The morning began like any other. Waves kissed the shoreline of the private island, sunlight spilling over rooftops and gardens, the air warm and calm. Inside the lounge, the family was gathered—Sophia, Baba, Rayyan, Amir, Malik, Sara, sharing quiet conversation while the soft hum of the television played in the background. Global coverage from Egypt flickered across the screen, the Great Pyramid glowing under the sun, crowds gathered in endless rows, reporters grasping at questions no one could answer. It had been forty-five days since Mirshad left. The only words he gave them before disappearing were, "I'll be back in a month." No one knew where he had gone. Not his brothers. Not Sophia. Not even Baba. But they trusted him. He had never broken his word before.
The calm in the room shifted when the voice on the TV changed, urgent and sharp. "Breaking news shocking footage from inside the Great Pyramid captured live just moments ago." The camera view shook slightly, then steadied, zooming toward a space deep within the ancient structure. Light. Blinding, golden light, pouring out of stone older than history. The lounge went silent. Every head turned toward the screen. The light grew stronger, folding into itself until something began to form. A figure. Not walking, but manifesting. Black suit. Silver ring. Mask. MRD.
"No…" Amir's voice cracked as he slowly rose to his feet, hands trembling. "That's… that's him." Rayyan's glass slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor. Malik's jaw locked. Baba stared, his eyes narrowing. Sophia stopped breathing. Then the footage showed him—Mirshad—collapsing, unconscious, the Reapers rushing in to lift him, carrying him out as the golden light behind him faded into darkness. Tears filled Sophia's eyes. "He didn't tell me… he didn't tell anyone…" Her knees buckled and she dropped to the floor, one hand covering her mouth. "He was inside that pyramid… all this time…"
The island's comm system burst to life. "This is Shadow-01 to Island MedCenter. Priority alpha inbound. Medical evac. Patient: MRD. ETA: ten minutes. Status: alive. Unconscious. Prepare full team." Every soul in the room froze. The TV no longer mattered. The footage, the questions, the theories—all dissolved. There was only one truth now. He was coming home.
Sophia ran without thinking, her steps fast and desperate. Baba followed with slow, deliberate strides, each one heavy with the weight of years. Rayyan sprinted for the landing pad, Amir grabbed emergency supplies, Malik was already on comms with the medical team. The island moved as one, not with panic but with precision. Their king was returning.
The sound of the helicopter came first, a low thunder rolling over the ocean. Wind ripped through the trees as the black Reaper chopper descended, the heat from its engines burning across the pad. The door opened. The stretcher came out. Covered. Masked. Still. Mirshad. Sophia was the first to reach him, her hands gripping his as if she could anchor him here by force alone. "You kept your promise," she whispered, voice shaking, "but you didn't tell me it would hurt like this."
They moved him quickly into the medical bay, the doctors swarming around him with scanners and monitors. Readings scrolled across the screens—stable, but unmoving. Sophia stayed at his side, her eyes fixed on his masked face. Baba stood behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. The brothers sat outside the glass wall, watching in silence, their thoughts unspoken. What do you say when a god returns from silence? What do you ask someone who formed from light? Even Rayyan, steady as stone, whispered under his breath, "He was never missing… he was beyond us."
Outside, the ocean whispered against the rocks. The island itself felt still, holding its breath. And inside the chamber, the man the world called its protector lay quiet. Not broken. Not lost. Just resting. Whatever he had seen, wherever he had gone, had changed him. And now, the world would wait again.
He had left without a goodbye. Returned without a sound. And the island—his home, his family—sat in silence, waiting for the moment his eyes would open again.