You May as Well Break My Heart [Haikaveh]

Chapter four

"Have you seen the light of Kshahrewar?"

The first days after Alhaitham's disappearance were frenetic.

"Oh, It 's awful. I don't know how he's managing."

With the Akademiya thrown into disarray, Lesser Lord Kusanali had been forced to make difficult decisions. Submitting a report to the people of Sumeru, she enlisted one of the sages to temporarily fill Alhaitham's role. The news spread like wildfire, fueling more rumors and confusion.

Suddenly, frenzied whispers would fill the streets. People just couldn't stop talking about it-

"What a beautiful couple they were."

Kaveh tried his best to ignore them, and remain a calm demeanor, but every corner of the city seemed to hum with anticipation. As the days went by, and his absence became more noticeable, the sense of unease only grew stronger. It was as if they were waiting for something to break. Or maybe for Kaveh to break, specifically.

"It's such a tragedy."

They would often whisper, gathered in tight-knit groups that scattered everytime he passed by.

They looked at him with sharp eyes, expressions filled with the kind of curiosity that bordered on cruelty.

"Just like his father's..."

Kaveh swallowed hard, the lump in his throat almost unbearable, and kept walking. It had been the same for days now.

The morning after the incident, he had dressed hastily, rushing to the Akademiya in case Alhaitham had already returned.

He entered the building, eyes scanning desperately for that familiar silver hair, but It didn't take long before a guard tapped his shoulder, pulling him back to reality. He informed him there were no new updates, and that Cyno had already left on another expedition to the temple.

By himself? How could he leave without telling him? Did he expect him to simply wait around in his house, like a dog? The urge to chase after him burned hot, but before Kaveh could act on it, one of the soldiers cautiously intervened.

"Master Kaveh, please—the General left specific instructions. He suggested that you should focus on research about the issue... reviewing past studies might help us find something we've missed about the temple the Acting Grand sage is currently trapped in."

In the end, Kaveh relented, returning home with an armful of thick, ancient texts borrowed from the House of Daena. Each book was filled with intricate theories on ley lines and their potential connections to other domains, but none of them seemed to hold the answers he needed.

How do you get a person out of there?

He didn't sleep that night. Twelve volumes surrounded him on the floor, each filled with sprawling notes and diagrams he barely had the energy to decipher anymore. His eyes blurred, the words on the pages swimming in front of him as exhaustion chipped away at his focus. Yet, no matter how deep he dug into the theories and texts, he found nothing, no solid answers that might lead him to Alhaitham.

Cyno arrived late that night. When Kaveh heard the knock on his door, his heart leaped into his throat. A frantic, desperate hope surging through his veins as he flung the door open, but it was only Cyno, his face solemn, his expression hard.

Kaveh's hope crashed down once again, and turned into disappointment.

The days dragged on in an endless cycle. Kaveh returned to the temple again and again, carrying with him odd devices and notes he'd cobbled together from his research, trying everything, anything that might spark a clue or lead him to some trace of elemental energy.