In town…
Zoe and I made our way through the narrow alleys. The sounds were louder—laughter, shouting, and the clamor of buying and selling mingled together in a confusing cacophony.
I whispered to myself:
What's with these people… Their appearances are strange, and their faces are not normal. Many of them have horns like Zoe, but their gazes… were different—cold and watchful.
The smells were heavy, a mixture of indistinguishable things: food displayed in strange shapes, with unnatural colors—things that didn't look like food at all.
I stopped for a moment, feeling disgusted. Donkey dung as a spice, bones like mint, women sold at low prices.
Then a loud voice came from one of the merchants:
"O people of the jinn! Come here! The finest goods today!" Women from the town of Mutahawwin. I froze in my tracks.
I looked around quickly.
"Jinn…?"
Zoe grabbed the hem of my clothes with a slight tremor, without saying a word.
Suddenly
I bumped into an elderly man; a small object fell from his hand onto the ground.
"Sorry… sorry."
The man smiled calmly and picked the object up from the ground.
"It's all right, son."
Then he gave me a brief, suspicious look… It lasted only a moment, but it was enough to make something inside me stir for no apparent reason.
A mysterious expression crossed his face, as if he had realized something he shouldn't know.
He stepped back slightly, then stared at me again, this time with greater intensity, as if trying to read something.
In a low voice, he said:
"You… aren't from around here, are you?"
I didn't answer right away.
"If you want to know where you are… follow me."
I hesitated for a moment.
Then I looked at Zoe.
She was scared, but she didn't object.
We left the market and ventured into a narrower alley… unnaturally quiet,
the sounds began to fade little by little, until all that remained was the echo of our footsteps on the damp ground.
I stopped suddenly.
I looked at him, and my voice came out tense despite my attempt to hide it:
"Where am I? Tell me… how do I get back home?"
He didn't answer right away.
He sighed... a long sigh, as if he didn't like the question,
then he laughed a strange laugh, slowly raised his eyes to me, and said in a low voice:
"You're not where you think you are..."
" You're in the underworld… the realm of demons
I froze in place, my words coming out stammering and choked:
— "But I… I'm human. What am I supposed to do in this place?"
He answered me in a calm voice.
"I know you're human… but I'll tell you something."
He moved a little closer to me, , and continued in a suspicious tone:
—"Getting out of here isn't as simple as you imagine… but there is one person who might know a way.
"
He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from the folds of his old clothes, wrote an address on it in dark ink, and then held it out to me. I took it from him slowly, feeling the roughness of the paper beneath my trembling fingers.
He looked up at me one last time; his eyes flashed, then he said in a faint voice:
"Good luck, my son."
He turned and faded into the fog filling the alleys, as if he were part of the darkness of the place. I stood where I was, lost in my silence, barely able to comprehend the weight of the truth, while "Zoe" shook my shoulders hard and pushed me back and forth, screaming in panic:
"Siraj! Siraj! Wake up!"
My mind was torn between the echo of his voice and the clamour of my own anxiety, so I looked at her, my tension evident on my face.
Then my gaze fell upon that piece of paper I clutched as if it were a lifeline in the midst of this hell.
I tightened my grip on Zoe's hand until my knuckles turned white, while the suffocating stench of rotten eggs slapped my face with every breath. Dumpster lids were piled high with animal heads soaked in their own blood, sitting in the alleys like a repulsive feast.
Amidst this rot, there was a creature rummaging through the refuse; the body of a cat from the front, but standing on two thick dog legs, with a head from which two long horns protruded, while its long ears swept the filth off the ground.
It stopped moving and fixed me with a silent stare, its eyes unblinking, before a person with smooth, human features passed by my side.
I stopped him eagerly, my voice trembling:
"Do you know this address?"
He pointed toward a nearby building and said coldly:
"Right in front of you."
And when he came closer to me, the blood froze in my veins; he was no ordinary human, but a third gray eye sat in the center of his forehead, moving with suspicious intelligence and watching my reaction. In that moment, I felt the walls of my mind cracking, as if madness were opening its doors to engulf me.
I stood in front of the dilapidated building, where the wooden sign swayed with a faint creak, as if groaning under the weight of the address written on it. I sighed deeply as I gathered my courage:
— "So… this is the place."
I reached out with my trembling hand toward the cold doorknob, and as soon as I pushed it, the door slid open with a suspicious silence. We were met by pitch-black darkness that swallowed everything, so Zoe and I stepped inside cautiously. No sooner had our feet crossed the threshold than the door slammed shut behind us with a thunderous crash that shook the very foundations of the place.
I lunged at the door in a frenzy, pressing, pushing, and trying to rip it off with all my might, but it had become part of the stone wall… immovable. I felt my heart beating a drum of terror in my chest, and I whispered bitterly to myself:
"It looks like I've fallen into a trap."
"Zoe" clung tightly to my shirt, her little hand trembling as she whispered in a choked voice:
"I'm scared."
I fought back my fear and placed my hand on her head, trying to reassure her even though I was the one who needed reassurance:
"Don't be afraid, Zoe. I'm here with you."
I scanned the room, and the features of the place began to take shape in the candlelight. The walls were completely covered in a thick web of spider silk, stretching like strands of dirty silk, while lizards with pale skin and extra limbs crawled through the cracks, leaving behind a sticky trail that glowed in the darkness.
From the depths of the dark passageway came a hoarse voice:
"Come in…"
Siraj and Zoe walked cautiously. The sound of their footsteps on the dilapidated wooden floor echoed with unsettling clarity. They reached a massive door, and as soon as they pushed it, it swung open
.
Inside, there was an old man. His thick white beard hung down to the floor, and his features were strange. Cold metal rings adorned his lips and ears. He wore a black cloak that looked like a piece of dark night, and on his head was a bright white scarf.
He was sitting in front of a small fireplace, surrounded by toys, dolls, and terrifying wooden sculptures.
He looked at them with eyes devoid of any emotion, then said calmly: "Sit down."
At that moment, a blue screen appeared before Siraj's eyes:
[System]
Opponent: Unknown Name
Type: Jinn
Class: D
Skills: Illusion, Control
Hidden Skills: 4
Siraj sighed, the crumpled paper trembling in his hand: "I'm human… I want to get out of here. Someone told me you could help me."
The corners of the old man's mouth turned up in a cold smile: "How foolish… You are in the world of demons, a world of treachery and lies."
Siraj froze, feeling a chill run through his body: "So… I've been deceived?"
The old man shook his head slowly: "No, you haven't been deceived. I help people like you, but no one here is saved by anyone else. You alone will save yourself."
He leaned toward the fire and continued in a heavy voice: — "Your true body is no longer yours. A demon in your world has taken possession of it, and you are now merely a lost soul. To reclaim your body, you must reach the Tree of Heaven and cut it down."
Siraj's breathing quickened as the old man continued: — "Inside it is a box containing the heart of the demon that inhabits your body. If you destroy it, you will return. But the path is dangerous; it passes through lands and obstacles from which no one has ever survived. Some died here, and some met their end in your world."
Siraj said, "I'll die if I don't move… My family is in danger; that demon will kill them. I must hurry. Do all demons control humans?"
The old man replied, "No. Only one tribe in the Tree of Heaven region does that, and they are the source of the plague here."
Then he took out an old scroll that smelled of aged paper and handed it to Siraj: "This is your map… it will guide you on your way."
Their eyes met, before the old man concluded in a low voice: "Good luck…
and always remember, you are in the world of demons."