawing a well that was behind Ratnakusuma. His sweat made the man's body look shiny.

"Wo, called by Santi," said Anik who came from the back door.

Bowo stopped his activities. "Okay, let me go there."

After delivering the message, Anik went again into the building. While Bowo washed his sweat with well water and walked away carrying a towel. He was about to clean himself first before facing Santi, considering that after running from Tantra, he immediately drew a well just to train his left hand.

Nearly half an hour passed, Santi's door opened. Bowo's slow steps brought the man face to face with the chairman. "Bowo is present" said the man.

Hearing her words, made Santi smile. "I'm really like a robot."

"Maclum, mbak. Since knowing the position of Santi, I became awkward."

"Look easy again. Consider it before you know it," replied Santi. "Oh, yes. This malem you have a show?"

"I'll take it first." Bowo never had a night out. It was just that he was currently pretending to think of something that was not in his head. "It's empty, why mbak? Want to take the road in droves?" bowo asked while slipping a little joke.

"Yes, you know. We will walk later malem," replied Santi.

"Eh, really? Where to?"

"Udah, you go with me. We leave this afternoon so that later the malem can directly sat set sat set."

Bowo squinted his eyes. "Sat set sat set?"

"You don't have to ask much. Abis this is memenin mbak go home for a while to pick up clothes."

"What are clothes made of?" ask Bowo.

"Yes make a dipake. Just in case, if it gets wet later let there be a substitute. We are looking at semalem. Later abis from mbak, we go to Tantra get your clothes."

Bowo suddenly tense. "We're both alone, mbak?"

"Yes, what a rame-rame, strange later," replied Santi.

Bowo gulped. "O-okay to mbak."

"Another ten minutes we leave" said Santi.

Bowo came out of Santi's room. His brain was a bit sane and started to look far away. There was a strange smile on his lips.

Ten minutes passed, Santi came out of his room and found Bowo sitting in front of his room.

"Yep, Wo." He and Bowo walked towards the parking lot.

The woman drove the car and went to her house. About fifteen minutes drive, the car stopped in a minimalist home yard, but classified as cozy. Santi and Bowo went down, then walked in.

"Wait here, Wo." Santi tells Bowo to wait in the living room. "You want to drink in the kitchen, sorry there's nothing."

"It's okay, ma'am," Bowo said. He looked at Santi who was walking from the tip of his foot to the end of his head.

Not long after, Santi reappeared in the living room with a black duffle bag. He saw a rather strange Bowo gelagat. "Why are you, Wo?"

"Who's mom living here?" ask Bowo.

"Self, why?"

"Emang ... not married yet?"

"Are you here, ma'am?" ask Bowo.

Santi. "Here is it?"

"Yes, what's going all the way? I'm kind of groggy, mbak."

"Aren't they used to Mahari? How groggy?" ask Santi.

Bowo's face suddenly flat. "The sun? I'm still normal, mbak."

Santi just shook his head to see Bowo's behavior accompanied by a thin smile. "You guys hunt together a lot, right? Mahari must have been whining to ask for a meeting, right?"

Bowo. Apparently his distant mind was flying. Santi didn't ask him to do anything weird. He only asked Bowo to join him for the night to hunt demons.

"The body was a dateng client, he was acquaintance mbak from Gunung Kidul area. So he is the keeper of the sanggar dormitory which happens to also hostel for children who live a kara. Rather than living in obscurity for having nothing and no one, those who live in the hangar are given shelter, education, and proper food. They are also taught various types of dance, puppet, theater, music and other arts that are traditional for their capital. Mbak knew the owner of the place, he said creativity is free capital that can be paid a lot."

Bowo sighed. "OK on that. By the way, we go straight, ma'am. I brought a copy of my clothes to go home. Enough of a doang."

"Yes, it's ready. Let's cus." Santi walked out followed by Bowo. After making sure all the doors were locked, they walked back to the car and immediately drove towards the old hangar in the Gunung Kidul area.

...****************...

The transition from modern buildings to towering tall trees is indeed a pleasant thing. In the midst of fatigue, sometimes seeing green does have a positive impact on its own.

Santi's car continued to drive meandering along the road until at one point it turned and arrived at a beautiful location with a soothing natural feel. Santi and Bowo descend and walk towards an old building which is a dormitory.

The building looks traditional with its walls that have faded over time. There is a large window made of old wood, but it still looks good because it is cared for.

A man was waiting at the door. He came out as soon as he heard the sound of a car in his yard. Bowo and Santi walked towards him.

"Monggo, please come in." With a polite speech, he invited his two guests to go inside.

They have been entertained with some traditional foods typical of Gunung Kidul such as grasshopper chips and sweet tea.

"It's called mas Piran, Wo. He's the head of the dormitory in this hangar" Santi said, introducing the man who hosted them.

"I'm Bowo, mas. Greetings," said Bowo.

"Floods. Hello, Bowo."

Their age is not too far away. Waters are about three years older than Bowo. The man recounted the horrors that befell the sanggar last night.

After the conversation, Santi and Bowo are allowed to conduct further investigations to find something that can be corrected to take steps. They started from the dorm building. Santi and Bowo walked through the old building.

Inside the dormitory, there was a wooden floor that creaked when stepped on. The bedrooms in the place were quite spacious and decorated with simple furniture that also looked ancient. The atmosphere in this dormitory feels lonely considering all the children are being evacuated first to another safer place.

Behind the dormitory, there was an old hangar amidst lush trees. The building is made of wood that is newer than the dormitory, but does not reduce the traditional feel. Around the hangar there is a garden with ornamental plants and large stones arranged artistically.

"The Sun's Cross" Bowo said as he stared at the carving inscribed above the front door.

"Light is the power that gives rise to the secrets of art. Like the sun illuminating the world, art also exudes honesty and beauty hidden within us" said Santi. "That's the meaning of the name of this sanggar."

Bowo and Santi opened the door and entered into it. The room in this traditional art studio is spacious and open, with a high roof that becomes a gap for light to enter. Inside there is a courtyard that is used as a training ground and small staging for local residents.

Around the walls of the sanggar, there are traditional paintings and wood carvings depicting the local culture. Traditional art equipment such as gamelan and other traditional musical instruments are placed in the corner of the room, adding an authentic feel in the sanggar.

This place looks good, but has its own mystical power when the night picks up. It was just that all this time the aura in this place was positive. I don't know what caused him to have an evil spirit attack last night. There is nothing at the moment that can be found by the two people from the association.

"Rest first, Wo. Later abis maghrib who knows something has just emerged" said Santi.

"Okay, ma'am."

The waters that also followed the two men showed a room that could be used tonight for Santi and Bowo to stay overnight.

"Let's room two what's one, mas?" ask Bowo.

"Two, mas. It's two, '" replied Pairan.

"Oh," Bowo replied.

"You want a whole room together, Wo?" santi asked with a soft face.

"Gi-gimana yes. Fear not to be afraid of being alone" replied Bowo.

Santi chuckles. "Basic boy. It's not me who's afraid, but you."

"Where have I ever been afraid, ma'am? Do not equate me as Mahari deh."

Hearing the name Mahari makes the eyes of Piran twitch. He tried to hide his expression. "I live first. Later if there's anything, my room is in the corner before the bathroom."

"Oh, okay, mas Piran. Matur nuwun," said Bowo. After that Santi and Bowo rested in their respective rooms.

Well, everything looks fine. Until finally dark again ruled the earth. Once there was no sunlight left, Bowo and Santi churned together. Eve in this beautiful place turned completely into gripping and stressful.