CHAPTER 12:

THE VILLAGE KEEPERS

They put off going to Aaru Village until the next morning. Dehya had, after discussion with the Homayanis, decided to accompany them, as she knew Candace, and was confident that the other Blazing Beasts could keep them save in Gandharva Ville. Plus, she felt uneasy, given what Nahida said about King Deshret possibly being responsible for unleashing the Withering in the first place.

They used a Statue of the Seven in Gandharva Ville to transport to a similar statue on the outskirts of Aaru Village. And on arrival, Harry nodded. "Okay, much better than almost any other means of magical travel."

Dehya raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a tale and a half."

"It does. I've already tried Apparition," Nahida said. "Let's just say you learn what it is like to be toothpaste being squeezed from the tube."

"…I hope you're kidding there," Dehya said flatly.

"Well, I'll be handing you and the others emergency Portkeys if need be later on," Harry said a mite too cheerfully. "Those feel like you're being hooked through the navel and being spun around in a washing machine."

Dehya stared at him, before shaking her head. "If that's true…your wizards are fucked up in the head."

Harry couldn't help but snicker. "Thanks to excessive inbreeding and an overinflated sense of their own importance. Some of them are very like the Akademiya, from what I know. Arrogant, condescending, and elitist, though at least the Akademiya can do it based on intellect, not bloodline…their discrimination against the Eremites notwithstanding, anyway."

"Yeah. Occasionally, they let someone in from the desert regions. I mean, the Grand Sage's current offsider is an Eremite, I think, Setaria, and the General Mahamatra Cyno is from the desert originally. But still…oh, heads up, here she comes. Let me do the talking, okay?"

Harry and Nahida nodded, as a woman who looked vaguely like a pharaoh from Egypt walked forward, though her clothes were very revealing for a female pharaoh. Purple hair framed beautiful, dark-skinned features, while her mismatched eyes, one dark blue, the other amber, watched them carefully. She wielded a spear in one hand, and a shield in the other.

"Good morning, Dehya," Candace said, her tone calm. "Is this a social visit, or business?"

"Sorry to say it's business, Candace, but it's good to see you anyway. These two are guests of the Homayanis who had things to ask you," Dehya said. "The munchkin is Nahida, while the guy's Harry Potter, he's not from these parts. Look, we came here on a matter of importance, we need to discuss it with you in private. If you want to bring Uncle Anpu into it, go ahead, it's important to him too, but there's important shit we need to discuss."

Candace peered at the three of them, before finally nodding. "I see. Well, welcome to Aaru Village. Please do not do anything to disturb the peace while you are here. Otherwise…there will be consequences."

"Yeah, well, I think it's probably going to be too late for that," Harry said. "There's a few things we need to discuss, and they're not exactly happy topics…"

To give Candace and the elderly man dubbed 'Uncle Anpu' their due, they listened carefully as Nahida, Harry, and Dehya explained their purpose in being here in Anpu's home. They were shocked when Nahida revealed her identity as the Dendro Archon, but because they explained her situation first, there was thankfully little animosity. Instead, the two digested the information carefully. Nahida had explained to Harry and Dehya earlier why she intended to reveal her identity, to try and ensure their trust in examining the exiled scholars. And given their lack of love for the Akademiya, it was a risk, but a calculated one, Harry hoped.

"…I shouldn't be surprised," Anpu remarked. "The Akademiya shows little care for their own scholars that they send here in exile. To treat the Dendro Archon like this…"

"I'm surprised you believed us this quickly," Harry said.

"It's less of a matter of belief and more that we try to consider things. Trust, but verify," Candace said. "That being said, I am somewhat sceptical that King Deshret had anything to do with the first outbreak of Eleazar and the Withering. Then again, that is due to the fact that we revere him in this village. He was part of a triumvirate that included Nahida's predecessor, along with Nabu Malikata, the Goddess of Flowers. The three of them were benevolent, so to believe King Deshret was capable of doing this…"

"It may not have been deliberate, but unwitting," Nahida pointed out. "We're seeking the truth, Candace, not proof that he was a tyrant or a monster like many in the Akademiya make him out to be. Though you mentioned the Village Keepers. Part of my investigation involves them."

Candace peered at Nahida searchingly, before nodding. "Well, if you intend to help rather than harm them, you may try, but under our watch, if you don't mind. The Village Keepers are beloved here."

"Yeah, I need to ask something," Harry said. "I know relations between the Eremites, even here, and the Akademiya are strained at the best of times. So I'm surprised you accepted them here."

"And you are right to be surprised," Candace said. "We felt as if we were the rubbish tip of the Akademiya, being made to care for scholars who fell to madness in their pursuit of knowledge. Officially, it was so their insane words and actions would not disturb the other scholars. I personally think they were disposing of them like trash. Indeed, I believe more than a few of these scholars were directed to Divine Knowledge simply as a means of taking them out of Akademiya politics. So yes, we did resent them, and quite a lot…until the night of the earthquake."

Nahida frowned. "…I did hear that there have been increasing numbers of tremors in the desert. Still, I noticed very little damage to the buildings, or at least recent damage that may have been caused by an earthquake."

Anpu nodded. "We were on the verge of leading a mass evacuation, until we saw one of the scholars pressing his hands to the ground. He was suffused with a green glow that held the hue of Dendro elemental energy, though he possessed no Vision, Dendro or otherwise. The earthquake and its aftershocks passed us by, but the buildings, despite everything, remained standing. A little superficial damage here and there, to be certain, but little else."

"Dendro energy?" Dehya frowned. "But he had no Vision? That's weird."

"We believe that roots somehow grew beneath the surface, holding the foundations of the buildings in place," Candace said. "Other similar miracles have taken place. These scholars have thus been dubbed the Village Keepers, and we look after them as best as we can. Some claim it to be a sign of King Deshret, while others believed it to be your work, Nahida. You are the Dendro Archon, after all."

"True, but I don't believe I have ever done this…" Nahida pursed her lips in thought. "Some remnant of Nabu Malikata? Perhaps even a Jinni like Liloupar? She was supposedly fragmented after the fall of Gurabad. Or perhaps the Goddess of Flowers?"

Dehya shook her head. "I doubt it's Liloupar. I'll tell you why later, Nahida."

Nahida nodded in absent-minded acknowledgement, before her eyes widened. "…Or perhaps this is a remnant of…my predecessor?"

"What?" Harry demanded in shock. "You mean you may have Rukkhadevata in those scholars?"

"I…I don't know. I don't have enough data, and I shouldn't get my hopes up," Nahida said, shaking her head vehemently, before placing her head in her hands. After taking a great shuddering breath, she took them away again. "Candace, Anpu…may I see the Village Keepers, or at least one of them? I need more data, more observations. I'll try not to disturb them."

Candace and Anpu shared a look. Eventually, Candace nodded. "Very well. But please, do not do anything to harm them. They have become beloved by more than a few here. One of the children here, Isak, seems to have adopted one of them as his grandfather."

Nahida nodded. "I understand, Lady Candace."

At this, the woman blushed. "I…uhh…can we please drop that? You asked us not to call you Lady Nahida, after all."

"Sure…"

Harry got the feeling that his sister was teasing Candace. Then again, she had a bit of an impish streak at times. Maybe that was to help her keep her mind off their troubles…

As they walked out with Candace in tow, Dehya said, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't Liloupar who did this. I met the Jinni bitch."

"That sounds like a long story," Harry said.

"It is. Remember Jeht? I found Liloupar's fragments during that mess. Liloupar eventually went elsewhere, I've no idea where. As for Nabu Malikata…well, her domain, the Eternal Oasis, it's a mess, but maybe something still remains of her somewhere."

"Hmm…I'd love to see that one day, Dehya."

The Eremite chuckled. "There were three thrones, well, seats hewn from tree stumps. One of them was for your predecessor. Oh, that place was beautiful…and that bitch Babel wanted to be the sole custodian of it. That place is not for humans. It never was…and given it being frozen in time, I don't think it should ever be. It's more of a mausoleum for Nabu Malikata, even if it's beautiful."

"Have you seen Jeht lately, Dehya?" Candace asked.

"Saw her in Port Ormos, even has a girlfriend, that Rtawahist girl Layla."

"Good. Jeht deserves some happiness, and I know Layla enough to know she deserves some too," Candace said.

As they headed towards one of the houses, where one of the Village Keepers was present, Harry asked, "Are these Village Keepers at all belligerent? I mean, I'm just a bit worried for us."

"They have been known to be violent on initial usage of the Divine Knowledge Capsule, but within minutes, they enter a more catatonic state," Candace said. "That being said, whatever you do, try not to provoke them. Aside from my duty to maintain the peace here, they're now seen as augurs of good fortune by the rest of the villagers. I am not that superstitious, but I can tell that they have helped us, no matter the hows and whys."

"Very well." Nahida then saw an old man shuffle out of the house. "Is that one of them?" she asked gently.

Candace nodded. "Khalil. That's the one whom Isak seems to think is his grandfather."

The elderly-looking man was staring vacantly at some plants. "…Plants…will soon wither…but they will not save…only destroy! Divine knowledge…knowledge of the gods…save…" he mumbled.

Nahida toddled up to him, and smiled. "Hello there, sir. May I have a moment of your time?"

"…Time…moments…an eternity in a moment…a moment in an eternity…and yet, time passes no faster for a caged god than a mortal(1)…"

The four of them stilled at the man's mumblings. Had he somehow recognised Nahida? The little deity frowned, before she said, "Okay, I'm going to try to access his Akasha Terminal…"

"NO!" Khalil screamed in fear, and seized her wrist. "NO, YOU MUST NOT!"

Dehya and Harry got ready to attack, if only to knock the man out, but Nahida held up her free hand to stop them from taking action. "Stop! Don't hurt him!" She then looked to Khalil. "I won't use All Schemes to Know on you, sir."

The man nodded, and then gently released her wrist. Then, he seemed to struggle to get the words out, like he was almost gagging on the words. "…You…nearly went down…the path to ruin…for us all. There are…other paths…for what…you seek…tomb…of Kasala…seek it out…" With that, his eyes rolled up in his sockets, and he sagged to the ground, Candace catching him as he fell. "…World…forget me…" he whispered as he fell unconscious.

Candace checked the man over, before nodding. "He seems exhausted, but is otherwise fine. I wonder why he didn't want you doing that?"

"When I can access someone's Akasha Terminal, I can, if I wish, access their mind. Indeed, I could take control of them if I wanted," Nahida said. "Khalil, or rather, whoever or whatever is inside him, was warning me against doing so. Something about the Divine Knowledge Capsules is potentially dangerous to me, I think. I believe that, if he was keeping secrets, he wouldn't have made such an effort to direct us to the tomb of Kasala. The effort of telling us that much exhausted him. Still, I wonder why he mentioned Kasala?"

"Who is Kasala?" Harry asked.

"One of the last priests to have served during the reign of King Deshret," Nahida said with a frown. "That's pretty much all I know from what I learned from the Akasha system. That, and his tomb has yet to be found, though it's suspected to be somewhere in or near the complex of King Deshret's mausoleum."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Candace said. "I know little of this Kasala, save that he was the Priest of Hermanubis. It is said that the General Mahamatra is bound to a fragment of that very deity."

"You mean Cyno?" Dehya asked. "I can believe that, with that headgear he wears."

Nahida nodded, even while she looked over at Khalil. "Harry, could you help Candace get him back inside, please?"

"Sure." With that, Harry levitated the body of the unconscious Village Keeper. "Where should I leave him?"

"Here, come with me," Candace said, leading them into the house…

Thankfully, after putting Khalil to bed, they left Aaru Village with no more incidents, and nothing beyond a warning from Candace. However, the woman did tell them they were welcome to return, preferably without causing more incidents. It was relatively minor, but the Village Keepers were beloved, and Harry and Dehya had nearly attacked Khalil, even if it was to help Nahida.

However, when they arrived back at Gandharva Ville, they were intercepted by Collei, of all people. "Did you find anything?" she asked.

"More questions than answers," Harry said.

"But sometimes, that's the best outcome," Nahida said. "Where's Tighnari?"

"He's entertaining a friend of his," Collei said. "Come on…"

When they arrived at the hut where Tighnari was based, they were greeted by a surreal sight. The Homayanis were looking on as Tighnari played a card game, sitting opposite someone they didn't expect. Harry didn't recognise him, but Nahida and Dehya clearly did, with the latter murmuring, "Holy shit…"

The man's amber, slit-pupiled eyes, peered at the newcomers. His quiet, deep, and nasal voice said, "Mind your language, Dehya, around a child. Luckily, I'm almost done." He placed a card on the table. "There. Victory for me, it seems."

Tighnari chuckled. "As is often the case, old friend."

The young man nodded, before standing and looking at the newcomers. He was a little short, his appearance being that of a young man in his late teens or early twenties, his skin almost as dark as Dehya's. He had snow white hair, and orange eyes with slitted pupils. He seemed to wear surprisingly little, aside from shorts, an elaborate headdress that reminded Harry of the Egyptian god Anubis, and a chest piece from which tassels draped.

But his attitude was of someone older. Solemn, serious, and utterly lethal. And Harry knew that this man was very dangerous.

"Tighnari told me I should wait to meet you three on your return. I am Cyno, General Mahamatra of the Sumeru Akademiya. And I am curious to see why…"

CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:

Oh dear. So, Nahida has encountered the Village Keepers…but Cyno is now on the scene. Will he be friend or foe?

One of the things that didn't make sense for me are the claims on the Genshin Impact wiki and TV Tropes that it is Nahida acting through the Village Keepers to do what they did. Given that the Village Keepers are implied to be infected by Forbidden Knowledge, that doesn't make sense, especially as Rukkhadaveta created Nahida as a sort of new iteration free from Forbidden Knowledge to delete her from Irmunsul. But I actually think it makes far better sense for the Village Keepers to be influenced by the last lingering fragments of Rukkhadaveta, which is what I'm going for here.

Review-answering time! Aerodactyl999: Weasel house slippers?

As for comparing Dori to Scrooge being an insult to Scrooge, it may be an insult to how he acts normally, but he once acted rather nastily in the comics. I don't generally read Disney comics these days, but a major exception to the rule was that I recently read The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, written by veteran Disney comic writer Don Rosa, who tried to knit together every bit of Scrooge's anecdotes and past mishaps into an overarching mythos. It's worth pointing out that, over time, Scrooge became nastier and nastier, culminating in his character in the eleventh chapter of that comic series, The Empire-Builder from Calisota, where he reaches a nadir in his morals while pursuing wealth.

That being said, it was one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. Unfortunately, the chapter in question, if not the entirety of the story, has apparently been banned from sale by Disney earlier this year. Supposedly, it is due to some of the un-PC moments in the chapter, which is a shame, as it shows Disney is trying way too hard to avoid trouble from social justice warriors instead of putting in content warnings.

As for my health and burnout, I try. I only write when I'm able to anyway.

Delta XIII: I'm glad you share my view of Dori, but I don't think she gets enough of a comeuppance. And Kaveh smashing the Diadem merely has her decide to jack up the interest on his debts, so that's not really her comeuppance as much as her being spiteful. I personally think Kaveh and Layla should pull what Edmond Dantes did to Danglars in the original novel of The Count of Monte Cristo (Danglars was imprisoned by bandits after fleeing from his debtors, and made to pay for his food), or maybe, if they're feeling particularly cruel, what happens to Danglars in the anime Gankutsuou (Danglars is stranded in a spaceship with his fortune, with his supplies running out).

1. Khalil, or rather, Rukkhadaveta speaking through him, is paraphrasing Morpheus/Dream's statement about his imprisonment in The Sandman comic's first issue, Sleep of the Just: "Time moves no faster for my kind than it does for humanity, and in prison, it crawled at a snail's pace…" In fact, I have Dream of the Endless punish Azar and the Sages for what happened to Nahida in a oneshot crossover called Of Cages, Hubris, Dreams and Nightmares. Plug, plug…