Chapter Text
It started with a sudden CRASH!
This was immediately followed by a very loud and painful THUD, as Alhaitham abruptly found himself reintroduced to the concept known as “gravity”. He cursed, irritably, as he picked himself up off his bedroom floor, grimacing at a protest from probably-bruised limbs.
(That was not how he’d expected to wake up. Out of all the ways one could start the day, “falling out of bed” was not one he had considered – not that he regularly considered many other possibilities, either. This was definitely not his most dignified moment, though; he hoped Kaveh hadn’t – )
He paused, as he suddenly registered the faint light leaking from behind the curtains.
(… it was half past midnight. Why was there already light?)
He quickly got to his feet, and made his way over to the window. He pulled both sets of curtains aside, to look out into the rainforest night.
The sky itself still seemed to be dark… but everything was bathed in a foreboding, red-orange glow, and a breeze carried the faint but distinct scent of smoke.
(… an explosion.)
He stared for a moment, then cursed again.
(Fire.)
Alhaitham quickly drew the curtains again, then turned to leave the room, swearing some more. He didn’t bother changing – there probably wasn’t time for that. He didn’t know who had decided to blow up the city tonight, but he did know that they were going to regret it… if only because even the gods liked being able to get a good night’s sleep.
(He knew it had been too quiet, lately. Sure, they were still dealing with the ripple effects of Fontaine’s still-recent upheaval, but Sumeru itself hadn’t seen any major incidents in most of a year. He should have known it wouldn’t last – )
“Alhaitham?”
Alhaitham paused, glancing back over his shoulder, at the sound of his name. The other bedroom’s door was now open; red eyes stared back at him, from behind a loose hairpin hanging from a mess of disheveled blond hair.
(… well. At least he hadn’t been the only one.)
“… Kaveh. Did you fall asleep at your desk again?”
“… oh. Uh… yeah. I was double-checking some stuff for my trip – wait, no, now’s not the time! What’s going on right now? There was that huge noise, and now something’s on fire? Where are you going?”
“To investigate, obviously.” Alhaitham didn’t bother to respond to his roommate’s first two questions – he didn’t know the answer to the first, yet, and the second hadn’t really been a question. “Stay here, and don’t do anything foolish.”
“What – hold on, now! Wait just a minute!” He heard footsteps trailing behind him, as he continued down the hall, and made his way to their storage room. “You can’t just not tell me anything! Where’s the fire? That noise – was that an explosion? Are we being attacked – ”
“I don’t know, Kaveh. As I said, I’m going to investigate.” Alhaitham took a moment to locate the heavy boots he kept on hand for when his duties took him into one of the Akademiya’s many laboratories, then turned to head over to the front hall – Kaveh didn’t like shoes inside the house. “I’ll tell you if you need to leave.”
A long pause.
Then, “I’m coming, too.”
Alhaitham bit back another curse, as he shoved his feet into his boots, and summoned the Archon’s cloak. “Don’t be a fool; there are others better suited to this task. Leave this to them.”
“W – you think I’ll just sit here while you go running off to do who knows what?! Don’t forget that I’m your senior, here! I’m coming whether you like it or – ”
“Kaveh.”
Red eyes blinked, as Alhaitham pulled up his hood.
“Stay. Here.”
Kaveh blinked again. He started to say something, stopped, then started again.
“… okay. Be… be careful.”
(… good enough.)
Alhaitham waited just long enough to be sure that his color-changing aura was in place, before speeding through the nearest uncovered window.
(He was not dragging Kaveh out of a fire again.)
However this fire had started, and whoever it had been started by, it was clearly no minor blaze. The air temperature was already starting to rise, as Alhaitham made his way up the Divine Tree, and found a branch with a clear view of the city to land on. It didn’t take long to see where the trouble was; sheets of flames were spreading from one of the northern residential districts, filling the sky with towering plumes of smoke.
(… that was a lot of fire. What had even caused this? Surely this wasn’t just the result of a wiring problem, or someone forgetting to turn off the stove – )
“Alhaitham?”
(… ah. As expected.)
[Nahida. Are you aware of the problem?]
“Yeah; I’m just a few branches up from you. I’ve already informed the Citadel.”
Alhaitham glanced in said building’s direction. Sure enough, there was already a stream of smaller lights starting to trickle from the Citadel of Regzar’s gates, and more starting to gather in the streets – all heading toward the scene of the emergency.
[… this is no ordinary accident. I’ll have to head over, too.]
“Okay. I’ll meet you there.”
***
This was definitely no ordinary fire.
Nearly a quarter of the neighborhood was already gone, consumed by flames and smoke, by the time Alhaitham arrived. He quickly found a perch on a rooftop a few streets down – close enough to clearly see what was happening, far enough to be in no immediate danger.
The area was, of course, in chaos. People were running in every direction, shouting and screaming in panic and terror. Some were just running; others were scrambling to rescue people, pets, and valuables from the flames. And yet others were simply frozen stiff, as if held down by long, winding roots, sprouting from the ground to feed upon their fear.
(This wasn’t good. They needed this under control, now.)
One moment, Alhaitham was alone on the roof; the next, someone was beside him, with only a flicker of Dendro to announce their arrival. “This is terrible. What could have caused all of this?”
“I can’t say. We have more urgent things to focus on, anyway.” He paused for a second, to think through the situation before them. “The Corps of Thirty will likely require some time to fully mobilize; we’d better get started for them. Too many people will be trapped, if they’re not evacuated now.”
“Right. Um… okay, I can sense where people are; I can start getting them out. I’ll – ”
[Nahida. No.]
She stopped. Dendro-green eyes blinked, then stared at him in confusion.
[Don’t spend your energy recklessly; there are more useful things for you to do. You can contribute far more in the long run, than you will by rushing in now.]
Silence. Nahida stared some more, seeming conflicted; he saw her lower lip tremble, the same way Kaveh’s often did when the architect’s compulsive altruism was flaring up.
[Stay at a safe distance, and instruct people on where to go – those who need to evacuate now, and emergency responders when they get here. Only go in for those with no other means of escape.]
More silence… and then a nod. Her lip stilled.
(That would help things proceed more smoothly, at least – especially with her talent for calming others. Extreme emotion killed reason, none more effectively than extreme fear – and nothing was more dangerous than the loss of reason.)
He turned back to the still-growing fire.
(As for him…)
“You don’t have to go.”
He forced himself to take a deep breath.
(… it was… a tempting thought.)
[You know I do.]
More shouting, in the distance.
He could just make out some of the words.
“… this happen? The gods…”
“… save us…”
(… the air was too hot, already.)
“… okay.”
Dendro flared. A flower-like dome bloomed in the sky, over the city.
“Be careful.”
He took another deep breath, then sped forward, into the blaze.
Alhaitham sensed the Akasha coming to life, under its First Terminal’s command, as he landed again, in a tree that hadn’t yet been engulfed by flames. Nahida didn’t technically need the Akasha for this, but having it certainly made things easier – especially when this many people were involved.
An image seemed to flicker into existence in his mind. A map. A red dot appeared, then another, then two more – people’s locations, he realized.
(He needed to get moving. Emergency responders were starting to arrive, but not yet in the numbers they really needed. He’d have to help pick up the slack – )
“ – na! Zena, come down!”
“Madam, please! It’s too dangerous, we have to go!”
“But my dear Zena – !”
Alhaitham turned in the direction of the shouting. There was a Corps of Thirty member just down the street, trying to pull an older woman away from a house that looked to be seconds away from collapsing. One wall was already gone; smoke and fire poured from every window. One of the front door’s hinges seemed to have melted off.
There was a small, dark shape on the roof – a wide-eyed, thoroughly terrified-looking cat, curled up in a tiny ball.
“Zena! Zena, please, you have to come down!”
“You – no, don’t go closer – !”
Crack.
The roof sagged. The cat’s eyes somehow seemed to grow even wider.
Alhaitham reacted almost without thinking.
The world blurred. His boots skidded on crumpling tiles.
There was a yowl, and a sharp pain in his arms. He ignored it, and jumped – barely half a second before the roof gave way, with a deafening CRUNCH.
He landed in front of the startled woman and Corps member, just as the house fell behind him, everything seeming to shake as the rubble hit the ground.
The woman stared up at him, with eyes almost as wide as her cat’s. “L – Lord Idris…” she breathed. The Corps member stared as well, but said nothing.
Alhaitham took a moment to catch his breath, before speaking. “You should leave, now. Let this man know if there is somewhere you would like to go; he will lead you there if it’s safe.”
A blink – then a nod. “Y-yes, sir.” A pause. “… th… thank you.”
She pried the shaking cat from his arms, whispering soothingly into its ears until it let go, before finally following the Corps member away. He watched as they left, ignoring the already-fading sting of a distressed feline’s claws.
Dendro pulsed, faintly, inside him.
He ignored the ever-unspeaking voice.
“Good.”
(… they could keep their approval.)
He pulled his mind back to the present.
More Corps of Thirty members were arriving, now. They were spreading out throughout the neighborhood, putting on protective gear, preparing portable fire-suppression systems. More and more markers were appearing on Nahida’s map; some were now turning yellow, then blue, then finally disappearing, as the people they represented were claimed by emergency responders, then found and led to safety.
Alhaitham forced himself to slowly inhale, then exhale.
Then he checked the map, found the nearest unclaimed target, and sped away again.
(… it was going to be… a very long night.)
***
Tighnari was the first to wake. By the time Cyno stepped out of the former’s house, still blinking the fog of sleep from his eyes, the Forest Watcher was already wide awake, staring into the distance with ears and nose raised.
“The Bimarstan just sent an all-hands call,” he said, without preamble. It took Cyno a moment to register the holographic, leaf-shaped “earpiece” already at the side of the other man’s head, over the vestigial ear most people didn’t know he had. “The Archons are doing something, too. I can’t see the details – they’re only available to emergency responders within the city – but I’m guessing it’s something big.”
Cyno looked up, following the younger man’s gaze. It was a little hard to see, from all the way out in Gandharva Ville, but he could just make out a strange, glowing dome, like one of Razan Garden’s gazebos, in the sky over Sumeru City… and a dark, billowing cloud, flickering with an ominous, red-orange glow.
(… where there is smoke…)
… there’s fire.
Another voice. “Master! Cyno!” Cyno turned, to see Collei running toward them, from the direction of her own house. “What’s going on? I-I, um – I couldn’t sleep, so I was reading, and then I heard this loud noise…”
… if even Collei heard… then it must have been very loud.
“… I see.” Tighnari turned to her as well. “Collei, it appears Cyno and I will be needed in the city; we’ll be leaving very shortly. Stay here, and wake everybody you can; tell everyone to start gathering fire relief supplies, and preparing them for delivery.”
Collei blinked – then nodded, her eyes taking on a determined light. “… got it. You can count on me!”
And with that, she turned, and took off running toward the next nearest house.
“… You’ve taught her well. I don’t think I would have recognized her, had I met her like this just a few years ago.”
“Yes, well, it wasn’t just me. I’ll take the flattery, though.” A pause. “Anyway, enough about that. We’d better get going.”
“Right.”
Their night off was ending somewhat sooner than expected… but when duty called, there was little one could do but respond.
***
“Out of the way, people!”
Somebody yelped, as Dehya raced past a group of distracted Corps of Thirty members, to slam her way through a burning door. She quickly scanned over the room behind it, eyes settling on the far wall – and the splintered remains of another door, now buried under a pile of shattered support beams and stone.
She ran over to the pile of rubble, and immediately started hauling chunks of debris aside, ignoring the sting of the occasional metal object against her skin. There were definitely benefits to having a Pyro Vision… and to the powers her Vision granted, in particular.
She wrenched one last metal beam aside, then finally grabbed onto the last broken chunk of stone, and heaved it out of the way. Light finally spilled into the remains of what appeared to have been a utility room, illuminating the shattered remnants of a large sink, two of those new-fangled Fontainian machines… and a lone child, huddled in the corner.
Dehya let out a breath, then gave the kid what she hoped was a reassuring grin. “Found you! You sure know the best places to hide, huh? But hey, let’s get out of here now, yeah?”
The child stared up at her, with eyes wider than Candace’s favorite dinner plates. “Um… Miss Eremite? You’re on fire…”
“Eh, yeah, don’t worry about that. These flames won’t hurt anyone – here, you can even touch them, see?”
The child let out a squeak, as she bent down to pick him up – then blinked, and stared at the golden wisps that still trailed along her arms. “… whoa…”
“Neat, huh? Now come on – let’s see if we can find your parents.”
Of course, everything also had its downside.
Dehya paused, then quickly turned her head aside, to cough up a gout of golden flame.
She bit back a curse, as she cleared her throat, pretending not to notice her charge’s sound of awe.
She was pretty sure this wasn’t what people meant, when they talked about having “that fire in your belly”.
Still don’t get why smoking is a thing. Who even came up with that idea?
***
The Bimarstan was in chaos, when Naphis stepped through its front doors.
To be entirely fair, it was a very purposeful sort of chaos – the sort that naturally resulted when many different people were hurrying to do many different things. There were three interns crowded behind the front desk, along with an older staff member who was probably the actual receptionist on duty, handling a growing stream of patients and their family members; another intern and two nurses were attempting to triage those already crowded into the front waiting area. Some unknown number of assorted other staff were hurrying in and out, shouting questions and requests, with tones and expressions that made it clear they had never been in a situation like this before – which could be seen as a good thing, in a way, but was rather inconvenient now.
Naphis quickly scanned over the growing crowd, and found the person he was looking to speak with first. “Zakariya! What’s the situation?”
The man in question looked up, at the sound of his name. “Ah – Grand Sage! I’m glad you’re here – I’ve never seen anything like this. Uh, we’re mostly just trying to keep everything under control, for now – oh, and getting everyone ready to evacuate, if necessary. We’ve already sent the all-hands call, but it’s taking people a while to arrive…”
“I’m not surprised; the crowds on the way here were outrageous. Far too many fools standing around, gawking as if they have nothing better to do…” Naphis paused, and cleared his throat. “… anyway. Go help get this crowd sorted; I’ll handle the back. Also, send someone to start clearing out meeting rooms when you can – we’re going to need the space.”
“Ah – yes, sir!”
Naphis didn’t wait to see what the doctor would do. He made his way through the front lobby, and straight into the central halls.
“Alright, everyone, listen up! Students – start moving existing patients out of communal wards! We want incoming patients together for efficiency! You there – tell everyone in Supply to start bringing Mint, Mist Flowers, and Qingxin to the pharmacy! Everyone else – get to your station if you have one, make a line if you don’t! People are waiting, so get moving…!”
***
“… no, there’s no danger here, for now. Head back to your rooms; you’ll be informed via the Akasha if anything changes.”
The two students didn’t seem terribly convinced, but they both nodded, after a moment, nonetheless. Zaman watched as they turned to leave, slowly heading back in the direction of the Akademiya’s dormitories.
Another voice came from behind him. “Baladhuri!” He turned to see a vaguely-familiar man walking up to him, hurriedly, fumbling with his spectacles. “Curses, of all nights…”
“Ah, Shakir,” Zaman greeted the other man, finally recognizing him from his voice. The Rtawahist Sage had clearly come in a hurry; his hair was a mess, and he looked to have simply thrown on the first set of reasonably-presentable clothes he could find. “It’s good to see you; I suspect we will all be very busy tonight. Have you seen Firnas?”
“I’m afraid I haven’t seen much at all,” Shakir admitted. “I seem to have misplaced my glasses; this is an older pair. Honestly, I only recognized you by the color of your robe.”
“Hah! Well, it’s a good thing I had it handy, then!”
“Indeed. In any case, what is the situation?”
“Ah, yes.” Zaman paused, clearing his throat. “Right. Grand Sage Naphis has gone to the Bimarstan; I’m overseeing things here in his absence. Sages Rushd and Alkindi have already arrived, so we are just waiting on Firnas.”
“I see. Current tasks?”
“Management and planning, essentially. Alkindi is sourcing materials and equipment for cleanup, Rushd is on communications, and I’m keeping the people here under control. You… go start on the budget and logistics; I’ll have Firnas join you when he gets here.”
“Understood.” A pause, and a sigh. “… of all things… I didn’t think this would be the first thing to happen, after our probations were up. I had hoped we were done with the unwanted surprises, after last year…”
“I imagine most of us did,” Zaman agreed, “though perhaps that was merely wishful thinking on our part. In any case, there’s nothing to be done about it; we can only deal with things as they come.”
“Yes, of course. Anyway, I assume we’ll be working in the Grand Sage’s office?”
“Yes. Alkindi has gone to meet with some contacts, but Rushd should already be there. I’ll join you if things calm down enough, here.”
“Very well. In that case, I’ll be on my – ”
“Professor!”
Zaman and Shakir both looked up, in the direction of the new voice. There was a girl – presumably a student – with long, blue hair running toward them, footsteps echoing on the tiled floor. She was wearing a nightgown under her uniform jacket, as if she had literally just gotten out of bed; a Cryo Vision dangled loosely from her collar, next to a pin resembling a Floating Anemo Fungus.
Shakir paused as the girl came to a stop in front of them, gasping for breath. He squinted a little, frowned, then adjusted his glasses and looked again. “… Layla?”
The girl looked up at him, nodding. “Profe – ah, no – Sage Shakir. And Sage Baladhuri. Sorry, Pr – no, I-I mean…”
“It’s alright, Layla; I’ve told you, either is fine. Was there something you needed?”
“Oh, um – sort of? I was – I just wanted to know what was going on. There was a really loud noise, and now everyone’s saying there’s a fire…”
“Yes,” Zaman said, “that is correct. You do not need to worry, though; the Akademiya is in no danger. There will be an announcement if that changes.”
“Ah… okay. Though, um…”
A pause.
“… if the two of you are here, this late at night… then it must be pretty serious, right? You wouldn’t be here if…”
Another pause. Zaman and Shakir exchanged a glance.
“… Is there anything I can do? I mean – I know I’m… just a student, but…”
“It is alright,” Shakir said. “You do not need to worry about this. Just pay attention, in case there are any announcements.”
More silence. The girl glanced aside for a moment, fidgeting slightly.
Then, she looked up again.
“I want to help.”
The two Sages shared another glance.
“… it would perhaps help to have an assistant on hand,” Shakir finally said. He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking. “… Very well. Come with me – it is about time you started learning to write your own funding requests…”
Layla visibly and audibly swallowed, then nodded again.
Zaman watched as Shakir led her away, toward the House of Daena.
… the world changes before anybody knows it…
***
The Grand Bazaar was full of people, by the time Nilou finally stepped through its doors. Voices echoed from every direction – shouting, crying, and everything in between.
She squeezed her way through the crowd, following the scent of dried Padisarahs and Harra Fruit. She could just make out the sound of sizzling oil, drifting from the familiar set of stoves. “Mr. Jut!”
The person in question looked up, as she called his name. “Ah, Nilou! There you are – I was wondering when you would get here. Is everything still alright out there?”
“Yeah,” Nilou said, with a nod. “Thanks so much for coming – I know this was really sudden, and it’s really late…”
“Ah, don’t mention it – it was the right thing to do, you know? Honestly, we should all be thanking you for thinking of it – we’d probably still be standing around, otherwise…”
“Oh, no, I can’t take credit – I’m sure somebody else would have thought of it, too, by now. What are you making? It smells really good!”
“Well, I’m about to start frying up some Samosas, and I’ve got Tahchin already going in the ovens – figured we’d want things that are easy to do in big batches, right? Oh, and these are potato, but I’ll make some with meat later – I figured I should start with the kind anyone can eat, since people are in a hurry and all…”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Well anyway, I’ll get out of your way now – I’m going to see if any of the others need any help. Thanks again, Mr. Jut!”
He waved to her as she started walking away, before turning to greet a family – a young couple, with a small child – that was also checking out his stand. Nilou heard him talking to the child as she turned away, to start looking for her other friends.
There’s Hushang and Farhad, over there. They seem to have things under control. I saw Afshin somewhere; I should see how he’s doing. Dunyarzad’s probably on her way back by now – oh, and Madam Faruzan’s here, too…
Voices continued to echo – though the tension in the air seemed to be decreasing, now. Hushang was busy setting up his own stand, covering the counter with assorted trinkets and toys; Farhad seemed to be telling another family where to go. Nilou saw Madam Faruzan leading two more children over to the others, and a few members of Zubayr Theater discussing something by the stage.
Nilou smiled a little to herself, before continuing on her way.
It might not be much, but we’re going to do what we can, too.
***
The guards wouldn’t say what was going on.
Wanderer didn’t like not knowing what was going on.
He’d woken up about an hour and a half ago, to a faint, echoing crash, from somewhere in the distance. Experience told him that such sounds rarely meant good things – but of course, he had no way to know, from the windowless confines of a Matra cell.
The guards did seem to know, though. They were restless – that much was obvious, from the way they kept fiddling with their Akasha Terminals, the whispering as they passed each other in the halls. But they wouldn’t tell him, for whatever reason – as if he might attempt something, with that knowledge.
As such, there was little he could do, but wait. What he was waiting for, he didn’t know, but it was easier to think that he was at least doing something; the idea that he was just sitting there, doing nothing, made him uncomfortable in a way he didn’t quite know how to describe.
… not that there weren’t other things he could be doing. He did have quite a few books to read, and he still needed to finish writing his analysis of last week’s assigned reading. But he didn’t really feel like working on any of those things, right now. He didn’t think he could focus on them, anyway – and sitting uselessly at his desk, “working” but making no actual progress, would be even worse than simply doing nothing.
… though… there was that other thing Lord Kusanali had been trying to teach him…
Wanderer paced one more lap around the main area of his cell, before finally letting out a huff, and sitting back down on his bed. He kicked off his sandals, smirking as the ensuing thump caused a passing guard to jump, then pulled his feet up to sit with his legs crossed.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then carefully folded his hands in his lap.
In concept, meditating seemed like it should be easy. It was supposed to be calming, and was sometimes done for extremely long periods of time.
Which only made it more and more infuriating, each time he attempted the activity and failed. The First Lord always tried to soften the blow – supposedly, it was common to require practice, and more than a few attempts – but he was starting to think she just didn’t want him to be discouraged. After all, how hard could it really be, to just sit still and think?
He’d considered asking the Second Lord for his opinion, once. The Scribe wasn’t known for mincing words to spare others’ feelings. But then, that would mean possibly finding out that meditating was supposed to be easy…
The First Lord’s voice seemed to echo in his mind.
“It doesn’t have to be anything deep; start with your surroundings, or just something you like. Anything is fine – the goal is just to clear your mind of other things.”
… he’d tried focusing on his surroundings, before. That had seemed like a logical place to start – if the goal was to clear his mind, then surely a place as empty and dull as the depths of Matra headquarters would be ideal?
Somewhat unintuitively, it was not. Though to be fair, he supposed it made sense; trying to focus on something boring was… well, boring. And being bored would naturally cause one’s mind to wander, which was of course the opposite of what he was trying to achieve…
… so something he liked, then. That was… more difficult. He wasn’t actually sure what he liked; he just… hadn’t really thought about it, in a long time. Doing things purely for his own enjoyment had always seemed childish and wasteful; there had always been more important and productive things to do. Even now, nearly a year after his… change of circumstances… it was… difficult… to think of anything without immediately questioning its purpose.
So what did he like? What made him happy? Well, he supposed there was bitter tea, and hot cocoa – but those didn’t seem like things he could meditate on. He liked… he liked the small puzzles and games the First Lord sometimes brought, along with his books and other materials. He liked the supervised walks she would sometimes take him on – around the Akademiya, to the top of the Divine Tree, sometimes out into the city, when there weren’t too many people about. He supposed he even liked the conversations they would have – though they were often strange, and sometimes hard to understand. Not because he didn’t know the words… but the questions she asked could be confusing, and some didn’t even seem to have an answer.
… it was strange. He didn’t know why, but something about those conversations… was familiar, somehow. As if he’d had similar conversations, a long time ago. He wasn’t sure who he’d had them with, or what they had been about, but –
“The sea is nice today, isn’t it?”
Wanderer nearly jumped. Surprisingly, he managed to limit his reaction to a slight twitch – though he did feel his Vision flare, straining against the elemental suppression field maintained by the device on the other side of his door.
That was… not a voice he’d expected to hear again, after all this time.
“What are you doing all the way out here, by yourself? Thinking about something?”
… strange. He’d buried that voice, a long time ago – exiled it to the darkest corner of his memory, when the thought of it alone burned so hot, he thought he’d never want to hear it again. Left it there to disappear, to be lost in the endless depths of time.
But now… it still burned, a little. But not in the same way as before – not like a fire, threatening to consume everything it touched, but more like… a cup of tea, that hadn’t yet cooled enough to drink. Still hot, if he was careless… but only warning him back for a time, not driving him away.
“Feel like talking about it?”
… it was… nice.
“By the way, have you thought about picking a name yet? Or are you still happy with ‘Kabukimono’?”
… he supposed… he might like this, too.
***
Sumeru City… was not quite what he had expected.
In some ways, he supposed, the city was exactly what he had expected. There were a lot of people – some like those he knew, some very different. The city itself was more or less what had been described, though the architectural style had definitely changed – which was only to be expected, really, given the time that had passed. Their records definitely needed an update; he’d have to get someone on that.
In other ways… well, to say their records needed an update would be an understatement. Half a millennium was a long time… and if the rumors held any truth – which rumors always did – enough had happened for yet another millennium, in the last year and a half alone.
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing… well, he’d have to wait to say. A single day of observation was hardly enough for such a judgment – though unfortunately, it seemed that further observation would also have to wait.
(Bad timing. Return later.)
Good plan.
Though that being said, his “bad timing” had let him observe… some notable individuals.
If, admittedly, only from a distance.
They seem interesting; we should try talking to them, next time. What do you think?
A distant roar. Flames leaped over the skyline, illuminating billowing clouds of smoke.
Sethos downed the last of his drink, and leaned back in his seat outside the tavern.
… don’t think there’ll be much else, tonight; everyone’ll be talking about this for a while. Let’s see if anyone needs help, then get back to the inn. We’ll head back out in the morning.
***
There was something very wrong about this fire.
Fire was, of course, a threat to any wooded area – especially one as saturated with Dendro as Dharma Forest. That said, Dharma Forest was also a rainforest; as much vegetation as there was to feed on, the humidity generally kept fires from burning too far out of control. Under normal conditions, fires on Sumeruan soil burned briefly, if fiercely, dying quickly once the appropriate countermeasures were in place; rarely did they last more than thirty minutes or so, barring some form of… encouragement.
This fire had been raging for more than two hours.
[What is the current status?]
“Still not much progress. The fire’s still contained, but we can’t seem to push it back any further. It just won’t stay out.”
[Any explanations?]
“Only guesses. Nobody can get close enough to tell.”
Alhaitham bit back a curse. There was clearly something unnatural about this; no normal fire would burn so persistently, in an area with so much ambient moisture. It wasn’t even the dry season – there’d been a rainstorm just a day ago, and another was expected by the next evening.
There was no reason for this to be giving them so much difficulty.
(They couldn’t let this go on much longer. They didn’t have infinite supplies; the Citadel was already running low on chemical suppressants, and tools and protective equipment weren’t indestructible, either. Not to mention, there was no way all this smoke would have no effect on the environment. Sumeru’s forests were more resilient than most, thanks to the regenerative properties of Dendro, but everything had its limit… and he doubted most people really wanted to find out what this particular limit happened to be.)
[… Nahida. What do we know about the initial explosion?]
“… not much. There weren’t many witnesses – most people were asleep, and no one was close enough to really see anything. Those who were… aren’t really available.”
[Do we know where it originated from?]
“Um… no, but I’m guessing somewhere in the area that’s still burning. Oh – and there is one other thing. A few people say they can hear smaller explosions still going off somewhere. Nobody’s sure what they are, though.”
(… smaller explosions? That could explain things… but what sort of explosives would last this long in such a blaze? And why would there even be such a thing, in the middle of some random residential area?)
[… we need to get to the bottom of this. I’m going to investigate.]
“… are you sure? We have no idea what’s in there.”
[This has gone on for too long; standing around will get us nowhere. Something must be sustaining this – we need to find out what.]
A long pause. Something fell in the distance, with an echoing boom.
“… okay. But be careful – and hurry.”
Alhaitham didn’t give himself time to question his decision.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as he flew into the sea of flames, heading straight for the inferno’s heart.
The presumable source of the explosion wound up being easy enough to find. There was a house right at the center of the blaze, pouring flames from every side. Alhaitham didn’t bother looking for a door; he sped through the first unobstructed window he could find, forcing himself to ignore the flames that caught on the energy that sustained his current form. He quickly found a reasonably safe-looking place to land, time speeding back up again as he cut off the flow of Dendro, and dropped back into physical form.
The house was, unsurprisingly, a mess – though actually in much better shape than he’d expected, considering the amount of time that had passed. For starters, it was still recognizable as a house – already an impressive feat, given the amount of fire that was around.
(It was so hot.)
The reason for the building’s unexpected structural integrity quickly became apparent, as soon as time started moving again. The feeling of moisture hitting his face came as a surprise – a double-edged one, due to the heat. On the one hand, the presence of water was obviously a good thing, given the present circumstances. On the other hand, the intense heat was quickly turning the water into steam – contact with which was… not ideal.
(A sprinkler system – a highly robust one, judging from its continued ability to function. Whoever lived here – or had lived here, at this point – must have had Mora to spare.)
That said, the presence of water also made one other thing rather apparent. Namely, the reason for the unnaturally-persistent fire.
There was a sharp POP – then another, and another.
Energy flickered amidst the flames, as Dendro and Hydro coalesced. As fruit-like cores formed, ignited, and burst, falling like raindrops from the air.
(… a Dendro leak. That would explain… many things.)
[Nahida. Can you tell me anything about this location?]
“Um, hold on. That house should be… eighty-two, eighty-three… Okay, um, it looks like that house belongs to someone named ‘Navid’. He’s a Herbad from Amurta. Age seventy-two, retired but still active in research, specialization in pharmacology…”
(… a private researcher? In that case…)
[Are there any floor plans on file?]
“Um… yeah, actually. It looks like he needed a permit for some renovations, a few years ago… What are you looking for?”
[Does he have a home laboratory?]
“… yes. Here.”
There was a pause, before the floor plan appeared in his mind – with one of the rooms highlighted in bright yellow.
[Thank you. I’ll report back shortly.]
Navid’s laboratory was situated at one end of the house, in what had likely once been the master bedroom. It, like the rest of the house, was also impressively intact – the walls were still mostly standing, and one of the door’s hinges was even still attached. Whoever Navid was, and whatever kind of research he’d been involved in, he had clearly not skimped on safety measures.
That did, of course, raise the question of what he’d been doing that had caused his house to explode. That seemed like a question for later, though.
In any event, it didn’t take long to find the cause of the current situation. There was a very large and expensive-looking device in the innermost corner, which Alhaitham immediately recognized as a Ley Line energy extractor – a somewhat older model, judging from the separate, manually-operated taps for each element. It had probably come from one of the Akademiya’s laboratories – such items were often resold after being replaced.
It didn’t take more than one guess to identify the problem. The tap labeled “Dendro” had been left wide open – a rather egregious oversight, but hardly an uncommon one (though most instances didn’t, thankfully, have such disastrous results).
Alhaitham quickly reached for the valve’s handle – and swore, loudly, as the metal wheel promptly came off in his hand.
(Hot.)
He cursed again, as he tossed the half-molten lump aside, biting back a hiss as he shook its remains from his hand. In hindsight, he really should have expected this result – honestly, it should have been more surprising that the handle had actually held its shape for so long. He clearly hadn’t thought that through properly.
(It was too hot.)
Also, now he had a new problem. These valves were manually operated… and now their controls were gone.
(Think. This device had to have an off switch – that should have been his first thought, really. But then, that switch was probably metal, too, which meant…)
Alhaitham sighed, and swore, one more time.
(… he hoped he wasn’t about to make things worse.)
Three mirrors formed.
A storm of energy blades rained down, crashing straight through the Ley Line extractor’s main body and intake pipes.
There was the dull whir of a machine powering down, barely audible through the sound of metal and glass crashing to the ground… and then, the device was silent.
The flow of Dendro subsided.
(… thank goodness.)
He let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, then turned to leave.
(He was not being paid enough for this.)
[Nahida.]
“Alhaitham? Is everything okay?”
[Yes. Navid had a Ley Line extractor in his laboratory; he’d left the Dendro tap open. I have rectified this mistake.]
“That’s good. Are you leaving now?”
[Momentarily. I’ll check the rest of the house, in case – ]
Alhaitham stopped, his thoughts jolting to a halt, as he stepped back out into the hall, and glanced through the next doorway – into what appeared to have been a study.
There was a strange shape, sitting slumped over in an armchair.
A person.
“… Alhaitham? Is something wrong?”
(… there was no marker on Nahida’s map. Had she…?)
[… there is a person in the house. Were you aware that someone was here?]
“… no. I thought I’d checked…”
Alhaitham paused, then carefully made his way over to the chair. The person didn’t react in any way to his presence.
He pressed two fingers to the person’s neck. It was hot, of course, but there was no pulse – not even a reflexive twitch of the muscles.
[… they are dead. Odds are… they already were, when we arrived.]
“Oh… yeah, I guess… that makes sense. The explosion was right there…”
[… I suspect this is Navid. The Matra will likely want the body; I’ll bring it outside.]
“… okay. I’ll send someone to collect it from you. Oh, um, just a minute – I need to go help someone – ”
Alhaitham withdrew his hand, then turned to look around the room. The ambient Dendro levels were falling, but there was still a ridiculous amount of fire; he needed to leave as quickly as possible. The front door was rather far away, but there was a window…
(… he didn’t like the idea of damaging the building further, while he was still inside, but it would save him a considerable amount of time. And the house was still surprisingly intact. As long as he moved quickly, and avoided directly hitting the walls – )
Crkkrr…
(… What was – )
CRACK.
(… oh, heck.)
***
“… please, don’t worry about it – I’m just glad you’re safe. You’ve already done plenty – go rest now, okay?”
Nahida exhaled, as the Corps of Thirty member paused, then finally nodded. Another Corps member came over, and helped him to his feet; she watched, as the two of them slowly walked away.
That was really close; I barely managed to teleport in time. It’s a good thing I saw that distress call when I did.
She took a deep breath, turning her attention to the Akasha again. The situation seemed to be stabilizing now, at least; there were no more people who needed rescuing – there were only emergency responders still in the area, at this point – nor any other reports that needed attention. The fire was still raging, but not as fiercely, now; it would likely still be a while before it started receding, but with its fuel source now cut off, it would only be a matter of time before there was simply nothing left to burn.
… oh, right – I need to send someone to meet Alhaitham. I should probably get back in contact with him, too, in case something –
– CRASH! –
Nahida felt her stomach drop, at the sound that suddenly echoed though her mind – right before she was abruptly ejected from his.
… Alhaitham?
***
“… h… m…”
“… lh… tham…”
“Alhaitham!”
He woke to a voice inside his head, and weight all over his body. His lungs felt flat and empty; he instinctively gasped for breath – only to choke, and cough, on a mouthful of dust and scorching heat.
(Hot.)
He managed to get the coughing under control, after a moment, and took another second to regain his bearings. He was face-down on the floor, beneath something heavy and hard. Or several somethings, actually – a pile of rubble? His entire body ached, like he’d been run over by a Sumpter Beast. Everything felt painfully hot.
(Where was he? What had happened? He remembered…)
His mind finally seemed to catch up to the situation, at that point. He forced himself to move – to get his hands and knees under him, and push up against the searing weight. Pain lanced through his chest and side; he forced himself to ignore it.
Finally, the weight seemed to shift – sliding from his back, pieces tumbling off and to the sides. He forced himself to raise one arm, then the other – to push with his hands as well, against the weight on his head and neck, until the pressure finally gave way, shifting out of place with a groan of metal and wood against stone.
He gave the object one last shove, pushing it up and away – and gasped, as air rushed into his face, pouring into his throat and lungs.
(It was hot, like everything else – but it was at least not just smoke and dust.)
Alhaitham shoved one last chunk of rubble aside, before finally pulling himself free, and up onto his feet. He stumbled forward a few steps, before letting himself fall back onto all fours to catch his breath. His arms shook under his weight; his muscles felt like water and lead. His mind screamed at him to move, but the rest of him just couldn’t be bothered to listen.
(His head hurt; there was blood running down his face. More blood on his back, seeping into his clothes. Everything was still scorching hot.)
An itch in his throat. He let out another cough; it tasted like iron and ash. More pain in his chest, like fire and broken glass.
(… it was fine. He’d had worse than this.)
He finally managed to steady himself, after another minute, though his hands still shook as he stood. He forced himself to look up, to refocus on the task at hand; he definitely had more problems now, but he wasn’t going to solve them by sitting here like a bag of rocks.
(He needed to retrieve the body. The cave-in had missed it, thankfully – that, at least, still had yet to go wrong. Unfortunately, the cave-in had buried the nearby wall – and with it, the window he’d planned to use as a way out. He’d have to take a different route…)
The body was, like everything else in this house, in surprisingly good shape. It was badly charred, of course, but not completely beyond recognition – it was possibly even still identifiable by sight.
Nonetheless, Alhaitham was careful to avoid moving it too quickly. He lifted it slowly, forcing himself to ignore the marks left behind on the chair, and carefully hoisted it up onto his back. Rigor mortis was already setting in, making the body somewhat awkward to carry; he shifted uncomfortably, at a lifeless jab to his ribs, but otherwise ignored that, too.
The rest of the house was somehow even more full of fire than before, when he stepped back through the door again. Flames licked at every surface; smoke stung at his eyes and nose. The sprinklers were somehow still running; the air was heavy with steam. It clung to him like a blanket, scalding his lungs with every breath.
(Focus. He needed to get out – someone was likely waiting on him. It wasn’t that far to the front door – he just needed to keep moving.)
He trudged his way down the hall, through the remains of the living room, and around a corner, into what he remembered to be the front hall. He didn’t remember there being this much fire, though; it filled the entire corridor, barring the way forward like a wall.
(… he’d be fine. A little fire wouldn’t kill him; Celestia wouldn’t let him go that easily.)
The last few meters to the door seemed to stretch on forever. For once, he was thankful to be wearing the Archon’s cloak; the material wasn’t especially heavy, but it did provide some protection. A faint tug on his energy reserves told him that the automatic repair enchantment was working; he was immediately glad that he’d finally finished translating the instructions for applying it, just a few days ago.
There was a muffled crash, from somewhere in the house. The walls seemed to shake all around him. Something crunched beneath his feet – glass? Stone? He didn’t know. Everything burned; even the air itself seemed to be on fire.
(It was too hot. His limbs felt like twigs, wrapped in lead. There was so much fire – on the floor, on the walls, clinging to his breath – )
Another crash – louder, this time. Everything seemed to shudder at the sound. One knee twitched dangerously, beneath him; he paused for a moment to steady himself, forcing himself to breathe despite the heat.
(Focus. He was almost out; he just needed to leave.)
Finally, finally, he reached the door. It was still closed, somehow.
He took a deep breath, braced himself, and charged.
He slammed into the door with one shoulder. It gave way with a CRACK, chunks flying away in every direction, one taking a hinge and part of the frame along with it. He staggered out into the open, gasping for breath, willing himself to stay on his feet even as the world seemed to spin, his sight blurring from smoke and fog.
(It was hot. It was so hot. He needed – he needed to – )
“ – hey! Look up, genius!”
(… what?)
There was suddenly something in front of him – red and black, wreathed in golden flames. A hand at his shoulder, holding him steady. His sight cleared a little, just enough to let him make out a pair of eyes – yellow pupils, on blue irises.
“Hey. You okay, Mr. Archon?”
(… Dehya?)
“Seriously, I keep telling you to stop trying to have all the fun to yourself – you really scared some people, you know? Come on, give me that – whoa, steady now – ”
She took the body from him, sliding it down from his back and onto her own. He saw her make a face, presumably at the appearance or smell.
“Alright, I’m good. Now get out of here – let everyone else take it from here, alright?”
(… he wished… he could – )
A burst of Dendro – then another, before he could even react.
The air was suddenly… much cooler.
“Alhaitham? Can you hear me?”
He became aware of a pair of arms around his waist. A trickle of Dendro in his mind, silencing stray thoughts of fire and pain. He was somewhere else, all of a sudden – on a rooftop somewhere, watching the flames slowly starting to recede.
(Where was he? How had he gotten here? Why – )
“Shh, no, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’ve done enough – just stay with me, okay?”
(… Nahida.)
Voices pulled his thoughts back to reality. Close, but not too close – in the streets below, calling to each other. Shouting orders, delivering messages, directing civilians and transports.
(… it was much quieter, here. The air didn’t taste of smoke. There was a slight breeze – heavy with heat and humidity, but still a welcome relief from the burning.)
“It’s okay. You did great. Sit with me?”
Alhaitham took a slow, shuddering breath.
(… it was going to be alright.)
***
The flames finally died, about half an hour later.
“… that end of the street – we don’t want people trying to get back in. Start searching the outer areas; there might still be some survivors…”
Alhaitham sat on the edge of a roof, just outside the cordoned-off perimeter, watching as the Matra started taking control of the area. Nahida sat beside him; a small hand lay on his forearm, as if to physically anchor him to reality.
(… it was still hot. It likely would be, for a while; a fire of that size didn’t just end when the flames were out. The heat was more manageable, now, though – still uncomfortable, but not excessively so.)
“… to headquarters. We’ll need to confirm the identity…”
Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Are you feeling better, now?”
He paused, then slowly nodded.
[I’m alright. You do not need to worry about me.]
“That’s good. I was really worried; it took you a while to wake up, and then I was trying to ask if you were okay, but you weren’t responding…”
(… she was? He hadn’t noticed. Had his awareness been affected that badly?)
[I apologize. It was not my intent to alarm you.]
“I know. And it’s okay.”
A clanking noise, below them. He looked down to see a Corps of Thirty member starting to lead a Sumpter Beast away; a large wagon, covered with a heavy sheet, trailed behind them, wheels rattling on the unpaved road.
(… this was going to produce a lot of paperwork. He was going to be busy for a while, it seemed. He’d hoped the relative quiet of the last several months would last a while longer… but it appeared that fate was starting to get bored, again.)
Nahida’s voice again. “I think that’ll be about it for tonight. The Matra probably won’t have much until tomorrow.” A pause. “One of us should probably still stay and keep an eye on things, just in case. Why don’t I handle that? Um, do you think you can get back okay?”
Alhaitham paused again. A familiar, jackal-eared figure walked by, below; he watched the figure pass, before finally nodding again.
[Yes. It should not be a problem.]
(The Gnosis pulsed, inside him. He could feel the faint hum of Dendro, steadily flowing through him.)
“Okay. That’s good.” She shifted a little closer, to reach for his uninjured hand. “Why don’t you go ahead, then? Oh, and don’t worry about coming in today, okay? I’ll send someone with an update, when there is one.”
[… understood. Thank you.]
“Of course!” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Well, whenever you’re ready. Oh, um – but first – ”
She let go of his hand – then turned, reached up, and carefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“You did great today. Now don’t worry about the rest – everything will be taken care of.”
Alhaitham let out a breath, then responded out loud. “Very well.” A stab of pain in his side; he winced, but otherwise ignored it. “… I don’t suppose a time off request would count as part of ‘everything’?”
A giggle. “Have a good rest, Alhaitham. I’ll see you tomorrow.”