Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Grove of Epiphany is the nickname for Sumeru Academy, which had recently undergone a massive crisis that has since been solved. The release of their goddess hasn't gone unnoticed, nor have the mini-revolution, coup, or whatever, and the subsequent exile and promotion, respectively, of a lot of people.

Scribe Alhaitham became the (temporary) Grand Sage after Azar was ousted as a traitor and exiled, several sages got busted too, and others got reinstated after some bullshittery before the coup and a bunch more. And Grand Sage Alhaitham's younger brother, Anaxagoras, was also reinstated as the sage of the Nousporists after he had been demoted by the previous grand sage and accomplices and had to take a leave because he wasn't doing too great health-wise. Renowned doctor Su Kaslana (né Bodhisattva) had insisted that his youngest son take medical leave, which actually separated the alchemist from whatever bullshit went down.

No one can argue nepotism with the reinstatement, because Sage Anaxagoras had been a capable sage before, if somewhat mentally unstable.

All in all, a big fucking mess, but things came to normalcy in time before the new students would arrive. Which also led to a peculiar situation. One Phainon of the Aedes Elysian orphanage, who landed in the Nousporist Darshan, taught by Sage Anaxagoras.

Anaxagoras was not ashamed to say that he ditched the opening ceremony as a whole to quickly make his way to the House of Daena and to the elevator that led to the office of the Grand Sage.

Storming to the desk, all the while cussing internally about the fact that this office is too large for comfort, Anaxagoras came face to face with his elder brother Alhaitham, who had also opted to skip the ceremony.

"Brother, we've got an issue." Was the first thing out of the alchemist's mouth, causing the scribe in question to look up from his book with annoyance.

"What is it now? Weren't you supposed to be at the ceremony?" Came snapped back from Alhaitham, which earned him a slight 'pot calling the kettle black' from Anaxagoras before any response came.

"Do you think it is possible that father cheated on dad?"

The reputation of (temporary) Grand Sage Alhaitham is less than stellar, and rumors had already begun floating around near the new students. Same with Sage Anaxagoras. Both Kaslana siblings allegedly had a foul temper, a screw or two loose, and are scary as fuck. At least according to senior students.

Needless to say, many new students were reluctant to take classes that Sage Anaxagoras teaches, and they also hoped to not come face to face with the new Grand Sage either.

Phainon really didn't understand what all the fuss was about; he had seen that so-feared Sage at the ceremony with the other sages. He didn't look so bad! Green hair, an eye patch that looked real cool, and a mesmerizing colored star on the chest. Phainon isn't sure what it was that gave that star, that accessory, that shifting color, but it looked gorgeous!

A light smack got his back to reality, though.

"Ey, Deliverer. You still with us?" Mydei, one of the two other new students that Phainon immediately befriended, asked. A bit rough around the edges but a good guy, or at least that Phainon is sure of.

From Mydei's perspective, he was just taking care of that incredibly naive younger teen he had picked up like an abandoned puppy and couldn't get rid of, in less than 2 hours no less, that had been staring starry-eyed at one of the sages on stage.

"Huh? Ah, yeah, yeah. 'm still present." Said puppy replied, scratching the back of his neck. "I was just ... uh ... admiring our new teachers, is all."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Mydei just went ahead and smacked the white-haired teen one more time. "Don't go and stare at one of the sages, particularly not one you are dead set on taking the classes of."

"Mh? Sage Anaxagoras just left the stage." Castorice chimed in with her remark, having been the only one of the three to pay attention to the stage where some regulations and rules were currently being read. She, too, had somehow found herself in this little group of friends, having been enthusiastically approached by an excited Phainon earlier, with a semi-bewildered Mydei trailing after this Samoyed of a boy.

"Huh? What? Why!?" Said Samoyed definitely did not whine; nope, Phainon refused to admit that. "Seriously, you might have creeped him out." And Mydei definitely did not hiss; nope, he didn't.

To Castorice, the two just looked like an excited pup and a peeved kitten.

Just as Phainon was about to reply to his friend, a commotion was caused, and students, new and old, parted ways when two figures made their way through. One of which having been the object of Phainon's adoration from the get-go, some odd sort of puppy love, it had to be.

The reputation of the Kaslana family is incredibly convoluted at the very best, mainly because it is a huge family. But relevant for the academy are mostly Alhaitham Kaslana and Anaxagoras Kaslana, and both are quite feared by the entire Academy.

Alhaitham often makes people cry, not limited to students, by the sheer fact that he is incredibly elusive and is gone the moment the clock hits 5 p.m. Especially graduate students dreaded having to go and get a signature from the older Kaslana brother, even when he was still the scribe and not the Grand Sage, since finding him after a certain hour was impossible. More than one student or teacher has wept when the scribe was gone the moment it turned 5 p.m., and the unfortunate soul had been there one minute later.

Anaxagoras, on the other hand, is way too long at the academy. Often staying whole weeks, holed up in his own lab doing something that people don't dare to try and figure out. One time a poor soul had tried to reach the sage in his lab and was treated to an explosion with a dromas involved, and the sage in question laughing maniacally. No wonder rumors had spread that Anaxagoras was batshit insane, which may or may not be true.

Not that anyone from the Kaslana Family is completely sane, as far as anyone can tell.

So when the two of them were moving anywhere, people tended to part ways, especially if they were together with a singular goal. And the two halted in front of three new students.

Stunned silence from Phainon, Castorice and Mydei was what perminated through the quiet room.

"Student ID, now." Grand Sage Alhaitham demanded, not all too kind, from the still very much shocked Phainon. And Phainon handed the ID over, starring somewhat in awe at the now two superiors of this academy.

"Phainon Elysium. Your Darshan, Anaxa."

Anaxagoras threw his brother a exasperated look at the blunt tone. Not that he himself was a lot better but hey, it is a matter of principle.

And with that, the two vanished again after giving Phainon his ID back.

"What?" One stunned kitten of a teen said what quite a few people seemed to think.

Chapter Text

Su wasn't entirely sure why Kevin was sulking now. No, scratch that, he did know why. Their two children were being unusually cold to Kevin. Not towards Su, though, oddly enough.

Su was feeling a headache coming. He had worked hard to get where he was.

Building a life in Sumeru after … after everything he and Kevin had to go through was a ride for certain. Hiding out for a while in a repurposed old ruin underground in the desert, an ancient ruin of King Deshret, before being able to gather themselves to enter Sumeru City without being arrested for identity fraud or something. They had to forge a pair of identities for themselves, after all. There Su managed to become a proper certified doctor while Kevin got into the Matra for a brief time before pursuing adventuring.

Granted, there has been an Alhaitham shaped mishap? in the middle of that process of building a home, that came during some sort of odd period where Su and Kevin got lonely with their long lifespans and wanted company. Two men typically can't have kids the biological way, so what did those two knuckleheads do? Used the defunct tech from the King Deshret ruins that could be salvaged and created themselves an always learning creation and named it AKASH. An automaton, for all intents and purposes.

Miracle number two followed years afterwards, this time from a more alchemical direction. During their first child's creation, Kevin had a higher influence in construction and programming, but during the second's 'birth' Su took the reins with his better view on the more sciency stuff.

The varying ways of being brought into the world also had a side effect or several. This isn't a normal family in the slightest. Alhaitham, or now he calls himself as such, never had a traditional childhood. He was constructed with a teenager height body and has the core program of never stopping to learn. Observe, learn and imitate. He held multiple names over his lifespan, multiple identities and faces. Anaxagoras did have a childhood, being born from a lab bottle under Su's gentle hands as a small infant, and eventually grew old enough to enter the academy.

And Su wouldn't have wanted it any other way. His first child learned and learned until he learned how to feel the closest thing to humanity in his core program. His second child followed the proud path of a genius that has rocked the academy for multiple reasons, groundbreaking experiments and several explosions not excluded.

Kevin was proud of them too, naturally. Proud of his kids and his husband (legally and officially married with ceremony this time around) for building a life out of nothing. After everything Dottore put them through.

Which made it really hit hard when both his kids began to be snippier with him than typical. Colder even, and Mr. Popcycle himself would know about cold.

There were sharper comments, less frequent visits, and side-eyes when their children had been sure their parents didn't notice. An odd assumption to make, given that one parent involved was Su.

And Kevin, being Kevin, of course hadn't sought to confront them about it and just sulked in silence. Now what to do with a sulking Samoyed of a man?

The Fatui hadn't bothered to look into the family of the current Acting Grand Sage too much. It wasn't a point of interest. However, Harbinger No. 2 Il Dottore has ordered to take a closer look at Kevin Kaslana and Su Kaslana (né Bodhisattva) in specific. Anaxagoras Kaslana wasn't a high priority as of now.

“How interesting. I hadn't thought I'd ever find those two again. #1 and #2, have you had a good time in Sumeru?”

Alhaitham had just clocked out and was on his way home when his sensors went off. Su had tried to teach him to call it 'senses', just to think a bit more in human terms, but in essence these abilities are still highly calibrated and sensitive sensors. 

No matter. Right now he had different issues to worry about. Spies weren't easy to spot by human senses, typically if they were competent enough, but Alhaitham isn't a human to begin with.

Entity detected. Intentions unknown. Further Investigation required.

So Alhaitham let them be for now, left them to shadow him in peace, and went home on a route he knew someone would be walking too.

Entity detected. Entity identified: Creator Unit S.B.

With the night making this particular route pretty dead, Alhaitham dropped the unaware act, and his summoned sword quickly sliced through a firearm the agent had.

“Withdraw!!” The apparent leader tried to order but was stopped dead in their tracks when catching sight of something that appeared behind their target, Grand Sage Alhaitham. It looked like a bunch of glowing eyes in the dark, a pretty fuchsia color glowing in what looked nearly enchanting.

Release of concentrated Miasma detected. Threat level to system AKASH: 0.0001 percent.

Miasma in itself isn't too harmful to humans, but concentrated miasma is a whole different beast. And currently a greenish mist of it was gathering in the area.

“Shhh…just go to sleep.” A soothing voice, calm and serene as a still lake, hushed. And what the leader saw was quite literally the worst-case scenario their supervisor had warned about. Experiment #2, psychic beast with the codename 'BODHI', was encountered, and it was quite pissed off.

How can a monster like this look so gorgeous?

It didn't take long for everyone save for 'BODHI' and Grand Sage Alhaitham to pass out.

Anaxagoras also had some issues to deal with. His new students, while clearly bright minds, were pretty damn stupid regardless, or so it appeared to Anaxagoras. Mydeimos had troubles with mathematics and couldn't solve an equation if his life depended on it, Castorice struggled in debates, and Phainon was just … Phainon. A bit like a puppy. Well-meaning but a bit too clumsy in everything.

No matter, this is what the teacher is for. To teach those children sometthing they lack. Anaxagoras had to mentally sigh. This is the job, unfortunately. He would have remained a researcher, but that would have meant fewer resources at his disposal than a sage does.

The will to learn is there; I can work with that.

Anaxagoras was about to continue this impromptu lesson on debating that Phainon had prompted by being insistent on a late lesson when his eye acted up. The hollow eye socket holds an alchemical replacement, and if the thing acts up, something is going on that the normal eye cannot see.

“… Professor? Is everything alright?” Castorice inquired, having picked up on their professor tensing up.

“Huh? Is everything okay?” Phainon also asked, tilting his head slightly. Mydei also perked up, though he didn't say anything.

“…you three, hide under my desk for a minute, yeah?” Anaxagoras requested, sounding somewhat absent as he 'looked' for intruders he was sure his other eye had detected.

Since he had given no further instructions, the three students were a bit puzzled by the odd request but complied nonetheless when sensing the hair-raising feeling they hadn't yet gotten familiar with. The feeling belonged to their professor's other eye being open and watching.

However, due to Castorice's constitution, Phainon opted to go for the closet that was standing in a corner of the classroom instead. Mydei and Castorice had enough space under the desk to not touch one another.

“…well well well, we got some cheeky little pests.” Was what the three heard their professor say while he was clicking his tongue.  The sounds suggested that the sage actually chucked a vial of something at something, which promptly went boom and caused several unknown people to cough and cuss colorfully in what Mydei could identify as Snezhnayan. He had taken a course or two in Haravatat as a bit of a sneak peek at different Darshans.

When Phainon peeked out the closet, he saw how their teacher was curiously observing the slimy mess of people and experimental reagents that had spawned in the middle of the now quite chaotic classroom with intrest and was making notes.

“So this new reagent does create a sophoric substance that knocks out on contact. Maybe I should inform Naphis; this has some potential applications for medicine even!” Anaxagoras muttered, seemingly very much elated in spite of what Mydeimos could later recognize as an assassination or sabotage attempt.

“Professor?” Phainon catiously spoke up, somewhat spooked by what seemingly went down but more ccurious about what their teacher did.

“Oh, you three. Back to your dormatories. The Matra will have some work here.” Anaxagoras instead instructed, though with quite a bit elan.

Their school career is going to be memorable for sure with this sage.

Chapter Text

Fatuus, of course. It just had to be some.

Su hadn't wanted them anywhere near his family, never again until the sun burned out. The Harbingers, while he admittedly has only met a limited number of them, always meant nothing but trouble. The Jester, the Fair Lady, the Knave. And last, and definitely least, the Doctor.

All of whom made Kevin and Su who they were, the Doctor especially so. Il Dottore. A vile man, anything between cruel and brutal. Oh, Su hated the fact that he used to work with such a monster. How he loathed the mere memories.

A frozen wasteland in the heart of Snezhnaya, a lab in the glacier, the screams, a daring escape. Memories all left to drift in the vast mind of the Enlightened One. They should have been no more than mere blinks in the mind of the Enlightened Sage, no more than drifting thoughts about a past in one of the many worldlines. But it was a memory of the worldline Su decided to live in, where he decided to have a home and family, unnatural as this family may be, and as such they matter a bit more than other worldlines Su spectated and, in some instances, lived in briefly. 

Modified humans were a daring idea already. Su of this worldline had known that but had been willing to try and turn that idea to good. Learning how to cure incurable diseases through modifications, replace entire organs and limbs, and whatnot seamlessly and without leaving restrictions. It had potential, but even when that was archived, Dottore wanted more. Better, faster, and stronger humans, more and more. 

"Until we rival the gods!" Many who had worked on the project with passion had proclaimed. But Su hadn't. Was it not enough to use the gained knowledge for the betterment of the people, of Teyvat's humanity as a whole? Wasn't it enough to be able to bring back people from the brink of death? Modified humans, as was proposed, were designated weapons of war, and war only brings more pain and suffering. Had it also not been such folly that led the divine to retaliate during the cataclysm? Tampering with mankind's very essence?

Without definitive proof that playing with life, death, and nature would be able to topple these indifferent gods above the sky, Su hadn't been willing to continue the project. Stalling was the only thing he managed to do for a long time, unable to leave without pursuers due to the valuable information and research he held. Seeing the pain and suffering of those that were the results of these extreme modifications had been hell on earth for a doctor who vowed to save lives. These hands, which used to do good, were stained with the blood of many. It had been showing kindness to these suffering souls that got him thrown into the same position.

“If you sympathize with these subjects so much, Assistant Doctor, then why don't you join them?” The callous voice of the segment of Dottore that had been present had mocked, having successful subjects that were employed for facility security detain his, now, former assistant.

Contrary to expectations, the less fit and smaller Su survived the experiments and gained volatile abilities that caught the interest of the Doctor even more than before.

And one of the few other successful subjects that had caught the attention of the Harbinger happened to have been someone who developed extreme cryo abilities.

The past was something that could very rarely be changed. But now it was catching up at an alarming rate, and it dragged their entire family into this. Anaxa sent a quick notification to Alhaitham why he wasn't able to make it for dinner. The reason being Fatui saboteurs that tried to spy on his lesson with his students, and Alhaitham had a brush with the Fatui too. Though, in the android's case, it was probably less due to his connection with Su and Kevin and more due to his involvement with the fiasco surrounding the former grand sage.

It still hadn't failed to raise the hackles of the couple, their children were now the ones at risk after all. The same children they created and raised from scratch, it was difficult to teach an AI how a human is usually acting given how different humans genuinely could be, and loved with all their heart.

"Na'er will not have time today to come over. Issues at the academia, which I will have on my desk by tomorrow too." Alhaitham spoke up from where he was sitting on the couch with a book. A habit he had developed a while ago, despite this book being already in full in his memory storage.

"Issues?" Came from Kevin, who was just as, if not more, stressed than his partner Su about what was going on.

"Issues." And apparently Alhaitham wasn't willing to elaborate.

With a sigh, Su then broke off the ensuing stare contest between one stubborn Samoyed and an equally stubborn android. "Alright, stop it, both of you. This is something too small to get upset about in the evening."

"Agreed."

"No, I think this is perfectly fine to get upset about."

"Oh, do you now?" (-_-")

"You did not just smack one of your emotes into a conversation with me. What's next? Beeping at me?"

"Beep boop."

Su could feel another headache coming, a very big one at that.

The Academia was incredibly busy again. It certainly didn't go unnoticed that Fatui had infiltrated the classroom of one of the Academia's sages. Rumors were spreading fast, names were thrown around wildly, and one would think someone was feeding the rumors for the hell of it. Besides, nonsense was thrown in here and there for the hell of it too.

Someone claimed to have seen a will-o'-the-wisp in the House of Daena, something about blue flames flickering around before quickly vanishing, while someone else spread the word that Lady Goldweaver was allegedly sighted at Kalimi Exchange. Nonsense, all of it, in Mydei's eyes.

But of course, one much too friendly pup called Phainon believed maybe a little bit too much of these weird rumors.

"Isn't Lady Goldweaver a famous designer from Fontaine? I saw her dresses in one of these magazines from the Steambird!"

Yep, definitely believed too much here.

"Mh, yes. Lady Goldweaver is pretty famous over in Fontaine and also popular in Inazuma, before the Vision Hunt decree." And now Castorice also added her commentary; she was pretty interested in the fashion side of things. "Her style has an elegance that made it an eye-catcher, but not many can afford to buy an authentic Goldweaver item. Even fewer can afford a full outfit."

"She is pretty popular, but why would she be in Sumeru?" Mydei now questioned, at least trying to reason away this particular rumor before Phainon could get more excited about it.

"Rumors have it that she was seen arguing with Professor Anaxa." Castorice replied instead, and Mydei hadn't expected her to be one for rumors.

"With Prof Anaxa? Why would that be the case?" Phainon questioned, tilting his head slightly with big eyes. Mydei could swear this teen is a Samoyed in disguise or something, because why else would he be so cute?! (The closet is made of glass at this point.)

Meanwhile at Kalimi Exchange

"No."

"Yes."

"I said no. The Fatui is our issue at the moment; we can't handle the Abyss at the same time!"

"We have to do something, and unfortunately we'll need you and your family to cover Sumeru's main weak points, Anaxa."

"We? Did you even talk this through with the others?!"

"Yes, in fact, Kyryll should be on his way to talk to your sibling."

"So you dragged our friendly fire wisp into this. Can you sink any lower, woman? Kyryll has better things to do than to get dragged into your things."

"Anything related to the Abyss is his issue. Nod Krai is ground zero for the Abyss after all."

Yes, this was about the conversation between two people who supposedly couldn't stand each other and yet have to keep cooperating for the greater good.

Once, many years ago, their relationship had been much better. Before the Weaver of Gold lost much of her humanity to a deal with a nymph, before the Demised Scholar peered into the Depths of the World at the cost of his eye, they were just Aglaea and Anaxagoras. A young couple amid the aftermath of the cataclysm. Still young and idealistic.

With their comrades around the nations, they fought tooth and nail against various threats; each nation had their own. Time moved forwards, and after enough of it, many of their comrades had moved on. Others did not; Aglaea and Anaxa, alongside Alhaitham, are three of those who fought in unison all those years ago.

Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins was another. The fey had been around for a bunch of time before ever encountering the makeshift alliance of fighters that made up the main culling of the worst Abyss outbreaks, or dead archon residue.

Meanwhile, in the House of Daena

"Let me guess, Weaver asked you to come here while she goes to catch Na'er before he departs for his sample gathering?" Alhaitham questioned casually as his sensors picked up a familiar signal and sighted one out-of-place lantern that glowed blue.

"Ah, she did not, in fact. I came here on my own, but I can't stay for long." The lantern replied before the fire wisp inside emerged into the shape of a human. "Good to see you again. Alhaitham is the name you go by now?" Flins continued, straightening out his outfit. It lacked his usual thick overcoat and was replaced by a simple black jacket. More fit for warmer climates than the winter coat the Ratniki usually have in their uniforms.

"That is correct, so you may address me as such. What can I do for you this afternoon?" Alhaitham replied, looking up from the book he scanned a while ago to look at Flins. Being rude to a fae is never a good idea, even though Flins could be considered mild in demeanor when compared to his kin.

"I won't keep you long. I just have to ask, have you dealt well with the recent turmoil the Fatui had caused here?"

"As well as we could, we are short-staffed to hell and back with the exile of multiple sages. In fact, more sages were exiled than stayed."

"I heard only rumors about the whole event; I am glad you and your family got out of it relatively unscathed."

"It was an interesting experience for sure. I am thankful that Na'er was with our parents at the time and not anywhere near the initial fallout." Alhaitham sighed, shaking his head. Just thinking that his younger sibling could have been caught up in the machinations of the sages and Fatui gave Alhaitham a feeling he hadn't thought he could feel in the first place.

"Are you, after all this time, still cautious about saying true names to me?" Flins questioned after a beat, seeming slightly disappointed but otherwise not too upset. It has been centuries since they first teamed up in a group, but they were still on a nickname basis.

Alhaitham, meanwhile, blinked blankly at the fae before him. "I have enough data to suggest that giving you true names is asking for trouble. No offense meant, but our association is purely business, and I'd rather keep it that way." He told frankly.

"No offense taken; it is a fair point after all. Business has to stay business. Now, for the reason why I came here:

Il Dottore has continued researching into the depths of the abyss. We need the help of you and your family."