Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alhaitham collapsed, blood pooling on the floor around him. He wasn't exactly fine with this being his end, but it was what it was.

"I'm sorry, Elysia. I'm sorry, my family. Thank you for caring for me all these years. I hope we meet again... In a better time."

When his eyes opened again, he was located in the Elysian Realm. Elysia stood in front of him, a sad smile on her face.

"...I'm sorry, Elysia." The Scribe whispered, looking away. Elysia placed a hand on his chest, and looked into his eyes.

"Are you ready to accept it- the power of beginning? Are you prepared to face the fear and uncertainty it will bring?"

Alhaitham inhaled sharply, head spinning back to face the Flamechaser. "I- what if I lose control again?"

"Then we'll bring you back here, just like that first time all those years ago." Elysia comforted softly. "This will not end your story. It will begin it anew."

The Flamechaser looked up suddenly. "Your friends are in danger, Haitham. Are you ready to accept the duty of protecting them?"

"...I am. I'm ready, Elysia."

In a sudden flash of blinding light and warmth, the Elysian Realm faded away, replaced by the Sanctuary of Surasthana. A cry of pain echoed across the building, and instinctively Alhaitham willed the Signet of Ego to manifest his will.

A surge of power flooded through him. A wing-like structure hovered behind his right side, made of ivory vines and green crystal mirrors. A halo of floating green crystals hovered above his head, and his eyes turned deep magenta- much like his 'dads'.

Another cry of pain, this one familiar. Kaveh- but why would his roommate be here? He turned to see Kaveh's back facing him, claymore held up to block The Doctor's sword. Well, his sword- that The Doctor was... 'borrowing'.

Alhaitham manifested a sword of the same coloring as his outfit, and darted in-between Kaveh and The Doctor. A gasp of surprise came from his roommate, and The Doctor pulled back with a sharp inhale.

"I knew you didn't belong to this world- but this level of power is unbelievable." The harbinger snarled, lips curving in a maniacal grin. Alhaitham extended a hand, and a wave of energy dissolved The Doctor's segment before he could utter another word.

His magenta eyes closed, and he let out a breath, turning to face Kaveh with hesitation. He shifted awkwardly, waiting for his roommate to speak.

"Alhaitham?" Kaveh hesitated on the name, however Alhaitham just nodded in response, giving a simple two word answer; "It's me."

"Y-you - YOU IDIOT! WHY DIDN'T YOU BLAST HIM BEFORE HE- Wait..." Kaveh's crimson eyes scanned him up and down. "How are you-? You were just- And what's with the fancy accessories? No, no. How in the world did you blast him away like that!?"

"I'll explain everything once this is over. Where is everyone else?" Alhaitham turned to scan the sanctuary's interior, deep magenta eyes glowing slightly.

"Y- Forget it! I was covering the retreat, the rest of your... 'friends' freed the Lesser Lord and are leaving the city. Something about the plan being compromised?"

"They are likely heading somewhere the Akademiya cannot influence- Vanarana. The home of the Aranara." Alhaitham mused, willing his Herrscher Authority to recede. It left him in his normal attire and form- yet his eye color did not change back.

"H- Gah! Let's just go before anything scarier shows up." Kaveh threw his hands up in the air, eyes narrowing upon seeing the smirk on Alhaitham's face. "What!?"

"Kaveh, nothing in Sumeru is scarier than me as of right now. But your right, let's go. Brace yourself."

"Brace myself for wh-" Kaveh questioned, breaking off once Alhaitham's unusual eyes started to glow, his roommate flinging the doors of the sanctuary open.

"Jump when you get to the edge." Alhaitham ordered, causing Kaveh to freeze in momentary confusion. "H-huh?"

"Just do it- we don't have much time." Alhaitham snapped, darting off the edge of the platform outside the sanctuary. Kaveh followed close behind, his fear of being left there outweighing the fear of falling to his death with his roommate.

The two descended rapidly, but before they hit the ground they disappeared in a green and purple flash, reappearing on the outskirts of Vanarana. Alhaitham remained standing, however Kaveh face planted in the grass.

"OW! What was that!?" Kaveh yelped, picking grass blades out of his hair. The blond male shot Alhaitham a crimson glare, then dusted himself off, standing up.

"So... Where are they?" The architect huffed, eyes scanning the scenery. There was no sign of the group- let alone one of them.

"Just follow me. The Aranara are somewhat familiar with me, though we've never been on... Super friendly terms. Likely due to my temperament. They are creatures of dreams, after all." Alhaitham murmured, already walking off.

"Huh-? WAIT UP!! DONT JUST LEAVE ME!!"

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"So Aranara are real?" Kaveh asked, curious crimson eyes scanning the bushes around them.

"Yes. Most people in Teyvat can't see them. I'm n- I'm one who can." Alhaitham broke off mid sentence, stumbled over his words, then continued.

Kaveh frowned, there was something his roommate was hiding- and he was determined to find out what. That and the whole 'coming back from the dead' and 'incinerating The Doctor' thing.

And so, the architect took the direct approach. "Are you going to tell me what you did? You were dead- and nobody just springs back to life! Let alone do that AND destroy a Fatui Harbinger!"

Alhaitham shot him a look. "You'll learn soon enough. We're almost there."

"There's nothing here, besides some of those weird structures..."

"That's because this is the 'Real Vanarana', not 'Dream Vanarana'. I'll have to play the song before the stone again." Alhaitham snapped his fingers, a rather small- almost ancient- lyre appearing in his hands. Kaveh's mouth hung open in shock.

"Y-you- I- wh-where did that even come from!?" He groaned at the lack of a response, Alhaitham studying the lyre with an almost wistful expression- which soon reverted back to his usual calm demeanor.

"The dream's entrance is right ahead. Hurry up." Alhaitham sped up, calling over his shoulder.

The two followed the winding path, with Alhaitham eventually stopping at an oddly shaped stone, where he started to play the lyre. The music was a tune Kaveh had never heard before. The stone flashed once it finished, the world turning a blinding white. When colors returned, the two found themselves in the center of a crowd of Aranara.

"AH!? These are... Aranara?? They're so...!" Kaveh yelped, then stared in wide-eyed awe at the forest creatures. His shock was soon abated at the human voice that called out in surprise.

"...Kaveh...?" The architect spotted the head of white and green hair that was their Archon, and he cheerfully bobbed his head. "Yup! And can you guess who else?"

Alhaitham snapped again and the lyre vanished. He stepped back into the shadows of the giant plants forming a canopy above them, and sighed softly. Nahida's eyes rested on him, wariness flashing across her features.

"...Alhaitham? You... Your alive?" The Archon walked up besides Kaveh, stopping the architect from approaching Alhaitham again. "No... You are no longer just 'Alhaitham'. You seem to have established a connection with some other consciousness?"

"Lesser Lord Kusanali, I'm sorry you had to see me... 'die'. I will explain this to the full group, or if you don't trust me, I shall summarize what happened- then give more details later."

Nahida eyes the scribe warily, then let her arm fall to her side. "From the little bits I can see of you original mind, you aren't lying. Of course, you could easily be hiding things from me with the massive amounts of unidentified energy circulating your body. But I trust you."

Alhaitham let out a breath. "Thank you for the trust. Where is everyone else?"

"Making preparations to defend Vanarana. The Aranara could be in danger as my familiars." Nahida studied the ground, and several Aranara came over to comfort her.

"Golden Nara is at Araja's house, while Dancer Nara is helping Aranara with duties. Sandy Nara is wandering the village, and Spirit Nara is hiding in corner." The Aranara cheered.

Nahida giggled. "They mean to say that Lumine is in Araja's house, Nilou is helping some Aranara, Dehya is...wandering around, and Cyno is sulking."

Alhaitham scoffed. "Cyno? Sulking? Never thought I'd see the day the General Mahamatra sulks. Of course, Kaveh does it all the time, so I've gotten my fair share of people sulking."

"HUH!? If anything, you sulk when you have to work overtime!!" Kaveh retorted.

"Putting Kaveh's accusations aside, can you gather the others? The sooner I explain the faster the Akademiya crumbles." Alhaitham expression darkened upon the last two words, his eyes glowing with an ominous light.

Nahida nodded, though she cast Alhaitham a wary glance. Kaveh couldn't really blame her, Alhaitham was acting odd... and seriously, HOW did he destroy the doctor that easily?!

Once Nahida closed her eyes, Alhaitham sensed Kaveh approaching him. He cracked open one of his closed eyes, noting the way Kaveh frowned as their gazes met.

"Are you going to tell us what exactly happened?" The architect questioned. Alhaitham huffed a weak laugh, something scary in Kaveh's eyes. The architect recoiled, putting his hands on his hips.

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Alhaitham?"

"Nothing. I am Alhaitham. I didn't think a half-laugh could make you so distrustful, Kaveh." Alhaitham returned to his emotionless tone, though he seemed slightly more agitated now.

"Huh?! What do you-!" Kaveh was interrupted by the arrival of Cyno, who was gripping his polearm tightly while glaring at Alhaitham.

"Scribe." He nodded to Alhaitham coldly, remaining alert. His reddish-amber eyes tracked the other's every move, and his grip on his weapon grew tighter as time passed.

The sound of footsteps drew Alhaitham's attention next, and he turned to see Nilou running towards the group, Dehya close behind. The two had very different expressions; Nilou's being one of hesitation and confusion, and Dehya's expression showing her distrust.

Lumine skidded to a stop beside Nahida, who opened her eyes once she arrived. The traveler stood protectively in front of the Archon.

"Good, we're all here." Alhaitham crossed his arms, meeting each of the others gazes. Nilou flinched as he met hers, and he assumed it was due to his new eye color. "I'll be quick."

"To start, I am not simply a human. I am Teyvat's first Herrscher, and one of the 13 Flamechasers' Successors. Which means that I have power to rival the archons and god's of old."

Lumine flinched, stepping closer to Nahida as the young god frowned. "I have no knowledge of Herrschers. But there's also the 13 Flamechasers you mentioned. Might they have something to do with the time you spent hiding from Irminsul?"

"Yes. The Flamechasers are data versions of their true selves, which lived about 50,000 years ago in their world. The data space they reside in is between their world and ours, so I was dragged in after I accidentally triggered a Honkai eruption." Alhaitham blinked, then added on to his sentence. "But don't worry, the eruption had little time to reach it's full potential before my authority was sealed."

Cyno's polearm swung to rest beside Alhaitham's throat, it's cold metal tip digging into his skin slightly.

"Cyno! Stop-" Nahida started to call out, then fell silent as Alhaitham hissed, squeezing his eyes shut as if he was in major pain.

He then disappeared from the dream, and Nahida could no longer sense his presence anywhere.

Chapter Text

Alhaitham could feel the cold metal of Cyno's spear against his neck, but he was more concerned with the rapidly increasing amounts of Honkai Energy storing itself in his body to fight back.

A faint whisper echoed in his mind: "hm... you really thought you could control my authority? Even after I killed your parents?"

His eyes widened, and he hissed in pain as something- or in this case, someone- wrenched control of his body out of his grasp.

Before they could take action, the signets activated and his body was pulled through a small rift in space.

Voices broke through the muffling darkness.

"...lost control..."

"Exerted himself..."

"Hey, Haitham? Are you in there?"

The last voice was Su's. Alhaitham wrenched his eyes open, and Su let out a breath in relief. "Thank goodness your alright. I was worried we had lost you for a moment there."

"...ah. I lost control again." Alhaitham blinked, sounding out the words.

"Yes. Elysia dragged you back here as soon as your energy levels spiked abnormally."

"That's... good. Is my authority sealed again?" He sat up.

"No. We thought it best to quell the Herrscher Persona for now, and leave access to your authority unlimited. Though... It'd be best if you rest and try out your abilities in the realm for a bit."

"I cannot-" "I will watch over your friends, and if you wish, you can send a quick message. But you need rest, Haitham. You nearly lost yourself a few moments ago."

Alhaitham frowned, taking a moment to consider his options. "There is no need to send a message myself. They won't understand. Just let them know I'm safe."

"Are you certain you don't wish to send it yourself?"

"Yes."

Sighing, Su helped him stand. "If you need anything, find any one of us. I know that Eden and Pardofelis have missed you a lot, so perhaps you can go chat with them for a bit."

"I'll see what I can do." Alhaitham chuckled slightly. "For now, I'm going to rest."

He turned, stepping down the sealed hallway to the Flamechaser's rooms. He hopes his was still there.

The warm stone walls and arches were lit by glowing crystal lights that hung from the ceiling. When he reached the end of the hall, a door glittered into view. He pressed his hand to the smooth wooden surface, and pushed it open.

His room was the same as it was all those years ago: books strewn across the floor and blankets tangled up on his bed.

He crawled into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

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Hey guys! It's been a while. I just wanted to say that this is not abandoned, I've just been debating rewriting it. My writing style had improved some, and I'm not quite satisfied with the way the plot is going in this version. The rewrite's first chapter should be up soon, and this will stay up for a while still.