Roya calmly turned to him and nodded, signaling that he could say it out loud.
“Many hundreds of projections have been seen throughout the planet! They’re all displaying the Sultan’s memories.”
Unsurprisingly, not many reacted to the news, deeming it as something natural.
After all, if it wasn’t stated enough, one of the Ten Commandments was used.
Only those who remained on their knees, prostrating every other minute, began to celebrate, smugly thinking that this had proven them to be correct.
God, the one and only True Sultan, had ‘His’ hands in this mess, and they, the lucky ones, had the blessing of being in the presence of ‘His’ powers.
Whatever role ‘He’ wished for them, they would fulfill.
‘He’ was law, and law was ‘He.’
“ALL HAIL!”
“ALL HAIL!”
“ALL HAIL!”
“ALL HAIL!”
“ALL HAIL!”
***
{Inside The Projection}
During the time it took to get those fanatics to quiet down, Malik and the little ones had already gotten inside the crumbling building, finding themselves in a rusty room, where two bunk beds took most of the space, leaving only a meter or so of distance between the door and the beds.
Sighing in relief that no one else was there, Malik pointed at the cleaner bed, silently asking them to sit there, then sat on the one opposite it, which looked much worse for wear.
Chicken did as he was told, but the girl had other plans.
Dropping down from her brother’s back, she wobbled over to Malik and asked:
“Do you know where Mommy and Daddy are?”
He shook his head.
“Nope, no idea, but…”
Malik leaned forward and lowered his head until it reached the same level as hers.
“Do you want me to find them for you?”
“Yes!”
Her little smile matched Malik’s, and they shared a quick chuckle.
“Then consider it done; your big brother is the strongest you know~.”
Giggles that alleviated all his tension resounded once more, and he barely stopped himself from picking her up and squishing her chubby cheeks.
“Big brother is the strongest!”
“Yeah, I am!”
Those two acted as if they were their own little world, celebrating what ironically would become the truth.
But all of a sudden, her face turned quizzical, as if she had just realized something was missing.
“…What’s your name, big brother?”
Her large round eyes were locked on his golden ones.
“I want to know too, big brother!”
Chicken naturally joined in as well, losing most of the nervousness he showed when he first interacted with him.
“Malik…”
He glanced at them both.
“My name is Malik… my guardian named that.”
“Are they gone too?”
Raising a brow, he looked back down at the girl, picking her up and sitting her beside him.
“You’re a smart girl, aren’t you~?”
She giggled once more, still feeling ticklish from her armpits being touched.
Malik softly patted her head and closed his eyes.
“Yeah… he’s gone far, far away.”
***
{Outside The Projection}
Everyone could see Malik’s trembling brows, realizing the true meaning of his words, but instead of feeling any negative emotion, most of them celebrated:
“Hahaha! So even the Villain can make faces like that, huh?!”
“That’s what you get!”
“Not so strong now!”
They would’ve gone on and on if they could, but…
“Shut up!”
“Quiet.”
“Stand down.”
“Please lower your voice.”
Each of the four “heroines” spoke at once, shutting down those men and women.
Not even Safira, Devil Maw’s Fairy, the gentlest, could keep quiet about them.
Only Layla, his ex-wife, could, though barely at that. Because she knew that if she let herself go, all of them would be dead in a few breaths.
Though she hated Malik to the bone, she wasn’t going to allow nobodies to insult him.
Zafar, going along with the precedent the woman had already sent, went back on his previous words and admonished them:
“We are meant to be the righteous ones, so how are…”
But no one listened, their interest in what was occurring in the projection peaking to new heights.
***
{Inside The Projection}
“So you want me to give you a name too?”
“Yes, yes!”
The little girl bounced on the bed, somehow still filled with energy.
Malik nodded at her, then locked eyes with the boy.
“To be honest with you… I wouldn’t have saved you if not for her.”
Chicken’s eyes widened, not understanding why his big brother would reveal something like that.
“Trust me, if you were two guys, I’d have dipped, leaving you to rot, so be thankful to her, alright?”
Before he could reply, Malik asked the question that he knew was on his mind.
“Why am I saying it? Well…”
He ruffled the little girl’s hair.
“It’s the context for why I’ll name you Huda… my right path.”
***
{Outside The Projection}
Boom!
As if an explosion had occurred, everyone’s minds were blown, even the Lady herself, who seemingly had forgotten the origin of her name.
This confirmed those who still doubted the projection.
Huda Al-Sayf was the little sister of a Malik, a beggar.
“I’m sure nothing major happened to the Al-Sayf family around that time, so how did they end up like this and for this long?”
“Internal feud maybe.”
“Yeah, typical assassinations most likely.”
People began to make guesses as to why they were there, while others, more specifically, the ones next to Huda, began to comfort her, knowing the internal plight that she was likely going through.
“You can look at them as different people; I’m sure your brother back then would’ve liked that.”
“Exactly, it’s obvious he cares for you even though you just met; no one would take issue if you kept your name unchanged.”
“Yeah, even if it wasn’t Master Cyrus that named you, I’m sure the elders wouldn’t complain.”
Zafar, the opportunist weasel that he was, joined the train as well.
He was the first to notice Huda’s hesitation, knowing how bad it’d appear to the public if one of the five leaders of the coalition had defected.
“They’re right, and while saving you from death deserves great respect, leaving your brother to die, stealing Holy Relics from your parents’ treasury, killing your uncle, the Sultan himself, and massacring half of those under your family’s rule are not blood debts that could be settled, not even in multiple lifetimes.”
She sighed, hesitation draining from her face as she looked back at the projection with hateful eyes.
“…I get it. Don’t worry; a hateful mob isn’t easy to dissuade.”
Zafar looked away and clicked his tongue, not liking how even she, the one who was supposed to be most naive, picked up on what he was doing.
‘I’ll kill him myself if I have to!’
***
{Inside The Projection}
“So! Now that we’ve made friends and all, how about telling me which family you’re from? I need to know if you ever want to find your parents and go back home.”