Chapter Text
Kaveh is ten, double digits, and old enough to begin training for his place in society. Old enough to leave behind the last shreds of his childhood and don the clothing of an omega.
“Kaveh,” his mom says. “What is this?” She is holding a paper, upon which Kaveh had sketched out the ideas running through his mind. They wouldn’t stop until Kaveh had penned them to paper.
“Oh, I heard you talking with father about the servant’s houses. I came up with some ideas to improve them! That way that the servants won’t have to deal with the cold anymore and—”
“Kaveh,” his mother says sternly, “These things are not for us.” His mother threw it in the trash and told him to not write such things again. His letters were improper. Uneven. Handwriting should be elegant and curved, not blocky and scribbled down on the corners of paper during the wee hours of the night.
-
Kaveh blinked and found himself, years later, watching the back of his father as he rode away. It is the last time Kaveh ever saw him. Even now the hole he left in his heart never quite mended itself the same. Despite the anger that tore through him when his parents tried to dictate his life, he can’t help but remembering the times they held his hands together and lifted to swing him towards the sky.
-
Kaveh blinked again and found himself in the throne room of Sumeru City. Haitham, sitting on the throne, his gaze betrayed nothing as he stared at the lineup of omegas before him.
“Him,” Haitham said, but his finger was not pointing towards Kaveh. Instead, it was aimed at a tall, slender woman with dark hair. Kaveh’s head spun. No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. This wasn’t what happened.
Kaveh blinked and the world dissolved before him.
-
Haitham, in their bedroom.
“I regret choosing you,” he spat, with more vitriol than Kaveh had ever seen the even-headed man possess.
Tears began gathering in the corners of Kaveh’s eyes. What was happening? “Why—Why would you say that?” Kaveh said.
Haitham merely shook his head. “Do you really even have to ask that?” Kaveh bit his lip. No, he didn’t really. Because he already knew. Kaveh was clingy, and whiny, and wasn’t at all graceful or poised like most formally trained omegas of higher ranks. He was temperamental, and argumentative at his worst and nagging at his best. Kaveh just simply, wasn’t a good fit.
“I understand,” he said hollowly.
“Good,” Haitham said.
-
Kaveh was sent away from the palace. A disgrace, and a worthless omega. Haitham had him carted off discreetly to a country villa where he would spend the rest of his days comfortable, yet confined within the property as to not draw attention to himself. Meanwhile, Haitham took on a new omegan bride who was everything Kaveh was nice. Kaveh saw a rendition of them. They looked good together.
He cried as he read the news. The servants didn’t bother to comfort him. Kaveh currently was drinking a cup of coffee, trying not to note the way it tasted like ash without the hint of mint in the air. Kaveh sighed and reached for the paper.
Kaveh
He flinched. What was that noise?
Kaveh!
Kaveh spun wildly. The cup clattered out of his hand, coffee spraying over the tiles. His mind itched to start to clean it up, as to not bother the servants anymore but something stayed his hand.
Kaveh! It’s not real. Remember—
The noise cut off suddenly. Strange. Kaveh stared at the cup, shattered on the ground. What was he doing? His hand shook. No. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Kaveh blinked and—
—Found himself in the garden of the palace. His mind spun. Yes, he was here to destroy the Withering. Kaveh tried his best to shake of the remnants of the nightmarish life he had lived. It clung to him like cobwebs.
Where was he? It looked like the garden, but Kaveh knew it couldn’t be. They had been in a cave, deep underground. So all of this must be…
Not real then. Kaveh reached out and touched a flower. The whole image rippled before his eyes. Kaveh squeezed his eyes closed. He needs to find the Withering and destroy it. He needs to—
-
Kaveh is sitting at a café, with Tighnari before him. “Kaveh?” Tighnari asked. He waved a hand in front of his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh?” Kaveh said. He looked around them. All around people who were clearly Sumerian walked around, and yet they looked nothing like the Sumeru that Kaveh knew. “Where are we?”
“Puspa Café,” Tighnari said slowly. “Are you unwell?” Kaveh had never heard of this place in his life. His eyes were suddenly drawn to the glinting of metal by Tighnari’s hip. A small glowing green orb sat there.
“What is that?” Kaveh asked.
Tighnari frowned. “Kaveh, what on Teyvat are you—"
“Never mind,” Kaveh said. “I don’t have time for this.” He heard Tighnari’s protests behind him as he started to walk away. Kaveh reminded himself this was not real. Simply a better dream that the Withering was using to attempt to distract him from his real purpose.
Nahida, he called out internally, Lend me your aid.
The world around him shifted. Sumeru in ruins. Haitham across from him holding a sword.
“This is all your fault,” he said.
“You’re not real,” Kaveh said. He flung out his hand. A wave of green washed over the landscape.
And the world shattered.
-
Kaveh, someone whispered.
Kaveh startled awake. He sat up gently. He was back in the field of flowers. It was warm. A gentle breeze blew past his hair, rustling it. The aranaras from last time were there as well. One of them approached him and pat him gently with their stubby arm.
“Nara Kaveh is good Nara,” it said.
Arakanta was standing before him. “Nara Kaveh!” it cried. “Other Naras very worried, but Arakanta not worried. Arakanta knew Nara Kaveh strong.” Arakanta did a mock flex with their stubby arms again.
Kaveh chuckled. He felt... different. A little hollow. Whatever power had filled him was drained away now, leaving an empty space where Kaveh had never noticed before inside. “Where are they?”
“Outside,” Arakanta said. “Nara Kaveh is in Vanarana.” Kaveh understood.
Movement attracted his eyes. Nahida sat on her knees, surrounded by various aranaras.
“I’m afraid this is the last time we will be able to speak like this,” Nahida said, a soft smile on her face.
“So… I did it?” Kaveh asked. He turned to face the sky, where petals rained down.
“You did.” Nahida smiled. “Kaveh, if there is anything I can do for you in exchange, you need but ask.”
Kaveh thought of his home. Of Haitham, of Tighnari and Cyno. “I think I have everything I need,” he said.
-
The next time Kaveh woke, it was in bed, back at the palace. Kaveh blinked awake slowly, his eyes blurry with something.
“Haitham?” he mumbled. Beside him Haitham stirred as well, a grey lump passed out on top of Kaveh’s chest.
“Kaveh,” Haitham answered, awake. “How are you feeling? We couldn’t wake you… After. I feared the worst.”
Kaveh nodded, “I feel okay.” He strained to remember the final moments of the Withering. Already it was all fading away, like a bad dream. “What happened?”
“After we entered the cave, the Withering attacked us,” Haitham said. “Arakanta shielded us from most of the harm.”
-
“Kaveh!” Haitham cried, as Kaveh and the others were blown back by a pulse emitted by the Withering Tumor. Haitham’s heart raced as he stared at the black mass before them. A faint green barrier flickered into view around each of them.
“Arakanta will shield you,” Arakanta said. “Naras go!” Kaveh stumbled into a run straight for the tumor. Black tendrils grew from the mass and lashed out. Tighnari shot a few, but his arrows simply passed through them. One snaked around him and struck out at the barrier surrounding Cyno. A loud shrieking sound rang through the cavern.
“Naras come!” Arakanta called. “Arakanta stronger together!” Cyno and Tighnari raced back to Haitham’s side, but Kaveh forged on ahead. The storm of black rot became even stronger, pushing him back as he attempted to reach the central mass.
“Kaveh!” Haitham yelled, just as Kaveh’s hand stretched out to touch the tumor.
The resulting blast knocked them all unconscious. By the time Haitham came to, Tighnari and Cyno were already awake and tending to each other. The Withering was gone, but Kaveh was prone, but the green gem on his chest was pulsing rapidly.
“What is that?” Cyno asked. Haitham’s hand scrabbled to reach for Kaveh’s wrist. He sagged in relief when he found a pulse.
“Where’s Arakanta?” Haitham asked. Perhaps the Aranara would have more answers.
Cyno shook his head.
-
“Oh, Arakanta is okay,” Kaveh said.
Haitham smiled. “I am glad. It expended much energy protecting us. I had hoped that it had simply returned to Vanarana.”
-
Tighnari tended to a minor cut on his head while Cyno started a fire. For one day they waited for Kaveh to wake, before deciding to make the trek back to the surface, where more resources to help him would be available. Before they had even left the cavern though, the green gem on Kaveh’s chest broke off and enveloped them all in a blinding glow. When they opened their eyes again they were back on the surface. Kaveh, however, was still unconscious.
Haitham immediately organized the stunned soldiers around them to cart them back to Sumeru City, where Kaveh was tended to using all of the palace’s resources. Haitham was the one who dribbled nutritious soup (formulated by Tighnari) into his mouth and wiped his body clean of the dirt from the fight.
On the third night Haitham had all but given up hope. He despaired that Kaveh may not wake, sent into an unending sleep by the trauma of dissolving the Withering. Haitham had resolved not to give up though. He would tend to Kaveh’s body as long as was needed to.
-
“Three days,” Kaveh said, stunned. “Almost four. It felt like mere minutes to me.”
“I am glad you did not have to suffer the way I did,” Haitham said. “You have awoken just in time too, the Sabzeruz Festival is today.” Haitham drew the curtains open. “Look,” he said. Outside the window, Kaveh could see roads lined with flowers of every color and shape.
“Help me up?” Kaveh asked. His limbs were stiff from days of unuse. Haitham wrapped one arm around and under his armpit and hefted him into standing position. Together they slowly walked over to the balcony. A waft of fresh, warm air blew into Kaveh’s face. He exhaled. A deep sense of peace settled inside of him, filling what Kaveh had felt to be a void in Vanarana, but was instead a blank slot for him to fill.
“It’s beautiful,” Kaveh said. Soft flower petals rained down from arrangements above them every time the wind blew. One landed on Haitham’s nose. Haitham scrunched his face and sneezed. Fondness swelled inside Kaveh.
“It is,” Haitham answered, staring only at him.
fin.