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Sethos looked around and sighed, feeling the monotony of his usual routine weighing heavy on his shoulders. He'd gotten used to taking a stroll before the sun properly rose, usually coming across at least somebody he knew along the way.
The architect and the scribe were home, once again fighting like a married couple; the blonde's screeching could be heard from miles away.
General Mahamatra–as always–awoke way earlier than anyone could fathom so he could have the liberty of visiting a certain doctor in the rainforest before his shift started.
And truly, Sethos did this to himself.
Why would anyone willingly get up at such an ungodly hour, when there weren't any scholars around to pry information from, and no delivery commissions to be taken—on account of everyone being asleep or still having yet to get out of bed.
Dehya had yet to return to Sumeru City from her commission in the desert and Candace literally left said dessert once in a blue moon.
The problem then was that Sethos was deathly bored; he didn't want to go to the Academy yet since the only ones who would be awake were those three-generation-old scholars who turned their noses up at anyone younger than them.
And he didn't want to return to the Temple of Silence because if he did, said problem would be the same, just returned tenfold since said elders weren't only unprecedented in their self-importance, but also in their belief that Sethos–as the heir–must listen to them. But Sethos, of course, took a page out of Candace's book and absolutely disregarded nigh-anything the elders say. Whoever greenlit the sweet experimentation he had to oh-so-cruelly go through surely would not have the mental capacity to give advice on political reforms.
Sethos had taken his third walk around the Academy, noting with a frown how nothing seemed out of place or particularly interesting. He sighed, deciding to not take these kinds of walks anymore, lest he grow more bored with the city.
Usually Sethos enjoyed when the streets of Sumeru were empty, that way their artful architecture could be enjoyed. If he dared to say, he found it relaxing. It had its own unique beauty, the quietness of it all. No crowds, no yelling—for the most part, at least. Alhaitham should probably stop teasing Kaveh; they had been going on for a couple of hours.
The dew had yet to dry off the flowers, what with the sun being so low in the sky, which meant every surface was still wet. Unfortunate; Sethos would have enjoyed sitting down for a bit.
Everything looked normal.
But—
No.
It's unusually quiet, even for the morning. This is Sumeru city, it's never silent.
Where were the vendors?
Where were the merchants?
Where were the caravans getting ready for the road?
It was so quiet, a pin could be heard dropping.
That was…
…until an ethereal, starting out soft but growing stronger, voice broke through his trance. And after a quiet laugh had Sethos turning, vibrant lime-green met a pair of striking violet-blue in all of their glory.
"What? Don't tell me you are tired already, little bee."
Sethos knew he was being taunted so he forced himself to stop staring at the pretty Inazumanian(?) stranger and pushed the words stuck in his throat out, "Looks like that makes two of us. If not, why would you be sitting in that tree?"
'How did you even get there, oh mysterious beauty? There aren't any strong branches you could've climbed and even the lowest one is twice my height.'
Sethos was curious. The pretty Stranger–for Sethos had yet to earn a name to call him by, even though this was their second meeting–tilted his head to the side, revealing a neck that Sethos desperately tried not to stare at.
"You sure do talk a lot, for someone who almost no one knows anything about."
Sethos smirked; the mysterious person was curious about him too. "What a thing to say when I have yet to be blessed with your name."
The dark haired man's eyebrows raised and another smirk graced Sethos' face—he could say with certainty that his eyes were burning with playfulness. Sethos prepared himself when the beauty opened his mouth–a retort at the ready–but it never landed for a voice called out:
"Hat guy! There you are!"
The voice was bright and warm, like a lotus turning in full bloom to face the sun…if the sun was a grumpy guy preached on a tree.
The voice belonged to a dancer by the name Nilou, whose popularity preceded her.
"Huh, Nilou…? Don't you have practice right now?" Hat Guy, as the people of Sumeru call him, had dropped his smirking face for a softer, more neutral one.
Sethos stood there forgotten, and in the pit of his stomach something stirred as the red haired dancer came closer to the tree.
She giggled before she greeted Sethos and once again turned to Hat Guy. "I do, but I took a break for a short time to seek you out. I have a favour to ask."
"Sure why not" The guy–still perched on the tree–gave a disinterested glance but it was far from a passive one.
Nilou rested her forearms on the tree's trunk, tip-toeing her fingers as if to reach him. "I have a...friend...named Layla and the Academy assigned her a thesis about a specific subculture of Inazuma sword dances! You did a thesis of your own unprompted a few months back, I was wondering if you could help her!"
"Friend, huh… I wasn't the one to write that thesis. It was published anonymously by an unknown author," Hat Guy teased.
"C'mon," Nilou whined, "everyone knows it was you! Who else could be so confident and condescending while writing an objective thesis!"
Hat Guy choked and Sethos' brow furrowed.
After the first encounter between Sethos and Hat Guy, Sethos had been thorough on reading each and every thesis he'd published. It was just something about the writing he found elegant and sophisticated, if not adorably cute. He was none too pleased to find out one such thesis slipped from him and blamed the anonymous crediting for his folly.
Nilou–in her line of work–must have gotten it by chance while expanding her knowledge of foreign dances while Sethos–although knowledgeable about Sumerian dances, especially desert ones–was quite knowledgeable about the ones from other Teyvatian nations.
Sethos internally sighed; that was bound to happen when the Temple of Silence separated itself from the outside world for years upon hundred of years.
Hat Guy, who hadn't noticed Sethos' inner conflict because he was still standing on top of that tree–forcing Sethos and Nilou to bend their necks to talk to him–faked thinking deeply about what to reveal and what to not, before sharply responding: "Of course I know about Inazuma sword dances; I was the unbeatable best once upon a time. Even the average Inazumanian wouldn't know about the sword dances of old like I do."
Nilou smiled so brightly that Sethos wondered if she had eaten the moon for breakfast.
"So you will help her?"
"She was the one I stole the crown from at the competition, correct? The one fighting Faruzan?
Yeah, I know her; tell her to meet me exactly one week from now at the Pardis Dhyai at sundown. Tell her not to be late."
Nilou was grateful but quickly left to continue preparations. She left satisfied, humming a familiar melody.
Sethos turned to Hat Guy. "Paradis Dhyai, huh?"
Hat Guy shrugged, "It has enough space for us to exchange information quietly without other scholars."
'It has enough space,' Sethos supposed that was technically correct, but they were meeting at sundown, where every part of the square would be painted in a yellow-orange hue by the sun and Hat Guy too, would be graced by that light. Or maybe the light will be graced by his presence, like the main subject of a painter's greatest life work.
Sethos was unable to get the imagery out of his head, he didn't even try. Sethos decided to invite himself in the Hat Guy-Layla information exchange.
"I was unaware you were skilled in Inazuma sword dances." Sethos' neck was starting to hurt.
"Hm? Why is that? Am I perhaps not beautiful enough for such a delicate dance?" Hat Guy blatantly teased.
If Hat Guy wasn't beautiful enough for such a thing then Sethos' neck wouldn't be hurting.
"I quite disagree, so much so that I would recommend you show that poor Academy girl a more visual approach. Surely a performance from you would be worth thousands if not the sacrifice of somebody's life." That made quite the weird imagery, but thankfully the one Sethos was courting was Hat Guy, so it worked like a charm.
The man in the tree blushed, faintly but Sethos was watching his face with such deep focus that he caught it before the other was able to hide behind his hat.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere." He cleared his throat before adding: "Anyhow, I am unable to do such a 'performance' as you call it, for I am missing the most crucial element in a Inazuma sword dance." With Sethos' definitely not cute tilt of head–like a tiger feeling rather silly–Hat Guy was quick to continue, "The sword.
"Take Nilou for example—" Hat Guy and Sethos both glanced at the direction the girl left,
"—she is the best dancer Sumeru has. The theatre she works at is strong enough to disregard the Academy's law, but even it was unable to get its hands on a Inazumanian sword for Nilou to perform with. Everytime she has to perform an Inazumanian dance, she is forced to use "the flute" as a substitute—which isn't a substitute at all, but the best they could find regardless."
Sethos blinked, ignoring the fact that Nilou had apparently been using a flute as a sword because he doubted Hat Guy's word… Surely he just didn't want people to see him dance for whatever reason.
Surely an Inazumanian sword couldn't be that hard to find, right?
Sure, Inazuma had just recently opened its borders, but trade had been happening like crazy since then for the electro nation.
Wanderer watched Sethos for some moments, the other hadn't noticed his stare as he got lost in his own thoughts. But when Wanderer caught himself, he berated himself for letting so much information of his past out and disappeared without a trace.
Sethos only knew he was gone when a swirl of wind infused anemo pushed his body.
…
An Inazumanian sword, huh?
Sethos had been all over the place. He pulled out a list, some–re: many–names were crossed. This was ridiculous; how is there not a single Inazumanian sword in the whole of Sumeru?
Dehya had no such thing in her possession.
Candace had a claymore, but it was Mondstadtian…
He had spent his every academic connection and hit a dead end.
Last resort: Tighnari.
He went over to the rainforest, obviously in case Tighnari knew anything. Green hair and purple eyes were seen in the distance.
Collei?
Collei was behaving weirdly. She was near the rainforest perimeter, not far off from where the houses were built.
Alright, that wasn't weird.
What was weird was that she seems to be searching about something.
"Heya, Collei! Is Tighnari near? I kinda need to have a word with him."
The girl seemed to have been spooked before she shook herself out of it to respond, "Ah, excuse me I was kind of out of it. Teacher is with General Cyno right now, but has tasked me with finding a blue flower with red thorns. I have never seen such a flower but Master insisted on finding some for tea. He said the flowers would be nearby, but I can't seem to find them."
Huh…
Never had Sethos heard of such a flower. Then again, he didn't live in the rainforest so what would he know?
"Then, would the lady right before me be able to answer my question?"
Collei nodded.
Good. If Tighnari and Cyno are doing what Sethos thinks they are doing, then he would rather not subject himself to their wrath.
"Do you or anyone you know have a Inazumanian sword I can borrow?"
Colleis eyebrows furrowed. "No, not that I recall. I apologize."
Sethos waved his hand dismissively, "Nah, don't worry. I'll figure something out."
Unfortunately Plan X–because all of the other letters were used up by the failed plans–was going somewhere where an Inazumanian sword was guaranteed to be.
In Inazuma.
So, he went to Inazuma.
He bribed a Liyuen captain with an eye patch and a white-haired man by her side to take him with them to Inazuma, and up the ship "Crux" he went.
"So," Beidou asked, "you're leaving your home nation for the first time, to go to Inazuma, just to get a sword and impress some guy?"
Sethos enthusiastically nodded his head.
Kazuha shrugged, "Seems about right," with a wistful sigh that told Beidou he would be writing poetry for the next three hours.
Sethos meanwhile smiled to the sun, ignoring his fear of visiting an entirely unknown nation full of people he didn't know.
Thankfully, Kazuha took pity on him and left him in the care of Thoma.
Sethos didn't stay to enjoy the scenery of Inazuma–that could wait–for he wanted Hat Guy to be the one to tour him around Inazuma, as slim as such a possibility might be. So without further ado, he bought a sword from Thoma–sending his thanks to Rex Lapis for making mora an international currency–waved the blond man goodbye and headed back to Sumeru the following day.
Meanwhile in Sumeru…
Scaramouche was...worried.
No, surely not! Why would he be worried over a man such as Sethos, who probably is used to killing scorpions with his bow. Not to mention the electro vision he keeps strapped on his belt.
But...
For almost a week, he'd seen his busy bee flying around and around and around Sumeru—but now he can't find him anywhere! It was like he left without a trace.
Just as Wanderer was going to dip his hands into government records, he got reminded of the appointment he made with Layla, so he rushed to Paradis Dhyai only to find the missing Sethos waiting for him.
The minute their eyes met, Sethos' own sparked with amusement and Scaras own with poorly hidden relief.
Sethos got up, hiding something behind a cloth.
It was an Inazumanian sword.
"Where did you—" Scaramouche scowled as he only got Sethos' laugh as an answer.
"You don't need to worry about that. Didn't you promise me a dance?"
Scaramouche snarked, "Barely, but sure. I will indulge you."
"Indulge me, hmm?" Sethos kept trying to face Scaramouche, but the latter kept hiding his face behind his pretty, wide-brimmed hat.
An embarrassing blush had appeared on his cheeks
Sethos was breaktaken, even Scaramouche's blushing face was exquisite, simply exquisite. The pink adoring Wanderer was soft and yet vibrant, and Sethos' never knew he had a favorite shade of pinkish-red. The blush spread on top of his cheeks and nose and then some more.
His eyes were almost…glassy—wait.
Had Sethos achieved the act of making the other that touched by his gesture?
Sethos could only hope Wanderers' heartbeat beat as fast as his own.
Wanderer took off his shoes, making a soft noise of discomfort.
Sethos noticed immediately. "Something bothering you?"
Wanderer sighed, "I'm used more to dancing in the sand. How about we head over to Khaj-Nisut? I didn't really plan for a dance today or any day really—"
Sethos' mouth moved before his brain could finish thinking, something that had never happened to him, "There's a place with clear sand near Dar al-Shifa," is what he said. 'Which is near the Temple of Silence's entrance,' is what he keeps to himself.
And when Sethos extended a hand for Wanderer to take, he was pleasantly giddy when he actually felt a delicate hand softly grasp his own, almost like in a fairy tale. Sethos gently pulled Wanderer up from the bench, and the latter surprisingly let him lead.
It was soft, and the sunset had painted them both in that surreal light.
Sethos was right.
He was having difficulty maintaining his breath while Wanderer was upholding a small smile on his face.
___
When they arrived, Sethos refused the temptation to look in the temple's direction. Sethos had made plenty of false promises, he'd lied and cheated people while staring them dead in the eyes. Many have said he's silver-tongued, being able to convince people easily, manipulating and tricking them, but it came as a surprise to even him when his tongue refused to untangle itself when he was in Wanderer's company.
He looked toward the blue and white clad Inazumanian, but the other didn't so much as glance in his direction. His gaze softened and Sethos outright refused himself a gasp over the expression.
Wanderer didn't notice, for those gentle eyes looked far away.
The rough sand brought him long forgotten memories, and a certain humanity that he despised.
What was he doing? Dancing like an entertainer before a mere human.
Didn't he give up on this useless hobby a long time ago?
The sword was obviously not made for dancing—it was too sharp. He wondered where Sethos bought it; it was of fine quality if its sharpness was anything to go by. The handle was purple, and he ignored a wave of disgust he felt for a moment.
His movements were dramatic and hauntingly familiar. With slow movements–because solo sword dances were typically that way–he was trying to ground himself, to not fly away to time long gone.
He couldn't feel the veil around him.
He couldn't feel the long kimono.
He couldn't feel the distinctive Inazuma air.
What he could feel is a scorching sun he refuses to be bothered by, with the sounds of water behind him and a fruit must have fallen in from the trees.
What he felt the most was the man near him, watching with an almost hypnotized stare, like he longed for and loved the one dancing before him.
Dancing for him.
It was true, wasn't it?
He was dancing for Sethos' and Sethos' alone.
The Sand beneath his feet was not of Inazuma but of Sumeru, which is so distinctively Sethos in such an unexplainable way. Scaramouche was fond of it, and he had come to the heart wrenching realization that he was also fond of Sethos.
He couldn't help but make eye contact from time to time, maybe to ensure Sethos was still there, maybe to ensure that the love sick expression on Sethos' face hadn't wandered off.
__
Hat Guy looked…god made...in a way that didn't seem fair. He felt mystical in a way Sethos couldn't quite describe.
He was transfixed.
He didn't dare look away.
So when Hat Guy stopped dancing and turned to him–uttering one single word–Sethos raised an eyebrow, too focused on the man's lips to hear the sound coming from them. "Hm?"
"You may call me Scara, for that is the nickname some have put upon me," Hat Guy, now known as Scara, began almost…sheepishly, "but my name…the one I wear as my own,"
is Belial."
Sethos stared and then stared some more.
Hat Guy—Scara—Belial tilted his head.
What a tease.
"Think I'm joking? You can ask the Traveler and Lord Kusanali if you wish to confirm."
Sethos with fast movements tilted Belial's head back and kissed him dearly. He could feel the wind pick up in response to Belial's emotions.
Sethos didn't let him go. He knew he was entirely unable to.
___
Belial had his head on Sethos' lap, feeling quite comfortable. But in the back of his mind he was feeling like he had forgotten something. If only Sethos would stop running his fingers through Belial's hair, maybe then the man could remember.
With a sigh, Belial gave up and closed his eyes.
____
"Have I arrived at the wrong Paradis Dhyai? Surely not, this is the only one… Has something happened to him?"
Layla wondered if she should wait or return home.
Either way, her thesis wasn't getting done.