"Can I know what Maṣry is, Ḥamād? I've never heard of that word before." Ḥuwayda was the first one to respond.
Suddenly, Ḥamād's excitement went far away, left himself entirely. His assumption, his theories, even his hope, all disappeared. His gaze fell to the floor.
Ḥuwayda's brow furrowed, her fingers tightening on his knee in response of Ḥamād's sudden change in expression. She moved closer to him, then touched his knee very gently, trying to calm him down.
"I apologize profusely if I said something I shouldn't. However, could you explain to me about the sudden change in your expression?" She said softly.
"Why would you worried about that thing, o ḥelwa? This syabaṫa just being dramatic!" Gāber said cynically.
"Why wouldn't you, Father?" She said it calmly, as she turned her gaze to her father. That was the most soft teasing Ḥamād encountered in his entire life.
Enough to enlighten him a little bit.
He smiled, anchoring his gaze to her. "No need to apologize, Ḥuwayda. Your father was right. I did just being dramatic. Ironically, I thought about your previous answer, but couldn't bare the after effects."
Ḥamād took a deep breath.
"So, Maṣry was my dialect that i used to use back in my original world. Since you guys spoke the same dialect as I did, I thought that I was still in my world, and could find a way to get home somehow."
"I'm grieving for you, Ḥamād." She said.
"Nah, it's okay. After all, i didn't have any relatives left in my original world. I'm fine. All I need to do just to adjust myself to this new world."
"Ennak te'bal da awel ḥāga 'asyān tet'aqlom, we el ta'aqlom awel ḥāga 'asyān taṫawwor, we el taṫawwor awel ḥāga 'asyān te'īsy.¹" Gāber muttered.
As Gāber said his mutterings, Ḥamād smiled even more.
"Thanks for that one, Mr. Gāber. Really appreciate that."
"Don't be overconfident. I said that for myself, not for a brat like you." Gāber said that in a bit high tone, but hide his face from others.
Ḥuwayda laughed softly and gracefully as she covered her mouth with her right hand. That laugh sounds so crisps, enlight the mood even more.
And there's Ḥamād, laughing his ass off without any hesitation. He always loved this kind of ironic/sarcastic humor, and couldn't resist it.
Sometimes later, Ḥuwayda opened up new conversation.
"So, what's your plan to adjust to this new world, Ḥamād? If you need something, you could tell me right away."
Ḥamād touched his chin, thought deeply.
Let me recall.
In those transmigration-trope stories, a very first thing the MCes did was gathering informations about the bodies they hosted; identities, backgrounds, relatives, so on and so on.
Well, to be clear, there was a TON of MCes that got OP AF as soon as they transmigrated. RPG-like status windows appeared in front of them, informations flowing to their head like waterfall. But I didn't get something like that.
So, I need to do that kind of stuff on my own, in a very traditional ways possible.
"I thought, the most sensible thing I can do for now is to get to know this body better. His identity, what happened before I arrived, and things like that. So, I should go to that abandoned village."
"Insolent brat. Why would you do something so tiring like that? You could just adapt to this world, make a new life as Ḥamād, and happy ever after!"
Gāber stated his opinion, with -somehow- "friendly" tone.
"As simple as that. As human, you got more things to do to survive."
Of course not that friendly. Just friendly enough to made Ḥamād smile slightly. But the point is,...
This old cynical djinn was right. I didn't really need to do all of that stuff. If I avoid any humans in the future, the chances of me being spotted by this body-owner's enemies reduced drastically.
No problems would appear in the future.
Seems like a solid idea.
Hold up...
"If I do it like you said, how I gonna live my life?"
"'Ish ḥayātak yā syabaṫa! Enta fāhim ya'ni eih kalām? Eih elly mkhalli el qaḍiyya milyāna drāmā kedā?²" Gaber said frustratedly. It's simply tell Ḥamād to just live his life, in the most modest-rude way possible.
Like a typical sarcastic Egyptian old man when it came to scolding young people.
However, Ḥamād used to this type of insults. And back then, in his original world, when there was some old man scolding him, he wouldn't just keep quiet. At least, he would came up with something equal, yet a little bit more polite.
But today, in front of Ḥuwayda? No way.
"Enta mesh 'āyesh zayyī yā ged'ān! Anā bashar. Ākherha, anā matlūb a'īsh ma'a el bashar, mesh jinna lakum.³"
"Ḥamād was right, father. In the end, he should socialized with other humans. And to achieve that, he needed his original-body-owner's identity, so he could avoid any problems in the future." Ḥuwayda defended Ḥamād in her soft voice.
There was only a silent for some solid seconds. Ḥamād was so happy that he was being defended by Ḥuwayda. And in the other place, Gāber felt a little bit upset 'cause his beloved daughter choosed to side with this strange-stranger human.
Ḥuwayda turned her gaze to Ḥamād. "It's not that I doubt your plan, Ḥamād. But I thought the next few days wasn't a good time to return to the abandoned village."
"Can I know why?"
Ḥuwayda pointed her finger to the skies outside. Those anubises still swarmed around the building.
However, the sky looked very clear. The stars twinkle, like dots that form a beautiful imaginary line.
The crescent moon above was shining very brightly, brighter than what Ḥamād usually saw in his original world, as if it not allowing even an inch of the ground to be covered in darkness.
"What's with the sky, Ḥuwayda?"
"This time around called wehlāl, the phase where the crescent moon shines very brightly. For djinn like us, or any other entities, this was the time when we got free energy.
"The crescent moon's beam carries a huge amount of astral energies. Large enough for us to maintain our energy supply for the entire month."
Ḥamād realized something. "Was that the reason you guys can solidify yourself in front of me?"
"Glad to know that your head doesn't sit there only for decoration." Gāber said.
"Was it the same case for those anubises swarming outside?" Ḥamād continued his question.
"It was very different, Ḥamād. We djinns and those anubises came from different kind. It's like human and djinn. Seen and unseen. Tangible and intangible. Physical and non-physical"
Ḥamād's eyes wided open. Some terrifying possibilities flew through his mind wildly. "You mean, there's some mythical creatures in this world, that could physically hurt human, even when wehlāl end?"
Ḥuwayda nodded slightly, a tiny portion of worries appeared in her eyes. "Correct. There was a variety of conditions that every kind had. But, you got the right idea."
"That's why I told you to not complicate things. There was a danger you need to be aware of." Gāber muttered.
See. After all, he just worried about me. But he expressed it in his own way.
"So, what was the safest thing I could do as for now?" After Ḥuwayda's explanation, Ḥamād had changed his priorities. Finding the identity of the original owner of his current body could be done another time. It was too dangerous.
The best thing he could do now was to ask the original inhabitants of this world. The way to survive in this harsher world.
It's true that he -surely- would missed his original life sometimes in the future. But, there's no one waited for him there. Even if there's someone, his original body is dead. Even if he managed to go back somehow, they wouldn't recognize this body he hosted.
In conclusion, Ḥamād has no compulsions to return to his original world. And, this is his second life. He would become the most idiotic person in the entire universe, if he didn't utilise this opportunity.
"I just complimented you slightly, and yet you sounded like an idiotic brat again. What was happened to your brain, really? Of course you should became stronger! What else?!"
***
Notes:
(¹): Ennak te'bal da awel ḥāga 'asyān tet'aqlom, we el ta'aqlom awel ḥāga 'asyān tetṭawwor, we el taṭawwor awel ḥāga 'asyān te'īsy.
(Translation: Accepting is the first step to adjust, adjusting is the first step to improve, and improving is the first step to survive.)
(²): Ish ḥayātak yā syabaṫa! Enta fāhim ya'ni eih kalām? Eih elly mkhalli el qaḍiyya milyāna drāmā kedā?
(Translation: Just live your life, brat! Did you even understand what I said?! Why would you made this matter to a ton of drama like this?!)
(³): Enta mesh 'āyesh zayyī yā ged'ān! Anā bashar. Ākherha, anā matlūb a'īsh ma'a el bashar, mesh jinna lakum.
(Translation: you're not in my shoes, grandpa! I am human. In the end, I need to live among other humans, not around djinn like you)
***