A Valuable Message

The island of Oshima is a small uninhabited island about 100 kilometers off the coast of Tokyo City. The summit of Mihara mountain is covered by a vast desert of black volcanic sand, and vegetation of small green shrubs scattered amongst it. It's night now, and the only light available in the area, is from the moonlight itself, and a cruise ship's searchlights approaching the island's shore.

The wind blows that familiar seaside scent that would remind you of childhood memories at the beach, and a breeze that chills your heart away from all your worries and the stresses of urban life. This is what they say is a taste of the freedom of the desert nomad. One whose life relies not on overtime, high school grades, or looking fashionably trendy. It's a freedom that lets you see life as a journey between you and a lonely world. And sometimes, you get to meet different kinds of people along the way.

Yuri and the TerraMage are at the center of the island's desert. Other than the congratulatory greeting between the two of them, no other words were spoken. When they were suddenly enveloped in the darkness of dawn, both of them still in their Exosuit and Magitek Armor, and only revealing their faces, had put two big rocks around a bonfire that they had manually made without the help of their abilities. 

They sat on the rocks and remained silent, as neither of them could speak the other's language, and the attempt at speaking English would only cause each other more confusion. Yet, even without saying any words, there truly seemed to be a universal language of peace and fellowship that had been communicated between them. The two of them looked like a Crusader and a Saracen from the 9th Century, resting around a fire in the planes of Edessa. 

After letting the fire grow into a more stable state, the man started talking in Arabic and said, "My name is Abdul Rahman. It is nice to meet you." While making hand gestures that were still unfamiliar to the Japanese teenager.

Yuri couldn't understand a word he said. He shook his head kindly to indicate that he could not comprehend. Though he didn't want to reveal too much of the true nature of his abilities which was Artificial Intelligence, he still wanted to have communication between them. So he commanded the AI. 

"AI. Can you serve as translator for the two of us?"

"Yes, Master."

When Yuri extended his hand and opened his palm, two headsets emerged. Its design looked like that of the VR Console's headset, but it was redesigned to serve as simultaneous translators.

He handed it to the TerraMage and signaled him to wear it. He spoke in Japanese and said, "Please wear it, my friend."

Yuri wore it first. And kindly asked his Muslim guest to try it on.

He wore it with some caution. Once he put it on while Yuri was speaking in full Japanese, the device was translating it to fluent Arabic in real-time. And the voice of the translation fully imitated Yuri's actual voice.

"Is it working?" Yuri said in Japanese.

Having heard the device translate Yuri's words into Arabic, he smiled in surprise. And was mesmerized. Excited, he then replied in Arabic, "Yes!! I can understand you, my friend!"

"That's great! Now, we can finally talk to each other."

When he heard Yuri's voice speak in Arabic, he jumped up and hugged Yuri. 

"Yes! Me too! I can understand you!"

Yuri was surprised by TerraMage's personality. At first, he looked serious and dangerous. With his large body structure, long beard, and some stereotypes that Yuri had about Jihadists, he did not expect the man to be big-hearted, kind, gentle, and friendly.

"Praise be to Allah!" the man said. "Now we can finally talk."

After they calmed down, Yuri now was the one that extended his hand, and said, "My name is Yuri Hayashi. As you can see, I am the same as you."

The man quickly grabbed Yuri's hand and shook it as well and said, "My name is Abdul Rahman, I am a servant of the one true God, Allah, and a follower of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

"It is good to meet you too," Yuri said. "Please… Please…" Yuri gestured for Abdul to take his seat.

They both sat down, and a moment of silence came between them.

Abdul, a very sociable man, decided to break the ice and said, "That is a very powerful armor you are wearing."

The fire was shining its orange light on their faces in the dark of night.

"Yes, thank you. Thank you," Yuri, who was an 18-year-old man, was truly a teenager and lacked the expert skills of a diplomat, so he decided to just relax and speak naturally and genuinely.

"Your staff reminds me of a story that our headmaster told us about when I was growing up in the orphanage."

"It does? What story was that?"

"It was about a man in Egypt, who was chosen by his God to save his people. His God gave him the power to split the sea, and let his people cross safely."

"Ahhhh!" the man exclaimed. Abdul relaxed, and leaned back on the huge rock he was sitting on. "That is the story of the Prophet Musa. It is always true that Allah protects his people, and that sometimes, he chooses men for this purpose, do you agree?"

"I am sorry. But I must be honest with you, my friend. But I am not Muslim, and do not believe in God."

Abdul looks at the stars with a smile and said, "You know, your armor, it reminds me of a creature in the Quran. It is a Jinn called a Qareen."

"A Qareen?"

"It is a powerful creature, with special abilities, it cannot be seen with the naked eye, but every human is assigned one."

"Oh. Like a guardian angel?"

"Yes… and No… It is more like a rogue spirit but the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that he also had a Qareen and that he was able to convert it to become a Muslim. Praise be to Allah."

Yuri smiled, and said, "So are you going to convert me to Islam?" while throwing an extra stick on the fire to maintain its flame.

"Inshallah, my brother. Inshallah," the man mumbles to himself.

"Can you tell me why you do not believe, my friend?"

Yuri also leaned back. He gave a sigh, looked at the stars, and said, "If there is a God, then why did he create such a hideous world? If there is a God, then why did he take my parents away from me when I was just a child?"

Yuri sucked his lip. "Why did he take the only girl that I had ever loved in my life? If he is really powerful and all-seeing, then he must have just watched as she was raped and murdered by a gang of monsters. If he is that good, then why are this world and its inhabitants so evil?"

He turned his head to the side, to avoid eye contact, and spit on the ground.

Abdul, fully understanding where Yuri is coming from, said, "Those are really important questions, my friend. And I cannot deny that you have lost so many loved ones at such an early age."

Filled with emotion, Yuri sat up and looked Abdul in the eyes.

"Then why! Why did he permit all of this to occur?"

Abdul remaining calm and empathetic, replied with a warm question, "What do you think that you deserve, brother?"

"What do I deserve?"

"Yes, what do you think that you deserve?"

Yuri paused, and said, "I deserve a good life… a loving family… and a peaceful life."

Abdul then answered, "If there is a God, wouldn't he be the creator and source of all things, your life, your family's lives?"

"He would."

"He that giveth, He also taketh away."

"If he…" Yuri irritated. "Gave me all these things! Then just takes them away! Just like that! Whenever he feels like it! Then isn't he just a sadist? Does he enjoy seeing me in pain? What proper reason does he have to let us all suffer our lives in misery, while he is watching from his throne?"

Tears started to fall from Yuri's eyes, blaming God for everything pain, he had felt in his life. 

"To test us, brother." Abdul then came closer to Yuri and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Because this life is temporary…" Abdul said with an urgent voice. "and once He judges you… He judges me… And judges all of us perfectly on the appointed day, we can be with Him forever in Paradise."

Yuri remained silent. And hardened his heart. "I still cannot believe it, my friend. I am sorry."

"That is fine, brother. Inshallah, you will come to the truth, one day."

Both of them stand up, to ease the tension. An awkward silence occurs between them once again.

"Well, we must get going, right? You must be getting hungry. I would feel ashamed as your host if I let you stay in this state."

"Do not mind it, Yuri." This is the first time that Abdul called him by name. "I have enjoyed getting to know your true character very much. We can start to talk about business on the ship."

The Cruise ship's searchlights could be seen on the seashore. The ship captain blew the ship's horn. 

"Race you to the ship?" Abdul asked.

"What ship-" Yuri replied, then he spread his dragon wings and quickly flew to the cruise ship to get a head start.

When Yuri had left for the ship first, Abdul turned off the translator headset that Yuri gave him and he grabbed a communication device from his armor. He contacted his men and said, "Abort the attack. I repeat. Abort the attack, over."

A voice in Arabic replied, "Affirmative. Aborting Operation: Destroy Shaitan. over."

Abdul had 4 brigades of his men preparing to attack Tokyo with their Terraforming Weaponry if Abdul was not able to contact them by around that hour.

It was a countermeasure he had in place, in case the Mage that he was about to meet, would attempt to fight him and attempt to kill him. If he wasn't able to contact them due to any circumstance, they would automatically commence their operations.