Amara: "You mean...there is still hope for grandmother Aysha?!"
Yusuf: "Yes, indeed there is. And we will try everything we can to cure her. I will explain everything later on, sister Amara."
(After a brief moment, Aya woke up after passing out.)
Aya: "Amara... is grandmother...okay...?"
(Both Yusuf and Amara look at Aya with pity. Amara slowly picks her up to stand on her feet. Many people gather to watch the scene, some have pure shock on their faces. Yusuf notices and instructs both girls to follow him somewhere else, while carrying grandmother Aysha's body tight and protective in his arms to a calmer, quiet place.)
Yusuf: "Okay...here is a better place to breath. Kadir! Kadir! Where are you!"
(A young, tall man named Kadir appears to the oriental, finely decorated foyer. He seems about to be the same age as Yusuf. His youthful appearence make him look younger than he is. His light brown curls fall effortlessly over his full, black eyebrows. His white and pure robe makes him seem like a noble scholar. In his pockets are mysterious, old rolls of papyrus paper wrapped with a golden bow peaking out, and in his hands is a old ancient book in ancient arabic that is hard to decipher.)
Yusuf: "Assalamu 'alaykum, Kadir."
Kadir: "Wa 'alaykum-assalam, my brother Yusuf."
(After greeting each other with noble greetings, Yusuf gently places the fragile body of grandmother Aysha into the arms of Kadir.)
Yusuf: "Do you think you can ...-"
Kadir: "Leave it to me Yusuf."
(As Kadir holds grandmother Aysha's body close to his chest, he finally notices Aya and Amara standing right behind Yusuf.)
Kadir: "Peace be upon you, my sisters, and welcome."
"Peace be upon you too..." Amara says while she supports Aya's weak, fragile body against her so that she doesn't tip over or collapse.)
(Without any further word, Kadir turnes away, leaving the three in the foyer.)
Amara: "Where will this man take grandmother Aysha, Yusuf?"
Yusuf: "Don't worry, he is a great companion of mine. He knows more about curses than I do. I rely on him."
Amara: "Where are we...?"
Yusuf: "My home."
Amara: "I see... a...about grandmother Aysha...do you know something ab-"
Yusuf: "It's best to sleep for now, my sisters. Now is not a good time to discuss. We have been out the whole day and night. Kadir will take care of her."
Amara: "I see..."
Yusuf: "He will look out for her downstairs. You both go up and have a rest, please. I will explain the rest tomorrow."
Amara: "Thank you Yusuf... Aya and I are perfectly capable to walk back to our home... you don't have to give us shelter for the night..."
Yusuf: "My sister Amara, I am giving you my word. I am insisting. Please. You two are in no position to go back, outside, while the unseen is dangerously roaming around. You two are very exhausted and went through a lot just in one day and one night. If you need anything, please let me know."
(Amara takes a worried look at Aya, who is still under clear shock. Slowly with Amara's care and help, they go up to a water source. Amara fills her inside of her hands with clear water and washes Aya's face gently, rinsing out dirt and blood.)
Amara: "Cheer up Aya... we will get her back..."
(With distant eyes filled with melancholy and emptyness, Aya weakly nods her head in acknowledgement.)
(Meanwhile, Yusuf inspects grandmother Aysha carefully, along with Kadir, looking out for potential wounds.)
Yusuf: "She seems to be in a very deep sleep. These are the after affects from a curse..."
Kadir: "Right."
Yusuf: "My suspicion was right, wasn't it, Kadir..."
Kadir: "Indeed. She was placed under a dark curse."
Yusuf: "How can we find it's cure out? There has to be a cure, right? Right...? Please say yes, Kadir. I am begging you."
Kadir: "Yes. There is no disease without cure. But in order to find out the cure, we need to find out what specific curse we are dealing with in the first place, Yusuf. I will find a way to find out. After that, we can take care of the cure. I will tell you everything I know once I'm done, I have to run some tests on her."
Yusuf: "Alright...I am counting on you."
[Next morning]
(Amara is the first one to wake up from a long, torturing night. She rubs her tired eyes and unknowingly inspects her surroundings.)
Amara: ("Normally...I would already smell the fresh herb tea grandmother Aysha used to brew every morning...and the fresh bread... and olives. But we are not at grandmother Aysha's home... this is the home of Yusuf... it is nice enough of him to even let us stay the night...")
(Her eyes slowly go over to look at Aya, who is sleeping very deeply. Her chest calmly and peacefully going up and down along with her slow paced breathing. Her face is pale and the dark circles under her swollen eyes are very visible.)
Amara: ("I will not wake her up now... she needs the sleep. She has been beyond exhausted... poor Aya... I will look for Yusuf and grandmother Aysha I guess...")
(Tip toeing in order to not wake Aya up, Amara slowly prepares herself and walks down to Yusuf, who was already awaiting her.)
Yusuf: "Peace be upon you, sister Amara."
Amara: "Peace be upon you too, Yusuf. First of all, thank you so so much for letting us stay the night and for the kindness you have given us. We are beyond grateful. May God bless you and reward you..."
Yusuf: "It was my pleasure, please sister Amara. Do not worry. If there is any way I can help, I will."
Amara: "By God, you have helped us enough already. Remember when you found us in the middle of the desert... lost...without any guidance? You were the one who has helped us."
Yusuf: "I did not do anything, sister Amara. It was your destiny... besides, please have a little breakfast. Is sister Aya awake already? You two must be starving. It's not much but...I hope that will be satisfying and filling enough."
(Amara looks at a small cloth layed down on the ground. On top are plates filled with sweet and fresh dates. Next to the plates are two cups of fresh milk.)
Amara: "Yusuf...you shouldn't have... thank you so much. We don't know how to pay your kindness back."
Yusuf: "There is no need. You two are the soldiers of light against the dark. It is the least I can do for the heroes of the persian kingdom."
(Amara's eyes widen.)
Amara: "So...you know... that we were sent here through time travel?!"
Yusuf: "Indeed."
Amara: "How did you..."
Yusuf: "I told you, Amara. Destiny."
Amara: "Who...really...are you?"
(As Amara wanted to question Yusuf's knowledge about their 'little mission/secret', little and slow paced steps interrupt the scene.)
Amara: "Aya, you are awake? Have you slept good? Are you at least a little bit better now...?"
Aya: "Mhm..."
(Aya's halfway closed eyes go over to Yusuf, who is innocently smiling at her. With distant eyes, Aya tries to smile back, not noticing that it looks very forced.)
Yusuf: "My sister Aya, you came at the right time. Please have something to eat first. I will let you two be. If there is anything, please be sure to call me."
(Amara nods and sits down next to the table cloth. Aya slowly coming to join.)
Amara: "You don't look too good, Aya..."
Aya: "No, I am fine..."
Amara: "Stop lying, you aren't. You look like a walking zombie. Aya, you can't tell me you are fine when you aren't. We have known each other for 4 years now. We went through thick and thin, and still we are."
Aya: "I am just worried about grandmother Aysha...where is she now?"
Amara: "With Yusuf."
Aya: "I see..."
Amara: "C'mon Aya, please have some food. Look at how kind brother Yusuf is, preparing fresh dates and milk for us to regain our wasted energy."
Aya: "I... am not hungry."
Amara: "I know you are, it has been 2 days and you still haven't eaten. How long do you want to go without food?"
Aya: "Later..."
Amara: "Aya! If you don't eat then fine, I won't also."
Aya: "Fine, fine..."
(As they eat the fresh and juicy persian dates, and finish all the milk... Amara can't help but remember what Yusuf has said.)
Amara: ("He knows...but how...? What are you hiding, Yusuf?")
After what felt like an eternity...Kadir and Yusuf finally appear at the foyer again.
Kadir: "Good news. We have found out what kind of curse we are dealing with."
Aya: "You have?!!"
(Aya's eyes sparkle and lit up like they have never done before. A reassuring smile slowly forms on Amara's face. Maybe there is hope?)
Yusuf: "Yes. It seems to be something supernatural. But Kadir will explain more... he is more knowledgeable than me when it comes to curses."
Kadir: "As I was saying... the curse she has been afflicted with is no other but a deep sleep curse. It makes her appear dead. And feel dead. The only difference between her and the deceased one is that she is full at conciousness, yet we do not see it. She can hear our conversation, feel our feelings and see our pain and worries. Her mind is trapped in a body that is lifeless. At least For now..."
Aya: "As if she was tied by invisible chains..."
Kadir: "Indeed."
Amara: "What...can we do? And who did this?"
(Yusuf finally speaks.)
"I think... it has something to do with the seen and unseen. Since the kingdom has decided to play wicked tricks with the underworld...it has slowly turned itself to doom."
(His eyes face Aya, he takes a deep breath, before speaking.)
"Aya... that night, when the snake tried to attack the village, and shadows were roaming around...Amara told me you were distracting the snake away from the village. What...happened after that?"
(Flashbacks start to pound and flash in front of Aya's eyes, as she widens them...her fingers start to tremble again as her head is suddenly feeling heavier and heavier.)
[Flashback]
"I AM RIGHT HERE, TAKE ME INSTEAD! BRING HER BACK..."
"BRING...her...back..."
"I offer you a life for a life..."
"I would do anything to bring her back..."
Aya holds a familiar lifeless body in her bloody hands.
Her pained voice reaches through the sky.
Rain falls...slowly... drop by drop... the water is as cold as her eyes.
Time has stopped.
The pain hasn't. It's slowly eating up Aya's heart.
"No. You can't be gone...stop fooling me...YOU.CAN'T.BE.GONE..."
"MAKE IT STOP.."
[Flashback over]
Yusuf: "It is okay if you don't want to speak about it..."
Aya: "No... I have to. The snake... it kept on attacking me, to my fortune, I kept on dodging its attacks... until it suddenly stopped attacking me."
Yusuf: "And then, what happened?"
Aya: "I thought my mind was playing tricks... but it wasn't. The snake was leading me...so I started to follow it. It led me to a gloomy, lost place in the desert. Where no soul was to be found... I kept looking around until I saw no trace of the snake anymore. As if it has completely vanished. To my surprise...I saw a familiar body... right in front of me. And then... the horror in front of me. The lifeless body of grandmother Aysha, soaking wet... under the rain...I thought she was dead, and I had lost my mind. I spent hours kneeling side by side... until eventually, Amara found me... I had completely lost my mind. I blamed myself for everything that has happened to her. If it wasn't for Amara...I would have been gone too."
(After listening to Aya's story and what has happened before... silence fills the foyer.)
Yusuf: "It has something to do with that creature...there HAS to be a reason it lured you to the middle of nowhere and brought you to grandmother Aysha's body."
Kadir: "That makes sense...but now we need to focus on the cure. Now that I know what kind of curse she is afflicted with, I can easily find out how to cure it. I need to dig deeper into the royal library."
Amara: "Royal library...?"
Kadir: "Yes... I am a scholar of spiritual medicine."
(Kadir takes out a royal badge from his pocket.)
Amara: "That's why you know so much about curses."
Yusuf: "Indeed, Kadir helped me out in the past with a rough case I had in the family."
(With all the praises, Kadir can't help but look down in shyness.)
Kadir: "Alright...I will get going. Give me time until sunset, I will find a way, I promise."
Will they find a way to cure grandmother Aysha? What is Yusuf hiding? What is going on between the seen and unseen, aka their world and the underworld?
Coming soon...