Fani's Dilemma and a Test of Her Powers
November 2022, two years after the death of her grandparents. Fani still played games every day after school, but she also consistently in the top ten of her class, from first grade until now. When she logged in, she immediately saw her friends list.
"Why isn't Diaz online? Or Manda? Where are they? Are they getting ready for exams next month? I haven't done anything yet," Fani muttered to herself, looking at her smartphone screen.
Finally, Fani exited her game and opened her social media to see what news was trending. She browsed through food recipes and culinary travel vlog outside the city. She was somewhat interested and kept watching.
"It's nice to be able to travel out of town. I can't leave this island... Even though Diaz invited me to study in Jakarta, and Manda too... it seems fun if I could be with them, but would they be scared if they saw me?" Fani wondered to herself.
Fani continued to browse and explore social media accounts on her smartphone until she finally found viral urban legends in several regions. She saw a skeleton-man who killed bad people just by touching them, a giant tiger roaming in the city, an indigo child who helped solve cases and was always accompanied by a ghost, a girl who could disappear and reappear, and finally, a demon roaming around eradicating criminals.
"Is all this real?" Fani asked herself, watching the appearance videos.
"Ding!" A message popped up on Fani's popular chat application. She immediately opened it; it was Diaz inviting her to play together. Fani immediately logged in and searched for the server created by Diaz or Amanda. She entered as soon as she was invited, and they finally met.
"Helloooooo!" Fani greeted.
"Hey, Corpse," Diaz replied.
"Hehe, her name's Fani, you know," Amanda retorted.
"Hahaha, right... but I like the username," Diaz replied.
"Wow, thanks, Kalong, hehehe," Fani replied.
"Let's start," Amanda said.
"Boom!" an explosion was heard above Fani's house, which, of course, made her immediately look up. She saw her game was about to start and immediately felt annoyed. Without further delay, she put her smartphone on the bed and got off her bed. She walked out of her room and out of the house. When she looked up, she saw many fireballs, invisible to ordinary people, shooting their powers at each other.
"Grrr... so annoying, I'm AFK again... this is irritating."
Fani immediately transformed into a fireball, appearing brighter than the others, and floated up. Without preamble, she immediately shot beams at all the fireballs roaming above.
"Don't fight here, find another place!" Fani shouted using telepathy.
"Yes, sorry," the fireballs replied.
They immediately scattered in all directions. Fani continued to float as a fireball, waiting for everyone to truly leave and the atmosphere to calm down again. After that, Fani descended, transformed back into a human, and ran back into the house, then to her room. She saw her two friends chatting with each other, waiting for her.
"Sorry, I was AFK for a bit," Fani said.
"Not just a bit, it was quite a while," Diaz replied.
"Alright, let's start," Amanda replied.
Finally, the game began, and they played to their heart's content. But "Boom... boom," Fani's floor vibrated. She immediately crouched down.
"Oh, for crying out loud, what now?!" she yelled to herself.
She immediately put down her smartphone and ran out of the house. Outside, she saw an invisible giant passing in front of her house, heading towards her neighbor's house. She immediately took flight, hovering.
"Hey, uncle, don't pass this way, please," Fani admonished.
The giant saw Fani, looked down, then turned around and went back the way he came. Fani quickly descended and ran back inside. When she picked up her smartphone, she saw "Booyah" on her screen.
"Great, they already won, and I didn't even do anything," Fani thought to herself, annoyed.
"Fan, why did you suddenly stop?" Manda asked.
"She's AFK again," Diaz answered.
"Sorry, had to go to the bathroom just now," Fani replied.
"If you're always AFK when you play, why bother?" Diaz asked.
"It's a girl thing (how can I tell them someone passed by or there was a fight?)," Fani replied.
"Whoa, if that's your answer, I give up," Diaz replied.
"Hehehe, girl stuff," Amanda replied.
"Hehehe, you understand, Manda, girl stuff," Fani replied.
"Yeah, something like that," Amanda replied.
They continued playing, but while playing, Fani still disappeared from the game about three more times, and finally, they dispersed. Fani became annoyed, and for her outlet, she played with other people as much as she wanted.
"How am I supposed to leave this island if it's like this, uuuugh... this is crazy!" Fani yelled to herself in frustration.
******
The next day, after school, Fani was called by the guidance counselor at the teachers' office. She immediately went there and met him.
"You called for me, sir?" Fani asked the teacher.
"Oh yes, Fani, sit down," the teacher replied.
Fani sat in the chair directly opposite the teacher, who was still reading messages and replying on his smartphone. Fani silently waited for the teacher to finish. Then the teacher put down his smartphone and looked at Fani.
"Fani, your grades are good. Actually, you can study anywhere with these grades, but you haven't submitted your preferred universities to me yet. So I want to ask, do you want to continue to college?" the teacher asked.
Fani was silent. She actually wanted to continue her studies, but she was confused. If she left the island, besides having to guard the island, she was also afraid that her powers couldn't be used outside the island. Seeing Fani silent but seemingly thinking, the teacher asked again,
"What's weighing you down, Fani? It's certainly difficult to leave the city and your grandparents' legacy, but you have to think about your future. Just tell me, what's the problem?" the teacher asked.
"Um... I'm still confused, sir," Fani replied.
"What's making you confused? May I know?" the teacher asked.
"Even if I explain, he won't understand," Fani thought.
The teacher saw Fani remain silent again, not answering. Finally, he said that Fani could think about it first because there was still time, but after the midterm exams, Fani should have an answer because applying for college was not easy.
"I understand, sir," Fani replied.
"Alright, you may go. Think carefully, all this is for your future," the teacher replied.
"I understand, sir. I'll take my leave now, sir," Fani replied.
"Yes, go ahead," the teacher replied.
Fani stepped out of the teachers' room. She walked listlessly down the corridor towards the school building exit.
"I guess if I don't try, I'll never know... I'll just try it... reckless," Fani said.
After leaving the school building, she ran to the quiet back of the school where no one was around, then immediately flew into the sky at high speed.