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roseapov · 5 hours

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Overtime in the Akademiya

Contains spoilers to the Sumeru: Archon Quests Tw: none Fluff 900+ words Masterlist / 2024 BDAY Masterlist Alhaitham's 2024 Birthday Special

Today has been rough for everyone in the Akademiya, just like all of the passing recent days.

After the whole overthrowing Azar, a Fake God situation and disconnecting Akasha Terminals, Akademiya couldn't be a bigger shamble. Even when they tried their best to appear as if nothing serious happened.

Huge delays of many deadlines, changed expectations, new forbidden research topics and the masses of students running from one corner to another were saying otherwise. Driving mad both students and staff working themselves to passing out trying to find some balance to hold on to.

This time has been especially exhausting to the new appointed, Acting Grand Sage - Alhaitham.

With the working hours long since ended, the desk lamp in the biggest office was still glowing, acompanying it's user who was working overtime again, trying to get a hold of the situation and resolve it quickly.

No one envied the new appointed Head, maybe some of them did at first, but after seeing the state of an ever rational, machine-like stoic scholar in such a mess, they quickly abandoned their wish and idea altogether. None of them wanted to be in his skin now...

As if his horribly dark eyebags and disappearing from everyone's eyes, locking himself in the office all the time wasn't showing how messy everything had been lately.

All of the support from the Dendro Archon was greatly appreciated and very much needed, as Alhaitham wasn't being able to clear his desk from the papers alone. No matter if he worked non-stop day and night, he couldn't see an end to it, and yet the amount of them only seemed to increase over time.

The repetitive routine never ended and haven't let anyone working on them to take a single break, and so more help was needed.

Volountiers - mostly students working on less-confidential files who wanted to obtain extra credites, hoping that they would help them with their graduation and those who have already graduated - hoping to ensure their stable and more superior positions in the new Akademiya in the making.

And yet all of their work, all of these helping hands, eyes and smart brains wasn't enough, it would never be enough, and Alhaitham knew that all too well, but all of their efforts were appreciated and rewarded nonetheless.

At this point, he would take most of the student body to help if they volountered, no one has ever saw him so desperate and stressed before.. And only Celestia knew how many times Alhaitham and other scholars cursed Azar in their minds - some even out loud.

This night again, Alhaitham fallen asleep on his desk in the middle of filling another crucial paper, with his hands placed on top of each other as he placed his head on them in the opposite direction from the still working lamp.

The sleeping man got suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, seemingly out of nowhere, as he started hearing voices from the side of his office. His first reaction was to stand up and go to see the source of the sound. As he stood up he was immiediately hit with a wave of dizziness, but still took his swords despite that and prepared to sneak-up on the intruders.

When he thought about finally going to check out the suspicious noise, he saw a little cupcake with a single white candle and green frosting, with sugary letters saying "Happy Birthday!"... At that he slightly lowered his weapons, more calmed down, but still cautious nonetheless.

It is today, huh? He completely forgot, Alhaitham shook his head smiling slightly and sighing. In the next few second he got serious once again, walking with his dual swords towards the source of the noise, hearing familiar laughter behind the mini-wall made from a bookshelf.

The next thing that Alhaitham saw had relaxed him entirely, as he quietly shook his head at the newcomers antics, with a genuine smile and the feeling of the pressure being taken off his chest.

Right in the middle of the so-called relaxation room in his office sat his friends: Kaveh, Cyno and Tighnari. All of them laughed happily at his reaction, clearly enjoying his expression and their succesfull surprise, as both Tighnari and Kaveh made a high five and Cyno was smirking at the taller man. At that he only just rubbed his eyes from still lingering sleepiness and looked at them for a while.

Soon after he put back his swords, another weight had been added onto the couch, with the man sitting close to everyone. Some of them started to chat about some light things, while the others continued to lighten his workload, just like before he joined, sometimes chimming some light remarks into the conversation as well.

Their laughs and happy conversations had surrounded the Grand Sage office up till the rise of the dawn, and when everyone had fallen asleep, Alhaitham - unnonticed by the rest covered them all with blankets and changed positions of some of them, to lessen their possible pains afterwards.

With another happy yet tired sigh he also placed himself on one of the couches, falling asleep comfortably and peacefully, just like before all of this mess started. In that moment he was very thankful for having companions like that, going out of their ways to help him out and be with him from their own will and initiative.

What strange friends he has, he thinks with a gentle and tired smile. He's feeling glad, as he drifts off to a dream land...

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lampthehealthminister · 1 year

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A new beginning starts with a new leaf

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Characters: Al Haitham, Nahida (but only a little bit)

Warnings: Spoilers for Act V of the Sumeru Archon quest :0

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When Al Haitham opens the doors to the Grand Sage's office, he is surprised to find that Lesser Lord Kusanali is not here.

He knows he's on time, because he always is, so the Dendro Archon's absence leaves him perplexed. Usually, when he enters she is sat on a chair, patiently waiting with a smile on her face as always. He quickly thinks over his schedule in his head, and concludes that he did have a meeting today, but still ponders over his Archon's absence. Still, he doesn't stay fixed on the matter, and simply guesses that Lesser Lord Kusanali is late because of some matter unknown to him. So, he decides to just pick up a book off of one of the bookshelves adorning the walls, and sits down to read while he waits.

Nothing stirs for a while as Al Haitham reads. His headset is on, yet no sound reaches his ears. His eyes scan over the text he holds quickly as if he's read it a million times already, yet each word leaves his head just as it enters it. The silence is like a weight, heavy in the hair, but he doesn't stir, and keeps reading instead. Just as he nearly suffocates in the waters of the cloudy sofa he sits in, a soft melody makes itself known. It speaks in gentle phrases, filling every nook and cranny of the room. It pulls Al Haitham up, and his book clatters to the floor. This seems to anger the soft sound, and it turns into a howling, biting wind of chill. It bounces off each wall and hits him directly each time, and his body turns and sways like a fragile flower in a tempest. He removes his headset, choking on the brutality of the element, and collides with the door of the office.

The door opens, and Al Haitham falls out, drowning in the screeching sound. Behind him, the office whirls around itself like a whirl mill, and he smells the fragrance of dandelions as the door traps the room on itself. It screams, it kicks, he can hear it, feel it in the goosebumps across his skin, even. But the sun shines a bright green light around him and he feels his chest tighten on the wild flora of the rainforest. Still the melody rings in his ears, but it is more pleasant now. It's as warm as a benevolent gaze, and as tender as a golden feather. When he looks up, he sees both a comet and a watchful eye. The latter merely stares at him, red glowing gaze dissecting his every body parts, before putting back his heart in his stomach, and his stomach in his head. The former only flees, shy and surprised at the humanly intervention, a golden dream amongst the forest of creatures. It rushes past, and Al Haitham follows the running star. The giant eye watches him.

Al Haitham turns left, right, goes a up a flight of stairs, and then down. He explores every cavity of his brain, guided by the shiny sparkle, a stranger to the neverending green of earth. Everywhere he goes is the same, and yet it's different, like trees in the forest or people in the crowd, or grass in a clearing, or clouds in the sky, or the rays of the sun, or the visions done by gods. When he feels he's reached his breaking point, he meets the inhabitants of the forest. The insects, the birds, the trees, the flowers, the Shroomboars, the mushrooms, the water, the Rishboland tigers, the Aranara, the God of Dendro, and everything else in the world. They are all singing in unison, chanting for the watchful eye, for the comet, for him, for her, for the forest, for living beings, for the divine, for the world, for the nonexistent sky they are seated under, and he feels like he's just interrupted the most beautiful chorus of the world, where all beings unite as one for the stars, and all wishes can become true.

Lesser Lord Kusanali calls out for Al Haitham first, her smile as radiant as the morning sun in the desert, with all of its light reflecting on each sand grain to illuminate the sky. He takes her hand - Had she always been that close? - and he feels nothing. The tension leaves his body, and he seems inhabited by this song he knows nothing about, and yet he knows how to replicate. He sings, but he doesn't hear anything, and yet he knows his headset is on ; he watches, but he doesn't see anything, and yet he knows everyone is here.

"It's the Rhythm of the Great Dream.", she says, her voice distorted by the green, by the chorus, and yet it sounds like a lullaby to his ears, and he almost wants to fall asleep on the spot. "You can hear it now.", she continues, her voice clear like crystal water, and watery like a clear crystal. "You'll learn the melody soon enough."

Lesser Lord Kusanali doesn't speak after that, and the silence is suffocating this time. Al Haitham lacks air, but no one seems to notice. He brings a hand to his throat, but it doesn't reach anything and only grasps at air. He feels his heartbeat ring repeatedly in his head, his blood moves in his veins, and he collapses under the brilliant light of green, surrounded by the existence of what he worships. He hears her laugh beside him, a tinkle-like sound akin to a dance of bubbles, and his chest clears. The grass under him tickles his skin, it moves like rolling waves on the ocean, dragging him along like a forgotten plank of wood, far away from the sturdy and reliable composition of his house. Or perhaps he is on a dune of sand, moving as swiftly as the smallest grain, lost and swallowed in the immensity of wind-swept minerals. It doesn't matter to him, everything has the same texture, everything feels the same at that precise moment ; the sky is like the sea, the grass like the sand, the cobblestones like the rocks, the clouds like the snow, the fire like the light, the darkness like the universe, and everything is everything else and itself at the same time.

Al Haitham feels the gaze of the watchful eye on him yet again. He is alone, faced with what could be his sins, divine knowledge, Azar, or maybe all at once? He doesn't ponder anything, the song - no, the Rhythm of the Great Dream - dancing around in his mind instead, and he closes his eyes. The wind howls and the plants cry as their leaves fall, but he still doesn't open them. He is an animal in a world of animals. The world tears itself apart under him, for him, around him, in him, but the soft melody of renewal guides him to serenity. He waits patiently for all his senses to come back, for the palace to turn upside down, and he falls, consciously and unconsciously, into the world of the yellow, of the senses and feelings, of smell, touch, taste, vision, hearing. He is no longer in a clearing, but the world is a clearing, filled with all kind of people like trees, and grasses like children, and couples like flowers, and vines like friends, and gods like humans, and beings that exist, no matter what they are.

Still, when Al Haitham opens his eyes, the violent headache that hits him makes him wince. Any normal person would simply stay lying for a while, but he decides to sit up, and black dots fill his vision on top of the pain. A sharp wave of nausea rises up, but he forces it dosn. He feels disoriented, and looks around his room once, twice, thrice to make sure he's in the right place. When he comes to the conclusion that he is, in fact, in his room, he inspects himself. He hesitantly pokes his face, his throat, and when his hand doesn't phase through it, he realizes that he's well and alive, and definitely not dreaming. The thought itself is so unexpected, that he stops, in disbelief. When was the last time he had dreamed? He ponders over the question for a while, but no answer comes to him in his recent years. He only vaguely remembers the fairytales and made up adventures he used to dream of when he was a child, but the Akasha Terminal had prevented him from indulging in the activity, so he has never dreamed again since reaching adulthood.

Weirdly enough, this seems to shake Al Haitham to his core, and he closes his hands out of habit, except an object sits in his right one. As he lifts it up, he realizes it's not an object, but a leaf. It's perfectly green in color, while not being off-putting, and it appears to be in pristine condition. He looks over it, and notices writing on the inside of the leaf ; music notes, he concludes after a closer look. The Rhythm of the Great Dream resonates in his head at that exact moment, and he hums it without thinking as he puts the leaf away in a book. Oddly enough, he doesn't find the apparition of this leaf to be strange, on the contrary, he feels almost comforted by its presence. In the back of his mind, he reminds himself to find a text about music, to try and read the score - And maybe play it? - so that he can really participate in the singing in his dream next time.

When Al Haitham sees Lesser Lord Kusanali later in the day, he doesn't ask her anything, but the knowing smile she gives him is everything he needs to understand.

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I have no explanation for this other than the fact that Sumeru's population rediscovering dreams must have been wild