Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kaveh fought the need to keep his eyes open, but he was helpless to do anything. He couldn’t move his body; his vision was blurred by the blood dripping down his face. His shallow breathing was only accompanied by the shifting of Azar’s clothes as he looked at the gnosis in hand.

“You… bastard,” Kaveh tried to insult, a last-ditch effort to show he still had some fight in him, but it was as weak and lifeless as his friend’s dead bodies around him. They didn’t deserve such an end after all they did for him, so he had to live on to remember their honor along with his other bygone teammates. 

Azar chuckled darkly at him, clutching the gnosis tightly in his hand before putting it behind his back and out of sight. “Your journey ends here, Kaveh.”

It was something numerous enemies had said to him in his quest to get the gnosis, but now as the light in his eyes began to fade along with the glow of his Vision, this time it felt like a true statement.

“Reset the terminal.” Azar ignored the fallen man as he waved off his lackey to act. Finally, he turned back to the fallen man on the ground. “May Irminsul be cleansed of your abhorrent presence.”

“I won’t…” Kaveh tried to say, but speaking was taking far more strength than he had at the moment. His blinks were getting longer, and Azar’s image was getting fuzzy around the edges. It wasn't fair—he still had so much he needed to do.

…

So where’s the rest?

Alhaitham stared at the blank ending page, seeing nothing about a continuation like the past three books had. He flipped through the book again, just in case somehow in his binge reading he missed something that told him the next book would be delayed, the author was on a hiatus, or that something was going to happen at all, but there was nothing.

Really? That was it? What an unsatisfying ending!

If Alhaitham had any less self-restraint, he would’ve tossed the book to show it what he thought of such a bullshit, bleak ending. Really? The saga had to end with Kaveh bleeding out, all his friends dead around him—again!—and not even being able to obtain the gnosis he was fighting so hard for? Why did the author hate their main, and Alhaitham’s favorite, character?

Alhaitham never thought he would ever get so invested in a book series, but here he was, book in hand even though he was still thinking about throwing it, leaning back against his Kaveh body pillow and surrounded by merchandise sprinkled within his more normal decor. He was bored one day between classes and decided to check out his campus’ bookstore. It was filled with the expected things: overpriced textbooks, school supplies, and mascot-themed attire, but there was a section for books. It had been a while since Alhaitham had read a book on his own that wasn’t for a grade or a source for his studies, so he decided he needed to get back into the relaxing pleasure of the activity.

There were a few that caught his eye, but he ended up picking the first volume of a series called Pairidaeza's Dreams . The art on the cover was dynamic and the synopsis was engaging, so he bought it and decided to keep it on hand for whenever he needed to wind down after a busy day of studying, working out, or having to be social.

It followed the story of a man named Kaveh, an outlander who was exploring the world with his mother. They were about to wander the world known as Teyvat before they were stopped by some unknown goddess. While trying to defeat this powerful, unknown force, he got separated from his mother and fell to Teyvat alone. There, he met a whimsical mechanical creature named Mehrak, and the journey started.

It was a fascinating world of monsters, power from sources known as Visions, and unraveling mysteries that came from the archons and their gnosis that were needed to find Kaveh’s mother. It sounded like the perfect turn-your-brain-off story about adventure and friendship set in a fascinating fantasy world, but then the angst started.

The first book had the subtitle The Outlander Who Caught the Wind. It established the base lore and what Kaveh was fighting for with Mehrak as his guide as they explored the vast world. Their first stop was Mondstadt, the city of freedom that was being terrorized by the dragon, Dvalin. With the anemo archon, Venti, and the Knights of Favonius, they were supposed to save Dvalin from his abyss possessions and save the city. That happened, but not without a number of the knights being eaten alive. When Alhaitham went into the book, he never expected such a harrowing turn of events. Venti lived, though, and with his gnosis handed to Kaveh, he gave him a few words of advice and sent him off to Liyue.

It was done in a way that Alhaitham felt was just to progress the plot, but he was looking forward to the next set of events and what would await Kaveh in Liyue. Thankfully, he joined this wonderful world of Teyvat at just the right time so that he didn’t have to be left on a cliffhanger for so long as the next book was still available for preorder and would be released next month. Since preorders weren’t something the campus bookstore did, he looked up a local bookstore on his phone and preordered there for pickup.

The wait felt longer than it had any right to, but finally, Alhaitham got the call that his book was ready. He had planned to go in, get his book, maybe grab a bite to eat, and then go back to his apartment to read it, but life had other ideas. He told the person behind the register about his pickup, and she wandered off to go get it. The wait wasn’t long, but when she came back, she told him that it came with a preorder bonus. Alhaitham wasn’t expecting that at all, but as he stared down at the bookmark designed like the feather Kaveh had behind his ear, something changed inside him.

It was pushed to the side of getting that quick bite to eat and reading the next novel.

He finished Farewell, Archaic Lord, in only a few days. In his defense, it was just after midterms, so he had the time. This book followed Kaveh going to Liyue, only to be accused of killing the geo archon and ruining the Rite of Parting. A stranger named Zhongli managed to break him and Mehrak out of jail, and then they were set to save Liyue against the dual forces of fierce water serpents named Osial and Beisht. It was a horrendous fight where it often seemed like Liyue would be washed away in the raging floods of the ocean, but it took Ningguang sacrificing the Jade Chamber for them to win.

Once again, the helpful group of new friends Kaveh and Mehrak made along the way died in this sacrifice, minus Zhongli, who was revealed to the geo archon and gave more advice about the next stop, Inazuma. That was a nice twist Alhaitham didn’t expect, he would admit, but he was already seeing an established pattern that Kaveh would make a friend, they would bond on a deep level, and they would die by the end of the book. As he stared at the To Be Continued… note in the back, he twirled the bookmark in his hand and got curious about if there was a preorder bonus for the previous book—and when he could get the next book.

Looking up both showed nothing, but that odd itch still hadn’t been scratched. It didn’t take long for him to find what he was looking for, though, as a related search showed him a cool fan-made acrylic stand of Kaveh and Mehrak. He bought it without a second thought. Alhaitham was still a responsible adult; he wasn’t just going to blow his spare money on more merchandise of his favorite character, but his grandmother always encouraged him to practice self-care and to treat himself every once in a while. His walls were dotted with the occasional poster of Kaveh. His bookshelves were filled with notebooks, textbooks, random books, and Kaveh-themed merchandise. There were acrylic stands, keychains, a small, round plush, and a few postcard-sized prints that rested in small frames.

When the preorder for the third book came with the announcement that Kaveh was going to get a little, moveable figure called a Nendoroid released, Alhaitham had never clicked on the preorder buttons faster. They were supposed to release at the same time, but delays caused the nendoroid to release a month later than the book. Alhaitham was miffed but didn’t care. He was ready to finally have both in his hands.

The third book, Omnipresence Over Mortals, was thicker than the other two books by a noticeable margin, so that, combined with there not being a break lined up, meant it took him longer to finish it. Inazuma was a closed nation, so Kaveh and Mehrak had to sneak into the nation, only for them to get arrested again with his dendro Vision compromised. This time they were broken out of jail by a group of vigilantes going against the Vision hunt decree. Alhaitham realized just how doomed by the narrative Kaveh was from the very start as the same song and dance played. Once again, all the friends made along the way died in different fashions, and Kaveh was set to face the electro archon.

The Raiden Shogun puppet went on a violent rampage and tried to kill Kaveh with her signature move, the Musou No Hitotachi. Mehrak saw this coming and sacrificed herself to save Kaveh so he could continue his journey. With the help of a mischievous kitsune shrine maiden, the puppet was slain. The real electro archon, Ei, was able to rule and hand Kaveh the gnosis along with helpful advice for his journey in Sumeru.

The last few pages of the book were dedicated to Kaveh being absolutely miserable as he crossed the waters back to the mainland of Teyvat. He was mourning his new friends, and there was a whole page dedicated to the different ways he bonded with Mehrak in the time between each big plot point. It was supposed to get the reader emotional, to feel the pain Kaveh felt from losing everyone he loved in order to find his mother. Alhaitham sure felt some emotion, alright.

He felt sad, upset, and had a primal need to not only comfort but also protect Kaveh. Partly from the unforgiving world around him, but mostly from the dumbfuck author. There had to be a limit to what extent you could make a character suffer before it got the certified torture porn label. It felt absurd, almost to the point that Alhaitham knew that as soon as a character got a name, they were going to die by the end of the book. If they didn’t die, they would be forgotten in a chapter since they were just there to progress the plot, which might be an even worse fate.

He vented about it a bit to his friends when one asked him what he was reading—not saying everything, since that would need a dedicated PowerPoint to work through his feelings, but just enough that made them question why he was reading it if he hated it so much. Saying he still liked the series was better than admitting his bedroom was slowly turning into a dedicated shrine.

When his Kaveh nendoroid finally came in, he used the smiling faceplate and posed the little figure with Mehrak floating close by because they deserved to be happy together. Whenever he finally reunited with his mother, Alhaitham would preorder her too and set her up right next to her son and flying friend to have the happily ever after they deserved—and may or may not have read a number of times in fan fiction. So many people were just as amazing—if not better—than the original dumbfuck author.

But to first get to that wonderful ending Kaveh needed, Alhaitham had to read the rest of the books first. 

The wait for the fourth book felt like it went on forever. That was why, when he finally had it, he dedicated a weekend to it in order to make sure Kaveh had a good time. If he didn’t, Alhaitham would have to do something… cope with fan art and fan fiction, probably… as one does…

Truth Amongst the Pages of Purana followed Kaveh going through the same motions again, this time without the kind, comic relief that came from Mehrak by his side. He explored the forests and deserts of Sumeru to learn that the Akademiya was controlling everyone’s mind through a little device called an Akasha. They were able to do this because they were draining the dendro archon, Rukkhadevata, of her power. With his new group of friends, they plotted to free Rukkhadevata and maybe find a way to get her gnosis in return. Kaveh’s pure heart was set on freeing the trapped god first and foremost. Figuring out how to obtain the gnosis can be figured out afterwards.

It was a noble goal, but of course, it wasn’t an easy one to achieve. The team thought they had cut off the Akasha’s power, but the Grand Sage Azar was one step ahead of them. He used his influence to corrupt everyone’s mind, and allies were forced to fight each other. Even though Kaveh didn’t have an Akasha, he could only handle so many powerful Vision-wielding attackers at once. Combined with the fact that he didn’t want to hurt his friends, he was horrendously injured before he was forced to fight back to survive.

It was an intense fight scene, and there were many moments when Alhaitham thought Kaveh would die before he somehow found the strength to move on. Still, in the end, he was left bloodied on the ground as Azar laughed at his pathetic state. Alhaitham read on and did everything he could to ensure a positive outcome, as the number of pages he had left began to dwindle. He was rewarded with a blank final page that lacked any note that the story would continue on after this.

…

Was his copy a misprint? Was he missing a few pages? There had to be something he was missing, right?

Alhaitham put the book down and picked up his phone to look at the fandom forums he was a frequent lurker on. He scrolled through different topics, but almost all of them were in the same boat of wondering what that ending was all about. The author had no online presence, so it wasn’t like any of them could just send a message and ask. All they could do was cope, seeth, cry, mald, and accept.

Alhaitham would not accept.

He had to do something about this emotion that was causing his heartbeat to race and his stomach to churn. It almost felt like he was there, maybe as the benevolent dendro archon Rukkhadevata, trapped and hopeless as blood unfairly poured in her name. Kaveh needed someone by his side, a constant pillar of support that Mehrak used to be. He wondered if things would’ve gone differently if she were still there, but she wasn’t. 

Seriously, when was the last time a book series played with his emotions like this? 

Since Alhaitham couldn’t do anything, he felt itchy in his skin. He decided that since he spent quite a long time doing nothing but sitting around and reading, it was a good time to get some exercise. It was a bit late, but he lived in a nice neighborhood, so a late-night walk wouldn’t bring him any trouble. If anything, the crisp night air might clear his head. Alhaitham grabbed his phone and put on his headphones. He flipped through his favorite playlist as he pulled his jacket on. With his jacket zipped up, Alhaitham pulled on his shoes, pocketed his phone, and locked his apartment door behind him. 

He knew the neighborhood’s layout and which sidewalks to take depending on how long he wanted to walk. If he wanted a short one, he would stay on the main streets, but if he wanted a longer one, he would wander to the small forest sprouting in the back. That was what he was in the mood for. Maybe the lofty trees of his world would remind him of the forest imagery of Sumeru. Maybe he would treat himself and think about walking this path with Kaveh as that positive and very-much-alive friend he needed.

Alhaitham wouldn’t admit it, but he might’ve read a few self-insert fan fictions with Kaveh. The only reason he wouldn’t admit it was because he never finished any, so it didn’t count. Not because they were bad, just the ones Alhaitham clicked on before giving up had the open self-insert not act like Alhaitham personally would. 

Sometimes he thought about writing such a story himself—a lot of the author’s notes at the beginning had random ramblings about I’m doing this for me and this is so self-indulgent —but he wasn’t that much of a creative writer. He would just daydream and let his little fantasies stay in his head. What he would admit was that he loved Kaveh as a character and might be walking the line of being in love with the character. 

He was aware that Kaveh was a fictional character at the end of the day, so he didn’t do anything delusional, like make out with his body pillow. He only cuddled it as he slept, like one was supposed to do with a pillow that large. Just because one side had Kaveh nearly naked with only his feather behind his ear and his red cape draped over his thighs to cover his dick meant nothing. That being the side he mostly cuddled with also meant nothing. Him occasionally petting his nendoroid’s large, round head when he passed it most certainly meant nothing.

If only there was a way to do that for real.

But then again, if he was in Teyvat and somehow found his way into Kaveh’s inner circle, he would’ve probably ended up dead too. 

This walk was supposed to clear his head, but he somehow ended up more agitated. Alhaitham turned his music up a few notches higher and picked up his pace into a brisk jog. He was only mildly aware of the path he was taking, but things still looked familiar, so he wasn’t worried about being lost or anything. With that worry out of his mind, he continued to let his mind drift.

Maybe he wouldn’t die, actually. He probably wouldn’t have a Vision, so it wasn’t like he could fight on the same level as Kaveh, his friends, and his enemies. The smartest thing to do would be to sit back and provide support from the sidelines. If he did have a Vision, though… he would hope it was an electro or hydro one, just so he could synergize with Kaveh all the better. He took a few quizzes that were praised on the fandom forms, but he pretty consistently got cryo or geo for whatever reason. 

As Alhaitham tried to reason to himself why he was unfitting for those types of Visions, he was unaware of the way the path started to travel. The concrete slabs transformed into packed dirt. He only noticed it when the music stopped playing and he pulled out his phone to see what was happening. He pulled it out of his hoodie pocket and noticed that he suddenly had no connection. Alhaitham raised a brow at that—he always had a connection in his neighborhood.

There was a chance that some interference was happening to the service itself, so with an annoyed huff, he pocketed his phone once more. It probably was a good time to head back home anyway since the walk hardly helped him in the way it should’ve. 

Alhaitham blinked slowly as he finally became aware of his surroundings. The bright night sky was full of beautiful stars that weren’t blocked out by the usual light pollution of his city. The path was lined with tall trees that weren’t native to his city. The leaves were lush, long, and almost tropical in nature. The flowers sprouting under them were larger than he had ever seen before, and the path under his feet somehow turned from concrete to compact dirt. Alhaitham didn’t even notice the change in surface, and a quick glance back showed him that he had been walking this dirt path for some time.

The contemporary brick building holding multiple rooms was gone as well, not even visible above the treeline like usual. Now there were more lofty trees, larger-than-life mountains, and a foreign landscape that looked vaguely familiar in a way he couldn’t put his finger on just yet.

He felt stuck in a way he didn’t know how to fix. Could he just walk back the way he came? He didn't think he walked that far, but he couldn't tell what direction his home was right now. He didn’t even grab his wallet since he didn’t think he would need it, so it wasn’t like he could rent a hotel for the night and figure out what he could do in the morning. 

Alhaitham looked at his two options. He could turn back and walk towards the unknown wilderness, or he could walk towards the unknown civilization. One at least sounded mildly more appealing. He still spared a glance back where he thought his home would be, but he once again could see absolutely nothing. With a wrinkle between his brows, Alhaitham followed the path towards this unknown town.

He followed the dirt path that turned into layered white stone, but he stopped once he made it up a small incline. The town was quiet at night, but that allowed him to stand in the middle of the street and follow the path with his eyes. The path twisted and wound around different buildings, disappearing from his sight at times, but he could still see it very clearly leading up to the largest tree he had ever seen in the middle of the city. He felt taller standing next to skyscrapers in comparison to that tree.

With hesitant steps, Alhaitham continued walking. Closed businesses lined the street, with a few looking to be like normal civilian homes. He really didn’t want to knock on strangers' doors at the moment, even if their lights were on, so he pushed on. Alhaitham continued walking until he found himself at a fork in the road. One path seemed to lead up to follow the tree to the top, but the other looked to head towards the tree’s trunk. He stood and stared, not sure which one would really be most beneficial to him.

“Haitham!” The loud, slurred cry of his name made him flinch. It broke the quiet of the night, and that was a nickname only his grandmother called him, but that wasn’t her voice at all.

“You lied to us!” Another voice joined in with the first, the words running together and hiccupped with giddy giggles. 

Alhaitham turned around and saw two people stumbling away from a building that was along the path up the tree. It must’ve been a bar or something similar since the duo walked and talked like they were one more drink away from being blackout drunk. 

“You said you were going to study, you study-er.” The woman laughed as if it were the funniest joke ever and tried to slap her male companion’s knee, but ended up missing horribly. “If you were gonna be out, you should’ve joined us!”

Alhaitham didn’t say a word as they stumbled closer. They wore green and white robes that seemed to be accessorized with hats since the woman still wore hers, but the man had his in his hands. “Oh, fuck,” the man quickly mumbled. The downward angle the path took to reach Alhaitham seemed impossible for his impaired mind as he stopped leaning on the girl and held his arms out. He barely lifted his feet as he scooted down the path.

“Why are you ignoring me?” The woman whined as she held her arms out too, this time towards Alhaitham, as if she were trying to go for a hug. Even though she had more confidence in her footwork than her drinking buddy, she still moved slowly enough that Alhaitham could sidestep and deflect the hug.

He normally would; he hated most types of physical touch, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. These people were talking to him so casually, calling him nicknames almost no one did and pointing out habits he would partake in, but he didn’t know them.

This out-of-character behavior even set off the drunken woman. She dropped her arms back to her sides a few feet away from him, ignoring her friend, who was still struggling down the hill to stalk closer to Alhaitham. Alhaitham didn’t move, hoping that her getting closer and seeing her distinct facial features up close would trigger some memory, but it didn’t.

“Hey… you don’t look good. What are you even doing out here? And why are you naked?” 

Even though Alhaitham knew he was wearing clothes, he still looked down at himself to see what her lack of critical thinking was trying to portray. Both her and her friend’s long, floor-length robes looked far more elegant than his simple shorts and hoodie. In comparison, he probably looked like he was in his innermost layers. Part of him wished there were more people around to compare, but he would probably look all the more strange.

“I-” Alhaitham started, not exactly sure how he was going to explain himself, but the male drunkard finally made it safely down the path to interrupt them.

“Wait, did the Eremites get you?” He asked, squinting both in question and trying to clear his vision. With how hard he was doing so, it looked more like his eyes were closed. “I—oh—I knew those Eremite camps were getting closer to the city! Did they fucking get you? Steal your clothes and Mora? I bet it was targeted. I knew Amurta was jealous of our win…”

The man kept on rambling, but Alhaitham wasn’t listening. Those names were familiar.

“...we need to get the Corps of Thirty—”

“Cyno.” Alhaitham interrupted to confirm his theory.

“Yeah, yeah, I think this is Cyno level now.” The woman agreed, a determined pout on her face. “He’ll put a stop to it. Let’s get him right meow!”

The woman very clearly made a cat noise instead of saying the right word—intentionally too, with the way she giggled even during the serious conversation. She seemed to have also not heard a single word of the man’s drunken rambling since it was ignored, unless it somehow involved a cat.

Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t; the man acted just the same as if he didn’t just go on some passionate, nonsensical speech. “Yeah! He should be... uh… uh…”

“It’s fine,” Alhaitham stopped them from running off to find Cyno. He wouldn’t be able to send him off to find these eremites since an attack never happened, but Alhaitham knew how to use this to his advantage. This was something he had to figure out on his own. “I’m fine, just… shaken up from the attack.” He was able to keep his voice leveled somehow given the circumstances, but the drunks didn’t seem too aware of this fact. “I just want to go home. Can you escort me?”

He seemed to be… established in this world, somehow, so he should have a home here, right? Whoever these people were, they seemed to know him decently enough, so maybe they would be able to help him out in some way? It was a shot in the dark given how impaired they were, but it was either that or him trying to find a safe corner to tuck himself away in as he figured things out.

The duo were more vigilant than rational, as they quickly stepped up to help their friend in need. The man took his left arm and the woman his right, holding onto him like some overzealous bodyguards. The man walked like he was using Alhaitham for support just as much as leading him wherever he supposedly lived, but the woman kept one of her hands up like she was about to karate chop anyone who would dare attack again.

Alhaitham watched them briefly before looking back at the new world around him. So this was what Sumeru City looked like. It seemed… peaceful, but he couldn’t help but feel on edge still. Did these people know what happened? He tried to think back on what the man said about our win and the mentioned Amurta Darshan, but he couldn’t think of anything related to the story. Unless they somehow saw Azar stopping Kaveh from freeing Rukkhadevata as a win.

He decided to risk it. He didn’t know what he would do if he heard the answer he dreaded, but he had to know. “Where’s Kaveh?”

The woman looked at him weirdly. “Who?”

Who he was really depended on who was talking about him. To places like Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma, he was a hero. To Sumeru, he was a dead annoyance that tried to ruin their grand scheme. To Alhaitham, he was… “The blond traveler.”

The woman still looked at him oddly, her arm never lowering to stay ready to chop away danger.

“Oh, wait, wait, wait,” the man, who for the last few minutes seemed to be sleepwalking, gained some consciousness, “I’ve heard about him. Didn’t he do something cool in Inazuma?”

Cool was an understatement. “Yes, he…” Alhaithm trailed off, not sure what to say next. It was hard to tell just how much weight he should put in a drunkard’s words, but going into more detail might confuse them all the more. Alhaitham needed a timeline, and if you asked him, he did a lot of cool things in Inazuma. 

The man didn’t seem bothered that he didn’t finish that sentence as he nodded his head. “Good for him.”

The conversation died down after that, as Alhaitham didn’t try asking them for information again. He was in his head, trying to think about this all as logically as he could as he let the drunkards lead him around. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea, but it wasn’t like he had that many options.

Finally, they stopped him in front of a house against the trunk of the large center tree. The man still hung onto him, but the woman let him go to face him. “There you go! Safe and sound.” She reached out to pat his shoulder, but Alhaitham moved out of the way and she swiped nothing but air. He appreciated her help, but he was reaching his limit on how much he could handle the physical contact.

The woman only laughed, unbothered, as Alhaitham shrugged the man off of him. He stumbled again, but regained his balance soon after. He wiped his face like an uncoordinated baby before blinking at Alhaitham. “D’You need anything else?

The place looked familiar, yet not at the same time. It was supposedly a safe place to rest, but now there was the problem of how he was going to get inside.

“Did they steal your key too!?” The woman suddenly screamed, far too loud for the quiet of the night that her soundwaves made the man stumble again. Thankfully, the man caught his balance a few feet away, but Alhaitham had to take a few steps back to avoid her wildly flailing arms. “I swear to the archons that when I get Cyno on them, I—oh!” She dragged the last word out as she powered up her punch.

Alhaitham did bring his keys with him, but…

Still, Alhaitham pulled his keys out of his hoodie pocket, staring at his supposed home in front of him.

The woman stopped fighting the air. “Oh, lucky!” She sang, wiggling in her place in a happy little dance.

With a deep breath, Alhaitham tried his key on this strange door. With a twist, it unlocked with an audible click. 

Alhaitham pushed the door open and waited for something to happen. No one came accusing him of a thief breaking into their home. No one with the same face and name as him came up and wondered why a doppelganger was visiting them. The only thing that happened was that the man finally lost against gravity and fell to the ground with a muffled curse. He turned towards the noise sharply, thinking it was finally the other shoe dropping, but all he saw was the girl pointing at her fallen friend and laughing.

“Thank you,” Alhaitham said since he was supposed to, even though he doubted it was heard over her noise. He didn’t even know their names. 

“Yeah, yeah, no prob, lob.” The woman said, getting the phrase wrong again as she finally helped her friend. 

“Do you… need anything?” Alhaitham asked the question in a stilted voice. He wasn’t one to really invite strangers into his house, but they weren’t really strangers, and this wasn't really his house. It was one of those things he really needed to think over.

“Nah, we’re still partying!” The woman said, even though it seemed like the man was not in the same boat. “Haravata for life, baby!”

The man held his hand up in a weak celebration.

“Right, then… have fun. Good luck with the hangover tomorrow.” He might as well offer some advice since he didn’t know what else to do.

The woman gasped dramatically. “Oh, Archons, those Eremites really fucked him up. Our cute junior is actually showing concern for us!”

Alhaitham was prepared for the woman to fling herself at him to show her appreciation, but instead she turned on her heels and said they needed to drink in celebration of that. Drunk minds were simple minds. 

He watched them leave until they were out of his field of view. In that time, no one still came to confront him for entering their home. He decided it was as safe as it could be to still proceed with caution.

Alhaitham closed the door and locked it out of habit, but part of him wondered if that was the smart thing to do. He might be locking himself in with someone ready to protect their home, but the house was completely quiet. Moonlight streaming through the windows prevented it from being completely dark, but Alhaitham still pressed his hand against the wall in hopes of finding a light switch. He didn’t find one, but he saw a lamp on a couch-side table and figured that was good enough. 

The lamp illuminated part of the room, but it was enough to show him that he was a stranger in his own skin. 

Close to the lamp, there was a bookshelf almost completely packed with books. The titles on the sides were in a language he didn’t know, but he knew exactly what they said. There were mostly educational books, but they could be looked at later. Right now, he was far more interested in the group of small pictures he had on the bookshelf.

He grabbed the first one since it was easier to digest. It looked like a class photo, as there were multiple people wearing those same green and white robes. The man and woman were there too, smiling brightly as they leaned against a figure that had Alhaitham’s face. He stared right at himself, one expression bored, the other confused. Carefully, Alhaitham removed the picture from the frame to see if there was a date on the back, but there was nothing.

Alhaitham put the picture back and faced the second one. With a tender hold, he picked up the picture that showed him standing next to an elderly woman. No matter what world he was in, he would always recognize his grandmother. He sat down on the couch’s arm and simply stared, wondering if the memories the Alhaitham had here were the same as those he had in his world. He wondered if she was alive here.

He took this picture out of the frame and was presented with the same good luck note on his academic journey as his did back at his apartment. The language may be different, but her lofty writing was still distinctly the same. He would like to look at it more, but he still had problems to solve.

Alhaitham wandered around his new home, and only after he found that he truly was alone did he partially relax. The layout was different from what he was used to and a little larger too, but he could find it cozy after getting used to the… everything. He tried to see if there was a calendar laid out anywhere to know the date, but there wasn’t anything available. He even tried his phone again, but now the screen wouldn’t turn on and it was nothing more than an expensive paperweight.

This world did have an equivalent, though…

In his search, he found the original Alhaitham’s Akasha. It was alleged to be illegal to wander Sumeru City without it, but here it was on his desk. 

Alhaitham held the small device in his hand, an impending doom settling in his stomach since he read how Azar used this little gadget to corrupt the minds of all Kaveh held close in Sumeru. Deyha, Candace, Tighnari, Cyno… all of them acted like they personally wanted to watch Kaveh’s blood paint the floor red.

Even before that distressing climax, there was a scene where people were mind-controlled to clap and welcome Kaveh to the Akademiya in an unsettling manner—foreshadowing to the real battle ahead. This device was a blessing and a curse, but as much as he wanted to have an opinion on the matter, he didn’t have a choice over what he had to do with it. 

He would wear it as little as possible in the adjacent comfort of his home, but he would have to wear it when he was out. Alhaitham placed it in his ear and waited for it to activate.

The green screens in his face were blinding and overwhelming, but just as written, he had tons of information at his fingertips.

The first thing he did was look for news about Kaveh. Knowing what he was up to first would help him formulate a plan. He was the main character of this world, after all, so it made sense to start there. Just as he thought, news about Kaveh’s heroic adventures had reached Sumeru. The drunk man was right, he was in Inazuma, and by the sound of it, he would be leaving the nation soon.

It didn’t say where the man was heading next, just that Inazuma had entered a time of peace, tranquility, and understanding—but Alhaitham knew.

He was heading to Sumeru. He was going to arrive without his lifelong companion, suffer, make new friends, suffer some more, kill all his friends, and potentially die himself without achieving his goal of finding his mother and freeing Rukkhadevata.

Alhaitham felt the same emotions he experienced reading the last few pages of the story. He felt antsy and itchy, his blood boiling, and that he needed to do something with his hands because he couldn’t fix anything and make Kaveh happy.

But now… maybe he could.

In his search around his home, he didn’t find a Vision. Maybe it was overpowered by the feeling of being lost in this vast world with no knowledge of how he got here or how to get back, but he didn’t feel the hollowness in his heart as described by people who lost their Visions. He wasn’t confident in this conclusion, but Alhaitham didn’t think the original vessel he somehow replaced had a Vision to begin with.

That limited what he could do to help Kaveh, but he wasn’t all that keen on dying to begin with. Maybe he could just give Kaveh a few nudges in the right direction to make things easier for him, all because he was his favorite character and nothing more. He just wanted him to be able to complete his journey, and he would be happy. Maybe he could go back to his own world after he helped the protagonist, but for now, he had to focus on the present.

There wasn’t an Alhaitham or even a Haitham mentioned in the original book, so that meant that whoever he was replacing wasn’t plot-relevant. They were probably just an NPC in the crowd to make the city feel alive, or they were part of the uncanny welcoming committee. 

He had to give himself some plot relevance.

Chapter Text

There was no way Alhaitham was going to be able to comfortably sleep in this new home, so he spent the night researching. 

He found that the woman was named Azmi and the man was named Gregor. There were a few other pictures of himself with the duo, but it seemed to be during events instead of captured memories with friends. One of those events was the Akademiya Extravaganza, which was something that had just finished before he walked into this world. His class won, but speaking of, he also found his research notes to keep up his Akademiya appearances. Despite not even being mentioned by name in the book, this world’s Alhaitham had too many connections to drop his routine without someone raising concerns.

He was like that in his own world too, but it wasn’t like he could really do anything about that right now. His phone was still nothing but a brick that he placed in a drawer to be forgotten.

Looking at pictures of Book Alhaitham felt uncanny, so he tried to avoid doing so as much as he possibly could. He stared until he got the basic picture before focusing on other things. He did briefly wonder if Book Alhaitham was wandering around in his world and living his life. If so, he better not ruin his Kaveh collection. He spent good money on all that.

After a full night of being on edge and staring at screens, Alhaitham finally lost to sleep and passed out on the large bed. The size was nice and it was very comfortable, but he was missing his body pillow like something fierce. His sleep was dreamless, and he woke up sometime late afternoon. When he got his bearings and decided to focus on the Akasha again, he was greeted by messages from Azmi and Gregor. They, too, slept most of the day to not have to deal with their hangovers. It was a blessing they had a week free from the Akademiya.

It took a minute for Alhaitham to respond to them since he was still fighting with that feeling of knowing and not knowing them. Previous conversations were still in the group log for Alhaitham to reference how he spoke to them, but it was the exact same dry texting he used to do. He started to type a few words, only to delete them and start over.

Alhaitham wondered if they were part of the brainwashed crowd. If it weren’t for them somehow finding him, he would probably still be wandering around completely lost. He had knowledge he wasn’t supposed to know, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He wanted Kaveh to have an easier life and actually complete his goal, but he didn’t know how much he could change without it potentially making things worse. The Akasha may be powerful, but that wasn’t something that he could freely look up.

Not having a Vision was a blessing in a way. He wasn’t meant to be a main character, so he wasn’t going to push his luck and try to join Kaveh’s circle to keep him safe from future plot points. He would simply nudge him in the correct direction, maybe give him some words of advice, and hope it would be enough. That wasn’t asking for too much, right?

From what he remembered from the book, it would take about three weeks for Kaveh to arrive in Sumeru. The trip was long, and he took some time to pay respect to his departed friends and let his wounds heal before starting the next leg of the journey. That should give him enough time to formulate a plan. 

In that time, he might as well get used to his new life.

Even though Alhaitham had the goal in mind to help Kaveh, he still tried to see what would happen if he walked back the path he came in case he ended up back in his world. He turned right around when he actually saw an enemy Eremite camp lurking close by, and that put an end to that idea. The Corps of Thirty were quickly on the case, but he didn’t see Cyno. Azmi and Gregor did say they reported the issue to him, though. Cyno was also a cool character—he should’ve gotten a spinoff series with the amount of hinted lore he had.

If the story didn’t end on such a shitty note, Alhaitham might’ve been sad about missing future installments. 

Alhaitham spent his days getting used to his new life, learning the city, and making it look like he was really interested in dissecting the Akashas. Book Alhaitham was more invested in literature and history—and the books here were fascinating both in contents and the language—but he had to show that he knew what he was talking about. If he came up to Kaveh and told him that the Akasha would fuck up his and the friends' he hadn’t met yet minds, he would look absolutely insane.

Between those moments, he checked the best route to make it down to Port Ormos. He had an idea of where he would give that first nudge. It would be a small yet helpful gesture. Then he would back up, see how things played out, and proceed from there. He would also be totally normal about seeing his favorite character in the flesh for the first time. 

A few days before Kaveh was allegedly supposed to make it to Gandharva Ville, Alhaitham started his journey to Port Ormos. Book Alhaitham lived comfortably, so he was able to pocket some Mora to spend a few days at an inn there and wait for his time to act. Part of him felt bad for taking money that wasn’t technically his, but just like eating food that wasn’t, living in a home that wasn’t his, and wearing clothes he didn’t own—it was a feeling that would probably never go away. 

Alhaitham hesitated right before he was about to start the journey south, though. He could help friends that weren’t his. He didn’t have the finesse to ask around his concern, so he just sent a message to Azmi and Gregor asking if they were going to stop by the Akademiya anytime soon. The welcome committee was located near the top when described in the book, so he was betting on the hope that as long as they weren’t in that upper area, they wouldn’t be affected.

Gregor was safe—he was visiting family in Mondstadt, but Azmi joked that she was going to be camping out in the library for a few days to tackle a tough section on her research project. He had to tell her to hold off on that, but he couldn’t say the truth or be nuanced about it—Azar would know.

If it was out of character for himself, it was out of character for Book Alhaitham, but he had to do something. He told her to hold off on that, and he would join her when he got back from his trip.

He was questioned immediately.

“???” Azmi’s question marks stared at him. Gregor sent question marks too before Azmi sent another message. “I mean I don’t mind procrastinating but you’re normally the person who tells me the opposite.”

He never liked company when he was studying, so it wasn’t like he could use that as an excuse. He thought about saying something about treating her for saving him that night, but that was still a weird subject matter for him. Sometime later they sent him a message asking if he was alright, but they must’ve taken his inability to talk about it as not wanting to just yet.

He sent a simple thanks back as if the plans were already agreed upon.

Gregor, the hero, sent a message right after showing his surprise that Alhaitham actually wanted a study partner. He invited himself, and it ended up becoming a group study session. Alhaitham was absolutely not looking forward to that, but maybe it would get him a bit more used to the Akademiya side of his new life. Showing up to the lectures had been very awkward, especially since it appeared that in some, Book Alhaitham liked to participate a lot, and now he was suddenly quiet. Professors were concerned for him, but still being shaken up from an “attack” worked enough as an excuse that people stopped questioning him—or his lack of visual injuries. 

Still, Alhaitham found himself smiling faintly. He couldn’t send out mass warnings to not show up at the Akademiya to avoid being brainwashed without sounding like a right fool at best, but he at least saved two people from a harrowing experience. It was like he completed a side mission, but now it was time for the main mission.

Alhaitham was careful about the roads he took so he wouldn’t run into any trouble. He always thought it was just cheap worldbuilding to explain all the fighting fanservice, but it looked like enemies were actually everywhere. Walking along the relatively safe trail, he could see enemy Eremite camps and even elemental fungi. The smaller ones looked rather cute, but he wasn’t dumb enough to go close to any.

The hillichurls were as unsettling to look at in reality than they were described in the book. They were always hinted to be cursed humans from a bygone nation—which kept getting implied to be some sort of endgame, but was never touched on, what the fuck, author—but he never realized how true that was. He was too far away to hear if they were speaking some lost language, but their body language was distinct.

Alhaitham absolutely did not fuck with the ruin machine he stumbled upon walking around with stilted steps. Its mechanical body seemed completely out of place in the lush, green fantasy world, but as if he, a normal man who didn’t belong here, was going to walk up and figure out why such an enemy constantly popped up in the book. Fuck that.

Finally, he safely made it to the thriving trading hub known as Port Ormos.

The port was just as lively as it was described, and somehow even noisier. Merchants were promoting their sales in loud voices, tourists were talking to their companions about if they were interested in said deals or not, and boats cut through the bright blue waters to leave or embark. It was an interesting area, but he couldn’t see himself staying here for long. Despite being larger, Sumeru City was quieter, just like he preferred. 

He still kept tabs on Kaveh with what little was available. If things went just like the book, he would have a day to stake out the area and strike tomorrow. Alhaitham was merely a feeble scholar, so he wasn’t going to pick a fight with the Eremites. He would let them say their piece as just a run-of-the-mill customer of the cafe, and then when Kaveh went on his own to follow their advice, he would tell the truth. That way, he would save Kaveh some needless running around and pointless fights that got him injured—and save him some Mora.

A character flaw of Kaveh was that he was horrendous with his Mora. Mehrak normally the Mora when they were around, but, well…

In his day of preparation, Alhaitham reminded himself of many things. First off, his speech. He had to show he knew exactly what he was talking about to prove that the two Eremites were weaving an elaborate web of lies to lure him into a trap. The foresight of this world is a book I read, and I know the ending of needed to be reworded into something more reasonable and grounding. Second, he also needed to show some credibility, so he made sure to bring his Akademiya uniform to wear.

Lastly, it was the ever-present reminder that Kaveh was actually going to be standing in front of him. Would Alhaitham be shorter or taller than him? Would he look as war-worn as the dramatic fights made him seem or as beautiful as illustrated on the cover? Would his head look as pat-able as his Nendoroid?

Would he still look distressed and missing Mehrak?

The thought stopped there. Not because he didn’t want Kaveh to be upset, but because he had no power to comfort him as only a helpful stranger. He was just a stepping stone in the greater journey, not a constant ally. Even if… it didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.

But he didn’t know if he was a permanent feature of this story, instead of some outlander as well.

Some questions didn’t have concrete answers.

The bed at the inn wasn’t as comfortable as the one in his new home, but after a decent night’s sleep, it was time to act.

As Alhaitham walked around Port Ormos, he tried to catch a glimpse of Kaveh wandering about, but the crowd was too dense and busy to even spot a beautiful blond between them. A gallant protagonist between them, he meant, of course.

The book set the scene as the hot sun being high in the sky—which meant nothing outside of the flowery pose that expanded on the groundbreaking concept that the sun was hot—so Alhaitham got into position at noon. His uniform was on, his hat was secure atop his head, and he had a book in hand. It would be the perfect tool to distract himself as he let the time tick on until the scene unfolded before him, and he could look like he was reading as he was busy eavesdropping. 

The cafe’s outside terrace wasn’t that busy when he arrived, but it wasn’t described as such in the book either. One table was populated by two scholars, while on the other side there was a mother and son. Alhaitham found himself a spot in the middle to easily overhear either side depending on where the Eremites decided to sit. He must’ve arrived a little early before the scene properly established itself. That was fine; he didn’t mind waiting.

“...Scarlet King founded a desert nation…rightful God of Wisdom…”

“...shameless wench…”

“...The voice of the Oracle…”

It took a minute for Alhaitham to become aware of the conversation around him. Every couple of paragraphs he would take a subtle look up from his book to see if any Ayn Al-Ahmar members posing as Eremites were stopping by, but there weren’t any in his field of view. He still didn’t think it was time yet, but the conversation behind him sounded very familiar. 

“Mark my words, our god shall return...”

Alhaitham held his book as the person continued to talk. He didn’t remember word-for-word dialogue from the books, especially when it wasn’t Kaveh saying it, but he knew this conversation happened in the story. Did he miss something? Was he not as aware of his surroundings as he thought? He took a spot in the middle to overhear both sides, but maybe he should’ve sat at one of the ends to have a full overview of the terrace at the expense of missing what was said.

“Can you tell me more about the Oracle?”

Alhaitham’s grip on his book tightened, his breath catching in his throat for a single heartbeat. He knew, he just knew that that voice belonged to-

“Hmph, I have nothing to say to someone like you. I think this conversation has reached its end, unless your wallet can convince me otherwise.”

“...What do you want?” That beautiful voice lowered, yet still remained steady to show that he wouldn’t be pushed over so easily. Hurt still lingered in it too—no doubt thinking of a departed friend.

“How about-”

Alhaitham snapped his book closed before the amount was said, startling the party him behind with the way chairs shifted against the stone floor. He at first planned to approach Kaveh after he made the deal to avoid any trouble, but there was something about hearing Kaveh’s voice that made him act now. He couldn’t sit around and do nothing. “Why waste your money on a fraud?”

“Excuse me?!” One of the nameless NPCs started, indignation in his voice as they stood up from their seats. “Who do you think you are?”

Alhaitham left his book on the table to do the same, and he did everything in his power to ignore the radiant light staring at him from the edge of his field of vision. If he looked at Kaveh right now, he would completely lose his train of thought. Just as he thought, the two people who started the scene were the two scholars instead of some Eremites. He could only guess why, but it was a question for later. “Just a scholar, like you’re trying to be.”

Even with the events slightly skewed from what he remembered, he felt confident in throwing out that claim. Maybe they were actually Eremites, but there was something off about their scholar robes in comparison to the ones he was wearing.

“C’mon,” the one that spoke the long speech to Kaveh tried a different approach, his voice lofty to lighten the mood, “we’re all students here. No need to throw out such baseless accusations. We’re just trying to help this traveler,” they waved a hand towards Kaveh. Alhaitham still didn’t look at his face, but at the small piece of paper Kaveh had in his hand, “with his quest, or whatever. What’s wrong with that?”

“The problem is that the address you gave is fake.” Alhaitham stared at the man and crossed his arms to stop his fingers from fidgeting. He was relying on blind hope that while the characters were dressed differently, the plot points were the same. Otherwise, his journey in this world and what he wanted to accomplish might already come to an end. “The person you’re looking for won’t be there. Instead, you’ll be lured into their territory with hard evidence you want to purchase said item, and then they use that to squeeze you of all the Mora you’re worth.”

Priceless, in Alhaitham’s eyes.

In reality, he… probably didn’t have that much on him, though. 

Luck was on his side as the two fake scholars flinched and glared right back at him. They knew they were caught. “I’m warning you, don’t push us!” The talkative one accused him. Alhaitham knew he had to deescalate the situation as soon as he could to avoid a fight. 

He found it. People were staring. He knew what was wrong, and he could use the curious crowd as a shield to not be beaten up in public. Kaveh would probably stop that from happening anyway, the wonderful hero he was, but Alhaitham still wouldn’t look at him just yet.

Alhaitham was ready to end the conversation by proving he knew they were fake students by pointing out the Darshan insignias on their hats were wrong, but he wasn’t given the chance. He wasn't allowed to bullshit some probably accurate law that there were consequences for impersonating an Akademiyan scholar. He wasn’t allowed to continue walking the line of using foresight and bluffing to help his favorite character of all time, as said perfect character was helping him instead. 

Kaveh loved to talk. He could easily hold a one-sided conversation and had on multiple occasions with the friends he made along the way. Sometimes the dialogue in the book would feel like fluff, and other times it would feel like an exposition dump, but if Kaveh was saying it, Alhaitham never minded at all. He loved listening to his voice, hearing his thoughts about everything the author threw at him. Kaveh would talk to fill the silence with noise or try to talk out of fighting before inevitably having to raise his greatsword.

That was why even Alhaitham was shocked when a weathered claymore was stabbed into the ground in front of him, shielding him from any attack that could be thrown out. Even in the original scene, Kaveh tried to settle the situation by talking, but swords still clashed since he had to fight off the ambush. Now, Alhaitham risked looking over. His eyes followed the arm, from the black gloves to the white shirt loosely draped over solid muscle. He knew what stories and scars lay underneath that sleeve—he’d traced them on his body pillow a few times. 

Finally, he saw Kaveh’s profile. His scowl could convince a weaker man to their knees, but Alhaitham couldn’t enjoy his fierce expression as much as he wanted to. This close, the bags under his eyes were noticeable, and his cheeks looked a little hollow. The book described Kaveh having a rough period grieving Mehrak before raising his head high to face his next challenge with bravado, but nothing about if he looked this broken.

Alhaitham almost forgot where he was and asked what happened in Inazuma. If this scene was different, he could only guess what else changed. 

“Is it true?” Kaveh asked, not removing his weapon. “Is the address fake?”

Alhaitham couldn’t look away to see the frauds sputter. He did see one point an accusatory finger at Kaveh out of the corner of his eyes, but he didn’t care. “I—you—! We don’t usually rough up people like you because it just complicates things. But for a lunatic like you, though, we might just make an exception.”

He wondered what they meant by people like Kaveh since he was one-of-a-kind as far as Alhaitham was concerned. Now wasn’t the time to think about it, not when he was still, unfortunately, standing behind a claymore. “If you’re suggesting we escalate this from a verbal exchange to a physical one, then fine.” Kaveh said in return.

No, it’s not fine. A physical altercation was what Alhaitham was trying to avoid.

The two frauds nudged each other and murmured something about a boss, but Alhaitham wasn’t listening again. They were too caught up in their own conversation, and Kaveh was busy still locking them in place with his glare to notice Alhaitham still staring at him. He was… smaller than he imagined in his head. It was…

“Okay then, if you really want a death wish… The pier in front of the Pharos Lighthouse, four o’clock in the afternoon, sharp. Don’t expect us to hold back!” With that, the duo walked away, but Alhaitham only knew from the sound of fading footsteps. He… really hoped that fight didn’t include him, or he would have to learn how to wield a weapon quickly.

“I should've known there was something off about them….” Kaveh mumbled when they were out of hearing range. “How stupid of me…” Only when they were out of sight too did he put away his weapon with a sparkling flourish of his hand.

Alhaitham always found the imagery of storing weapons in their Visions as silly and just an easy way to not worry about always lugging around a huge sword, but it suddenly made sense seeing it in person. Alhaitham watched the area the greatsword used to be until the last sparkle fluttered away.

“You saw through their scam right away.” Kaveh said to him, catching his attention.  “You must know the real story about certain things, right?”

Alhaitham knew the man before him was beautiful. He knew that he wanted to reach out and touch him, feel just how real he was in this crazy world he somehow found himself in. He knew he had to stop himself before he was left staring for an uncomfortable amount of time. “Yes.”

Kaveh nodded slowly before looking him up and down. Alhaitham stayed still, letting him find whatever it was he was looking for without saying a word. No doubt he was hesitant to trust someone right away again. Thankfully, he found that he wasn’t a threat. “Show me.”

He could do that. He started to walk in the correct direction, expecting Kaveh to trail behind, but he joined him right at his side. Alhaitham waited for a conversation to start up, but Kaveh remained silent. Since this was new, he didn’t know what Kaveh thought about it, but he desperately wanted to. Why wasn’t he talking now? What did he know to show him that Alhaitham was a trusting, knowledgeable ally?

True to character, Kaveh couldn’t keep quiet for too long. “What is a student doing getting involved with this stuff?”

There was so much he could say that such a question made him hesitate. He could give a lot to sound smart and reliable; he could give too little to sound like a blundering idiot, or he could give too much and sound out of his mind. “I’m not from here,” he settled on at first since it was the objective truth. Maybe his world was the modern-day equivalent, but semantics, “so the power of the Akasha fascinated me. Along with my normal studies, I looked into what all it could do and knew there had to be a limit. That was how I found a certain item, along with certain connections.”

He could feel Kaveh staring at him, so Alhaitham risked his heart skipping a beat and returned the look. It took a lot to not take a sudden detour to the nearest inn and take care of him in all the ways the self-insert fic he totally didn’t fully read described. The inn he was staying at currently was the closet, so it would be rather easy to get a room, but… that would come across as rather odd. Alhaitham ignored all the little details he wanted to enjoy to read the unsaid question in his eyes.

“Then… I heard what happened at the Akademiya the other day.” The vagueness was still needed. “I was here when it happened and knew I was right in guessing there was more to it.”

The reasoning was bought with a slow nod of Kaveh’s head. “So you have this item?”

“They wouldn’t do business with a student like me.” He easily reasoned since he didn’t. He figured going so far as to get the Canned Knowledge for Kaveh would be making too big of a change, even if it did sound like an easier option. “So I continued gathering information from the sidelines. I wasn’t waiting for someone to buy it for me,” Alhaitham added before the question could be asked, “but if I could help someone get it, then I will.”

Kaveh still had questions. “So you would’ve helped anyone that stumbled across your path then?” It wasn’t fully accusing, but the look in his eyes was.

Only you. “The Steambird has covered a few of your endeavors. I know you’re a trustworthy person.” Unfortunately, that caused Kaveh to look forward, lower his gaze, and grow quiet. He should’ve known that bringing up his heroic adventures would remind him of the death that followed him in his wake. Speaking of… “I’m sorry I got you into a fight.” 

Kaveh let out a long sigh. “It seems to happen everywhere I go…”

Oh, he sounded tired. That was making the want to take care of him even stronger. There they were, passing his inn. Kaveh wouldn’t have to do anything but follow behind and trust him to take care of him like he deserved.

But… that was a big ask. Instead, Alhaitham asked something bigger. “About the fight… I could-”

“No, stay out of it. I don’t need anyone hurt because of me.”

Alhaitham could easily argue that Kaveh was going to get hurt because of him, but for once in his life, he actually refrained. He wanted to get on Kaveh’s good side, after all. Still, just to be a little petulant about it, he huffed for now. “I see.” He still absolutely was going to try and do something—his self-preservation thrown out the window to potentially help his favorite protagonist. 

It didn’t look like the Eremites had visions, he reasoned, so he might have more of a chance than he originally thought. Sure, he had never been in an actual fight that wasn’t just a little elementary school rough housing, but he knew he could pack a punch with the type of workout he used to do. Understandably, his usual workout routine was broken, and even though he hated breaking routines, his mind was a little bit elsewhere to care at the moment.

So he dropped it for now and continued the previous conversation. “I’m blacklisted, so I can’t show you there directly. I’ll tell you what you need to do somewhere more secluded.” While Alhaitham was walking him closer, there was a limit on how close he could get. Alhaitham looked around for somewhere more secluded before finding an alleyway used as storage for old containers. “There.”

Kaveh looked over the area he pointed out. His gaze narrowed slightly, but once again, it must’ve found what he was looking for as he waved his hand for Alhaitham to lead the way. Towards the end of the series, Kaveh had grown to be more wary of others and not put their blind trust in them. He shouldn’t be an exception.

As Alhaitham stepped forward, turning his back toward the protagonist, he decided he wanted to be one. Inside the alley, Alhaitham turned towards Kaveh and focused on his practice speech and not on the nth time that he’s here. He’s actually in front of me, in the flesh, and looking so—

“You need to find someone named Dori, a traveling merchant.” He started to ignore the thoughts that were starting to fester. “Do you know her?”

He already knew the answer.

His quest of playing as a helpful NPC was rewarded with seeing Kaveh push his brows together in concentration as he tried to recall the name. “No, the name doesn’t sound familiar.”

The reward was distracting him from his main quest. “Unlike the peddlers who hawk inferior Knowledge Capsules, she often has quality goods in stock. Unfortunately for me, most of her wares don’t comply with Akademiya regulations. She has a number of informants that you need to gain the trust of before you can become her customer. I’ll give you an informant's address and contact password.”

This he already had prepared. Hidden in his robe pocket, he had a small notebook and pen to write with. Part of him knew he should leave it at that, but he knew what type of character Kaveh was and what type of character Dori was. Kaveh would offer whatever it took to get his hands on a Knowledge Capsule, and Dori would let him talk in circles until she got the best deal without needing to haggle at all.

Information neatly written down, he handed the paper to Kaveh. “She’s an extremely cunning person with a number of tricks up her sleeve. She has a nose for Mora and only works with those she deems have good taste. Play it smart, and you’ll be fine.”

Kaveh took the paper, and Alhaitham had to force himself to not be disappointed that their fingers didn’t touch. He just wanted the tangible feeling that Kaveh was real in front of him, of course. He didn’t say anything as he looked over the paper, and part of him was worried that he hadn’t mastered writing this new language just yet, but Kaveh pocketed the paper without questioning anything. 

Him not saying anything was unsettling, leading Alhaitham to feel the need to fill the silence. “You should be able to win her approval by buying her highest quality wares. I could provide the Mora—”

“No,” The offer was shot down quickly with a sharp look in Kaveh’s eyes, “you don’t need to give me any money. I’ll figure it out.”

Alhaitham wondered how easily it would be to slip some money on him. For a protagonist like Kaveh, probably very hard. He would just have to make it up to him later—perhaps starting with the fight. That was why, for the second time, he decided to let him win an argument without putting up much of a fight. “Fine.”

He supposed that was the end of this conversation, but Alhaitham found himself wanting more. There was no way that this little interaction was enough to help Kaveh, right? He wanted to stay in his circle, do something that told Kaveh to pick him over some other random scholar NPC, but there was only so much he could do without leading on that he knew exactly what Kaveh’s goal was and what happened at the end of the journey. It wasn’t like the Steambird had the chance to sit down and interview him for his personal motives—all that was listed was that he was a brave traveler who helped past nations with different things.

So he decided to say something Kaveh probably already knew. “There’s a Matra patrolling. Be careful.” He watched Kaveh make a face, and Alhaitham wondered if that would be enough to keep him as an open tab in his mind. Kaveh wasn’t completely clueless about the Akasha and knew that Canned Knowledge was a valuable source, but maybe there was still more that he could do there. “Once you get on Dori’s good side,” Alhaitham started, speaking lower, “try to find out about a Divine Knowledge Capsule.”

That caused something to flash across Kaveh’s exhausted eyes, and for a second, Alhaitham worried he pushed a little too far. After the original fight with the trap, one of the injured eremites blabbed about how Kaveh would never get his hands on a Divine Knowledge Capsule instead of a normal one. From there, Kaveh started his journey on trying to get one, crawling through the desert and constantly suffering from the scorching heat and horrid enemies.

Kaveh didn’t question him. All he did was rub his face as if the simple movement could remove the exhaustion. “Okay—I—okay, yeah.” The mesmerizing action didn’t seem to be enough, as he then ran his hands through his hair. That iconic feather still rested behind his ear, but it wasn’t in the braided style he usually wore. It was down, messy, as if Kaveh cared more about progress in his journey than his appearance. The bags under his eyes still lingered, but his eyes were sharper now. “I-”

He cut himself off, and Alhaitham waited for him to continue. His eyes shifted to somewhere behind Alhaitham, and he had to resist the urge to turn around to see what caught his attention. They were just two strangers, talking in an alleyway—nothing to be suspicious about. It didn’t last long as those breathtaking eyes were back on him. It was a second lookover. Alhaitham felt exposed.

“I can try getting my hands on that ,” Kaveh wasn’t whispering, but he still emphasized the word to let the vague subject be known, “but it sounds like you’re in need of it, too.”

“I only wish to study it.” Alhaitham made sure to stop any negative thoughts from forming in Kaveh’s mind. He could only imagine what would happen if a nobody like him kept an important plot device like that. “If you’re alright with it, I can extract the knowledge and share it with you. Afterwards, you can keep it for whatever purpose you need.” 

This time, Kaveh didn’t hesitate as he slowly nodded his head. He brought his hand up next to his mouth, his brows knitted together in thought. “You probably know more about Akashas than me at this point…” His sentence trailed off into a hum as he thought it over. A conclusion was quickly reached. “Alright, we have a deal.”

Kaveh put his hand out to shake on it. He didn’t even know Alhaitham’s name yet... 

But that charming little flaw was something he loved about Kaveh’s character type. Even after everything, he wanted to believe there were still good people. 

And Alhaitham wanted to be one of those good people that he could trust and rely on. He returned the handshake, and even though it was only a quick motion, he tried to remember every callus that pressed against his own. Just because he, a feeble side character, didn’t know how often he would be able to do this, of course.

The handshake ended just as quickly as it started, but Alhaitham had more to say. “After buying a Knowledge Capsule, wait a few days to try to buy information about a divine one. If she doesn’t have any, wait a few more days and try again. If there’s a willing customer, she has her ways to get what she needs to make a sale.”

“I can do that.” There was a determination in his eyes that was always described so vividly in the book, but the way the fire burned under the smoldering ash that were the eye bags had no right to be so…

Alhaitham pushed the thought away and thought over notable landmarks in Port Ormos instead. Only a few, like the lighthouse, were mentioned in the book, so Alhaiham made sure to learn more wandering around just in case. Thankfully, he had a good one in mind. “Once you have what you need, let’s meet up at Wikala Funduq and go from there.” Any studying would have to be done on the outskirts of town, but that was too broad to pinpoint an exact location.

The added plans were also agreed upon with only a nod. It would’ve been silly if they did it again, but Alhaitham was slightly disappointed anyway for some odd reason. “Thank you.” Kaveh opened his mouth to say something else, but then he blinked, finally realizing something. “I… never caught your name. I’m sorry.”

He tried to keep his face neutral, but he ended up smiling despite himself. “Alhaitham.”

“Then thank you, Alhaitham.” Kaveh repeated and the name sounded wonderful coming from his lips. He then chuckled lightly. “I suppose you already know me by at least the Traveler, but please, call me Kaveh.”

Now that he had permission, he wanted to say it over and over, and over again. He wasn’t just the traveler to Alhaitham, he was Kaveh. “Good luck, Kaveh.” He said instead of what he had in mind.

I’ll be waiting for you, Kaveh.

I hope everything goes well, Kaveh.

May we work together again, Kaveh.

Please let me help with the funds, Kaveh.

But none of them came out as the meeting came to an end. They left their little secret meeting spot with two different goals in mind. Alhaitham still watched Kaveh leave. He was looking at the paper with the address on it before slipping it in his pocket and heading that way. Alhaitham knew he couldn’t simply sit on his thumbs and wait for Kaveh to show up with more information—he had to go above and beyond to show that he was a trustworthy ally who could at least help him behind the scenes if not on the battlefield.

But that did remind him of a certain fight that was still scheduled to take place, despite his best efforts. 

He had to give himself some combat knowledge.

Chapter Text

Alhaitham felt like he was going absolutely insane waiting for the day to meet up with Kaveh again. 

The plotline had changed too much to use the book as a reference, but he really hoped that Kaveh was able to get the information they needed on time. His heart couldn’t handle the stress of waiting, not to mention his little vacation didn’t have an indefinite end date. He still had obligations at the Akademiya, as much as he really didn’t have time to play the part of an unassuming NPC at the moment. He had to complete this mission he set out for himself.

As he waited for the day that Kaveh would hopefully meet up with him again, he spent his time studying once more. This time, he was wandering around Port Ormos to see if there was an armory so he could get himself something. He didn’t care what it was, just as long as it was something he could use without a Vision.

The reality of this decision set in when he found out the armory was all the way back in Sumeru City, back when he was set on never fighting in this dangerous world at all unless it was in self-defense as a last resort. Unfortunately, that desire had to be crushed. Maybe all he could really do was sit back and watch Kaveh win like the wonderful protagonist he was.

As nice as the image would be, he still felt guilty getting Kaveh into a fight.

…But when in doubt, he still had his fists… even if that might not be the most effective against weapons and armor. Simping wasn’t exactly the strongest shield.

Outside of that, he polished his story of the foreign scholar who was very, very curious about the limits of the Akasha. His extensive research on this world’s lore will finally come in handy in a way he never thought imaginable. Really, all those daydreams he thought of when he was feeling extra pressed that his fun adventure story was feeling more like torture porn at certain points—he had the power to do something about it.

After those few days passed, he lingered around Wikala Funduq for any signs of Kaveh, but he didn’t show up. There wasn’t a passing message that he was held up, that he didn’t have what they needed yet—nothing. He did his best to not think of the worst—the people that wanted to ambush him at first were successful, and this time, they did far more damage than what happened in the book. 

What a horrendous way to end the story—jumped by some nameless nobodies whose description didn’t even matter because they barely had any plot relevance.

Thankfully, before he could really get in his head of all the horrible things that could’ve happened to Kaveh, he showed up the next day. If he hadn’t, Alhaitham might’ve done the dangerous thing of finding the ambush area that was described in the book and tried to do something about it himself. 

He had only known the actual, now real person that was Kaveh for a few days, and he already felt like he had to compensate for something. No doubt it was because of the knowledge he had, of what Kaveh had and will go through, and he couldn’t even act on it. Alhaitham’s neutral expression of being mildly uninterested with everything was truly a blessing since he was able to easily hide his inner turmoil.

If asked, Alhaitham would lie and say he wasn’t waiting long. He didn't get the chance to, as the time normally dedicated to chummy small talk was replaced by Kaveh speed-walking over to him.

“I have what we need.” Was all he was able to say before he grabbed Alhaitham’s wrist to pull him along. His touch was as warm as the handshake, and Alhaitham couldn’t think about shaking his grip off as he was dragged to wherever he had in mind.

He was only stunned for a second before he registered Kaveh’s words. His eyes widened momentarily, and even though it wasn’t seen since Kaveh was looking forward to lead them through the busy port, Alhaitham nodded his head in understanding. Alhaitham made sure to easily trail behind Kaveh through the busier parts of the crowds, but his wrist was never let go. 

Even when it thinned, Kaveh still didn't pull away. If anything, he tightened his hold, and he was looking around as they left the port. It was only when the brick road turned into wood and even well-worn dirt did Kaveh finally let him go. They followed the path of a river, and now Alhaitham walked by his side to read his expression. He looked even more tired than he did a few days ago, and it made Alhaitham wonder just how much harder it was to get what he needed now than back in the original story.

With one last glance over his shoulder, Kaveh finally stopped and sighed to force his body to marginally relax. “Sorry for acting rash. I didn’t think it was smart to explain what happened in the port.” 

“Are you alright?” Alhaitham asked right away instead of any clarification.

Kaveh shook his head, not to answer the question, but to avoid it entirely. He did reach up to drag his hands down his face in hopes that that would get rid of some of the lingering exhaustion, but it didn’t. “I was able to get a Knowledge Capsule and gain Dori’s trust, as you said. You were right. She found me a trusted customer she could make a sale from and pulled her strings to do just that.”

That was… good, wasn’t it? Probably the amount he had to spend for it wasn’t, but Alhaitham was still figuring out a way to subtly reimburse him for that. For now, he waited for him to continue. 

“Those people you saved me from, they’re known as the Ayn Al-Ahmar, and they’re after a Divine Knowledge Capsule, too. They found out that Dori got her hands on one to sell to me, and they ambushed us both.”

It was so tempting to ask if he was alright again, but Alhaitham held his tongue. He didn’t want to talk about it, and Alhaitham couldn’t see any injuries on him from his quick looks. Dori was always portrayed as a character with a web of information underneath her fingertips, nothing about her fighting abilities. 

Kaveh must’ve remembered that fight as he suddenly let out a harsh huff. “They managed to steal the Divine Knowledge Capsule right out of Jinni’s hands. I guess in some way, we have a new ally since she looked ready to raise hell since they prevented her from making Mora. She went off on her own to find the best way to hurt them the most—legally or not—is up in the air…” The last part was mumbled under his breath, but Alhaitham was close enough to hear it.

There was still an urgency in Kaveh’s voice, leading to Alhaitham having to be more direct with his next question. He didn’t have time to think about who Jinni was and how that related to Dori, not when she herself was only mentioned a handful of times. “As for you?”

“They seem to think I’m an easy target or something because they keep tracking me down!” Kaveh finally let some of his frustration seep through his voice as he clenched his fists in annoyance. “If it weren’t for those people from the Akademiya, Matras, I think, wandering around, they probably would've tried attacking me again. I don’t know if they want the Knowledge Capsule I have, see me as someone they need to get out of their way, or what, but I couldn’t meet up with you the first day we were supposed to. I’m sorry.”

“That’s-”

Kaveh blinked, and suddenly, a look of realization crossed his face. “Have they been after you?” He asked, interrupting Alhaitham.

Alhaitham tried to think if there was anyone watching him, someone always in his field of view as he went about his mundane NPC duties, but he couldn’t think of anything. Maybe he was feeling too worried about Kaveh to even notice, but he was never one to be that oblivious of his surroundings, even when he was deep in thought.

… Not being aware he walked into the world of his favorite book was a one-time thing. It was an outlier that didn’t really count.

“No, they haven’t.”

The tension left Kaveh’s shoulders, but he still seemed a bit on edge. “Good, good,” he said in a long exhale, “there wasn’t any mention of you in the ambush, so the fewer people involved in this needless fighting, the better.”

In the end, it probably was for the better, even if Alhaitham didn’t completely feel that way. He didn’t comment on that and let a lull hang in the conversation, but it didn't last for long. 

Kaveh cleared his throat. “I don’t know if it will help our research, but the Knowledge Capsule I did grab is-”

Alhaitham barely had time to react when Kaveh turned around and manifested his greatsword to block an arrow that was fired at them. It clashed with the wide blade of Kaveh’s claymore, ricocheting off before falling to the ground.

The Eremite that fired the arrow didn’t bother going back into cover, but he didn’t need to worry about being careless as more Eremites emerged from their hiding spots. It was another ambush, and Alhaitham knew exactly who the ringleader was as the fraud from the cafe walked towards them along the path out of the port at a languid pace. 

“You thought you could leave town without showing up to our scheduled fight?” The annoying NPC asked, hands extended and shrugging his shoulders as if he were asking an innocent question. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t time yet for the fight, nor the fact that they weren’t trying to make a hasty escape, but how could they possibly think a group doing everything in their power to obtain forbidden knowledge would have an honest fight?

“Alhaitham, run!” Kaveh put himself in front of Alhaitham and the side-antagonist that decided to make this mission all the more troublesome. 

Alhaitham didn’t want to run. From what he could see, it was a six-against-one fight. No doubt Kaveh could handle it, but it was his fault that this fight happened anyway. More than that, though, he didn’t want to be dead weight. He turned around to try and run to any place that was remotely safe, but there were more Eremites approaching, leaving him little choice. He was staying right by Kaveh’s back.

“No point in running.” The ringleader mused as he unsheathed his sword. “You both are a liability to our cause that we’re tired of dealing with. We’re just doing Boss a favor by handling you before he gets here. Really, you should be thanking us.”

Alhaitham didn’t have time to roll his eyes at the trademarked generic villain monologue before the other Ayn Al-Ahmar members attacked. There was an awkward sort of coordination between Kaveh and Alhaitham. Alhaitham had read the sheer amount of fights Kaveh had participated in and always came out on top. He swung around his greatsword as if it weighed absolutely nothing, showing off his hard-earned skill and finesse to not only protect himself but counterattack and protect Alhaitham.

And Alhaitham stayed on his feet, which was a plus. 

These people had weapons and armor. All Alhaitham had were scholar robes and some boxing training that was occasionally woven in with his normal workout routine. Outside of the ringleader that Kaveh was dealing with, all the other members had long-range weapons, such as spears and crossbows, so it was proving rather difficult to go up to someone, throw a punch, and hope for the best. He could feel a few of the blades catch on his clothes, but adrenaline kept him from truly feeling them slash at his skin.

One enemy noticed that he was a handicap more than anything, an easy target to take care of, and tried to rush him down. The overconfident fool jumped up and tried to bring his spear down like a giant guillotine. The heavy attack was easy to read, and Alhaitham was done dancing around like dead weight.

With the man crouched low from the follow-through of his attack, Alhaitham brought his foot up to land a powerful kick to the side of their head. The metal decal embellishing the vamp of his shoe smashed against the enemy’s Akasha, blinking in distress before going offline. The man fell to the dirt, motionless as blood trickled down his jaw from his ear, but Alhaitham didn’t have time to realize exactly what he just did as he grabbed the dropped weapon.

No one was stunned that the supposed weak link was able to fight back, but as Alhaitham took note of the surroundings, he realized that was because all of the other fighters were groveling in pain. Alhaitham managed to put down one enemy, while Kaveh handled the others all on his own.

Kaveh… really was amazing.

Alhaitham still kept a death grip on his new spear. Some of the men on the ground moved; others remained still outside of their shallow breathing. The ringleader panted heavily from the ground that Kaveh knocked him to, but he somehow found the strength to stand on shaky feet.

“Absolute scum.” The man huffed as he wiped away blood dripping from his busted lip. His fingers flexed as if the simple movement would help him find the strength needed to continue the fight. The man opened his mouth, but stopped at the sound of approaching footsteps. Some of the more alert enemies looked up at the approaching man as well, while others stayed still on the ground.

With Kaveh by his side, Alhaitham raised his spear for another round, but he could immediately tell something was off about the man.

The NPCs didn’t care. “Boss!” The ringleader shouted, his voice dripping with relief. “Finally!”

The boss swayed closer as if he had also been a part of the fight. His head was hung low, making his face hard to read.

“Did you use it?” The original NPC continued, “Great! Now we can…” He trailed off as the boss raised his head to show listless eyes tinged with red. “...Boss?”

The boss continued to ignore him as he walked past his fallen comrades. He stalked forward until he finally stopped in front of Kaveh and Alhaitham. Kaveh raised his arm, another weak attempt to try and protect Alhaitham from more harm, but he wasn’t going to go anywhere. It was hard to tell if the Boss wanted to fight or not, but Alhaitham wasn’t going to bank on the odd chance that he was more pacifist in this timeline. 

Suddenly, the boss dropped to his knees and held his head, screaming in pain. He clawed at his hair, ripping off the cloth around his head, but that did nothing to lessen the agony. It was like the air itself was distressing as he swiped at nothing but a desperate cure to end his suffering. 

A few of the more dazed enemies blinked and became more alert, but it was the ringleader who stumbled closer to try and help him. “Boss!” he called out, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The ringleader didn’t get the chance to try anything as the boss elbowed him in the face. The ringleader fell onto his back, and the boss towered over him, taking out his anger on his own subordinate by raining down a flurry of punches on him. He did more damage with his hands than Kaveh did with his greatsword. Fists smashed against skin and ground as the ringleader tried to struggle away from the boss’ uncontrolled wrath, but his attempts to ask him what was wrong fell on deaf ears.

“What happened to him?” Kaveh asked, voice wavering. His greatsword was still drawn, his body tense as if he were stuck between helping the enemy or letting them deal with each other.

The boss stopped punching the man only to grab fistfuls of his shirt and pick him up. With superhuman strength, the boss tossed the man into the nearby river, not even bothering to watch him struggle to keep himself afloat in his weakened state. As the boss turned back around to face Kaveh and Alhaitham, Alhaitham saw his red Akasha adorning his ear.

This unfathomable rage, this anger with no outlet to reasonably express it in, was just like the last few scenes of the book. This scene was unfolding in front of him, a trickling of foreshadowing that left Kaveh scared by this monster in human form, and Alhaitham scared that foresight might not be enough to save Kaveh from the same fate.

Alhaitham’s mind was racing, but he wasn’t going to stand still. “We have to cut his Akasha connection—now!” Despite including Kaveh in the plan, he rushed the boss without him. This unfortunate soul might be the closest he could get to safely studying a corrupted Akasha and knowing the exact ins and outs to protect Kaveh.

Weapon ready, Alhaitham tried to subdue the man to end the connection, but his wooden spear was nothing against the brainwashed boss. He stabbed it forward at the boss’ arm, but he grabbed the blade without a worry that it was cutting into his palms. The spear was ripped from Alhaitham’s hands, but he managed to catch his footing before he fell into a wild punch thrown his way. The boss dropped the spear, finding his fits more than adequate to try and take Alhaitham down.

Each punch the boss threw was full of unbridled power, but the corrupted Akasha made him lose all the possible finesse he could’ve had. They were slow enough for him to dodge, but he couldn’t find an opening to break his Akasha. He kept his fists raised just in case, but he spent more time moving away and watching his footwork than attacking himself. 

Translucent green energy flashed in front of the boss’ face. It started above his head before circling around his face like a compass, blinding him with rich Dendro energy. The boss roared in pain again as he scratched at his face, ripping away tightening vines and layers of skin. He curled in on himself, showing Kaveh standing behind him. His hands were raised to create the Dendro screen as his Vision shined brightly on his hip.

With the opening given to him, Alhaitham struck by punching the boss’ Akasha. The boss fell as if he had truly lost control of his limbs. Just like the first man Alhaitham fought, the Akasha sparked and blinked in distress before finally going dark. Alhaitham shook off the thrumming aftershocks that traveled up his wrist that came from punching a man in his skull, but such a simple motion didn’t stop the adrenaline that was still rushing through his veins. He ignored it in favor of crouching down next to the boss. If he could just see—

“Target acquired. Arrest them!”

The sharp voice startled him, but he somehow managed to keep his face level as he looked up at a new group of men running towards them. One was in deep blue robes, while the other Alhaitham recognized were the Corps of Thirty. Different members branched off to take care of the fallen enemies; even the one that had been thrown into the river had managed to pull himself up onto the bank. The one in the blue robe stopped on the other side of the boss, looking over his unconscious body as well.

After getting a brief overview of his own injuries, Alhaitham watched the man place a hand to his Akasha out of the corner of his field of view. A darker green screen appeared over one of his eyes as he scanned Alhaitham, gathering all the information he needed. “A scholar should not impede our work.” The man spoke, holding a hand out to catch Alhaitham’s attention. “Is that understood, Alhaitham?”

“Of course.” Alhaitham agreed, doing his best to keep the emotion of I was actually in a dangerous fight in this fictional world out of his voice. The man’s expression didn’t change, so he convinced himself that he was successful. “I was only trying to help.”

The man turned towards the Corps of Thirty members, and with him distracted, Alhaitham acted.

In his quick search, he saw a red glow coming from the boss’ scarf. His short timeframe to move must’ve been his motivating factor, as right when he had the chance to do so, he grabbed the glowing light with the vague idea that he already knew what it was but wanted to confirm it.

The Divine Knowledge Capsule felt heavy in his hands, but he did not drop it as he quickly slipped it into his own robes and stood up. This was an important key plot point. This could help Kaveh in so many ways. Multiple possibilities flashed through his mind as he walked away from the boss when the Corps of Thirty members gathered him up to arrest him. Alhaitham was only able to walk a few steps towards Kaveh before his casual walk turned into an awkward limp.

There was a look in Kaveh’s eyes that showed that he wanted to say something, and Alhaitham did too, but they both stayed silent. The Divine Knowledge Capsule was an ever-notable presence tucked away in Alhaitham’s robes, but he couldn’t hand it over out here in front of everyone. He wondered if he saw him subtly take it.

With the help of the Corps of Thirty, the boss was dragged off, but not without muttering the phrase “Moongrass… enlightenment…”

The odd combination of words meant nothing to Alhaitham, but Kaveh blinked and turned to watch the man be dragged back into the body of Port Ormos. He stared until each enemy blended in with the crowd and it was hard to tell exactly what direction they were coming. Alhaitham watched Kaveh, trying to read his expression, and wondered why such a phrase that was never uttered anywhere in the book caused such a reaction. However, as each second passed and the adrenaline left his system, he became more and more aware that he didn’t leave the fight as unscathed as Kaveh. 

Alhaitham looked down at himself. The Divine Knowledge Capsule was well hidden on his body, but his robes had a number of rips and tatters that weren’t there before. The blood on his shoe was probably from that one NPC he kicked, but the other small splatters of red, he couldn’t be so sure. His knuckles looked raw from where they connected to the man’s head, but at least he didn’t break the skin. Small things, he supposed. He really wished he could just teleport back to his home in Sumeru City. He could only imagine how painful it would be to travel back there with these injuries.

“What was that!?” Kaveh finally broke the silence, yelling his question at the long-gone Corps of Thirty before facing Alhaitham. “It was like that big guy lost his mind.”

“He used a Divine Knowledge Capsule.” The one that he could probably safely pull out now, but he still didn’t. “There’s been incidents of researchers in Satyavada Life going insane after they gain knowledge from Irminsul. The state that man is now in suggests that this is a similar situation.” Alhaitham let out a shaky breath. The fight was settling in his bones, reminding him that he wasn’t the beloved protagonist, but just an NPC without the same skills. “The Divine Knowledge Capsule is linked to the gods, but beyond that, it’s not anything like the rumors suggest. Possessing it doesn’t grant you divine wisdom or power.”

He forgot to word his knowledge as subjective, as if it were just a possible theory and not an objective fact, but his mind was a little preoccupied to realize this. Each injury he obtained was ringing with searing heat, and while most of the red stains didn’t grow, the one on his side looked larger than it did beforehand. Alhaitham pressed his lips together and placed his hand over the cut, but curiosity caused him to pull it away a second later to see his palm painted a rich red. Blood never bothered him before, his own or otherwise, but there was something about it now that made him feel a little dizzy.

Kaveh stepped forward, grabbing his elbow to help steady him. “Let’s get you taken care of first.” He said, already guiding Alhaitham back towards Port Ormos. “Afterwards…”

He trailed off, but Alhaitham still waited for him to finish his sentence. The only thing that came was Kaveh giving up with an annoyed huff and moving Alhaitham’s arm over his shoulders to support him that way. The closer they got to the hub of the port, the more he knew they wouldn't be able to openly talk about what happened until they stopped wherever Kaveh was taking him. He really hoped it wasn’t some public medical center—he wasn’t sure how well he would be able to hide the Divine Knowledge Capsule with so many eyes on him. Before getting down to those semantics, he decided to ask something else on his mind. “Did you hear what he said? Moongrass… enlightenment… What could that possibly mean?”

Kaveh’s face tensed up again, but he kept his eyes forward. “It… sounded familiar, but… I don’t know.” There had to be more to it, as that was a nonanswer if anything, but Kaveh didn’t give him the chance to ask for elaboration as he pushed on towards a new topic. “Anyway, I think I saw a medic when I was wandering around. Where are you staying? I can take you there, grab some supplies, and treat your wounds.”

He was thankful that Kaveh wanted some privacy as well. Not having the energy to hide his sigh of relief, Alhaitham directed him to find the inn he was staying at. Unsurprisingly, there were a few concerned looks sent their way as Kaveh helped a limping Alhaitham through the port, but they weren’t stopped outside of the concerned innkeeper asking if there was anything she could do. He wasn’t sure if there was, but Alhaitham made a mental note to leave extra Mora as an added cleaning fee for the sheets they were no doubt about to ruin. 

Alhaitham was just as thankful that his room was on the first floor, so he didn’t have to struggle with any pesky stairs. He unlocked the door to his quaint, clean room and, with Kaveh’s help, sat down on top of the dark sheets. Some of the blood got on his white shirt, but Kaveh didn’t care, even if Alhaitham’s eyes narrowed in on it. “I’ll be back shortly with supplies.” Kaveh finally had to see what had captured Alhaitham’s attention. He pinched the stain on his shirt, but let it go a second later, unbothered. “When I do, you’ll tell me everything you know.”

There was no room for argument. “Understood.”

Kaveh left after that, and Alhaitham waited until he could no longer hear his footsteps before he pulled the Divine Knowledge Capsule out of his robes. It still had an ominous red glow and floated above his palm. He stared at it in a trance, not because it was affecting him like the boss, but because he wondered what to do with it.

This was a key plot point item that he did say he knew how to tinker with to safely obtain the information from, but he only knew how to do so in theory. He needed time to safely examine it, but for some reason, he wondered what would happen if he just handed it over to Kaveh right now. Maybe... for now… he should—

The sound of approaching footsteps caused him to act. He stood up from the bed and staggered over to his luggage. With an ungraceful thump that left him wincing, Alhaitham opened a briefcase to stuff the Divine Knowledge Capsule inside. It may be a death wish to bring such a forbidden item into Sumeru City, but he didn’t have time to think too deeply about that. Something inside him prompted him to keep the Divine Knowledge Capsule to himself, at least until he could safely pass it along to Kaveh so he could complete his mission.

There was a courtesy knock, but Kaveh allowed himself inside. “The innkeeper found a—what are you doing?”

Alhaitham picked up a spare shirt. The Divine Knowledge Capsule was safely tucked away under his other items, hiding the red light. “I was going to stop the bleeding.” He knew Kaveh would be fast grabbing whatever was needed, but he didn’t think he would be this quick. 

“The innkeeper found a medkit we could use to do that. Don’t ruin more of your clothes.” Kaveh chided, tossing the medkit onto the bed to help Alhaitham up again. Alhaitham didn’t struggle, but he spared a glance back at his luggage just to make sure the Divine Knowledge Capsule couldn’t be seen. “There isn’t much inside, but there should be enough bandages to at least wrap your side until I get more.”

With Alhaitham back on the side of the bed, there was an odd lull. He knew why. It wasn’t like he could patch his wounds above his robes.

Normally, Alhaitham wouldn’t mind—it’s not like he wanted to sit here in pain—but his mind decided to so helpfully remind him that right before he picked up the fourth book, he read a fanfiction with the exact same premise as this. There was a fight with a large mob of enemies. Kaveh was hurt, but not as much as the reader-insert character. By the power of a horny author, it turned into sexual wound dressing before becoming so-glad-we’re-alive sex. Alhaitham never finished it because Kaveh said something he found so out-of-character that it broke his immersion, but he read enough to still remember the details to this day.

To collect himself, Alhaitham started with his scholar cap. It wasn’t a needed step, but it was a way to step his toes into the concept of stripping in front of Kaveh in an appropriate context instead of a fanfiction setup. Only now did he finally realize he didn’t have his hat anymore. It must’ve fallen off sometime during the fight. Hopefully, it wasn’t too hard to get another one.

Attentive as ever, Kaveh pulled out his hat from the deep collar of his shirt and handed it over to Alhaitham. It was dirty, like it had been trampled on, but was fine otherwise. “Thank you.” He said, placing it down by his side. It was hardly a distraction to clear his mind, but he had to get this taken care of. No doubt the blood loss was making him think of unnecessary things.

His robes pooled around his waist after he slipped his arms out of the long sleeves. He was stiff in his motions, but the true struggle ended up being trying to remove his undershirt. The thin fabric stuck to his skin from blood and sweat, and the stretch material proved to be little help when he was already hurting. Kaveh reached out to help. His cool fingers brushed against his ribs as he bundled up the fabric to pull over his head.

With nothing in the way, Alhaitham was finally able to look down at some of the damage. There had to be something wrong with his leg too if he was limping, but the actively bleeding wound needed to be taken care of first. Alhaitham raised his hand to place it under the wound, stopping a slow trickle of blood from falling onto the bed and making a bigger mess than he already had. Various scratches and shallow cuts marked his chest, but the one on his side was truly the worst. Looking at it was still dizzying, so Alhaitham turned his eyes away to look at Kaveh.

Maybe it was the lighting, but it looked like there was a subtle blush coloring his cheeks. He was holding onto Alhaitham’s shirt tightly, like he could wring some blood out. There was a short pause as Kaveh placed the shirt on top of Alhaitham’s hat before grabbing the medkit again. He popped it open and grabbed the needed supplies. “This might sting a bit.”

The warning was nice. Alhaitham braced himself for the pain that came from cleaning the gash. The disinfectant stung in a way that made him hiss and grit his teeth, but other than that, he stayed still and quiet like a good patient. With the limited amount of rags, Kaveh cleaned up the blood from his side, along with a few of the smaller cuts, until he used them all. It hurt too much for Alhaitham to really appreciate Kaveh’s hands on him.

It didn’t help that he was still on edge, waiting for Kaveh to ask his various questions, but he was just as quiet. He used the medkit for all of its worth, cleaning, using small patches, and unraveling the full roll of gauze to wrap Alhaitham’s waist. He was so close when he was bandaging his waist, to the point that Alhaitham could have so easily leaned forward to smell his hair or place an appreciative kiss on the crown of his head. Maybe that horny author was on to something with the unique concept of sensual wound dressing.

When all the usable supplies were gone, Kaveh pulled back. “I won’t be gone long.” He promised, cleaning his hands off on some bandage packaging. “Don’t move around too much, or you’ll aggravate the wound. I don’t think it’ll need stitches, but it would be a good idea to visit an actual doctor soon. If we need a story about why a scholar was messing with those people, we can workshop one when we get back after you answer my questions.”

Alhaitham nodded his head slowly. He never thought he was off the hook about those questions, but it was odd to him that Kaveh was so quietly patching him up. Alhaitham didn’t want to offer more than was asked of him, just in case he said more than he probably should’ve, but maybe he should’ve said something to lessen the tense mood. 

Having what they needed would’ve been a good start.

He thought Kaveh would leave him again after that, but instead he stood up and held Alhaitham’s chin. Alhaitham stared at him with wide eyes as Kaveh tilted his head from side to side, examining him anew. “It doesn’t look like your head was hit anywhere.” He commented, releasing his chin to thread his fingers through his hair and feel the back of his head. 

It was more numbing and calming than any painkillers, but it didn’t last as long as he needed. 

“I can’t stop you from falling asleep depending on how long it takes to grab everything; I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” he said, pulling his hand away with a soft sigh, “but don’t expect me to accept it as an out from my concerns.”

Reasonable enough, but Alhaitham couldn’t imagine falling asleep anytime soon. “Of course.” With that, Kaveh turned to leave again, but Alhaitham stopped him from leaving just yet by grabbing his sleeve. He wasn’t the only one who was in that fight, and they were so concerned about Alhaitham’s well-being that he didn’t get the chance to see if Kaveh was alright. He couldn’t see any visible injuries from the quick look over, but he still had to make sure. “Were you hurt?”

It should’ve been an easy yes or no question, but Kaveh made a contemplative face. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m going to grab enough stuff for you, me, and to restock the innkeeper’s stash we used. I’ll be back.” 

Leaving no room for arguments was not a trait Alhaitham expected when he was reading the book, but Kaveh did just that and left him alone again. Alhaitham’s hand hovered in the air for a second before he brought it up to run a hand through his hair. He tried to tame some of the wayward strands that fell into his eyes from the head examination, but some still fell back on his face. He never liked other people touching him so intimately, even if it was to check up.

This time, Alhaitham was left alone for longer. He thought about getting up and doing something, whether it be checking on the Divine Knowledge Capsule again or not, he wasn’t sure. Even though he should probably rest, he still felt that itch to do something. The scholar robes were already falling off his body, so he stood up to remove them fully. At least he had spares and could easily write this one off as a lost cause. Alhaitham hoped that Kaveh wouldn’t mess with his stuff, so he slowly wandered over to his luggage again.

He used the tattered robe to hide the capsule more and grabbed his hoodie instead. It was a comfort he had from his original home, and he was planning on sleeping in it. It would keep him warm, and any blood that seeped out of his banadages would blend in with the red fabric. Pulling it on was just as stiff and painful as pulling his shirt off, but he managed on his own.

When he stepped back towards the bed, he stopped in front of it. Exhaustion was slowly starting to ebb away at him, but he still wanted to see if he could minimize the damage to the kind innkeeper’s bed. As he thought, some blood had trickled onto the top comforter. He pulled it back to see if it had seeped through, but thankfully the light green flat sheet underneath was spared. He placed the comforter’s corner back down and focused back on himself. 

Alhaitham sat down on the edge again and pulled his leg up to see exactly what was wrong with it. Rolling his pants up just revealed a few scratches, but around his ankle there was a bruise forming. Pulling off his shoe showed a large indent on his skin from the vamp decal bruising his skin as well. No wonder it was tender to walk on, but he would take a bruise over what he did to the guy he kicked.

Now would have been a really good time to have a Cryo Vision so he could ice it without a second thought, but he was still just an unassuming NPC. Walking to the front desk sounded like too much of a hassle, so he decided to slowly scoot back on the bed to lay his head against the pillow. Kaveh would be back shortly, and nothing should hold him up at this point in the story. 

The plan was to stay awake, but as his mind wandered with multiple thoughts about what would happen next in the plot, his eyes started to grow heavy. Keeping the Divine Knowledge Capsule for himself for a bit of time would no doubt change the plot around, but he could only hope he did so for the better instead of making things worse. He wanted to see Kaveh go to Fontaine and even further beyond that. Natlan was hardly mentioned at all—what was that place hiding?

Alhaitham wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he didn’t wake up when there was a knock at the door. It was never locked again, so Kaveh was free to enter and see Alhaitham asleep in an odd outfit he had never seen before in his travels.

He did not wake up when his injured foot was examined and wrapped up, nor when the bed shifted as Kaveh sat down next to him. Alhaitham was left vulnerable to Kaveh’s intense stare, as if he could somehow gain more information about this odd man from his sleeping form, but he found nothing. Alhaitham was in the middle of the bed when he fell asleep, but that didn’t stop Kaveh from lying down right next to him. It was a long day, and after a moment of being alone with his thoughts, Kaveh dozed off too.

It was a good thing Alhaitham was already asleep, or he would’ve thought about his comfortable, soft, lonely body pillow back home.

Chapter Text

The bed shifted with the distribution of weight, one person crawling away and the other looming forward. Neither of them stopped until Kaveh’s back came in contact with the bed’s headboard. Nothing was said until Alhaitham moved closer, Kaveh’s thighs parting for him to fit comfortably between them. 

“You fought hard today.” Kaveh said, voice dripping with an obvious innuendo. He didn’t bother trying to be subtle about it as he picked his leg up to hook his ankle against the back of Alhaitham’s thigh to pull him closer.

Alhaitham went willingly, but he didn’t return the playful flirting as concern wrinkled his face. “You were hurt.” He reached out to touch the new cut Kaveh got on his face, his fingers gingerly touching the fresh bandage placed on top. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

“Nonsense, Hayati.” Kaveh cooed, the affectionate name sounding so sweet coming from his lips. “You did everything you could, and I’m still here because of you.”

Alhaitham’s frown deepened. There was no need to talk about it being a life or death situation. It was just some annoying ruffians, even though it was a lot more than they originally thought. But that was behind them. Now he wanted to focus on something far more important. Alhaitham closed his eyes and leaned forward to press a kiss—

The dream ended as Alhaitham startled awake, his breath catching in his throat. Whatever it was that was next to him tensed momentarily before slowly relaxing. Alhaitham blinked some of the sleep out of his eyes, but he had to rub his face to get rid of the grogginess. 

Or at least he tried to, as it felt like his arm was trapped under something. It was a warm, comfortable weight that extended the length of his body all the way to his legs. He shifted away from the warmth to get a better look at what he was holding onto, only to stiffen horribly once he realized it was Kaveh.

Alhaitham’s body despised the sudden movement as his side flared with pain. He held his side through his hoodie, hissing in agony and squeezing his eyes shut to let it course through his system. His brain was firing different warning signs at him, like how he was hurting, when did he start clinging to Kaveh like that, why did Kaveh lay down next to him to begin with, and how did that make him have such a weird dream?

“Let me see.” Kaveh said, sounding far more awake than Alhaitham felt, which of course made it worse in Alhaitham’s eyes. He didn't get the chance to question if Kaveh actively let him cuddle him or if he was just as unaware when Kaveh reached for his hoodie. He pulled it up, also completely in the dark of the dream Alhaitham just had to look at his injury. Some blood had seeped through the bandages, enough for Kaveh to hum in thought. “Might as well change them.”

This time, Alhaitham made sure his mind was completely blank as Kaveh replaced his old bandages with fresh ones. He didn’t even think about what questions Kaveh might ask, and Alhaitham kept the question of wondering just how long he unintentionally cuddled him to himself. 

It was only when the old bandages were properly disposed of did Kaveh finally speak. “So… never really thought you were the cuddly type.”

“I’m not.” Alhaitham felt the need to immediately defend himself, but his actions proved the opposite. Was it still too late to blame blood loss? “Or at least-" Blood loss had to be the reason why he was just about to say he wasn’t cuddly with people, but with body pillows that had people on them. Tastefully nude people, to be specific. Tasteful nudes of Kaveh, to be a specific freak. Done digging his grave, Alhaitham decided it was best to avert his gaze and apologize. “Sorry.”

“That… wasn’t what I meant to ask.” Kaveh ran his hand over his face, making it hard to read his expression. “That’s not important. What is important is…” He dropped his hand away to look at Alhaitham. Alhaitham felt like he was doing that a lot, regarding him in a new light to see if he was still trustworthy or not. Now that Alhaitham was hiding the Divine Knowledge Capsule from him, even if it was for his own safety, he didn’t blame him for doing so. 

He hoped that he wasn’t in on him being sneaky and was giving Alhaitham the chance to admit it himself before Kaveh threatened him with his claymore or something. Alhaitham had to thank the archons that, outside of a light blush that was quickly washed away by him flushing in pain, his body didn’t react to the dream. Being held at blade-point by the one and only Kaveh might awaken something in him he didn’t have time to think about. The silence lasted too long. “...Yes?”

Rushing Kaveh wasn’t the right choice. The gaze Kaveh leveled Alhaitham with was not one he expected from a man who tenderly treated his wounds not a few hours ago. “Who are you.”

It wasn’t the question he was expecting first. He looked Kaveh over, reading his guarded body language to gauge just how much he could say. “My name is Alhaitham. I am a member of the Haravata at the Akademiya, studying ancient literature with a secret interest in the limits of the Akasha.” After saying his rehearsed speech, he watched Kaveh’s face to see if it was enough to satisfy him. All he got was a hardened glare. “I’m originally from Liyue,” it was the safest place to lie about, he hoped, since that was the place he personally favored and knew about the most, “but I moved to Sumeru City with my grandmother when I was young.”

He never went out of his way to find out if she was alive, but the lack of contact said enough. His grandmother in his own world would never go a week without reaching out to him—Alhaitham convinced himself the one here was the same. It was for the best, he figured, if a bit glum. He wouldn’t know how to act in front of her. He didn’t mean to, but his voice still dipped a bit at the mention of her, and he could see Kaveh’s face waiver from unintentionally touching a painful subject.

But then his glare sharpened again, as if guessing Alhaitham was trying to pull at the heartstrings as a distraction. “You fight like a treasure hoarder and have the knowledge of one.” The accusation would’ve hit hard if Alhaitham knew what a treasure hoarder was. It was said like a proper thing and not some elaborate insult, making Alhaitham rake through his knowledge and try to remember when—if ever—they showed up in the book. He couldn’t think of a single thing; it must’ve been so insignificant.

He took too long thinking to come up with a proper explanation.

“Are you parading around as a scholar too?”

“I’m not-”

“You weren’t blacklisted!” Kaveh interrupted. “Do you think Dori has the ability to blacklist every scholar that gets accepted into that school!? She told me she can keep tabs on who is interested, but you… you came out of nowhere and know all these things! You-I-why did I trust you so willingly?”

Alhaitham looked around the room as if there was an answer for this sudden outburst, but he knew where it was. It was right inside his bag, untouched and very much still there. He wondered what would happen if he showed it now and how the news would be received. Showing it might not prove he was trustworthy since he was originally trying to hide it, but part of him did wonder just how long—and how well—he would be able to hide it in general.

It was dangerous in his hands, and it was dangerous in Kaveh’s, but it was a needed tool.

He didn’t get the chance as Kaveh came out of his little spiral to glare at him again. “Were you playing coy when you questioned what that big guy said? Moongrass enlightenment?”

“I was not.” He answered honestly. Moon imagery popped up in the book every now and then, but they were all quickly shown to be related to something else, or just mere set pieces. Still, the only imagery that statement brought to his mind was actual grass, which wasn’t all that helpful.

After a short stare down, Kaveh accepted it as the full truth, but the interrogation wasn’t done yet. Even though Kaveh was still on guard, he seemed to still see him as an approximate ally and sat down on the bed. It was on the edge, and there was still distance between them, but it was better than being stared down at. “Like I said then, I’ve heard it before… Do you know of a student named Haypasia?”

He nodded slowly. “She’s in a different Darshan than me, so not personally.” He left it at that. All she served in the plot was as another tool for a story arc. Her personality was altered from her corrupted Akasha, and after she was saved, loose ends were quickly tied up before moving on. She was barely a character after serving her purpose.

Kaveh hummed in thought. “She said it after we helped her. Tighnari was just as stumped-”

“What?” Alhaitham couldn’t help but interrupt. 

“What?” Kaveh said as well, confused by him jumping in. “I haven’t seen Haypasia since I left Gandharva Ville. Did something happen to her recently?” With the way he worded the question, Alhaitham could tell that he didn’t believe that was the case.

“No, Tighnari, he didn’t say anything?”

If he hadn’t said it so urgently, he might’ve been able to play it off in some way, but he didn’t. Kaveh was eyeing him suspiciously again, his shoulders tensing as his guard was raised even higher. “You know him too? Was he supposed to, then?”

Of course he was! Alhaitham wanted to scream. Tighnari wasn’t supposed to be stumped. Sure, this odd phrase was a new factor in the equation, but he was supposed to see Haypasia act weird and infodump the start of a new arc.

Tighnari was the one who first planted the seeds of Irminsul into Kaveh’s—and therefore the reader’s—head so they could learn about the new, big, overarching plot point of the book. He was supposed to encourage Kaveh—and still the reader—to be alert for these clues, connections, and symbolism to learn more about it and try to win in the end. But Alhaitham knew how that ended up, with Azar taunting him and Kaveh so close yet so far to getting what he wanted. 

Outside of the antagonistic NPCs being scholars instead of Eremites, he hadn’t noticed anything else being different. What news he could find over Kaveh was the same, so he was confident that things were the same as the book, but this… 

This made him pause, unable to fully hide the concern on his face. Alhaitham looked at Kaveh and tried to see if he could see anything different with this new information. Was there a new battle he survived that wasn’t written down? Did he leave more blood, pain, and suffering in his wake? Did he lose Mehrak earlier than book three?

“...Alhaitham?”

He was tempted to ask, but Alhaitham stopped himself. He was being interrogated for knowing too much; asking such questions would only make things worse. Correcting himself, Alhaitham reminded himself of the role he had to play and came up with an easy answer. “He’s a forest ranger now, yes? I remember he has an extensive knowledge of plants, so if anyone would know about moongrass, it would be him.”

Kaveh still eyed him over his extreme reaction, but he only sighed instead of questioning it. “You would think.” He huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked more upset by the deadend instead of Tighnari’s lack of knowledge. 

Alhaitham watched him, waiting for the next question, but Kaveh seemed busy in his own head at the moment. He wished there was some omnipresent god that could tell him what was and wasn’t okay to tell a book character. NPCs pushed the plot forward all the time, but an important named character was supposed to give this information at first—which he was not. Not only that, NPCs always ended up either dead or irrelevant in the following chapters, and Alhaitham really didn’t want to end up with that first option. The plot device in his bag was making it hard to see himself as the later one, though.

Yet still, he didn’t want to give it up just yet. It was a completely selfish and selfless reason. Until he could find a way to prevent Kaveh and his entourage from getting their Akashas’ corrupted, he wanted to keep it. Afterwards, Kaveh could use it to get in contact with Rukkhadevata and continue his journey.

Finally, Kaveh continued the interrogation. “What is this Irminsul you mentioned?” 

Well, it was nice knowing this world.

Alhaitham really only wanted to nudge Kaveh in the right direction, but as he interacted more, his plan changed. It hadn’t even been that long, and here he was giving an important plot point that wasn’t his to give to begin with. Maybe his fate changed as soon as he decided to keep the Divine Knowledge Capsule instead of passing it over immediately. 

But after everything, it wasn’t like he could play dumb. Besides, with Kaveh looking at him like that, how could he say no to begin with? He would just have to change his goal again to help Kaveh, but also keep himself safe. Obviously, he had to find a way to stop the mind-control attack right away. “There isn’t much available research for someone like me,” he started, leading up into some plausible deniability and the reason why he wanted to find more information, “but it’s connected to the Ley Lines of this world.”

Surely things hadn’t changed so much that Kaveh hadn’t been told about the Ley Lines, right? They were always in the background of the overarching plot and made a more noticeable appearance in the third book. Thankfully, Kaveh didn’t look confused.

“Most see it as a concept related to the Akasha, but I believe it’s a place deep underground. From what I could find, Rukkhadevata’s consciousness is directly connected to it and is the root of Dendro power. That is why people want the Divine Knowledge Capsule, so they can have a taste of that power, but like I said, it doesn't quite work like that. But…” He trailed off, wondering where to go next with that statement. Outside of what Tighnari was supposed to say, the lore bits regarding Irminsul trickled in very slowly. More was probably supposed to be shared after Kaveh saved Rukkhadevata, but it sure as hell didn’t. 

If he had to look at the bright side of being the messenger for Irminsul, he could at least expand on the fan theories he had in mind with someone from this world instead of brain dead internet citizens who lacked reading literacy. Even with Kaveh being as clueless as he was, he was already a better sounding board. As Alhaitham read through Truth Amongst the Pages of Purana, he always wondered just how the Divine Knowledge Capsule corrupted one’s mind. For NPCs, Alhaitham could wave off that they weren’t strong or special enough in some way, but for the named characters like Cyno, Dehya, and Candace?

With what little the author gave about the mystery, he knew that something was missing. It didn’t make sense. He could feel Kaveh’s gaze on him, intense and interested, but he still didn’t rush him. The last scene played out in his head with all the vivid details: the violent fights, Azar watching the gladiator battle, the way Kaveh’s friends turned on him with vicious attacks, and their flashes of realization of what they did when Kaveh had to kill them to save himself.

“What if,” Alhaitham started again, his voice low, as if speaking any louder would get them caught by the Matras and Azar. “What if it consists of a forbidden type of knowledge? We’ve seen it corrupt people’s minds, but what if it’s more than that? What if it has the power to alter someone’s memories?” It made sense with what he knew, even if most of his evidence came from future knowledge. Even if the memories were gone, the consequences were not. With that thought in mind, the final scene sounded more tragic. All of Kaveh’s friends died by his hands, and they knew it was in self-defense, but they didn’t know why they attacked in the first place.

He thought about Azar’s final line before Kaveh died and the book came to an end. As Alhaitham absorbed himself into the story to ensure a good ending, he thought it was just a villain monologue that would plant the next seed of lore for Kaveh to unravel. In the heat of the moment, Alhaitham was too upset about the ending to pick apart what he really meant, but now ideas were forming in his head. “Could it even erase someone's existence from everyone’s consciousness?”

Kaveh’s face was conflicted, like he didn’t completely know how to react to that theory. In a way, he probably did sound insane making such bold claims with little evidence to follow them up. “How can you be so certain of this?”

But he was a scholar, and scholars did do research to find evidence to back up their hypothesis. 

“That is what I want to know. Irminsul and the Akasha are very powerful tools, but I fear that they’re currently in the wrong hands. Would a benevolent god like Rukkhadevata sit back and let people use her power like this?” The pursuit of knowledge included the good and the bad, the helpful and the useless, but it was still valuable in a way. He found far more information on Rukkhadevata than the book ever had time to go over. From what he’d gathered, she wouldn’t want people to be forced to think only one certain way, but what if she didn’t have a choice?

He shared a lot more than he originally planned to, but maybe it was enough to make him look like a passionate scholar instead of a different type of outlander. Still, he wondered just how much weight his theory had, and he would love for Kaveh to actually complete his journey to get these answers. 

Even though Kaveh looked at him oddly at first, he now had his brows pushed together as he gave Alhaitham’s words some serious consideration. “I’ve wondered the same thing; where is Rukkhadevata in all this?” He moved to lean back on his hands to stare up at the room’s ceiling. “During my adventures, I’ve met with each nation’s archon in hopes that their extensive knowledge will help me find my mother. We used to travel to different worlds together before getting separated.” There was a lingering sadness in his voice that would probably never go away until they reunited. “She sounds like a well-loved archon, especially in comparison to other nations, yet it seems impossible to find her.”

Anything she could possibly say came through the Akasha and with Azar as the messenger. Every now and then a mundane update about events in Sumeru would pop up in the Akasha’s feed and be signed by her, but it was hard to tell if it was actually her words. Alhaitham knew, of course, but he probably couldn’t give that extra piece of advice. He already made a lot of bold claims, but letting that bit of information out at the moment could be taken as slander.

“I wonder…” Now it was Kaveh’s turn to be in his head as he thought over this new information, but that sadness in his eyes vaguely talking about his mother was soon replaced by newfound determination. “I need to find Rukkhadevata more than ever. If a Divine Knowledge Capsule is the way to do it, then we need to get our hands on one as soon as possible.” 

We.

Maybe the usage was because they both needed the Divine Knowledge Capsule for different reasons, or maybe it was because Kaveh saw him as someone a part of his circle. He was probably still held at arm’s length, but probably every other important character was at this point. Alhaitham was just an NPC though, a feeble scholar, his injuries helpfully reminded him. It really was ideal for him to stay in the background.

“If I need to find those Eremites’ camps to do so, then so be it. From what I’ve seen, I don’t doubt Dori has her ways to do it.” With a newfound determination, he got up from the bed to pace around the room. “Those frauds were talking up different places in the desert—that may be our next step.”

Alhaitham would love to join him in the desert, but he knew what would be best for his own survival. There was no time to sit around and lick his wounds, and he was certain that potentially walking into enemy territory with the Divine Knowledge Capsule they were looking for would be asking for trouble. If they knew that Kaveh had three different gnosis on hand, too…

He would not be able to protect him in the way he wanted, not as a Visionless scholar, but he knew a few people who could. “Aaru Village is the largest settlement in the desert. That would be a good place for you to get information and know the right way to go.”

Kaveh did not miss the way he worded his sentence that excluded him from the picture. Alhaitham didn’t think it would bother him so much, but maybe Kaveh trusted him a lot more than he already thought. That, or maybe he still wasn’t used to traveling alone and thought he had a companion again, even for a bit. His posture shifted a bit, but it was hard to tell how it was bothering him with his voice as even as always. “Ah, right. That’s a good idea.”

His own disadvantages were so apparent to him in that soft, yet slightly listless sentence. “I’ll-” Alhaitham tried to get up, that need to do something coursing through his veins once again, but his body protested the movement. He held his injured side as his body shivered from the sharp and icy ache, but he tried to show some semblance of strength and not fall back on the bed.

Kaveh was by his side, a warm hand on his shoulder to gently push him to lay down. “Relax.” He soothed, and if it was anyone else, Alhaitham would feel patronized, but he only fought his stiff body as he laid down on the bed. “Okay, interview over. Ugh, I should’ve had you see an actual doctor before launching all that on you.”

Maybe, maybe not, but it wasn’t like he was in a dire state. He was battered and bruised, but breathing. The bruises would fade, the small cuts would heal, and the bigger one would no doubt end up being a scar, but it was better than the alternative. It was the price he had to pay to get the needed plot device. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

It took Kaveh staring him down for a second before finally sighing in defeat before pulling his hand off Alhaitham’s shoulder. “Alright, I guess I can’t force you, even if it would be a good idea.” It was a weak attempt to guide him in the right direction, but Alhaitham felt like he would be fine without.

Kaveh started to move away, but Alhaitham didn’t want him too just yet. Before he turned away, Alhaitham reached out to pinch his sleeve again. Kaveh was touching him so casually—even if it was under the pretense of tending to him like a coddling nurse—but he couldn’t bring himself to do the same. Kaveh was special; he didn’t want to push and pull him around as he pleased. He wanted to treat him like the wonderful, dynamic, and dimensional character that he was. And maybe still pat his head.

“I can’t join you to the desert, but I won’t sit around and do nothing. Our goals align in a way, so if I find something that can be helpful for you, too, I’ll share it.”

He was rewarded with a small smile, and it was such a beautiful contrast to the untrusting gazes he was given earlier today. It was much better than the uneasy look he was given when he woke up accidentally cuddling Kaveh, too. “I suppose it’s only right that I do the same.”

Alhaitham still didn’t share that he had the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

But Kaveh didn’t share that he had the gnosis, either.

~!~

Just a few days later, Alhaitham needed to go back to Sumeru City. 

His vacation had come to an end, and he needed to go back to the boring, safer role of an NPC. Part of him didn’t mind since he was ready to dive into the contents of the Divine Knowledge Capsule, but he wasn’t just magically better after a few days. Kaveh stayed with him during that time. He wasn’t constantly by his side, as he occasionally met up with Dori to plan their may-or-may-not be legal revenge mission, but Alhaitham stayed out of it. He wasn’t about to be deadweight or a snitch. 

He never saw a doctor outside of Kaveh who helped him change his bandages and clean the large cut. Thankfully, it was in a place no one would see, so he didn’t have to give the full story. Speaking of the story, they did come up with a bare bones one. They were rather limited on what they could say since there were other people at the scene, but at least it can be said to be a wrong place, wrong time sort of scenario.

They did decide to leave Port Ormos together, though. It wasn’t a long walk, but it was a familiar one as they followed the same path out of town together. Alhaitham still felt the lingering aches in his body, but outside of needing to move his bruised foot a little unnaturally, he was walking well on his own. The only person they were followed by was a merchant leaving the port as well, but they continued on with their Sumpter beast with a small wave while Alhaitham and Kaveh stopped at a fork in the road. It was time for them to go their separate ways. 

He thought the goodbyes for now would be a little stiff and awkward, but Kaveh had other plans. “Don’t get into any more trouble on your way back. I don’t want to hear that you bled out somewhere because you’ve aggravated the wound again.”

Which was… a fair scolding, really. Every time Alhaitham was alone, he was plotting or messing with the Divine Knowledge Capsule. With the new turn of events, he couldn’t just lay around and rest like a good little patient, even if his doctor was Kaveh. He never got caught messing with the Divine Knowledge Capsule, but there were enough close calls that left his blood thrumming through his veins and making it even harder for him to sit still and heal. 

“Your journey is far more dangerous than mine.” He was taking common trails that were mostly safe outside of monsters spotted in the distance. Kaveh, on the other hand, was heading straight for the desert. Not only were there enemies, but there were unmarked trails that would lead to scorching planes of sand at the end of it. 

“I’ll be alright. I’ve managed just fine this far.” The smile Kaveh flashed him was bright and sunny, but Alhaitham knew about the loss that lingered behind it. 

It caused an odd storm of emotions to stir inside of him. He was blinded by the radiant beauty that was Kaveh, but it was also pitiful in a way. It showed Alhaitham just how strong Kaveh was, but that didn’t mean he was completely invincible. His resolve strengthened—he didn’t want Kaveh to force anymore smiles like that. He wanted to do what he could to make sure no one died and make those smiles harder to wear. 

He was so steadfast in his goal that he wondered if an NPC like him even had that sort of pull, but he wasn’t going to let such negative thoughts stop him from at least trying.

“...Alhaitham?”

Alhaitham quickly pulled his hand away from where he placed it on Kaveh’s head to give it a pat. It was subconscious, and Kaveh was just the perfect height for him to do so. Kaveh called out to him right as he did it, so thankfully he didn’t ruin his hair or his accessories when he moved to pull his hand back. “Sorry.” He apologized as he awkwardly dropped his hand back to his side. “My,” he paused, trying to find a reasonable explanation for why he was suddenly touchy that didn’t mention marketable figurines, “my grandmother used to do that for me.”

For… what? Comfort? As a goodbye? For some reason, no further explanation could leave his still slightly parted lips.

Somehow, it was enough. “Oh,” Kaveh murmured as he touched the top of his own head. He hooked his finger on a random strand and combed it through his hair as he brought his hand down. Alhaitham convinced himself it was the high sun that made Kaveh wear a subtle blush on his cheeks and nothing else. “I… see.” Kaveh then cleared his throat, and that odd moment was forced behind them. “Well, I’ll write to you if I find anything, and we’ll go from there. Good luck on your research.”

Not the smoothest, but Alhaitham wasn’t going to complain. “Good luck on your travels.”

With that, they finally parted ways. He would gather all the information he could as he waited for Kaveh’s letters. With him more than likely not being in an exact location for a long period of time, it would be pointless for Alhaitham to try and send a letter himself. There was no way they could guarantee they could share this forbidden information through the Akasha without it being looked over.

His trip back took longer, but it was because of his slower speed instead of running into any trouble. He hoped Kaveh’s trip was just as safe and uneventful so he could say his desert adventures would be the same. Learning that Tighnari didn’t tell him about Irminsul threw Alhaitham off, but maybe, hopefully, everything else would follow the book’s original plot. Kaveh would meet the right people, see just how unfairly the desert people were treated, and everything would go according to the plot until Alhaitham stepped in again.

Alhaitham nudged his front door open and promptly locked it behind him. There were a number of things he needed to do, from cleaning his wound to unpacking, but what grabbed his attention right away was the need to dive into his research. It wasn’t like he could just casually bring it around his normal NPC routine, so he needed to take advantage of this time alone. He wanted to unlock all the secrets he could to help Kaveh and get rid of it as soon as he possibly could. 

But… Kaveh would want him to take care of himself first, a persistent little voice in the back of his head reminded him. He could at least clean up and take care of his bandages before he settled down to research. As he pulled his bag onto his bed to stare at it, that little voice grew all the more needy and annoying. With a little huff, he allowed himself to be won over.

Instead of feeling refreshed after bathing and changing his bandages, he felt exhaustion seep into his bones. He thought taking care of himself would appease that little voice, but now it was telling him to rest instead of research. For that, it was ignored. He felt like he listlessly meandered enough just trying to make it back to Sumeru City, so some less important things could wait. Alhaitham ignored his body telling him to take it easy, and grabbed a notebook and pen to take notes before finally pulling out the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

It was still glowing a pulsating red from when he first swiped it off the boss, but now it floated and rotated a few inches above his palm. That was something to note down, as it seemed able to do it on its own. Maybe sitting in hiding powered it up again after the boss used it. A way to find out would be for Alhaitham to try and extract some of the knowledge out of it himself, but that would be a risky path to take. He saw what happened to the boss, and he didn’t want that to happen to him, but Alhaitham had resolved himself to the fact that he might actually have to.

It would be a last resort thing, though. If he entered that crazed state, he would have no one to get him out of it. 

It was a sleepless night as Alhaitham tested what he could do with the plot device without it corrupting his mind. He came out the next morning exhausted but sane, so he found that as a positive thing. Unsurprisingly, walking around the Akademiya looking and feeling like utter shit got a lot of people concerned for him, but he waved it off, told the story he rehearsed with Kaveh, and went about his day.

The mind-controlled welcoming committee was not talked about. It wasn’t even a rumor that people murmured to each other in between classes. It was like it was a special show for Kaveh only. That discovery was also jotted down in the notebook. Even his friends were completely unaware. Gregor was understandably out of the loop since he was in Mondstadt, but to Azmi, it looked like he told her not to visit the Akademiya and study just for the hell of it.

Which meant he had to make do on the promise he randomly spouted just to get her to listen to him. He was stuck in the Akademiya with her and Gregor in a study session looking over books he didn’t care about because they had nothing to do with the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

“Man, you look like shit, dude.” Azmi greeted very kindly as she joined him at one of the library’s tables.

Alhaitham only hummed. It was a struggle staying awake during his classes, but now all he wanted to do was take a nap. 

“What did you get into this time?”

“Eremites.” 

“What’s with you and Eremites lately?” A new voice asked as Gregor finally joined them. He placed his stack of books down on the edge of the table and sat down on Alhaitham’s left. 

“Unlucky, I suppose.” He wanted to leave it at that, but his tired brain forgot to remind him that his book-world-issued friends actually, genuinely cared for him.

“Were they the same as before and looking for revenge?” Azmi asked, and Alhaitham was getting deja vu at this sudden interview again.

“No, just-” a sudden yawn interrupted Alhaitham’s sentence that he covered up with his hand. His knuckles were one of the few injuries that quickly healed and no longer looked like he smashed a man’s Akasha. If only he could say the same for his side. After he finished yawning, he murmured the rest of what he was going to say, “just the wrong place and the wrong time.” And that left him tired. And sore, but he wasn’t in the mood to show off his battle scars.

“Well, is there anything you need to study for?” Gregor asked as he grabbed the book from the top of the stack.

“It can wait.” He wasn’t actually sure, but Alhaitham’s body was reaching its limit. All he needed was a little rest so he could go back to his home and complete his goal.

“Then take a nap. We’ll wake you up in an hour before the next lecture.” Gregor declared after opening up his book. He said it with a nod as if it were already agreed upon. Alhaitham looked over at Azmi as if she were the one who actually had the authority or not over if he could do that, but he was just given a nod as well, paired with a kind smile.

“You can use my bag as a pillow.” Azmi offered as she grabbed it from the open seat next to her. “It might not be the best, but it’s better than nothing.”

After thinking it over for a second, Alhaitham nodded his head and took the bag after she pulled a thick, uncomfortable book out of it. He placed the bag in front of him and folded his arms around it in an attempt to fluff it up some more. When it looked as comfortable as it could possibly get, he laid his head down on it and pulled his hat over his eyes to block out the bright light.

It wasn’t as comfortable as his or the inn’s bed. While Azmi’s scent was pleasant and lightly floral, it wasn’t nearly as relaxing as Kaveh’s. And yet, despite everything, he managed to fall into a light sleep. It wasn’t exactly what he needed, but it would have to be enough to hold him over until he dedicated more sleepless nights to the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

He expected his sleep to stay light, but somehow he found himself in a deeper slumber.

He dreamt every now and then. Sometimes he would have a nonsensical dream, and other times that would be marginally related to what he had experienced the past set amount of days. This time, it was the latter.

He was in an open lecture hall, and he was teaching his findings about the Divine Knowledge Capsule. His fan theories were backed by evidence based on what he was showing on a large Akasha screen, but it was blurred, preventing him from truly reading what it was saying. Mumbled nonsense came out of his mouth, yet the faceless students were completely enthralled with what he had to say. Some had questions, and he could feel himself going through the motions of answering them, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying. And yet, the students were pleased with the answers, and the lecture continued without a hitch.

Alhaitham felt like he was on the edge of lucid dreaming and not. He wished the words around him would clear so he could somehow get an answer out of his subconscious, but they never did. It was all a blurry mess of mumbled nonsense. Even when the lecture came to an end and the students started to file out of the classroom, nothing changed. He turned to face his sources, but all he saw was malfunctioning screens. 

“Hehe, you’re an interesting one.”

It was the first clear sentence he heard in the dream. Alhaitham turned back around to the once empty chairs, but now one was occupied again. Right in the middle of the front row, there was a little girl. Her elbows were propped up on the table as she held her head in her small hands. Poking out from her white hair, there were long elf-like ears, but Alhaitham was far more enraptured by her eyes. They were vibrant green, but the pupils had an unusual shape. They were shaped like clovers. 

If a character in the book had unique eyes, they were always pointed out as a defining character trait. It was always an important character, whether they were piercing like the unknown goddess’ or glowing with pure elemental energy like Zhongli’s, yet no one with eyes like that was mentioned in the book.

“Who are you?”

The girl simply smiled and waved at him before he woke up.

Chapter Text

Alhaitham woke up from his library nap feeling partially better but mostly disoriented. He did say he had a good nap when asked, but that was mostly because he didn’t know what else to say.

After that, he went through the rest of his unassuming NPC duties in a bit of a daze. He was thankful when the day was done so he could go back to his home and see if the dream meant anything.

It had to mean something. He still had no idea who that little girl was. Alhaitham was hyper-aware of the world around him as he slowly made his way home. Part of it was because he was still on guard and he didn’t want people to follow him, but the other part was in hopes that he would see that little girl.

There was that theory that everyone you’ve seen in your dreams was someone you’ve seen in real life. Alhaitham wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but he did know that there was no way he would forget a striking and one-of-a-kind face like that girl had. He even thought back to his life before entering the book world, but there was nothing. He couldn’t think of a book, show, or even video game character that resembled anything like her. She truly was unique.

There were a few characters from this world that did have elf ears, but that wasn’t too much to go off of. If only her body wasn’t completely blocked by the table. Then, he would’ve been able to guess where she was from based on the cultural influence of her outfit. Even though he had no lead, he knew he couldn’t completely ignore the mystery—just put it on the back burner for later.

Nothing came out of his walk home, which was overall a blessing. He quickly locked the door behind himself. Part of him wanted to immediately dive back into his research, but another part of him reminded him that he needed to take care of himself first. Sleep could wait, but a meal couldn’t, nor could his injuries. Thankfully, they were healing nicely. Such an observation prompted him to eat light and clean his wound before wrapping it again in a fresh bandage. 

When his body obtained enough energy to observe the Divine Knowledge Capsule, that was all he focused on. Nothing could bring him out of his fixated state, but nothing tried to. Any messages on his Akasha were ignored when he saw that they weren’t from anyone important, and no one came knocking on his door for anything. Unfortunately, that did consider the fact he still hadn’t received a letter from Kaveh. It hadn’t been that long, he reasoned to prevent himself from thinking the worst. He had to find the time to write the letter, actually write it out, and then the messenger would take who knows how long to actually deliver it.

From there, a cycle started. Alhaitham would do what his NPC role required of him at the Akademiya, coast through the day until he was done, and watch his back as he made his way home. Then, he would research everything he could from the Divine Knowledge Capsule. He did manage to find a healthier routine that did involve eating actual food and getting an arguably decent amount of sleep, but that was where the problems came.

Every now and then, Alhaitham would dream. Now, more than ever, it would revolve around the Divine Knowledge Capsule. It was almost always the same as the first dream; he would be doing something with it, whether that was teaching again or still tinkering with it. However, he still hadn’t reached a breakthrough, and that girl hadn’t shown up. Alhaitham felt that as each day passed, he was sinking deeper and deeper into a sinking pit with only a dead end at the bottom. 

He wasn’t sure how many days had passed when he received his first letter from Kaveh. It broke him out of the routine as he went to read it immediately. He ripped open the envelope and meant to carry it and the letter to the table in his living room, but it fell to the ground somewhere behind him. The letter was short and only one page, but it was enough for Alhaitham.

Aaru Village is a sanctuary in this heat. I thought I could handle extreme types of weather with all the different places I’ve traveled, but this heat is unrelenting. I’ve met some very helpful people that you might’ve heard of. There’s Candace, the guardian of the village, and Dehya, the alleged Flame-Mane of the Blazing Beasts. Admittedly, I was a bit cautious teaming up with an Eremite after all we’ve been through, but just like you and me, our goals are one in the same. Dori was able to find where the Ayn Al-Ahmar members were located, and things unraveled from there. The things we’ve discovered here… I fear that your claims have more weight than what I’ve first imagined. I don’t think I’m done in the desert just yet, but I’m looking forward to meeting you again to form a plan with this new knowledge.

I hope your research is just as successful,

Kaveh.

That was the thing—he felt like he hadn’t made any valuable steps from his side of the mission. He couldn’t even marvel over the fact that he actually had Kaveh’s signature—it would’ve looked so at home in his merch collection—because he felt like he was behind. Kaveh did date the letter, which showed that it took about a week for it to arrive at his door. The more he looked over it, the more Alhaitham felt hollow.

One, he realized that almost a month had passed since Port Ormos. He no longer needed bandages, and the larger cut on his side was now an ugly yet healing scab. At this rate, it would fully be a new, textured scar before he could reach a breakthrough.

Two, there was no mention of Cyno in the letter. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that Kaveh just didn’t feel the need to mention him for whatever reason, but that sounded unlikely. He knew Cyno’s status and relevance wasn’t completely erased from the picture; there were always stories about him lingering around Sumeru City. Whether it was his accomplishments as a Matra or in some silly card game that wasn’t important enough to mention in the book, he was alive and active. Briefly, he wondered if Dori somehow fulfilled that role instead.

It was an equally interesting and concerning thought. He hoped that Dori was far more capable than what little screen time showed in the original story. As for Cyno… he still hoped he showed up somewhere. His lore was just that cool.

Finally, he realized he was at his limit. He never set a timeframe for himself, and yet he knew he was at the deadline. He had exhausted all of his resources. Kaveh had found his conclusion even if he wasn’t done in the desert yet, and in comparison, it looked like he had done absolutely nothing.

Alhaitham folded up the letter and left it on the table. When he stood up, he didn’t grab the forgotten envelope to clean up. Instead, he walked back to his bedroom to grab the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

He did everything he possibly could, just short of trying to extract its knowledge. And yet, that was the whole point of it, wasn’t it? It sat here for so long as just a pretty little decoration because he was too worried about corrupting himself. It was a valid concern, but being cautious had led him to being useless. If he was going to do absolutely nothing with it, wouldn’t it have been useful in the protagonist’s hands?

Wasn’t experimentation needed to reach a conclusion in the scientific method?

Alhaitham knew the risks, and being who he was, he doubted he had that strong or special quality that would allow him to break out of it on his own. Depending on what it did to him, maybe he would break his own Akasha in his berserk state. There wasn’t anyone around, so at least he wouldn’t be hurting them. Besides, who would he even be able to trust in such a vulnerable state?

Kaveh, of course, but he wasn’t here right now. He wasn’t going to wait for him to be here either to play moderator. They parted ways with the expectation that both parties would have results. Alhaitham knew Kaveh would get them—he was the wonderful protagonist—and he, in comparison, was just a faceless, unimportant NPC. 

Characters like him get sacrificed all the time, but his sacrifice was in vain if no one knew what happened. Alhaitham grabbed the notebook he was using to record his observations. The first few days were filled with odd notes, but after that, some days he didn’t even write a line. He flipped to the next page to boldly claim what he was about to do with little regrets. That would at least cover what happened to him if something went wrong, but visuals were a key part of research.

The Akasha needed to stay in his ear to extract the knowledge, so he couldn’t record with that. Taking a shot in the dark, he found his phone again to see if he could record with that instead. There wasn’t anything equivalent in this world to it, but maybe someone would be smart enough to figure it out and see what happened. There was some sensitive information in there, but that wouldn’t matter anymore if he died. 

Alhaitham stopped at that thought. Was he really this calm about potentially dying? All the people that were corrupted in the story died, but that was normally to weapons instead of the corruption itself. Kaveh never got possessed, so there was never an insider point of view of what it felt like. Alhaitham pressed the right buttons to try and turn the phone on as he stared at his reflection on the black screen.

It turned on.

Alhaitham blinked at his lock screen featuring beautiful fanart of Kaveh. He was standing tall on a cliff, looking over a peaceful Mondstadt. It was from some alternative universe that was popular in the fandom where Dvalin didn’t eat half the population. Mehrak was floating by his side, happy and serene. Kaveh deserved that happiness; he deserved to find the right path he needed to find his answers and his mother. Kaveh had already lost so many people; why would Alhaitham hurt him more by adding his own corpse to the pile?

He knew that sheer willpower could only get him so far, but he was going to try everything in his power to not die so he could still help Kaveh. Maybe he wouldn’t die and would simply pass out from exhausting his body’s own limits. That would be the preferred option. Taking a deep breath, Alhaitham got rid of his lock pass code so anyone could access it in case he did pass out… and totally not die.

After adjusting some books on his desk, he set his phone down to record himself. He stepped away until he was in frame and grabbed the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

At first, he didn’t do much besides let it float between his palms. He stared at his phone, silently questioning himself if he should give some sort of introduction. This video was mostly for his eyes only… and potentially whoever founded his—alive—body. The battery was still strong somehow, but that might be because it was off for so long. Alhaitham decided not to question it and hoped it would have enough power to show what happened when he finally used this thing.

In the end, he decided to be silent. He adjusted his hands around the capsule by placing one underneath and the other on top to start extracting the information. Alhaitham closed his eyes to feel the eerie red aura swirl around his fingers instead of seeing it. He could feel its scorching warmth travel from his hand, up his arm, and into the Akasha, but he kept his body as still as he possibly could.

It was a steady agony, one that peeled at his brain as it slowly showed him more and more he wasn’t supposed to see. He fought on, testing his limits more and more because he was finally getting the answers he needed. It showed him a history that was never revealed in the book, completely altered from what was shown in the textbooks here, but that didn’t stop him from enduring and suffering. It showed him events, places, and even names.

Each new image was blurred around the edges as his body swayed and his body grew weak. This information was important, he wasn’t going to stop now. If he could just get a little more, if he could just be a little more useful, he would be satisfied. Alhaitham had to gather this information, he should’ve known he had to do this all along, but he wasn’t going to back down until this information was racing through his veins and a part of his very being. The images kept flashing, making him dizzy until one word appeared before him, letter by letter.

K.

U.

S.

A—

The next letter never came. as the red light completely blocked out his vision and stabbed his brain. He opened his jaw wide in a banshee-like screech, but his mind was too fractured to be aware of his volume. Alhaitham pulled his hands away from the capsule that still floated in front of him, still feeding him information as he tried to hold his head. His body swayed like a puppet, folding and contouring as nothing he did got rid of the torment he could feel bone deep. He scratched at his ears, but his actions were so rash and frenzied that he couldn’t get a good enough grip to remove his Akasha.

His voice cracked as he screamed out again, breaking and reaching a pitch his voice couldn’t normally reach. As he fell to his knees, stuttering howls left him as he felt a violence he didn’t know how to handle. He wanted to fight, wanted to hurt, wanted to beat this misery festered in his veins. With him on the ground, the Divine Knowledge Capsule followed him, but it didn’t release him from its poisonous hold. 

All his mind knew was this feverish fury paired with infected ire. Alhaitham snatched the capsule up in front of him, his knuckles going white with his grip. He wanted to toss it. He wanted to die to escape this pain. He wanted to be useful for Kaveh. He wanted to be the sacrifice that saved Kaveh from more suffering. 

The jagged, red glass dome faced him, and with as much strength as his possessive body could muster, he stabbed it into his chest.

~!~

“...Wake up…”

Alhaitham felt listless.

“...You’re okay now. It’s okay to wake up…”

Alhaitham felt weightless.

“...Hmm… maybe…”

Alhaitham had his eyes closed, but the light of the area around him still reached through his eyelids. He tried to move, but his body rejected the idea and willed itself still. 

“Ah, are you awake now?”

The voice was sweet, soft, and a little airy. It was familiar too, but it had been so long since he’d last heard it that he didn’t recognize it. 

“Don’t open your eyes just yet. It’s really bright in here, so I worry it’ll make you really dizzy. Sorry, I can’t dim them, but you’ll see why in a bit.” The voice giggled as if it were some sort of joke. Alhaitham’s brain was lagging too far behind to see what was so funny, but that didn’t bother the voice as it continued. “First things first, can you wiggle your toes?”

Alhaitham tried to do what he was asked. He could’ve sworn he was too distracted by other things to take off his shoes when he first arrived home, but he was able to move them without restrictive footwear in the way. 

“Good. Can you wiggle your fingers?”

Once again, he did as asked. He wiggled and flexed his fingers to test his full range of movement. Every now and then his fingers would brush against the fabric of his pants. He then pushed further than what was asked and tried to lift his right arm. His body felt heavy and like he was trying to wade through a lake of molasses. With his eyes still closed, he lifted his hand up from his side to his abdomen. Just as he thought from the cool breeze, he was shirtless as well. 

“Great. I think your body is going to be okay, but let’s check that noggin, okay?”

Noggin. He wasn’t a child. He opened his mouth to protest, but all that came out with a harsh cough. His throat felt raw from all his screaming. 

“Oh, right, just a second.” The voice moved around him, and he thought he heard the faint sound of plastic, but he couldn’t be too sure. Things like plastic weren’t in this world. “Here’s a drink for you. Try to sit up a bit and take a sip.” There was a hand on his shoulder to help him sit up. He expected his body to protest either with pain or stiffness, but instead, he now felt weak and loose-limbed. With the person’s help, he was able to sit enough to feel the edge of the container against his lips. “Can you hold it?”

It was asked as another test of his current mobility. Even though it felt like his arm was asleep, he was able to move it and tried to pull it closer to grab his drink. It took far more maneuvering than such a simple action should take, but he was finally able to grab it. He felt the texture underneath his fingertips and scrunched his face together in confusion. As he took small sips, he dragged his thumb over the curves just to confirm his suspicion. It felt like a water bottle. 

“It’s going to be really, really bright at first, but it might be okay to open your eyes now.” The voice warmed him after taking the bottle away when Alhaitham was finished with it.

Alhaitham was tempted to open his eyes wide to see what happened, but the blinding light stopped him from doing that at first. He blinked away a few tears from his sensitive eyes, but slowly, the things around him lost their blurry edges, and he was able to see more clearly. The walls were coated in ivory paint, but they were decorated with colorful posters. There was a desk in one of the corners with a laptop in the middle paired with a mug. Next to it, there was a bookshelf filled with odds and ends, books, and merchandise. Behind him, there was probably a well-loved body pillow.

No one was supposed to see that little secret. Kaveh’s partially nude body, even in pillow form, was for his eyes only. His thoughts were a mess, but being perceived as a potential degenerate with a body pillow was the least of Alhaitham’s worries.

He was back in his old bedroom, and it looked exactly the same as he remembered. Panic immediately made his stomach sink, and he tried to get up, but his sluggish body wasn’t ready for such an intense action just yet. That small hand never left his shoulder and helped him lay back down again.

“You scared me back there.” The voice continued as she kneeled on the bed by his side. “But I think I caught you just in time before something serious happened.”

Alhaitham looked over at his savior to see that it was the little girl from his dream again. She looked just the same, but now he could clearly see her wearing a white dress with green details. His brain was still lagging behind to think about the cultural influence to guess who this person could possibly be, but there were other questions vying for his attention. Once again, he tried to open his mouth to speak, but he needed to clear his throat again in order to get his voice to work. “Am I dead?”

“No, you’re in a dream-like state right now. Not actually a typical dream, but your subconscious, in a way.”

With the way she worded it, it was hard to tell if she didn’t completely know herself or if she was trying to dumb it down for his still groggy brain. Did that mean he somehow felt safest here in his old bedroom? He couldn’t remember the last time he actually dreamt about being here. It had to be during the first week he walked into this strange world. “Will I… wake up?” It was hard to speak a full sentence without his voice cracking.

Here, she spoke with certainty. “You will, but I’m not sure when… I do believe it will be before Kaveh comes to you, though.” She looked at a spot on his wall, most likely covered by a poster of said man. “However, you’ve been out for a few days now.”

He should care more about that. He should care how he was apparently unconscious for days, and he should care about how he got into this situation to begin with, but he couldn’t. The girl said a name that quickly and completely altered his thought process. The lingering questions in his mind were overpowered by a single word. “Kaveh…”

“You’ve really taken a liking to him,” she teased, and it almost sounded motherly, like her son was experiencing his first bout of puppy love, “but yes, Kaveh. You’ll wake up before he gets to you, but he does want to pay you a visit. It might come in a letter, or it might be himself. The specifics, I’m not too sure of.”

Alhaitham slowly blinked at her as if that little action could voice all his questions. She sounded so confident and like she knew, but he couldn’t understand why. Briefly, he wondered if she was just like him, but he wasn’t originally from this book world, so how could someone read about his future endeavors? The thought just made his head pound, and he had to close his eyes again.

The girl made a little panicked noise at his reaction instead. “Are you feeling okay? I’m not really a healer, so I had to source outside knowledge to figure out what to do. Do you feel any discomfort?”

Even though it was only two questions, it felt like too much for his mind to handle and answer right away. Still, Alhaitham opened his eyes to look down at himself. His nails weren’t that long, but he remembered feeling the sharp bite of them against his face as he clawed at himself. He could feel or look at his face later, the biggest wound he was concerned about was his chest. He stabbed himself with a strength he didn’t know he had with an object that wasn’t as sharp as a blade. And yet, he couldn’t remember if the red he saw was his Akasha screen or his own blood spilling out.

He expected bandages, but there weren’t any wrapped around his bare chest. There wasn’t any blood, any red, raw, and irritated skin, but he wasn’t completely unscathed. Right on his suprasternal notch there was a green gem. He raised his hand, now feeling like he had more control over it, and touched it. It was cool, and he could feel goosebumps raise along his arms. That tingling sensation didn’t leave as he traced the angled edges and soon became too overwhelmed. 

When he pulled his finger away, he could feel the contact leave both on his finger pad and the diamond. Alhaitham pulled his head back to look at it a little clearer. It was sitting right on top of his skin, and yet he could feel it like it was now a part of him. He formed a claw around it to pull off, but all that effort rewarded him with only an uncomfortable feeling. Maybe he was still too weak to do it, or maybe… 

Alhaitham looked over at the girl, who was silent during his observations. She looked apologetic as she held her hands together. “It’s the least I could do.” 

Maybe when he first woke up he would’ve accepted that vague answer and moved on, but now he continued to look at her. It took him needing to clear his throat and being handed the water to take another drink again before he could speak. “What did you do?”

She lowered her hands to play with a part of her dress, her gaze following suit. “I’m not as strong as I used to be, or as I could be.” She admitted her own shortcomings with a long sigh. “You really hurt yourself back there. I was worried you would’ve died with your injuries and the Divine Knowledge Capsule’s influence.”

As he listened, he touched the edge of the diamond again. The feeling itself wasn’t as overwhelming this time, but the questions he had about it were.

“Oh, it’s not an actual piece from the capsule,” she quickly clarified, almost reading his mind, “it’s something like… hmm… similar to a Vision?”

A Vision?

“But not exactly a Vision.” Once again, it was like she was reading his thoughts and was able to immediately respond to what he was thinking. “You won’t be able to control the elements like one, but I think you will be a little more in tune to Dendro than the average person. I think it will help with your mission.” She finished off with a smile to show it was a good thing.

Overall, it was, but that didn’t make him feel completely better. He wondered about the limits of this new power, this subconscious he was in, and the aftermath that followed. There was so much he wanted to know and had to come away with to make sure this whole endeavor was actually worth it. “Who are you?”

She looked a little sad at the question, but that kind smile never left her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she blinked and looked around the room. Alhaitham followed her line of sight and saw the walls and the furniture turn fuzzy around the edges. The finer details started to fade, and soon all his Kaveh merch turned into blurred blobs of color. He turned back to the girl for guidance and was met with a brighter smile.

“I’m someone who hopes we can meet again under better circumstances, but it looks like you’re about to wake up soon.” She said and took Alhaitham’s hand that was closest to her. Her hands were so small in comparison, as she placed one against the back and the other on top of his palms. “I know you have a lot more questions that I want to answer, but I think you want to be out there in the real world instead of stuck in here with me.”

His hand felt warm, more so than what should happen with typical body heat. Between her fingers, there was a green glow. 

“Well, the new real world for you.” She continued with a giggle. Alhaitham looked over at her so quickly he thought he made himself dizzy with how blurry she was. As he blinked his eyes to focus, he saw that nothing helped and her image was getting fuzzier and fuzzier. “I told you the first time that you’re an interesting one, so I have confidence you’ll find most of your answers before we meet again.”

She pulled her hands away, but all Alhaitham could see was the glow she left behind. He tightened his fingers around it and felt something against his palm.

“For now, you can call me…”

Alhaitham woke up with a start. His heart hammered hard in his chest as he quickly pushed himself up into a sitting position. A layer of sweat coated his bare skin as he sucked in hiccupped, stuttering gasps of air. He quickly looked around his surroundings, taking in the dark wood furniture, the stained glass windows, and the forest motif that came with Sumeru architecture. He was back in the real world, just as she said. Back in the new real world for him.

He tilted his head towards his chest and closed his eyes, trying to go through generic breathing exercises to calm himself down. He wasn’t sure if they were successful or not, but he still took a few seconds for himself before he opened his eyes. He was dressed the same in his dream with only his pants on. In that dreamlike state, he never got a good look at his old injury with the fight, but now he saw that it sped past the last few stages of healing and was a clean scar. 

Following the hard lines of his chest, the green diamond reflected the warm light that shone through his window. Alhaitham brought his hand up to touch it again, but it was the same one that the girl placed something in. With his fist right in front of him, he finally uncurled his fingers to see a small clover. It had a warm, light green glow and emitted pure Dendro energy. The round leaves matched the one that sprouted from behind her ear.

“Nahida.” Alhaitham murmured the name said to him, but he didn’t need to think too hard to know that no one went by that name in the original book. Maybe that wasn’t too outrageous, given what she knew about him. He closed his hand around the clover and held it to his chest, feeling as if he was walking a shaky line between confidence and cluelessness.

As he wondered what to do next, the clover started to glow again. He opened his hand to look at it and saw the warm light it emitted crawl towards the diamond. It should scare him after everything, and yet he felt at ease as he let the warmth course through his body. Slowly, the clover fell apart into an aura of Dendro energy. Once it was fully out of his hand, the gem had a healthy glow instead of a subtle, glossy finish.

So much new information churned in his mind, and yet Alhaitham felt above it all, somehow. He pushed himself off the bed and stood up, but he only managed to take a step before accidentally kicking the Divine Knowledge Capsule. He didn’t doubt Nahida, but he was still surprised to see it the same as before. It was still red with forbidden knowledge, but there was not a scratch or splotch of blood on it. Not only that, but his floor was completely clean, too. 

Alhaitham looked over at the desk where he propped up his phone to record himself. The screen was black, and next to it were his neatly folded clothes. Cautiously, he picked up the Divine Knowledge Capsule and brought it over to his desk. He sat it down and picked up the shirt he wore before everything. Just like the floor, it was completely free from any stains and rips. 

Without folding it again, he placed the shirt down to pick up his phone. He tapped the screen and was surprised to see it light up with life again. At some point the video must’ve stopped recording on its own. Alhaitham braced himself for what he was about to see as he opened up his photo app and selected the latest video. The first thing he noticed was the date at the top. The year was marked with only “X’s,” but the month and day were accurate. He swiped his finger down to reveal the lock screen again to show the current date. He was out for about four days.

Nahida said she wasn’t well versed in healing, and yet even after being unconscious for that long, all he felt was a little sleepy. She was looking forward to seeing him again; maybe after everything, he could say his thanks for taking care of him so well. For now, though, he finally pressed play on the video.

The video started all the same. He stood in the middle of the shot, Divine Knowledge Capsule in hand, and staring at the camera. Alhaitham remembered thinking over what he thought he should say during that time, which he saw as a positive sign that such an experience didn’t wipe his memory. After a few seconds, he watched himself move to start extracting the knowledge.

Alhaitham remembered the agony feeling like it lasted for hours and was a slow burn before finally boiling over, but the video showed that it was an instant takeover. For his own peace of mind, he had to turn the volume down to not be haunted by his own terrifying screams, but he kept his eyes open to watch himself fall into madness. His room should’ve looked like a massacre—it did with the way blood trailed down his face and coated his hands—but his current setting looked like nothing happened at all. 

He writhed and swayed on his feet, occasionally moving out of frame before somehow finding himself right in the middle again. In these crazed flashes, his messy face was marred with red pixels flashing before him and matching his eyes. His body swayed and jerked, moving in ways he didn’t know it could and should leave him suffering now, but it didn’t. Then, as a man possessed, he grabbed the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

Right before contact, the video corrupted. Colors blurred together and flashed so brightly on his screen that it hurt his eyes now. He tapped the screen without knowing what else to do, but Alhaitham quickly saw that it wasn’t as if his phone suddenly malfunctioned. Pausing the video stopped the pixels from flashing, and moving the slider bar at the bottom resumed the video like a slideshow. It was as if he actually recorded these nonsensical flashes. Instead of resuming the video, Alhaitham slowly scrolled through the four-minute-long light show to see if he could find some hidden meaning. If there was something, even after everything, he was still missing the clues to decipher it. All he could currently piece together was that a minute equaled one day he was out.

The one thing he didn’t get the chance to ask about was the word that was almost spelled out to him. He looked at each pixel to see if the letters were hidden there, but there was still nothing. Even reflecting back on the book’s story and lore brought forth nothing to his mind, as frustrating as it was. He wondered if it was somehow related to Nahida, but with what little evidence he had to support the claim, it felt like a fandom crack theory more than anything. While some were fun to ponder over, he never really liked such theories. He preferred his theories to be backed up with facts and logic.

Kusa… Whatever it was supposed to mean, would unfortunately have to wait. 

After that, the video flashed the same soothing green hue the clover had before finally recording his bedroom again. Almost out of frame, Alhaitham saw himself on the bed in the same state he woke up in and turned up the volume again. That was all the video showed for a few more seconds, and after taping the screen again and seeing what little time there was left, he thought that would be it.

“May the moongrass shine bright and beseech enlightenment on my nation.” Nahida’s voice rang out, solemn and a little hesitant to show any sign of hope. She was nowhere on screen for him to gauge her expression, but whatever sad face she might’ve shown was overshadowed by a light laugh. “Don’t do anything so dangerous again! I’ll see you soon, Alhaitham.”

With that, the video once more flashed green before finally ending.

He held his phone tight as he stared out at absolutely nothing. So many questions still hadn’t received their proper answer yet, but in those few short seconds, a few key things fell into place. 

The phrase now made sense. It was a cry for help for anyone with the power to hear it. Maybe it was locked away in the Divine Knowledge Capsule, waiting for someone with the capacity to reveal it. He could pick apart each word with Kaveh, but the last two were the ones that stood out the most. 

My nation. 

Such a phrase paired with the Dendro powers and unique eyes… he almost felt lightheaded coming to the inclusion that Nahida was Rukkhadevata. It almost all made sense, except for the fact that he was the one being shown this revelation. 

Shouldn’t this big reveal be for Kaveh and not him? This was Kaveh’s story. From Alhaitham’s perspective, the world literally revolved around him. This was a huge, groundbreaking, and revolutionary plot point that should be shown to the main character and not a nameless nobody like him. Just because she knew he wasn’t from this world, was that somehow enough justification to show him this instead of Kaveh?

He had to tell Kaveh. He had to get this information out there, and he was the only one who mattered that might take him remotely seriously. Even with an archon’s expansive knowledge that Kaveh would seek him out soon, it wasn’t quick enough. Truly, life would be so much easier if he could simply teleport. 

Alhaitham knew running out there to look for Kaveh would be pointless, but he still moved to get ready as if he was about to do exactly that. He started to get dressed, but he quickly released a problem he had not anticipated. 

Fabric against the gem felt… uncomfortable. He was planning on covering it since he had no idea how to fully explain this sudden body modification, but wearing a shirt for only a few seconds made him want to hunch his back to escape the feeling. Terrible news, he might have to go shopping soon. 

In the back of the wardrobe, he found a black mesh shirt with a chest cutout that could fit the diamond with room to spare. It did draw attention to it with the gold detail, but as long as he was comfortable, then whatever. It was the opposite of his original desire of hiding it, but it couldn’t be helped. It was odd that the original Alhaitham had something like this at the ready, but he had long since stopped worrying about what his book doppelgänger was up to at this point.

Fully dressed, Alhaitham hid the Divine Knowledge Capsule in a satchel before leaving his bedroom. Whether it was a letter coming to him or Kaveh, a new plot point was starting soon. He hardly had time to breathe from the last one, but he needed to act. 

His mail had formed a small pile after being ignored for a few days. He quickly grabbed it and flipped through unimportant letter after letter before finding one from Kaveh in the mix. Alhaitham immediately turned on his heels and entered back inside to rip it open and read. 

I know it wasn’t that long ago since I sent my last letter, but I hope this one reaches you quickly. I know it’s short notice, but please meet me at Aaru Village. I’ll explain when you’re here. 

Kaveh. 

Nahida sounded so uncertain explaining this to him, and yet it happened right away. What a humble archon, one that was silently asking for help in the only way she knew how. 

With the letter in hand, he set out on making preparations for his next trip.

Chapter Text

All Alhaitham did was make sure he had enough supplies for the journey before parting for Aaru Village. This time, he didn’t care for finesse, appearances, or still being that unassuming NPC. Now, he was a messenger, and he had to get this information to Kaveh if it was the last thing he did. If his friends messaged him on the Akasha asking him where he was, he wouldn’t even see it since he pulled it from his ear as soon as he was wandering Sumeru’s vast plains. Some part of him knew he should say something, but it could wait until after reaching Aaru Village.

His supplies included some Mora, the Divine Knowledge Capsule, and his phone. He may not have achieved his original goal of tinkering with it to prevent losing one’s mind, but what he did get out of it was far more valuable. While he still wanted to try to do what he could to prevent Kaveh and his friends from being possessed, the knowledge it contained was important enough to put in Kaveh’s hands now. How foolish he was to think otherwise, but maybe it worked out in some odd way.

Depending on what allies he did pick up in Aaru Village, maybe they could accomplish that goal together—Alhaitham now had first-hand experience of the power these Divine Knowledge Capsules had that didn’t come from the foresight of reading it in a story. If, for whatever reason, Kaveh and his new friends didn’t believe his words, there was his phone. 

For it being such an integral part of his life back at home, he had grown used to it being useless and not needing to carry it around. Now, it felt like a heavy weight in his pocket, but that might be because of the contents it had. That didn’t include the multiple fanarts of Kaveh and other characters. He was smart enough to delete those in case Kaveh got curious enough to boldly snoop around… but he might bring them back from his Recently Deleted folder later. 

Any other day, he might dream about getting a picture of Kaveh—maybe even a picture together if he was allowed to really be a fan—but now, that was the last thing on his mind. The video he took shouldn’t be for his eyes only, not when it had Rukkhadevata calling out for her hero.

The long journey to Aaru Village left him alone with his thoughts a lot. He moved as quickly as he could without completely exerting himself and becoming dual to his surroundings. With this valuable information in his pocket, he didn’t want to become blindsided and have it stolen from him right at the crucial moment. In his rush, he didn’t pick up a weapon, but he wasn’t going to turn around and fix that little mistake, nor was he going to try and finesse one from an Eremite or hilichurl.

Yet as he continued on his journey, the thought became tempting. He felt like he was being watched from the high trees and the low divots between the mountains. At first, he thought it was just his paranoia from knowing his new role and transporting the Divine Knowledge Capsule across the nation. However, as he continued, Alhaitham would see movement out of the corner of his eyes, and he knew he wasn’t delusional.

Acting casual and like he was just a simple scholar traveling the well-worn paths was too dangerous of a move, not when his new stalker obviously saw him as a target. Once again, at the very edge of his field of vision, he saw movement. This time, it was clearer—the tail end of a red scarf followed through with the motion of the wannabe attacker hiding behind a rock again. If Alhaitham had learned anything, it was that lots of Eremites wore red scarves, and he really did not have the time to be held up by any enemies. 

Alhaitham turned his head forward and was ready to bolt, but he only made it a few steps until there was a sharp pain in his chest. It incapacitated him instantly as he fell to his knees and gasped for air. He hunched his back, and his forehead almost came in contact with the dirt underneath his feet. He clutched his chest with his palms over the gem, as that was where most of the pain resonated. 

Up until now, he felt completely fine, but maybe the effects of using the Divine Knowledge Capsule caught up to him even after everything Nahida did. It felt like thorns were treading their way in between the fibers of his muscle. It burned, hot like he was on fire, and there was sandpaper between his lungs, and all he could do was accept it.

She did tell him she wasn’t a healer, so even if this was his end, he would not blame her as she did give him a second chance. He just didn’t use it to the fullest extent. Maybe it was his own rash behavior that led him to this end. He tried to steady his breathing just enough to hear the footsteps of whoever was stalking him for so long. He expected the heavy, languid steps of a hunter who knew their prey was in a weakened state and could be toyed with before the kill—that what villains always did in the original book—but he did not expect the footsteps to sound so… cute?

There were multiple pairs of footsteps, but they all moved in unison and sounded like water droplets splashing on a shallow pond, yet Alhaitham didn’t see any source of water around him before he collapsed. They came closer and closer, and Alhaitham was torn between wondering how something that should be a threat could sound so adorable. The pain in his chest grew stronger until the footsteps stopped a few feet in front of him.

Suddenly, the pain was gone. Alhaitham gasped for air once it was easier to breathe and whipped his head up to assess the threat in front of him, only to have to look right back down.

There were many fantasy creatures in Pairidaeza's Dreams, from monsters to allies to even just random wildlife to flesh out the world and lore. Alhaitham had his favorites as he read. He was keen on knowing what yokai would be involved since he knew the more popular ones, like kitsunes and oni, and hoped ones that didn’t normally get the spotlight would get some representation. There were a lot of animals seen in the real world that were slightly tweaked to fit the geography of Teyvat, and they were mildly interesting. Then there were the completely fictional creatures.

Out of all the pure creature-type of animals that didn’t double as some sort of enemy, the seelies were Alhaitham’s favorite. Like many things in the book, they were subtly interwoven throughout the lore with random tidbits and foreshadowing, but that never panned out. Apparently the seelie looked a little different in Inazuma than they did in Mondstadt and Liyue, so maybe they did in Sumeru as well? They weren’t described as different, but they weren’t described as looking the same either. 

Alhaitham stared at the four smiling faces of the short creatures in front of him. One wore a red scarf, and this close, Alhaitham could clearly see it was far smaller than he originally thought to match the potential seelie’s short stature. It almost felt silly thinking it belonged to a human. Next to it, there were three more working together to hold a scabbard made of woven vines above their heads. He could see the hilt of a sword poking up from the scabbard, which didn’t exactly make him feel better since they were technically armed. 

As if sensing that he was still on high alert, the three creatures holding the sword dropped it in front of Alhaitham like an offering. Then, they jumped up, and disappeared with a flourish of sparkles and flowers matching their pale earthy colors. All that was left was the green creature wearing the scarf. They stared at each other, completely unmoving until the creature tilted its head to the side.

The flower on top of the creatures’ round head started to spin for it to float in front of Alhaitham. It flapped its stubby arms and formed a clover, just like the one Nahida put in his hands. The clover manifested into pure Dendro energy, and finally, Alhaitham didn’t feel like this strange creature was a threat anymore. He reached out and touched the clover, which seemed to please the creature as it backed away to stand next to the sword.

On its own, it removed it from the scabbard and safely pushed it towards Alhaitham to take. With his free hand, Alhaitham did so. The clover didn’t last long and soon dissipated into a wisp of Dendro and floated around them, but Alhaitham did not fret as he instead felt soothed by the glistening Dendro particles. If he had to guess, these creatures were related to Nahida somehow, and this was just another way for her to reach out. 

Maybe this was what she meant as being more in tune with the Dendro element. He didn’t feel new power coursing through him, nor did he feel more aware of elemental beings, such as slimes or fungi. Before this, all he felt more aware of was the exposed diamond and the lingering need to touch it, as if that would do anything. Later on, he would like to see if these were seelies of Sumeru.

For now, though, he looked over his new sword. It was a solid weight in his hands and looked like it came straight from a fantasy world, which wasn’t too far from the truth. The rich green blade was embellished with a silver handle and gold accents. The swirling shapes and rich colors reminded him of Nahida’s dress, and he wondered if it was forged from her own creative vision. It looked nothing like the spear he used in the first fight or the weapons he had seen at the blacksmith. The flourishing cool-toned hues reminded him of Kaveh’s signature claymore, and briefly, he pushed aside the want to never get into another fight to wonder how he would look with this weapon as he fought back-to-back with Kaveh.

He looked back at the seelie. who, somehow, looked even more pleased that he accepted the weapon as it clapped its nubby hands together. The smile never left its face, but it was hard to tell if it could make any other expression to begin with. “Thank you.” He told the creature. If it was sent by Nahida, maybe it could pass the gratitude along too. 

“The Lord of Verdure told us to watch over Silver Nara.” The creature spoke, which was absolutely the last thing Alhaitham expected it to do. His eyes widened in shock before he saw more movement around them. A few similar creatures popped up to look at them. Some just stared, others disappeared right away, but a few waved at him before jumping down in a rush of flowers and sparkles. “We cannot handle the desert well, so Silver Nara must stay vigilant.”

Before Alhaitham could even think of where to start questioning this series of events, the talking creature jumped up and vanished in the same flurry of flowery sparkles like the others.

Honestly, there were a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but the biggest one he had was if he was always going to be in extreme distress when Nahida tried to pay him a visit in some way. There was no way it was intentional; the book version and this version of Rukkhadevata were too kind to be so malicious, but… there had to be a better way to go about this. His body might not be adept to such power; whether it was because he was supposed to be just an NPC or not a part of this world at all, he wasn’t sure.

Alhaitham finally pushed himself off of his knees to stand. Once again, he looked over the sword to feel how it felt in his hands. He put on the scabbard to rest by his hip. It felt different having it by his side, but traveling with his new weapon was the least of his problems. He wouldn’t be ungrateful, but he didn’t exactly know how to swing around a weapon that wasn’t in desperation. Maybe he could ask Kaveh to teach him. If Nahida realized he needed a weapon before he even arrived at Aaru Village, then experience might be his teacher before Kaveh could help him. 

Not even bothering to dust himself off, Alhaitham started to move again. Occasionally he could feel more eyes on him, but this time the creatures didn’t try to be sneaky about it and let him see them. Some were still shy and went back into hiding right away, but they lingered around long enough for Alhaitham to confirm it was still those smiling seelies.

With a strange journey mostly behind him, Alhaitham planned on stopping by Caravan Ribat to restock on supplies. Based on his map, the journey from the small trading hub to Aaru Village was rather short, but he knew the Wall of Samiel could be unforgiving to people who weren’t keen on trespassing extreme terrain, which, unfortunately, was him. There was a trail, but the sandstorms that bellowed at the foot of the wall made it hard to travel most of the time.

The plan was simple: freshen up with some food and water, memorize the map, and do what he could to keep sand out of his eyes and shoes, but he wasn’t given the chance as he felt the need to turn around. He had grown used to feeling eyes on him as he moved, but he couldn’t understand the pull he felt in his chest to be cautious of it now. The pain didn’t follow again, but something else bloomed within him as he saw Kaveh running at him. He was moving so quietly, he would’ve missed him if he wasn’t looking right at him.

Just as quickly, Kaveh reached out to grab his elbow and pull him from the main path that led into Caravan Ribat. “Come with me.”

Alhaitham didn’t resist as he was pulled along. He didn’t stumble, but Kaveh still held onto his arm as if he were seconds away from tripping over his own feet. Vendors he was planning to visit still yelled their sales pitches, but only Kaveh showed any sense of urgency in the atmosphere. He kept moving until he found a fork in the path and an easy spot to hide in behind some shop tents. Kaveh turned to hide there, pulling Alhaitham to follow along.

Kaveh placed his finger to his own lips to tell Alhaitham to be quiet as he stared past his shoulder, looking for whatever threat he deemed he needed to protect Alhaitham from. Alhaitham wasn’t planning on speaking until Kaveh did first anyways, but the main question on his mind was already answered by the sound of multiple footsteps.

“What the!? Where did he go!?” An annoyed, gruff voice, slightly muffled by distance. asked. There was a pause, but Alhaitham didn’t turn around to see if the voice was asking anyone in particular. They answered themselves. “Ugh, how did we lose ‘em? They were just here a second ago…”

From their hiding spot, they waited. Alhaitham didn’t dare relax until he saw Kaveh’s gaze move past his shoulder until whoever it was was finally out of his line of sight. Even then, Kaveh stayed still for a few moments longer, just to be safe, before his shoulders fully relaxed. “You were too careless. You should’ve noticed those hopeless amateurs trailing you a long time ago.”

If Alhaitham had to guess, it was Eremites. Of course it was; they were the main bad guys to beat up in the fourth book. First was hilichurls, second was vishaps, third was nobushi, and now Eremites. He must’ve gotten so used to having the seelies watch him that he didn’t realize enemy eyes were on him instead. This was exactly what he was warned about. Instead of chiding himself on top of Kaveh’s scolding for not expecting the obvious, Alhaiham showed his gratitude. “Thank you, Kaveh.”

“If you didn’t notice them, then how did you notice me when-” Whatever else Kaveh was about to say, he stopped himself. Now that the threat was gone, he was looking over Alhaitham to see if he was injured in any way. His lookover didn’t last long, as he soon saw something that was off and not there before. His mouth hung open mid-word, and he had his hand raised as if he wanted to inspect himself, but Alhaitham took a half-step back to try and prevent that from happening. 

Or at least, he tried to, but Kaveh still had a hold on his arm.

Realizing this himself, he let him go and dropped his hand. “You’re telling me about that later.” He said, pointing at the diamond. 

Alhaitham didn’t object. It would probably be easier to explain with the video anyway. “What happened in Aaru Village?”

“A lot happened in Aaru Village.” Kaveh finally moved to leave the hiding spot, and Alhaitham didn’t need a cue to follow him. He was silent for a few minutes as they walked out of the trading hub. Kaveh followed the path as if he knew it well, and Alhaitham was thankful to suddenly have a guide. He didn’t voice his gratitude, not when Kaveh finally spoke up when no one else could possibly overhear them. “Dori found the hideout, but there weren’t any Divine Knowledge Capsules to be found. It originated from the desert, and it made its way to Port Ormos, but now it’s nowhere to be seen.”

Kaveh must’ve not dared entertain the thought that it was in Alhaitham’s hands this whole time. Even after everything, Kaveh was known to trust people a little too easily—his heart was pure like that—but now Alhaitham was going to be the one to potentially break that trust. He hoped he would be able to properly explain himself to gain it back.

Unbothered by this moral dilemma Alhaitham was silently going through, Kaveh continued. “Candace told me that knowledge from the Akademiya has been completely cut off to the desert,” he said, talking a mile a minute. “They have a completely different version of Sumeru’s history than what’s been presented in the Akademiya. It was said that King Deshret sacrificed himself to cure the citizens of Eleazar. However, somehow this has been twisted into Rukkhadevata doing it all. The Temple of Silence has been trying to peacefully find the truth in this history, but groups causing us trouble have been taking less than ideal means.” 

It didn’t take long for Alhaitham to get lost in the added information. New names and places were thrown at him. Nothing like King Deshret, the Temple of Silence, or even Eleazar were ever mentioned. Now it felt like he was getting half the story, but what was the point of getting mad he wasn’t reading something interesting when he was living it?

Kaveh continued on, giving him a condensed rundown version of his explorations through pyramids, underground ruins, and other lore-rich places that weren’t even foreshadowed in the book. Alhaitham stayed as attentive as he could, but as each new name and location was said, he was acutely aware of one thing that wasn’t mentioned. Kaveh’s story continued on, completely unbothered by the sandstorm around them, as he moved to talk about Isak and Khalil. 

Alhaitham perked up at the start of that “K” name, but his excitement was just as quickly dashed. Even in the sudden information dump, there wasn’t that one final piece he hoped would connect their puzzle pieces together. “What about Kusa?” There had to be more to the word, but that was all he could say.

Kaveh looked back at him, confused. “Kusayla?” He asked, speaking over the sound of bellowing winds carrying loose sand. “I think Dehya mentioned him once.”

Alhaitham opened his mouth, only to quickly close it as he almost got a mouthful of sand. Some part of him hoped he would get a gut feeling—maybe even a feeling in his chest—that the name would spark something within him, but it didn’t. While he was glad he still wasn’t stuck in that dream-like world, he still wished he had a bit more time to ask a few more questions. Nahida was confident that he would figure most of it out on his own, but did they have the time to do that?

If he couldn’t ask about Kusa—if that was a question that only the real protagonist and not some NPC could ask—then maybe he could’ve at least gotten some insight as to what more in tune with Dendro than average fully meant. 

To completely cover his tracks, he would still ask Dehya about Kusayla, just to make sure he was right in the intuition that this man wasn’t related. He answered Kaveh honestly. “I don’t know if it’s him, but I was almost told this name in my research.” The odd wording was not ignored. Kaveh studied him with a look he hadn’t been leveled with since the intervention right after their first run-in with Eremites. Alhaitham hated that look, hated that he was always on the edge of being seen as trustworthy or not. “It’s related to this.”

Kaveh followed Alhaitham’s finger to where he pointed to the diamond. Around them, the path started to clear up as they got closer to Aaru Village. Kaveh heaved a sigh, maybe coming to some resolution that Alhaitham couldn’t clearly hear as the sand settled around them. “You have a lot to explain once we’re behind closed doors.”

He did and he would, but there was one thing he felt like he just couldn’t wait to say anymore. Right here, out in the opening, he was willing to be honest with Kaveh and explain that he used a Divine Knowledge Capsule, but he wasn’t given the chance. 

Just like in Port Ormos, an arrow was shot in their direction. This time, however, it was Alhaitham who reacted first. The arrow was infused with Electro energy, making it fly towards them faster. Alhaitham grabbed Kaveh’s arm and pulled him away, and not even a second later, the arrow struck the ground mere inches away from where his foot was. It wouldn’t have hit—it was a warning shot that was meant to be a distraction. 

Right after, Kaveh ripped his arm away from Alhaitham’s hold and summoned his claymore to block a spear. They were ambushed right outside of Aaru Village, but instead of a group of Eremites trying to overwhelm them with numbers, it was a clean two-on-two fight. Alhaitham wasn’t given the chance to see who was the other attacker as the man with the bow quickly descended on him. 

White bandages wrapped around his body, but instead of protecting any wounds, they hovered inches away from his arms and hummed with Electro energy. Runes embellished the bandages, but Alhaitham couldn’t clearly see what they meant. The bandages led down to claws that encompassed the man’s hands as he pulled his bow taunt to launch another arrow.

As expected, experience would be teaching him how to wield a sword instead of a tutor. He pulled the sword out of the scabbard to defend himself as he heard Kaveh and the other attacker clash weapons somewhere behind him. His gem might not let him infuse his attacks with Dendro energy, but he could still inflict physical damage if necessary. Alhaitham rushed forward, closing the distance to put the ranged weapon at a disadvantage, but such a move did little to deter the attacker. 

If there was any shock on the stranger’s face, it was hidden by the white jackal helmet that covered his eyes. He changed the grip on his bow and held it like a sword. Alhaitham watched the movement, trying to plan his next move to block the swing that was sure to come. He didn’t want to take this Vision-bearing stranger out mostly because he didn’t think he had the strength to do so in comparison, but if he could keep him occupied enough for Kaveh to deal with the other and not die, then Alhaitham would call it a personal victory.

The bow swung at him with purple lighting trailing behind the arch. Alhaitham raised his sword to parry the attack, but the lightning-infused bow was quicker. He expected the blunt pain to radiate across his body, but it never came.

The bow flew out of the man’s clawed grip as the attack was reflected by a green shield. It disappeared as soon as it came, preventing Alhaitham from getting a closer look at it. Not only did it disarm the man, but it knocked him back several feet. Alhaitham didn’t let his guard down, but he spared a glance over to Kaveh to see if it was somehow his doing. 

It was hard to tell since he was still fighting with the other attacker. The man wore different, more revealing attire, but he too wore a jackal helmet as matching bandages hovered around his bare arms. The only difference was his were purple. Alhaitham barely saw the man’s weapon of choice was a spear before the other attacker was on him again. 

He didn’t bother picking up his bow again. Alhaitham still kept his sword raised to protect and defend himself as electric talons tried to reach for him. Once again, as an unassuming NPC with no Vision, all he could do was play defensive and absently wonder why he kept getting into fights he wanted nothing to do with. 

He should focus on the fight he currently was in instead of letting his thoughts wander, but Alhaitham quickly realized something. The man wasn’t actively trying to hurt him, nor did it seem like he was teasing him with his lack of sword fighting skills. He was trying to disarm him, or maybe he was trying to keep him distracted from the main fight behind them too. The jackal helmet was making it hard to read him and his true motivations. Alhaitham deflected the claws that lashed out to him, but he never felt like he truly had the upper hand in the fight. 

Suddenly, the man stomped his foot in the sand, creating dusty clouds and flashes of lighting as he slid back a few feet. The sand made Alhaitham cough, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open to see his next move. In the fight, he had switched positions with the man and was now able to see how Kaveh was fairing. 

Kaveh swung his claymore around as if it weighed nothing and easily blocked each swift attack from the spear. Each nimble strike was countered until the man tried to throw out a kick, but Kaveh was prepared. He grabbed the man’s ankle and pulled the man off balance. He didn’t stop there, and with a strength that came from being the protagonist, he tossed the man at the one that was fighting Alhaitham. 

The attacker with the purple bandages tried to right himself in the air, but he still needed the one with the white bandages to catch him as they slid towards the bridge leading into Aaru Village. Sand flew around them in their wake, but Alhaitham was still able to see Kaveh find him in the clouds and run towards him. Alhaitham met him halfway.

It was a quick look over to make sure they were unharmed, but it was enough to put Alhaitham at ease even though he still panted with exertion. A full-on fight was completely different from the workouts he used to do, he quickly realized, and it had been a while since he actually exercised. He would have to work on his stamina alongside his swordsmanship with Kaveh.

They weren’t attacked again, but Kaveh and Alhaitham were still on guard as they let the dust settle to see exactly who their attackers were. Their silhouettes could still be seen against the sandy clouds with the hot sun behind them. The staredown was mutual. Finally, the dust settled, and they were able to see that the duo no longer wore their helmets and bandages. 

Alhaitham felt like he was experiencing whiplash. Finally, in front of him, there was Cyno, arguably the second coolest character in the fourth book. But Cyno was supposed to be on Kaveh’s side, yet here he was attacking him. Once again, he was wondering the reason why Kaveh never mentioned Cyno in his letter, but now he was equally wondering who the hell the guy next to him was.

Was he a part of Cyno’s lore that was completely left out because the book suddenly stopped at such an abrupt, unhappy ending? Was this what he and so many other people were missing out on when the author apparently decided they were bored with their book and wanted to end it at such an anti-climatic moment to deter new and old readers from bothering them? What the fuck.

Or… were the changes from the original story getting more and more noticeable?

With eyes still on them, the man Alhaitham fought leaned closer to Cyno and whispered something to him. It was too quiet to hear what was said, but it made Cyno’s eyes instantly harden on Alhaitham. His mouth twitched, tsk ing at him. He pointed his spear at him, and Kaveh returned the gesture by blocking Alhaitham’s body with his greatsword again, but no one moved to make another attack. The man next to Cyno relaxed his position and held his arms above his head, suddenly seeming bored with the showdown. Alhaitham did not match his relaxed posture as he kept his grip strong on his sword.

“You.” Cyno finally said, raising his head high in an attempt to stare down at him. “Do not think you can escape my judgment just because you managed to escape our attack.”

Of course. Judgment was Cyno’s whole character because nothing more could be truly fleshed out. He spared another glance at the other man, wondering if he was a matra, too. He knew exactly what he was being judged for, but Kaveh spoke up instead to defend him.

“ Judgment? That’s what you’re calling this?” Kaveh asked. “Or would elimination perhaps be a more accurate description?” Alhaitham saw the muscles on Kaveh’s arm flex as he tightened his grip on his claymore. He didn’t get to appreciate it at first, but he did fling Cyno across their makeshift battlefield without struggling at all. He was so cool.

“If I used my full strength,” Cyno spared Kaveh a glance, “you would not have been able to stop me.” Kaveh’s face hardened as if it were some sort of challenge to try him again, but he still didn’t move as Cyno continued. “Though styled like an assassination, I sought only to ensure that my target would be unable to flee or resist.” Once again, he was looking at Alhaitham. “Standard practice for the matra, you know.”

“Eh,” the guy next to him spoke, shrugging his shoulders as he dropped his arms, “I think we added a more personal touch. You can’t really blame us, though. Right, Alhaitham?”

He didn’t expect the new character to know his name, and he must’ve let the surprise accidentally slip on his face. He tried to collect himself and school his expression, but Kaveh must’ve noticed. 

“Who are these people?” Kaveh asked him, but he didn’t remove his claymore just yet.

“General Mahamatra Cyno, head of the matra at the Akademiya.” Alhaitham finally spoke. “He’s a formidable hunter and the ultimate nightmare for anyone who has committed academic crimes.” Was he praising him a little more than he should, especially since he tried to hurt him and Kaveh? Maybe, but such a cool character deserved it. He always wanted to see him in action, but he never expected that he would be the target of his wrath.

Even after all this time having the Divine Knowledge Capsule, Cyno never set out to punish him for such a blatant academic crime. Until the first letter, he always thought he was in the desert doing what secondary characters did best and helping the protagonist. He never thought he would care to keep an eye on him. Alhaitham must’ve grown complacent in his day-to-day life trying to be helpful. 

After such an introduction, the other guy batted his eyes and looked at Alhaitham expectantly for his own grand narration, but he couldn’t give one. The man held his hands out as if Alhaitham could physically give him that introduction, only to give up a few seconds later. “Temple of Silence leader, Sethos.” The man, Sethos, said, trying to mimic Alhaitham’s voice. It wasn’t that accurate, so he immediately gave up and continued in his normal voice. “Believe it or not, I’m here to play moderator. We’re looking for something,” he gestured to himself and Cyno, “you need that something,” he then pointed to Kaveh, “you have that something.” Finally, he pointed to Alhaitham. “I believe we can all work together and cobble up a common goal for us to achieve.”

Sethos was perceptive, but so was Kaveh. He immediately caught onto what he was implying. He stared at Alhaitham, and it was a gaze that he couldn’t return. 

He was giving him the chance to explain himself, but Cyno was not as kind. Judgment showed no mercy. “I have been pursuing this student for a long time. I urge you, stand back and do not seek to defend him any longer. Otherwise… there will be consequences.” 

With such a statement, Alhaitham found himself needing to look at Kaveh to gauge his reaction. He expected hurt and maybe contempt, but all he saw was a strong protagonist still not willing to back down from what he believed in. For some reason, he believed that Alhaitham was worth defending, even though he had been lying to him this whole time. Kaveh shook his head in defiance. “I’m not going to stand by and do nothing.” 

“C’mon.” Sethos urged. “I sensed it during our fight. Show us what you got. I thought about grabbing it myself to save us from getting sand in our eyes, but I was worried you would get jealous.” Sethos once again showed his palms to play the innocent moderator, but he did spare a glance at Kaveh at the little jealous comment. Alhaitham didn’t know what he meant with that look, but he did know what he was asking for.

Next to him, Kaveh gasped, but Alhaitham closed his eyes and turned his head. It was pointless trying to deny it, but then again, before this sudden altercation, he was planning on showing Kaveh right then and there. He wished that this was under better circumstances and he could explain himself calmly and with the evidence he collected, but everyone was looking at him like they wanted to see the device, not listen to anything they would consider an excuse. Resolved, he sheathed his sword.

The Divine Knowledge Capsule floated above his palm. The red light was bright now that it wasn’t hidden away in his robes. It looked just the same as when he extracted the knowledge. and subconsciously, Alhaitham found himself being chilled to the bone as his body became on high alert being around such a dangerous thing. His chest started to ache, but he didn’t clutch at it again. 

“I thought the matra at Port Ormos took it?” Kaveh asked, his voice hushed in disbelief. “You… you had it this whole time?”

He would do whatever he needed to do to gain Kaveh’s trust back later. For now, he focused on the current enemy—and side character he didn’t know where to place—first. “What does the capsule mean to you?” He asked instead. “Why is the General Mahamatra in the desert?” It could be argued that it was to track Alhaitham down, but he didn’t quite believe that was the only reason. Cyno would be able to handle that on his own, not to mention that he sure took his time finding the ideal moment to strike. Also, he was teaming up with the leader of an organization that, on a base level, went against the Akademiya’s teachings. 

The plot might be off, and he might be trying to make it worse by wanting to completely change the ending so Kaveh and his friends could live, but he didn’t think he could change a character whom he hasn’t properly met yet’s motivation. In the original book, it did not take much for Cyno to join Kaveh and his cause, but maybe that was because the story was from Kaveh’s perspective. Maybe he finished whatever he needed to do with the Temple of Silence and was able to fully commit himself to doing what was right. Now, he still seemed on the fence. 

Alhaitham pressed further. “As far as I’m aware, the other matras have been speculating about your disappearance.” It wasn’t just matras, but students and staff too. Alhaitham looked back at Sethos, trying to put all the pieces together. “Have you been given a mission that is… let's say, morally dubious? Or perhaps you’ve experienced a change of judgment? If I was the real target of your mission, what was stopping you from simply using your authority and resources to judge me within the walls of the Akademiya?” He was a mere feeble scholar in comparison. For a while, he didn’t have the sword or this odd gem, and he barely moved anywhere. He would’ve been an easy target.

Sethos smiled and crossed his arms, while Cyno tilted his head downwards. “A new perspective can surely change the heart.” Sethos said.

Alhaitham couldn’t express how deeply he related to that sentence.

“Should’ve known you’d still be difficult to work with.” Cyno grumbled, just loud enough to make sure Alhaitham heard him say it. Alhaitham had nothing to say in response. Of course he would be difficult towards others to make Kaveh’s life easier, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Book Alhaitham had some history with the man to make such a personalized complaint.

Finally, Kaveh got rid of his claymore with a wave of his hand and a rush of gold specks. “You two…” he started, only to shake his head and focus on Alhaitham. “Really? This whole time it was in your hands? Do you know how much time and energy I could’ve focused on other things if I knew it was with you?”

It was not the best way to go about it since he didn’t even complete his original goal. There was so much he had to explain and he wanted to, but a new pair of footsteps stopped him from doing so. Alhaitham turned to face the newcomer. 

“Ahem, well, look at you rowdy bunch, acting all tough and self-righteous over there.”

“Dehya!” Kaveh exclaimed, the conflicted expression instantly removed from his face. This was a character Alhaitham knew and Kaveh had mentioned—and she wasn’t outright attacking them, so he also felt relieved by her presence. “Finally, someone I can actually trust.” 

That feeling of relief was instantly gone.

Dehya stopped by Kaveh’s side and put her hand on her hip, matching Sethos’ relaxed posture. Kaveh completely turned to face her, blocking Alhaitham out entirely. He couldn't exactly blame him. “You got to help me out here. Otherwise, another fight is going to break out.”

“I did my part,” Sethos excused himself with a laugh, “any new fight is between you guys.”

Dehya tilted her head to look past Kaveh at Alhaitham. He returned her gaze and let her see her fill. Even with such a demonic device on his person, he wanted to come across as not a threat. He was simply someone who wanted to help Kaveh. Dehya should be the same. Whatever conclusion she came to, she kept it to herself. 

“Sure looks like another fight might break out.” She said. Cyno had still not put away his spear, but the comment did prompt him to stab it into the ground to stand guard. “Listen, I know you academic types love to fill your big brains with self-righteous morality, and lord your empty virtues over each other…” With that, she started to move to stand between the two groups. “But how dare you bring your petty dispute into the safe haven of Aaru Village.” With an annoyed huff, she crossed her arms. “It seems like someone is going to have to beat some sense into your thick skulls until you finally learn to respect these grounds!”

All Alhaitham did was defend himself and Kaveh from a surprised attack, and yet he felt the need to duck his head, apologize, and sit in a corner to think over what he had done. Sethos clapped his hands together, ducked his head, and smiled. “Sorry, Dehya!” He apologized, but it was hard to tell if he was taking the whole thing seriously or not.

Alhaitham looked over at Cyno to see if he would follow suit. He didn’t, and it looked like he wasn’t planning to with the way that he glared at Alhaitham. There had to be some sort of tension between him and his book counterpart to experience this level of vitriol. While Cyno upheld his moral judgment religiously, he did not look down on people who broke that code. Even if they were criminals, he treated them like people, not like he disdained their mere presence.

If Cyno wasn’t going to apologize, then Alhaitham would remain just as quiet. Now, he was looking at Cyno a little differently. Not only did he have to be cautious around him because he had the Divine Capsule Knowledge, but he might notice some inconsistencies in his behavior and actions on a different level than Azmi or Gregor could.

“Hey! Did you two hear what I just said?” Dehya scolded again, louder this time. Rolling her eyes, she looked over at Sethos. “At least you’re reasonable.”

Alhaitham was planning on apologizing to win the little staredown and show that he was a respectable person, but the wind started to pick up around them. Sand however around them in dusty flurries, almost encasing them in a sandy dome. The winds were inconsistent and soon settled, but it was a momentary calm before they picked up again.

“Shit, another sandstorm.” Dehya blocked her eyes from an incoming gust.

“Hey! All of you, quickly! We have to take cover!” A new voice called out over the wind from somewhere behind Cyno and Sethos, but Alhaitham couldn’t clearly see where it was coming from.

“If Candace is calling us in, then it’s about to get bad.” Dehya said and tried to look back at where the sandstorm was coming from, but she soon had to shield her eyes again. “Let’s go.” She started to walk towards Aaru Village. Sethos moved out of the way to follow suit, but Cyno still pinned Alhaitham down with his glare. Dehya wasn’t having it. “Geez, are all you Akademiya folks such hard work? Move it!”

Prompted to act, Kaveh grabbed Alhaitham’s elbow again and pulled him along. He didn’t try shaking him off, not even when they moved past Cyno to let him take up the back. Even with Kaveh by his side, he wasn’t too keen on letting Cyno keep his eyes on him without him being able to return the favor. Alhaitham had grown used to living in this world, but Cyno might see something out of place. 

Thankfully, his phone was still a heavy weight in his pocket. He wasn’t sure if Sethos and Cyno could sense such an otherworldly piece of technology or if they were too focused on the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

Kaveh kept his hold on his arm as they crossed the bridge leading into Aaru Village. He immediately let go once they crossed the threshold, and Alhaitham was left wondering if he was at war with himself wanting to keep Alhaitham safe or still keep him at a distance after his recent betrayal. He tried not to let either option hurt too much or think too deeply about it.

With Candace’s guidance, they were led into a house built into the mountain. The wind picked up behind them, and some sand wisped into the house as she closed the door by pushing her full weight against it. Just like with Dehya, Candace was a character Alhaitham knew, and he tried to get a subtle look at her to see what was different from her book counterpart. He couldn’t see much without blatantly staring. 

Candace made sure the door was locked before sighing. She toed some of the sand that came inside with the tip of her shoe. A lot more had come in than desired. She stepped away to not make the mess worse and gestured towards the table. “Please sit and rest. I’ll bring refreshments.”

“Thanks, Candace.” Dehya didn’t hesitate at all as she went to take a seat.

Behind her, Kaveh followed, and since Kaveh was moving to sit, Alhaitham did as well. Sethos lingered by where Cyno was standing with his back against a wall. They exchanged a glance before Sethos shrugged and sat down as well. Alhaitham wished he moved sooner since where he was sat, he was across from Kaveh, and once again Cyno was watching him from behind.

The room was immediately cast in a heavy silence. Dehya had her arms crossed, her eyes switching between Alhaitham and Cyno behind him. Kaveh had his hands folded in front of him on the table with his head low. Between his bangs, he could see Kaveh’s eyes occasionally on him, but it never lasted long. He hoped that he had the power to get Kaveh to trust him just a little more again. 

“Oof,” Sethos decided to be brave enough to break the silence. “Talk about awkward. The air feels so thick and heavy, I feel like I should excuse myself to let this lovers quarrel play out.”

Alhaitham was normally good at keeping his more extreme emotions concealed, but that comment made his breath hitch, his body stiffen, and his face pale. Alhaitham didn’t have a romantic relationship when he first walked into this world and hadn’t for a while, so he didn’t think about that here. He thought about friendships, family, and acquaintances to try and keep up appearances, but he did not think about a partner. 

There wasn’t anything that hinted that Book Alhaitham was in a relationship, but if he was in one, maybe it was a secret? This whole time, was he in a relationship and didn’t even realize it? And out of all the people, it was with Cyno? Alhaitham didn’t read insert fics with Cyno, it was always with Kaveh, so why couldn’t—

“Don’t make tasteless jokes.” Cyno scolded, and the tone was so flat and unamused that it was easy to pick up on how Cyno was genuinely annoyed by such a comment instead of being embarrassed by it.

Alhaitham relaxed then. Good, that was good. From looking over Book Alhaitham’s belongings after living in his house for a few months, he did not see any mention of Cyno that hinted anything besides his authority in the Akademiya. Alhaitham collected himself with a few subtle calming breaths and accessed the new atmosphere in the room. Dehya was no longer looking at him, but now Sethos and Kaveh were.

Sethos made a surprised face before humming in acknowledgment. Kaveh said nothing and turned his head away. Alhaitham hated this.

“My sincere apologies, everyone.” Candace finally came back with drinks in hand, saving Alhaitham from this staredown. She placed a large pitcher on the table along with enough cups for everyone. “This is the home of the village chief. I will have to ask you to make do until the sandstorm dies down.” At the head of the table, she looked over the new guests. “I see we have some new visitors here. My name is Candace, and I am a protector of Aaru Village.”

“Our savior!” Sethos gladly took one of the cups to pour himself a drink. “Thank you for your quick thinking back there. I’m Sethos.”

“Ah, it’s nice to put a face to the name. Dehya has told me a lot about you.”

“See, Alhaitham?” Sethos elbowed him like they were somehow now best friends. Alhaitham shifted away from the touch. Unbothered by being rejected, Sethos continued, “I would’ve accepted something as simple as that.”

“So you’re Alhaitham.” Candace said before Alhaitham could speak the truth that he genuinely didn’t know Sethos. “And Kaveh has told us a lot about you as well.” 

He could only imagine how positive it was before Alhaitham showed that he wasn’t trustworthy by hiding the Divine Knowledge all this time. 

Alhaitham was given only a second to reflect on his actions before Candace continued. “Alright, now that we’re all better acquainted, we should return to the topic at hand.” With the drinks delivered, she stepped away to stand between Alhaitham and Cyno. “As a guardian, it’s my responsibility to protect the village residents from harm. I was observing your conflict from afar, even before the sandstorm started. Now that you have set foot in Aaru Village itself, it is all the more my duty to make sure that you pose no threat whatsoever to us. So please, have an honest conversation with each other and put your hostile feelings to rest. If anyone dares to start anything again under this roof… I will not hesitate to send them out for some quality time with the creatures of the sandstorm.”

Dehya still had her arms crossed and her mouth twisted in a subtle scowl.

“That goes for you, too, Dehya. Do I make myself clear?”

Dehya uncrossed her arms and leaned against the back of the chair. “Yeah, completely clear.”

“Wonderful. Now, who will begin?”

Alhaitham knew it should probably be him. 

“I have nothing to hide, so I have no shame in explaining myself.” Cyno beat him to speaking up first. “While Alhaitham wasn’t wrong about the other matras not knowing my location, it wasn’t because of a morally dubious mission. I exiled myself.”

Of course he did. That was a logical reason as to why he wasn’t around. Now, Alhaitham was able to keep his emotions to himself as he listened to the realization. 

“A little while ago, I realized that there was data missing in the Akademiya’s project planning and development files. What little they did report did not match the project’s actual progress. As General Mahamatra, I had the responsibility and authority to request an audit. However, to my surprise, the one responsible for the erroneous data was none other than Grand Sage Azar himself.”

It always led back to Azar. Perfect. They truly did have a common enemy that they could hopefully team up against and defeat together. Alhaitham would prefer that over this tense environment.

Cyno continued. “I tried to investigate the issue myself before submitting an official audit request, but I soon found that all leads and potential pieces of incriminating evidence were carefully concealed from me. I began to realize that they were cautious of me from the very beginning. Unsurprisingly, my audit request was rejected, and the Grand Sage told me the power of General Mahamatra is granted by the sages. You have no right to judge us.”

After completely erasing the memory of people who were possessed by the welcoming party, denying someone as powerful as Cyno from looking at pieces of evidence felt like nothing in comparison. They truly were up to no good, and Alhaitham could only imagine what they were really trying to achieve by testing the limits of this power. If only the author wrote a little more at the end, just to give him a clue as to what the main goal of rewriting history was. It was more than just writing certain things down in books; it was completely erasing people from existence. 

“I realized then that to the Grand Sage, the matra are nothing more than tools for the sages to assert and maintain their control over knowledge. The vow I first took is meaningless to the Akademiya of today… so I exiled myself before they could take action against me. Sethos is an old acquaintance of mine, so I teamed up with him to find the truth of what all is being hidden.”

“Hello.” Sethos cut in with a small wave, just to break up some of the tension.

“Once we find the truth, I will administer judgment by my own name.” Cyno finally finished his explanation.

“Well, your goal seems to align with mine with investigating the sages.” Kaveh finally spoke up. It was off-putting having him be quiet for so long. “But why target Alhaitham? If you exiled yourself, then there's no need to attack on behalf of the Akademiya.”

Cyno finally moved away from the wall to stand by the table, but he wasn’t relaxed enough to sit down. “When I was first assigned the mission, I was told to be cautious of a blond-haired traveler. With this in mind, I took note of who was closest to him, and Alhaitham was one of them. From there, I heard about the fight you two had with members of the Ayn Al-Ahmar with a Divine Knowledge Capsule involved. It wasn’t on the Eremites, it wasn’t with the blond traveler, and with Sethos’ help, I realized it was nowhere in the desert. Where else could it be?”

He already pulled it out, so there was no point in playing innocent. “Yes, it was with me all this time.” Alhaitham admitted. “I wondered how something so powerful could’ve stayed in my hands stress-free for so long. I should’ve known I was being watched in some way.” Maybe not in his home to see exactly what he was doing, but his daily routine. “I did not keep it for personal gain, power, or wisdom. I kept it for-”

For Kaveh. He kept it from him to protect him. He thought it was the right thing to do.

“I kept it to see what was being hidden. When Kaveh first arrived at the Akademiya, he was greeted by various students welcoming him with open arms. It wasn’t a benevolent greeting; it was a mind-controlled scare tactic. I was away when it happened, and no one knew a thing about it. I only heard about it through sheer luck,” he left it at that, hoping no one would ask for him to elaborate on how he got lucky, “and knew the sages were untrustworthy. I exhausted all my resources until I came across a Divine Knowledge Capsule. In a rush, I took it from the matra there.”

Once more, Alhaitham removed the Divine Knowledge Capsule from his robes and placed it on the table between everyone. It remained seated for only a second before it started to hover on its own. Everyone stared at it with different expressions. Sethos was in awe, Candace and Dehya were wary, and Cyno glared at it. Kaveh’s expression was hard to read. Alhaitham started to pull his hand away, but the red aura lingering from the Divine Knowledge Capsule curled around his fingers. 

He quickly pulled his hand back to stop the pull, but it was too late. The pain of the knowledge trying to seep into his mind managed to sink one of its claws into his flesh. He did not feel his mind blank with the need to harm, but his body still reacted to its poison. For the second time that day, he placed a hand over his chest and choked on the breath he was trying to suck in.

Chairs shifted around him as people moved into action. A hand was placed on his back, soothing him with easy strokes that he tried to match his breathing to. It helped, and even though there was nothing else that could be done, he soon found himself feeling better. He didn’t try to extract any information this time, but he couldn’t understand why it tried to latch onto him now all of a sudden. Maybe he had the weakest constitution without a Vision, or maybe it was because he had done it before. 

The Divine Knowledge Capsule was off the table, but Alhaitham was more concerned over who was touching him. He looked up to see Kaveh lingering above him, hand still on his back, but that conflicted look never left his face. “Alhaitham, did you…?”

He didn’t finish the question, but Alhaitham knew what he was asking. “I did.” Kaveh’s fingers clutched on his back. He could only imagine what Kaveh wanted to tell him right now, but he wanted to finally explain himself and everything he discovered. “For that month apart, I did everything I could to obtain the knowledge inside without extracting it, but that yielded no results. I had no other options. I was shown this forbidden history, and then I went insane. I was saved by Rukkhadevata and was unconscious for days, but she kept me safe. She is trapped somewhere in the Akademiya, and we need to-”

Alhaitham tried to stand to make his point stronger, but he wasn’t as unaffected by the Divine Knowledge Capsule’s subtle pull as he thought. He almost fell to his knees, but with Kaveh still by his side, he stayed on his feet. Kaveh moved his arm lower to wrap around Alhaitham’s waist and pull him close for their hips to touch. For the first time since he came here, he cursed himself for being such a weak NPC.

“May the moongrass shine bright and beseech enlightenment on my nation. That was her final message to me before I woke up. I don’t know why she chose me of all people to relay it, but I’m not going to sit around and deny her maybe the only lifeline she has.” There. The message was out, and finally his body seemed to relax that the pressure was off his shoulders. He adjusted his position to stand on his own, but Kaveh didn’t pull his arms away just yet.

“When did you wake up, exactly?” Sethos asked. He was holding the Divine Knowledge Capsule now and was keeping it far away from Alhaitham.

“Today.”

“What!? You woke up and immediately ran here?” Kaveh asked. “How did you manage to even fight?”

Honestly, Alhaitham had no idea. Adrenaline could be the cause, or maybe the seelie gave him a boost of energy that he had finally depleted.

“The sandstorm doesn’t look like it’s going to go down anytime soon.” Candace butted in. “How about we call it a night, regroup in the morning, and go from there? The guest bedrooms are small, but it should fit us all if we share.” She alleviated the growing tension again. Given that the sandstorm trapped them in this building, it wasn’t like they had any other choice but to agree. Lucky for them, there were three guest bedrooms, which made dividing up who went with who easy.

Alhaitham said nothing to not assume, but with the way Kaveh never let go of him, it was safe to say that they were sharing a room again. 

Candace showed them the available rooms before she excused herself to talk to the village chief and Dehya helped clean up the sand that came inside. Cyno took the Divine Knowledge Capsule from Sethos, and all Alhaitham could do was watch it happen as he went to whatever room he was occupying. After that, he didn’t feel like he could put up a fight and say it was better off with Kaveh.

Kaveh closed the door with his shoe and helped Alhaitham sit on the bed. Once Kaveh’s hands were off of him, he stepped back to stare down at Alhaitham. He opened his mouth to speak, and Alhaitham was ready to accept anything that was thrown his way.

A knock on the door interrupted them. 

Chapter Text

Kaveh hid his face in his hand and sucked in a deep breath. He dragged them down his face, and it was hard to tell if the fierce glare he wore was towards whoever was knocking, Alhaitham, or the situation itself. He looked tempted to ignore whoever was at the door, but then their visitor knocked again, and Kaveh gave up with a huff.

He turned towards the door and opened it. Sethos stood there with a friendly smile and his hand up to knock again. When he realized that another knock wasn’t needed, Sethos spread his fingers wide to wave at them both in greeting. “Hello, hello.”

Kaveh promptly shut the door right in his face. If Alhaitham ever doubted it, he could tell now just how upset Kaveh was. While he still wasn’t sure if Sethos was completely an ally yet, he still felt a little bad about the treatment. 

“I’ll make it quick, I promise.” Sethos said from the other side of the door. That playful lift that had been in his voice since the end of the fight was finally gone. “I’m just here to do my due diligence, and then I’ll leave you two alone. Okay?”

Kaveh never turned back around to face him, but Alhaitham saw the way his shoulders tense as if contemplating to ignore him some more. Alhaitham found it best to stay quiet and let Kaveh run through whatever thought process he had in his head. If he wanted to gain his trust again, he had to keep his palms open, be obedient, and play this smart. Finally, Kaveh opened the door to Sethos, who still had his hand up, but only with his pinky finger extended for a promise. Kaveh kept his hands by his side. “Are you done playing games?”

“Just trying to lighten the mood; my fault.” Sethos said, but he finally gave up with a shrug. Kaveh was still in the entryway and blocked Sethos from entering, but that didn’t stop Sethos from pushing himself up on his toes to look over his shoulder at Alhaitham. “Feeling better now?”

He didn’t feel the pull of the Divine Knowledge Capsule any more, but he still didn’t feel completely relaxed. He knew that this visit was just delaying the inevitable with Kaveh. Not only that, the stress and strain he forced upon his NPC body was catching up to him. He would either have the deepest sleep he’s had in a while or wouldn’t sleep at all tonight. “More or less.” He answered as honestly as he could.

“Good,” Sethos slipped past Kaveh and walked up to his side, “normally I’d go through a cognitive test, but I think after everything, you’ve passed that with flying colors.” Alhaitham watched him for a second to see that his joke was in good nature, but it was hard to ignore Kaveh behind him. He was still angry that Sethos slipped in so easily—even if he wasn’t making a complete effort to block him out. “Gotta admit tough, it’s really interesting that you don’t have any lingering effects if you truly did corrupt yourself.” 

“Do you constantly see people corrupt themselves?” Kaveh asked, his tone far more level and neutral than his face. He closed the door behind them, secluding the three of them into the room. “Where is the Divine Knowledge Capsule now?”

“It’s with Cyno. He’s probably the one most qualified to hold onto it for now, but don’t worry, he won’t run off with it.” Sethos then blinked as he realized what he said. “That wasn’t a jab at you or anything.” He waved towards Alhaitham. It didn’t feel like some backhand comment at first, but with that added note, now it sort of did. Alhaitham silently huffed as Sethos answered the first question. “Even with the numerous records in the Temple of Silence, there isn’t a complete timeline. We’re hoping that the history wasn’t completely erased just because it doesn’t fit the Akademiya’s ideals and it's hidden away in one of these things, but, well.” He sighed and waved his hands as if to push the conversation behind them. 

Alhaitham didn’t want that at all. This was a completely new character with unique lore that tied into Cyno’s! Sure, there was probably a better time for it, but he still was a little curious about what he knew and what he could’ve brought to the story if the author could’ve been bothered to include him. If he truly was an ally, maybe his connections to this Temple of Silence could help free Nahida in some way.

There was the very slim chance that Sethos was just like him and wandered into his new role in the story, but Alhaitham didn’t get that feeling. With the information he was given, he felt that Sethos was just a forgotten plot point that was finally getting some spotlight. Besides, he could clearly see the Sumeru-styled Electro vision on his hip. It looked just the same as everyone else's, outside of Kaveh’s.

“Anyway.” Sethos quickly recovered. The condensed version of his values caused a silence to fall between the three of them, but Sethos didn’t want it to last for long. Unfortunately, this talk was about Alhaitham, not him. “Everyone who can’t handle the Divine Knowledge Capsule reacts the same. They attack anything and anyone around them, including themselves. I won’t doubt that you didn’t wake up today, but I have to wonder, did you react any differently?”

Alhaitham wondered just how many people he should show the video to. He still didn’t know if there were any consequences for showing a book character technology from his world. There wasn’t some omnipresent system of sorts telling him what he could or couldn’t do, and the Akasha always saw him as the Alhaitham from this world. Another split second decision made him act, and for now, he kept his phone hidden away. “I didn’t. I extracted the knowledge alone, so the only person I had to attack was myself. When Rukkhadevata saved me, she was able to heal most of my wounds.”

Kaveh stepped away from the door to stand next to Alhaitham. He didn’t stand right between him and Sethos, but he looked rather tempted to. Alhaitham wasn’t sure why; he thought he unintentionally proved himself to be untrustworthy, and yet it seemed like Kaveh was still standing on guard to protect him as soon as Sethos showed any sign of aggression. If Sethos was aware that Kaveh was acting as a bodyguard, he seemed just as unbothered by this as anything else. In a way, Alhaitham was inspired by his ability to not give a fuck. If Alhaitham didn’t favor Kaveh so much, maybe he would’ve been the same way. 

His word choice wasn’t ignored. “All except one?” Kaveh asked. His gaze wasn’t subtle from where it bore into his chest. “Is that a part of the Divine Knowledge Capsule?” 

“No,” Sethos answered for him, “that looks to be a Nagadus emerald chunk.” Sethos moved to lean over him and get a better look. It was uncomfortable having him so close to his personal space, but he answered a question Nahida didn’t have time to, so he hoped that he would answer some more. “You must’ve done some serious damage if this was Rukkhadevata’s solution.”

“That’s what I was told.” He was thankful the video cut out when it did. “That, and that I would be more in tune with Dendro. Our meeting was short; she didn’t have time to tell me everything.” If he did have more time with her, all he would like to know was…

Why him?

Why was he deemed important enough? Not only in the context of hearing her message, but becoming a part of this world itself? If she knew so much to know that he was an outlander, how much of his world did she know as well? Was time still moving on as normal? Were there other people like him out there somewhere in Teyat? After he helped Kaveh, would he somehow walk back to his original home? Did the people who knew him care enough to wonder where he went? He didn’t have any family, friends, or things like that, but even after growing used to living in this world, there was always that lingering reminder that he didn’t belong here. 

“Oh? Does that involve surprise Dendro shields?” Sethos asked as he finally straightened up. “Or are you hiding a Vision somewhere too?”

At this question, Alhaitham looked at Kaveh to see if it was his doing. He still wore that contemplative, yet still mildly annoyed expression he had when Sethos first entered. If he wasn’t going to take credit for it, then all Alhaitham could do was assume that it was somehow his doing. “Rukkhadevata told me it wasn’t a Vision, and I wouldn’t be able to control the elements.” He wondered if he could refer to her so casually as Nahida. Venti and Zhongli were hiding their identities, and Ei was too feared to be referred to as anything less than her official title. 

If asked, he doubted he could recreate the shield or anything of the sort. Thankfully, he wasn’t, but he still wondered about that. He looked down at the sword sheathed by his side and wondered if it was it or the seelies’ doing. He always read about Vision-users infusing their weapons with elemental powers, not of NPCs like him doing so. 

“Hmm.” Sethos pushed his brows together in thought and came to a conclusion he didn’t share with the class. Instead, he clapped his hands together. “Well, that seems like a conversation that doesn’t involve me, so you two can talk about it later.” He decided for them. “Outside of that annoying due diligence, I also came here to make a deal with you, Alhaitham.”

Beside him, he could see Kaveh tense, but he still kept his mouth shut. “And that is?” Alhaitham asked slowly.

“You saw what was inside that Divine Knowledge Capsule. Surely you’ve already realized that you absolutely have to tell me about it after hearing my goal in all this. You said you wanted to keep messing with it, right?” There was a twinkle in his eyes as Alhaitham followed the train of thought he was laying out for them. He nodded his head in confirmation before Sethos continued. “As far as I’m concerned, your reasoning isn’t malicious, so I say go right ahead. Cyno won’t wander off with it, but I do know that his sense of judgment will still lead him to probably lock it away somewhere. How about I prevent that?”

“Can you do that?” Kaveh asked in a whisper. Sethos lowered his voice for the second part of his half of the deal, so Kaveh felt like he should do the same.

“Lil ol’ me? Of course I can, pff.” He waved off the very valid concern in a laugh. “My only condition is that if you try to pull the information out of it again, don’t do it alone.”

“He won’t.” Kaveh said the promise for him. “I’ll be sure of it.”

He would be the safest in Kaveh’s hands. “I’m not planning on doing it again,” he admitted. Nahida warned him about doing something so dangerous, but if Kaveh was with him, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, “but I’ll be alright with Kaveh.”

Sethos laughed and clapped them both on the shoulders as if that were their handshake to seal the deal. “That’s the spirit!” He stepped away to put the little meeting to an end. “We can figure out a time and place later. Naturally, this just stays between the three of us. It’s late; get some rest, and remember it gets cold in the desert at night.”

Alhaitham knew that in theory, but it wasn’t like he ever had to venture to the desert before in this life or his other one. While the blanket on the bed felt thick and soft, he wondered if that would be enough to fight the cold. Surely there was another one, but there was only one bed in the room…

“And as a thanks!” Sethos spoke again right before he opened the door to leave. “How about another piece of advice? Nagadus emeralds and similar elemental gems are still an untapped source of knowledge. Don’t know if the information on them is also hidden away in a Divine Knowledge Capsule somewhere, but it is what it is. What is known is that they react more to their respective element. Do with that as you will. Sleep well!” Without any elaboration, he slipped out the door and finally left Kaveh and Alhaitham alone. 

Once again, it was only him, Kaveh, and an uncomfortable silence between them. Kaveh stared at the closed door as if daring someone to interrupt them again, but no one else came. Alhaitham wasn’t sure if someone would again or not, or if he even wanted someone to stop by, but it looked like Kaveh was done waiting around. He went over to the door and locked it.

Alhaitham blinked, and suddenly Kaveh was in front of him. He loomed over him from where Alhaitham sat on the edge of the bed, and his presence was so overpowering that he felt the need to lean back in order to get away. No matter what he threw at him, Alhaitham doubted he would ever be scared of Kaveh, but there was something about him now that put Alhaitham on edge. Their knees were barely millimeters away from touching, and if Kaveh was feeling a little more daring, he might pin Alhaitham to the bed with his body instead of his gaze.

“Ever since I came to Sumeru,” Kaveh started, and Alhaitham had to do everything in his power to not crumble under the pressure, “I have been doing everything in my power to meet this nation’s archon. If you’re the bridge I need to take in order to do that, then maybe I’ll forgive you for holding the Divine Knowledge Capsule this whole time if you tell me what you know.”

Alhaitham felt intimidated, on edge, and like he was a pawn to be used, but he couldn’t find himself to care too much. This was the Kaveh that fought dragons, beasts, and gods with an otherworldly strength. This was what enemies saw before their pathetic lives were snuffed out for the protagonist to continue the plot. Being seen as a stepping stone might not be the fate most people preferred, but Alhaitham didn’t mind. He would still be helping Kaveh, so he would be content. He should be scared that he would be used and potentially tossed aside, but instead, Alhaitham only thought about how cool Kaveh was.

So Alhaitham did as he was asked. He told Kaveh what happened from the moment he started to extract the knowledge to when he woke up in the dream realm with Nahida. He didn’t describe his past bedroom filled with merchandise of Kaveh since he could only imagine what would happen if he opened up that can of worms, but he did describe it as a comforting yet foreign place. He shared everything Nahida told him, such as how she confirmed he wasn’t dead, how she sourced outside knowledge to heal him, and even how she knew Kaveh would reach out to him again soon. Alhaitham did not hide that Kaveh was the first thing on his mind when he had the energy to form a vaguely coherent thought.

Finally, he shared their parting conversation. He went over the clover, the gem, and how she hoped they would meet again under better circumstances. Just like with waking up in his bedroom, he decided to keep her knowledge of him being another outlander to himself. It wouldn’t be something he could truly relate to with Kaveh anyway, given that he was an outlander from a book, and Alhaitham was an outlander from the real world.

“She told me her name was Nahida before I woke up.” Alhaitham ended his retelling of the events there. It was the longest he had spoken in a while, and yet he wasn’t done yet. The whole time, Kaveh still stood in front of him as a dominant presence, but it wasn’t enough to make Alhaitham’s voice waver in the slightest. “I knew the risks of extracting the knowledge alone, so I recorded myself just in case.” He didn’t elaborate further. Kaveh would know what he meant. “She didn’t show up in the video, but she spoke to me when I was still asleep. Would you like to see it?”

Kaveh’s eyes widened at the question. He was the smart, wonderful, brilliant protagonist—surely he knew exactly what would be shown in the video that led up to the grand voice reveal of the Dendro archon. It was an odd mix of anger, hurt, and resolution. Before Alhaitham could really decipher why he exactly felt all these things, Kaveh closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He stopped standing in front of Alhaitham and moved to sit right next to him. “I would.”

Alhaitham pulled out his phone and opened his photo app again. The battery still hadn’t drained any, but maybe he should see that as a blessing instead of an odd mystery. He wasn’t sure how or when his phone would work in this world, but if he could use it to his advantage like now, he wasn’t going to question it. He pressed on the video’s icon and handed it over to Kaveh without pressing play.

The contemplated look was almost immediately replaced by curiosity upon seeing a phone. He knew something like this would happen, but it was still interesting watching Kaveh look it over like the mechanical oddity it was. “I’ve never seen a Kamera so small before.” He admitted as he carefully flipped it over in his hands. He was careful in doing so, but Alhaitham was still a little on edge watching him do it. “Is this a new model?”

“Yes.” Alhaitham said since he didn’t know what else he could say.

“Huh.” Kaveh accepted it easily as he faced the screen towards himself again. He touched the screen again, and the video started playing, but Kaveh immediately paused it as if he wasn’t ready for such a heavy experience just yet. He brushed his finger along the options at the bottom from the heart to favorite it all the way to the small “I” that included the metadata. “It looks…”

Alhaitham stayed silent as he watched him investigate. He had to push down the gut feeling to take his phone back to make sure Kaveh wouldn’t see his secrets, even if they were still currently hiding in a deleted folder. He never let anyone have his phone back in his old world. Even if this was the first time he started carrying it around again in a while, the old, intrusive feeling was just as strong. Still, he wondered what Kaveh was going to say before he allowed his sentence to trail off. “What is it?”

Kaveh shook his head and cleared his throat. “Ah, it’s nothing.” Without elaborating, he resumed the video. Alhaitham watched him for a moment and wondered if he should warn him about anything, but Kaveh surely knew what he was about to subject himself to. For that, he stared silent. 

When it got to the point where he started to extract the knowledge, Alhaitham closed his eyes and looked away. He couldn’t bring himself to watch it again, nor did he want to hear it, but he wasn’t about to ask Kaveh to turn the volume down. It was a haunting reminder of not only what happened to him, but what happened to Kaveh and all his friends at the end of the book. 

The worst part was, he wasn’t even completely sure if his plan would work. Sure, he had outside knowledge and fan theories, but what good would those be now that he was here? The book ended without going into depth on these little things, and it wasn’t like the author would come out and confirm these theories or not. He could only hope that his theory that these things could help ward off Azar’s mind-controlling abilities so the heroes could win and the villains would lose. That’s how these stories were supposed to go.

It was tempting to see Kaveh’s face as he watched Alhaitham try to destroy himself, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t open his eyes again until his animalistic screams were abruptly cut off by the flashing lights. Kaveh moved the phone farther from his face, but he didn’t skim through it like he did. He accepted the flashing, disorienting lights with an expression that showed it left him mildly uncomfortable at best. Alhaitham wondered if he could possibly see something in all the glitching lights. 

When Nahida’s young voice was heard and the video finally came to an end, Kaveh stared at the last frame for a few seconds more before finally passing it back to Alhaitham. “She sounds so young…” Was all he said.

“...She looked young.” He knew the archons could change their appearance, but he wondered if Rukkhadevata was so small because she was constantly being drained of her power. If her energy was being used to power the Akashas, then maybe her weakened state could be easily explained. Like Irminsul, it was one of the things that he felt he was so close to connecting the dots to, yet still so far.

When Kaveh looked over at him this time, Alhaitham was taken aback by how soft his expression looked. He was seeing him differently now that he saw what sacrifice he was willing to make to give himself and Kaveh answers. Alhaitham could handle the glares, the shifty side-eyes, and the curious looks, but there was something about the look now that was too overwhelming for Alhaitham. And yet, he was too captivated to look away.

“Is this why you asked me about Kusa?” Kaveh asked first instead of anything else. His voice was low, not to keep a secret like with Sethos, but for something else that Alhaitham couldn’t name.

In his recap, Alhaitham tried to share most of what the Divine Knowledge Capsule revealed to Kaveh. He was shown multiple scenes, but they changed before he could really figure out what was happening. They all lacked context for him to truly know the reason why the Akademiya thought it was important enough to lock away. He hoped with what little he could provide, Sethos could piece together what he was being shown for his side of the deal was worthwhile. “Yes. It was being spelled out to me so deliberately.” It had to mean something.

But like many things, it was a meaning he wasn’t yet privy to.

Alhaitham felt the need to apologize. He provided some helpful information to Kaveh, but was it enough to outweigh what he did to hurt him? Kaveh was wonderful—surely he would’ve been able to find this information out on his own. He didn’t need a fan who walked into his world to help him out, but… Alhaitham wanted to feel needed, even if only a little bit.

Kaveh opened his mouth to speak again, but he ended up closing it a second later and shook his head. Whatever he wanted to say, he decided against it for now. “Sethos is right. It’s late, and you’ve been through a lot today.” He said as he got up from the bed. 

Alhaitham tried to follow suit, just to do something, but Kaveh quickly realized what he was trying to do and pushed him back down by his shoulder. His hand was warm, but his intention was clear, so Alhaitham didn’t try to get up again. He watched him move around the room and look through a few storage chests for something. His searches were short to not be too intrusive, but soon, Kaveh found another spare blanket. He said nothing as he looked over the blanket, but Alhaitham still felt like there was something between them that he wanted to fix. “What about you?”

Kaveh folded the blanket up and draped it over his shoulder. “Me?”

Alhaitham nodded, but it was clear Kaveh wasn’t sure what he was asking about. However, now that he had the chance, Alhaitham wasn’t sure what he was asking for either. There were many things that he wanted to say, such as what he had been doing this whole time, what else could have possibly changed from the original plot, and if he knew why he was suddenly being followed when he entered Caravan Ribat, but that didn’t come out. “Are you alright?”

It felt childish coming out of his mouth, mostly because it was the one question he already knew the answer to. No, Kaveh wasn’t alright, and he was never alright. He was doomed by the narrative from the start and probably would be until the very end. He just wanted to know where his mother was and why they had to be separated coming to Teyvat. Some days might be better, but there was always that lingering sorrow in his heart as he kept getting hint after hint that he was always a few steps behind.

Kaveh stared at him, just as surprised that out of everything, such a question came out of his mouth, too. It looked like he wanted to say the first answer that came to mind, but it was another thing he kept to himself. He looked down at the blanket and thumbed at one of the woven threads that were closest to his hand. In the end, he huffed and avoided the question. “Can I try something?”

Alhaitham wasn’t sure if he was close enough to question the deflection, even though he really wanted to. He frowned at the exchange, but he didn’t think completely shutting Kaveh off from whatever it was he wanted to try would help either. “What?”

Kaveh walked over to the bed to drop off the new blanket. “I want to test Sethos’ theory. Can I do that?” He asked, his eyes flickering to the chest gem in askance.

If he couldn’t ask if he was alright, then maybe he could do this for him. On the base level, it sounded like funneling more Dendro energy into the gem would help Alhaitham instead of Kaveh, but maybe he knew something that Alhaitham didn’t. It was a gift from Rukkhadevata, so maybe channeling it with energy from the protagonist would do more than the clovers she and the seelies gave him. “Okay?”

With that, Kaveh offered him a small smile. It was weak and still a bit sad, but Alhaitham hoped it was a sign that he was in an at least better mood now than he was before. Alhaitham removed his sword from his hip and placed it by the small table next to the bed. Now he felt a little silly criticizing the author for having people store their weapons in their Visions. It was so much more convenient, Alhaitham realized, as he had to adjust it a few times to prevent it from clattering to the floor. If only he could store it in this gem that somehow turned into a new plot point with him finding his way closer and closer to the main cast of characters. The Electro archon pulled her sword from her chest; why couldn’t he do the same?

He knew exactly why, but that still didn’t stop him from quietly bitching about it. Nitpicking the smaller points of his favorite story was an old habit of his. 

Kaveh was unbothered by his awkward display as he sat down on the edge of the bed again. He removed his Vision from his hip and was looking over the glossy green stone. Ahaitham couldn’t see it from his current angle, but he knew that inside that four-pointed star-shaped gem, there was a Dendro symbol. He placed it down on the bed between them. “Are you ready?”

Alhaitham had no idea what to expect, but since it was Kaveh, it wouldn’t be worse than what he felt with the Divine Knowledge Capsule. “Yes.”

With permission granted, Kaveh scooted closer and raised his hand. His hand hovered a few inches above the gem as his gaze flickered up towards Alhaitham’s eyes in askance. He nodded his head to confirm that it was still alright, and finally Kaveh placed his hand right over the gem. His palm contorted around the gem, his touch warm both on it and his skin. Alhaitham wasn’t sure where to look as Kaveh focused on their point of contact, leading him to close his eyes and allow himself to experience the feeling. 

Whatever it was Kaveh really wanted to test, he knew he should be focused to give him satisfactory answers. He must have some sort of hypothesis in mind, even if it was too weak to speak it out loud just yet for whatever reason. Alhaitham wouldn’t judge; Kaveh was smart, and it never took too long for him to get on the right track.

The flow of Dendro energy into his body was slow and steady, but it was a comforting feeling. He felt warm, as if he were wrapped in that new blanket that Kaveh brought over, but he knew it was still partially folded up and off to the side. He knew people could use their Visions for a wide variety of things, but Kaveh mostly used his in battle, if not the occasional puzzle. It was never for healing, shielding, or anything like that, but he wasn’t exactly sure what this category fell into.  

Even though Alhaitham remained sitting upright, he felt relaxed and like he could easily sink into the bed’s cushions. Nahida had helped clean his body of the Divine Knowledge Capsule’s poison, but it felt like Kaveh’s Dendro energy was double-checking all her hard work and making sure that he was still okay. It took its time trailing from his chest, down his spine, and into his limbs to make sure there wasn’t any lingering damage from when it tried to possess him again. 

Here he was doing all this, and yet he ignored Alhaitham’s question. It was a flaw of Kaveh’s that Alhaitham loved in theory, but he was quickly realizing that he hated in practice. If they could do this, then maybe Kaveh could tell him that he was at least alright, even if he was lying. Alhaitham opened his eyes, but his train of thought was soon derailed when he realized just how close Kaveh had gotten. 

“Do you feel anything?” Kaveh asked before Alhaitham could say anything himself.

He felt relaxed physically, but still conflicted mentally. Those feelings weren’t what Kaveh was looking for at the moment, though. “Not really.”

Kaveh hummed in thought, but he still didn’t remove his hand. He spread his fingers wide across Alhaitham’s chest and increased the flow of elemental energy through him. He could immediately feel the change in power, so once more, Alhaitham closed his eyes to see if he could feel something more. 

He could almost immediately. The warmth coursed through his veins at a higher intensity, so much so that it almost left him feeling uncomfortable in his skin. He kept his face neutral and pushed on—if this was something he could help with, then he could handle a little discomfort. It wasn’t the worst feeling in the world, especially after what he’s been through, but he was wondering who would pull away first. His heart started to beat faster underneath Kaveh’s palm, the epicenter of the searing heat.

Each beat of his heart made the heat pulse through his body. It simmered low in his gut, making him twitch and feel on edge. Something was stirring inside him, coiling and curling and slowly making its presence known. He felt…

He felt that this wasn’t that type of book!

Without warning, Alhaitham put his hands on Kaveh’s shoulders and pushed him to arms length. He may not have left a partner behind in his original world or had one in this world, but he was still a grown man in tune with his body and its sparse primal needs. In Kaveh’s journeys, he occasionally came across a character that you could argue he had a fleeting romantic connection with, but it was never like that character was alive long enough for anything to be really fleshed out.

The only time emotions and feelings like this were brought up were in fanfictions. He already had a close call with that dream, but now he was feeling this for real? Whenever he was in the mood to read such types of fanfiction, he always rolled his eyes at the leaps in logic authors took to get characters to feel horny, even if it was completely on him for reading something tagged “PWP”—he didn’t think such things could actually happen!

Kaveh, the kind, charming soul that he was, took his sudden rejection as if he were hurting him. “What’s wrong!? What’s that too much? I’m sorry!” He pulled his hand off of Alhaitham’s chest, but he still hovered far too close to him to where Alhaitham could feel his body heat from more than the grip he still held on his shoulders. 

“I’m fine.” He said, keeping his voice as even as he possibly could. Kaveh’s gaze scanned over him frantically for any signs of visible recoil from surrounding him with such potent Dendro energy. Alhaitham really didn’t want him to look lower and see things he shouldn’t, so right when Kaveh tilted his head down, he stopped holding his shoulders to cup his face instead.

Alhaitham used to be good at math, but he did not properly calculate the risk he just took. 

Kaveh stopped looking him over, but now he got a full view of Alhaitham’s flushed face. He was able to completely take in the way his pupils were dilated, the tips of his ears were pink, and his blush starteing to trail down his neck. Even with his face caught, nothing would’ve been able to stop him from still glancing down, but he didn’t. All Kaveh did was meet his expression with his eyes wide, mouth slightly parted, and his own subtle blush peeking out from between Alhaitham’s fingers. 

“I’m fine.” Alhaitham repeated, sounding even worse now. He knew that that wasn’t believable, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “It was just… too much. I don’t think anything is coming out of this.” Immediately, he regretted his word choice. Out of all the things he could say…

Kaveh understood what he meant, thankfully, and minutely nodded his head from between Alhaitham’s hands. His hold on him was faint; it wouldn’t take much for Kaveh to shake him off. Yet, he didn’t. “Okay… I-We can stop.”

Alhaitham sighed in relief. The excess Dendro energy was fading from his body along with the unwanted side effects. In the grand scheme of things, the heightened emotions only lasted a few seconds, but they hit so hard and fast that Alhaitham didn’t know how to react. All he knew was that he had to avoid an uncomfortable moment—one that would’ve absolutely been worse than what just happened now.

“Is there anything else?” Kaveh asked after a moment when Alhaitham still didn’t let go of his face.

“No.” Alhaitham pulled his hands away as quickly as he could while still being perceived as casual. If he wasn’t successful, Kaveh didn’t call him out on it. He tried to think of an excuse for his excessive touching, but in the end, nothing came to mind. Maybe the Dendro energy burned his brain. With how hot he was suddenly running, maybe he was granted a Pyro Vision. 

Once he was freed, Kaveh leaned back to not loom over Alhaitham too much. Alhaitham didn’t try to watch him any longer to try and get a read on his mood. He was too flustered himself by such a turn of events and decided to keep his head low instead. Why did it have to turn out like this? It was hard for him to say if Kaveh fully forgave him or not—and it sure wasn’t like he could ask that outright now—but that happening didn’t exactly make him feel at ease that there wasn’t anything else lingering between them. Maybe it wasn’t animosity anymore, but it sure wasn’t peace, either.

Instead of looking at Kaveh, he looked down at himself. No longer was his body reacting to such unnecessary emotions, but there was still a lingering effect on his person. The gem took on an even more luminous luster now. It was hard to tell at his angle, but it also looked like there were faint marks shaping the Dendro elemental symbol. He was tempted to ask Kaveh if he saw it, too, but before he could, Kaveh let out a humorous-less laugh and flopped back on the bed.

“Sorry,” Kaveh apologized first, “it’s just… I used to travel with someone a lot. She used to spout random quips all the time and could never stay quiet for too long. I could only imagine what she would say just then… and the last time we found ourselves in a similar position… and meeting you in general. I… hah…” It was hard to say Kaveh relaxed against the sheets. It was more like he deflated, finally giving up and letting his sorrowful, intrusive thoughts spill out. “I’m not sure why I’m saying this now… I guess I just miss her.”

So many times he imagined himself comforting Kaveh over his loss. He even tried writing about it once, but like his other attempts at writing fanfiction, it was trashed. He kept having these fantasies of being that shoulder to rely on, but now the situation had unraveled right in front of him. And yet, he was forced to stay rooted in his spot. For all Kaveh knew, this was the first time he had ever heard that he used to travel with someone. Even after reading about his adventures in the Steambird to gain some credibility, Mehrak was camera-shy and rarely showed up. If she showed up once or twice, it was easy to forget her.

Alhaitham did all he could. “I’m sorry.” He said, truly meaning it.

Kaveh stared up at the ceiling for a moment, and Alhaitham stayed silent to let him reflect on whatever was on his mind. If he had to find a reason for the sudden symbol himself, he could guess that it was because of Kaveh’s energy. If it was still there in the morning, then it could be something of note, but for now, Alhaitham decided to let it be.

A few moments later, Kaveh pushed himself up and took the spare blanket with you. “You can have the bed, I’ll-”

Alhaitham cut him off by reaching out and grabbing his sleeve to keep him close. He didn’t even realize he did it until he felt the soft fabric between his fingers. Kaveh stared at him, and Alhaitham met his eyes with ease this time. He should’ve let go after what happened, but as soon as he heard that Kaveh was suggesting he would sleep on the floor… he couldn’t let it happen. “You don’t have to. I can sleep on the floor.”

“After everything you’ve been through today? Absolutely not. I can handle sleeping on the floor for a night or two.” He countered, but he still didn’t pull his arm away.

Alhaitham knew Kaveh had slept in worse conditions, but why should he have to settle for the floor? He could already imagine the back and forth they were about to argue, so Alhaitham decided to jump straight to the point. “We’ve already shared a bed before.” Kaveh opened his mouth to try and counter that, but in the end, nothing came out. Alhaitham waited for him to say something, but when he didn’t, he pressed on. It was a bold ask, but he didn’t want Kaveh to sacrifice something as small as a comfortable bed just for him. “Do you not want to?”

“Well, you seemed embarrassed the last time when you suddenly started clinging to me!” Kaveh finally pulled his arm out of Alhaitham’s hold. He didn’t step away to find a corner far away to sleep in, but instead, he threw the blanket over the bed to cover both sides.

Fair point. Alhaitham didn’t really have anything to say to that without still sounding like a degenerate that had slept with a body pillow for so long. Now, he had gone without it for a while, so hopefully he no longer had the subconscious desire to do so. “I’ll stay on my side this time.” He tried to promise, hoping he could actually keep it.

“Whatever.” Kaveh brushed off his promise like he didn’t believe him. Maybe he had a point. “It'll let me keep a closer eye on you if you suddenly experience some lingering side effects or something.” It was probably a valid precaution, but with the way he muttered the reasoning, it sounded like an excuse more than anything. 

Kaveh went to the other side of the bed and sat down. Nothing was said as they moved under the covers. The bedside lamp illuminating the room on Kaveh’s side was turned off as they tried to fall into a silence relaxing enough to fall asleep in. While Alhaitham still wasn’t sure if he could actually sleep tonight, he still closed his eyes and tried.

It took some time for him to fall into a deep enough sleep to dream, but when he did, he realized he was in a field full of lush flowers. The colorful florals extended past the horizon and blended into the setting sun, making it hard to see where one started and the other ended. Alhaitham looked around for any signs of life, but the only creatures that joined him were some fluttering crystalflies. They scattered at his presence, and Alhaitham watched them fly away for a moment. Just like the flowers, they disappeared into the warm sun. 

“I had a very, very long dream…” 

Alhaitham quickly turned around at the voice behind him. He saw nothing for so long, and now there was suddenly a voice. It was one he recognized too.

He expected Nahida, but instead, there was Kaveh. Kaveh stared at him, his awestruck expression open and confused. Alhaitham looked around him for any sign of Nahida, but she was still hiding herself even after speaking such a cryptic phrase. 

The flowers swayed as Kaveh stepped forward, and not knowing what else to do, Alhaitham moved to meet him halfway. In the short walk over, Alhaitham was once again trying to think back on theories on symbolism behind certain scenes in dreams. Kaveh showing up shouldn’t be surprising, given who Alhaitham was as a person, but the flowers were. Arguably, Nahida making a presence wasn’t new either, but at least he didn’t exactly hurt himself this time to see her. 

When they were right in front of each other, Alhaitham reached out to touch Kaveh’s hand.

Maybe there was a reason behind why he felt so warm and real, too.

Chapter Text

As soon as his fingers brushed against Kaveh’s knuckles, he moved to tightly hold onto his hand. He intertwined their fingers together, possessive more than intimate, and Alhaitham bet that if he had the tools, he would’ve wrapped their hands to strengthen the grip even further. “Don’t wander off.” Kaveh demanded.

Alhaitham answered truthfully. “I wasn’t planning to.”

Kaveh didn’t relax, but he did nod his head in acceptance. “Good.” He looked past Alhaitham and around him, yet there was nothing but the endless fields of flowers before them. All the crystalflies had scattered, and Nahida was still nowhere to be seen. Alhaitham tried to find something himself to help out in this odd situation, but he didn’t know where to begin. Somehow, Kaveh found a sign and started to pull Alhaitham to follow behind. 

Kaveh kept his head forward, but Alhaitham still looked around like the tourist he was. Fields of flowers weren’t new in the book, but this was… liminal. The flowers remained still with the lack of wind and only moved when Kaveh walked toward them. They parted for the two of them, moving with a sentience Alhaitham wasn’t even sure how to decipher. Since he heard Nahida’s voice, he thought this was another dream-like state, but there was still something off about it. It was surreal, serene, and far too silent.

“Have you been here before?” Alhaitham asked after a few minutes. They continued to walk a nonexistent path toward an unknown goal. Kaveh was moving with either a familiar confidence or a well-warned mask of survivalist bravado.

“I have.” He said, still keeping his eyes forward.

Of course he had, and of course the original author never touched this. Immediately, he wanted to ask how many times, when was the first time it happened, and if there was something more to the flowers, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t dive directly into Kaveh’s brain—unless this was somehow that exact space—to see what was different from the story he knew. However, he might be able to still ask a little more just to get a better grasp on the situation. “Where are we going?”

“Forward until something happens. Waiting around does nothing.”

Okay so… more than three times, if Alhaitham had to guess. That was normally the limit when people saw an established pattern. Still, not much for him to go off of. Kaveh walked quickly, as if his pace could help manifest something happening faster. Alhaitham’s legs were longer, so he was able to keep up with ease even as Kaveh dragged him behind. His hand burned a cozy heat against his palm, his grip still tight to prevent Alhaitham from slipping away. It was almost uncomfortable, but Alhaitham did not complain. If anything, he saw it as confirming two things.

One, this place wasn’t dangerous. If it was, Kaveh wouldn’t take his eyes off of him and would make sure he stayed next to his side, if not outright in front of him. Two, Kaveh’s grip was so tight, it would leave a lingering mark on his hand. That way, he could confirm that the actions and whatever plot points were about to be unraveled in front of him had real-world consequences. Maybe this time, it could be without having to experience extreme pain and distress. It would be nice to just sit back and let things happen around him again for once, just to help confirm his role in the story.

Nahida’s disembodied voice broke the silence again. "In it, people were holding hands, dancing in a circle…” Shadows formed around them and turned into vague humanoid shapes. They did as Nahida’s voice said and held hands. They stayed off in their groups without encompassing either Kaveh or Alhaitham. Some swayed to a song only they knew, while others danced around and trailed glittering stardust.

Kaveh kept dragging him along. Alhaitham could only watch the shadows move around them. They didn’t seem malicious, but outside of staying out of the way, they seemed just as unaware that there were spectators. “Something’s happening.” Alhaitham said as he watched them move about. Surely Kaveh could see them too—he was the protagonist! He had to—but he kept walking, unbothered.

“And we move on.”

Alhaitham was taken aback by the nonchalant attitude. Shouldn’t they listen to what was being said to them? Or at least watch the dancing to see if it was relevant in some way. Maybe he just wasn’t thinking with a protagonist mindset. Kaveh was clever, but he felt he should have at least a little more urgency and listen. These words were coming from the archon he was desperately trying to get in contact with—shouldn’t he see if they had some merit?

But Kaveh continued and didn’t look at Alhaitham, who was currently unintentionally burning a confused expression into the back of his head.

Nahida’s voice still lingered overhead, just as disconnected. “...Be they sages or fools, dancers or warriors…” More shadows formed. While some continued dancing, others fought, and the rest just stared right at them as they continued to walk forward. Alhaitham returned the gaze of some shadowy figures, watching their heads slowly turn as they saw them off until they disappeared in a flurry of dust. The wind blew away their scattering remains, but the flowers under the feet remained untouched. 

Alhaitham wanted to dig his heels into the ground to make Kaveh stop and see the world around them, but he couldn’t. He started to try once, but with Kaveh still pulling him forward, all that did was make him trip. Kaveh glanced back to see if he was alright, but he said nothing and still continued on. He felt like everyone was on the same page except for him.

“Stand-ins or mechanical gods.”

Kaveh stopped at the new voice. Alhaitham was just as surprised that he stopped as well without crashing into Kaveh’s back. It was deeper, more mature than Nahida’s, but just as all-knowing. Kaveh’s grip on his hand finally tumbled into the painful category for Alhaitham, but he did not tell him to let go. It grounded him in a way that was needed.

“That dancing circle embodied everything about the universe.” The new voice continued. It sounded closer now, but Alhaitham never heard any approaching footsteps. “Life has always been the end, while it is wisdom that shall be the means."

Kaveh’s shoulders started to tremble, and in a panic, Alhaitham stepped forward instead of looking behind him to see where the voice was coming from. He stood next to Kaveh’s side and was able to see his glassy eyes stare off into nothingness. He looked moments away from crying. Somehow, that realization was a much more urgent problem to Alhaitham than this new world he found himself trapped in. 

The voice chuckled. It wasn’t mocking, but something else that Alhaitham couldn’t name. “Oh? We have a guest this time?” 

It was enough to make the first tear finally trickle down Kaveh’s cheek. So many times he had read about Kaveh crying, but there was something about seeing it now that left him feeling lost. He should care about the voice and what that comment meant; he was aware that he should figure out what was happening to cause such a reaction, but he couldn’t. All he cared about was reaching out and wiping that tear away. All Alhaitham wanted to do was comfort him. He wanted to hold him, and try to protect him, even to the slightest degree Kaveh often did with him, but Alhaitham couldn’t.

Right as he was about to thumb away that tear that started to trail down his jaw, Kaveh let go of his hand. “Mother!” He ran back towards the voice, leaving Alhaitham where he was. 

The person who haunted the narrative was right behind him, and yet Alhaitham found himself frozen. 

Even with everything the world threw at him, reuniting with his mother was always Kaveh’s main goal. Despite all this, so little was known about her, as it was always mentioned in passing by Kaveh to whoever listened. Normally, that was Mehrak, but Kaveh’s devotion to his mother never lessened even when he no longer had his old mechanical partner by his side. From what he read, Alhaitham knew that Kaveh got his blond hair from her; she was witty, cunning, eccentric, and... her name was never mentioned.

Alhaitham always found it an odd artistic choice since it was never one he could honestly admit he liked or not. Sometimes, it gave her an added air of mystery, but other times it made things needlessly convoluted. So many readers would theorize who she was or even where she was, but now he might have an answer to that. Alhaitham finally turned around to see the scene before him and came face to face with a stone ceiling.

Alhaitham quickly blinked to force his eyes to focus quicker than his groggy brain could keep up with. With the sleep out of his eyes, his vision cleared, and he was able to take in his surroundings. No longer was he in that bright field of flowers, but he was back in the dark room at the village chief’s house. Right at the climax of that strange dream, he somehow woke up. 

Really? Just like that? What an unsatisfying ending… again…

If he wasn’t allowed to see Kaveh’s mother, then he would’ve at least liked to wipe away his tears… as allies did.

There were other things to focus on instead of what title they shared now. Even the dream could be dissected later because right now there was a more pressing matter. The room’s quiet atmosphere was broken by the sound of muted, hiccuped breaths coming from his side.

Alhaitham looked next to him and was surprised to see Kaveh so close. Once they got settled under the covers, Kaveh promptly turned his back to him, and Alhaitham felt compelled to do the same. He wasn’t really a side sleeper, but if it was the needed action to show that he wouldn’t cling to him again, he might as well do it. At some point, they must’ve gravitated closer to each other. 

This time, Kaveh clung to him. He wrapped his arms around Alhaitham’s own arm closest to him, and somewhere in the maze of his tangled limbs, Kaveh was still holding his hand. It was the same one he held when he led him through the dream, but Alhaitham wasn’t concerned about checking for lingering marks this time. The arch of Kaveh’s nose pressed right against Alhaitham’s shoulder, and if he really concentrated on the sight before him, he could see a small, damp spot on the fabric of his shirt.

Immediately, Alhaitham reached out to comfort him, but he stopped himself right before he touched him. He wasn’t sure if touching Kaveh would wake him up and pull him from that dream-like realm. There were multiple times where the most shelter he had to rest under was a tree in the wilderness. He had to be a light sleeper who woke at the smallest of things in order to survive, but could Alhaitham really do nothing in this situation? Would it be cruel to simply watch and listen to his silent cries? Or would denying him the peace of seeing his mother be even worse?

The next inhale Kaveh sucked in waivered and shook, and that was all Alhaitham needed to do something. He couldn’t sit around and watch. Not being able to do anything while Kaveh suffered was how he ended up in this situation to begin with. As Alhaitham finally reached down to brush away a tear, he just hoped that it wouldn’t rip him away from his mother before the scene was supposed to end.

Kaveh didn’t wake, but the tear he wiped away was soon replaced by another. Despite being hardened by all the pain and suffering the world threw at him, Kaveh still had a pure heart that was soft underneath each scar he earned. The book started with him already being separated from his mother, but the author never spared the chance to explain just how much she meant to him and how long they used to travel together beforehand.

Alhaitham wished he could wipe away the tears from the other side of the face, but he had to take solace in the fact that the pillow under his head absorbed them in his place. A few more tears fell, but his breathing slowly started to even out. Alhaitham watched and waited for any sign of him waking up, but he still didn’t.

He should be alright now, but Alhaitham still didn’t pull his hand away. Instead, he moved it upwards to place it on top of Kaveh’s head. Kaveh removed the usual accessories and unbraided it before bed, allowing it to cascade against the pillow. That old desire to pat his head again was back, but that didn’t feel like the right thing to do right now. Instead, he brushed his fingers through his hair, pushing a few wayward strands out of the way that wanted to cling to his damp eyelashes. 

Briefly, Alhaitham wondered if the motion was pushing his luck too much and would wake Kaveh up, but he remained asleep. He kept running his hands through his hair until it was completely out of his face, and Kaveh seemed to finally relax back into a proper sleep. He hoped that the dream ended peacefully for him and he could get a good night’s rest for whatever tomorrow may bring.  

With Kaveh settled, he should pull his hand away now. Alhaitham told himself this again and again each time he still gently ran his fingers through his hair. There had to be a limit to this sort of thing, and no doubt he had already long since passed it, but that constant reminder wasn’t enough to pull his hand away. 

Kaveh looked so fragile, and if he removed his hand away, Alhaitham was scared that he would fully crumble and break. Alhaitham knew he didn’t have the power, importance, or capacity to put each piece back together, but if he could provide some sort of comfort for his favorite character, then he would do it.

Alhaitham watched his fingers move through Kaveh’s hair as he listened to his breathing. It was deeper now, as if he finally fell into a more relaxing sleep. No longer were there tears staining his cheek, and it was hard to see the once damp spot in the darkness. Finally, he stopped playing with his hair and simply held the back of his head as well. He started to shift around to get into a more comfortable position without pulling his arm from Kaveh’s grasp. The right thing to do would be to remember his promise, pull himself away, and go back to his side of the bed, but Alhaitham didn’t want to.

He wanted to question himself and his own thought process instead. At what point would character no longer be an accurate description for Kaveh and everyone else? This was his life now, whether it was temporary or permanently, and slowly, it no longer felt all that fitting. These people used to be characters in a story, nothing more than words on a page or illustration if someone was deemed important enough to be brought to life. He tried not to think too hard over the question of if he, too, was now a mere amalgamation of words that someone was reading for entertainment, but maybe that wasn’t too bad.

That meant he, in a way, was the same as Kaveh, his favorite person. 

There was something about Kaveh that made him feel silly about the smallest of things, but Alhaitham found himself faintly smiling at the thought. He adjusted his position again to drape his arm over Kaveh’s shoulder to hold him close. The arm Kaveh clung to was still awkwardly sandwiched between their bodies, but he didn’t mind. He tucked Kaveh’s head underneath his chin and closed his eyes to try and go back to sleep.

He was in too deep of a sleep to realize Kaveh woke up at some point in the middle of the night. Kaveh moved back to gaze at Alhaitham, once again trying to find something in his sleeping state in an odd sense of deja vu. Still, he couldn’t find it, but it was hard to know exactly what he was looking for to begin with. All he knew was that Alhaitham was different in a way he couldn’t name. 

Giving up, he found his spot again underneath Alhaitham’s chin and went back to sleep.

~!~

They didn’t talk about it in the morning.

Alhaitham wasn’t sure if it was his place or not to bring it up, so he left it up to Kaveh. When he woke up, Kaveh was already awake and going about pulling his hair up into his usual style. When he noticed Alhaitham was awake, he paused the braid he was doing and spared a glance over at him. “They’re making breakfast.”

There was no elaboration over who they were. Hilichurls could be cooking for them, and Alhaitham wouldn’t care, not when he was more interested in now looking into that dream. Yet as he stared at Kaveh’s back, he realized that he was completely shut out. Did he not want to talk about it? Did it mean nothing, and Kaveh knew this? Was he… embarrassed waking up tangled together?

If only the author cared to write about the dream scenes, just to give Alhaitham a hint as to what was going on.

There wasn’t any small talk as Kaveh finished his hair and Alhaitham tried to tame his own bedhead. When they were both presentable, they walked out to see Candace and a small, hunched man prepping their meal. Dehya was sitting at the table, resting her chin in her hand and wearing the very distinct look of being told there were too many cooks in the kitchen, but still wanting to help. 

Alhaitham looked around to see if Cyno and Sethos would be joining them, but they were nowhere to be seen. Dehya waved towards the table to invite them to sit down, and not long later, their food was too.

From there, a lot of talking happened at once. The elderly man ended up being the owner of the house, Uncle Anpu, taking care of their guests since he couldn’t earlier. Cyno and Sethos were out doing something in the Temple of Silence—of which the details were sparse, much to Alhaitham’s dismay to learn more about this new person. 

There was even an update on Dori, who apparently scampered off when she found out Cyno was in the desert. Her work was done, so she went back to doing what she did best—ripping people off. Alhaitham couldn’t do much about it, but he still wished he could have at least met her to see why she was suddenly so important to this plot when in the original story she wasn’t. Maybe some mysteries were just out of his hands and couldn’t be solved.

Dehya and Candace would be helping people who were trapped in the sandstorm last night, which just left him and Kaveh. He figured Kaveh would join one of the two groups to do what heroes do best, but here he was finishing up his meal. In comparison to everyone else, they slept in, so it was like Kaveh was taking a day off to rest. Alhaitham wouldn’t argue that he deserved it, but he felt like they were on a time limit and they should probably save Nahida as soon as possible.

With the meal done, Uncle Anpu gave them free range of his home while Candace and Dehya went to do their job. Alhaitham and Kaveh helped clean up the mess, even though Uncle Anpu tried to wave them off to do it himself. He could understand why a small character wouldn’t be mentioned in the book, but part of Alhaitham wished that he at least got his name thrown out once. There was a very specific type of fan that loved sweet old men like him. When they were done, Kaveh finally addressed him. “We’re going to talk to the Village Keepers, I figured you’d be an expert and could help them and Aaru Village with what you know.”

Okay, great, a job. He could do that, minus one simple fact. “What’s a Village Keeper? Like Treasure Hoarders, Kaveh said it like an actual thing instead of some elaborate title or nickname.

This time, Kaveh wasn’t bothered by his confusion towards the name. “They’re scholars that reside here, but I’ve been told that’s the kinder explanation. In reality, they’re scholars that were exiled after they went mad. Most of them lost their sanity doing a stint in the Avidya Forest, and I think it’s related to that one thing you told me about before. Satyavada Life, I believe?”

Alhaitham held his face in a thin line at the thought. After Haypasia, there was only a brief mention of others doing the same thing just to show the depth of people also suffering the same effects. To not rehash too many of the same plot points, the other people trying to use Satyavada Life weren’t expanded on to focus on other story beats. Earlier, he might’ve been wary to dive too much into his own personal theories to correct plot points to continue the narrative, but he was a changed man. Now, he wanted more evidence to see if he was on the right path to not only help these people, but Kaveh and Rukkhadevata as well. “Alright, I’ll do what I can.”

He might not be able to fully help them, but if he could give them some peace of mind, then that might be enough.

Kaveh’s smile was small, but Alhaitham enjoyed all the same. “Afterwards, depending on how long things take, I was thinking we could practice some sword training as well.” He suggested once they started the task to find these Village Keepers. Alhaitham walked right by his side as he listened to him talk.

It was embarrassing how much he used to dream about the exact same scenario before it became his reality and he could actually die from a cunning enemy. Even though he had only been in a few fights, he was still very thankful that Kaveh was there to protect him. “I didn’t realize you used other weapons as well.”

“I’ve used them all, but I prefer greatswords the most.” Kaveh admitted, sounding almost bashful, that he needed to humbly admit that he was a talented warrior. “Besides, the Knowledge Capsule I bought from Dori to gain her trust has been with me this whole time. It’s about different sword techniques and fighting styles. I used it, just to make sure it’s safe.” He added quickly before Alhaitham could even worry about inflicting more harm upon himself with those dreaded capsules. “But it’s mostly stuff I already know. Since you seem to favor a sword now, I figured you could get more use out of it than me.”

He wouldn’t exactly say he favored the sword; more like it was gifted to him on the way here. He was thankful for Nahida’s foresight to need it, even if it was just to defend himself from an ambush meant to trap him instead of disarm him. It was hard to tell if it was just her vast wisdom or not that allowed her to see into the future, but maybe she could actually answer some questions on where Kaveh’s mother was. The other archons weren’t all that helpful in such regard. 

Alhaitham decided to save himself from a scolding of running here unarmed for now. “Go easy on me, teacher.”

“Hey, there’s no need for that.” Kaveh brushed off the friendly ribbing, but Alhaitham didn’t miss the smile he tried to hide by turning his head. 

“Then what should I call you instead? Master? Senior?” He had to refer to a good amount of people as that title when he cared about his role at the Akademiya. Call him self-indulgent, but he may or may not want to hear Kaveh give him permission to call him a friend.

Kaveh huffed, and his smile was replaced with one where it was hard to tell if he was annoyed or not. “With how you cling to me in your sleep, maybe you should call me a living pillow.”

Alhaitham was stunned to the point where he almost tripped over his own feet. If he actually said body pillow instead of living pillow, he might’ve. Alhaitham never thought that that impulse purchase would loom over his head so much, yet here he was. If he ever came across it again in this world, he would throw it into the trash…

After carefully removing the cover, neatly folding it up, and safely putting it in storage, of course. 

If they were going to have this bout of playful teasing, they needed to get the facts right first. “You’re the one who clung to me first last night.” Alhaitham pointed out. Sure, he didn’t exactly stay on his side, but his arms were to himself until he woke up from that weird dream. He wondered if now would be a good time to carefully segue into talking about that dream to say so, but as soon as he opened his mouth to do so, Kaveh spoke first.

“Maybe your bad habits are rubbing off on me.”

Alhaitham promptly shut his mouth and didn’t have anything else to say. With what happened before that dream, he really didn’t want to think about Kaveh and rubbing right now. He tried to keep his face neutral, but when Kaveh looked over at him when it took him too long to respond, he must’ve seen something with the way his eyes widened before he looked forward again. From his position, Alhaitham could see the small blush tinting the tip of his ear red. 

“Right,” Kaveh coughed out, “anyway…” It wasn’t the smoothest transition, but Alhaitham didn’t complain as Kaveh started to share what he knew about Village Keepers. They’ve developed an odd habit of going to the very bottom of the mountain Aaru Village stands on and drawing circles in the sand. Like clockwork, they moved as if they were possessed to do this, and no one could understand why. Apparently, most of them entered Aaru Village deranged, but mostly mellowed out after some time. Not completely to go back to their usual self, but at least coherent. While the villagers were initially reluctant to help them, it all changed after one incident. 

Years ago, earthquakes used to be just as much of a threat as sandstorms. When the strongest earthquake recorded hit Aaru Village, Uncle Anpu was doing all he could to make sure everyone was safe. Even in all the chaos, he noticed the scholars crouching and pawing at the ground together. Between them, a green light started to radiate not from the sand they were digging through but from their hands. The light grew and grew until it encompassed everyone in the warm glow.

Even as the earthquake came and went, the only sign of the powerful tremor's aftermath was people’s memories and shifting sands. The buildings and the residents inside were all completely unharmed. 

“...afterwards, everyone treated the Village Keepers with greater kindness and a new level of respect. Anytime it was mentioned, they would say thank the Lesser Lord, not I and then never elaborate further on who they were talking about. There hasn’t been that level of miracle since, but I think there’s an unsaid worry between everyone that with them suddenly acting as they did during that earthquake, a new disaster is about to happen.”

Alhaitham thought over the information. A lot of it sounded similar to what he experienced—going insane, green lights, and Rukkhadevata’s lingering influence. He wasn’t aware if he was protected by some green barrier when he tried to impale himself with the Divine Knowledge Capsule, but maybe it did happen and it was lost in the video glitching. It wouldn’t be too far of a reach, given that he somehow manifested another one in the fight right outside Aaru Village. Lesser Lord was a completely new clue to dissect. With such a title, it heavily implied there was a Greater Lord, wouldn’t it? As far as Alhaitham could tell, there wasn’t such a figure in Sumeru’s history. 

From the nation’s birth, even during the cataclysm, it was always Rukkhadevata. 

Alhaitham was getting a little tired of having all these interesting plot threads he couldn’t follow because he didn’t have enough of a lead to do so. Annoyed, he decided to ask “Do they still wear their Akasha Terminals?”

He didn’t like wearing his anymore with all this new knowledge, but Alhaitham knew he couldn’t simply leave it behind. Like his phone, it was with him, just to have all the needed tools to do what he always wanted to do. 

“From what I’ve been told, they mostly do. They were cut off from the main system after being exiled, so I wonder if it’s out of habit or a requirement to still be monitored in some way.” 

Alhaitham watched him think and craft different theories in his head. He was sure he had wonderful conclusions, but Alhaitham had an idea himself. “Or it’s to keep in contact with Nahida.”

Kaveh hummed in thought before slowly nodding. “I try not to jump to conclusions based on one story, but you may be right. This seems to be the way she’s able to save people, but…” Kaveh trailed off to try and find the right words, but even after a few moments, they didn’t come to him. Finally, he let out a long sigh and tried again. “Just what went wrong? Why is Rukkhadevata being treated like this?”

He wondered if it truly was that easy to blame the Akademiya on this too, but for now, Alhaitham held his tongue. The Akademiya was so huge with its vast source of knowledge and unique spread of people—could it really be under the thumb of one man? There had to be more to it, but it was sadly something he wasn’t privy to with his extra knowledge. “If we ask the right questions, then maybe these Village Keepers can tell us more.” Alhaitham was sure others had tried, but as someone who had first-hand experience with Nahida, he wondered if he could say the right thing to get the right response.

If they were lucky, maybe they would have the answer to the Kusa problem. 

“I was thinking the same thing.” Kaveh said, any remaining stiffness replaced by a confident smile. It was a much better look on his face than the awkward glances and the tears.

With the plan formed, they traveled down to the water flowing around Aaru Village. Together, they followed the water’s edge until they found the villagers near the front way under the bridge that led most people into the village. There were only six Village Keepers out now, but they were all doing what Kaveh described earlier. They didn’t look like perfect circles, but Alhaitham couldn’t see exactly what they were doing. 

“Hello there!” Kaveh casually called out to them, his hand up to wave. 

The Village Keepers looked up at the greeting, but their eyes didn’t stay focused on Kaveh for long. They narrowed in on Alhaitham besides one, who looked down at their drawings and erased the sketches by dragging her fingers through the sand. As a collective, they moved. An elderly gentleman stood in front, while the others stood behind him. Behind his outstretched arms, the other Village Keepers wore various expressions. Some looked scared, others glared, and the youngest-looking one kept his head down to avoid eye contact. “What do you want?” The guarding elder asked. 

Kaveh awkwardly lowered his hand, not expecting such a question to be laced with venom like that. “Well, we were hoping to ask you about-“

“Why should we help you?” One of the women spoke. She was trying to be brave and bare her teeth, but it was impossible to miss the way she still trembled. 

“Uh…” Kaveh tried to say something, but he was at a loss. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Well, we’re trying to save the Dendro Archon, so-“ 

Kaveh cut himself off as the group mumbled loudly behind the man still standing as the protector. They didn’t bother hiding their murmurs, but as they all spoke over each other, it was hard to pick out any distinct words. Kaveh spared a glance over at Alhaitham, but he was just as clueless over what to do. “Do you know these people?” He asked, his voice low in comparison to the Village Keepers, but Alhaitham heard it clearly.

“I…” He couldn’t answer that honestly. He personally didn’t, but maybe Book Alhaitham did. 

He didn’t get to think about where that sentence would go as the trembling woman spoke again. “You’ve already exiled us. Are you going to kill us now?”

Alhaitham heard some tell the woman not to imagine something so dark, but the leader hardened his gaze in silent confirmation that he had the same thought. Alhaitham looked down at the sword on his hip and once more regretted giving the author flack for calling the idea of storing weapons in Visions lazy. The message was clear, though .He wasn’t welcomed here, and his presence was harming Kaveh’s chances of getting some valuable information.

Without knowing what else to do, Alhaitham held up his palms to show that he had no ill intent. He looked over at Kaveh, hoping that he would understand and knew what to do. “I’m sorry.” He said it as honestly as he possibly could. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Didn’t mean to?” The once-scared woman truly found her voice now. “You ruined our lives, and you didn’t mean it? How is that supposed to make us feel better!? I still remember it all. With a smile on your face, you were the one who-!” She pushed her way past the elderly man’s arms to try and stalk towards Alhaitham, but the assumed leader and Kaveh moved first. The elder man reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her while Kaveh stood in front of Alhaitham to protect him as well.

Kaveh knew better than to draw his weapon to keep them safe. Still, Alhaitham was, unfortunately, getting used to the notion of Kaveh always standing in front of him to keep him safe. 

The woman stopped, but she looked right past Kaveh to stare down at Alhaitham. Her eyes were wide and wild, but there was still a lingering fear in that gaze.

“You should go. I’ll handle this.” Kaveh tilted his chin to the side to talk to him. Alhaitham slowly lowered his hands, but he didn’t look away from the woman.

He tried to think back on the class picture he had at home. While most of the faces were still a mystery to him, he had seen a number of them wandering around the Akademiya. Sadly, she still did not look familiar. He wasn’t sure why—he knew it would only provoke her anger more—but he felt the need to apologize again for not even being the person she wanted to be angry at. He was an imposter. A stand-in. 

Alhaitham kept quiet as he nodded his head to show Kaveh he understood. He turned around and walked off, ignoring the urge to look back. Behind him, everyone was eerily silent. Alhaitham was the exact same as he made his way back up to Aaru Village. It was tempting to idle around somewhere in an attempt to overhear everything, but that would be a risky move that could potentially ruin Kaveh’s chance of hearing what he needed.

Still, he took his time making his way back to Aaru Village to collect his thoughts. He thought he knew the person he replaced when he first walked into the story, but apparently there was more to Book Alhaitham than he originally thought. Just like him, Book Alhaitham didn’t like to share too many things about himself. There wasn’t a journal outside of lecture notes, no dotted reminders of his day-to-day life. Just a man that vanished and was replaced by someone who only fitted into the mold on a surface level. No one was none the wiser, outside of the God of Wisdom.

As he stood at the start of the bridge that would lead him into Aaru Village, Alhaitham looked down at the water again. He could see Kaveh and the Village Keepers. They were no longer standing guard and instead were in front of Kaveh. There was no way he could hear what was said at such a distance, but it looked like things were going better. 

He wasn’t staring for long, but the woman who tried to attack him must’ve felt his presence as she immediately looked up at him. Alhaitham knew better to stay around, so he lowered his head and crossed the bridge into Aaru Village. He wasn’t sure what he could do as he waited around. He could help Uncle Anpu if he needed help with anything, but he also wandered off somewhere after cleaning up breakfast. Was he supposed to just sit somewhere and wait all alone?

It had to be the violent reaction to his presence, but for the first time in a while, Alhaitham felt completely lost on what to do. Normally, in the back of his mind, there was some sort of game plan to play things safe, but now… 

Now, he stopped. He was starting to walk up the first flight of stone stairs that lead up from the sand when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He turned to see Cyno, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was lingering in the shadows for this very moment. As soon as Alhaitham met his gaze, Cyno pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and stepped over. 

Alhaitham waited for him to say anything, but when he didn’t, he spoke first. “I thought you were with Sethos.” He questioned. He couldn’t even be happy that Sethos found a way to be apart from Cyno to try and take the Divine Knowledge Capsule back. He had quickly learned that Cyno was on to him in a way he couldn’t get ahead of, and Alhaitham was never sure of what face to make in front of him.

Cyno answered his question with one of his own. “Did you really think approaching the Village Keepers was a good idea?”

It was, and it should’ve been, if not for an NPC’s looming backstory. Sometimes he wondered if this life would be easier if there was an omnipresent system that would tell him what he could and couldn’t do, but it was all wishful thinking. Just like approaching the Villager Keepers was, apparently. “So it wasn’t.” He said, matter of fact.

Cyno held his mouth in a thin line. “You seemed surprised that it wasn’t.”

Of course Cyno was watching him as they approached them. He wondered if he was close enough to listen over their conversations, too. He wouldn’t admit defeat just yet, but Alhaitham felt it as he let out a soft sigh. “I trust Kaveh will ask the same questions I would’ve.”

For what he had seen of Cyno, he always wore the same face. It was always cold, serious, and sharp, but now he seemed taken aback. His eyes widened, his brows were pushed together, and he held his mouth slightly open to say something, only to think against it at the last minute. When he lowered his head, Alhaitham thought that was the end of the conversation and moved to walk away, but as soon as he made it a few steps away, he heard Cyno ask a question behind him. 

“What changed?”

Alhaitham stopped and thought it over. He stared down a pile of sand on the ground. He wanted to ask Cyno about them and what he knew, but he couldn’t. Cyno could see the holes in his story, and speaking such questions would be him ripping them wider and more obvious. He wanted to trust Cyno on a level he couldn’t yet because it would unravel the foundation of his very being. 

At the least, it didn’t take long for him to find the answer to the question asked. He looked over his shoulder to see Cyno staring right at him. “The perspective.”

Chapter Text

In all honesty, Alhaitham was surprised Cyno let him walk away. He didn’t look back to see his expression and confirm if it was an acceptable answer or not, but for now, Alhaitham would take it. Just like with the Village Keepers, Alhaitham felt like he had to play his cards differently to make sure Kaveh got all the help he could get.

While that would’ve been a great transition for Alhaitham to figure out what he could do himself, he was truly at a loss. He felt like a dog sitting in front of the door as they waited for their owner to come home. At most he could try to familiarize himself with his sword before he met up with Kaveh again, but he would rather wait for Kaveh’s instruction before he started to swing the weapon around with only the vague idea on how to do it. 

In the end, he found himself back at the village chief’s house since that seemed to be their base for the time being. Uncle Anpu was gone, and that left Alhaitham alone, but he wasn’t too sure if that was what he wanted at the moment. A distraction would’ve been nice, but maybe being alone with his thoughts would help him out as well.

He knew he needed to be ready for whatever information Kaveh got out of the Village Keepers. Potentially, that included why the girl was mad at him and whatever else she told him. Alhaitham was smart and was well versed in context clues—it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was somehow his fault that she, and potentially the others, were exiled. In the moment, he tried to reason with himself that she meant a general you when that woman said you’ve already exiled us, but now he felt that it was pretty obvious that she meant him personally. 

Book Alhaitham could’ve thrown them under the bus after his own Satyavada Life attempt, caught them in the act and told the Grand Sage, or even just made it all up to get them in trouble for whatever reason. He wouldn’t know at all until Kaveh told him about it—that is, if he still trusted him after whatever the Village Keepers said. 

For all he knew, they were spilling secrets Alhaitham didn’t know about, and here he was doing nothing about it. Not like he had many other options, though. Once again, he felt like he was constantly taking one step forward and two steps back trying to get Kaveh to trust him. 

This walking into another world trope was one he didn’t often read himself, but he knew that they were mostly self-fulfilling fantasies. Why wasn’t he fulfilling his own fantasy right now? He felt like shit, not a hero. Genuinely, all he wanted was to help his favorite person and help him reunite with his mother. At the end of the day, that was it. Nothing less, maybe a little more—but he wouldn’t be greedy if Kaveh didn’t want more out of him. Was this all because he originally wanted to play the NPC role, and now he was experiencing the consequences of his actions? Up until a few months ago, his actions weren’t even his own!

To not be caught spiraling into a weird headspace of wondering who he was as a person now, Alhaitham found himself something to do. He hoped he wasn’t snooping in any way, but he found a bookcase and grabbed the first book his fingers touched. It hardly caught his attention, but he still looked over the contents in an attempt to distract his mind. 

He wasn’t sure how much he read, as all the words quickly bounced off his mind, but he didn’t care. As soon as he heard the door open, Alhaitham snapped the book shut and moved to greet whoever it was that stopped by. He expected Kaveh, but to his surprise, it was Sethos. 

“Yo.” Sethos said in greeting as he closed the door behind it. Alhaitham didn’t miss the way he locked it as well. “What a pleasant surprise to see you all alone.”

Alhaitham only hummed to stop himself from huffing like a petulant child. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice in the matter.

Unbothered by the lack of a real response, Sethos stepped closer. “Well, I’m just here to deliver my part of the deal.” As he said that, he pulled out the Divine Knowledge Capsule. It glowed with the same ominous red hue Alhaitham had grown used to, but it was now paired with a white light. Bandages with ruins, similar to that Sethos had around his arms in the fight, hovered around the capsule. “This should keep it from being detected by others and also from trying to leech off of you again until you can safely examine it with Kaveh.”

Even with the added layer of protection, Alhaitham found himself still feeling hesitant to reach out and grab it. If Sethos noticed his hesitation, he didn’t comment on it. “You work fast.” He said instead. He wouldn’t admit the sentence was to buy himself more time to build up the courage to grab it, but he was still a little curious if it was alright to pass it over again already. Surely it would be suspicious that the Divine Knowledge Capsule was missing from whatever hiding spot Cyno put it in already. He was already walking a thin line with that man.

“Gotta capitalize on the chances we get.” Sethos said in a possible attempt to soothe that worry of his. His friendly smile remained on his face, but he then leveled Alhaitham with a look that matched the ones Cyno was constantly giving him. “Besides, he did tell me he wanted to keep an eye on you as you talked to the Village Keepers. Whatever you told him completely threw him off his game, and I saw the chance to act.”

Finally, Alhaitham reached out to take the Divine Knowledge Capsule. The red light flared above his hand, but the bandages did their part and protected him from any lingering effects. “I just told him the truth.” He answered the question asked between the lines.

“Right, of course.” Sethos dragged out the sentence, making it hard to tell if it was patronizing or not. He changed the topic before Alhaitham could really question it. “Either way, I still have the other part of the deal to keep up. I’ll keep Cyno distracted; you do your scholar stuff with the Divine Knowledge Capsule under Kaveh’s watch, and then you report to me the details. Sounds good still?”

He nodded his head, but with the way Sethos stared at him, that apparently wasn’t enough. He really was a talker. “Yes.”

“Great! Keep up the good work, teammate.” He clapped Alhaitham on the shoulder as their new handshake. When he moved his hand away, Alhaitham took a step back to prevent him from touching him again. “Maybe you should keep saying cryptic stuff to Cyno too; he seems to really hate that.” Sethos said with a laugh.

Alhaitham would rather not have Cyno be even more suspicious of him. “Right…”

With that, Sethos let him be with the added promise that he wouldn’t try anything with Kaveh by his side. Here, Alhaitham did frown a bit even, though he did agree. He didn’t need to be chided like a child. What he needed was to be told his own lore without it being as weird that he was asking about himself as possible. He wasn’t going to try anything without Kaveh, so he hid the Divine Knowledge Capsule on his person for the time being. 

He was left alone once again. He tried to pick up his spot in the book, but it wasn’t like he was really reading it to begin with. He flipped through a few more pages, still trying to occupy his mind, until the door opened once again. This time, it was Kaveh.

Like before, Alhaitham was immediately on his feet to greet him. “What happened?”

Kaveh twisted his mouth as he gathered his thoughts, but Alhaitham couldn’t tell if it was because he was trying to find the best way to condense what he learned or was trying to figure out what all was safe to tell him. All Alhaitham could do was silently wait for his response, but it was tempting to do more. Being out in the sun for so long left his cheeks to take on a rosy tint, and some lingering sand clung to his white shirt. He wanted to reach out and brush it off and fix his hair ruffled from the wind.

Before he could even think about what he could possibly do with such thoughts, Kaveh pulled out a notepad. Sometimes the author mentioned how Kaveh loved to draw when he found the downtime to relax, but it was only brought up a handful of times. Alhaitham watched him flip to the last page and show him the drawing. “They showed me what they were drawing. Does it look familiar?”

Rendered in black ink, there was the image of a person sitting in a dome. Their head was tilted up and to the right, but they lacked any distinct facial features. However, Alhaitham noticed that there was a heart-shape design over where the person’s ear would be, and it looked strikingly similar to the leaf Nahida gave him in the dream realm. “It doesn’t, but could it be Rukkhadevata?”

The odd expression never left her face. “When I asked, all they said was the Lesser Lord.”

Lesser Lord Rukkhadevata… somehow, it didn’t sound quite right. 

Kaveh realized this too as he let out a sigh. “I also tried to ask about who Kusa was, but that ended up cutting the conversation short. They completely shut me out after that.”

It really was one thing after another. He wasn’t sure if the Village Keepers could actually help them find the missing piece they needed, but it would’ve been great if they could’ve at least pushed them in the right direction. He didn’t want to dwell on it too much, but Alhaitham couldn’t help but wonder if his presence still harmed Kaveh’s ability to obtain more information in the end.

He wanted to ask, but Kaveh looked like he wanted to say more, too. Alhaitham waited for him to speak, but all he did was frown a bit as he put his notebook away. Kaveh looked like he was about to walk away from him, but Alhaitham didn’t want that. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know what Book Alhaitham did. He wanted to do something to help Kaveh in the way he needed. Thankfully, he could now.

“Sethos stopped by with the Divine Knowledge Capsule.” He said, and with the way Kaveh quickly looked up at him, he could tell he had fully captured his attention. Alhaitham pulled out the Divine Knowledge Capsule to finally hand it over to Kaveh. “Even with the protective spell,” he wasn’t sure what else to call it since Sethos didn’t go into detail, “it would be safer in your hands.”

Even after briefly describing the added protection, Kaveh still quickly pulled it away from Alhaitham’s hands. The look in Kaveh’s eyes showed that it was to keep him safe, not in fear that he would keep it away from longer. Kaveh still looked at it with a scrutinized glare, but he was satisfied with his finding and safely placed it away. “I think Cyno is still in the area.” He said instead of offering to look into the capsule right now. “Besides, I did say we should train afterwards, and I think I need to clear my head with something I’m familiar with before we tackle this new mystery.”

He still wanted to know what all the Village Keepers told him, but he accepted the change of focus with a simple nod of his head. If it was an out to not have to answer questions he didn’t know the answer to, Alhaitham unfortunately had to take it to keep himself in Kaveh’s good graces.

Kaveh knew a good place that they could train in where they were mostly in the shade and lead Alhaitham there. It wasn’t a long walk, but talk stayed on everything instead of what Kaveh discussed in detail with the Village Keepers. He was forming a plan for them for the future of training later at night to help Alhaitham hone his skills without added strain from the desert’s sun. During the day, they could examine the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

Alhaitham agreed to the plan easily.

The area Kaveh found for them was wide and slightly awkwardly shaped with the way the rocks cast shadows on the sand underneath them, but it would do. It was far enough away from the winding trail they branched off from to prevent any traveler from unintentionally getting in the way, but could still clearly see it was a friendly spar instead of a fight. After looking it over, Kaveh pulled out the Knowledge Capsule and handed it over to Alhaitham. 

Alhaitham pushed away the misplaced caution he had toward the device, took a breath, and started to extract the knowledge. If Kaveh said he tested it and that it was safe, he had no reason to doubt him, but he still had a completely different constitution than him. The knowledge came at him quickly, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The techniques and methods played out in his mind, expanding his knowledge so practice and experience could fill in the gaps. Even with his eyes closed, he could still feel Kaveh close by to monitor him in case anything went wrong.

Nothing did, and soon, he extracted all the knowledge he possibly could. Alhaitham opened his eyes to see the Knowledge Capsule glow with a subtle green hue instead of the vibrant glare. Kaveh took the capsule back from him and manifested his greatsword. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Alhaitham knew he didn’t have the capacity to hurt Kaveh in any way, and he also knew that Kaveh wouldn’t actively attack him in return. All he would do is parry his attacks and see where he could give pointers in spots the Knowledge Capsule couldn’t.

However, saying he got his ass kicked would be an exaggeration. The correct term, he believed, was that he got his shit rocked. 

Kaveh was a thorough teacher. Even knowing these things, Alhaitham was still hesitant to swing his sword at full force, but when Kaveh countered the attack and knocked his sword loose from his hands, Alhaitham knew he had to step it up. Actual experience always won out, as Kaveh was the victor of each and every squabble. He wouldn’t always knock his sword loose—sometimes he would knock his balance off and make Alhaitham fall flat on his ass. How considerate of him to change it up.

When it happened again, Kaveh stood over Alhaitham with his hands on his hips. “Didn’t I tell you to watch your feet?” He asked, a cheeky grin pulling at his lips.

The last time Alhaitham was this aware of his feet, he was seeing which piggies were going to the market as a toddler. “How could I possibly forget?” He asked, monotone.

Kaveh laughed and held his hand out to him. “C’mon, let’s try again.”

With Kaveh’s help, Alhaitham pulled himself up and readied his sword again. 

He didn’t stumble again, but Alhaitham knew the training session could’ve gone better. When it was starting to get too hot, Kaveh called it there. Kaveh covered a few more things with him to notice and keep in mind for next time, and Alhaitham diligently listened. He wasn’t sure how much fighting he would have to personally do when they launched their attack, but Kaveh was making it obvious he was preparing him in case he was on the frontlines. 

“...But overall, you did good. You stayed standing at the end, at least.” He praised, even adding a playful jab at the end, but it went all over Alhaitham’s head because he was touching his head. He patted his head, brushing a few wayward strands of hair. “What?” Kaveh asked as he pulled his hand away. “You still had some sand in your hair.”

“Oh,” right, he would do it for some logical reason like that, not for praise or anything, “thank you.”

From that day on, they fell into a rhythm. They would see where others were, experiment with the Divine Knowledge Capsule if the coast was clear, and train.Every now and then Sethos would stop by just to confirm people’s locations while also getting his share of the deal. Alhaitham did all he could to not fall into an insane state again, but sometimes the knowledge would try to sink its fangs deeply into his flesh. In those situations, Kaveh would quickly toss the object to the other side of the room only, worrying about damaging Uncle Anpu’s furniture. 

He would stay with Alhaitham as he tried to clear his mind from dangerous thoughts and relax. Most of the time, Kaveh would sit next to him and allow Alhaitham to lean against him. One day, the recoil was more vicious than expected, and even though Alhaitham didn’t hurt himself or Kaveh, he felt exhausted and a shell of himself. He couldn’t even fight it when Kaveh laid him down. He wasn’t aware that he was using Kaveh’s lap as a pillow as Kaveh placed his hand over the gem, warming him with a steady stream of Dendro energy in a desperate attempt to help more than he already was. 

Kaveh wanted to take a break from both of their goals after that, but Alhaitham was stubborn. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be the weak link. Still, Kaveh went very easy on him during their sword training, and tinkering with the Divine Knowledge capsule was cut short too until Alhaitham fully gathered his strength again. It took another day, but Alhaitham didn’t have time to question if that was speedy or not when he wanted to achieve something. 

Alhaitham thought everything was going well, until one night. 

They were all at the table enjoying dinner. Uncle Anpu still didn’t mind hosting everyone and loved making sure everyone was well fed, fully rested, and full of energy to help save their archon. All the food was served, and they were just about to eat, but Cyno was doing something odd. Alhaitham didn’t notice it at first since he was too in his head thinking over the recent progress with the Divine Knowledge Capsule. He thought all was well until he heard Sethos mumble a quiet “Don’t.”

Whatever it was, Cyno did it anyway.

He was looking straight at the serving of panipuri as he spoke in a monotone voice. “The panipuri looks mighty pani-purr-ty.” Everyone wore various expressions at the joke. Sethos looked like he withered up from cringe, Dehya rolled her eyes, and Candance looked like she was ignoring the joke to maintain inner peace. Kaveh looked confused, and Alhaitham felt the same. Cyno took these reactions as needing to explain himself. “Get it? It’s a pretty plate. Compliments to the chef.”

He sounded so serious, like he was discussing top-secret business just to tell a joke. This side of Cyno was never touched on in the book, so it completely caught Alhaitham off guard. The complete dichotomy of what he knew about Cyno and this sudden trait that was shown to him made Alhaitham laugh before he realized he was the only one doing so. 

It was a quick chuckle, but it was enough for all eyes to suddenly be on him. “Really? You thought that was funny?” Sethos asked, sounding dramatically exhausted. 

“Great, you’re going to encourage him now.” Dehya added on. Her tone was light to show that she was joking herself more than not, but there was that lingering worry that it actually would and he would somehow shout out an even worse—which would, unfortunately, make it more funny—joke.

Whatever flat humor was in Cyno’s eyes was gone as he stared right at Alhaitham. It was tempting to look away from that gaze that continued to search for something too thoroughly, but this time, Alhaitham didn’t. “It was a good joke.” Cyno said. “Don’t you agree, Kaveh?” Even though he asked him, his eyes never moved from Alhaitham.

“I mean, I guess?” Kaveh said, sounding very much like a third party caught in the middle of a fight. “Do you like puns?”

“Generally speaking,” Cyno started, and Alhaitham had to busy himself by taking a bite of his food because, fuck, that was absolutely another amazingly terrible joke, “they are the best kinds of jokes.”

“They’re more like cringey dad jokes.” Sethos was somehow still alive enough to clap back with a retort.

“I father great humor.”

Alhaitham could only imagine how readers would react if they knew Cyno had this side to him. That added knowledge made him almost laugh again, but he tried to cover it up with a cough. Kaveh looked at him with worry that he was choking, but Cyno’s gaze showed that he knew it was an act.

There wasn’t any sort of confrontation after that dinner, but Alhaitham was far more conscious of the jokes he laughed at now than he had ever been in his life. When he first entered this world, he never thought that was something he had to worry about. Yet here he was, being tested on it. The next morning, Cyno told a terrible joke about henna berries, and Alhaitham had to pretend that a piece of wall decor was very interesting to not crack a smile.

Everyone was right that they weren’t that good, but that just made them better. The interactions always lingered in the back of Alhaitham’s mind, but he couldn’t dwell on them too long, not when he was so close to getting the answer they needed out of the Divine Knowledge Capsule.

Alhaitham also tried not to think too much about how long this was taking. Working with the Divine Knowledge shouldn’t be rushed, not only for his own safety at the present, but everyone else’s in the future. He hated reading what happened to everyone—now that it was real and he was a part of it, he didn’t want to experience it either. 

It wasn’t until a few more days later that there was a breakthrough, and finally, Alhaitham had a lead on how he could manipulate the Divine Knowledge and the Akasha in their favor without erasing the history inside. Even after sharing all that he could with Sethos, it was still better leaving it untouched. 

It wasn’t an exact answer, but it would be enough to make challenging Azar and his web of power easier.

Kaveh watched over him as always, and the way his eyes lit up at the breakthrough was mesmerizing. “Do you think this will work?” He asked him, his tone full of hope and determination, that Alhaitham felt bad he couldn’t be completely assertive in his answer.

“I think it's our best bet.” He said instead of an outright yes or no.

The lack of a definitive answer didn’t deter Kaveh at all. Instead, he reached out to grab both of Alhaitham’s hands. Kaveh’s palms pressed over his knuckles as he brought Alhaitham’s hands together, his fingers pressing firmly against him. Like the dream, it was like he was preventing him from wandering away, but the scenario was the same with Alhaitham.

He didn’t want to move away from Kaveh’s charming smile and his calming warmth. He didn’t want to look away from the gaze Kaveh saw him in, even if it did leave his own cheeks feeling a little heated. On a base level, this was all he really wanted. 

“You’re amazing!” Kaveh said it like he wanted everyone to hear it, but he was still mindful enough that they were doing this in secret. What he couldn’t say in his volume, he made up for in his expression and his hold. 

“I’m just…”

“No, you’re not some feeble scholar.” Kaveh huffed in a lighthearted laugh, predicting what Alhaitham wasn’t even sure he was going to say. “You’re an incredible person, Alhaitham. You’re smart; you’ve more than proven you have a natural talent with swords than what the Knowledge Capsule offered, and you’ve helped not only me, but your archon in ways most people wish they could achieve.” Kaveh didn’t let his hands go, but he did lower his gaze to look at them instead of Alhaitham’s eyes. “There really is something about you…”

Alahitham said nothing. He couldn’t.

Finally, Kaveh let his hands go and shook his head at the lack of response. “There really is something about you,” he repeated, now with a little more intent instead of a curious air, “even when you act annoyingly mysterious at times.”

He wished he could tell him more, but he didn’t know where to start. 

Kaveh didn’t question it. Instead, they figured out a way to best ask for forgiveness since they didn’t ask for permission to continue tinkering with the Divine Knowledge Capsule. Surely Cyno would understand their reasoning, and he would continue to be on board with the idea to save Rukkhadevata. If he didn’t, that would needlessly put them a step back—ignoring the bigger problem that Cyno would be regarded as an enemy.

Kaveh never left Alhaitham’s side until they found Cyno to break the news. It was surprising he didn’t seem bothered by it at all and took it all in stride, but his eyes never left Alhaitham. He would really like not being in the center of attention right now. 

Later that day, after the usual sword training, they broke the news to the rest of the team members so they could start really laying out the plans. Just because they made this huge discovery, that unfortunately didn’t mean they could jump right into things. There was no pushback about this discovery, even if Candace did question him just how the Divine Knowledge Capsule landed up in his hands again. Sethos gladly took credit for that with a smug smile on his face since he was proud of himself for playing such an important role.

A plan was formed and included people that weren’t even in the desert with them, such as Tighnari and Nilou. Since Dehya had business in Sumeru City guarding a woman named Dunyarzad as she traveled from there to Gandharva Ville, it made sense for her to play the messenger.

Even though he wished it was under better circumstances, he was looking forward to meeting these two characters. He was curious to see what else changed with Tighnari since he didn’t share anything about Irminsul, and Nilou was one of the characters that Alhaitham wished got a little more screen time. Her morals and willingness to sacrifice it all to fight for what she believed in wer admirable. It was never really expanded on why the Akademiya hated dance and the arts so much. Even back when he was trying to learn about this world to fit in, he never saw the reason.

There was also something about her that captured Kaveh’s attention back in the original story. Alhaitham could credit it to the fact that she was a dancer, she was supposed to leave people entranced, but it still happened with Kaveh outside of her performances. The prose wasn’t any different from when the author wrote Kaveh with other people, but people online still found more in their interactions. While reader inserts were the most popular with Kaveh, he was still shipped with various canon characters. Kaveh and Nilou was one of the more popular ships.

“Alhaitham? Are you alright?” Kaveh asked at a low volume. Under the table, he nudged his leg with his knee to catch his attention. 

He hummed that he was as he blinked his eyes into focus. Dehya, Candace, Cyno, and Sethos were having their own conversation about Dehya’s trip to Sumeru City. Kaveh’s eyes were only on him, and he didn’t pull his knee away. He wasn’t sure why he unintentionally closed himself off when he got in his own head. It was pointless to think about it—these were real people to him now with their own motives, ideals, and relationships. There was nothing he could do about it.

Why would he want to do something about it?

Kaveh was still looking at him since the hum wasn’t enough of a response for him to not be worried. “With everything falling into place, I wish I could be more certain that I can do my part.” He admitted instead of what he was thinking about.

“Are you fishing for compliments again?” Kaveh asked with a teasing smile. In a way, it was much better than him trying to soothe him with comforting words, mostly because of the honest smile that was accompanied with it.

Because of that, he felt like he could smile a little himself. “They say that earnest compliments should be given thrice, so… one more time, please.”

Kaveh rolled his eyes and waved his hand as if he could physically push away the cloud that was lingering over Alhaitham. “You really know the right thing to say to be as insufferable as possible.” He said, but his tone was still light and playful. 

Alhaitham couldn’t give any cheeky response since he and Kaveh were pulled back into the general conversation. Given the time it would take to travel and deliver the message, they had a few more days until they could actually launch their attack. After safely bringing Dunyarzad to Gandharva Ville, Dehya would travel back to Sumeru City with Tighnari. A simple message would be sent through the Akasha to let them know they were in the city. Then, they would meet up with all of them, and the plan would go from there. Kaveh didn’t pull his leg away until they all got up after the meal was done.

With everything planned out as much as they could, all they could truly do now was wait. Alhaitham kept up with his sword training and even testing to see if there was another way to manipulate the Divine Knowledge Capsule. They had truly exhausted all of their resources with it, but if they could have a more foolproof plan, then Alhaitham would feel more confident in his efforts to create an ending everyone would be happy with.

At night, they still shared the same bed, but there wasn’t another dream like the one with the field of flowers. They still never talked about it, but Alhaitham didn’t press and instead tried to stay on his side of the bed. Even after making an effort, they gravitated towards each other. Sometimes they would merely be brushing their shoulders together, but other times there would be an arm over his waist or a leg hooked around his own. He didn’t always wake up first, but when he did, Alhaitham would move away to not bother Kaveh—and Kaveh did the exact same.

However, with the date to act slowly growing closer and closer, Alhaitham didn’t want to let go. He would dream in flashes, and each flash showed him a scene from the book’s original ending. Each brief scene would feel more vivid than the last, as if he were actually there experiencing it all. He wasn’t hurt in the dream like Kaveh and the others, but it was like he was a spectator, standing right in front of everyone as he watched them suffer. He could see shadows of different people watching too, but he couldn’t recognize any of them.

Kaveh seemed to be keen on his subtle shifts in emotional states, but he never asked him what was wrong when he was quiet in the morning. All Kaveh did was let him hold him until Alhaitham pulled his arms to himself. Kaveh would remain still if he was still asleep, but if he was awake, he would spread his fingers wide against Alhaitham’s back. It was enough to comfort him since he couldn’t speak his mind. He could give the excuse that it was getting colder at night, but he knew that wasn’t believable.

Once again, Alhaitham thought things were going as well as they could, even with trepidation clawing at their heels. Saving a nation was nothing new for Kaveh, but he still knew the risk in it all. He had already lost so many people, and even though he never said anything about it, Alhaitham could tell he was determined to not lose any more. It was a natural emotion to feel, but there was a chance Alhaitham seemed to be more keen on Kaveh’s emotions too, as the motivation in his eyes burned a little brighter. 

It was getting late. Everyone was done eating, and now there was a lull. People were antsy for the morning, but wanted more time before the sky was completely dark. He would do whatever Kaveh wanted him to do, but someone asked for his attention first. 

“I shouldn't be long.” Alhaitham heard Cyno say, slightly louder than a casual volume, to break away from the conversation he was having with Dehya. His conversion ended on good terms, and he started his way toward the door, but he stopped next to Alhaitham. “Alhaitham, would you mind helping?”

Out of everyone, Cyno just had to pick him. Maybe it wasn’t too surprising, all things considered, but Alhaitham still very much wished he chose someone that he was more amicable with. Besides, it was the final night in the desert. Alhaitham would rather be getting ready for bed so he could hold Kaveh again… for warmth, of course. 

Kaveh and Sethos were standing behind Cyno when he asked that question, and based on their expressions, he could only imagine what look Dehya and Candace behind him were wearing. Kaveh found it just as odd, and when he looked over at Sethos to see if there was some hidden motive in the request, he just gave an exaggerated shrug. 

Alhaitham didn’t need their permission to go out or not, but just like other things in this world, he had to wonder why him, even if this was on a smaller scale. Cyno was another mystery he wanted to solve; maybe this was the opening to do so. “Alright.”

Cyno nodded and walked away without looking back to make sure Alhaitham was following. “Good luck, man.” Sethos said with his usual easygoing smile. “If he starts getting agitated, just mention TCG, and he should calm down.”

It was a joke—maybe not as good as Cyno’s—but Kaveh still frowned at him. Alhaitham had a feeling there was a reason for this, but he doubted Cyno would do anything outright dangerous at this point in time. No doubt Kaveh knew this too. “Don’t take too long. We have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow.”

Alhaitham knew what he said and knew the meaning. It was very straightforward. And yet, somehow, he found a meaning in between the words. It’s late. Come back soon so we can rest. 

He had to quickly push that thought away before it morphed into something else. 

Cyno did not wander too far from the village chief’s house. When Alhaitham caught up to him, he started to walk about to lead him to their first stop. He waited for Cyno to say anything, either about the delivery or the person who made such a late-night request. There was nothing, but Alhaitham didn’t start talking either. Instead, he stayed just as quiet as he passed by various buildings. 

It was curious to think about just how much he has changed as a person since he first entered this world. If someone told him at first that he would be in the desert plotting with all his favorite characters how to overthrow the government together, he wouldn’t know how to react. He never imagined his small pushes to change the plot would cause such a butterfly effect. All he wanted was to subtly help as he lived as normally as he possibly could, yet here he was. Inside each building, there were people living their normal lives, just like he tried to. In the end, he couldn’t find himself really regretting his choice of actions—although he could probably go about things a little better.

There were many opportunities for Cyno to strike with the real reason that he wanted specifically Alhaitham to help him, but he never capitalized on them. They kept walking until they came across a merchant carefully yet quickly loading vegetables into a crate. He stopped briefly to excitedly wave at them before continuing to load up the box.

“Cyno!” He said once they were closer. “Thank you again so much for doing this for me on such short notice.”

Cyno nodded. “The Sumpter beast has been found.”

The merchant sighed down at the carrots in his hands. “That’s great news. The vegetables were already ruined; I didn’t need Dorte going missing and making things worse.” The carrots were placed inside the crate. “I was hoping the delivery could wait in the morning so I could go look for her, but, well, you know how Najat is.” He sighed again as if the action could help some of the stress leave his body faster.

Cyno only hummed to show that he did know.

No one filled Alhaitham in on what was going on, but he figured most of it out with context clues. This was apparently an actual delivery instead of some elaborate attempt to interrogate him in private. Before Alhaitham could think over how he felt about that change of events, the merchant loudly hammered a lid over the crate to secure the vegetables.

“Oh!” He started again as he put his hammer down. “I also found a copy of that book you were looking for.” He walked over to a different table in his stand and grabbed it. He handed it over to Cyno first, but Cyno nodded his head towards Alhaitham.

“He can carry it. I’ll take the crate.”

Alhaitham took the book offered to him. The leather-bound cover was decorated with crossing lines instead of a title. He was curious to look inside, but he stopped himself from doing so. With the crate in Cyno’s arms, they both bid the merchant a farewell to deliver the goods to where Najat was. 

Just like the journey there, it was silent. Alhaitham glanced at the large crate in Cyno’s arms and then down at the book he could hold in one hand. It would be so easy to just place the book on top of the crate and wander back to Kaveh, but he didn’t. Maybe he was looking too much into it because he knew there was something that connected Cyno to Book Alhaitham, but there had to be a reason he was brought along to carry just a book.

They kept walking, but Alhaitham could see their goal. They were moving towards a large warehouse on the outskirts of the village. Lanterns illuminated their path, and he could see the silhouette of someone pacing back and forth along the stones in front of the building. They kept moving as if they didn’t see Cyno and Alhaitham walking closer, but it was still too far away to casually yell out to catch their attention.

“Have you read that book before?” Cyno finally broke the silence. He adjusted his hold on the crate and looked up at him.

The whole time, Alhaitham kept the book shut by his side. He took the question as permission to finally look inside. He flipped to the first page and briefly skimmed over the first few paragraphs. There were a lot of books in the library back home, but he couldn’t recall an opening that started out like this. A lot of books were about literature and history, but this one seemed to be about physics. While he could easily relate it to physics he knew in his original world, he was also acutely aware that Teyvat had its own laws and not everything applied one-to-one. 

If this was some sort of test, all he could do was admit the truth. Book Alhaitham loved books, and it was humanly impossible to remember which opening belonged to each book—especially when they lacked titles like this one. If a copy was somewhere in his library, it would be very easy to admit he just forgot about it. He closed the book with a muffled snap. “I haven’t.”

Cyno nodded his head and looked forward. “It’s a good read.”

If he ever got freetime again after this leap of faith, then maybe he would actually get the chance to read it.

The conversation stopped after that, and the familiar silence came back until they were closer to the pacing figure. As soon as she saw them, she trotted right up to them. It didn’t take long for Alhaitham to realize that this was Najat and was just as grateful as the merchant for the late-night delivery. She showed him where to put the vegetable crate, and all Alhaitham could do was follow along. Najat talked a lot about her own frustration about the delivery suddenly going wrong, but she was just as relieved that the Sumpter beast was found. She did most of the talking while Cyno occasionally offered a few words of his own.

After the crate was placed in the correct spot, she noticed the book in Alhaitham’s hand. “Oh? You found the book too?” She sounded surprised, but pleased. Alhaitham handed it over, and Najat gladly took it. She flipped through a few pages with a faint smile on her face. “Ramiz has been getting very curious as of late, and I’ve run out of fun physics facts to tell him.” She said with a laugh.

“Some concepts might be hard for someone his age to grasp, but I think it’s a good introduction for him.” Cyno said.

“Honestly, he’d probably love the challenge. You know how kids are.” She fondly shook her head and tucked the book under her arm. “Thanks again, you two, for doing this for me, and sorry for keeping you out so late. Have a good night.” She waved them off to not keep them for too long.

“Goodnight.” Cyno returned to parting. Alhaitham simply waved. 

They started to walk away, and now Alhaitham was left once again wondering if this really was some setup or not. The book felt like a small opening to pick at something larger, but in the end, it was simply part of the delivery as well. He should be grateful for the easy side mission, even if he was still slightly on guard. That meant he could go back to Kaveh quicker and enjoy their warm bed. It was such a small piece of the larger puzzle, but he was going to miss the casual closeness they could share in that room. 

But the mission wasn’t over as Cyno was taking a completely different path back to the village chief's house. He wasn’t leading him out into the desert, but it sure felt like he wanted to see all the scenic sights at night one last time before they traveled back to Sumeru City. If it were any other night, maybe Alhaitham could reason with himself to humor him, but right now, he would rather be elsewhere. 

Cyno kept walking, but after a few more steps that felt like he was leading him on a needlessly winding path, Alhaitham stopped. Immediately, Cyno did as well. Alhaitham decided to get straight to the point. “Is there a reason why we’re taking this way back?”

“Took you longer to say something than I thought.” Cyno turned to face him. His words weren’t accusatory, but more like he was a researcher examining a specimen and got an unpredicted result. “I thought you would enjoy it.”

“Maybe another time.” And maybe with someone else. He knew that Cyno was a good guy, but for reasons he couldn’t know, their personalities just weren’t meant to meld well together. After they saved their archon, maybe they could be something akin to friends without heavy responsibilities weighing them down and testing their patience. Alhaitham wasn’t as aware of all the paths as Cyno, but he had a pretty good memory and could safely backtrack his way back to Aaru Village—unless another sandstorm picked up. He turned to do just that.

“Are you sure you haven’t read the book before?” Cyno asked again before he took a step away.

He didn’t like that he was asking that question again. “It didn’t sound familiar.”

Cyno stepped forward. “We did a group project on it.”

Out of everything he could’ve possibly said, he said one of the very few things that had the power to make Alhaitham’s blood run cold and pin him to his spot. He thought back to the few pictures he had at home, but none of them showed Cyno, nor did any look altered to take him out. 

Like a predator hunting their prey, Cyno stalked forward. “We spent months working on it together. We could—and you did—recite some of the passages in our sleep. It, and many others, were valuable sources that helped you gain favor in the Akademiya and granted me my last credit to graduate.” About half a foot separated then when Cyno stopped. Even with Cyno being much shorter than him, Alhaitham felt like he was crumbling under his gaze. He stayed standing, but he didn’t know what face to make. “And suddenly, you can’t remember the first few paragraphs, when you used to know the first few chapters off the top of your head?”

It was a blessing he could understand the language of Teyvat, but that was the extent of it. Alhaitham didn’t enter this world with Book Alhaitham’s memories, just his sins. 

“I would question if you lost your memory during that Eremite attack a few months ago, but that didn’t happen either, did it?”

Alhaitham wouldn’t say he was scared that the real truth would be exposed, but he felt like he was toeing the line a lot more than he should. He had done everything he could to play the part and cover his tracks, but he should’ve known sooner or later someone would be able to call his bluff. Out of everyone, it had to be the man with a web of connections and a solid sense of judgment. “No, it didn’t.”

He didn’t mean to sound so uncertain. He wasn’t hurt, and he didn’t see any Eremites walking away or towards him when he first came to Teyvat, but he didn’t know how else to explain it. An excuse was given to him by two drunken fools and he just took it. After getting mad at the book, he went on a walk and just… arrived here. 

Cyno blinked, and the interrogating stare was replaced by something else. “What really happened?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted, and even though it wasn’t the full truth, he felt a bit relieved knowing some of the weight was off of his shoulders. “I… found myself in the forest and walked toward Sumeru City. Azmi and Gregor found me and took me home.”

Cyno moved back slightly by shifting his weight. He was still staring at Alhaitham, but his stare subtly changed again as he crossed his arms. “Why were they out?” 

It wasn’t a question asked to satisfy his curiosity, but another test for Alhaitham. At least this one he remembered. “Celebrating our win at the Akademiya Extravaganza.”

“Did you participate?”

Alhaitham didn’t respond. If his book counterpart was anything like him, he would do everything he could to avoid it, but he remembered hearing other people talk in the aftermath of the event that made it sound like participation was mandatory. People still found ways out of it, but did he?

When no answer came, Cyno huffed a humorless laugh. “You’ve almost done a great job at keeping up appearances. You don’t remember anything until that day, do you?”

He tried to take the compliment at face value, but now, he wondered if there was another layer to it. Cyno already explained himself why he didn’t strike until the altercation at Aaru Village, but now Alhaitham was wondering if there was another, more personal reason to it. He was keeping tabs on him to also see just how much his personality has changed. “I don’t.”

Cyno was quiet at that. He looked off toward the vast desert as if the answer could be somewhere out there. Even though it was getting colder and it was getting more and more tempting to find warmth in that bed, he stayed where he stood. If this was what it took to turn Cyno into an ally, he would take it instead of waiting until after they saved Nahida. “Could it be a ley line disorder?”

Of course. Ley lines were such an easy explanation when things went awry in the original book. He had to be the new messenger for Irminsul, so maybe this was his character arc that tied into the overarching story? The ley lines that flowed underneath Teyvat’s soils contained memories of the past, but that shouldn’t include a person who was never part of the story.

It was a rhetorical question, but when Alhaiham didn’t respond, Cyno shook his head. “You don’t even remember why we hated each other.”

He didn’t even know they knew each other on such a level. Whatever happened, the fallout must’ve been abysmal. Alhaitham had some friends back in his original world that he grew apart from, but it was never to the scale of erasing their existence from his home. He had seen Book Alhaitham’s research notes and old projects, but nothing hinted that Cyno was a part of them in any way. He tried to think back to any lingering hint, any smudged thumbprint that suggested that Cyno was more to him than just a powerful matra, but he couldn’t. 

All he could think about was Sethos’ terrible joke.

“Did we…” Alhaitham started. Cyno blinked out of whatever thoughts he had himself and looked up at him. He looked as neutral as ever, outside of his quirked brow in question. It was an honest question that hopefully didn’t apply anything more since Cyno seemed to believe he fully lost his memories, but for some reason, Alhaitham felt a little queasy asking it. He was open-minded, and he was sure Cyno was a great guy on all fronts, but…“used to date?”

Cyno’s eyes widened as his mouth parted slightly. Alhaitham told himself to act rationally if he was told yes. 

He was laughed at.

He wasn’t aware there was a worse option than being told that they did. Alhaitham made sure not to pout as he watched Cyno laugh in front of him, but he did cross his arms to impatiently wait for him to stop. He wasn’t sure if this was any better than the pointed questions he still couldn’t answer honestly, but at least when things were like that, Alhaitham was getting some information on his supposed backstory.

“This whole time, you played the part of my enemy because, what, you thought it was a messy breakup?” Cyno asked, and Alhaitham pressed his lips into a thin line because, even though he hated the sound of it, at least it was an easier story to go with than the truth.

“I knew part of it was having the Divine Knowledge Capsule, but I don’t remember the personal grudge.” Alhaitham defended himself. 

Even with the heavy topic, such a detour seemed to have lightened the mood even somewhat. “The grudge was on your behalf.” Cyno started with a wave of his hand to signal they should walk and talk. The statement wasn’t venomous, but the start of the story. Alhaitham moved to follow him again. “You were jealous.”

He may share a lot of similarities with Book Alhaitham, but they were still two different beings. Going to all these lengths out of jealousy, he could only imagine how much of a spiteful person his book counterpart was. There were more important things to worry about, but now he was once again wondering if that man was wreaking havoc in his original world—and on his priceless Kaveh merch collection.

“You were jealous of me ever since I became General Mahamatra because I was moving up in the Akademiya, and you were still just a student. There were rumors going around that the Scribe was about to retire soon, and you were hoping for that position. I told you to wait until you graduated before trying, mostly because the guy was known to say he was going to retire, but then wait another year.” Alhaitham knew exactly who he was talking about because the person was still there. Cyno continued on. “I don’t know how you approached the Sages to prove yourself fitting for the role, but you were rejected. Somehow, you twisted it in your mind that it was my doing.”

No doubt there was more to the story, but if it could be reduced to just that… It felt so petty. 

“So you did what you could to prove yourself, including going through confidential files to see who was a part of Satyavada Life to report them. I still had to do my duty and ensure punishment for such crimes, which created a larger rift between us.” Cyno rolled his shoulders and let out a low sigh. “Despite it all, I tried to still be friends, but you kept pushing me away. You’ve always been stubborn, and you didn’t want me weighing you down to achieve your goal since you couldn’t use me as a stepping stone.”

Now he was glad Book Alhaitham was such an unimportant NPC that didn’t show up in the story. He could only imagine the backlash such a character would receive and the vile things people would say about him. Alhaitham wouldn’t judge because he would’ve thought the exact same thing. 

“To put it simply,” Cyno dragged out the phrase as he looked back up at him, “surely you can understand why it was so strange that you’ve been acting differently, more so than what a simple shift of perspective could excuse.”

But could lost memories do the same?

If the lull was room for Alhaitham to respond, he didn’t take it. New mysteries weighed down his mind. 

“It was like you met Kaveh and became a new person.”

It was meant to just be a figure of speech, but hearing it made him realize the weight of the sentence. He had changed ever since he met Kaveh. He tried to imagine any person in any other type of media he consumed that he would go to such lengths for, but he couldn’t. Even when he first came here, he kept subtly erasing the path to the same goal to do more for the person he… It was hard to voice the word he knew he wanted to say. It didn’t feel deserved, not when Kaveh was no longer a collection of words on a page. “He changed me.” He finally admitted.

Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Cyno open his mouth before closing it again to start over. “Can I ask something personal?” He asked instead, his voice low and soft, more friendly than he had ever heard before. 

“Yes?”

“Do you remember your grandmother?”

Alhaitham took longer than he meant to in order to properly gather his thoughts, but Cyno patiently waited. “I found a picture of her wishing me luck at the Akademiya,” he started, doing his best to keep his voice level, but just like with Kaveh back in Port Ormos, he couldn’t keep as collected as he wanted to. He missed her, here and in his own world. “I knew it was her and her handwriting on the back, but I don’t remember that day or any others.”

“That’s… good, that she’s not completely gone for you.” Cyno said, but he sounded uncertain that that was the right thing to say. Between the words, there was an unsaid apology that he couldn’t remember everything, too. The gesture was appreciated, but somehow, Alhaitham felt his throat lock up, and he couldn’t voice that gratitude. 

Side by side, they walked toward Aaru Village. While it wasn’t a completely comfortable silence between them, it was far less tense than what they started with. Cyno moved in front to cross the bridge first, but he waited a few seconds for Alhaitham to join him on the other side before walking next to him again. Together, they wandered up the paths back to the village chief’s house, but once again, there was someone waiting for them outside. The lantern hung above them reflected warm light on their blond hair.

He must’ve made a face that revealed his emotions as Cyno chuckled next to him. Looking over at him revealed that Cyno was looking right at him. “While I do wish it was under better circumstances, I’m glad that we can be cordial with each other again. You were a shell of a person when you were in your jealous rage.”

Alhaitham could only imagine. Based on the first-hand account, he sounded like a real piece of shit. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you sorry for how you acted, or sorry that you can’t remember it?” Cyno asked, a small smile on his face.

Great question, really. “Both.” Even if they weren't his actions, this was his life now. He entered this world with the goal of fixing the plot for Kaveh. Somehow, that ended up including tying up loose ends with forgotten arcs and various NPCs. 

In the distance, Kaveh turned towards them and waved. He took a step forward, but seeing them in the middle of a conversation, he stayed in place. It was obvious he was keenly watching them, though, and given all of their previous interactions, Alhaitham couldn’t exactly blame him. He really was watching out for him in his own way, just like Alhaitham was doing the same.

“You must be lucky,” Cyno said in a long sigh as he crossed his arms, “you get to share a cozy bed with the guy you changed for, while I’m stuck with Sethos.”

He wouldn’t deny he was lucky, but he didn’t know how to admit out loud how much he enjoyed it just yet. “I thought he was your friend?” Despite sometimes not taking things as seriously as they should be, Sethos was a decent guy. 

“He is,” Cyno uncrossed his arms with a shrug, “but I would rather be with my husband.” He said it was a smile, half toward the idea of his husband and half in a smug, roundabout way to finally snuff out the lingering question. “Rest well. We have our archon to save tomorrow. Afterwards, we should properly catch up sometime.” 

As he started to walk away, Kaveh took that as his sign to come closer. They passed each other, but only a small nod was exchanged. Kaveh looked him over quickly once he got closer, but when he saw no visible signs of a fight, he went straight to the point. “How’d it go?”

“It went well.”

Kaveh relaxed, but he didn’t seem entirely convinced. “So it actually was a random late-night delivery run? Not a chance for some more interrogation?”

Alhaitham hummed a short laugh. They must’ve gotten closer than he realized to think the exact same thing. Despite the ups and downs, he was left in a good mood. “A bit of both, but I don’t mind. I think it was for the better.” In a way, it strengthened the team's bond, but the biggest thing was that Alhaitham got some closure. If this was a game, he wondered if the progress bar would be complete on the sidequests, but that just meant it was time to focus on the main mission again. 

Kaveh returned his small smile, and it looked far more mesmerizing in the low lantern light. “You should tell me about it, but not out here.” He said, reaching out to grab Alhaitham’s hand. He almost forgot to listen to his next sentence as he pulled him along. “Your hand is freezing!” He sounded appalled by the mere thought. Alhaitham was aware of how chilly the desert night got, but he didn’t realize how cold he was until he felt Kaveh’s warmth. “I can’t believe you two were really out for that long. Let’s get you inside so you can warm up.”

The house was quiet when Kaveh dragged Alhaitham inside. Instantly, he could feel the change in temperatures, but Kaveh didn’t let go of his hand until they were back in their room. Kaveh sat down on the side of the bed he had usually claimed his own and patted the other side for Alhaitham to join him. 

“Alright, tell me what…” He started, but when Alhaitham didn’t join him, his sentence trailed off.

This really was it—the calm before the storm. They were going to save their archon. Kaveh would get some more answers, get the Gnosis, and then move onto Fontaine. There was no real reason for Alhaitham to join him there. He was just an NPC from Sumeru—his purpose would be done after he achieved his goal. Even if he wanted to join Kaveh, he wasn’t sure if this world would let him. For all he knew, he would try to go on a walk one day and end up back in his original world. 

He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to be so disposable. 

“Actually,” Alhaitham said as he sat down next to him. This time, he decided to be a little bold and place his hand on top of Kaveh’s. Kaveh looked down at the touch, but he didn’t pull his hand away. The gesture felt so small in comparison to when they were holding each other as they slept, but somehow it felt more intimate, “can I tell you afterwards? When I was with Nahida, she told me we would meet again. Cyno asked if I’ve been affected by a ley line disorder, but I know there’s more to it. I have some theories, and Nahida hinted at knowing the answer to them.”

Kaveh’s attentive gaze lowered again once he finished speaking. He was looking down at their hands again, and Alhaitham did the same. Kaveh’s fingers flexed under him, uncertain of what to do, but Alhaitham wasn’t going to keep him in place if he didn’t enjoy the touch. He started to pull his hand away, but Kaveh moved first to arch his fingers over Alhaitham’s to still him. “Okay.”

He expected Kaveh to push and prod for a little more information before agreeing, but he didn’t. “If the meeting with her still leaves you curious,” he cut the sentence short, not wanting to add the of me at the end. He wasn’t sure if Kaveh cared that much about him, especially when he had bigger goals to achieve afterwards. He hoped he did, just enough to keep in touch, but he knew his place in the story, “I’ll tell you everything I know, even the annoyingly mysterious things.” 

He tried to sound normal, but the stilted statement almost sounded desperate, stumbling out of his mouth. In the middle of them saving Nahida, the adrenaline would be pumping too hard and fast to experience the sorrow and worry that he could no longer be by Kaveh’s side. He should be ecstatic that the story would get an actual ending and could continue onto bigger things, but he wasn’t.

Alhaitham wasn’t sure what response he was expecting to that, but it sure wasn’t a calming smile. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Suddenly, Alhaitham wanted to tell him a lot more, even the things he didn’t know how to say right. For now, those things were kept to himself. Maybe afterwards, when he told Kaveh everything, he would know how to properly say these things, too. 

Kaveh only let go of his hand so they could finally get ready to bed. Alhaitham didn’t want the heartfelt conversation to end, but there was a limit to these sorts of things. Kaveh could probably easily overthrow the government with only an hour of sleep, but Alhaitham didn’t want to weigh him down in any way. As Alhaitham got comfortable under the covers, he tried to clear his mind so he could have an easier time sleeping.

It felt like an unwritten rule to let their unconscious states start the cuddle, but Kaveh didn’t wait this time. Alhaitham wasn’t even done shifting in place before Kaveh reached out to touch his arm. “You don’t have to oblige me,” he started, which sounded absolutely insane to Alhaitham because as if he wouldn’t do anything for this man, “but I’ve gotten used to this… arrangement.”

If he was still standing, he might’ve tackled him to hold him tight and never let go. Instead, he simply held his arms wide, and Kaveh fell into him like he belonged there. Kaveh ducked his head underneath his chin, and Alhaitham could feel his arms tucked between their chests, but what he was more aware of was Kaveh’s gentle exhales brushing against the exposed gem. It was sensitive, but maybe every part of him was since he was very aware of just how close Kaveh willingly wanted to be with him. When it seemed like Kaveh settled, he slowly wrapped his arms around his back to give him ample time to tell him to stop or move. He didn’t.

With his arms around his back, Kaveh finally moved one of his arms out from between them to drape it over Alhaitham’s waist. Just like him, he moved tentatively in case Alhaitham told him not to. He didn’t. 

The room was silent, both of them waiting for the other to say something about how they should pull away and go back to their sides of the bed. They didn’t.

Finally realizing this, Alhaitham could feel Kaveh relax in his arms a little more. “I’ve done the same things so many times. I enter a nation, I do what I can to help the archon, I meet all these wonderful people… and I lose them all.” His voice was so small and helpless that if Alhaitham wasn’t as close as he was, he wouldn’t have heard it. “I can’t do it again.”

He knew his place. He didn’t have the power, importance, or capacity to promise this, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Alhaitham moved one of his hands upwards to thread his fingers through his hair and tilted his head down to nuzzle the top of his head. “You won’t have to.” He murmured to him.

And if one of those words pressed a kiss to his head and bothered Kaveh, he didn’t say.

Chapter Text

It was wishful thinking wanting to wake up together like they were something more, but it didn’t happen. Kaveh was already up, braiding his hair like it was any other day. There wasn’t a lingering intimacy to the domestic scene either, not when they both knew that they were saying goodbye to this little oasis they found in the desert. From his spot on the bed, Alhaitham could see Kaveh’s stony face as he went through the motions he was so used to that he didn’t even need a mirror anymore to style his hair. He looked like he was hardening his shell, preparing himself for the loss that would come when they fought for victory.

Alhaitham knew his place. He could only offer comforting words that multiple other people had offered in the previous chapters, yet they ended up dead, too. These deep-rooted doubts were touched on in the book, but they could never be fully expanded. There was only enough time to mourn before he needed to face his next adversary.

Foresight couldn’t protect them from fate.

Kaveh caught him staring. “We’re about to leave soon. You should get ready.” He said as he finished securing the braid with one of his red pins.

Alhaitham did as asked and got himself ready. Similar to previous mornings, there was no small talk, but Alhaitham also did not contribute to the conversation. He wasn’t good at giving comforting advice—not when he knew exactly what everyone else promised, only to break it too. 

With his sword by his side, Alhaitham walked out with Kaveh to meet up with everyone else ready to leave. Dehya was already gone, presumably to get a head start on her own personal mission before meeting up with them again. Uncle Anpu sent them off with a bag of snacks to enjoy during the journey since there wasn’t time to sit down for an actual meal. He thanked them all for their efforts and all the ways they helped Aaru Village during their stay, which Alhaitham personally found misplaced on him, especially since he should be the one thanking him for providing a room that meant so much more to him than just a roof over his head.

There wasn’t time for the journey to be silent with Sethos on the team. He found a way to talk about anything and everything, but Alhaitham was thankful instead of annoyed. The constant talk blanketed them in an air of normalcy that they needed—that they were just a group of friends going on a casual walk instead of plotting to overthrow a government. Others joined in the talk, even Alhaitham, when the topic wandered to something he knew. 

When they left the desert, Alhaitham saw them again.

This time, he wasn’t scared that he could feel eyes on him. He was surrounded by some of the best fighters he knew, and he had some combat knowledge himself now, so he knew he was safe. Beides, their gazes were curious now instead of threatening. The seelies would pop up out from behind bushes, rocks, even the ground without any effort to hide anymore. Alhaitham would do his best to meet each and every one of their gazes, mostly to see if they had any other information from Nahida to share, but he noticed something else.

No one was reacting to them. The creatures stayed out of the way, but they were very clearly in everyone’s line of sight—yet no one seemed bothered by them. Everyone was a formidable warrior, so he couldn’t reason that some of them blended in too much with their surroundings to not be noticed. The shades of green were different, not to mention the orange seelies that stood out completely. Most of them disappeared as soon as they got close, but a few of them were brave enough to wave at the group. Alhaitham didn’t wave back.

The only other person who noticed them was Kaveh. He nudged him to silently catch his attention before tilting his head toward a seelie sitting on a fallen tree. His brow was raised in askance, and Alhaitham answered in return by nodding his head. The conversation everyone else was having wasn’t that important, and the topic could be easily switched over to the seelies, but Kaveh didn’t. Therefore, Alhaitham felt he shouldn’t as well. 

When Sumeru City came into view, Alhaitham felt his pulse speed up. He felt like a racehorse waiting for the bell to ring to start galloping, but all he could do was prance in a too-tight starting gate and chomp at the bit. It felt time to go, to act, to do anything to save Nahida, but they couldn’t just yet. Things took time. If things went as planned, Dehya should’ve informed Nilou already about a get-together happening, but they still needed to wait for her to get back from Gandharva Ville with Tighnari.

The waiting felt pointless, but it wasn’t like they could do anything else. Back when he was reading the book, Alhaitham would crave the moments of peace between all the action just to give Kaveh a break. Now, he realized why those moments weren’t always touched upon. Alhaitham couldn’t enjoy this peace knowing what was to come.

As soon as they stepped foot into the city, Cyno placed his hand on his Akasha. He stopped walking, and everyone followed suit to see what was happening. A few moments later, Cyno informed everyone of the latest update. “They’re moving fast. Dehya and Tighnari should be here in a few hours.”

“How about we get some food as we wait? All that traveling made me hungry for a real meal.” Sethos suggested. It was better than waiting around and doing nothing, so it was an agreed-upon plan.

~!~

After the meal, they sat and talked to just enjoy that forced normality a little bit longer. Even with the update, it still felt like ages until they got the message that Tighnari and Dehya were back in town. It was finally time to meet up with them and Nilou to flesh out the rest of the plan. Thankfully, Cyno knew of a secluded area that would be safe for them to discuss these matters at a normal volume instead of hushed whispers. 

Cyno led them to a small house at the edge of Sumeru City. He knocked on the door, but when there wasn’t an answer, he pulled a hidden key out of a flowerpot and unlocked it. Cyno placed the key back into its hiding spot before opening the door for everyone. 

“Cyrus not home?” Sethos asked as he stepped inside.

“No, he’s probably still in Mondstadt right now.” Cyno closed the door once everyone was inside. Sethos nodded in understanding, but Cyno still provided some context. “This is my adoptive father’s home. Make yourself comfortable.” The note of who Cyrus was to Cyno was probably mostly meant for Kaveh, but Cyno still looked over at Alhaitham to see his reaction as well. Alhaitham couldn’t give one as the name was new to him. Cyno’s look of disappointment was brief but visible.

Alhaitham found a spot on the couch, and Kaveh joined him soon after. At the time being, there was enough space for them to sit apart, but Kaveh sat right next to him as if already preparing for the larger party. They weren’t touching, but he could feel the warmth radiating from Kaveh’s thigh so close to his own.

Not long afterwards, there was a knock at the door. Cyno got up from his spot to welcome in Dehya and Tighnari. Dehya continued on as if everything was normal as she found a spot next to Candace, but Tighnari was stuck at the door. He was talking to Cyno, but Alhaitham could see him look over Cyno’s shoulder at him as they had a quiet conversation amongst themselves. 

Alhaitham did his best to keep his own staring to a minimum, but he couldn’t help being a little curious. Tighnari was described as a character with animalistic ears and tail, but he never expected those features to be so… prominent. If they were standing next to each other, Alhaitham felt like he would be eye-level with the top of his ears. 

Their little talk came to an end as they joined everyone else in the main room. Tighnari said his hellos to everyone before turning to them on the couch. “Good to see you again, Kaveh, and you too, Alhaitham.”

“Thank you for joining us.” Kaveh said, and even though it was genuinely thankful, Alhaitham could tell that it lacked the usual cheer. He easily picked up on the misplaced tension between them.

It didn’t take a genius to connect the dots that Tighnari was another person Book Alhaitham had hurt. Of course he did, because Alhaitham couldn’t catch a break. “Likewise.” He said, trying to keep things civil, yet brief.

Now, all they were missing was Nilou. They could talk about anything, but Tighnari knew what topic he wanted to discuss. “Cyno told me you experienced a ley line disorder some time ago.” 

Alhaitham could feel everyone’s eyes on him, but Kaveh’s were the most intense. Even Sethos was surprised, but maybe it was something not discussed with a friend but someone closer. Cyno did mention a husband but never shared who. He never saw any visible rings, but the earring hanging off Tighnari’s ear was far more elaborate than what he would expect a forest ranger to wear. Alhaitham wished for a change of topic, just so things could be easier when he was finally fully honest with Kaveh. He didn’t want Kaveh to see just how easy it was for him to lie with a straight face so he wouldn’t doubt the honest truth. “Yes.”

Naturally, things wouldn’t be left just at that. “And you lost your memory?”

“...Most of them.”

Tighnari’s ear twitched, and the earring jingled a melodic tune. “I’ve helped a lot of people recover from ley line disorders.” Tighnari started, as if that was something Alhaitham forgot too. “Can I check something?”

“Alright.” Denying him would make things worse, especially since it looked like Cyno asked him to do it with the way he came over with a hopeful look in his eyes. “It’s been a while. I’m not sure what you would find.”

“I know what to look for.” Tighnari reassured him, easily brushing off his flimsy excuse. He held out his hand and beckoned Alhaitham with his fingers to extend a hand himself. Alhaitham did as asked and placed his hand on Tighnari’s palm. He then placed his other hand on top of Alhaitham’s and closed his eyes. Alhaitham didn’t do the same as he watched small, wispy vines of Dendro energy curl around their connected hands.

Whatever he was searching for, Alhaitham didn’t feel anything. He looked up at Tighnari’s face and watched him push his brows together in concentration to search for something that might not even be there to begin with. Lost, he looked over at Kaveh for any sort of guidance. Unless more details from the story he knew changed, Kaveh should’ve experienced a ley line disorder when he was trying to help Haypasia. After that, things were supposed to lead into Tighnari talking about Irminsul, but that didn’t happen either. He wasn’t given any clues. Instead, he was left even more confused.

Why did Kaveh look so upset?

It was subtle, but Alhaitham noticed it. He looked miffed, if anything, but Alhaitham couldn’t see the reason why. Was he upset that he didn’t tell him about the ley line disorder? There wasn’t a need to tell him that—which was ignoring both the fact that they hadn’t met yet when it happened and he hadn’t connected the dots that that was probably how he came into this world.

“Strange… I don’t—” A knock at the door interrupted whatever Tighnari was about to finish mumbling to himself. Alhaitham heard it, though, and he pulled his hand back to himself faster than what could be deemed normal, but it didn’t matter what he did as Nilou was finally here. 

The attention was on her as they welcomed her into the home, but Alhaitham didn’t get up to do the same. He was stuck on the couch because Kaveh shifted his leg and pressed his thigh against his. It felt deliberate, and even though he didn’t move to rest his leg over Alhaitham’s lap, he felt just as locked in place. 

When Nilou walked into the main room, Kaveh finally freed him by standing up to properly greet her. A part of Alhaitham urged him to focus on the way they interacted just to see if he could notice anything peculiar in their interactions like people often saw, but other parts were louder. He shouldn’t care about their interactions, and he shouldn’t try to look for some romantic undertones like some sort of creep—he should wonder why Kaveh was upset and felt the need to deal with it by pressing their thighs together.

“Oh!” Nilou said, surprising herself and Alhaitham at the alarm in her voice. “You’re joining us, Alhaitham?” She asked, trying to hide most of her visible concern.

So Book Alhaitham probably tried to help the Azar smudge out dance and other creative arts in Sumeru City; he easily summed up. He sure had the track record, and Alhaitham was really getting tired of experiencing the recoil from these poor choices that that useless character made to suck up to such hacks. 

“He’s done a lot to help us already.” It was Kaveh that spoke up for him. It wasn’t needed at all, “and we’re going to need his help to find Rukkhadevata. I trust him.”

There it was. He could only see Kaveh’s profile, but that was enough to notice his bright smile that was only for Nilou. He had nothing to go off of, but Alhaitham had a feeling that the arc where Kaveh helped Nilou was exactly the same in this timeline as it was in the book. For a moment, Nilou still looked a bit uncertain, but she trusted Kaveh, and hearing his word was enough to wash away her worries. They must be close for such a simple statement to wash no matter what Book Alhaitham did to hurt her. Alhaitham was too busy thinking over just how close they could actually be that he missed hearing the words he wanted, yet dreaded most—that Kaveh trusted him.

He shouldn’t care, he finally decided. It didn’t matter how close they were. Kaveh getting close to someone in that way wouldn’t affect the story. With all their efforts, Kaveh should get the happy ending he deserved. Maybe then, he could pursue something more with those he was close to—like Nilou. 

Their little talk came to an end, and Kaveh sat down next to him again. The room was filling up now that the full team was here, leaving Nilou to take the open spot on Kaveh’s left. Immediately. Kaveh adjusted his position to get more comfortable and pressed his leg against Alhaitham’s again like it belonged there. It did.

Together, they spent a long time talking, ironing out, and making final tweaks to the plan to free Rukkhadevata. It was best to attack at night when there were statistically fewer students wandering around and getting in the way. It was too soon to do so tonight. Not only did a majority of them spend a long time traveling, but it was also best to mentally prepare for what they were about to do and how it would change their lives. It would change for the better if things went well, but there was always that chance that things could go horribly wrong. 

The moon was high in the sky once they finally brought the meeting to an end. Everyone wished each other a good night and made the promise to meet up again tomorrow. Cyno would stay at the home with Tighnari, Nilou invited Candace and Dehya over to her home for the night, and Sethos said something about staying with his little honeybee, whoever that was supposed to be.

All that was left was him and Kaveh. He had his own place, but Kaveh didn’t have anywhere to go. There were countless inns in the area, so no doubt at least one would have an open room for him to stay in, but Alhaitham didn’t want to send him off just like that.

They had their… arrangement… after all.

Together, they were walking along the stone path leading away from Cyrus’ house. A fork in the road was coming up. One would lead them to one of those popular inns, while the other would lead to Alhaitham’s home. As they moved close to that split, Alhaitham realized he was running out of time to voice his question, but there was something about the atmosphere around them that made him hesitate. 

They shared a room in the desert because there weren’t any other options. Other people were closer to each other, leading Kaveh to share with Alhaitham—unless one of them slept in the main room of Uncle Anpu’s home. Kaveh quickly snatched Alhaitham up as his roommate to confront him, and they simply never had the reason to change sleeping arrangements from there. In theory, the bed was large enough for the both of them so no one had to sleep on the floor, but they gravitated closer to each other as if the bed was a third of its actual size. 

Inviting Kaveh over to his home… felt more intimate than it should be. The couches in his home were large enough for Kaveh to comfortably sleep on—and there was even a spare bedroom that looked to be slowly turning into a library before Alhaitham came into this world. The bed was still in there, shoved into a corner to think about later, but it was perfectly usable. Would Kaveh pick it, or…

At the split, Kaveh finally stopped walking, and Alhaitham did the same. Kaveh looked up at him, waiting for something, but Alhaitham couldn’t say what. Here, under the cool moonlight and the warm glow of the lanterns that illuminated the path, he looked so handsome. Alhaitham always knew just how charming Kaveh looked, but there was something about him lately that made it all the more obvious to Alhaitham. 

Whatever it was he was waiting for, he gave up on achieving it with a soft sigh. “I’ll see you—”

“Sleep with me.”

They spoke at the same time, meaning it took a second for Kaveh to realize what he said. He blinked at him as he registered the sentence, spoken almost like a desperate demand, before his eyes went wide and his face went red. Alhaitham knew he wasn’t much better. 

“Stay with me,” Alhaitham corrected himself, making sure to emphasize the first word to show what he actually meant, “if… you want.” His words were stiff, which didn’t make anything better, but he continued on anyway. “You can sleep anywhere… or… our arrangement…” 

It wasn’t some agreed-upon contract that they had to keep up their arrangement, but Alhaitham was hopeful. He thought last night would be the last time he could hold Kaveh close like that, but suddenly, he was blessed with another night. He wanted to take advantage of this chance if Kaveh was willing. He had gotten used to it, too.

“Stay.” Kaveh said in a punched-out exhale. It was to confirm the word that was supposed to be said in that slip-up instead of more disappointment—Alhaitham was sure of it. Why would he be disappointed otherwise? Kaveh was still red in the face, but he still faintly smiled despite the terrible embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck before curling his finger around a lock of his hair. “I wouldn’t mind staying and continuing our…arrangement…”

There had to be a better word for whatever it was they had.

Alhaitham led Kaveh to his home and tried to think of a better word, but nothing truly felt all that fitting. They were just two men who couldn’t sleep well unless it was in each other’s arms. Nothing less, but nothing more. 

When they reached his home, Alhaitham pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He held the door open for Kaveh and closed it behind himself once they were both inside. He was thankful he was a rather tidy person, but as he turned the light on, he realized just how long it had been since he had been home since he could see a subtle layer of dust on the entryway table. 

He was planning on giving Kaveh a brief tour of the layout, but he stopped himself when he heard Kaveh make a faint noise of surprise. He looked away from the dusty table to see what caught his interest, only to watch him pick up his old hoodie that was thrown over the back of the couch. Alhaitham should’ve thrown it away after everything that happened, but he was too attached to it. It was comfortable, and one of the few connections he still had to his old world. It wouldn’t stop working like his phone did again after he showed Kaveh the video, so Alhaitham did what he could to clean the blood off and kept it. He didn’t stop Kaveh from looking it over and instead walked over to him. There was a faint stain still, but other than that, he did a good job cleaning it up.

Kaveh must’ve easily remembered it with the way he was eyeing it. He opened his mouth to say something, but he thought against it. He started to slowly fold up the hoodie.

“It’s comfortable.” Alhaitham said before Kaveh could place it down. He wanted to know what Kaveh was going to say before he stopped himself. He wanted to talk to Kaveh about anything and everything before he no longer had the chance to do so. 

“Is it?” He asked, unfolding it again, as if the first few lookovers weren’t enough. 

Alhaitham hummed to confirm. For some reason, he just kept talking. “The material’s soft, and it’s warm.” Whenever it was even slightly chilly, he would pull it on.

Kaveh made a thoughtful noise as he folded it over his arm. He looked like he was about to place it down again, but he still hesitated for a moment. “Sounds cozy enough to sleep in.”

It wouldn’t be the first thing on the list if you asked him to name comfortable sleepwear, but he had slept in it a handful of times. One of those times was the first time he clung to Kaveh back at Port Ormos. “Yes.”

Kaveh didn’t respond to that. He waited for something, just like he did before Alhaitham invited him here, but once again he couldn’t tell what. Kaveh pinched the drawstring between his fingers before finally dropping the hoodie back down on the couch.

“Do you want to wear it?” Alhaitham asked before he could really think about how assuming it sounded. He was probably just interested in it and remembering—maybe not exactly fond—but certain memories that came with looking at the item. For whatever reason, Kaveh was holding his mouth in a thin line, and Alhaitham wanted to do whatever he could to make him comfortable.

Kaveh laughed at that, but it sounded pitiful. “I shouldn’t be so self-indulgent, but—”

“Why can’t you?” Alhaitham didn’t mean to interrupt him, but such a concept sounded so foreign to him. Why couldn’t Kaveh be a little self-indulgent? He deserved anything he wanted. If he wanted to wear his hoodie that smelled like him as they slept in the same bed in Alhaitham’s home, then who was he to deny him of that simple wish?

“Because every time I do—” Kaveh started his sentence strong and defensive, but he soon realized his tone and cut himself off. “Sorry. It’s not important. Thank you for letting me wear it.”

Alhaitham watched him remove his red cape and drape it over the back of the couch where the hoodie used to be. He picked it up again and started to pull it on. The conversation was supposed to be left at that, but Alhaitham wouldn’t allow it. He knew what he wanted to say because he remembered the conversation they had the previous night. He watched Kaveh adjust the bottom hem on his body before stepping closer and reaching out.

“You can be indulgent.” He said, and he was going to prove that he could be indulgent as well. He pulled the hood up over Kaveh’s head, holding it in place and making sure it didn’t interfere with his feather accessory. “You can be as indulgent as you want with me,” he continued to adjust the hood by bringing it closer for his thumbs to brush against Kaveh’s jaw. He didn’t look away because he wanted to make sure Kaveh knew what he was saying, “because you’re not going to lose me or anyone else.”

Kaveh looked up at him in awe. His blush was back, but it was hard to tell if it had ever left in the first place. “I can?”

Kaveh wanted permission to let go. He wanted to not be a hardened hero but a human who was allowed basic wants. Alhaitham wouldn’t deny him. “Of course.”

He didn’t know what he expected Kaveh to do next. Kaveh lowered his head, but he reached out to place his hands on Alhaitham’s hips. His touch burned his skin even through his layer of clothes, but Alhaitham didn’t tell him to stop even though he was hyper aware of his touch. Then, Kaveh raised his head again. His eyes were no longer wide, but they were staring and searching for something that was a little lower than Alhaitham’s own eyes. 

Kaveh pushed himself up on his toes and tilted his head upward.

He wouldn’t deny him.

But he should, just so he wouldn’t hurt him in the end.

Before Kaveh could kiss him, Alhaitham moved his hands to his shoulders and moved back. Kaveh didn’t fully close his eyes, meaning he was able to clearly see Alhaitham reject him. 

He wanted it. He didn’t realize just how badly he wanted to kiss Kaveh until that moment. Even after all the fan fiction he used to read, nothing could have prepared him for the feral need he felt inside himself that wanted to prove he wasn’t a hypocrite. Kaveh could indulge, and he could indulge too, but he shouldn’t. If Kaveh still felt this way after learning the truth about who he was, Alhaitham would kiss him until they both were lightheaded from lack of air, but that was a strong if. “I don’t want to deceive you.”

Kaveh pulled his hands away to grab the hood, unintentionally, or maybe on purpose, knocking Alhaitham’s hands away in the process. He moved the hood over his eyes, hiding his face as he turned around. “Right, I forgot you’re some annoyingly mysterious entity. How chivalrous of you.”

“Kaveh—”

“I’ll sleep out here tonight. Goodnight, and thank you for letting me wear this. I’ll take it off in the morning.”

He was shut out as Kaveh turned his back to him. He laid down on the couch and curled in on himself, perfectly content to sleep with only the hoodie on. There was so much more Alhaitham wanted to say, but where do you even start explaining to a person that to you, they were just a book character? He hoped that whatever happened with saving Nahida, it would be easier to explain himself.

Alhaitham should just leave him be, but he couldn’t. He stepped away to pull the blankets and the pillow off the spare bed and brought them over to Kaveh. It was tempting to drape the blanket over him, but he knew he shouldn’t push his luck. Instead, he placed it right by his head and hoped that it was seen as an acceptable peace offering.

The couch was big enough for the both of them, but Alhaitham turned around and went to his room. When he was there, he moved to lie in his own large, cold, and empty bed. 

~!~

Kaveh was gone in the morning. 

It was hard to tell if the blankets and pillow were even touched, but the hoodie was neatly folded on top of the pile. Alhaitham picked it up and stared at it, not even bothering to question himself over why he was jealous of a hoodie of all things. It had been a while since he had worn it, so Alhaitham decided today would be the perfect day to do so. Thankfully, unlike his previous attire, it wasn’t overstimulating against the gem.

The day felt long without Kaveh by his side, but he didn’t even know where to begin to look for him. He wanted to look for him, but if Kaveh wanted some space, he had to respect that. He could only imagine how embarrassing it must’ve felt to be rejected like that; how much it took for him to build up the courage to attempt it when there weren’t any signs that Alhaitham liked him in return. 

Alhaitham wasn’t sure when his adoration for Kaveh turned from the concept of him into something more romantic. He didn’t have any experience in this sort of thing. People have asked him out before, but he never felt the need to lead them on as he tested out if he liked them back in return, so he always rejected the advances. On the other side of the coin, he had to wonder when Kaveh saw him that way too. 

Kaveh was caring and friendly, but he was like that with everyone. He had a heart of gold and was a touchy person, but there weren’t any signs that showed he favored Alhaitham over the others. He couldn’t think of anything that matched what they had—used to have, he should correct himself. If he was special to Kaveh in some way, it wouldn’t be in a way that put him on the pedestal of romantic interest. After they saved their archon and tied up a few loose ends, there wasn’t a need for Kaveh to be in Sumeru anymore. He needed to continue his journey; that was why Alhaitham was here to begin with. 

Whatever they could’ve had, it was probably…

Alhaitham cut the negative thought there. He couldn’t let himself be distracted and ruin the mission for everyone. 

The last thing Alhaitham did before he left his home was send a message to Azmi and Gregor. Unsurprisingly, they were shocked and confused about his sudden disappearance and even kept spare notes for him for whatever classes he missed. It was getting tiring playing the role of a student who cared about these sorts of appearances, but if he was supposed to live that life again after everything, then so be it. 

After taking a roundabout way to confirm they weren’t at the Akademiya right now, he thanked them for their efforts and told them he would be back soon. Maybe he could graduate and then do whatever the hell he wanted in this world while reading Steambird articles that Kaveh was progressing in the story just the right way he was supposed to. That would give him purpose if he was stuck in this world as an NPC.

He never took the hoodie off. He didn’t want to, and it served another purpose in concealing his sword since he still didn’t have the pleasure of storing it in a Vision. Once inside the Akademiya, he would have to put it back on his hip to pull it out easier in case he needed to fight, but for now, he pulled the hood up to hide the hilt and walked to the meetup point. 

Everyone else was already there. When Cyno ran through a few more points for everyone to keep in mind, Alhaitham moved his sword from his back to his hip. Kaveh looked over at him going through the motion, but he said nothing. Alhaitham didn’t blame him for having nothing to say to him.

“Is everyone ready?” Kaveh finally said once Cyno was done. He looked over everyone in the group, sparing no one an extra second. When no one showed any hesitation, he took a breath. “Alright, let’s save Rukkhadevata.”

Together, they quietly made their way toward the Akademiya. They pushed open the ornate doors and entered, but right away Alhaitham could tell that something was off . It wasn’t because they were at the Akademiya so late, nor was it because they were about to do something dangerous, but something more. Instead of dark shadows distorting their vision, they took on a purple hue.

The air around them was sharp and smelled like fresh dew; not stagnant water, but something more. 

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. “Do they know we’re doing this?” Nilou asked.

“There’s Electro energy all around us.” Sethos said. He and Cyno were more sensitive to this sort of thing. “Might be a defense mechanism, or it might be some student’s project going haywire. Hard to say, but let’s play it safe.”

Both explanations made sense to Alhaitham, but he didn’t miss the way Kaveh’s face pinched together in worry. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he was stopped. His heart thrummed heavily in his chest, so much so that it made him stumble. Kaveh and Tighnari were by his side when it happened, but it was Tighnari who easily reached out and stopped him from falling to the ground.

“Watch your feet.” He said, “We don’t need you blowing our cover by tripping over yourself.”

“We’re going the wrong way.” Alhaitham said instead of defending himself. He was sure to Tighnari’s eyes, he was probably someone who still couldn’t be fully trusted to be on their side instead of Azar’s. Right now, that didn’t matter. “That hall we passed back there, we need to take that one.” 

“How do you know that?”

How did he explain this pull he felt in an emerald embedded into his flesh? It wasn’t glowing—which would probably turn him into a beacon if anything—but he just did. He felt like he could sense a trail of clovers and green flowers leading them to Nahida, and that path took a detour that they didn’t follow. Alhaitham could only say what he felt. “I just know.” 

Without questioning him, Kaveh turned around and followed the directions Alhaitham gave. Alhaitham didn’t need to hesitate to follow right behind him. There wasn’t any talk about splitting up, but it seemed after some talking amongst themselves, everyone else turned to follow as well.

“If you can tell where she is,” Kaveh started once the group was complete again, “then you should lead us there.”

Alhaitham nodded to show his understanding. The halls he followed were almost the same as the ones they were previously taking, but it was almost as if they evolved. Now, the Electro energy that hummed in the air manifested into a humid atmosphere. It was hard to tell if they were merely shadows or not, but it looked like clouds were forming along the ceiling. 

It was in all the halls they roamed, making it harder to excuse it being just a failed project. Whether the Akademiya knew they were here trying to stop them or not, they were obviously up to something terrible.

A sudden roar of thunder stopped them in their tracks. The long hall they were in suddenly lit up with a bright light, showing that clouds truly were high up against the ceiling. There wasn’t a chance to question why or how when they could hear a horde of footsteps behind them. They had been caught, and a group of fighters was running toward them. “There they are; stop them!”

The hallway was too narrow to fight them right then and there. Alhaitham didn’t see what Tighnari had in his hand, but when he threw it, it exploded into a field of Dendro energy that trapped the soldiers in their place. It would buy them enough time to lose them from their tray, but Alhaitham wasn’t going to hang around to see how effective the trap was. Together with the group, he turned on his heels and ran away from their aggressors.

Alhaitham could still see the faint trail of clovers. It pulled him along to another pair of doors in front of them. His hands fell against the door the same time Kaveh’s did, and together, they pushed them open for the rest of the team.

If someone closed the door to try and lock the guards out, Alhaitham didn’t notice. It wouldn’t matter either way, as the large room he unintentionally led them to was full of them. They all stood with their weapons ready for the fight. In the middle of the soldiers, perched atop a platform to watch the gladiator battle like a bored emperor, was Azar. Alhaitham had brought everyone right to him. 

The one thing he wanted to do was protect Kaveh from the unhappy ending he didn’t deserve, and he felt like he failed.

“What a pleasant surprise to see everyone here.” Azar spoke, voice loud and nonchalant. “Thank you for finally seeing things right, Cyno.” He gestured toward Cyno. The bandages and jackal mask didn’t surge around him just yet, but his gaze was deadly. “And you, Alhaitham. Maybe I should finally give you that position you wanted. You’ve done so well bringing all these traitors here to me.”

What Alhaitham wanted was to close the book. The villainous monologue was different, but the effect was all the same. When he blinked, he could see everyone around him, dead or close to it, with blood pooling around them. He could hear it now. The terminal, whatever that was, would be reset, and soon, Irminsul and this world would be cleansed of Kaveh’s, his, and everyone’s presences. Everyone’s story would come to an end, completely unsatisfying like the original book. 

Azar chuckled. “Your journey ends here.”

The room flashed with a vivid purple light as lightning struck down in the middle of the room. It was loud, and it made Alhaitham’s ears ring. He heard people scream in shock, both from his side and Azar’s, but nothing could erase the sound of Cyno crying out for Tighnari once he fell to the ground. A bolt of lightning hit him, making his fur and hair raise as the Akasha smoked in his ear. 

Cyno was by his side immediately, standing over him to keep him safe but not letting personal connections lower his own guard. This was still a fight, even though Azar’s people looked like they were backing off after the successful surprise attack. 

“The Gnoses are active.” Azar said, not as a taunt but as a matter of fact that was just loud enough for them to hear. “Divert some of the power from the seed into the Electro Gnosis. That should keep them at bay for now. Don’t let them reach Rukkhadevata!” With that final instruction, some guards still stood ready to fight while others whisked Azar away to somewhere safer.

Alhaitham would’ve thrown caution to the wind and tried to follow and attack Azar himself, but he couldn’t. What Azar said hit him hard and rooted him to the spot. This was different, and it was enough to stop him and wonder if there was still a chance to fix the terrible ending from before. He turned to Kaveh, the only person who would have the answer to the question he had. “Why do they have the Electro Gnosis?”

The way Kaveh stared back at him showed that he didn’t know either. 

He should leave it at that. There were other things to focus on, but this was all wrong. There were many points in his journey where he wondered just how much had changed, but at least he had the power to try and put the story on a better track. That event should’ve happened weeks before he entered the world—he couldn’t do anything about it—but it was such an important part of the original story. Why was it different? “Ei didn’t give it to you?”

Kaveh’s expression didn’t change, but in a brief moment, it felt like the room went quiet again. The pause was enough for Kaveh to whisper a question that sounded just as loud as the lightning strike did to Alhaitham’s ears. “Why… how would you know that?”

Alhaitham couldn’t answer as other people were speaking up around him. Somewhere behind him, he could hear Cyno call out to Tighnari again. Somewhere else in the room, Sethos was asking what was wrong with Dehya as she started to sway on her feet. The loudest people were the Akademiya guards. “It’s working!”

Their Akashas were red. Even after everything Alhaitham did, their minds had been corrupted. Tighnari’s left arm swung limply by his side, but he didn’t let that stop him as he tried to attack Cyno, who only wanted to protect him. Alhaitham watched all his hard work crumble around him as Dehya swung at the first person she saw, a trail of flames following her arching fist. 

“Take them out!” Another Akademiya guard instructed. They weren’t going to just sit back and watch them destroy each other. They wanted to take advantage of the situation, and one was already trying to advance on Alhaitham. 

Alhaitham raised his sword to parry the attack, but Kaveh was faster. He swung his sword with a force so heavy that it completely knocked the guard to the ground. He fell hard, but the thump of his head against the ground was muffled by the sound of a fight breaking out all around him. 

Allies were attacking friends as if they were enemies. Cyno was struggling to find an opening to subdue Tighnari even with his disadvantage. Sethos was out of the fight, joining the bodies around him that a quick glance couldn’t confirm if they were dead or not. Dehya turned her attention to Candace, but all Alhaitham could see was the red Akasha in her ear, showing him that her mind was corrupted, too.

The wording was different, but it was just like the book, and Alhaitham could feel the dread that started to well in his stomach.

“Find Rukkhadevata!” Kaveh told him as he readied his greatsword to fight off more guards. More were coming in. Azar wanted to end this fight before it could go on any longer and exert any more power from the Gnoses. Above them, the ceiling started to darken again, and Alhaitham could feel the hairs on his body raise. Another lightning storm was about to rain down on them.

Alhaitham readied his sword to defend himself, but his mind wasn’t where it needed to be. He wasn’t the one that should find Rukkhadevata—that was Kaveh’s part in the story. If he needed to stay back here and fight so that Kaveh could have the chance, he would do it. When Kaveh found her, he would know what to do to free her from the hell her people put her in.

The expression Kaveh wore was one Alhaitham never expected to ever be turned on him. Even back when Kaveh didn’t fully trust him, he never looked at him with such vile disdain like he was now. “Go!”  

There was the possibility that this would be the last time he ever saw Kaveh. Kaveh wouldn’t be seeing him as a brave hero in his own right or even as a friend, but as someone to be hated because they didn’t act when they were told to. The whole time, Alhaitham tried not to think about how close their last interaction ever was, but as things grew more dire, it was starting to feel like it would be this very moment. Lightning flashed again, and in that darkness, he finally moved to act.

Alhaitham tried not to think about any regrets as he turned to run. 

Guards tried to stop him, but with his own training, along with Kaveh and Candace’s help, he was able to subdue them and continue on his path. He resisted the urge to look back at the lingering carnage as he ran. He followed the pull he felt in his chest to let that guide him to Rukkhadevata, but he could already hear people trailing him. 

Alhaitham risked a glance behind him to see just how many were following him, but all the people blurred together as he focused on his path again. There were too many of them, as if they were seeping out of the walls to stop him. He wasn’t sure if it was the acoustics of the hall or the amount of people behind him that made it sound like they were creeping closer, but Alhaitham wasn’t going to stop until he was completely subdued.

His lungs and his legs burned, but he didn’t stop. Alhaitham was coming up to a door, and he could feel the pull in the gem grow stronger. He was getting closer, and he knew that behind that door, he would find Rukkhadevata. There weren’t any guards at the door, but he didn’t think that would make anything easier. He didn’t slow down as he braced himself to break through the potentially locked doors. 

When he was close enough, Alhaitham shifted his weight to ram his shoulder into the door. It fought back against him, but he heard the hinges creak and break in protest. He spared another glance back to see the crowd of guards come closer and tried again. This time, he was successful as the doors opened up for him.

He had heard about the Sanctuary of Surasthana, but he had never visited it before. It was something akin to an open secret in the Akademiya. People knew about it, but only a select few were allowed to venture close, much less enter entirely. 

The room was large, but it felt smaller with the way shadowy clouds loomed overhead. Purple lightning crackled around, threatening to find a rod to conduct through, no matter if it was an object or flesh. With each flash, it illuminated what was in the middle of the room. In a large cage that hummed with Dendro energy, there was a small figure of a person. Without a second thought, Alhaitham moved closer to continue following the pull of the gem.

Now closer, he could see Rukkhadevata curled up and holding her legs close to her chest. Her eyes were closed, but tears, new and old, stained her hollow cheek. Alhaitham ran up and placed his hands on the cage, but it was a solid force underneath his palms. He didn’t know how to get her out of this, and he didn’t have the time to really look over the mechanics of it all and think of a way around it.

“Nahida!” He called out to her, a desperate attempt to make something happen as he bashed his fists against the shell to try and brute force it open. Nothing happened. The room roared with thunder and the guards running closer. “Nahida!” His fists weren’t doing anything, so in a desperate attempt, he pulled out his sword again to try and cut her out. 

As soon as his blade pierced the shell of the cage, lightning struck again. He didn’t have time to react or dodge. The room went dark again, and Alhaitham felt his body lock up as the lightning coursed through his body. 

~!~

Alhaitham opened his eyes to nothingness. 

The area around him was pitch black and completely void of anything. It wasn’t dark, as he could clearly see his hand in front of him, but it started to blur as his head pounded in agony. He was on the ground, but his head felt like lead and kept him from trying to stand. He could feel it pound with his quickened heartbeat as he tried to control his breathing and gather himself.

He was struck by lightning. He knew this, and yet, he couldn’t tell if he was dead or not. He wasn’t sure what he expected death to be like, but maybe this nothingness was fitting in this world. It might be fitting to give up if that was the case, but he wasn’t about to just yet. Alhaitham’s head was still hurting, but the pain dulled enough for him to try standing again. Like a newborn foal, he pushed himself up on his shaking feet.

Alhaitham focused on the parts of his body he could see. He expected some scarring from the lightning, but all he could see were calluses on his hands from all of his sword training. From his hands, to his arms, and even to his chest where the diamond sat, there weren’t any signs of visible damage. Checking for anything more was out of his capacity, but he wasn’t sure if he even could get a second opinion.

He didn’t know what to do. Sitting around felt just as pointless as starting to walk, but the void somehow found a solution for him. Alhaitham blinked, and suddenly, there was a green seelie in front of him. The flower twirled on their head, and their scarf flowed behind them as they stared at him with that unassuming smile. Alhaitham immediately recognized it as the seelie who gave him the sword—which he also just noticed was completely missing as well.

Alhaitham looked around him, but all that remained was the seelie instead of his weapon. “Silver Nara is here.” It spoke as if it was announcing his presence to an audience, but Alhaitham didn’t need to look around again to know it was just the two of them.

“Where am I?” He asked, mostly because he didn’t want to ask such a cute creature if he was dead or not outright. Alhaitham wasn’t sure if he could handle the answer he didn’t want to hear with such an adorable smile on the seelie’s face.

“Arama will take Silver Nara to The Lord of Verdure.” It said, and Alhaitham resisted the urge to nod his head since it still hurt. He expected the creature to start leading him there, but instead, it held its stubby little arm out for Alhaitham to hold. His whole hand could grab the seelie’s arm, so Alhaitham settled for holding it between two of his fingers. 

The seelie floated by his side as it led him to find the Lord of Verdure. Nahida had so many nicknames, and yet none of them were even close to Kusa to solve that lingering riddle. Arama was silent by his side outside of the persistent hum of his twirling flower, but Alhaitham didn’t take the initiative to start the conversation either. The monotonous movement of their slow walking was enough to let his mind wander.

The first part of the plan went so well, but the next part? He couldn’t say. Alhaitham had successfully altered everyone’s Akashas to look like they were corrupted from Azar’s control, and everyone played the part well, but they didn’t come out of that battle unscathed. It didn’t look like Dehya was hit by lightning as well, but Tighnari absolutely was. In his quick look over, Alhaitham was able to see the genuine fear on Cyno’s face as he worried over Tighnari’s safety. Everyone, their side and Azar’s, continued on as if the death was all part of the plan.

He should’ve done more, Alhaitham realized. What more, he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what would actually help. He should’ve pressed for more to see what all changed with the story. With that extra knowledge, he could’ve done more to make sure Kaveh got the happy ending he deserved. He should’ve shown his hand sooner. If Kaveh knew he was an outlander like him, maybe he would’ve trusted him a lot sooner, and things would’ve progressed smoother.

He should’ve kissed Kaveh. Kaveh wanted it so bad, but Alhaitham was trying to be mindful of the fallout. 

He should’ve remembered his place as a simple means to an end and not a character that deserved to stay longer than their purpose served.

For the longest time, there was nothing, but then he blinked, and he could see the outline of a figure in front of him. They were curled up on themselves and looked so small and fragile. Their back was to him, but Alhaitham could recognize who it was anywhere. 

Alhaitham tried to let go of the seelie’s hand, but it somehow had the ability to hold on to him and prevent him from running ahead. He wasn’t sure of the reasoning, but he wasn’t going to let something so odd stop him from calling out to the figure. “Nahida!” He reached out as if to physically grab her attention even though she was so far away, but he was stopped by an invisible force field. He couldn’t cut it down like the cage, and slamming his fist against it proved to be just as fruitful. 

“We cannot reach The Lord of Verdure.” Arama spoke beside him, and when Alhaitham looked down at the creature, he saw that they were no longer alone. Behind them, there were far more seelies than he had ever seen before. The colony of seelies ranged in colors and sizes. Some of them floated, while others remained on the ground, but they all wore that uncanny smile. “The Lord of Verdure has been locked away inside of her consciousness.”

“...Why didn’t it work?” It was Nahida who spoke first. Even with the force field blocking her off, her voice echoed around them all. They could hear her subconscious thoughts, as if this void was her mind. “I’ve gone through the simulations… this time… it should’ve worked….” Her voice was breaking, and paired with her voice, they could hear the shallow sound of her tears dripping on the ground. “I can’t… do this much longer… I’m sorry… I’m s-sorry, Rukkhadevata…”

Alhaitham unclenched his fist against the barrier to press his palm against it. There was a time and place to pick apart why she was apologizing to herself, but for now, there were more pressing matters. “How do we get her out?” 

Arama finally let go of his hand and floated toward the rest of the seelies. Alhaitham kept his hand on the barrier, but he turned to watch them. All the seelies clapped their hands together and lowered their heads, but they didn’t close their eyes as if to pray. “The forest will remember.” They spoke as one. 

“All I wanted from the moment I was born was to be a worthy archon.” Nahida’s subconscious spoke again. “I listened to my people and their hearts. I made sure Irminsul was okay after you saved it… So I can catch up… to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.”

“The forest will remember Queen Aranyani.” The seelies responded in unison.

Nahida continued. “The sages are creating a god to replace me. I’m stuck in this boundless darkness.” She lowered her head more, as if holding it up any higher took away more energy than she had. “It’s so quiet here, but I can’t do anything about it. Shouldn’t the God of Wisdom have the answers to these things? Do archons have doubts about their worth? Should I have these doubts? Am I… doing enough?”

She was spending her exhausted energy spiraling, and Alhaitham could do nothing about it. “Nahida!” He called again, hoping that screaming this close would do anything, but it didn’t. He looked at the seelies again. He wasn’t sure if they could actually fight or not, but if they all tried, maybe they could break the barrier down.

“The forest will remember the Lord of Verdure.” The statement bellowed around the void. Alhaitham stared at them, his hand falling off the barrier. 

He remembered.

He didn’t feel a change in his person. This time, he wasn’t given a Dendro-infused leaf, nor did any elemental energy flow through him. Screaming and kicking wouldn’t break her out of the cage she was locked away in. Here, she would be forgotten—overshadowed and seen as nothing but a power source for the new god they were creating. It was harder to tell now than ever if he was dead or not, but he hoped he could at least free Nahida from her subconscious to help her and Kaveh in their journeys.

Even though he wasn’t originally part of this world and never read the name in the book, he remembered it. The rest of the letters flashed in his mind, far less painful than when he was extracting it from the Divine Knowledge Capsule. 

Kaveh didn’t need to save Rukkhadevata. He needed to save Nahida. He needed to save…

“Kusanali.” 

For whatever reason, the Akademiya was trying to erase the existence of Kusanali and make it seem like Rukkhadevata was still around. Everyone was praying to a god that was gone, and the archon that needed the support was locked away and used as a tool for a new god being built. The god would be powerful with two Gnoses, leaving Kusanali to do nothing more than rot away both in body and in the mind of the people. No one knew about her, and yet, the forest will remember who their archon is.

Behind him, the seelies started to sing. In front of him, the barrier started to crumble. Alhaitham watched a large crack grow and break off into smaller paths, but it soon became too hard to differentiate one crack from the next. They all blended together, but the barrier still remained in place instead of shattering in front of him. Alhaitham couldn’t wait any longer to let that happen naturally and balled his hand into a fist again. 

Green light shone between his fingers as he broke the barrier with a single punch. The barrier finally shattered into an array of sparkling dust, but instead of watching it wither away, he ran forward to finally reach Nahida. He ran closer as the choir of seelies grew louder with more optimism. Alhaitham moved in front of her and knelt down to be closer to eye level. “Nahida?”

Nahida moved her head to look up at him, but her eyes were still unseeing. She looked as if a strong breeze would make her wither away, far different from the version that visited him in that dream realm. She blinked her eyes into focus, but they were still slightly dulled. “...Alhaitham? Did you… come to save me? Thank you, but… how did you get here?”

“We’re here to rescue you.” Him, Kaveh, everyone else, and even the seelies. They all wanted to help their true archon, Kusanali. “How are you feeling?” 

“I’ll be okay.” She said, even though it seemed hard to believe it with the way she looked. However, she didn’t sound like she was just saying that to make sure he wouldn’t worry. She sounded hopeful. “After everything that happened to me, I feel really angry now.” 

Despite everything, Alhaitham found himself smiling. He could only imagine how long she had been stuck in here. It had to be before he came into this world—maybe it was even before Kaveh started his journey. He held out his hand to her to help her stand. “You have every right to be angry.”

Nahida took his hand and stood. She swayed on her feet, but Alhaitham stayed close to make sure she didn’t fall again. She held her head in her other hand as she collected herself, but when she deemed herself alright, she opened her eyes again to see all the seelies still there. “The aranara are here, too?”

So they weren’t seelies, but something entirely new. Alhaitham felt bad calling them the wrong thing for so long. “They helped me find you.”

Still holding Alhaitham’s hand, she walked closer to the aranara. The mass moved and surrounded them, and Arama floated toward the front to greet Nahida. She finally released Alhaitham’s hand to hold out her arms to Arama. It floated forward, and Nahida wrapped her arms around it to give it a hug. “Thank you so much.”

“The Lord of Verdure must wake up.” Arama told her after pulling back from the hug.

“Right, okay.” She tilted her head down and closed her eyes, but whatever method she was trying to use to wake up wasn’t working. Alhaitham silently watched—it wasn’t like he could do anything else trapped in here with everyone. He looked around at the aranara to see if they knew of a better method, but all they did was watch him or Nahida in return. Nahida patted her cheeks, but that didn’t do anything either. “Um…”

What did it mean for all of them if the archon couldn’t wake up? Alhaitham did his best to remain calm since panicking wouldn’t fix anything, but he could feel the dread growing heavier in the room. 

“I don’t know… if I’m strong enough yet.” She finally admitted, but she kept a determined look on her face. “But I’m not giving up! I just need to preserve some energy, and then I can get us out of here. So for now…” She trailed off, not wanting to admit anything.

“So for now, we can rest.” Alhaitham suggested just to fill the open space in the sentence. He wasn’t sure if Nahida wanted to do that after being dormant for so long, but it was a way to preserve energy in an attempt to wake up. Instead of rejecting the idea, she smiled and nodded her head. The aranara moved around them some more, creating a larger circle for them to sit in and rest. Nahida sat down again and patted the area next to her. Alhaitham wouldn’t deny the open invitation. 

The aranara moved closer once Alhaitham sat down on the ground next to Nahida. He felt like a teacher about to read a story to a bunch of children, but that apparently wasn’t too far off the mark as Nahida looked at him expectantly. “Can you tell me what all I missed?” 

Alhaitham took a moment to think about the best place to start before speaking. He didn’t change certain parts of the story he normally would’ve to explain the thought process he had reaching specific conclusions. There wasn’t a need to hide how he read the tragic ending in the story and was doing what he could to fix it, but certain things didn’t turn out exactly how he planned. Nahida was completely enraptured when he explained how he modified everyone’s Akashas to look corrupted, only to look even more concerned than he felt when he shared the lightning strikes.

“The mechanical god they’re building is getting stronger.” Nahida said, holding her chin in thought. “They used to speak loudly about the updates on the machine around me, but they hadn’t as of late. I wonder if it’s because it’s so far along that there wasn’t a need to taunt me with it anymore…” 

Alhaitham remembered Kaveh’s mother mentioning a mechanical god along with a stand-in. Figuring out what she was referring to with the first thing was obvious, but what about the second? Did she mean a stand-in for the Sumeru archon position, or did she mean someone else? “Do you know where they’re building this artificial god?”

Nahida nodded her head with confidence. “I do. When we get out of here, I can take everyone there. I understand why they want to replace me, but making a god with two Gnoses is too dangerous! I don’t think Celestia will turn its back on this sort of thing.” Once again, she closed her eyes in an attempt to wake up. Alhaitham patiently waited, only for nothing to happen. After a few more moments of trying, Nahida gave up with another sigh. 

“When we get out,” Alhaitham started, keeping his voice level. He didn’t know how many attempts he could watch Nahdia make trying to wake up before he gave up as well, “we’ll destroy that mechanical god. Then, you can prove to everyone that they were wrong trying to replace you.”

Nahida’s smile turned a little sad, but she didn’t sound upset. She spoke while reminiscing on bittersweet memories. “I knew I had big shoes to fill when I took Rukkhadevata’s place. I just wished I actually had the chance to show what she saw in me. After getting out of here and getting all my strength back, I’m going to make her and my nation proud!”

Time was ever-flowing and nonexistent in this realm. It felt like hours had passed, yet also like nothing at all had happened. They talked about a bunch of random things together, and with the aranara as well. Most seemed to be more content listening than speaking, but every now and then they would pop up with a little note about what they had witnessed when Nahida was locked away. Even though Alhaitham got their name wrong, they were like messengers for Nahida as he originally thought.

They even talked about Alhaitham’s old world and what life was like for him. He was just a simple student who enjoyed a book series and the main character a little too much to be normal. Alhaitham explained his emotions as he read and even talked about what he knew was different from the book. There were many questions he still had over various things, but they still needed a little bit of hope to not completely give up. Whatever questions he had about this world, he was sure Kaveh did as well. They would have more weight coming from the archon instead of him, so he asked Nahida if she would be able to answer Kaveh’s questions when they were out.

It was agreed upon with a pinky promise. Her finger was so small wrapped around his.

Every now and then, Nahida would try to wake up again. She tried various different ways, but nothing changed in their surroundings. At certain points, it looked like Nahida was about to cry, but she kept it in and tried not to fully give up. Alhaitham was never one for small talk, but even Nahida was starting to struggle thinking up topics to try and pass the time. After each failed attempt, they tried to think of lighter topics to talk about, such as favorite desserts or what colors were the prettiest. It was childish, but it seemed to be what Nahida needed to not think too hard and stress herself out more since she couldn’t wake up.

After the next failed attempt to wake up, Alhaitham couldn’t help it. “Why me?” He asked, his voice low. Nahida looked at him lost and confused, both at the question and at her inability to do something so simple as waking up. “Why was I brought into this world?” 

Nahida was quiet for a moment as she thought about the best place to start. “Every now and then, Rukkhadevata would tell me about someone she met.” Her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to visualize this person, but Alhaitham could tell nothing was coming to mind. “Rukkhadevata held them in such a high regard, but I can’t remember anything about them…” She thought some more, but after a few seconds, she shook her head and continued on. “Rukkhadevata shared how they were really strong and wanted to do… something… I… I think it’s related to you?”

She looked so lost trying to answer a question that might always be a mystery. It would be best to leave it at that, but for some reason, he just couldn’t this time. No one in this world was related to him, so how was that even possible? Alhaitham tried to think of a bridge to help Nahida, but he could only think of one person. 

This was a question that was only for him, and he wasn’t sure when he would ever get the chance to ask this question to someone who might have the chance to actually answer it instead of looking at him like he was crazy. It was a mystery back in his original world as well, but maybe the answer was here all along. “The only person I could have any relation to in this world is the author of the book.” 

It was a flimsy connection at best, but what else could he go off of? He was an outsider who knew most of the things that happened in the world the author created, and that was about it. Could anyone walk into this world and do whatever, or was he a special case?

He didn’t understand, but if his only possible connection was the author with the weak link that they were from Earth, he might as well ask something that Nahida might somehow know if she had this vague reasoning. 

“Who is Faranak?”

The single name branded each cover. It was impossible to tell if it was a first name, last name, or just a pen name, but it did the job of keeping the author completely anonymous. There was a baseless hope inside him that the name would spark something inside of Nahida and give him some sort of lead, but instead, she started to cry.

Tears trailed down her cheeks, and she didn’t even notice it until they dropped down onto her lap. Surprised, she touched her face to see that the tips of her fingers were slightly damp. “Why am I crying?” She asked as if Alhaitham had the answer to that. She tried to wipe her face, but more tears began to fall. “I don’t know that name. Why do I feel this way? I…”

Alhaitham reached out to try and comfort her but stopped when the void around them started to rumble. Toward the end of their talk, the aranara stopped joining in and chose to simply listen, but Arama perked up. “The Lord of Verdure is waking up!”

Nahida wiped away her tears and stood up on her own. Her legs didn’t shake with any lingering weakness. This time, she reached out to offer a hand to him. The last thing Alhaitham remembered was taking her hand before the darkness was overwhelmed by a bright light.

Chapter Text

When Alhaitham opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. He scrunched his face in an attempt to focus, but that didn’t seem to do much. His head hurt—everything did, really, but it was his head causing the most discomfort. He wanted to hold it in an attempt to lessen some of the pressure, but it was hard to move his body. There was so much shouting around him that it almost overpowered the sound of a blaring alarm overhead.

It was all so much, yet all Alhaitham felt like he could do was close his eyes and groan in an attempt to ease his overstimulated brain. It did absolutely nothing to help him. He wanted to stop, rest, and figure out where he was, but he couldn’t do that either. Someone was moving him, and they were too busy running to realize Alhaitham had woken up.

Alhaitham tried to focus again. Nothing was exactly clear, but he could see moving shapes around them. In front of him, there was a purple blur, running alongside whoever it was that was holding him. His best guess was that it was Cyno, but if it was him, he was carrying a green blob on his back, which made his silhouette even harder for Alhaitham to define. He scrunched his face to try and find any distinct details.

If it was him, then good that he made it out. Alhaitham could construct simple thoughts, so if he was carrying anyone, it was probably Tighnari. He remembered that he got struck by lightning first before Alhaitham did, but he couldn’t remember seeing him in Nahida’s void of consciousness.

Did she make it out? The green blur on presumably Cyno’s back was too big and dark to match Nahida’s short stature and white dress. He wanted to turn his head to look to the side of himself—the front of whoever was carrying him—but he couldn’t. As soon as he tried, the person took a sharp turn and veered them off track. The movement jostled Alhaitham so much that whatever progress he made slowly clearing his vision was lost. He had to close his eyes again.

He kept his eyes closed until the person finally stopped. Footsteps still followed behind them, but they stopped too shortly afterward. Alhaitham assumed that they had found a safe space to hide in and risked opening his eyes again. Already he was tired of his vision being blurry, but he still strained his eyes in an attempt to see what was happening.

He was more certain now that the purple blur was Cyno, and the droopy ears flopping from the top of the person’s head were distinctly Tighnari’s. Next to them, it looked like there were Candace and Sethos with maybe Dehya and Nilou farther off. He was thankful that everyone looked to be alright, but he wanted to ask where Nahida was.

If after everything, she was still trapped there, he wasn’t sure what else they could do. They could try to challenge that mechanical god she told him about, but he didn’t think anyone was in the state to fight it just yet. Alhaitham tried to speak up to ask these questions, but his voice wasn’t working. All that left his mouth was a stuttered breath of air that wasn’t heard.

Everyone was talking; he could hear their voices blending together, but he could feel the person who was holding him's chest rumble when they spoke. He wanted to see his savior, but it took so much strength to move his head up to see the person’s face. Alhaitham took it slow. He looked forward at his knees bent over the person’s arm, yet he couldn’t look up just yet.

This whole time, Alhaitham was apparently holding something, and he didn’t even realize. His hand encompassed something over his chest, a little lower than where the gem was. He tried to hold it tighter, but with his weakened state, he didn’t feel like he was doing much. Whatever it was, he managed not to lose it while unconscious and planned to keep it that way now that he was awake.

It took a lot of effort, but finally, Alhaitham was able to tilt his heavy head upwards to look at whose arms he was in.

This close, he could easily see that it was Kaveh. Alhaitham didn’t question where he was as he was trying to get his bearings, but maybe it was because he subconsciously knew it was him. Still, he felt relief knowing that he was alright enough to still be running and carrying around his heavy body. Kaveh was so cool and amazing… he… really was an idiot for not kissing him.

There were so many people in the world who were more than fitting to be by Kaveh’s side, and yet, he chose him. He somehow had an interest in him, and Alhaitham tried to protect Kaveh’s heart by breaking it into pieces himself. It hurt to think too deeply about the train of logic he was going down, but Alhaitham found himself riding it anyway.

Kaveh’s attention was suddenly on him as if someone pointed out that Alhaitham was awake. He opened his mouth to say something, but Alhaitham was only able to tell he was speaking by the rumbling in his chest. He tried to focus on what Kaveh was saying, but it all blended together. It looked like he was asking him something, but Alhaitham couldn’t answer him.

Slowly, Kaveh’s distressed look was getting clearer. He adjusted his hold on Alhaitham and pressed a hand on his cheek, but that did little to help him understand what he was trying to say.

Alhaitham wanted to relieve him of his worry, but he wasn’t sure how. He leaned his head against his palm, his calloused hand pressing against his cheek. It was warm like the rest of him, and despite everything around him, Alhaitham felt a little more at ease with such a simple gesture. He knew that there were people around him and that there was probably a better time to do this, but he didn’t care. Alhaitham wanted to comfort Kaveh, and with other things on his mind, he only knew of one way to do so.

He pressed a kiss against his palm. It was awkward with only the corner of his lips touching his exposed skin, but the intent was there. He felt Kaveh’s stuttered breath and tried to do more, but he felt like such a simple action exhausted him of what little energy he had. His blinks were longer than normal, and he could see that that concerned Kaveh more than anything, but Alhaitham couldn’t stop it.

The last thing Alhaitham remembered before he passed out again was Kaveh moving his head to rest it against his chest.

~!~

When Alhaitham woke up again, he wasn’t pressed against Kaveh’s chest, but he was lying on something equally soft.

White sheets were pulled up to his chest, and he could see the end posts of a bed by his covered feet. This time, it didn’t take long for his eyes to focus as he got to clearly see his surroundings. He could tell he was still somewhere in Sumeru based on the structure of the house, but it looked a little different than the architecture he was used to in Sumeru City and Port Ormos. He could see the natural materials used to build the home around the thick tree trunk that popped out from one corner of the room.

All he did to get his bearings was move his eyes around and slowly turn his head. The simple movement hurt. He felt sore all over still. His body felt like it couldn’t recover properly from an extensive workout. His muscles ached, his back hurt, and he felt both like he wanted to move into a more comfortable position and like he didn’t want to move at all for another few hours. His headache was still there, yet thankfully not as strong as when he first woke up with Kaveh.

Where was he?

Alhaitham tried to sit up to get a better look at the room, but his body immediately protested the action. He hardly moved at all, yet he groaned lowly as if someone was stabbing a blade through his chest.

That action altered someone as they soon joined him by his side. “Alhaitham!? Are you awake?”

At some point in his short attempt to move, he closed his eyes as he waited for the pain to subside. It didn’t, but he still opened his eyes to see who was calling his name. He looked up to see Sethos, staring at him wide-eyed and an unraveling bandage partially wrapped around his arm. It was a fresh one with how stark white it was, but Sethos didn’t care that it was soon going to become waste with it falling to the ground.

“Hey, hey,” Sethos repeated, voice urgent, and Alhaitham looked back up at his face, “don’t lose focus on me already.” 

He opened his mouth to ask a question, but he wasn’t sure where to even start. It didn’t matter because nothing came out of his mouth outside of a choked sound. 

It looked like Sethos muttered something under his breath, but Alhaitham didn’t hear it before Sethos moved away. He heard more than saw him run out of the room so fast that his fingers must’ve not caught on the door to properly close it since all Alhaitham heard was it opening. Since he offered no explanation, Alhaitham tried to search for one.

This time when he lifted his head up, Alhaitham could see a few tables littered with scattered medical supplies. There were more fresh bandages, nameless elixirs, and tools that no one bothered putting away since they would be needed again soon. He could only imagine how many were used on him and just how bad he probably looked underneath the white blanket.

Turning his head some more, he could see that he wasn’t the only bedridden occupant in the room. Next to him, he could see Tighnari’s still sleeping form. The blanket was pulled up to his chest as well, but Alhaitham could see a new scar trailing up his neck from his right shoulder. Most of it was covered by a bandage, but some of its thin, spindly offshoots still visibly highlighted veins resting under his skin. 

Alhaitham couldn’t remember seeing any matching scars on his own body when he was in Nahida’s subconscious or in the brief moment he was awake in Kaveh’s arms. Before he could wonder where those scars may be, his thoughts were overwhelmed by the sound of rushing footsteps. He was crowded around by Kaveh, Sethos, Cyno, and a new person he didn’t recognize. She had green hair and was noticeably the shortest of the group.

“How are you feeling?” Kaveh asked, unable to help himself even if the answer was obvious. 

Alhaitham wanted to give him the answer he wanted to hear. He wanted to tell him that he would be fine and all the pain would leave him eventually, but he didn’t know that. He didn’t know what lingering effects being struck by lightning had on him. He didn’t know if he did the one objective he was told to complete. He didn’t know if all his efforts amounted to more suffering. It took a lot of effort to speak one word, but he had to know. “Nahida?” He asked, his voice raspy and scratching his throat. 

He used the name he was used to instead of Rukkhadevata or Kusanali. A response didn’t come right away, and for a few moments, Alhaitham thought it was all some twisted dream. She was still rotting away with her powers seeping into the mechanical god she told him about. Thankfully, that worry didn’t last for long. 

Kaveh’s smile for him was small. “She’s free.”

There was more he wanted to know, but for now, he let out a long sigh, closed his eyes again, and relaxed against the pillow. Good. She was free, and they could go from there. He had to tell them what all she told him in her subconscious, but just saying her name took a lot of energy out of him. He didn’t want to sleep more, but he needed a few moments to collect himself. 

Someone was touching his head. At first it was to feel his temperature, but then it moved upwards to push his hair away from his eyes. Alhaitham didn’t have his eyes closed for long, but when he opened them again, he saw that it was Kaveh tending to him. It was unfair how kind he was to him, mostly because Alhaitham didn’t think he deserved it.

“I can do my checkup later.” The girl said, her smile small. She noticed a change in the atmosphere, along with Cyno and Sethos. Sethos was still right next to her and Kaveh, but Cyno had walked away to be by Tighnari’s side. “You remember the main things to look for, right, Kaveh?” 

“I believe so. I’ll call for you if it's something urgent or if Tighnari wakes up. Thank you again, Collei.” Kaveh said, providing a name for Alhaitham to go off of. Collei was briefly mentioned in the original book as helping Tighnari with Haypasia. She was a forest ranger with extensive medical knowledge, a field she was interested in after a sickly upbringing. Like many others, she was another character that stopped showing up once she served her purpose. 

Collei left with Sethos with a trailing conversation about fixing up his forgotten bandage. Cyno still lingered behind, looking down at Tighnari with a gaze Alhaitham ignored just to give them as much privacy as he possibly could. He kept his eyes on Kaveh, who looked to be doing the same. Kaveh finally settled a lock of hair behind Alhaitham’s ear and pulled his hand away only to press it against the pillow. He shifted his weight, his face perfectly neutral for once.

Alhaitham wished to know what he was thinking, but he wasn’t going to ask just yet. It was a mutual agreement to not break the silence for Cyno to help him stay strong. He could only imagine doing so much for your husband and yet still not feeling like it was enough. A question like Do you need something or are you alright? would just make that wall crumble; it wouldn’t do anything besides point out his inabilities. They heard more than saw Cyno give Tighnari a soft kiss before leaving the room as well.

When the door finally closed with an equally soft click, that look in Kaveh’s eyes changed just like the atmosphere did. Alhaitham expected a lull where either of them waited for the other to talk first, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Kaveh moved around to cup his face and leaned down, kissing him on the lips. It was firm, but he could still feel him trembling. 

He was so warm, surrounding him from where he loomed above him. The kiss was just as chaste as it was desperate, relieved, and yearning. Alhaitham felt the same, but those feelings were wrapped up and smothered by shock because he couldn’t believe Kaveh still wanted to do it. He couldn’t believe that after everything, Kaveh still wanted to kiss him, wanted to be indulgent with him, and didn’t care about him saying that he didn’t want to hurt him.

He couldn’t believe that only after a few seconds Kaveh was pulling away and he was about to lose his chance again.

Alhaitham flexed his hands and tried to grab whatever wad of fabric belonged to Kaveh to keep him close. He was sure he grabbed more blanket than shirt, cape, or anything else, but he made his own desire clear by tilting his head up to chase his lips. Kaveh saw him and immediately joined him halfway. This time, Kaveh let all his emotions spill out into the kiss. Alhaitham fell back against the bed as Kaveh loomed over him.

Kaveh kissed him as if Alhaitham was the air he needed to breathe. His lips still trembled as they parted for him, both more interested in feeling instead of finesse. The only sense of control Alhaitham cared about was not pushing his body too far so he wouldn’t let pain distract him, but at some point that thought left his mind. Kaveh was moving above him, shifting around to be in a more comfortable position as he still returned each and every one of Alhaitham’s kisses. Alhaitham felt the bed dip with his movement, but he never moved his head away.

He did remove one of his hands from Alhaitham’s face to steady himself as he threw one of his legs over Alhaitham’s waist. When he was in place, Alhaitham reached up to place his hands on his waist and hold him close. As soon as his hands touched him, he heard a groan, and Kaveh flinched.

Alhaitham did too as they both pulled back, faces flush and lips slightly parted. Neither of them made that noise. Together, they looked over at the other occupant in the room. Tighnari’s face was scrunched up, but his eyes were still closed. Kaveh stayed still for only a second before he moved away from Alhaitham to check on him. 

He watched Kaveh go through the motions to see if he was waking up. He touched his hand and called his name, yet all Tighnari did was settle back on the bed as his face relaxed. Kaveh waited, but the only noise Tighnari made then was the slow, steady sound of his breathing. There was nothing else for him to do, so Kaveh let go of his hand and came back to Alhaitham. 

Kaveh sat next to him again. He leaned down, but instead of kissing him again, he pressed his head against the curve of his shoulder. This was that afterwards he was talking about earlier; Alhaitham knew he should tell him everything he knew, but he couldn’t. There was still a chance Tighnari could wake up, and while he did truly wish he would soon, he also wanted his secrets to be for Kaveh’s ears only.

He didn’t seem to mind that Alhaitham wasn’t saying anything as he spoke first. “I almost thought you were a liar.” He said, his words soft and brushing against his bare skin. “I found the Sanctuary of Surasthana that you and Nahida were in. All I could see were so many soldiers left unconscious on the ground with you in the middle. Rukkhadevata was standing above you with her hands together in prayer.” He took a breath, his voice shaking. “She told me to tell you she was grateful for your help, and she would meet us again under better circumstances.”

Alhaitham could understand wanting to postpone the big protagonist-to-archon heartfelt conversation when they weren’t in the middle of a fight, but was that really all she was able to tell him? He wanted to provide her true name, but Kaveh was moving again. He sat up and grabbed the blanket, pulling it down to rest next to his waist. Bandages were wrapped around his chest, yet they were awkwardly cut in a way that still allowed the diamond to be exposed. Even in his unconscious state with everything else, he must’ve made it known it was smothering having it covered if someone made an adjustment to make him more comfortable.

However, the bandages didn’t completely cover his own lightning scars that trailed up over his collarbone and over his ribs. Some skin still peeked out close to the diamond, the epicenter of the scarring.

“Your heartbeat was so faint that I couldn’t hear it over my own.” Kaveh’s voice was leveled, but looking up at him revealed that it was a struggle to do just that. Speaking about it made him relive it.

It was important, but correcting Kaveh on Kusanali could wait a few more seconds. In order to keep himself collected, Kaveh never let go of his strong hold on the blanket. Alhaitham placed his hand on top of his. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Kaveh let out a weak exhale. Even if he knew he was fine in the end, that fear of losing him must’ve affected him on a level Alhaitham hadn’t realized was possible. He let go of the blanket but didn’t adjust his hold to intertwine their fingers together. “Never scare me again like that.” He tried to chastise him, but it didn’t sound all that convincing. “Even if it was just barely at the time, I knew you were alive.”

Alhaitham thought it was just a figure of speech, a gut feeling more than anything to keep them both going, but then Kaveh did something odd. Tighnari didn’t make a noise, but Kaveh still quickly looked over at him as if he did. Alhaitham did as well to see if he missed something, but all he saw was Tighnari still sleeping away.

“Your…” Kaveh tried to start, but he quickly trailed off before Alhaitham could even guess where he was going with the sentence. He looked around the bed before reaching out to grab what Alhaitham thought was just a random ruffle in the blankets. When he pulled it back, Alhaitham saw that the once unassuming lump was actually a Vision.

The Dendro gem illuminated with a rich green light from where it sat in its gold casing. The elliptical casing was embellished with short curves and three arches at the bottom, but the actual gem shape was different. Instead of the usual circular appearance, it was shaped like a four-point star.

Alhaitham remembered that in the original book, when people got their Visions, it was shaped like the nation they got it in instead of where they were from. The casing was just like that of a Sumeru Vision, but the actual stone was different. Only one other person in this world had a Vision like that.

“Your Vision? Alhaitham asked, but even then, it was off. It didn’t look like he remembered it. While the gem was the same, Kaveh’s casing almost looked like a compass with small notches protruding from the round base. Alhaitham looked down at Kaveh’s leg to see that his Vision, just like he remembered it, was still attached to his thigh.

“Alhaitham,” Kaveh said, his voice low as he gestured for him to take the Vision. He hesitated a moment, but he soon did as asked and held onto the Vision. He looked it over in his hand and could feel an indescribable pull, stronger than what he normally felt with the gem. “This is yours.”

Alhaitham watched his expression in the glossy green mirror freeze over. Finally, he had a Vision, yet all he could feel was dread. The act was over; Celestia knew he was an outsider and branded him as such. This was exactly what he needed to help fight that mechanical god, but there wasn’t any room in his stomach to feel even a vague sense of relief. He couldn’t even feel disappointment that he didn’t get an element that would synergize well with Kaveh, not when all his past actions and careful plays felt so meaningless.

“You’re not from this world, aren’t you?” Kaveh asked once Alhaitham continued to stay in stunned silence. He didn’t sound accusatory at all, but excited, hopeful, even, that he actually had someone to relate to on a level no one else had been able to.

“...I thought I was supposed to be...” 

What was he to do now that he had proof that he wasn’t? It wasn’t fully touched on how they did it, but Kaveh came across characters in the book that tried to throw away or destroy their Visions, but they always showed back up in their lives. He may be able to hide it and store it away someplace in his home or on his person, but would that be enough? It was foolish to ignore this helpful tool, yet it was just as foolish to parade it around. 

The faint smile Kaveh wore was gone when he noticed the joy he felt wasn’t mutual. He placed his hand on top of Alhaitham’s, pushing it and the Vision down to hide under the blankets again. “Everyone knows you have it; you were holding it tightly when I found you, but I don’t think they saw what it looks like yet. We can go from there.”

He didn’t tell him what route to take, but Alhaitham saw that there were two in front of him. He could continue to lie and act like a simple scholar who lost his memories and gained a unique Vision. It could be reasoned it looked that way because of his sudden closeness with either Nahida or Kaveh, but how believable would that be? Or, he could tell everyone that they were characters in a book he was obsessed with, and the friend that people were hoping to reconcile with was still who knows where. 

He only planned on doing such with Kaveh. He was used to not being part of this world, and while being known as just a book character was still shocking, somehow it felt like it would hit people originally from Teyvat harder. The bonds he made, the ones he fixed, would they even mean anything anymore? Alhaitham wasn’t sure if he hid the Vision underneath the blankets again or if it was Kaveh who fully guided his hand the rest of the way.

“Hey,” Kaveh caught his attention once the Vision was hidden again by reaching out and touching his cheek, “collect yourself.” Such a simple comment, coming from full sincerity instead of being condescending, almost worked. Alhaitham blinked, his eyes focusing again as he looked up at Kaveh. “We’ll figure something out. You did what you thought you needed to do.”

He was right, just like the amazing person he was. Alhaitham leaned into Kaveh’s hand and pulled the Vision out to place it on top of the blankets. Let it be seen—it was the least of their problems right now. He did what he thought needed to be done, and now, he would continue to do that with more confidence. “Nahida might be free, but we’re not done yet.” 

Kaveh brushed his thumb against his cheek before pulling his hand away. “Not even close.” He agreed as he took his hand again. Briefly, Alhaitham thought he was going to hold it again, but he soon pressed two fingers to his wrist. Dendro energy pulsed between them—after the little detour in the beginning, he was finally going through the motions of checking up on him. Not that Alhaitham would complain. “You’ve both been out for a few days. We’ve been trying to find any leads on Azar or Nahida in that time, but we haven’t found anything yet.”

He couldn’t guess where Nahida was. She could be taking advantage of her newfound freedom, but the world was vast and must have her own goals that needed to be taken care of in the lead-up to dismantling the mechanical god. Azar, though… “I have an idea where he is.”

“Really?” Kaveh didn’t stop going through the motions of his checkup, but he did pause for a second to look at him in surprise. “Where?”

“They were building Nahida’s replacement. Based on what she told me, they must be close to done with it. With her free, I’d imagine he’s doing everything he can to hurry the process along and implement that false god.”

Then, Kaveh stopped, his brows pushed together to think over his words. A few seconds later, he finally spoke. “I think you’re right. It’s a good place to start, anyway.” He didn’t ask for any clarification as he got up from the bed and spared a glance over at Tighnari. Seeing that he was still resting, Kaveh walked to a table on the other side of the room to grab a fresh bandage. “We should let the others know soon and then update Tighnari once he wakes up.”

The sooner everyone knew, the better, but Alhaitham was too busy staring at that bandage. He didn’t see any visible injuries on Kaveh, and even though he still wanted to ask if he was alright after everything, other things were on his mind. Unless Kaveh was hiding something, those bandages were probably for him. Kaveh has tended his wounds before, but that was before they shared such a passionate kiss.

Kaveh touched him so tenderly and casually as he unwrapped the bandage, so much so that Alhaitham felt like he was in the wrong for still thinking about the kiss. Did Kaveh feel like that was all it took to be considered a couple? Alhaitham had to disagree—the confessions were always the best part in fanfiction… not that he fully read any to the end, of course. It didn’t count that way.

With how he still touched him and looked at him, Alhaitham knew that whatever Kaveh was feeling wasn’t completely out of his system. Maybe there was a time and a place to have this sort of talk, but Alhaitham couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. After Alhaitham told him his full truth would be ideal, but now… now, Alhaitham looked down at his bare chest where the worst of injuries were. It didn’t leave him as lightheaded as his scuffle with the Eremites, but it was still shocking to see the aftermath. 

His skin was raw and tender, but the lingering lightning was still visible. The little slivers of skin he saw near the diamond didn’t compare to the full picture. In time, the redness and lingering pain would fade, but he would never lose the thin slivers of scars that bloomed from his chest. With how close it was to his heart, it truly was a miracle that he was alive. Kaveh placed a hand on his chest, his touch lukewarm and covered in salve, bringing him out of his realization of his mortality.

Alhaitham still didn’t know what would happen when and if he died in this world. Whether it was sheer luck or Nahida’s influence, he was still allowed to be blissfully ignorant of that what if. He was given another chance to achieve his goal of helping Kaveh and protecting him. Right now, it seemed like he was doing a rather half-assed job. Alhaitham watched Kaveh’s hand gently move around his chest and down his ribs, covering all the lingering marks in the salve. Any other moment it might be ticklish, but his nerves were too shot to feel it completely. 

“You’re always taking care of me…” Alhaitham said, mostly in an idle conversation. He hoped that Kaveh was never hurt enough to the point that he was bedridden, but if he could do something to return the favor, something more—

“My journey isn’t over yet.” He pointed out as he cleaned his hand and grabbed the fresh bandages. “There will be chances for you to take care of me in the future…” He trailed off, letting one of the bandages’ ends distract him. He brushed his thumb over the edge that was starting to show the first signs of fraying, but it would still fulfill its purpose. “If you’re willing to accompany me, anyways.”

After this, Kaveh could move on from Sumeru. Alhaitham didn’t know if he could too. “I want to.”

Kaveh smiled, content with that being enough. There had to be more to this than just words, but the logistics of what loose ends Alhaitham would need to tie up could wait for later. It wasn’t a full-on confession like Alhaitham expected, but it was a promise for that more that he could be happy with.

Alhaitham helped where he could when Kaveh rewrapped his chest in fresh bandages, which really was mostly shifting around so he could wrap them over his back. Kaveh tried to find the best way to cover skin without smothering the gem too much, but it proved to be a very difficult task. For the time being, he wrapped it up again and got up to get some scissors to cut away another opening. It was such a short amount of time, yet Alhaitham felt insane levels of discomfort from such a small thing. Kaveh was careful with the scissors as he improvised the cutout. 

Kaveh cleaned up the rest of the supplies before making his way back to Alhaitham. He didn’t sit down just yet, but he was leaning against the side of the mattress. “Are you ready?” He asked. Soon, this tender moment shared between them would be over, and he would have to share everything he learned when he was in Nahida’s subconscious with her, including the reason why his Vision was a little different. 

There was no reason to push it off any longer. Alhaitham nodded his head. 

Kaveh’s smile was faint as he pushed himself away to make it over to the door, but he didn’t make it far before Alhaitham grabbed his hand. He looked down at him, his head slightly tilted in askance as he waited for Alhaitham to say anything. He didn’t have a reason as to why he wanted to do what was on his mind, just that he now could. 

Alhaitham brought Kaveh’s hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. A thanks for everything he had done for him and a promise to do more in the future.

~!~

The crowd he shared his knowledge with was smaller than Alhaitham expected, but he wasn’t worried; the message would spread.

Dehya was hurt too by the lightning, but her injuries were minuscule in comparison to Tighnari’s and Alhaitham's. While Azar’s grip was weakened now on the Akademiya and Sumeru as a whole, there were still a few loose ends that could be easily cleaned up. She, Nilou, and Candace helped where they could before going their separate ways. Candace went back to Aaru Village, Nilou strengthened the love and importance of the art, and Dehya found more Eremites posing as scholars to deal with.

They tried to look for Azar in the process, but they came up empty-handed. Kaveh, Cyno, and Sethos helped where they could as well, but they were busy with other things. Sethos was injured but was busy sharing information hidden away in the Akademiya with Cyno. When Cyno was doing his part in that plan, he was next to his husband and tending to him with Collei’s help. Collei made sure he and Tighnari were as comfortable as they could be after everything. 

“...We can’t sit and wait around for much longer,” Alhaitham said. He knew that recovery took time, and it was best to learn how to actually use his new Vision before he threw himself back into a fight, but the sooner they could act, the better. “Kusanali isn’t known as it is; if they activate that false god…” He trailed off, not knowing where to even begin imagining what that future would look like.

It would possibly be worse than the ending he was stuck with.

“Kusanali?” Kaveh asked. It wasn’t asked in confusion. It was said in the way Alhaitham felt when he first spoke the name—that certain things were finally falling into place.

“Her identity was hidden in the Divine Knowledge Capsule. For a while, I only knew the first few letters, but I knew the rest in her subconscious.” All the evidence he could provide for somehow knowing it was said in the emphasis. “Dismantling that god and Azar’s plan may not completely reverse the damage he’s done acting like Rukkhadevata is still around, but it’s a good start.” Without his lingering touch on the knowledge entering and leaving the Akademiya, people could actually know what god they were praying to.

Everyone wore different expressions in response to the sudden name drop. Cyno looked conflicted, Sethos looked concerned, and Collei was surprised. 

“This whole time our archon has been locked away? That’s so…” She trailed off, trying to find the best word. Depressing, frustrating, harrowing, bleak—none of them were the perfect fit.

“Has this name shown up in the Temple of Silence’s records before?” Cyno asked Sethos, who placed a hand on his chin as if that would help him think.

“I can’t remember,” Sethos started, only to sigh to himself when he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “If it did, it wasn’t connected to the moniker of archon, much less Rukkhadevata’s next-in-line. I can send a letter to let others know to start looking.”

“As we regain our strength, we should find what other information on her has been locked away. I’ll search where I can in the Akademiya.” 

Not everyone might react so steadfastly to the idea that Kusanali was their archon instead of Rukkhadevata. The sooner that information was in circulation, the easier that transition would be. The information shouldn’t be hidden away to begin with, but arguably the knowledge of their actual archon should be revealed before tackling the rest of the censored items.

Still recovering, all Alhaitham could do was let people plan around him. Even though he was awake, he shouldn’t get up and start a grueling search through the Akademiya’s files, much less those in the Temple of Silence back in the desert. It wasn’t like he ever had to look up how long it took an average person to recover from a lightning strike, so he was left in the dark on how long it would take.

Others saw his Vision, but no one commented on its unique shape. Maybe there were other things to worry about, or maybe the idea of Visions and how they worked was still limited on this scale. Alhaitham had the foresight from what he read previously, but to these people, their world consisted mostly just of Sumeru. Alhaitham wasn’t sure if it was better to keep this information to himself or to let them know that he was not the Alhaitham they thought they knew. Now that it seemed like they actually liked him instead of his book counterpart, it made the choice even harder.

For now, Alhaitham remained silent on the matter. If Kaveh told him to speak up about it, then he would.

A day later, Tighnari woke up. He was in a worse state than Alhaitham was when he woke up, but Collei and Cyno were right there to take care of him. With the way they both doted on him, it looked more like a complete family to Alhaitham’s outsider point of view instead of just a husband and his assistant.

When Tighnari was alert enough, the updates discovered were shared with him as well. His reaction to the revelation that it was Kusanali instead of Rukkhadevata was different too. He was mad at the power the Akademiya had to hide this information, mad for Kusanali, and mad that they were sapping her power to hurt her people in various ways, including physically. If it wasn’t for his injuries, he looked like he was about to get up and fistfight Azar right then and there. No one would’ve stopped him.

It took some time, but finally, Alhaitham felt better enough to move on his own. The lightning still remained and was as angry red as ever, but with Kaveh’s care and whatever salve being prescribed, it helped the process greatly. While others would stay in the little safehouse found in Gandharva Ville, it was time for Alhaitham to go home with Kaveh by his side. Sometime in the future, they would meet up in Sumeru City again to fight their next enemy.

Before the left, Alhaitham tried to use his Vision for the first time. He tried to store his weapon inside of it, but the sword wouldn’t manifest into a flurry of golden sparkles and instead stayed in his hand. If he wasn’t surrounded by seasoned Vision users, he would’ve probably tried knocking the Vision and his sword together to see if that would do anything. Still, he held his mouth in a thin line since things weren’t working how he thought they would. Everyone made it seem like harnessing their elemental powers was so easy—the book even described it as such, too.

“It takes a few times to get used to it.” Kaveh comforted him with a small smile, but maybe he also saw how Alhaitham was about to take a more primitive approach.

“The first time my Vision worked for me was a rather shocking experience.” Cyno said, and even though Sethos, Tighnari, and Collei groaned or grumbled that it was a bad joke, Alhaitham appreciated it. He couldn’t help but huff a small laugh. The simple jokes were just as good, too. Of course, that just led Collei and Tighnari to be confused by him laughing at one of Cyno’s jokes, since apparently Book Alhaitham didn’t have any taste in good, dry humor. “Sorry, he’s a fan now.” Cyno smugly defended him.

“It might take some time; don’t worry about it.” Tighnari said, just trying to move on from the joke. “I don’t think yours being a bit different should affect anything.”

Alhaitham looked at his Vision again. It was the first acknowledgment from the others that it was unique, and it was just accepted as is. His interactions were short, but he felt light Tighnari was still a bit suspicious of him in a way. Instead of confronting him, he was trying to comfort him. Visions truly were odd things.

After a few more parting words, they left. They didn’t hold hands or link arms or anything like that. They simply waved goodbye to their friends and went on their way. He gave up trying to use his Vision that way and simply placed both it and his sword on his hip before departing.

Thankfully, the journey to Sumeru City wasn’t that long, but Alhaitham wasn’t sure if he wanted it to be longer or not. He was better, but that didn’t mean he was fully recovered to handle a lengthy trek, but maybe it was best to spill his secrets to the open world. Maybe it would be best to let it all carry in the air, fly with the birds, float with the water, and sway with the leaves instead of being confined in a house. For so long, in the back of his mind, he knew that he would have to eventually come clean, but he still couldn’t figure out the best way to do it.

They talked about other things instead. It was never directly asked, but Kaveh had a way to expertly move around the main story. “What do you want to do with your Vision?” 

It was a good question to ask. People did a lot of things with their Visions. Most used them to strengthen their attacks, some used them to form shields to protect themselves, and others even used them to heal. As nice as it would be to support Kaveh in that way, most people tend to already have some background in medicine outside of general knowledge.

He could figure out if it was really him that created that shield when Sethos attacked, or he could watch his green blade glow a more vivid hue, but there was one thing he knew he wanted to do. If he couldn’t synergize with Kaveh by creating powerful reactions, then he supposed he could be a little selfish and do what he wanted. “I want to teleport.”

Was it potentially childish? Who could be the judge of that? But he knew that it would’ve saved his ass multiple times before to be in one place in one second and then be behind the enemy the next. It wasn’t personal, kid; it was survival. As nice as it would be to teleport across Teyvat from nation to nation, he knew there was a limit to these sorts of things. He knew it was possible, though—other characters had done it before.

If Kaveh found it childish, he didn’t laugh at him for it, but he did smile. “Already setting a lofty goal for yourself, huh?” There wasn’t any note if it was hard or not, but it wasn’t like the book ever left Kaveh’s point of view. For whatever reason, Kaveh never had the will to teleport either. “Alright, anything else?”

Alhaitham took his time to think it over. Did all Vision users go through this thought process of thinking over what cool trick they wanted to pull off? If teleportation was probably the coolest trick in the book, the second would have to be… “Maybe something like what you do?”

It wasn’t often that Kaveh got a break to show off his artistic talent, but for what he lacked in time, he made up for it by integrating it into his moveset. His greatsword was powerful, even more so when he infused it with Dendro energy. Whenever he had the energy to let out a burst of power, thin, intricate lines would surround him. A blueprint would frame him, keeping him safe as he defeated his foes. He read the same scenes where it happened a number of times in the book, but he still hadn’t seen it yet in person. The little trick he did to blind the boss in Port Ormos was only a fraction of what Alhaitham knew Kaveh could do.

At that, Kaveh huffed a short laugh, “I guess I’m the best person for that.” He joked, as if Alhaitham thought of learning this from anyone else. “We can find an open spot to train in like we did in the desert. Know any good spots?”

They shouldn’t be too hard to find. “Yes.”

Kaveh hummed in acknowledgment before moving on to a different topic. “Do you like Sumeru City?”

Alhaitham thought over the best way to answer that question. Liyue used to be his favorite, but now that he was actually living in Sumeru, he could appreciate its own unique charm. He made sure that his life revolved around Kaveh to help him get that happy ending, but when he was playing the role of a normal scholar, it wasn’t all that bad. “It’s nice here.” He settled on. It was true, at least.

“It’s not the same though, isn’t it?” Kaveh asked, letting the look in his eyes show what he was implying.

There were parts of his old life that he did miss. He missed the internet, mostly, and his body pillow—he should get a new one here to help his sleep—but that was such a small thing. His life back there was different, but could he say it was objectively better than the life he had here? His friends here felt like actual friends, even though he wasn’t the person they originally had a connection with. Everyone was still so overly familiar with him in a way Alhaitham couldn’t keep up with, but in comparison to the friends he had back home, this was much better. It was a complicated question, one he didn’t know how to properly answer. 

Back in his original world, he didn’t have to worry about monsters, violent gods, and powerful elemental creatures that could kill him with ease, but he also didn’t have Kaveh in the way he did now.

Kaveh didn’t mind his lack of response. Instead, he sighed, the slow breath showing he understood before speaking again. “I get it. I’m not sure exactly what world I was born in, but I never minded. My home was with my mother. We would travel, see the sights, and then move on. She would tell me stories about worlds she visited before I was born and how she wanted to take me back, but…”

But then they got separated. It didn’t need to be said.

Kaveh cleared his throat and started again. “Sometimes we would talk about finding a world to settle down in once we get tired of star sailing. I wonder if Sumeru is that place for me.”

Alhaitham stopped himself from imagining a domestic life living with Kaveh in Sumeru. It was too far off in the future, and it wasn’t a guaranteed thing. He shouldn’t get his hopes up. “I don’t know how I ended up in this world, but I’m glad it was Sumeru.” If he was to replace the Alhaitham from this original world, he probably never had a choice to begin with, but it all worked out in a way. 

They weren’t done yet, but he felt like he had already done so much to not only help Kaveh, but Sumeru itself. He lowered his head in acknowledgment for a lot of things. For the realization that he might be something akin to a hero, even with his imperfect efforts. For the realization that the truth was slowly coming out and for the realization that the journey was almost over.

“If I was in Mondstadt, Dvalin would’ve eaten me. If I had come to Liyue, I would’ve drowned in Osial’s and Beisht’s wake. If I showed up in Inazuma… the Vision Hunt Decree might not have affected me, but there was still a war going on.” Alhaitham reasoned with himself out loud. Sumeru had its lingering threats, but they were hidden. Only people who truly looked, or had the foresight like him, were able to find them.

He remembered the Steambird articles he read about Kaveh’s travels. They had different names for the things he listed, such as Stormterror or the Raiden Shogun, but Alhaitham knew the full stories.

Outside of a few changes.

Kaveh didn’t stop walking, but the face he made was so conflicted that it made Alhaitham stop to look at him. That caused Kaveh to stop as well and cross his arms in thought. “Eating people… no, wait, did Beisht attack, too?”

He tried to recall the Steambird article he read. It mentioned multiple water serpents, but now, what he read in the article and the book was starting to blend together. Did it mean many creatures or many heads? The body of the beast was hidden in the water’s depths; could it be confused as multiple beings instead of one? If anything, it was an opening. “She did with Osial in the book I read.” He admitted, keeping his voice level.

Out of all the reactions he expected from Kaveh, it was not a short laugh, a smile, and him shaking his head. “Ah, I see.” He started before chuckling again. “You almost scared me there.” He then patted Alhaitham’s shoulder, signaling him to start walking again as they spoke. “The Yae Publishing House has released a few books about my adventures. A lot of them have exaggerated scenes to be more engaging for the readers, or so I’ve been told. If they don’t already, they should really put a note in the beginning of those books that they’re all fiction in a way.”

Alhaitham didn’t start moving after that encouraging tap. He stayed still, right where he was, as Kaveh walked a few steps in front of him. So there were more than just articles in this world about Kaveh… and he had no idea about them? Even if it was hard to get those books from Inazuma over to Sumeru, he should’ve known about them. He felt like a fake fan.

Noticing that Alhaitham wasn’t next to him, Kaveh stopped again and looked over his shoulder. “Alhaitham?”

He wasn’t prepared for this at all. “It wasn’t exaggerated. Where I’m from, there aren’t Visions, archons, or people that travel from world to world. It happened in a book I read because there, you were only a book character.”

It felt so cruel adding the only, but he had to make sure the point came across. Kaveh wasn’t a person that someone could write these whimsical stories about; he was just a group of words. He was nothing but ink on bound pages, not the wonderful man in front of him that wanted to kiss him and possibly find his mother with.

Slowly, Kaveh walked over to him. He never looked away, and Alhaitham was able to see how some things started to make a little more sense to him. He didn’t act out, nor did he assume anything, but when he was right in front of him, Kaveh spoke up. “What was this book called?”

Telling his tale out in the open was exactly what Alhaitham wanted. Now, he regretted that wish, but he couldn’t deny Kaveh when he was looking up at him like this—like he was bracing himself for the worst but would still somehow find a way to forgive Alhaitham. “It was a series known as Pairidaeza's Dreams by Faranak.”

Chapter Text

Alhaitham held his breath as he waited for Kaveh to say something. 

He thought he was racking his brain for the title of the books that were about him in this world or maybe thinking about how the author’s name connected to him, but Alhaitham couldn’t tell. He turned around before Alhaitham could read his face. “That’s a beautiful name.” Kaveh finally said, stating it like a random observation that he was only mildly interested in. 

Both the series and the author’s names were unique and eye-catching, but that beautiful adjective dripped with bitterness that didn’t fit. Kaveh was walking away from him, and Alhaitham tried to reach out to catch his wrist. “Kaveh?”

Kaveh dodged his attempt by taking another step away from him. “Tell me about it.” He tried to make it sound like a simple request to pass the time, but the disdain was stronger now. It wasn’t a mundane conversation starter; it was a demand.

If he didn’t want Alhaitham to comfort him with his touch, then he could only do as he asked. He decided to not add the beginning fluff of how he picked the book up at random one day, like he did with Nahida, and jumped straight into the story’s plot. “The first book was called The Outlander Who Caught the Wind… ” Alhaitham began to talk, telling Kaveh all that he read. He didn’t interrupt himself by interjecting random quips about his theories or emotions like he did back in Nahida’s consciousness, but he still added more details. He made sure to state what names, places, and other minor things he remembered from the book.

It was to strengthen his point of just what sort of outlander he was, but it might’ve also shown how enamored he was with the book series unintentionally. It wasn’t the point of this talk, but he didn’t want Kaveh to know just how addicted he was to him when he was just a character to him, not someone who could be revolted by the overwhelming obsessiveness.

Yet Kaveh didn’t show any emotion at all. He simply stared forward, one foot in front of the other. Alhaitham hoped he would correct the parts that were wrong from what he experienced, but he never said a word. He wasn’t ignoring Alhaitham, as any time he took a short break to collect his thoughts, remember the original timeline, or wait for those potential corrections, Kaveh would look over at him. It wasn’t a glare, but it still almost dared him to stop talking entirely until the full story was shared. 

Alhaitham could only give him up to the incomplete ending of the fourth book. “...The book ended with Azar wishing that Irminsul would be cleansed of your presence and you…” took your last breath. 

It was never outright stated that Kaveh died at the end among the rest of his friends, but Alhaitham could argue that it was heavily implied. He didn’t want to right now, not in front of the man that always seemed to walk above the concept of death with his glare as hard as the steel that made up his bloodied greatsword. 

Kaveh looked over at him with that look again—to continue even though Alhaitham said that that was how it ended. All he could do was oblige. “The past books had a note at the end saying the story would be continued in the next installment, but this one didn’t. I was so upset over the ending that I left my home to take a walk and cool my head. Somehow… I ended up in Sumeru. I didn’t know where to go, so I wandered into the city. There, Alhaitham’s friends found me and led me to his home.”

This wasn’t about him. He didn’t need to share how it was weird to refer to himself in the third person. He didn’t share how scared he was of questioning what to do next or if he was even alive anymore. He didn’t need to share how he felt like a stranger in his own home, how he didn’t know how to fit in, or how he adjusted his lifestyle as a replacement for some jealous, vengeful entity that was probably dead somewhere—and no one cared because he was somehow the redeemable one. All Alhaitham shared was what was asked of him.

There wasn’t another look over from Kaveh. This was an ending he was content enough with. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for Kaveh to really think over and register his words, but he asked a question a few moments later. “Have you tried going back?” 

Oh, he sounded tired.

“In the beginning.” He hadn’t wanted to try going back in a long time. 

Kaveh didn’t say anything else after that.

The silence was uncomfortable, but it seemed like it was only Alhaitham that felt that way. Kaveh completely closed himself off without even giving Alhaitham the chance to comfort him in any way. With words no longer working, Alhaitham tried to reach out and touch him again. He tried to touch his hand—to simply hold it or to just let him know he was here for him—but he wasn’t given the chance. Kaveh saw his attempt and pulled his hand away before he could come close to making contact. 

It was like he was speed walking with the pace he was going at, yet Alhaitham made sure to keep any complaints to himself about it. They didn’t search for any spot to train in as open fields passed them that were more than ideal. It didn’t take long until Alhaitham found the compact path road underneath his feet turned into stone again. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him. This was a familiar sight he remembered when he first came into this world.

He wasn’t sure if he could feel nostalgic over it, not when Kaveh was still walking ahead. Even when Alhaitham slowed down when these odd feelings washed over him, Kaveh marched forward as if he expected Alhaitham to follow. He didn’t even bother looking back, not even when Alhaitham had to jog a few steps to catch up with him.

It was too much. “Kaveh—”

“Where’s your home?” Kaveh spoke up right as he heard the first syllable of his name. It was obvious it was to interrupt, and it was not just a coincidence they spoke at the same time. “I don’t remember.”

Alhaitham shouldn’t push. He knew this; he did just drop a bombshell on Kaveh, yet something still felt off in a way he didn’t know how to navigate. He thought he knew how to read Kaveh as the person he was, but now, he felt like he lost all his prior knowledge. As he led Kaveh to his home, he tried to think of a different approach.

Kaveh didn’t wander ahead of him as he brought him to his home. He stayed right by his side until Alhaitham unlocked the door for him and welcomed him inside. Kaveh walked into the middle of the living room and looked around, but he didn’t say anything until Alhaitham closed the door again. “Where’s your thin Kamera?”

Alhaitham blinked at the question, trying to follow Kaveh’s train of thought. It stopped working after showing Kaveh the video the first time. Kaveh knew this too, as they were only able to watch the video once, even if it would’ve been helpful to watch it again after dealing with the Divine Knowledge Capsule some more. That was back with Cyno, and all he had left was his useless phone. “It’s still not working.” Alhaitham said, but if he wanted to see it again, he wouldn’t deny him.

The note that it wasn’t working didn’t bother Kaveh at all as he waved Alhaitham to lead him to it. He trailed right behind him as Alhaitham went into his bedroom. It was tossed back into the drawer he originally had it in after coming back from the desert—immediately forgotten after forming the plan to confront Azar and the rejected kiss. Alhaitham pulled it out and touched the screen, yet he was still shown only a black reflection.

He held it at an angle for Kaveh to also see the dark screen, yet he still held his hand out in a silent request. Alhaitham did as asked. He watched Kaveh tap the screen in a desperate attempt to get it to light up. He even pressed the volume and the lock buttons on the sides, yet nothing seemed to work. 

He kept tapping and pressing, yet nothing seemed to be working. Frustrated, Kaveh handed it back to Alhaitham. “Why isn’t it working now?” He asked, some of the control he had started to slip as his voice wavered. 

Alhaitham wished he had the power to give him the answer he wanted. “I don’t know. Nahida’s video was the only time it worked here.” He wished he could guess why that was the case, but he didn’t know where to start. He thought on a whim to video himself to leave a paper trail and somehow got lucky. That luck didn’t come back.

“Then make it work!” 

The volume he tried to voice his demand at made his voice crack, and that was enough. The useless phone fell to the ground as Alhaitham forgot it in order to reach out and touch Kaveh, but he didn’t let him. Kaveh stepped away from his hands as he let his tears start trailing down his cheek.

“Tell me, Alhaitham. Have you ever met Faranak?

The answer he wanted to hear wouldn’t help him. The answer Alhaitham had would make things worse, but he could only be honest. “No. They never had a picture printed with the books either.” He tried to make up for it by giving as much information as he could, but he didn’t have much to begin with. “No one in my world knew if ‘Faranak’ was a pseudonym or not.” It was hard to say if the statement was a hyperbole or not with how popular the theory was in the fandom. If Kaveh thought Alhaitham was a mysterious entity before he shared his secret, then he could only imagine how he could possibly describe Faranak.

“It’s not.” Kaveh said, his voice losing all the fight he once had as the short sentence was punctuated with the first tear falling to the ground. 

Those two words echoed around in Alhaitham’s mind. He sounded so lost yet so confident that he knew it wasn’t an alias. It didn’t take long for him to realize what he was saying, and suddenly, he felt himself go cold. He couldn’t even reach out to try and comfort Kaveh again, not when he knew that Kaveh wouldn’t get the answers he needed from Nahida at the end of this. 

“This whole time,” he started, his shoulders squared and his hands clenched into fists, “I’ve been searching for her, only to find out that she’s off writing stories? Not only that, but imagining me suffering, killing everyone I ever cared for, for what? Some sense of sick entertainment? Is she even in this world anymore!?”

He started to subtly sway on his feet, his body losing strength as his world crumbled around him. Even after all the rejected attempts, Alhaitham couldn’t stand still and watch him wither away. Kaveh fell against Alhaitham as soon as he stepped forward, his face pressed against his shoulder. Alhaitham wrapped his arms around him and held him close. 

“What’s the point of this?” Kaveh asked, his voice muffled from where he buried his face against him. It was hard to tell if it was rhetorical or not. “Every archon I talk to doesn’t have any answer. And if she’s not even here…”

Alhaitham kept his mouth shut as he tried to soothe him, but he couldn’t help thinking over what he said. The book had the archons giving small details about his mother, yet it seemed like that changed in this world too. It felt like a cruel game of give-or-take; someone important wouldn’t be relevant or a pivotal event would change, but he would at least get some elusive information about his mother. It was almost like she created this world, and it forgot her in return.

His tightened hold wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted, but it seemed to be what he needed as Kaveh grabbed onto the back of his shirt, his fingers clawing at something tangible that Alhaitham could almost feel the bite of his nails through the fabric. Kaveh cried, everything finally spilling over and breaking because nothing made sense anymore. 

Alhaitham tried to be present and be grounded for his moment of weakness, but he couldn’t help but think over what Kaveh said. He kept it in mind as he remembered Nahida’s confused sobbing about not knowing who Faranak was, yet still having a strong reaction to it. He couldn’t think of a reason why someone might cry over someone they had no knowledge about… but he might have a theory.

Azar gave them a different villainous monologue this time around, but Alhaitham would never forget what was originally written down.

“Reset the terminal.” Azar ignored the fallen man as he waved off his lackey to act. Finally, he turned back to the fallen man on the ground. “May Irminsul be cleansed of your abhorrent presence.”

The desperate sobbing subsided after some time, leading Alhaitham to bring a hand up and run it through Kaveh’s hair. He silently caught Kaveh’s attention by placing his hand on the back of his neck. His fingers brushed the hairs at his nape, and when Kaveh pulled back to look at him with red-rimmed eyes, his words caught in his throat.

It wasn’t fair that he had to tell him, but if Alhaitham kept to himself that Nahida also wouldn’t be able to give him the answers he needed, he would never forgive himself. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know who Faranak was—just like the other archons—it was just potentially a result of one of the fan theories that suddenly got a bit more evidence. 

“I’m sorry.” Alhaitham said as he wiped away the tear that clung to his cheek. “I asked Nahida about Faranak… She doesn’t know anything either.”

“Of course…” Kaveh in a weak exhale.

“I asked why I was brought into this world, and she told me that Rukkhadevata used to talk highly about someone.” His words came out quickly in an attempt to stop Kaveh from spiraling more. Still, another tear fell, and Alhaitham diligently wiped it away too. “She said this person was powerful and wanted to do something.” It was something, maybe even more than the archons gave him, but Alhaitham knew it wasn’t enough to satisfy Kaveh. He kept quiet as Alhaitham continued on, but his pain was obvious. “It might be related to me, or maybe anyone else who liked the book series, but she cried when I mentioned Faranak.”

Kaveh sniffled, his brows pushed together in confusion. “Okay… what does that have to do with anything?”

“Do you remember what I theorized about Irminsul?”

Kaveh stared at him, thinking back on that day back in Port Ormos. So much had happened since then, but Alhaitham could see things start to fall into place. “That… it might be able to erase someone’s existence from everyone’s consciousness…”

“We’re not from this world, so we remember.” He said as he moved his hands to cup Kaveh’s face. “But could it also erase the impact they had on others?” 

He could tell Kaveh was trying to think of how that would be possible, but things were slowly fitting together for him as well. Alhaitham told him how the book ended and how everyone turned on him. He told him how all his friends regretted their actions in the brief few seconds they were still alive before Kaveh had to kill them to save himself. Kaveh lowered his head and stepped away from their embrace. Alhaitham let his hands fall to his side, but he kept his eyes on Kaveh and waited. His eyelashes were still damp from unshed tears, but it was Kaveh who wiped them away. “All this knowledge… it’s in those Divine Knowledge Capsules, isn’t it?”

“In theory, yes, but I’ve only had access to the one.” But even then, who knows how hard it would be to get their hands on any more of them? Dori might see them as a liability and not try to work her magic to get them what they needed to make a sale again.

“No.” Kaveh immediately put his foot down on that possible path. “We’re not messing with those things again, you especially.” There was a pause, as if Kaveh was waiting for Alhaitham to argue back in any way, but he wasn’t going to. When it didn’t come, he continued. “Back then, you also theorized that Irminsul was a place instead of a concept. If that ends up being true… then we should go to the source.”

He wished he had more proof that Irminsul was a place, but he didn’t. These subtle bits of foreshadowing weren’t sprinkled into the narrative as well as other plot points were. He was looking at Alhaitham for an answer, for validation that he was suggesting something that could actually be done instead of hypothetically, but he couldn’t. “Kaveh…”

Alhaitham didn’t see any more tears, but Kaveh still rubbed his eyes as if more were about to fall. “First things first; we get rid of that mechanical god. Then, maybe Nahida can help us with Irminsul. If she can, then great, but if not…” He trailed off, and Alhaitham wondered what he would say or do if they couldn’t. With this new information, maybe he didn’t think it was worth it to travel  across Teyvat anymore. Kaveh sighed, but he didn’t give up. “Will you join me?”

It was hard to know exactly what he was asking with that question, but it didn’t matter to Alhaitham. He would join him to Irminsul, to the following nation of Fontaine, or to some other world if he wanted to. If Alhaitham was somehow involved in this grand, overarching plan, then he would fulfill his purpose. “Kaveh, I entered this world because I wanted you to get a happy ending that you deserve. I’ll join you anywhere you’ll allow me.”

Wording it as bluntly as that must’ve finally made Kaveh realize the weight of Alhaitham’s reality. Alhaitham still didn’t know how it happened—and he may never know how he was able to do it—but he did, and he was able to finally do something to actually help Kaveh. He was brought into this world for Kaveh. At first, he thought it was just to help him and continue the story, but then a romantic relationship somehow bloomed from it. The tears stopped, yet Kaveh’s eyes were still glassy until that confession. Now, he was staring at him with wide eyes and a subtle blush.

As if embarrassed by himself, Kaveh lowered his head again and caught sight of the once forgotten phone. He picked it up and looked it over, and even though it was just as useless as it had ever been, Alhaitham was thankful that the screen didn’t crack anywhere. “I… was going to travel…” 

He finally said his reasoning as he gave Alhaitham his phone back. Out of habit, Alhaitham tried to see if it would turn on again, but when he was faced with the familiar black screen, he decided to just place it on the desk behind him to be just as forgotten as usual. 

Kaveh was sitting on the edge of his bed when he turned around again. He was leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. Alhaitham moved to join him, and once he was right by his side, Kaveh continued, “It wouldn't take long, and if Nahida contacted you in any way, I could come back quickly, but… I was going to record the world I knew to show you what really happened… I just—“

Alhaitham quietly listened to what he was going to say, but nothing followed after he cut himself off. He said he was going to do this for Alhaitham, and he did truly believe him, but he knew he would partially be doing it for himself as well. Whether it was to confirm with himself what happened or to find the parallels, he didn’t know. 

Kaveh started to speak again, whatever thought he had previously left incomplete. “Maybe Dvalin ate some hilichurls, but there weren’t any reports of him directly attacking people.…” He mumbled, voice low. “Zhongli didn’t save me from the Millelith. Baizhu did. His companion, Changsheng, had a contract with Rex Lapis. You know these people, right?” 

Alhaitham nodded. Baizhu, along with the snake Changsheng, fell into the same category as Collei did: a purpose served and a character forgotten. Apparently, he had much more lore in this world. 

Kaveh gave a listless hum. “The war in Inazuma was grueling, but not everyone close to me died. It was only… Teppei… Koutoku… Yoshihisa… and Mehrak.” His voice dipped lower and lower as he remembered each death. “I guess if you want to get technical, Mehrak died protecting me from the Muso No Hitotachi attack instead of in the middle of the battlefield… must’ve been fate, huh.”

The venom in his voice felt directed at a lot of things. 

Finally, Kaveh flopped back against the bed to stare up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. Their legs were only a few inches apart, and yet he felt so distant. He looked like a shell of himself, hollow from where he was barely floating above the sheet covering his mattress. With how vulnerable he looked, Alhaitham wondered if he would fall apart just from shifting the mattress when he lay down next to him.

It almost stopped him from moving at all.

Yet Kaveh didn’t react at all when Alhaitham lay down next to him. He looked over at him since he always saw the answers in Kaveh.

“...Do you know those people?” Kaveh asked after a moment. He wasn’t looking at him.

“I know Mehrak.” She was too important to Kaveh to not be mentioned, but those other people sounded just as important, and as far as Alhaitham could remember, they weren’t mentioned at all. 

Kaveh’s lips twitched, his vacant expression slowly turning into a frown. “Huffman, Stanley, Fugui, Liben, Chizuru, Tsumi… Do any of those names sound familiar?”

He knew the answer he wanted. Like others, it was one he couldn’t give. “...No…”

Kaveh held his mouth in a thin line, his body tense. He couldn’t break anymore after everything Alhaitham threw at him. This was just another puncture wound that would bleed him out of all his compassion. “I guess they weren’t important enough.”

Alhaitham didn’t remain next to his side for long. He was sitting up again because he wanted Kaveh to look at him, even if it was just out of the corner of his field of view. “They’re important to you.” He started, yet such a bold statement didn’t even make Kaveh blink. “That holds more weight than being written in some book in an alternative timeline than what you’ve experienced.” Finally, Kaveh looked over at him to show he was intently listening. It made Alhaitham not want to stop, yet he made sure to choose his words carefully. “And if we see their memories in Irminsul, we’ll know that they were just as important to this world too.”

If his words moved Kaveh, he didn’t make it as obvious this time as he did with his previous confession. He still simply stared at him, his eyes almost piercing and running through him in the way his next sentence did. “Would your memories be there?”

If he asked the question in relation to the both of them, Alhaitham might’ve been able to cobble up an answer based on what he read and expanded his own theories, but he didn’t. He only cared if Alhaitham’s thumbprint on this world would be highlighted in Irminsul, and that left him stumped. “My… who I replaced, yes, but…” He didn’t know enough.

Kaveh didn’t say anything else after that. The fight, the anger, the sorrow—all of it was out of his system now. He stayed staring up at the ceiling, and at some point, Alhaitham looked up too in order to see what he was missing. Kaveh kept his hands to himself, and Alhaitham did as well.

The silence wasn’t comfortable, yet Alhaitham wasn’t sure if he was allowed to break it. It was hard to say if Kaveh was content listlessly staring at the ceiling, but outside of his shallow breathing, he didn’t move at all. Alhaitham wasn’t sure how long they stayed there, but knowing that Kaveh was suffering right next to him made that familiar need to do something come back.

Alhaitham moved just to try to get more comfortable, yet doing so made Kaveh’s weight unintentionally shift closer to him. Kaveh sat up before Alhaitham could do anything more. 

“I…” He started, but he didn't finish the sentence as he stood up. He adjusted the way his clothes rested on his body, mindless and monotonous and ignoring Alhaitham standing next to him. “I’m stepping out for a bit.” He finally said after fixing a red clip that was loose. “I’ll be back in the morning. I just… need a moment.”

Alhaitham knew he shouldn’t press, but he wanted to. He wanted to gather him up in his arms again, expose himself more so that he knew Kaveh would be able to get what he wanted, that everything would be alright however Kaveh wanted to define that word for him now… but he couldn’t. For this, he had to trust that he would be back in the morning and let him go. “Okay.”

He tried to keep his voice level and neutral, a solid foundation for Kaveh to fall back on after he came back from his sudden soul-searching, but he faltered. Some of his own helplessness slipped through, and that made Kaveh’s face soften just a bit. “Can I borrow that sleep shirt again?”

It took a second for Alhaitham to figure out that was what he was calling his old hoodie. If that was the type of comfort Kaveh wanted, Alhaitham wouldn’t deny him. It was small, but it looked like the concept of a hoodie needed to be added to the list of things he missed from his original world—right after the internet and body pillows. At least he could do this for him, and now, after easily finding it again, he handed it over to Kaveh. 

Kaveh didn’t hesitate pulling it on and had to readjust the pin he previously fixed in the process. He fidgeted with the hood that led into the curved neckline, looking stuck between wanting to adjust it over his red cape better or pull it closer to his face. He settled on leaving it where it was. Finally ready, he made his way out of the bedroom, and soon, Alhaitham found them next to his front door. Kaveh stopped then, but he didn’t let himself out just yet. He turned and looked up at Alhaitham. “I get why you were so mysterious now on certain things, for what it’s worth.” He tacked the last part on at the end in a rush, as if he was even remotely worried about himself in the situation outside of his inability to not provide enough.

“I’m sorry,” the apology bubbled out of him anyway. Kaveh blinked at him, as if he didn’t expect him to do so, “that I couldn’t be honest from the beginning.”

Apologizing now felt both needed and useless. He had his reason for keeping certain things a secret until he had the trust and evidence to show part of his hand, but that wandering thought of what would happen if he let everything spill from the beginning never strayed far from the back of his mind. 

Kaveh said he understood why he did the things he did, not that he agreed with them. It was evident in the strained expression that he briefly gave Alhaitham before he turned and left without another word.

Alhaitham didn’t stay standing in his entryway and staring at his closed door. Instead, he turned around, retraced his steps, and found himself back in his bedroom. No, he wouldn’t stare at his front door, lost and confused on what he could do, despite knowing that the answer was absolutely nothing. That gaze was for his bed.

There were a lot of things he wished for at this moment, yet he didn’t ask for any of them outside of hoping that Kaveh found what he was looking for and that he would truly be back in the morning. He wasn’t leaving the nation if he truly would be back by then, but the nation was huge—he could be finding some oasis in the desert to decompress at.

Alhaitham wouldn’t weigh Kaveh down if he wanted to fly, but he wished he held him a little tighter before he let him go.

For someone who so confidently said he came to this world to make him happy, Alhaitham felt like he was making lots of mistakes and walking away with many regrets instead.

He found his phone again after a few moments standing in the middle of the room like a man possessed. It didn’t turn on again in his hands, and something so small offered him a little bit of solace. It would’ve been a cruel trick of fate if it turned on now after Kaveh left him. This world was so similar, yet still so different from what he knew. He couldn’t help but wonder what Kaveh would report back with if he got to record his experiences like he wanted. 

Any other day, he would’ve jumped at the opportunity. He would’ve gotten ahead of himself and tried to imagine the timeline as he waited for Kaveh to return with his evidence. And when he saw everything, his beloved fan theories would grow and grow with all the new findings. Now, he couldn’t care less.

He only wanted to help Kaveh.

~!~

Alhaitham did what he could to keep himself busy and his mind occupied, but his thoughts always wandered back to Kaveh.

He tried experimenting with his Vision some more. He didn’t attempt to create wispy vines, geometric shapes, or a single leaf, but he did try to at least store his weapon in the thing. He wasn’t sure if there was some sort of study guide on this topic, but that felt like one of the first lessons in Vision usage. It took him longer than he was willing to admit, but finally, his sword disappeared in a flurry of sparkles and was presumably inside the Vision. What a weird concept.

It took a few more hours to confirm it was inside there as he was finally able to manifest it in his hands again. At least he didn’t lose it. 

After some time, he was able to summon and put away his weapon semi-consistently, but it didn’t take him long to grow restless with the task. He wasn’t stuck here, as much as he wanted to sit around and wait for Kaveh to come back. He mentally argued with himself over staying at home or wandering about, but in the end, he gave himself a semblance of productivity by trying to find an open area to train in. He told Kaveh he knew some areas—might as well try to show he was telling the truth with that. Alhaitham stored his weapon in his Vision and left his home. 

The plan was to find some place out of the way that someone simply passing by on the trails wouldn’t get hit by any uncontrolled Dendro attacks he may or may not send out—depending on how successful training was anyway. He wanted to find an open space that was free from any lingering hillichurls or aggressive fungi. Being able to apply what he learned right away to those monsters might be good practice, but he would either be helpful, be a burden, or worse, be just a physical attacker.

Alhaitham had some vague ideas in mind from the open fields he had seen as he went about his now-mistreated student activities, but he didn’t get the chance to scout any of those out to see if they were fitting enough because he saw something else.

A trail of clovers cut through the middle of the stone path. People were walking through them, completely unaware or unbothered by the pure elemental energy that was just under their feet. His phone actually turning on once Kaveh left wasn't the cruel joke; it was Nahida making her presence known after the hero of this world went off to do what he needed to for himself. As much as he wanted to do everything in his power to find him, he didn’t even make an attempt. Alhaitham followed the trail.

People were wandering the streets around him, and yet, they were more interested in looking at him oddly instead of the trail of clovers that populated the path. Alhaitham made sure he didn’t unintentionally bump into anyone, but the way he kept his head down to follow the trail left him looking like a spectacle. Ahead of him, the trail faded and blended into the bright light of the city’s streets, but it still led him along.

Even when the trail turned into dirt and grass, Alhaitham didn’t stop. He couldn’t, not when this was finally a sign. Sumeru City was left behind him, and now, he found himself in the exact same spot he did when he originally walked into this world. He only stopped when the trail of clovers did, leading right to Nahida accompanied by Arama, two other aranaras, and another floating creature that Alhaitham knew wasn’t described in the book.

Nothing was said as Alhaitham stared down at Nahida and Nahida looked back at him. She looked confused, not by the tense staredown, but by something else. “Where is Kaveh?”

He couldn’t get mad at her. It wasn’t her fault that the timing turned out like this, especially when it felt obvious it wasn’t intentional, but it took a lot of willpower to not let out a humorless laugh. If there was anyone to blame, then maybe he should blame himself. “I don’t know.”

There were many times in his journey that he felt helpless, yet he never felt as low and useless as he did now. After being missing for days after her rescue, here was the archon they were trying to save, yet the meeting between her and the hero was postponed yet again. He wanted to fall to his knees and ask her why now, why couldn’t she be just a few hours sooner, yet he kept his legs locked and his mouth in a straight line. 

Nahida put her finger to her chin in thought for a few moments, but before Alhaitham had the chance to ask her anything, she spoke up. “Azar and his team have been working hard trying to implement that false god as soon as possible,” she said, but she didn’t sound scared or worried. Instead, she sounded determined to beat them to the punch, “but we’ve been working even harder.” 

The strange creature floated closer to Alhaitham, but he kept his hands to himself. It looked like it was made of the same leafy flesh as the Aranaras, but the lack of any distinct features outside of stumpy legs and possibly bunny-like ears made him question if it was sentient.

“This is a Neo Akasha Terminal. It should help you to take down that mechanical god. Lately, they’ve been calling it the Shouki no Kami.” Nahida said with full confidence that they both would be able to do it together, not just Kaveh and his own skills. There was a small pause, and Alhaitham waited for her to explain the how, but it didn’t come. “Have you gotten used to your Vision yet?”

Alhaitham still watched the Neo Akasha Terminal. It proved on its own that it had some level of sentience as it floated downward to nudge his hand. He gave it and tried to give its head a pat without touching the Vision-like gem on the front, only able to assume that was something akin to its face. “Not as smoothly as I need it to be.” He could only hope he could be competent enough to fight a god soon, artificial or not. “Do you know when they’re going to attack?”

Even now, when Alhaitham could only give a truthful yet demoralizing answer, Nahida didn’t seem swayed at all. “I see…” She trailed off, not in disappointment, but to think up some sort of plan. It came quickly to her, as expected of the Archon of Wisdom, and she clapped her hands together with a gentle smile. “Do you trust me?”

He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Always.”

“Then wake up.”