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"Alhaitham!"
His voice echoed around the halls of Ay-Khanoum. The people inside turned their heads to the entrance with piercing glares. But Kaveh didn't care as he had expected to get that kind of greeting from gate-crashing an important event for the life of the desert dwellers. He held his knees while catching his breath, focusing on the man standing by the altar wearing cream Eremite robes and a crown made of kalpalata vines and flowers. Beside him was a red-haired lady, like Alhaitham, wearing an Eremite robe and skirt, with a crown made of padisarah.
"I..." but before he can even speak, Mehrak already glowed green from his hand, summoning Kaveh's claymore and attention to defend himself from the attack of one of their audience.
Still catching his breath, Kaveh deflected the slash. For some reason, he finds his claymore lighter than the other times he wielded the weapon, and it's covered in bright light, hiding its flowery features that he designed himself.
He saw others approaching him to attack, and cursed to himself why he even has to be there. Cursed fate for putting them in such disaster.
"Alhaitham!" he called again. He turned his gaze once more to the couple by the altar. Alhaitham now struggles to free himself from the ropes binding him.
"Stupid scribe! Use your vision!"
He caught Alhaitham just rolled his eyes. The lady beside him – Nilou – is crying while watching him knock off the mob that’s attacking him, stopping him from interrupting the ceremony.
Kaveh and Alhaitham are roommates. That was a secret that they share. And Kaveh got used to going home at night with the scribe already settled on the divan and a book at hand. Until that night that Alhaitham hasn't gone home. It's almost midnight when he arrived because he had a huge discussion back at the desert about his new project. And he was tipsy too. But he found the house still dark. He thought that the scribe was pulling an all-nighter at the Akademiya, which he later rejected. Alhaitham considers himself a feeble scholar, and he's not the type to dedicate so much of his time at work. He'd rather spend the silence of the night with his book at home than the documents back at Akademiya.
Worry made him sober. Kaveh gave another round of stroll at the city, at most places Alhaitham would likely be. But his roommate wasn't there.
After catching a few hours of rest and sleep, he resumed his search. Being a renowned architect in Sumeru, his influence gained him so much connections that he was able to make conclusions and trace where his roommate, and the missing Zubayr Theater’s best dancer Nilou, could be without sounding suspicious. And his deductions didn’t disappoint him.
The desert dwellers are known worshippers of the Scarlet King, and it has been going around that they are scheming a plan to revive the king so they can take over Sumeru again. However, they believe that the king would prefer to live in the world with the one he gave his heart to but was also the reason he has fallen to madness – Nabu Malikata. Without the goddess of flowers, they believe that King Deshret would refuse the offerings to return to this world, no matter how great their sacrifices are. His guilt of losing the goddess is so big that he rejected his life, forgot about his ambition, and offered himself to be consumed by a dragon.
Ay-Khanoum, the domain where Kaveh currently stood with Mehrak and his claymore, is an ancient civilization that King Deshret built with the goddess. And it’s just the perfect place to summon the two back – together.
As to why it was Alhaitham and Nilou standing by the altar for the wedding; why they were chosen as the sacrifice, Kaveh has his eyes rolling – both in comedy and jealousy.
It is unknown to Sumeru that he is roommates with Alhaitham.
And it is unknown to anyone but himself that he is in love with his junior slash roommate.
Now, said roommate is to be wedded to their common friend, who obviously also has other plans for her life than be wedlock to the most emotionally unavailable man they’ve ever known. He feels sorry for Nilou, and annoyed at how these Eremites came up with the idea that Alhaitham and Nilou are descendants of the deceased king and goddess. Kaveh sees the resemblance himself if he tries to look at it, Alhaitham and King Deshret are both seeker of knowledge, while it is said that Padisarahs bloom when the goddess dances, which is a common scene at Zubayr Theater when the dancer performs. He couldn’t really blame whoever’s the mastermind of this scheme if they see the two fits.
But he can’t imagine how they captured Alhaitham, and how come the scribe just seemingly sit there and wait for the events to unfold, without a single effort to save their friend from this disaster? Or Alhaitham and Nilou failed badly? Far as he remembers, Nilou may be petite but she can very much protect herself, thus she doesn’t have any bodyguard despite being popular.
Then it hits him. History says that King Deshret was offered a gnosis, but he rejected it. Thus no Eremite, not a single one of them, holds a vision. Is it the reason that vision holders couldn’t enter the ruins? Or use their elements within its premises? But Kaveh himself can use his own, Mehrak even glows by himself and his claymore feels lighter than usual.
Questions fill Kaveh’s head but they aren’t the priority for now: he has to stop the ceremony and leave the ruins as soon as possible.
One more swing of his greatsword and tens of the mobs fall to the ground.
“Alhaitham—Ugh…” his face cringed when he immediately realized he has been calling the scribe’s name but says nothing after.
Unexpectedly, he found Alhaitham free from his binds and already carrying Nilou in his arms. He felt a vein in his temple snapped and the sudden bloodrush to his head. And if he could breathe fire, his nose must be huffing steam.
On another note, he’s partly relieved that his roommate is now using his vision. Although he noticed that their vision isn’t glowing, he looked at his own by his thigh and indeed, it was dim. Their visions have been deactivated? But he can still perfectly manifest the power of dendro.
Seeing the “couple” run towards the entrance of the domain, Kaveh followed and covered for them. His brows slightly in knots watching how Nilou’s arms are wrapped around Alhaitham’s shoulders. His emotions must have blinded him that he didn’t notice an arrow pierced his arm.
“Kaveh!” the two exclaimed in front of him.
The impact made him dizzy and out of disorientation, he saw fireflies glow around him as he held the arrow and pulled it out, making him draw a loud groan in the process.
He heard clashing of metals while being blinded the glowing lights. And he couldn’t follow what’s happening anymore. What he saw last were torn padisarah petals by his shoes and the flowing lush green light that covers the ground.
*****
Alhaitham stopped the dagger using his sword. Kaveh might have knocked off most of these eremites but there are still some who doesn’t know when to give up.
It was his miscalculation that Kaveh’s arm is impaired and bleeding. But it was his negligence in the first place, that brought them to the current situation. He was lured to the Ay-Khanoum, thinking that Kaveh was there to write another research, a continuation of their previous one but now has the ancient civilization that King Deshret built as the location of their study. And Alhaitham wanted to have a look whether he’ll support Kaveh all the way or stop him before the architect meets another trouble.
What awaits him there though were the desert dwellers and Nilou, tied and unconscious. He expected that it was for the ritual of the rumored revival of the old kingdom. He took the chance to study the ruins and the eremites while they lived there for a couple of days, being pampered before sacrificed. Because Nilou couldn’t use her vision thus makes her a little helpless in the situation. So Alhaitham played along although he can easily wipe out the mobs by will.
“The Kingdom of Ay-Khanoum was built by King Deshret and Nabu Malikata. It was a civilization that they ruled back in the ancient times.” He heard Nilou behind him, now supporting Kaveh’s weight so the architect won’t stumble.
Alhaitham already had it in his mind. He knows Kaveh is good at combats, but not as fierce as he showed earlier. As if everyone was below him.
“In one of our dances for the lost goddess, it is said that the old civilization is ruled by no other than the star-crossed lovers…”
“Gah!” he heard Kaveh’s groan followed by clanking on the ground.
The architect has pulled out the arrow, his blood splutters on the floor and has dried immediately as padisarah petals. From the domain walls were numbers of seelies coming their way, as if aiding Kaveh.
On the other hand, the remaining standing desert dwellers seem to have been petrified in their places as they watched the blood-stained floor turn into a river of glowing green light and fallen purple petals.
Therefore, only Nabu Malikata and Al-Ahmar has the power to unleash an endless energy in the kingdom that they rule.
“I…” Kaveh huffed behind him. “will not tolerate renegades in my domain!” and with a swing of Kaveh’s injured arm, the floor of Ay-Khanoum grew green, budding shrubs grow, vines fasten everyone in place. Everyone except him and Nilou who was thrown unconscious to the floor due to that explosive dendro energy.
Alhaitham understood. He knew that the goddess of flowers – now Kaveh – has been angered. No one else, aside from the king and the dendro archon, who is currently occupied by her other duties in the land, could turn the ground green with life and flowers bloom if not the goddess. It also explains how the seelies were drawn to Kaveh.
Being a man of logic, Alhaitham wasn’t particularly moved by the story of how the King loved the goddess but only ended up in tragedy, leaving a curse for all of Sumeru to suffer from. But at that moment, a strong force, so strong he couldn’t find a counter-argument nor any energy to fight back, is tugging all the feelings he held, heaving the deepest of his hidden thoughts.
“Kaveh.”
“Al-Ahmar?”
Alhaitham pulled Kaveh by the waist. His hand cupped the latter’s cheek and caught his lips on him. Eyes closed, he savored the feeling of finally having a taste of those lips, holding the man he adored and dedicates his life for in his arms. And in the back of his mind, he saw the flashes of the life from the old civilization, the beauty that captivated the king’s heart, her kindness towards the people as Deshret watches dearly, her worried eyes as she held the king’s hand, and the empty seat in the Orchard of Paridaeza.
Whether it was the king’s memory that radiates to him at that moment, or if it was his own feelings for his dearest senior-turned-roommate, it brought him to tears.
He felt Kaveh’s hand on his hair, gently weaving through his silver locks.
After staying still for a moment, Alhaitham unwillingly broke their kiss. He opened his eyes and stared at Kaveh as he flutters his eyes open and met his gaze.
“Al… haitham.”
If it is indeed the goddess of flower that has taken over Kaveh’s body for a moment, Alhaitham would assume that she and the king could finally meet in a brighter light. But this time, he’s sure it is Kaveh that called him. It is Kaveh and his innocent soul that’s staring at him in that very moment. And Alhaitham captured those lips again, gently brushing them together this time, and Kaveh responds as wrapped his arms around Alhaitham’s shoulders.
“Let’s get out of here.” He whispered when they broke this kiss once more, his arms still firmly holding Kaveh by the waist. It was only then that Kaveh seemed to realized what was happening. He quickly pulled away and awkwardly turned to pick Nilou up from the floor.
Alhaitham wore a small smile as he watched his roommate. It seems that his injury was healed by the seelie but for assurance, he offered his back to carry Nilou and Kaveh didn’t protest. Then the architect summoned Mehrak to his hand and the ruins started to crumble and fall apart. His arms support Nilou’s weight on his back, the other found its way to hold Kaveh’s hand. They stopped for a moment, without saying a word, deeply staring at each other’s eyes.
Kaveh’s cheeks flushed red, and he felt the gentle squeeze in his hand. Alhaitham held them securely as they ran towards the entrance without looking back at the ruins collapsing behind them.