Ruqayyah found herself standing in a space that defied all human logic.
A gentle white radiance surrounded her in every direction, reflecting without casting shadows, forming a realm that felt at once boundless and suffocating. There was no solid floor beneath her feet, no walls to touch—only luminous mist, dense enough to bear her weight, as though she were walking upon frozen water.
She looked down.
A white robe now clung to her form. The fabric moved with quiet grace, whispering softly as if it breathed on its own, responding to every slight motion she made.
"Is this… Barzakh?" she murmured.
Her voice did not echo. The air seemed to swallow every sound instantly.
She placed a hand over herself, just beneath her ribs. Her heartbeat was still there—rapid, warm, unmistakably real.
Strange, she thought uneasily. If I am dead, and this is the realm beyond, why does my heart still insist on reminding me that I am alive?
The profound silence shattered.
Footsteps approached.
They were not calm, nor reverent. They were hurried, uneven—laden with distinctly human emotion.
A girl emerged from the glowing fog.
She looked utterly out of place.
Her hair was slightly disheveled beneath a loosened silk veil, her layered garments finely made but smudged with dust and streaks of earth. Her sharp eyes darted across the space, alert and furious, anger barely masking raw terror.
"What cursed place is this?!" the girl shouted, her voice slicing through the haze. "If this is how you intend to interrogate me, know this—my father will have every one of you beheaded without mercy!"
Ruqayyah froze.
It felt like watching a historical drama character step straight out of a screen and into reality.
Carefully, she stepped forward, lifting both hands in a gesture of peace.
"Assalamu'alaikum," she said gently, trying to sound harmless.
The girl spun around instantly. "Who are you?! Are you a sorceress who dragged me here?!"
"My name is Ruqayyah," she replied, keeping her voice steady. "I'm lost too. Just like you. I don't know why we're here."
The girl narrowed her eyes, scanning Ruqayyah from head to toe, clearly unsettled by the unfamiliar cut and fabric of her clothes.
"I am Aisha bint al-Fadl," she declared. "Daughter of a Wazir. I would not be standing in an endless void like this unless black magic or jinn were involved!"
Ruqayyah took a slow breath, trying to process that. A Wazir…
"Perhaps," she said carefully, "we have died, Aisha. And this is the moment we are called to account."
"Impossible!" Aisha snapped, beginning to pace. "I can still feel the cold! My body is whole!" Her hands clenched and released. "My sins are far too many for death to claim me now. I have not repented. I have not begged my father's forgiveness. I am— I am not ready!"
Despite herself, Ruqayyah nearly smiled.
Aisha's fear was unfiltered, painfully honest—so unmistakably human.
Still, curiosity tugged at her reason.
"Aisha… may I ask—where do you come from? Which dynasty rules your world?"
"The Abbasid Dynasty, of course!" Aisha replied sharply, lifting her chin. "The heart of civilization, under the noble Caliph al-Ma'mun. And you?"
Ruqayyah hesitated. "I… I'm from Indonesia."
Aisha frowned, clearly unsettled.
"In-do-ne-sia?" she repeated slowly. "Is that beyond Mount Qaf? Or one of the distant islands at the edge of Hind?"
"Neither," Ruqayyah let out a small, incredulous laugh. Awe filled her. She was speaking to living history. "Indonesia exists far in the future. I live nearly a thousand years after your time— in the year 2024."
Aisha staggered back, her face draining of color. She pressed a hand to her head.
"Two thousand…?" she whispered. "Two thousand what?"
"Two thousand twenty-four."
"What?!" Aisha gasped. "Impossible. The world cannot be that old!"
Suddenly—
"Assalamu'alaikum, O two souls caught within the weave of time."
The voice came from everywhere at once.
It did not pass through ears—it resonated directly within awareness itself.
Ruqayyah instinctively lowered her head and returned the greeting. Aisha, meanwhile, shouted at the empty space, demanding the speaker reveal himself.
The white realm rippled violently.
Vast images bloomed around them like mirages, spiraling through the air. Ruqayyah saw Baghdad in its true splendor—markets roaring with life, sharp spice-laden air, golden pillars reflecting the morning sun.
Across from her, Aisha stared in stunned silence.
She saw towering structures piercing the clouds, metal beasts racing without horses, and a secluded pesantren where students recited the Qur'an beneath dim electric light.
"That… that is my life," Ruqayyah whispered, tears gathering.
"And that…" Aisha said faintly, "…is my world."
Her pride collapsed in an instant. Time stretched endlessly around her, rendering her suddenly, painfully small.
A man appeared before them.
He wore simple garments, yet authority radiated from him. His expression was serene; his eyes carried the weight of centuries.
"My name is Saleh," he said. "Guardian of the realm between."
"It is the soul that is tested, not the body," he continued, his voice cool and steady. "You have been chosen for an unavoidable task. You will exchange places—inhabiting bodies not your own, walking destinies foreign to you, bearing joys and sorrows not meant for your time."
He raised his hand. The air grew heavy.
"One absolute rule must be obeyed. While dwelling in another's body, you are strictly forbidden from entering marriage or any forbidden attachment. Violation will bind your souls in an eternal curse. You will never return to your original forms. The reasons—and the consequences—will remain sealed until the appointed time."
Aisha opened her mouth to protest—questions about wealth, about the palace—but Saleh moved faster.
He touched their foreheads lightly with his fingertips.
"I place within your minds a System—a guide. It will help you understand languages, customs, and circumstances beyond your knowing."
A sharp chill surged through Ruqayyah, like a soft current of lightning behind her eyes. Slowly, a translucent blue interface shimmered into view:
[Soul Synchronization: 85%… Complete]
[Status: Stable]
[Primary Objective: Survive in the 9th Century (Ruqayyah) & the 21st Century (Aisha)]
Aisha let out a small scream, clawing at the air as if trying to grasp the glowing words.
"What is this?! There is writing made of light following me! Ruqayyah, help me—remove this sorcery from my sight!"
"Calm yourself," Ruqayyah said, though her own hands trembled. "Think of it as… a traveling companion."
She recognized it instantly—eerily similar to the interfaces her friends once joked about in games.
"Your time has come," Saleh commanded. "Close your eyes."
The white light exploded—brighter than the sun.
Ruqayyah felt herself dragged violently forward, pulled through a force beyond comprehension. Her breath vanished as her body seemed to stretch, fold, and collapse into motion itself.
In the final moment before darkness claimed her, she heard Aisha's sob—calling for her father, her voice breaking—
—and then, nothing.
The void fell silent.
Saleh remained, gazing at the empty space where the girls had vanished. A glowing record flickered into existence, etching new history:
[Status: Exchange Initiated. Fate is being rewritten. Two souls. Two eras. One destiny.]
Something had changed forever.
Whether for salvation or ruin, none could yet know.
But within Aisha and Ruqayyah, the pull of fate had locked tight—across centuries, across worlds—binding them to a lesson no soul had ever learned before.