Work Text:
Not long after Thrain sends the wishes of Mavuika’s loved ones to Xbalanque's land of the sun, a soul, half tainted with darkness approaches him.
Unlike the soul of the first Pyro Archon, the light of this soul is dim, almost overwhelmed by the darkness engulfing it, though it still manages to shine through the faint cracks. Perhaps it's the knowledge from the Ley Lines, but a voice at the back of his mind tells him that the darkness engulfing the soul is sin, and seeing that it engulfs the soul in front of him until the light of his soul is nearly extinguished, the sin the soul committed must be a grave one.
Thrain briefly wonders what the soul did in his life –how many sins he committed– to make him look this dim.
“Who are you?”
The soul smiles at him.
Now that he gets to look more closely, the soul is apparently a man, and it looks as though his soul is two halves of two entirely different beings stitched roughly together at the center, yet oddly manages to function perfectly as a complete one would.
The man before Thrain is undoubtedly a human or at least a half-human. The other half of his soul, he suspects, is one of a beast, a dragon perhaps if his slitted pupils and the dark scales scattered across his skin are any indication.
But the dragon half of his soul doesn't look like the Saurians, that are said to be the descendants of the ancient dragons, that live in present-day Natlan. Something about it feels ancient, yet not as ancient nor as powerful as a dragon sovereign, and it has an intelligence that's on par with humans. While Saurians do possess intelligence, it is exceedingly limited that it's only enough to help them survive and assist them in simple communication with humans.
A man whose soul consists of a human and an ancient dragon. How peculiar.
The man contemplates before finally replying, “Please just call me ‘Och-Kan’.”
There must be more to the man’s past –or life– seeing that he needs to think before offering his name, just like how there is “the Sentinel Knight” and “Il Capitano, the First Harbinger” in Thrain's and they make him stop and think which of them should he give when people ask for his.
But what does their past, their titles, matter when they have left their life behind and dwelt in the Night Kingdom?
There isn't much left for souls that have departed the realm of the living other than their birth name and that was exactly why Thrain offered it when Xbalanque asked, though it had sounded more like an afterthought, second to his title purely because offering his title when he’s asked for his name was a habit that’s been engraved way too deep in his consciousness.
He supposes the man before him has the same thought since he offered only a single name and it doesn't sound like a title.
“Och-Kan,” Thrain tries the name on his tongue. It feels oddly familiar, like he had heard it somewhere before…
“You can call me ‘Thrain’,” Out of courtesy, Thrain only gives his real name. Seemingly out of pure habit, Och-Kan says that it’s a pleasure to meet him, to which Thrain replies, “Likewise. Is there something you need to discuss with me?”
Slightly taken aback, Och-Kan’s brows are raised high and his eyes widen before he chuckles, “Do I have to have something to discuss to be able to simply converse with the Lord of the Night? I just want to thank you.”
Being thanked by Xbalanque is already too much, to think there's another soul who might be another great hero in Natlan history going out of his way to thank him too feels almost overwhelming.
“There is no need to thank me,” Thrain licks his lips, his mouth suddenly dry as he thinks of what kind of excuse should he say to make the man drop the topic. The “personal interests” excuse didn't work with Xbalanque and he doubts it will this time. After a little deliberation, he settles on mentioning his debt to Natlan instead. Settling debt is a reasonable excuse and most of the time it does the work in keeping people from questioning further.
“A man from Natlan, from the Masters of the Night-Wind saved me and Natlan accepted me after I lost my nation to the Abyss five hundred years ago. I was only returning a due favor.”
“You love Natlan because a Natlanese man once saved you, huh? That sounds awfully familiar,” Och-Kan mutters more to himself than to Thrain, voice low and expression sad, but his words reach his ears nonetheless.
Och-Kan closes his eyes, “But Natlanese’s souls are so warm and bright and beautiful that you can't help but be drawn to them, don't you agree?”
Voice as gentle as one’s would be when describing a loved one, Och-Kan poses him a question that Thrain knows he doesn't truly expect answered.
The lids hiding Och-Kan’s slitted pupils flutter open, his gaze full with something Thrain recognizes as yearning, “It’s said that Natlan is the land of the sun and I can't possibly agree more. It is as though each of them has the sun as their soul, each sun incredibly unique. Though some are more captivating and burn more brightly than the others, they are all captivating and warm all the same.”
If there's one way Thrain would choose to perfectly capture Natlanese’s soul and pour it into words, it's Och-Kan's. He's absolutely right in that each Natlanese possesses a sun in their soul, warm and bright and charming in their own way.
At least, the Natlanese he met did, Och-Kan is no exception.
Thrain again wonders, what's the story of Och-Kan’s life? What drove a gentle soul like him to commit a grave sin that’s enough to nearly cover the light of his soul completely? What made him consider himself an outsider in his own homeland?
His being here in the Night Kingdom, the Ley Lines unique to Natlan which only accepts souls from Natlan, is more than enough proof that he's a Natlanese.
Yet, the way he describes them is like blatantly declaring that he didn't include himself in the equation, that in his mind, he’s no more than a lowly creature that’s not even a Saurian, because as far as Thrain is aware, the Natlanese consider them to be a part of them, their family, and they can't even speak.
Shame is something Thrain's overly familiar with that he can recognize it on someone else’s face no matter how flitting and Och-Kan currently wears it so plainly it almost makes Thrain’s heart ache for him.
Ashamed of being one of the few survivors of Khaenriah, ashamed of being unable to protect his homeland when he was an esteemed knight, disgusted at his own rotting flesh, at his own inability to stop it. He is no stranger to all those feelings, had felt it almost every passing second of his dreadfully long life it nearly felt like second nature to him.
Even now that he's free of the limitations typical of mortals, he still finds himself ashamed that even after challenging the Ruler of Death herself, he still lives. The only difference then and now is that, even though a part of him still resents the curse of immortality and the one setting it on him for denying him death, he’s also glad that he could use it to bestow upon Natlan an eternal liberty from their seemingly hopeless situation against the Abyss.
That's why, even without Och-Kan explaining it, he naturally understands that the man might not have counted himself out deliberately, rather it was just pure out of possibly a self-deprecating habit.
When Och-Kan’s gaze returns to him, Thrain snaps back to the present. A warm smile that's nearly identical to Xbalanque's graces his lips.
“In any case, regardless of the reason, the fact that you saved us, pulled us out of our suffering, and gave us a better future still stands. That makes me, as someone who is from Natlan, owe you at least an expression of gratitude, don't you think?”
Thrain had never once won a debate against Natlanese, not against Ayizu, not Mavuika nor Xbalanque, and it seems that fact will remain the same even after he had been liberated from his rotting mortal coil.
Quietly Thrain wonders if being a good, sometimes fierce debater slash negotiator is something that's in every Natlanese’s nature.
A quiet sigh escapes Thrain's lips, “... Very well.”
The smile on Och-Kan's lips widens, he grabs Thrain's hands and sandwiches them in his in a praying gesture. Thrain makes no move nor utter a comment all the while.
Och-Kan’s eyes close, “Our Great Hero, Thrain, thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for Natlan five hundred years ago and today. Thank you for loving Natlan–”
At that, Thrain instantly interjects, “I wouldn't say love–”
One of Och-Kan's eyes immediately cracks open, his stare straight at Thrain, and it makes the rest of his words die at the tip of his tongue. Maybe it's his slitted pupils, but he feels as if the man's staring right through to the core of his soul and he finds the shell of it, the one Thrain uses to guard the swirling emotions and memories he keeps close to his core, so revolting, “Then, why did you fight for us, bleed for us, if it wasn't because of love? You may say it's all to repay your debt, but you’ve done more than enough as a mortal five hundred years ago. There's no need for you to come again to our nation after so long, still hoping to release us forever from our suffering. Any mortal, ordinary or not, would think our situation was hopeless, so hopeless that no archons of ours had managed to come up with means that could bring us permanent peace even after millennia had passed. So, tell me, why, despite everything pointing to things being hopeless, did you still choose to help us and eventually give us your life force to sustain our Ley Lines forever, if not because of love?”
Before the intense stare of the man in front of him and his barrage of questions and statements, Thrain finds no rebuttal is suitable enough to counter all of the man's words.
Love may be too strong of a word to describe his feelings towards Natlan and its people, but he would be lying if he said he didn't feel even a tad of fondness for them.
The people of Natlan saved him and accepted him and his men when he had nothing, not even a place to go after the heavens and the Abyss devastated his homeland and severed time from every soul of pure-blooded Khaenriahn so it would no longer affect them, when they could as well just drive them away, point fingers, and curse at them for bringing another trouble to their doorstep when they were already overwhelmed by their own neverending war against the Abyss with their rapidly deteriorating Ley Lines.
They accepted him with open arms and warm smiles, called him one of their own, and after the crisis five hundred years ago was momentarily resolved, sang his praises, immortalizing him, his dignified, free-of-decay self, in a way that doesn't involve curse and rotting flesh, a way that he can gladly accept; stories.
There's no way he doesn't feel fond of them after everything.
Looking at the conflicted, speechless, frowning Thrain, the man, still with a sad smile, turns to look to the faraway horizon of the Night Kingdom.
“Loving something because of someone is not strange nor is it uncommon. There’s no need for you to deny it, there's nothing wrong with it after all,” Och-Kan's gaze’s drawn back to him, yet somehow this time it looks even more intense than before, “I was like that, too, once. You just have to be careful so that that love won't burn you… or others.”
Talking to Och-Kan, Thrain thinks, truly feels like trying to decipher a text from the lost ancient civilization; it uses a roundabout way of speech and some of it is so damaged that it leaves you puzzled, yet it is not incomprehensible given time and patience.
Och-Kan being quite an open man is the conclusion that Thrain came up with after talking a bit with him. He has no qualms about offering a little bit of himself one at a time, but so far he disclosed only a tiny fraction of himself that was enough to prove his point in a way that confounded Thrain, and at the same time, left Thrain even more curious about the kind of life the man before him led.
The way he spoke this time, the lack of doubt in his words, indicate that he's speaking from experience. He spoke of burning himself and others with love and if his intuition proves to be true, then it could mean that it was the very reason his soul got nearly consumed by his sin, because he let his love consume him, corrupt him until it was impossible to contain within that it eventually affected other people and made them suffer.
“My apologies. I’m fully aware that I'm not in the position to lecture you on that, but my mouth was getting ahead of me,” said Och-Kan, his smile apologetic. His hand releases Thrain's for a moment to sheepishly scratch the back of his head, but it quickly goes back to sandwiching his.
“In any case, you managed to do what I wasn't able to; protecting the nation, its people, and even the Pyro Archon. For that, I will be forever grateful to you.”
With a tone most sincere, Och-Kan closes his eyes again.
“O Great hero of Natlan, Thrain, life had been unkind to you, but I sincerely wish that you’ll find happiness and peace which you’d seek for so long, yet had always been out of your reach in death.”
A heavy lump suddenly stuck in his throat. Having someone wish him well, with unadulterated sincerity practically dripping out of their wish like this makes warmth spread in his chest, but also makes it heavy with sorrow at the same time. It’s been too long since the last time someone did it as sincerely as Och-Kan did that he can't even remember when, though he guesses it might have been five hundred years ago.
The Tsaritsa did wish her harbingers to have a safe and smooth journey in accomplishing their missions, but there was never anything personal in it and his comrades in the Fatui never wished him anything considering their pure work relationship and he was the First Harbinger who, in their mind, absolutely did not need any wishes to attain anything, not to mention a human cursed with immortality. In contrast to all of that, Och-Kan's wish was personal, it felt as if Och-Kan had him, Thrain the man, not the Sentinel Knight, not the First of the Fatui Harbinger, not an immortal man that had merged himself with the Lord of the Night in his mind when he made it.
Today, Thrain found out that the heart he initially thought had become frozen after suffering for five hundred years is in fact still capable of feeling moved.
“Oh, and I also hope you have a better chance with the Pyro Archon than me, in this afterlife of yours.”
Those words yank Thrain back to the man in front of him who now wears a mischievous smile on his face.
Why would the man think he would have a better chance with the Pyro Archon when she's very much alive and breathing while he's stuck here in the Night Kingdom for eternity to watch over the Ley Lines and souls of the people of Natlan?
Again, though death, in the general concept, has not claimed him, he had transferred his life force, which is tied to his soul which is bound by the curse of immortality, to the Lord of the Night, making him one with her and left his physical body sitting on the throne at the top of Ochkana–
Ochkanatlan .
That is why Och-Kan's name felt familiar to him because the man practically has the same name as the cinder city he had left his frozen body at after he challenged the Ruler of Death and won.
Then, he must be the infamous ruthless king who led his own kingdom to ruin. There weren't many records left of the tyrannical king in today's Natlan except ones that mentioned him as the villain who issued unreasonable orders, massacred his own people, and exterminated Saurians before the second Pyro Archon ascended and ended his reign in total tragedy and records mentioning his real name and his relationship with the first Pyro Archon were even more scarce. That was why he hadn't thought of him when Och-Kan introduced himself.
But, then, when he mentioned that he too loved something because of someone, could that someone be Xbalanque?
“It seems you've realized my identity now,” Och-Kan's smile turns sad and he finally lets go of his hands, “But I’m not here to do anything dangerous to you or the Night Kingdom, not that I can in the first place. I know I’m not the hero you thought I was, but I truly only wanted the best for Natlan and since you made that wish of mine come true, I wanted to thank you and wish you well. Nothing more.”
Again, Thrain wonders what happened in Och-Kan's life to make a soul brimming with kindness and sincerity like him commit such grave sins. Was it truly love that had driven him mad or was there an added element to it?
“Nevertheless, I have accomplished what I have come to do. I will now quietly wait for the time for my rebirth. Again, thank you and I wish you all the best in this afterlife of yours, Thrain,” Och-Kan bows to him and turns around before a red light, the same red light that appeared to pick up Xbalanque and sent him home, shines down from the sky, stopping him in his track.
“Thrain! I know now why you're attracted to the current Pyro Archon! It's not that hard to understand since she's as brilliant and powerful as me, but that punch of hers really is something. No wonder she got your heart from your first fight. A punch to the chest is the fastest way to a man’s heart, don't you agree?” Xbalanque laughs so loudly as he makes his way to Thrain. From the wide grin and the way he's flooding Thrain's ears with praises for Mavuika, it seems his little trip home was satisfactory.
Though, Thrain thinks he and Och-Kan both truly need to stop saying things that make it seem as if he's in –an unattainable– love with Mavuika. He is not.
“Och-Kan, you’re here too!” If Xbalanque looked happy before, he's positively beaming the moment he spots Och-Kan standing not far from Thrain. He makes his way to the man in brisk steps.
“My Lord, you’re back,” greeted Och-Kan with an identical albeit much more muted warm smile of his own. As if it's the most natural thing in the world, the man raises his hand and Xbalanque quickly grabs it and gives it a firm squeeze.
Thrain's eyes follow both men to their joined hands. The speed at which Xbalanque turned to Och-Kan and focused all his attention on him after he noticed the man when he initially called out to Thrain and dumped him with praises for Mavuika didn't go unnoticed by his perceptive mind.
A better chance with the Pyro Archon than Och-Kan in the afterlife…
Now that is a hard wish to fulfill, Thrain quietly muses in his mind. He had thought that some kind of tragedy happened in Och-Kan's life that prevented him from attaining the love of the first Pyro Archon in his life and in death from the way he phrased his words, but seeing Xbalanque talking Och-Kan’s ears off while the man patiently, lovingly listens to him proves otherwise.
As the men continue to talk, seemingly having completely forgotten about Thrain's presence, a small smile paints his lips.
Hearing Och-Kan talk about himself was slightly painful as the man sounded as though he had very little regard for himself and while Thrain firmly believes that no matter what happened in his life, he must have done a great deed for Natlan for his soul to be able to remain distinctly bright despite all of his sins, he also understands that saying so will not convince the man. Now, seeing Xbalanque talking with him, with so much affection for the man pouring from his eyes and his gestures, Thrain feels glad that he’s been proven right, because why would the first Pyro Archon, who was famous for his love for his nation, look at him with so much love if the only thing he did in his life was ruining Natlan?
The man said it himself, he wanted the best for Natlan. There's no way he's utterly evil if his greatest wish was for Natlan. It’s only a matter of when the man himself will see it. Hopefully, with Xbalanque loving him so openly, one day he himself will be able to see it and start seeing himself in a better light.
Maybe it's impossible in this life, but he truly hopes that in the next one, life will treat both Och-Kan and Xbalanque better.
Just as Och-Kan wished for his happiness in his life in the Night Kingdom with all of his heart, Thrain, too, wishes for Och-Kan and Xbalanque’s in their next life.
A man of his word is what Thrain is, so after both Och-Kan and Xbalanque become one with the sea of souls, ready for rebirth, he picks them up with care and sets them together so they will be reborn in the same era, one that they had strove to achieve in their previous lives they burned themselves down to cinder for; the era of peace.