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To live in the darkest night means one must live with the shadow, and familiarize oneself with the fear and horror that lie within. To refuse that means one must become the light, the sun who drives the night away. But as the shadow is ever in hunger, one must conceal the light so it can't be devoured. If you needed its guidance into the night, just say "the sun shines brightly" and it'll appear before you. Just remember to be wise, for the shadow always know where its prey is...

Upon first sight, people often find her harmless; both from possessing a small stature and her reserved attitude. She's a great listener and quite observant, making her picks up news and gossips easily. Her smile is usually polite, and only becomes more sincere if she knew the person she's looking at/talking to. Once you start talking to her, Nesia would show an interest to you (namely asking you questions about your name, your family, your age, what you're doing for living, your pets, your hobbies, where are you coming from, where are you going to, etc.). If you direct one of those questions to her, Nesia will talk about her family or herself. For some people, this quirk may be considered as too interrogative, but she has no ill intent doing that. Nesia does that to put you into a social grid for her own comfort and to gain knowledge about your culture. She also thinks that information may bring her luck in the future, as little it might be. The quickest way to make her open up more to you is by saying that you like something from her homeland; be it art, culture or food. Do that and Nesia will consider you as her friend.

Politeness is an inseparable trait of her. Nesia always address people older (or who look older) than her with Mr or Ms before their name. Even though Nesia is insisted to drop the title, she might refuse and continue to do that to confirm her position before others. Calling someone just with his/her name is impolite in her society, unless Nesia is sure that they are equal (in same age, coworker, close friend). She rarely raise her voice or interrupt others in conversation. It's rather uncomfortable for her to speak an argument against others, so she keeps most of her thoughts to herself. If she has to, for example, denying someone's request, Nesia will not openly say it. She'll make up excuses, hoping you will catch the subtle meaning behind her words. Miscommunication is bound to happen if you used to bluntly say your thoughts. Nesia does it to avoid making you lose face or accidentally being rude. She even go as far as refusing an offer, since she feels uncomfortable for making people busy and doesn't want to look greedy. But if you keep insisting, she'll accept it eventually. Otherwise, she'd subtly make you offer the opportunity again.

She is rather modest and conservative compared to the majority of urban culture. Except when she is really curious, she mostly avoids eye contact. Even if she did, it was brief and lasted no more than a second. Nesia favors emotional connection before physical ones, and sees her relationships as platonic acquaintance/friendship. She likes making everyone around her is feeling comfortable. To people close to her, Nesia is always ready to cheer them up and lift their mood. She isn't picky in making friends, although she would develop a little disliking towards the rude ones or people who breaches her private space. Her loyalty is quite unshakable, and she will stick to her loved ones through thick and thin. When it comes to romance, Nesia usually waits the other person to make the moves. She also develops crushes easily, and it's not uncommon for her to have crushes on several people at once. Physical intimacy always come later than the emotional one. It's not impossible for her to initiate it first after she reached a certain degree of closeness. Nesia is also a jealous person, but instead of explicitly shows it, she'll drop subtle hints as usual.

Sometimes having such a huge interest to many things have a down side. Nesia finds it hard to focus on something, unless it's really exciting for her. She constantly moves from one thing to another, seeking for the same excitement. The only things she could focus on are the ones she enjoys doing or important matters.While her emotion is usually easy to read, it also tend to switch quickly from being sad to happy and vice versa. Nesia doesn't dwell much in the past and quick to forgive people who had hurt her, but she'd never forget their unjust deed.

It feels satisfying when the younger people look up to her as a role model. For her, being a good example means that Nesia must maintain her behavior. Showing a slightest hint of bad attitude is simply unacceptable. Nesia feels other people would not like her as much as before if they find that out; they might even hate her. She doesn't want to make them disappointed either, so she'd rather pretend that everything is okay than revealing that she has a problem. Nesia believes everything she does must be things worth mentioning, things that would make people amazed. There is no need to give news to family if it's not good enough.

She tends to over-thinking things, mostly about other people's opinion about herself. What would they say if she does this instead that. What would s/he thinks if she showed up in this dress to their appointment. This trait makes her appear as anxious and neurotic. She often spend more time worrying over a task than doing the task itself, and also known to come late to appointments. She is actually able to act diligently, but she only do it in emergency cases; for example, if she is the only one who can do a particular task. Her motto is 'live for today' after all. Why doing something that can be done tomorrow?

Because of her laziness, Nesia prefers to achieve or acquire things with as little effort as possible. She won't be hesitate to manipulate people by using her innocent-like nature. Breaking rules is not something strange for her. Still, it doesn't mean Nesia only takes advantage from people around her. The woman upholds fair trade. If she had done a favor to someone, Nesia expects said person will return it to her and vice versa. She isn't fond of order and prefers her surroundings to be organized in a chaotic way. While to an outsider's eyes it may look cluttered, Nesia does remember when she last saw a certain item and where to find it. For her, it is not messy if she still can find things easily.

She prefers to stay away from conflicts and chooses the quickest win-win solution to end it; as long as it doesn't involve her. Nesia will not hesitate to do anything needed to ensure her own safety. This also applies to other people she cares about, like people in her former kingdom and close friends. She will protect them, whatever the consequence is. On the other hand, if the problem involves her personally Nesia would not back down until she wins. There's a chance that her emotion will explode, especially if there is physical violence. Nesia is the type who bottles up her negative feelings towards people. Usually she channels it out by talking to a friend, but sometimes it's not enough. Nesia need to scream, need to display her anger properly. Thus, the room she was in often becomes the target of her wrath. Nesia understands how destructive her raging self can be, so she would immediately leave the room if her rage is about to explode. Nesia has no qualms about hurting or injuring people once her rage shows up, so it is advised to leave her alone until she calmed down. But sometimes there are fights which she couldn't win, especially if the other person had better weapon or greater strength. Escaping is the wiser option in this case.

Since she's involved with the mafia, Nesia has become extra careful. Always observes her surroundings to look for the nearest exit or items she could use as weapon. When meeting new people, Nesia also tries to determine which side they're in even though they're civilians. Unless you're obviously from MI6, it'd be hard to gain Nesia's trust. She'll trust you with some matter, but she won't let you know her problems and what's been bothering her. But if you manage to win her respect or sympathy, trusting you will be easier. And who knows, it may lead into something else...

Food: Nesia likes almost every taste, be it sweet, spicy, salty or even bitter - it's food! Except the tasteless ones, that is. She's always eager to taste new dishes from foreign countries and certainly won't skip a chance where she can eat as much as she can handle. Nesia knows her limit, though. She'll stop her eating-spree once her stomach no longer growling in hunger.

Social media network: Keeping in touch with friends and acquaintances is a must! Social media is also a great tool to keep herself updated about news around the world. It is indeed the greatest thing humans ever invented.

Dancing & martial arts: Nesia is a very skilled dancer, having trained since early childhood. In her school years she had performed in school festivals. Her favorite dances are the ones that involve a mask. It's amusing to become a character so different than her own (which she regards as ironic considering her current occupations). Aside from that, she also likes dancing to pop music, preferably when no one else is watching. Her male cousins taught her how to punch and kick properly, since she hadn't had time to learn martial arts by herself.

Tea & coffee: She is amazed by how these two beverages come in different tastes and variants. Cold bottled tea is a must in summer days!

Drama & romance series: Even though she has partial preferences to Asian drama, Nesia also enjoys telenovela, Bollywood movies and soap opera. When watching one, she'll be too absorbed and sometimes might suddenly crying over the leading character's misfortune or angry at the antagonist's evil scheme. While she does enjoy the ones with good plot and character development, Nesia watches the bad ones for the sake of laughing at the bad script, bad acting and ridiculous plot twist.

Scary stories: Nesia loves the thrill she experiences when she hears a scary story. She would spare some time to read them online or watch them on TV. It's somewhat satisfying seeing younger kids cower in fear after listening to her stories.

Relaxing: Her idea of relaxing is taking a nap, having a warm bath or simply sitting in a café with a cup of coffee for three hours to download stuff with the café's wifi. Enjoy the moment, the weather and the good companion. No need to rush things, there's always tomorrow to finish everything that needs to be done.

Learning about new things/people: Nesia is a curious person. Almost everyone she already met had experienced her never-ending questions about themselves. She also enjoys reading, and her taste ranged from cheesy romance novels to scientific journals.

Her motorcycle: Which she left at home. It was a gift from her uncle when she started high school without repeating any year. Nesia missed going around her hometown with her motorcycle, but mostly because she didn't need to bother with proper protection. Flip-flops and sunglasses are enough.

Gadgets: As in smartphones, tablet and PC. They are cool, they enable one to do many things at once. And cool. Especially cool.

Her home country: Everything about Indonesia--the people, the culture, the language and the food! She misses the tropical climate so much...

Smoking: She first tried smoking when she was 10. You read that right. Blame it on her curiosity, its incredibly cheap price and how most people around her (and the advertisements!) think that smoking is cool. Nesia didn't lit another cigarette until she was in high school, however, when she was preparing for the dreaded National Exam. Nowadays, when you do see her smoking, that means she's under a lot of stress. Nesia always careful to not letting this hobby seen though.

Money: The solver of all problems, the provider of happiness! Having a lot of money means she doesn't have to worry about many things. It doesn't mean Nesia will resort to illegal means to acquire money, though.

Wasting food: There’s a saying in her homeland, that if one throw away an edible food, the person can hear them speak and sobbing. Every grain of rice, every slice of meat, every vegetables and fruits uneaten lamenting their unfortunate fate. And it’s not just food that is thrown away; it is also efforts and works of many farmers, merchants and cooks wasted for nothing.

Too cold/hot weather: Living in equator with average temperature made her body can’t stand weather that is either too hot or cold. Nesia would complain more often if the weather is too hot or cold. Especially cold. And cold means anything below 20 C.

Touchy-feely guys: Being physically close with a man she barely knows makes her uncomfortable. If a man suddenly touched her, whether it's just a friendly pat on the shoulder or a sudden hug, Nesia would flinch and slowly inches away (if you're unlucky, she'll kick you). She only tolerates handshake and nothing past that. On the contrary, Nesia is okay being physically close to other females, even though she just meet her that day.

Very crowded and noisy places: Everyone shares private space with everyone and how does one even talk in this place without shouting...

People who don't follow traffic rules: They're putting other people and themselves in danger. Sometimes they're rude to others too.

Rules, schedules and regulations: She considers these as restraints that block her freedom rather than something that make her life easier.

Cigarette smell on her hair and clothes: Getting rid of the smell is hard and explaining why she smelled like tobacco is harder.

Smoking: She is fully aware about the health consequences she'd get from smoking. Even though she only smokes once in a while, it doesn't mean she's free from those problems though.

Corruption: Nesia had seen firsthand what's its effect on people. It is hard to be an honest, trustworthy person in a corrupt society. Corrupted people always corrupts the innocent ones, intended or not. Too bad there is no easy way to remove corruption completely from society.

To be rich: And doesn't have to work for the rest of her life! Nesia can provide a better house and education for her family back home too. Not to mention how many bags and shoes she can buy...

To spend the rest of her life with a special someone: Ah, falling in love, getting married, find a nice house and raise children together. Such a simple dream, yet it seems impossible to reach it now...

To continue her education: Higher degree means higher paying (legal) job. Maybe she'll be able to become MI6 researcher (which means she doesn't have to work on the field anymore) or become a teacher.

To get rid of her smoking habit: It is easier to fall to temptation, especially under stress or when she's nervous. Considering her jobs, Nesia does got stressed a lot.

To travel the world: Or at least meeting people from all over the world. Studying culture is interesting.

To leave the mafia: As soon as possible. While she doesn't care what will happen to the mafia when she does leave, Nesia prefers they're completely destroyed. That way she'll feel safer without worrying someone out there is going to kill her over her betrayal.

Meeting her mother again: She's just curious, although if she did see her she wouldn't know what to say to her. As for her father... well, her aunts believe he's a jerk. Nesia doesn't even remember him.

The mafia finding out about her MI6 affiliation: Nesia is really sure they won't let her live for another day. This fear is also the main reason why she insists to be trained as an agent. She can't rely on others to protect her; she has to do it herself.

Her family finding out about her jobs: How is she going to explain that she's involved with the mafia, the MI6 and working as a showgirl while she's been telling them that she got a job at some company? Thankfully, this is unlikely. Unless one of her cousins comes to London, that is.

Being seriously ill/injured: Nesia spends longer time praying for her health everyday since she started to live alone in London. She needs someone else to take care of her when she's sick, but she's living alone now. How is she supposed to recover if no one take care of her? And what if she suddenly got lung cancer or shot? Will she survived?

Drowning: Nesia used to swim a lot when she was young. She saw a friend of hers drowned in a river. The current was swift since it's just rained heavily. His body wasn't found until a week later, swollen and rotten. After witnessing such event, Nesia stopped swimming, even avoiding large bodies of water during storms.

Being without money: Poor, broke and bankrupt. Dreadful. She wasn't poor when she was young, but there were moments when her family had to sell stuff and ate nothing but dried cassava from last year harvest in order to pay for school tuition.

Loneliness: Without no one beside her whom she can trust, Nesia thinks she won't be able to live the rest of her life. Even though she's not completely alone, Nesia still can't fully trust anyone with her life. It'll endanger their lives.

Nesia was born in... well, in the middle of a cardboard house without address in western Jakarta. Her father had been away for years, working in another island. Just a few months after her birth, her mother found out that her husband had married another woman, pretending he was divorced. She gave young Nesia to her brothers--Nesia's uncles--while she's working as a maid in Middle East.

She grew among her cousins in the poor area of the capital. When she started to attend elementary school, her uncles moved her and her cousins to a more rural area. Nesia was a tomboy and instead spending time playing with fellow girls (except during the dancing lessons), she competed in tree climbing and sneaking to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Her family didn't have much money, but it was enough to cover living costs of two couples and seven children. Her uncles were a teacher and a car salesman, while both of her aunts sold homemade snacks. Her mother sent money from her work, which enabling her to enroll in better schools. The money sent was suddenly increased tenfold when Nesia was in 8th grade. Just like her father, apparently she had found a rich man and married him. She asked Nesia to move in with her, but having been away in her daughter's life didn't make Nesia wanted to leave. The prospect of living in a far away country also deterred Nesia to choose otherwise.

One day, for a school assignment Nesia's teacher assigned his students to perform a traditional dance. Much to his surprise, Nesia actually danced very well. He began to sign her in local competitions. She won several times and gained some extra money as the prize. The idea of working to get her own money was quite appealing for her. When she graduated high school, she had saved some money for herself.

Her grade wasn't the best, but it was good enough to apply for scholarship. Her uncle, a math teacher, encouraged her to majoring in science. So Nesia chose Theoretical Physics, even though she thought the subject seemed scary. Thankfully she managed to do quite well and had no problem with grades. The only problem she had was money, due to the high living cost in London. Part-time jobs weren't good enough to cover it. Nesia needed more.

The answer came in one snowy evening. Nesia had been exploring London after she quit her job, and stopped in front of a restaurant. She was hungry, yet she didn't have enough money left to pay for food. A man who just joined the queue noticed this and asked her to join him for dinner. The woman agreed--it's hard to refuse free food. They talked during dinner, in which Nesia revealed that she's a student and in dire need of money. Much to her surprise, the man said he had a good job for her since he lacked employees. Without hesitation, Nesia accepted the offer.

She should have refused.

What he meant by job wasn't a legal one. By the time she arrived at the place, it was all too late. She had seen enough to know what his people were doing. The man explained that it was all necessary act, that it wasn't just a merciless cruelty. It was what society needed to restore order. Despite his explanation, Nesia wasn't convinced and would leave him immediately if he hadn't had his accomplices around there. It was clear what would happen if Nesia refused. They'd kill her and dump her body somewhere.

She chose to join him and his mafia. He tasked her with spying and gathering information. No one would think someone like her was affiliated with the mafia after all. Still, Nesia felt guilty because she believed she was responsible if the information she gathered was used to kill someone. She felt she had to redeem her crimes.

Soon someone from MI6 tracked her down (she didn't know yet how to cover her tracks) and demanded information about the mafia. Without hesitation, Nesia gave everything she knew to MI6. In return, she asked them for protection. The agent implied that when she was in danger, there were no better person to rely on than herself. And instead of payment for information, Nesia asked the agent to give her necessary training in order to protect herself. Once her training finished, she was offered to be an agent--a double agent. It was a dangerous position, but she feels that this is the best way to erase her guilt.

After she graduated, Nesia works at a casino as a dancer. So far she managed to juggle her jobs well, but who knows how long will it takes until someone blew up her cover...

Nesia just grinned mysteriously at him when Alfred asked about her home. She liked playing riddle with these people, giving them vague hints about her country. Most people needed at least three clues-- with the third usually being an obvious one --before they gave the right guess. There were also some who failed to guess, and some who didn't even know that her country existed. It was not uncommon for people to ask where exactly Indonesia is on the world map. It'd be amusing to see Alfred trying to guess her homeland.

"The United States? Interesting. I only went there twice, and one was during the Independence Day. It was really noisy, but the fireworks were awesome." Nesia was six at that time. The sight of fireworks were indeed beautiful, but the noise scared her so much. Luckily her parents let her stay in their hotel room while they were going outside. "Ah, you seem very proud of your homeland." Like most Americans she had met before.

Even though his face was partially covered with the mask, Nesia could sense that Alfred was suddenly preoccupied with something else. Maybe the talk about home reminded him of something else? It must be something private, so Nesia turned her attention away to take another snack and enjoy the music. Her mind wandered off to her siblings. They weren't as close as they had been in their childhood, but they still held a special place in her heart. Maybe after this party she could call someone to check up on things.

"Would you like to dance?" Alfred suddenly offered. "This is a good song and it'd be a shame to let such an opportunity just slip by."

Nesia raised an eyebrow. She could dance, just not ballroom dancing. She was exceptionally good at traditional dances, since it was her passion. Her parents taught her waltz in her childhood so she knew the moves. But since it required her to be physically close to the male partner, Nesia usually avoided this dance in parties. On the other hand, it would be impolite to refuse. And didn't she have done things she never tried before since moving to Archadia? A voice in her head nudged her. Just a dance wouldn't hurt.

"Sure, I'd like to," Nesia smiled at him. "But just one dance. I'm not really good at ballroom dancing. Mostly because my partners usually taller than me. I have to match their wider steps." When the song ended and a new one was played, Nesia led him leaving the buffet. She was a tad worried if Alfred could see or sense that she wasn't comfortable being close to him.

An idea suddenly popped in her mind. Nesia could make him guess where her homeland is. It would get her attention away from the dance. "Ah, Alfred, I haven't told you about my home, right?" she asked him as they mingled with the other guests who danced to the previous song. "How about this, I'll give you three clues. New clue is given if you guessed wrongly. Hopefully you can guess it right before this song--" a soft tone was slowly rising in the ballroom, followed by a deep baritone "--is over."

Then she awkwardly moved closer to Alfred and let him took her hand. The woman struggled to keep her façade as they started dancing. Don't step on his feet, don't step on his feet...

She cleared her throat. "I've mentioned to you that it's always summer back in my home. That is your first clue." To be honest, it was quite vague. But at least it would narrow his search down to countries on the equator.