The question that Fannah asked hung heavy in the air, the divine being remained silent and Fannah, he just stood there, with the boy tightly held in his arms, his eyes focused on the cursed place, his entire body still shaking from the horrors of this beautiful place.
The silence remained unbroken for long moments, making the agony and fear spread through every vein in the youth's body but then the divine being finally spoke up.
"Let's find Sufiyan first and get out of here, I will answer all of your questions later, after all we now have a child with us, we can't endanger him, moreover, we only have a few hours left to save sufiyan".
Fannah nodded, not because he understood nor because he was afraid but because of Sufiyan, he had to get him and get out of this hell at any price, his body was still out somewhere waiting for his soul to return with Sufiyan, and now for this child too, though this child could not live in the real world, he still had to get out of here, get out of this bloody sea and get out of the illusions of Al-samash that swallowed his mother and made him and orphan again.
"Where do we find him?" Fannah asked.
"A castle, a castle made of memories that reeks of curses and carcases of underworld, guarded by the blind destruction of hell".
"And how do we go there?" Fannah asked once again.
"It's hidden deep inside the darkness of this ocean, where even light can't pass through".
"Why are we wasting time if you know where it is, let's go and get sufiyan out".
"Before going there you have to remember somethings so listen to me carefully, okay".
"Okay".
"One, the monster that guards the gate is blind but it can smell a soul and as soon as it does, it will cause a destruction and swallow you. Second, the insides of castle are very dangerous, the walls shift based on who's looking at them, they will show you things you fear the most, and try to consume you, you can't look at them or listen to them, third, the walls of the rooms where the souls are kept are made of regrets of the souls you can't see through them to know what is inside and so you only have three chances to get to sufiyan, otherwise the destruction of hell would be awakened and we will be killed".
"How can we get past the blind monster if it smell souls?". Fannah asked feeling the boy in his arms shake slightly.
"You have to kill the smell of your soul".
"Can you please say everything at one time, how do I do that?" Fannah asked once again.
"There's a creature called Mulkash that slumbers beneath the surface, it's made from the lost hope of the souls, you need to dig it out, only then your soul will lose it's smell".
"ewww", Fannah thought bitterly but still put the child down from his arms and knelt down, even though they were in the sea, the surface beneath him was not wet but made of something cold slimmy and pulsing like it was alive, made of something from deep hatred, the deeper Fannah dug the more disgusting it got.
Fannah took a deep breath and shifted his eyes away from the spot only to find the little boy digging the surface with his tiny hands which were still shaking but he still kept digging, his hands were fast and ruthless, like he was taking his pain out.
Fannah shook his head in regret and then went back to look for the creature that the divine being had mentioned, after a few more minutes of digging into the rotting flesh or whatever they were standing on, the child finally got his hand out.
His small hands held two translucent creatures that curled itself into a knot, their insides swarming with a blue smoke that changed every few seconds.
"That's it, now take it and put it in your mouth, it will crawl inside you and feed on your soul scent , but remember, you will feel it swarming inside you the whole time, it will only stay in your body for a few short hour, so we have to be quick". The divine being instructed as Fannah took the creature from the child.
He took a deep breath and looked at the child who slowly shook his head as he smelled the creature.
"You have to do it". Fannah said rubbing his head, as he looked at him, the child closed his eyes, his nose scrunched up tightly, and his mouth open, the child held Fannah's hand and instantly put the worm in his mouth and closed it shut, as soon as he did so, his eyes shot open and he put both his hands on his mouth to stop himself from throwing the thing out and fell on his knees, as tears streamed down his face.
Fannah did the same thing as the small boy in front of him and waited for the boy to calm down, Mulkash was now inside both of them he could feel it, the little circular motions inside his throat, slowly descending down to his stomach was horrible, he could not really fathom what the small soul was going through.
After the boy's hands relaxed around his mouth Fannah took him in his arms once again, this time tighter and started walking towards the direction that the divine being told him.
The walk was quiet, the boy was hitting his stomach with small fists as if to stop the Mulkash from moving around, but nothing worked, Fannah rubbed his tummy with one hand, smiling at the little boy, this place was full of irony and Fannah really could not understand what he should feel right now, he didn't know whether to feel sad or angry, but this boy had made it easy, he was atleast content with having saved one soul and that was enough.
"Stop here". The divine being commanded suddenly, making Fannah stop dead in his tracks as he tried to register what was happening around him, but there was nothing, just another massive rock like all over the ocean.
"What are we supposed to do here?" Fannah asked.
"Move the rock aside, you will see a passage, we have to go through it". The divine being answered, making Fannah look the rock up and down.
"I am big but that does not mean I am a monster, how am I going to move it?" Fannah asked.
"Did you forget?, everything in this world is an illusion so Is this" the divine being said and the boy in Fannah's arma softly touched the rock and pushed it a bit.
"Okay, I got this". Fannah said and kicked the rock with mild strength, completely moving it from it's place.
"That was too easy". Fannah said as he looked down through the passageway, but there was nothing just a black rope hung from a thorn that went down, the aahhen black rope looked old and abondoned like someone had used it thousands of years ago, there was no strength in it as small hair like structures fell from it.
"Is it safe?" Fannah asked, trying not to snap the rope into two while touching it.
"It is". The divine being said but there was no sharpness to his voice anymore, and a subtle hint of sadness filled it.
"Okay". Fannah nodded in response as he tightened his grip around boy's waist and started climbing down the passage, there was only darkness, he could not see anything, not even the child in his arms.
"Are you okay?" Fannah asked worriedly.
"Hmm", the boy hummed in response, weirdly quiet, like a scared cat hiding in the shadows to protect itself from the predators.
The time was ticking slowly, as the darkness around them seemed to become heavier then before, but there was no end in sight, so after climbing down for some time quietly, Fannah finally gathered the courage to ask something but before that the divine being started talking.
"Shut up, you will know when we get there, it's a long way, but the closer we are the more you would be able to see in this darkness".
"Okay". Fannah said in a hushed voice and continued down, the deeper they went, the more suffocating it got, but there was something in this darkness that let him see, all too clearly, his hands stopped shaking and after another fifteen minutes, they finally touched the ground, Fannah let go of his hands around the rope and put the child back down.
"What is that?", the child asked, forcing Fannah to shift his focus from himself to the thing ahead.