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The acrid taste of ash dust still stings his mouth. So does the smell of burning sulphur strays in his nasal.
May the Wayob grant you peace, and may songs be sung of your life's journey.
He was present and yet he wasn’t. When asked of a eulogy he didn’t have one to give, he didn’t have time to think. Stuck to a belief that Ayizu would’ve been disappointed in him moping around the Stadium of the Sacred Flames, rather than standing on the battlefield slaying the Abyss. Twice he has lost, more fury he has gained.
We give thanks for the gift of your life in ours.
He didn’t think he was still capable of shedding tears. Didn’t think he had to suffer losses so soon again—but only a fool would ever dream of hope in this land of fire and death. Precisely why he needed the Gnosis, why he would have to take it from her.
And we look forward to meeting you again one day, in a world of wonder and beauty.
But that was not the reason why Ayizu left him with these parting words.
‘I place my faith in our Pyro Archon. As you should, Captain.'
She didn’t save this land. She didn’t save everyone as she should.
As I should.
‘She always has a plan. Stay by her side, aid her, save Natlan together.’
And the Captain is a man of honor. He would see what she has to show for, would at least give her the chance to prove she was everything Ayizu died for. No matter how much his soldiers had begged him to leave for they had yet again lost far too much, he would stay to fight and witness how Natlan could have her future rewritten. He would do it for Ayizu, he owed him that much.
But staying on burning soil was more than walking through the ashes and wailing cries, it was shouldering the burden of existence. Many cursed that it was his arrival that had driven them into shambles, that he had brought the ire of more Abyss to their lands and wreaked havoc through the last of their defenses. Others would accuse him of being a traitor to Teyvat; a Captain only by name who had sold the last of his honor just to be spared alive to serve the Abyss, by leading them right to their neighboring doorstep after they had devoured his own homeland.
So much so that not even the Masters of the Night Wind had welcomed his return shortly after the funeral service. Their look of disdain would eventually confirm his suspicions that it was only through Ayizu that he and his people were allowed refuge, but not anymore the moment their Chief was returned to the Wayob.
Not that it was a surprise to begin with. Being a Commander meant he had to take the chance of every possibility into reality, and this was but one of the many cards he knew would be dealt sooner or later.
Except his dealer was no longer the Heavenly Principles or its Archons, but Haborym herself. And she decides that she would make the visit to his camp in person, to seek audience to his undeniable surprise.
“The Captain, if I may.”
His soldiers have kept her at bay, their loyalty pledged only to him. Which is amusing to say the least, watching the Archon reserving her manners to an outsider like him, as opposed to smiting him , as the other tribes would have liked. Yet she stands around idly, a hand cinched to her waist, casually examining the exteriors of his base. He wonders how he will take the Gnosis from her as he paces towards her, if it is even on her when they eventually speak, only one question weighing on his mind.
“The Pyro Archon herself, Haborym.”
She folds her arms intuitively, “Mavuika. I am a child of Natlan above all else.”
He keeps her words in mind, mostly as a favor to Ayizu’s respect for her, “I assume you are not here for the pleasantries.”
“I want to thank you for coming to the service we held for Master Ayizu. He was my mentor, and I owe everything that I am today to him and his teachings.”
The Captain nods solemnly, “There is no need for thanks. He was a great leader, and always will be. He has shown great hospitality and respect to my men and I, and should be honored the same way he was alive as he is in passing.”
“Glad we’re on the same page then.” She agrees, but unmoving.
“But I don’t suppose you came all this way just to reaffirm such a petty thing. Speak your mind.”
Because if she doesn’t, then perhaps his actions will.
But Mavuika merely laughs, a kind of genuine, warm-hearted laughter that rings persistently in his ears, “Amidst all the reports and complaints I’ve received about one Il Capitano, none of them seems to mention your straightforwardness.”
He wants nothing of her kind words, not when he harbors genuine endeavor to take the Gnosis from her in spite of what Ayizu had asked of him. ‘She is a proud and fearless leader’ he quotes, one who stands side by side with her brethren on the fields, charging headfirst into the war, leading strongly by example. A virtue that the Captain can appreciate for he would do the same, had done the same, as he is reminded of a certain thing Ayizu once said to him when they shared wine over a cracked bowl after a long night of battle.
‘You’re just like Mavuika, more than you’ll ever know. When all of this is over, three of us should sit down and have a drink. She’s going to need someone like you by her side in this war, and I’m sure you too, will feel the same about her.’
At the time, he simply thought the old fool was joking.
“So if you’d excuse my straightforwardness, have you come to chase my men out of Natlan as your tribes deem you to?” He doesn’t have time to be bartering with her. If she’s here to evict them, he’ll need a contingency plan. Something to buy him a few more days to find out where the Gnosis is, so that he can end this war right now if she has no plans to use it.
But it’s hard to turn down her request when she speaks the way she does right now, restless and mournful, “Will you walk with me, Captain?”
His men rise up to protest, concerned about her purpose but he stops them nonetheless, partially insulted by their backhanded worries in face of an Archon who had fought her way to gain respect. A stroll would not hurt, especially since the Abyss has graciously afforded them a breather tonight. So he agrees to it silently, keeping two steps behind her while she takes the lead.
They head west of the Stadium, away from prying eyes until she borders on the edge of the plateau they stood on, watching distant flames soar and ashes rise to the setting moon. She clenches her fist tightly, echoes of helpless cries and pleas screaming in her mind, begging for an end, demanding for her reprieve.
All whilst the Captain gleans at her silhouette for any traces of the artifact, only to find the occasional faint trembles rustling over her body, like a withered leaf barely hanging onto its mother tree in the wind. Might even say a little meek in retrospect, but he knows better than to underestimate her at any point in his life. So he keeps his distance well checked, apart from never letting her out of his sight.
“What do you think of Natlan’s future, Captain?” She then finally breaks the silence, turning to face the solemn man for his answer.
He wonders why his input would matter to her, even though there is nothing to hide in the first place, “Bleak, if nothing changes.”
She grins sardonically, as though tickled by his polite approach, “I expected ‘doomed’ from you.”
“And I expected you to derive that,” He answers truthfully, “though I thought a delicate measure was in order.”
“Generous,” she chuckles softly, “and kind in fact.”
“No one would believe you,” the Captain scoffs at how she tries to make light of his words, “Il Capitano could never have a heart, for I am the blight that has now razed your land to ashes.”
How easy it would have been if she had just believed their words. Save him the trouble to consider other concerns, so he could focus on the one thing that only matters. But she had to be different. She had to be the only light that still glows in their looming tragedy, to choose to stand against such accusations.
“The Abyss is our only enemy. Not the tribes, and certainly not the victims from Khaenri'ah.”
Strange, he had forgotten that they were victims too.
“The tribes may have come to their own conclusion but I firmly believe that their anger and fear are misplaced, fueled mostly by the pain and loss they have suffered in this war. Emotions that you are not unfamiliar with, Captain.”
He had kept the grief and agony inside for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to feel it.
“And I cannot afford doubt to linger in the minds of my people, my allies in a time like this. Which is why I am here.”
He had kept the faces of the ones he loved deep in the recesses of his mind so he would learn to stop feeling, to stop himself from drowning in sorrow for the sake of his men.
“I am here to tell you, Il Capitano , that you are my ally and I will do everything it takes to protect you and your men. You have lost, have bled, and have fought bravely as the children of Natlan. So long as these flames burn, I promise you that there is nothing that I won’t do to keep you and everyone safe.”
He had decided that when the time comes, he would sacrifice everything for the survival of Natlan that he was ready to fight to his death for the Gnosis—
‘She always has a plan.’
And when she holds her hand out, it is the first time he has ever looked directly into her eyes.
Like embers burning, fires ablaze and the brilliant sun ever coruscating. Of conviction, allegiance and faith, for all the personal values he upholds from deep within as she similarly does.
Beyond the rising sun behind her, of an old promise renewed.
Ayizu, you cunning old fox.
“Stand by my side, Captain. Fight with me as you once did with Master Ayizu.”
How the loyalty in his heart races once again.
Perhaps the Gnosis can wait a little longer. There is time to see what she has installed for Natlan. Still time… for one more drink.
“You have much to prove if you want to earn my fealty. But for now… I will listen to what you have to say, Mavuika.” And he takes her hand with a strong grip, with the newfound respect she has earned from him.
While there is earnesty in her smile, the soft chuckle in her voice is what ends up searing into his mind instead, “Never took you for an easy target. But I will earn your trust someday.”
She is Natlan’s Pyro Archon, Haborym.
But from this day onward, the Captain will only ever honor her as Mavuika, a child of Natlan. And he will be watching her, learning about her, journeying with her for as long as it takes.
Until Natlan is saved, he knows he will be with her.