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.