Chapter Text
That wasn’t real. Maybe he somehow entered one of Dr. Edward’s dream bubbles and was currently experiencing a historical fantasy dream, product of a creative mind that decided to volunteer their nightly phantasies with whoever took an interest. However, although the theory was plausible, Aventurine was not able to contact for the Dreamscape Store’s operator even after calling out loud. Other possibilities were raised, but none seemed to explain his current situation. He found himself on the bed of an unfamiliar room, outdated furniture carved from wood and carefully adorned, indicating the manual nature of the work as opposed to modern simplicity he was used to. Aventurine wandered around the room, looking for any indication of where he was, finding only architectural blueprints and a letter scrawled in an alphabet he couldn't recognize - not a good start.
“You can solve this.” He repeated in his mind, keeping his nerves on track to avoid unnecessary anxiety; recalling his previous steps didn't help, his mind blanked by what he assumed was a blackout after a round of SoulGlad. He stepped out of the room carefully, no noise other than the street, confirming that he was alone. He found more of the unique furniture from before, and a range of books in the same alphabet as the letters, not a word of which was recognizable. His gaze hovered around the living room, fingers holding his chin as he put the pieces together in an attempt to figure out what happened.
"Unrecognizable language, different architecture. Am I on another planet?" He paced the room, repeatedly tapping his shoe to the wooden floor. If that were the case, the mystery would be finding out how he had been brought to the location. Returning to the ICP wouldn't be a problem, as soon as he found a means of transport he would be off the planet as quickly as possible, but being captured and dragged away blindly was a violation of his personal safety, a crime.
"There must be a key around here." He thought as he opened several drawers, finding a key with a small keychain that resembled a lion figure from some children's show. "How tacky."
Aventurine fitted the key into the front door, unlocking his exit, only to have his retinas burned by the bright light from outside. "Shit!" He covered his face with one arm, momentarily incapacitated until his eyes adjusted to the sun. To his shock, the outside was as simple as the inside. Initially, he thought the house owner had a strange taste in antique items, but the town itself had a more old-fashioned style. After rubbing his eyes a bit, he returned inside. His current clothes would draw attention, so he hurried to his room again in search of some clothes he could wear. There was a small suitcase on a table, perhaps he could store his current clothes in it, but his attempt to pick it up failed when he realized the absurd weight of something that should be light; he mentally cursed, wondering what crazy person would make a metal briefcase. In attire more suited to the climate and location, Aventurine came out once more.
"Everyone here looks human. As long as they can understand basic English, I can get by." Aventurine pondered as he tried unsuccessfully to read the information on plaques. There was nowhere a single indication of where he was, nor how to find a way off the planet. His salvation was found in a cabin-like construction, where a woman was positioned. At first it looked like an establishment, but compared to the surrounding markets, it didn't seem like a point of sale. Either way, if he made a mistake, at least he would have some information.
"Ad astra abyssosque." The receptionist greeted. "Welcome to the Adventurers Guild."
Aventurine frowned, it wasn't the best option, but an adventurers guild seemed more useful if what he wanted was information, and knowing that the language was shared, his hopes rose again.
He sighed and put his best smile on his face. "Good morning, sweet miss. I'm a little lost, is there somewhere I can find out about interplanetary travel conditions?"
The woman remained silent for a while, as if reflecting before responding. "If there is a need to travel between regions, the guild can offer adventurers for an escort."
"No no." He shook his head. "I want to go to Penacony."
"We don't have any information about 'Penacony' currently." The woman explained. "If you want to leave your contact information, we can leave it as a mission to find something about it."
A part of Aventurine stressed and he just waved his hand to deny it. "Okay, forget it." He walked away. "I'll sort it out myself." Nothing productive!
The woman was uninformed about the existence of Penacony, outrageous. "If I want something more solid, I'm going to have to meet someone head on." A smile broke out upon finding the ideal spot. The planet he was on was different from the ordinary, but a restaurant was recognizable anywhere, and finding a bunch of drunks sitting in front of one was almost universal.
Aventurine ventured into the place, it was reasonably full, the smell of the dishes was luring, making him think about the possibility of having a little fun before returning - after all, he was in a new place.
"Kaveh!" He heard someone call, strangely the name passed through his ears better than the rest of the conversations, as if it had been directed at him, but it was something that happened to everyone from time to time. Aventurine proceeded to the counter, when he felt someone grab his shoulder.
"Kaveh, are you deafening?" A man with vulpid features said. Aventurine assumed it was a Foxian who had mistaken him for someone.
"Excuse me?" He forced a smile.
The Foxian's ears twitched slightly. "Cyno and I saw you come in." He tilted his face towards a table in the back, where another man with dark skin and platinum hair sat. "He wants to talk to you, so come with us." He said, already pulling Aventurine and leaving him without the chance to respond.
The Foxian sat next to the man at the table, leaving a third chair for Aventurine. Despite the confusion of the moment, Aventurine's eyes lit up when he saw a deck of cards on the table. "Are you guys playing?" He cracked a smile.
"I got some new cards." The man he assumed was called Cyno announced. "Want a match?"
Aventurine was curious, apparently they hadn't realized that he wasn't the person they knew, but it wasn't a reason for fuss, he would never meet them again in the future, so why not give them a fun story to tell? Imagine them meeting the real Kaveh and trying to explain about the game they played in the restaurant with Kaveh's weird clone. "Bet."
"You made me call him just for a game?" The Foxian frowned as he crossed his arms.
"Did you bring your cards?" The supposed Cyno asked. Aventurine couldn't help but notice that the vulpine got stressed at being ignored but focused on paying attention to the match.
"Not really."
"I'll lend you mine." Cyno offered a beautifully carved box full of letters.
Aventurine ran his fingers through the cards, finding some that interested him. He noticed how Cyno had only chosen three, and did the same, also selecting a separate number of other cards that did not depict characters like the main cards.
The white-haired man smiled sharply when he saw the chosen cards, decorated with characters surrounded by water. He positioned his own cards on the table, two of them were eerily like him and the vulpe next to him, the other representing a girl.
The dice hit the wooden table, starting the game. Tension, nervousness and intense concentration dominated the table for the next few minutes. As the two played, Aventurine maintained a playful smile. Cyno didn't pay attention to it, but the "Foxian" next to him was uncomfortable. The vulpine man had taken the opportunity to evaluate "Kaveh" a little more, and was increasingly feeling an absurd strangeness. He looked like Kaveh, he wore Kaveh's clothes, but something about him didn't scream "Kaveh."
"Tighnari, can you get me a glass of wine?" Cyno asked as he anxiously looked at two defeated cards while Aventurine's remained upright.
"Yes of course." The vulpe agreed, getting up from his chair and onto the counter.
Aventurine had already taken note of Foxian's name during the short conversations, but still had no idea about them completely. "Do you know how I can go to Penacony?" He took the opportunity to ask the man focused on the cards, compared to the vulpine, he seemed to be less perceptive when focused on the cards.
"Pena-what?"
The gambler frowned. Second person who seemed uninformed about Penacony. "Xianzhou?"
The man this time looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is it somewhere in Liyue?"
"Uhm, no." Aventurine responded, rolling the dice.
"Then no idea." Cyno focused on the game again.
This wasn't working. No productive information came from these two, maybe they were just someone from the city and didn't have that much knowledge... but they didn't even recognize the Xianzhou civilization.
An idea crossed his mind.
"It would be interesting to get off the planet." He let go.
Tighnari had returned to the table at the time. "Dreaming too big." He commented as he placed the wine glass on the table.
Aventurine laughed, but deep down he felt a slight despair. "No machines to travel in space?"
"Did you decide to change from Ksharehwar to Rtawahist?" Tighnari joked.
Cyno grumbled under a sigh. "He keeps winning..." his despair rose as he saw his last card dying.
Tighnari took a look at the outcome of the game, commenting to Cyno on how many times he had already lost despite his previous confidence. While smiling, Aventurine wandered his mind to organize the information. Regardless of which planet he was on, it was not evolved, not enough to have interspatial transport, which was already a problem. His influence by ICP would have no value here in this case. He was grateful for the luck of looking like someone from the place, perhaps he could impersonate this Kaveh until he found a solution to his problems, hoping he wouldn't meet the guy in person.
"I think I'd better go home." Aventurine got up from the table.
"By the way, is Al Haitham at home? We were thinking about going out with the four of us next weekend." Tighnari looked at him.
"Oh, I do not know." The blond frowned.
Tighnari shrugged, understanding. "When you find him, let him know."
Aventurine just nodded and waved before leaving. "Until the next meeting then, it was a great game."
He walked away, but Tighnari's questioning gaze remained on him until he was out of the restaurant. "Kaveh is acting strange."
Cyno looked up from his cards. "What?"
Aventurine found himself with no choice but to return to the house he had left, he had to retrace his path several times until he finally found the house. The sky was already orange when he was able to enter the place he would be forced to call home for a while. To his surprise, a man sat on the sofa this time.
He didn't bother looking up from the book he held, so Aventurine just walked from the door back to the room, heart in hand.
"No problems so far." He sighed, throwing himself onto the bed. His mind raced reflecting on the events of the last few hours. Looking at the ceiling, he thought about what he should do for now. He hadn't been recognized so far, but it was only the first day, what if they accused him of identity theft? And when the real Kaveh appeared? Where was he if not at home, by the way? How did he end up in the place of the house's real resident? Aventurine really wanted to sleep and rest from everything, maybe if he slept and woke up the next day, everything would be fine, but the questions kept him awake. He buried his face in the pillow, forcing sleep to come until he was out.
The next day did not prove to be a better morning. He was still in the same room. With an irritated sigh, Aventurine rubbed his face. "It can not be..."
The clothes he wore yesterday were wrinkled from sleeping without changing them, so he was forced to choose a new pair. This new one seemed more used, with a red tone that he didn't like. In all honesty, he spent time understanding the style of the outfit and adjusting the parts until it looked presentable, it wasn't a fashion he recognized. This time, he would take advantage of the morning to get as much information as possible, and started by investigating the room. As on the previous day, he only found some house plans, papers with calculations and, again, the unknown language. He returned to the suitcase from before, now analyzing it more carefully, it was not an ordinary suitcase, and with a few squeezes, it reproduced what looked like a face, moving like a small robot. "It doesn't seem like technology is that far removed from phones." He grabbed his chin, moving the suitcase away again, but it followed him. "Hey, leave me." He waved at the briefcase, which obediently returned to its place. "Uh." There was nothing else important in the room, so he left him to wander the house carefully, alert for the presence of the man from the night before. Aventurine found the bathroom, and took the opportunity to take care of her personal cleanliness. There were two wooden toothbrushes. There were differences in the carving of it, and he supposed it was an indicator of the owners between Kaveh and the other man, but being unable to discern which, he just chose the one that looked cleanest to brush his teeth on. The toothpaste was even more suspicious, a small jar with a mild, sweet smell. He took some time to check if it was really toothpaste, but he could only confirm by using it, luckily for him, it was.
Done, he walked to the room.
"Are you up yet?" A monotone voice asked. Aventurine looked up to meet the gray-haired man. "You slept early yesterday."
Aventurine didn't know how to respond in character. "Yes, I was tired."
The man nodded.
"Where you were yesterday?" He took the opportunity to ask and maybe find out more, crossing his arms.
What for Aventurine was just a body movement done to relax, for Al Haitham was understood as "Kaveh" acting angry, but something didn't seem right. "At Akademiya." He rolled his eyes and sat on the couch, crossing his legs. "Services as scribe."
Aventurine nodded in understanding. "I see."
"What about you?" Al Haitham raised an eyebrow.
The blonde promptly re-enacted yesterday's meeting in his mind, trying to recover the people's names. "I met with Cyno and Tinaria."
"...Tighnari?"
"Ah, yes. I'm still a little tired."
Aventurine walked to the kitchen, he needed to recognize the man's name, and there was only one name possible now. "Al Haitham?"
"Hm." A short answer.
Another stroke of luck, this time he had to cry with happiness for his famous luck, or perhaps for not being stupid. If Al Haitham wasn't the person on the couch, he would just have to find an excuse to call out the name out of nowhere.
"What's there to eat?" He asked, easily finding a continuity.
"See for yourself, huh."
Rude.
Aventurine explored the kitchen, finding some unusual foods. There was nothing pre-prepared, no snacks whatsoever. With no other option, he grabbed ingredients that looked like the ones he recognized, like milk, and started to prepare something to eat. Everything about this place seemed outdated. Had he traveled in the past? Maybe not, there were still planets outside the same timeline as the ones he knows about. Possibly there was a time warp somewhere.
While preparing the food, he decided to continue the conversation in an attempt to find more information. "What will you do today?" Aventurine raised his voice to be heard in the living room.
"I'm going back to Akademiya."
"Work again?"
"No, there are some books I want."
Books. It would be a great help if he COULD read it.
"I thought I'd visit Tighnari today." Aventurine commented, although it was just a bluff to not end the dialogue.
"Isn't he doing a Ranger presentation today?" Al Haitham looked up at the kitchen.
"Oh, I guess so." Aventurine gave an uncertain smile. "Mm, I'll find something to do. I have no plans today." Yes, he had. Field reconnaissance.
--
Kaveh was having a severe headache. He had stuffed himself with a shitload of SoulGlad, and his throat was raw from drinking so much. Everywhere he went, people called him Aventurine, and invited him to bet. He was also wearing clothes that looked too small for him and weren't even his style. His morning almost gave him a panic attack, especially when he saw the architectural atrocity of the place. A part of him found the style creative and innovative, with a foundation that seemed capable of bringing to reality the sensation of a dream with unrealistic structures... another was horrified to the point of crying; he didn't know whether he loved it or hated it. But even his passion for construction couldn't distract him from the greater terror: where the fuck he was. There were several devices around that reminded him of Fontaine's technology, so his first thought was that he had been kidnapped and taken somewhere in the region, but the theory died as quickly as it came. He visited his mother in Fontaine only once and knew that place WASN'T Fontaine at first glance. He didn't even know how he managed to stagger into a bar, perhaps desperation had guided him to the first place where he could get drunk. Along the way, he was chased by an advertising sign, almost run over by a "flying" transport, chased incessantly by weirdos and even had a young man pulling the feather he used as an accessory, the latter being a weirdo who called himself best baseball player in the Galaxy. It was all so overwhelming that Kaveh went into a crisis in the middle of the city, and eventually what looked like children guided him into the bar, where he even put down his glasses, only downing the bottle as soon as he could while listening to the murmurs around him. He gasped for air as he held back tears of despair. "Damn Al Haitham must have just left me here!" He cried, even though it was impossible. Maybe his mind just wanted to remember Al Haitham as a way to escape all this nonsense.
Then someone appeared.
"If you're going to drown in SoulGlad, don't let them call me to sort it out. I'm not your babysitter or some shit like that." The harsh tone was directed at Kaveh.
Kaveh looked at the blue-haired man, and he immediately frowned.
"You're not that gambler. Who are you?" His tone seemed at once worried, insecure and angry.
Kaveh can't hold back crying from the stress. "FINALLY, SOMEONE REALIZED!" He bellowed in a broken tone. "You can't even imagine what a TERRIBLE day I've had!" He whimpered at the newly arrived man.
The man in blue couldn't help but wear an alabaster head, focusing on his thoughts as he analyzed the stranger wearing Aventurine's clothes. He was surprisingly annoying with his whining, almost making Dr. Ratio want to drop him right then and there. But this time he couldn't, after all, the clandestine was impersonating Aventurine. "Answer, who are you?"
Kaveh calmed down, taking a few breaths to respond. "Kaveh. Renowned architect from Sumeru, do you know?"
"Sumeru?" The alabaster-headed man asked.
"Yeah, Sumeru! Where are we anyway? And who are you? Why do they keep calling me Aventurine? Who is Aventurine?" He was about to start a wave of questions, so the man just interrupted.
"My name is Veritas Ratio." He lowered his gaze. "Don't you know how you got here?"
"No idea!" He started whining again. "I thought they had kidnapped me! Or that I had been thrown here! I couldn't have drunk until I traveled to another place, right? I don't even recognize it here! For the Archons, I even begged for help from the Lesser Lord Kusanali!"
Dr. Ratio could just process all the information. None of the names mentioned rang a bell, nothing that he remembered from the books he had read. Either the man in front was a lunatic, or something really wasn't right. He wished he could just leave the howler there, but against all his will, he dragged it with him - he would find the answers one way or another.