Chapter Text
Sometimes, Kaveh did think about death.
He had always assumed that he would either go out in a blaze of glory, dramatically rescuing people from a natural disaster, or maybe peacefully in his sleep as an old man, after a long life well lived.
But life always managed to find a way to disappoint.
He had been at a worksite, minding his own business as he inspected the progress of the building, when he tripped on a pencil.
Yes.
He tripped on a pencil, lost his balance, and fell from a two-storey building to the ground.
It was such a stupid way to go.
And that was how one story ended, and this story begins.
---
Kaveh blinked awake. He was lying on the cold hard ground, with the hot midday sun gone and in its place remained the cool night sky. His head feeling oddly light, Kaveh hauled himself up to a sitting position.
“Your name is Kaveh, is that correct?” a low, booming voice called out.
Kaveh lifted his head to see a dark-uniformed man with a jackal headrest peering back at him with dull, lidded eyes.
“Cyno?” he called out uncertainly.
“I am not him,” the man said, taking a step closer, still looming over him. From this distance, Kaveh realised that the man was different. What he had thought was a jackal headrest were real jackal ears, and this man was a lot taller than Cyno, his features more rugged and sharp at the same time. “My name is Anubis.”
Anubis. The God of Death.
“Am I dead?” Kaveh asked, just realising at this moment that his form was actually non-corporeal. His hands were vaguely translucent, faintly pulsing in and out of reality. He looked around. If this was the spot he had fallen, his body must also be here, but there was nothing to be seen.
“Not yet,” the god answered grimly, crossing his arms. “But perhaps, very soon.”
Kaveh closed his eyes. “So this is how it ends,” he murmured bitterly. He had forgotten to close the window to his room this morning before leaving for work- his poor pot of red gardenias would be exposed for who knows how long? He had also been so close to finalising his designs for the expansion annex of the Palace of Alcazarzaray. It would be such a shame to never get to see it in all its glory the way he had envisioned it. It was going to be a library as grand as the House of Daena, a spot both a corner for relaxation and a centre for academic activity.
There was so much he wanted to do. Even in this non-corporeal form, he could feel an ache of yearning tug at his nonexistent heart. All his life, he had always wanted to do so much but only had so little time. But he had not realised back then how truly little that time was. If he had known, would he have done things differently? Spent more time helping those around him?
A small pang hit him as he wondered how his roommate would react. Perhaps Alhaitham would just think ‘good riddance’ in that awfully nonchalant way of his and casually go on with his life, hopefully not merely tossing Kaveh’s things by the side of the road. Finally there would be no one to nag at Alhaitham over his terrible furniture choices and poor habits. Kaveh smiled to himself wryly, in spite himself. He hoped that Alhaitham would mourn him, even if it was for just a bit. It would be nice to have known that he cared. Just that would have been enough. And maybe to also take care of his gardenias.
“Are you done staring at the ground yet?” Anubis intoned coolly.
With pursed lips, Kaveh slowly lifted his head to meet Anubis’ eyes. “For a God of Death, you have some questionable bedside manner.”
“I am not the God of Death, I am merely here to guide souls to the afterlife. Usually. But in your case, it’s a little different,” Anubis said, his voice continuing to remain devoid of any feeling.
“Different?”
“Like I said earlier, you’re not dead yet,” he said, and Kaveh felt a wild hope surge in his (again, nonexistent and non-physical) heart, pressing against him urgently. Could there be a way? Was this not to be his end? Unfortunately, Anubis was not quite finished. He continued, “But you are also not quite alive.”
Kaveh blinked, the spiral of emotions within him all grinding to a halt abruptly as he tried to decide whether to feel excited or disappointed by this turn of events. “I don’t quite understand.”
“You breathe, but your vision lies dead since your soul is currently here.”
Kaveh frowned. “I don’t think I’m breathing. Unless you’re referring to… Wait, where’s my body? It should be here!”
Anubis let out a long-suffering sigh. “At last, you’re asking the right questions. Your body lies in the hospital Bimarstan in a comatose state.”
“Can you take me there?” Kaveh asked, clambering to his feet quickly.
“Very well.”
The jackal-god reached out and grabbed Kaveh’s arm, and the world instantly disappeared in a swirl of darkness, and reformed itself into a recognisable sight.
It was a hospital room, completely empty, except for the body lying prone on the bed. A very familiar face. The face Kaveh saw in the mirror every day.
Kaveh took a staggered step closer.
It was him, but at the same time, a little different- the cheeks were a little more gaunt than before, and he seemed a lot thinner than his usual shape. “How long has it been?” Kaveh breathed aloud, covering his mouth with his hands in shock.
“1 month. The doctors here think you won’t wake up,” Anubis replied, pulling out a book from some pocket dimension. He flipped through it calmly, ignoring Kaveh’s rising mental breakdown right in front of him. “You have lived quite a life, Kaveh of Sumeru.”
“Why are you here then, if not to take me away?” Kaveh asked, his eyes still wide.
“You still have a chance to return to life,” Anubis replied.
What?
Kaveh whirled around.
“How?” he breathed.
“This accident was not meant to happen- it was not supposed to be your fate,” Anubis answered calmly. “As such, you have been given a chance by the gods to return to the world of the living, if you can prove to them that you have lived a life worthy of this gift.”
Kaveh drew in a shaky gulp of air. “What must I do to prove that?”
Anubis said, in a low voice, “You must get three people to shed tears of pure love for you within the next forty-nine days.”
Kaveh blinked. He had been expecting something truly impossible and Herculean, but this… this just seemed easy enough. He had so many friends- of course at least three of them would be real, and cared for him enough to cry for him, especially if they thought him dead.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps, his journey in this world was not yet over.
He could still do all the things he wanted, himself.
“So what do I need to do?” Kaveh asked seriously.
Anubis frowned back at him. “It’s not as easy as you think,” he said softly, “But yes, to help you, you will be issued a temporary body to seek out your loved ones. But there are rules you must follow.
- You must not tell anyone who you truly are.
- You cannot cause physical harm or death to anyone.
- You must wear this earring at all times.
If you break any of the rules, the teardrop will shatter, and I will immediately return to escort you to the afterlife. Do you understand?”
Anubis snapped his fingers, and Kaveh felt something hanging from his left ear. He reached for it, and felt a smooth tear-shaped container attached to the end of the earring.
“This earring will automatically collect any pure tears shed for you,” Anubis explained. “You will be given a limited allowance that allows you to make purchases- the temporary body you’re issued will still be subject to mortal needs, so that means food, water and shelter. But you’ll need to make the rest of any money you need yourself. If the body dies, I will immediately return to escort you to the afterlife. Do you have any questions?”
Kaveh drew in a deep breath. “This is a lot to take in,” he said, a little flustered. “So all I need to do is get three people to shed pure tears for me? Because they genuinely care about me?”
“Yes,” Anubis answered, “They must shed those tears with no intentions of selfishness, nor reservations. They must be thinking of Kaveh, and to want nothing more than for you to come back to life.”
Okay, that made it sound a little more challenging. But still possible.
“If you have no other questions,” Anubis said quietly, drawing closer, “You will wake up in 3... 2... 1...”
“Wait-”
Snap.
The world went dark.
---
Kaveh blinked awake, aching all over.
Where am I? he thought, rubbing the back of his head as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.
And then he remembered everything. The pencil, the fall, the guy who looked like Cyno, and then the mission-
Kaveh reached for his left ear, and felt the round, smooth tear container hanging there. It was real, he realised.
He chewed his lip, and somehow tasted blood. He blanched- his lips were so chapped for some reason that even the slightest of pressure made them crack.
“Who is this person?” Kaveh murmured, holding out his hands to look at them. They were more tanned than his usual complexion, but his fingers were smoother and not callused, unblemished by a lifetime of sketching and building.
There was a cup of water sitting on the bedside table next to him, as well as a small analog clock. He picked up the cup, peering into it.
“Archons,” Kaveh breathed, nearly dropping the cup in shock. In his faint rippled reflection, he saw a stranger. Someone with pale sky blue eyes instead of crimson, and who sported a short messy crop of black hair. While Kaveh used to be slender, the thin person in the reflection merely appeared scrawny.
His voice was also a lot lower than his usual pitch, but still not as low as Alhaitham’s kind of low. It was quite the marvel, indeed, how Alhaitham’s voice could reach such tones-
Okay. He had more important things here to think about. He had to focus.
What was it that Anubis had said? He just needed to make three people cry genuine tears for him, and then he could return back to his normal life.
Forty-nine days.
Kaveh looked at the small clock ticking by the bedside table, each tick already whittling away at the time he had left.
He felt his heart race anxiously, panic suddenly setting in.
Perhaps it was a combination of adrenaline and the shock of suddenly becoming a ghost, but he had not really properly thought about this whole situation. With the whole Anubis thing, he is not had much time to either.
And now it was hitting him.
Archons above.
I have forty-nine days left.
Kaveh pulled the blankets around him to his chest, curling himself into a ball as he tried to steady his rapidly quickening breathing.
Thump. Thump.
That was the beating of a heart.
When he had been a ghost, he could not feel his heartbeat. But now he could hear it in his ears, punctuating the thoughts spiralling through his frenzied brain.
He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath and holding it there.
One, two, three, four, five...
He exhaled slowly.
He repeated that again.
He could feel the pounding start to slow down to a more regular pace.
“Everything will be okay,” he murmured, and the unfamiliar voice made it sound like someone else was telling him that, making it somehow more reassuring. “Everything will be okay.”
He opened his eyes and started looking around the room more methodically and strategically.
There was a suspicious lack of green in the room. Everything, from the floor to the ceiling, was plastered in orange.
Residences in Sumeru City tended to favour a green aesthetic, to keep in line with the Akademiya’s recommendations and to honour their nation’s element.
He was probably somewhere in the desert- the chapped lips and tanned skin further solidified his theory.
Kaveh slowly got to his feet, reeling a bit as he realised that he was now a little shorter than before. The difference in height was negligible, but it still threw off his sense of balance a little, and he held on to the side of the bed to steady himself as he slowly inched towards the door.
“You’re finally awake,” a soft voice said, interrupting his thoughts. Kaveh looked up to see a somewhat familiar face. He recognised the lady- he had seen her on some trips to the desert in the past. Candace. The Guardian of Aaru Village. “How are you feeling?”
“What happened?” Kaveh asked, his voice coming out hoarsely. He sat himself down by the side of the bed.
“You were found unconscious lying on the sand a small distance away from the village,” Candace said gently, walking over. “Thankfully, some villagers spotted you and brought you here for healing.”
“Thank you.”
“It is our duty,” she answered with a little nod of acknowledgement. She smiled at him. “What is your name?”
“I’m Ka-”
The teardrop earring gave a sudden painful shudder at the same time a splitting pain ripped through his head. Kaveh gripped the earring with a wince, gritting his teeth hard.
Right, the first rule. I cannot tell anyone who I am.
What other names start with ‘Ka’?
“Are you alright?” Candace asked worriedly, reaching forward to support his arm.
Drawing in a painful sharp breath, Kaveh said extremely slowly, “My name is...” Wasn’t there some forest ranger called Kamran? “Kamran.”
“Nice to meet you, Kamran. My name is Candace, and I am the Guardian of Aaru Village,” Candace said. Her blue and amber eyes were warm and kind. “Where are you from? Were you lost?”
“I hail from Sumeru City,” Kaveh answered. It was probably the best to stick as close to his own life as possible, without revealing any too specific details that might identify him. “I should probably head back. My friends might be worried.”
“Are you sure you are able to return in this condition?” Candace asked concernedly. “Perhaps you should stay here a few more days.”
I can’t spend any more time here, Kaveh thought, I only have 49 days left.
“Thank you for your generous offer, Candace, but I don’t want to worry my friends,” he answered. He rose to his feet again, and distantly noted that there was a strange pouch resting on his waist.
Perhaps there could be something of use here, he thought, peering into it.
Huh.
Inside the pouch, there was a sizeable amount of mora. It was not that much, but more than enough to cover his lodgings for around a week or so. Though if he were to include procuring decent food, perhaps six days was more accurate...? Thank the archons that healthcare in Sumeru was free, or that would be another potential problem.
But it would be nice, if he could go home.
Home.
Just thinking of the word brought to his mind warm meals, and that sense of safety and security knowing that he could sleep at night peacefully without worrying about getting robbed. And maybe also an annoying roommate who constantly managed to find fault with literally everything, but still formed part of the tapestry that was Kaveh’s idea of home.
When he had left home that last morning, he and Alhaitham had not parted on the best terms. Alhaitham had forgotten to mention that he would not be back for dinner, and Kaveh had waited up for him. But the infuriating man just refused to even apologise, barely acknowledging Kaveh’s unhappiness.
“I didn’t tell you to wait, so it’s technically not on me,” Alhaitham had pointed out.
“But you could’ve just said something! How would I know whether you were just late or straight up not coming back for dinner?” Kaveh retorted angrily.
“Fine, I will be coming back for dinner tonight. Are you satisfied?” Alhaitham finally said with a shrug.
“Don’t you dare make me wait,” Kaveh hissed, as the other man left the house without another look back.
It was quite a small thing to be fighting about, in the grand scheme of things. And it was also quite ironic- Kaveh wondered how long Alhaitham had ended up waiting in the empty living room for his frenemy who would not return. That would make things even, he supposed.
Would Alhaitham have regretted their last fight? Even though he always found Kaveh an annoyance and treated him with disdain, surely the Acting Grand Sage could find it in himself to somehow feel some sense of sadness for Kaveh’s fate?
Knowing Alhaitham, since it’s been a month, he would have gotten a new roommate by now. If he hadn’t, well...
Perhaps Kaveh could try to move back in?
He looked at the mora in the pouch again.
It was not much, but it was better than nothing. Alhaitham had let Kaveh live in his house rent free, surely he would let someone else stay there for awhile, for 49 days, if mora was offered as rent, right?
“Kamran?” Candace said, and Kaveh blinked.
She had apparently been calling to him for awhile, but he had not responded to the name. That was probably something he should work on.
“I’m sorry, I was spacing out- what were you saying?” Kaveh asked sheepishly.
“I was asking you if you had somewhere to stay in Sumeru City.”
Home, Kaveh thought again.
“Yes,” he answered confidently.