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Who did this to you?
The question was so simple, so easy to answer. Yet, the implications of it carried so much weight, he wasn’t sure he could.
Kaveh could just tell Al-Haitham about his senior officer punching him in the face after another failed deadline for the Kshahrewar. He could tell Al-Haitham that his senior officer threatened him, that the reason he came home early with a black eye was because his senior officer lost his patience with him. He could tell Al-Haitham that he was terrified of his senior officer, and that the reason he stayed up so late working to meet impossible deadlines was because he was afraid of what he could do to him.
Kaveh could end the abuse right there. He could tell Al-Haitham.
But he can’t. He can’t risk losing face in the Kshahrewar. The Palace of Alcazarzaray was his crowning achievement, but his senior officer has so much more respect and reputation than him. More people would be inclined to believe him over Kaveh, who was still relatively young and had a polarizing personality.
So all he could do was shake his head and use his words to defend himself, “It’s not as bad as it looks-”
He was caught off guard by Al-Haitham grabbing him under the chin and turning his face towards him and repeating, “Kaveh. Who did this?” This time, Al-Haitham looked much angrier. Kaveh could swear that Al-Haitham’s usual green eyes were turning a shade of scarlet as he eyed his roommate’s painful injury.
It was…touching. Kaveh’s lip quivered, his eyes still locked on Al-Haitham’s. He wanted to cry, he really did. Al-Haitham wasn’t the caring type, so this much concern from him was unprecedented.
“I-I can’t say. I…need my job.” Kaveh knew that Al-Haitham was smart enough to know who he was referring to without saying his name aloud. Kaveh was afraid that saying his senior’s name would have him sobbing. He was so scared of any repercussions that he dared not say it,
With a grunt, the other let him go and stepped away, “I’ll get you some ice for that mark.” Kaveh watched him go to their kitchen. Al-Haitham was smart enough to realize that this wasn’t the first time Kaveh came home injured, he was just better at hiding it before. Al-Haitham could have written those past injuries off as bar fights or one night stands, at least Kaveh hoped he could. Today was different, Kaveh had no time to prepare as his senior officer screamed and punched him in the face with no time to react and block. He had been knocked over into a stack of books, but that pain barely registered compared to his eye injury.
Kaveh snapped out of his trance as he felt a coldness pressed to his face. Al-Haitham was sitting beside him and holding an ice pack to his face, not saying anything and just watching him patiently. Looking at his normally uncaring roommate, Kaveh could no longer hold back the tears he had hidden away for a long time. He cried loudly without restraint as Al-Haitham stayed beside him, silent holding the ice pack.
~~~~~~
Kaveh returned to the Akademiya after a few days. His eye healed up well and he had another project to finish. He rarely worked at home anymore, not wanting to bother his roommate with the noise. Kaveh was supposed to be working on alone in his senior’s office, building a model of a future addition to the Sanctuary of Surasthana for Lord Kusanali.
Of course, his calm was shattered when his senior decided to drop by and check on Kaveh’s progress. He watched silently, pacing around Kaveh like an wild animal that could attack him at any moment. Kaveh knew internally that any progress he had made thus far would be seen as inadequate and that the other would berate him for his failure to meet his expectations. If he was exceptionally angry, his senior would raise his hand against him once again. Kaveh did his best to stay silent and continue working on his model, trying to stop his hands from trembling in anticipation and fear.
The older man’s regular tirade of verbal abuse had barely started when the two men got a message on their Akasha terminal, which was now only used to send messages from the sages to others in the Akademiya.
Kshahrewar Sages in the Akademiya Building, report to the Grand Sage Office immediately.
Do not delay.
The senior turned to Kaveh after they both got their messages, demanding to know what trouble he got them both in. When Kaveh kept his mouth shut, he threatened to discipline him after. Kaveh hadn’t been in the Grand Sage Office since Azar had been exiled, so he wasn’t sure who was the new Grand Sage. All he hoped was that he could handle whatever awaited him when the door opened.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaveh’s jaw dropped when they finally got into the Grand Sage Office and saw Al-Haitham sitting comfortably on the Grand Sage’s chair. There was no way…Al-Haitham was the Grand Sage and he even didn’t bother telling him?!
Kaveh stood back behind his senior, who bowed his head in respect and spoke in his usual rehearsed fashion, “Acting Grand Sage Al-Haitham, to what do we owe this summon?”
Al-Haitham remained seated, looked directly at Kaveh and then at the senior researcher, “I was checking reports from all of my undercovers in the building when I came across a little rumor. I heard that some Kshahrewar researchers have been having difficulty with their architectural assignments and have been given unfair discipline.” The same scarlet sheen returned to Al-Haitham’s eyes. “Do tell, what has been going on in the Kshahrewar branch? What were you hoping to gain through such actions?”
The senior researcher laughed nervously for a moment before quickly putting his formal voice back on, “Of course there is discipline for unmet deadlines, Acting Grand Sage! Ask any of the other branches, the Vanhumana, the Spantamad, even the Havaratat in which you yourself used to study! Surely you understand why discipline is necessary. How would we get anything done without consequences?”
Al-Haitham’s lips twitched a little in annoyance, but he kept his poker face, “Discipline itself is not the issue here. I have been informed of unfair punishment for unrealistic deadlines. You boast often about your amazing architectural projects, which I won’t deny, are stunning. The Palace of Alcazarzaray, for example, is absolutely stunning, I will not deny that.” His eyes barely shifted to Kaveh’s for a moment, pleased with himself when he noticed that the other was turning pink at the rare compliment.
“What I don’t understand is the deadlines and requirements in your own blueprints.” Al-Haitham placed a series of half a dozen building blueprints on the table in front of him. Kaveh recognized two of the sketches as his own and the others as his Kshahrewar colleagues’. “Based on the deadlines and signatures on these, you seem to be asking for deadlines that would be impossible to meet. You want additions to buildings, entire monuments, building modernizations, all to be completed within weeks. Any sane individual would say that these projects would take months.”
The senior researcher was stunned at Al-Haitham’s ability to use his own project blueprints' errors against him, but he did not crack, “I expect the best from my junior researchers. Perhaps a normal architect would need extra time to complete these projects, but my junior researchers are extraordinary! Why, Kaveh here built the Palace of Alcazarzaray that you are so enamored with, Acting Grand Sage! I only push him and his peers to help improve them.”
Al-Haitham barely took the man’s response into account as he pointed at certain sections in the blueprints, “You also ask for exorbitant amounts of mora for some of these projects. Clearly, many of these projects aren’t going to be built of crystal ore or gold." Kaveh already knew the answer to that accusation; his senior researcher, along with some other higher ups who were friend with Adar, embezzled money by asking for more mora upfront from the Sages, pocketing the unused extra for himself.
Al-Haitham continued to speak, but Kaveh only caught the end of his conversation, “-witnessed you use physical force against one of your researchers. Corporal punishment is not allowed under any circumstances in the Akademiya and you know this.” Kaveh almost jumped as Al-Haitham abruptly stood up and walked in front of his desk with his arms crossed, “According to the Researcher Code of Ethics that you signed when becoming a senior researcher, physical violence or purposeful unfair punishment is immediate cause for dismissal and formal prosecution. I intend to have you prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Let’s see what your junior researchers have to say about you when they’re no longer obligated to follow your orders.”
The senior researcher could barely speak, his fists were clenched and his face was turning red. Kaveh could almost breathe a sigh of relief, his senior researcher would no longer hurt him, no longer hurt anyone else-
The senior researcher grunted, saying in a much more dark tone that Kaveh was used to hearing, “You expect me to just go quietly? Just listen to you and your so-called accusations? I built this Darshan from the bottom up! Without me, they’re nothing! NOTHING!” In a split second, he dashed towards Al-Haitham, a hidden knife in his sleeve now showing.
Kaveh quickly stepped forward, speaking, “Al-Haitham-!”
Al-Haitham quickly raised his hand towards the senior researcher and became enveloped in a soft red glow. A strong breeze whipped up and protected him by pushing the other man back. Al-Haitham's olive green hair quickly became tinted a dark rose at the tips, and his green eyes flushed into a blood-red vermillion. He looked both like the Al-Haitham Kaveh knew…but simultaneously very different. He exuded power and regality in a way that Kaveh had never seen before.
With his hand raised, he stepped forward, manipulating his usual dendro mirrors into a single, long strand of rope. He moved his fingers and allowed the dendro rope to constrict the researcher, picking him off the ground and immobilizing him from the neck down. Kaveh could only watch in awe as his roommate performed elemental skills to an extent that he had never seen before.
The senior researcher sputtered and growled out in his restraints, biting out at them, “You-! You’re no normal man, are you? Who are you?!”
Al-Haitham cracked a grin, smiling in a way that Kaveh seldom saw, “I am The Lord of the Blazing Sun. Humans tend to prefer the title of King Deshret. I exist protect those without voice, without representation, without justice. I guide those who seek knowledge and the truth.” With a flick of the wrist, he pulled the bound researcher to within a foot of him, “Someone as rotten as you has no right to pursue the knowledge and beauty that makes Sumeru so wonderful.” With a motion of one of his fingers, the bound researcher began gasping and choking, “You do not deserve to breathe the same air as my subjects. I refuse to let you live in the same beautiful world as them, you filthy creature.”
Kaveh had been frozen at the display of archon-like powers, but at the mention of suffocating his senior researcher, he was moving towards Al-Haitham. To his surprise, the winds that protected Al-Haitham from his senior researcher didn’t push him away, and he was able to grab onto the other’s arm. “Cut it out Al-Haitham, he doesn’t deserve to die. N-No matter how bad of a person he was- you can’t kill him! Put him down, l-let the Corps of Thirty deal with him."
Al-Haitham turned to meet his gaze before moving his hand again, allowing the bound researcher to fall onto the ground, unconscious but breathing normally again. The dendro surrounding him vanished. The man with the scarlet eyes turned to face Kaveh, speaking. “Only you could find forgiveness for this pathetic excuse of a human. However, as he injured you, I will abide by your choice of justice. I would not have given that wretched creature another breath if I chose his fate.”
Kaveh huffed, saying, “You need to use emotional reasoning, you boar-headed jerk. If you kill him, you’re committing those violent acts that you told us are so despicable! We don't always need to fight violence with more violence, we have brains and mouths to reason with, you need to use yours more often."
Another grin, followed by a laugh that shocked Kaveh, and the man in Al-Haitham’s skin was smiling, “Humanity never fails to surprise me. Every time I come to the surface in another human body, people have changed and so has their perception of justice. Very well, I will use my 'emotions' this time." Al-Haitham's hand reached forward and touched Kaveh on the shoulder, "You, continue standing besides my reincarnation, I can tell he cares greatly for your safety. I only see such devotion once in a millennium...do not waste it..”
The man closed his eyes before Kaveh could ask him to clarify. The winds whipped around Al-Haitham’s body and the green olive tint from before overcame the red one in his hair. Al-Haitham teetered forward onto Kaveh, nearly knocking them both over.
Kaveh shook him and called out loudly, “Hey! Wake up! You’re not dead, are you?”
Al-Haitham responded in his normal icy tone, “Unfortunately. Now can you stop screaming? Your voice could raise the dead all the way in Port Ormos.” Al-Haitham regained his balance and stood properly, his eyes back to their emerald hue, no red sheen visible this time. “Alright, I’ll call the Corps of Thirty to get that bastard. You won’t need to worry about him anymore. I'll let your Kshahrewar colleagues know that they'll need to elect a new senior researcher to take his place.” With that, he walked back towards his seat like nothing had happened. As he sat down, he looked back at Kaveh, asking in a quieter tone, “Do you need a tissue?”
Kaveh wiped away tears that he didn’t know were coming from him, “No…I’m fine…just…thanks Al-Haitham.” The other didn’t say anything, just looked back at his paperwork. Kaveh could see the faintest smile forming at the corner of Al-Haitham’s lips, which made Kaveh smile too.