Forget Where We Were (reupload!)

Chapter 10

Kaveh never sent another letter to Alhaitham.

Well, it's been only a week since, but Alhaitham was convinced that he has been placed on the back burner because of asking for things too much too early. It was technically his fault, and Alhaitham did not have any choice but to accept the consequences of his own actions.

He had to admit, though, that because of the loss of communication, he spent even more time at home. Cyno labeled it as 'sulking' to which Alhaitham expressed denial. It was not sulking. It could be called focused rumination, though, with the Scribe narrowing down the possibilities as to why there was an unusual delay in Kaveh's reply.

In the end, Alhaitham concluded that the architect was simply offended and decided to cut him off for having the audacity to ask things he asked about in that last letter. It was logical enough. Who would not be upset if they were placed under that kind of questioning? With Alhaitham's experience of handling Kaveh in the past, this conclusion proved to be sufficient for him.

It was holding up in Alhaitham's head until he met Cyno again for an investigation request. They were in Puspa Cafe, with other students huddling around their tables, busy with the group research season in the Akademiya. Cyno was in the middle of a Genius Invokation TCG round with Tighnari when he arrived. Alhaitham ordered a cup of coffee as they finished the current run.

"So?" Cyno required as he did a re-roll. "You wanna open the investigation back there?"

"We owe Kaveh's memory that much," said Alhaitham. "Only until we know how he ended up where he did."

Tighnari swapped his cards and sighed as he got more food cards, "How's it going? The letter thing?"

Alhaitham shook his head.

"Maybe he got busy, or maybe he already prepared a reply but forgot to send it. He did that to me a couple of times," replied the Forest Watcher. "Just be patient. The guy literally forgot everything. He might be going through something, now that he's met you."

"What made you arrive at this decision?" Cyno then asked.

"Lord Kusanali visited me in my dream," replied Alhaitham, crossing his arms over his chest. "She confirmed a lot of things."

Tighnari's ears perked up as his Collei card got eliminated by Cyno's Bennet, "The Dendro vision?"

"It's Kaveh's. A mechanism embedded in the chamber teleported him to the Eternal Oasis, where his memories got erased."

Cyno hummed, "So the Eremite died in the chamber because the strange power attracted the monsters, explaining the blood and the remains, but Kaveh must have fought the monsters with him until he was whisked away. Mehrak was with him, though. Maybe Nabu Malikata welcomed Mehrak in the Oasis too, since the mechanism originated from the civilization of Al-Ahmar. Is there something else?"

"The chamber was triggered by a spell. Lord Kusanali suspected that an antithesis to the spell might be the key to breaking it," Alhaitham said. "Perhaps taking another look at the chamber can lead us to the right conclusions this time."

"Lord Kusanali saw all of this through the ley lines only now," Tighnari wondered. "Maybe it was not accessible before? It makes sense. The area of Mt. Damavand is complicated to explore. The ley line activity near the sandstorm must have been at a deficit. Something should have changed now if she could finally see what happened."

"I suddenly started having dreams about it. That's how she gained access," replied Alhaitham. "Perhaps it was triggered by the vision or maybe because I met Kaveh. I'm not entirely sure."

"We have a lot to confirm, then. If Lord Kusanali already agreed, then I have no reason not to pursue this investigation." Cyno looked at Alhaitham, "I hope you know what we're about to get ourselves into."